Chapter 16: The Advent of Rules

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Lin Yu watched as one crystal core after another dissipated, and Chen Jing’er’s aura gradually intensified.

“Bang!”

At last, the final crystal core transformed into energy and entered her body, causing Chen Jing’er’s form to tremble.

In that instant,

[Congratulations to all survivors. Someone has taken the lead on the path of evolution, successfully reaching Level 5. The global survivor information access system and various functions are now available for exploration.]

A familiar voice echoed in his mind.

[Code Name: Untitled]

[Level: Stage 0, Grade 3, 0%]

[Magic Power: 8600]

[Strength: 156]

[Constitution: 56]

[Speed: 50]

[Mentality: 130]

[Talent: S-Rank Flame Mastery: 62% progressing]

[Unlocked Flame Forms: Blazing Fire, Dragon’s Flame (62% unlocking)]

Lin Yu summoned his status panel in his mind and noticed subtle changes.

A new “Code Name” line appeared, and the level and evolving talent both displayed progress bars, making the information more intuitive.

[Magician!] (Note: In the mid-stage, he will evolve into Flame Emperor.)

Lin Yu pondered briefly and decided to continue using the code name from his previous life.

Although he wasn’t very strong last time, he specialized in developing fire-based abilities and had conducted extensive research on flame control.

In fact,

he had turned his flame talent into a spectacular art form. Coupled with the dazzling brilliance of his flames, many had dubbed him the Flame Magician.

As he examined the panel in his mind, besides the status display, he saw a regional chat channel in the lower left corner.

In the upper right appeared the leaderboard and forum, while the bottom right showed the trading system and evolution points.

[Evolution Points: 628]

In the early stages, evolution points could only be earned by killing zombies—1 point for defeating stage 0 zombies, 10 points for stage 1.

Within the regional channel,

any thought could automatically be converted into text and sent out.

“What the hell is this? Has the game descended into reality?”

“Brothers, my roommate got bitten and turned into a zombie. He’s been hunting me down everywhere. I’ve been hiding in the bathroom for two days, starving and exhausted. Someone please save me…”

“Everyone says Xu Xian, Nie Caichen, and Dong Yong are the three legendary men of the world. I think I can be added to that list now!”

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Inside a villa in Hua City,

a naked young man looked with disgust at the naked zombie on the bed whose neck he had just broken.

That woman had been grabbed by a zombie once, but she hadn’t paid much attention. Then, while they were practicing the “Kun Technique,” she suddenly transformed into a corpse.

For anyone, this was an indelible shadow.

“I heard someone here can breathe fire. Is that an ability?”

“Haha, I awakened a B-rank talent: Mighty Fist. One punch and the zombie’s head exploded!”

“Big brother, please take me under your wing!”

“Brother, save me! I’ll keep your bed warm!”

Messages flooded the regional channel rapidly. Lin Yu glanced casually, then, with a thought, opened the leaderboard.

Currently, there were only two main leaderboards and two sub-leaderboards:

Daxia Rank List, Daxia Evolution Points List, Yun Province Rank List, Yun Province Evolution Points List.

On the Daxia and Yun Province rank lists, there was only one name:

First Place: Untitled.

Everyone knew this was definitely the first person to reach Level 5—the very individual responsible for the arrival of the rules.

Only those who reached Level 5 would appear on the leaderboard.

Lin Yu knew this top spot must belong to Chen Jing’er.

Opening the evolution points list revealed more names, most listed as Untitled.

At the top stood:

First Place: Magician, 628 Evolution Points

Second Place: Untitled, 86 Evolution Points

Third Place: Untitled, 72 Evolution Points

…

“Holy shit, look at the leaderboard!”

“Who is this Magician? Evolution points at 628, that’s terrifying!”

“Must be a big shot who awakened S-rank talent!”

“The big shot is right here in our Yun Province. Can he come save us? There are still hundreds of survivors in our neighborhood!”

“Dream on! It’s the apocalypse. Everyone’s just trying to survive. Who’s got the time to rescue you?”

“Exactly, in these times, only self-rescue counts. The best way is to go out, kill zombies, and level up!”

“Screw that! I’m weak as a kitten and haven’t eaten for nearly two days. Going out just means feeding the zombies!”

The regional channel exploded with chatter.

Lin Yu ignored it all and, according to his plan, opened the trading system.

At present, only domestic trades were supported; global trading was not yet possible.

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He divided all the zombie crystal cores and listed them sequentially on the trading market.

[Exchange 3 Zombie Crystal Cores for 1 Green Fruit!]

[Exchange 10 Zombie Crystal Cores for 1 Yellow Fruit!]

After posting the trades, the space before him rippled, and a spatial rift appeared. Lin Yu showed no surprise.

He tossed all the zombie crystal cores into the rift—this was the rule retrieving his trade items.

No one could explain this phenomenon; it was speculated to be the materialization of the rules themselves.

After all, this was no mere game. Everything was coded data, and with a simple click, items would automatically trade successfully.

This was a genuine item trade, with the rules taking away the traded goods and delivering the exchanged items.

After setting the trade orders, Lin Yu entered the forum.

At this time, the forum was already bustling with posts—various off-topic threads, technical discussions, and explorations.

Pinned at the top was a post explaining the effects of attribute fruits.

Using his mental strength, Lin Yu browsed through it. The information was mostly accurate and comprehensive.

Then, he wrote a post himself titled: [Long-Term Guide: Exchange Zombie Crystal Cores for Mana Fruits to Level Up Quickly and Survive the Apocalypse].

In the post, he focused on the crystal cores needed for leveling and the attribute changes after leveling up.

He also emphasized that consuming fruits was like opening a mystery box—no one knew what fruit they would get before absorbing it.

If it was a mana fruit, mental power fruit, or constitution fruit, it currently didn’t significantly boost combat power; absorbing them might not guarantee killing zombies.

But if one could exchange for crystal cores and level up, all attributes would increase by +5, making it much easier to singlehandedly defeat ordinary zombies.

After finishing the post, Lin Yu spent 10 evolution points to pin it at the top, ensuring it remained the first post.

For others to surpass it, they would have to outbid him.

Within a minute of posting, countless comments poured in.

“Taking advantage of the chaos, shameless!”

“Nonsense upstairs, the big shot is fair. 20 crystal cores per level, +5 all attributes; 10 cores equal half a level, totaling +10 attributes and 250 mana. Definitely more valuable than the yellow fruit’s +5 attributes!”

“But attribute fruits’ bonuses are extra and don’t conflict with leveling bonuses. I guess the gap is made up by attribute fruits.”

“That’s true, but what if the fruit boosts mental power? You could still end up killed by zombies or starve to death. Better to trade cores and level up to survive!”

Comments flew by nonstop, but Lin Yu paid no attention.

He had already stated in the post that any surplus crystal cores would be listed on the market.

After posting, Lin Yu reopened the trading market and saw his orders had been taken down.

With only 88 crystal cores left, all had been traded for fruits, leaving no cores to list and naturally causing his orders to disappear.