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Chapter 1 Patient Zero

My name is Patient Zero,

I find myself an NPC.

————

I used to think that I was the protagonist, probably the protagonist of novels such as "Dream of the Doomsday Every Night", "Dreams of Infinity", and "I Will Come From That Earth".

If someone often dreams that they are in another world that is experiencing the end of the world when they go to bed at night, and no matter how long they stay in that world, only one night has passed when they finally wake up, they will have the same thoughts as me.

Bar.

With a certain sense of mysterious superiority, I actively participated in saving these worlds facing doomsday, and as expected, I discovered their prototypes through various clues. So far, the worlds that can be clearly identified include "The Day After Tomorrow" and "I".

"Legendary", "Resident Evil", "2o12", "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and so on.

If I have any dissatisfaction, it is that the suspected golden finger is too weak. Its only function is to "wake me up" when I encounter certain death, and to return to the period before "waking up" the next time I dream.

As for the functions of strengthening tasks, redeeming them, and bringing the results of training or items obtained back to reality, they are completely absent, so much so that there are doubts about the existence of the golden finger itself.

Although it was a bit miserable at the beginning and I would wake up from time to time, due to my perseverance in loading files, I would eventually succeed in saving those worlds. It felt a bit like a movie called "Edge of Tomorrow".

Because I can’t bring anything out, there is absolutely no reward from those adventures. If I have to say it, my appreciation of disaster movies has become higher.

As for the accumulated experience of saving the doomsday...

Well, the real world is normal and that kind of thing doesn't happen.

————

One weekend morning, I once again dreamed of a doomsday world that was difficult to save, so I lay out of bed for a while.

After opening his eyes, he found a large red balloon with a play button floating in front of him.

Could it be that there is a naughty kid at home?

Subconsciously I reached out and pushed it, and it exploded.

[Tip: ‘pax-2oo’ has infected Patient Zero in Country C. Since it is in an unstable period, please use DNA points to evolve it as soon as possible to infect more people. 】

In my ears, no, it was a female voice that was obviously mechanically synthesized coming from my mind.

what is that--

Before I understood the situation, I saw my outstretched hand being dyed red, and then a circle of red strokes appeared like an animation rendering, and then I heard a ding sound like Mario had eaten a gold coin.

Judging from certain keywords, this seems to be the end of a biochemical virus...

So why did you run out of the dream?

No, wait, what I just heard seemed to be a system prompt, so that incompetent golden finger can be used?

"System!" I shouted towards the position of the balloon just now.

no response.

"Evolve! Check DNA points!" I tried shouting the related nouns I just heard.

The house was still quiet, but the sound of high heels could be heard in the corridor outside.

"What are you arguing about? Others thought there was a crazy girl in our house." Mom opened the door and walked in.

"Uh, I'm having a nightmare." I pretended to be sleepy and covered my head with a quilt while thinking about how to prevent the spread of that thing called "pax-2oo".

"Huh? Are you also scared by nightmares?" Mom came over and took off the quilt and reached out to touch my forehead.

Wait! Although you usually do it smoothly, things are different today!

Ding.

As expected, my mother's arm quickly turned red when she touched me, and then the same red edge appeared on her body.

"It seems that I don't have a fever. I'll come down early to eat when I wake up." Mom didn't seem to notice the red color, turned around and walked out and closed the door.

It's really bad. I have to think of countermeasures. Speaking from experience - wait, because it's the weekend and my father and brother seem to be at home too?

[Tip: ‘pax-2oo’ evolved into ‘airborne’ successfully. 】

Following the prompts in my ears, two faint dings came from downstairs.

Well, considering the population density of country C, airborne transmission is the most convenient. I have to find an excuse to ask them not to go out today.

But who is controlling evolution?

I raised my arms and looked at the faint red light above, and began to ask myself questions.

Question: What is the reason why the system ignores you even though you can hear the system prompts?

Answer: Not enough permissions, energy, points or similar stuff.

Ask again: The system is not responding to you, but is acting on its own. What is the reason?

Another answer: Someone else is in control and has higher authority than you.

The last question: Why are we forced to encounter very unfortunate and irreversible things when there is a system in place?

Final answer: You are an NPC needed by the plot.

Hold your forehead... So what should I do now? Keep smiling and say "he11o bsp; "I won't eat. I made an appointment with my classmates in the morning -" came downstairs, although my younger brother was a little hoarse because he was in the period of changing his voice, but he was still very loud.

There was an energetic sound, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.

I opened the curtains sideways and looked outside, and saw the kid just rushing out of the yard on a skateboard.

He was doing some little stunts while greeting the neighbors he met, while the system prompts on my side kept buzzing.

The neighbors living nearby began to turn red at an incredible rate, first the people, then the streets, and finally the entire houses.

It's like a drop of red ink fell into a pen washer that had just been filled with new water.

This younger brother may be approaching the rebellious stage. He doesn't listen to me very much recently. Even if I come up with some excuse to keep my family away from home, he won't listen.

But this is almost like actively spreading a virus. Is it within the design of the system?

So, it was planned that the big balloon would appear in front of me?

As expected, I am not the protagonist, just a key NPC.

————

With more than half of my worldview destroyed, I simply washed up and stumbled downstairs. I looked at the red edges on my parents' bodies expressionlessly. Their words and actions were as usual, but it looked weird against the dark red background.

While thinking about how to break the situation and sitting down at the table to have breakfast, the conversation between my father and my mother once again confirmed some of my suspicions.

"I'm going to Japan on a business trip in the afternoon." "Well, I'll see you off and go back to my parents' house on the way."

Look, even the direction of communication has been planned, including foreign countries and neighboring provinces.

Speaking of the previous dreams, none of the places of origin of the "doomsday" were country C.

So the apocalyptic world led by country C is what I think is reality, haha.

In my previous dreams, from the perspective of an outsider, I had saved quite a few people, but if it were me, no amount of people would be enough, because I am the center of the doomsday, so the possibility of being rescued is the lowest...

Calm down, wasn’t it just for this moment that you saved so many worlds before? Come on, you can do it, who is that——

Huh? What's my name?

"[Patient Zero], you are a sister. You will take good care of your brother when we are not at home, right?" Dad said to me.

I nodded while thinking: "Of course, no problem. If he is disobedient, I will let him know what it means to be like a sister like a mother."

etc!

What is my name? Patient Zero?

Why didn’t I realize something was wrong with such a stupid name until today?

"Patient Zero" in medicine refers to the first patient who contracted an infectious disease and began to spread the virus. In epidemiological investigations, it can also be called "initial case" or "marked case". It is this individual who caused the disease.

A large-scale infectious disease outbreak occurred.

Think about it again, what are your parents’ names? Do you remember what it says on their ID cards?

[Patient Zero’s father] [Patient Zero’s mother]

...I seemed to hear the sound of the worldview collapsing.

————

Soon after, family members went on what they thought was a business trip or trip, but in fact they were spreading the virus.

Although I have initially determined that this is a world created by some crappy doomsday game, I have no impression of it at all. To be honest, for example, there would be no Aunt Rowling in the world of Harry Potter. She is one dimension higher than you.

Coming.

But I still decided to try to save my life, such as finding a doctor or something.

Because this "pax-2oo" has done nothing but dye the world red. It seems that it has evolved to be airborne and then just waits for it to spread to the whole world on its own. In this case, I don't have no chance at all.

But the problem is that there are no "symptoms" at all, so the doctor will not prescribe me any medicine. Even if I go to the hospital for a test and successfully find it, it will be useless, because the microbial population that does not cause harm or even is beneficial is called "probiotics"

”, and common sense cannot destroy their balance.

To solve that problem, I have to drink antibiotics like crazy - that stuff is not for drinking, right?

Maybe now the "players" are planning to wait for "pax-2oo" to spread all over the world before all the symptoms suddenly evolve... ahem.

My throat felt a little itchy for no reason, and the next moment a system prompt appeared in my ear.

[Tip: Without using DNA points, ‘pax-2oo’ autonomously mutated into ‘cough’ symptoms]

Did patient zero even have symptoms early?

But it is exactly what I want. From the word "autonomous mutation", it can be seen that this event should be an accident to the "player", similar to the challenge given by the game itself, so take this opportunity to find a doctor quickly.

I quickly changed my clothes and went out, heading towards the clinic at the entrance of the community.

The community where my home is located is a group of small single-family high-rise buildings. Each family has its own yard. There is also a living water lake and a man-made hill nearby. The environment is very good, and various community services are complete. The name is just stupid - [Patient Zero]

Community].

Before today, no one had ever had an objection to this stupid name carved on a rockery. It was probably restricted by some rules just like my name. Being an NPC is really a sad thing.

The community services in the community are basically concentrated around the small park near the gate. Every signboard has the prefix "Patient Zero Community". It makes me feel embarrassed to have cancer. At the same time, I am more and more convinced of the role that the clinic can play.

Suspect.

Come on, "Patient Zero Community Clinic"!

[Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Surveillance Site]

……ha?

————

"Ahem, cough, cough -"

I originally thought the sign was exaggerated, but I was shocked again after walking into the clinic.

"Well, it looks very powerful. When did it start?" The doctor at the clinic, the source of the fright, looked at me and asked.

"Ahem - well, I felt like this when I got up this morning, and I didn't have a fever." I answered, covering my mouth.

Logically speaking, I have experienced a lot of reality-shattering things today, so I shouldn't be surprised by other little things, but this was obviously an unexpected situation.

This doctor, he's not dyed red at all!

In this world where a red filter seemed to be used and even the air was dyed a light red, only within a one-meter radius around him were the normal colors in his mind.

Is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention such a powerful place? If you reason about it, it should be the main enemy that the "player" needs to fight in order to pass the level.

"Really? Maybe he caught a cold. After all, your home is on the bank of an artificial lake." The doctor has natural curly hair that reaches up to his ears. His facial features and facial lines are very cold. Looking alone, he even looks a bit sinister, but he has a big black face.

The glasses suppressed them all.

"Hmm? Doctor, do you know me?" I tried hard to think about how to explain to him that I was infected with an unknown disease. Although I only have cough symptoms at the moment, it will destroy the world sooner or later - no normal person would believe it.

"Although I'm a bit boastful, I basically know all the residents in the community, Miss Zero." The doctor smiled at me, wrote down the prescription, stood up and walked to the medicine cabinet: "I personally suggest that you don't need to take medicine yet, but if

If you feel serious, take it according to the dosage.”

So I call the patient Zero, right? If I can handle this crisis, I will definitely change my name!

[Tip: ‘pax-2oo’ successfully degrades the ‘cough’ symptom and obtains DNA points. 】

Damn it! Sure enough, the "player" has been staring at the opening stage?

"Huh? What, do you feel serious?" When the doctor came over with the medicine, he saw me suddenly gritting my teeth and raised his eyebrows and asked.

"No, on the contrary, I feel almost better. It must be the curative effect of the air in the clinic." I said nonsense, paid and took the medicine, and then I found that even if I entered the doctor's "immune range", the red color did not expand.

Very good, it seems that this is a key NPC. If symptoms appear in the future, come to him immediately to "self". Even a layman like me knows that finding the source of infection is crucial to curing infectious diseases.

After thanking the doctor, I left the clinic.

Next, just pay attention to world news and system prompts.

————

[Tip: ‘pax-2oo’ successfully evolved ‘drug resistance’]

[Tip: ‘pax-2oo’ has spread to South America]

[Tip: ‘pax-2oo’ evolved into ‘water source propagation’ successfully]

[Tip: ‘pax-2oo’ has spread to Africa]

[Hint: ‘pax-2oo’ successfully evolved ‘drought adaptation’]

The next few days were just as I expected. The "player" had no intention of developing symptoms at all, but was constantly evolving the methods and speed of transmission. I just needed to adapt to a world where everything was covered with a layer of light red.

, you can also listen to the prompts to understand where "pax-2oo" has spread.

During this period, I had symptoms that mutated on my own several times, but they quickly degenerated before I went to see a doctor. Basically, I was the only one who was unlucky.

In order to "report" in time, I always found excuses to wander around the clinic, but before I could achieve my goal, a group of gossipy aunts and aunts made up rumors that I had a crush on the doctor.

"The girl from [Zero] seems to have fallen in love with the young man who works at [Monitoring Point] and is called [Monitor]~"

Please! Don’t you feel awkward spreading this kind of gossip? This world should be destroyed!

[Tip: Without using DNA points, ‘pax-2oo’ autonomously mutated into ‘nausea’ symptoms]

[Without using DNA points, ‘pax-2oo’ autonomously mutated into ‘stomach bleeding’ symptoms]

Probably because it is about to spread to the whole world, there have been two symptoms of autonomous mutation at once recently, but the "players" are always quick to degenerate them. I was walking in the small park and rushed there with the attitude of accepting fate.

Clinic.

It should be degraded soon, but before that it was me who had stomachache...

[Tip: Regression of 'nausea' symptoms failed, please regress advanced symptoms first]

Hmm? Speaking of which, the symptoms were all unrelated before, but this time they all seem to be related to digestive system problems?

[Tip: Regression of 'nausea' symptoms failed, please regress advanced symptoms first]

[Tip: Regression of 'nausea' symptoms failed, please regress advanced symptoms first]

A shuddering feeling ran along the back and went straight to the top of the head. Yes, this is the legendary state of "playing games in the middle of the night until you are too sleepy", just like the union in one of my games that opened up wasteland until midnight several times, and the whole group was killed.

Same as all kinds of sleepwalking.

We’ll talk about the time difference between worlds later! The most important thing now is that I have rushed to the door of the clinic!

"Pfft!" As soon as I stepped into the clinic door, I vomited a large pool of blood on the ground: "Monitor, help me——"

I hope I didn’t make a mistake in my judgment. Unlike something as trivial as a cold or a cough, this “advanced” symptom should be taken seriously.

The next moment, the colorless area that had been compressed almost to the monitor doctor's body suddenly expanded, covering the entire clinic.

[Tip: A new infectious disease has emerged in country c, named ‘pax-2oo’]

Before I could complain about this virus, I even introduced myself, when my vision went dark and I lost consciousness, so I had to laugh in my head.

Hum hum, let you play such a dark game, you must know that NPCs are not easy to mess with!


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