Chapter 120: Plague
Yes, the shy girl standing at the classroom door, only revealing a small part of her body, was Yu Cheng.
She was wearing a goose-yellow knitted sweater and loose beige harem pants, with a large flat-brimmed hat on her head, clearly not there for an exam.
“Um… that, it’s me…” The girl nodded gently, her face slightly red, revealing a shy smile.
The clothes, which seemed several sizes too large for her, made her appear very delicate, and this fragile aura became even more pronounced when she subconsciously shrunk her neck.
Both Mo Tan Tong Xue and Yi Dong recognized this girl, whom they had only met once in real life, at first glance, as her delicate appearance and rather “illegal” bust size made her quite noticeable.
Of course, neither of the two gentlemen present were the type to be easily swayed by hormones, but it hadn’t been long since that strange gathering, and their memories weren’t that bad.
What’s more, everyone has a unique temperament, even Kang Lan, who hadn't appeared in over a hundred chapters, was no exception.
“What a coincidence, what a coincidence~” Yi Dong greeted Yu Cheng in a familiar manner, “Are you alone? Want to come sit for a while?”
【The phrasing, which wasn’t meant as a pick-up line but easily made others mistake it for one, was so stupid…】
Mo Tan Tong Xue gave his friend a meaningful look, conveying the message, 'Your social skills truly make me despair.'
“Ah, is that okay…? Will I be bothering you?” Yu Cheng, however, didn’t mind, only answering in her almost inaudible mosquito-like voice, “I am indeed alone right now.”
Mo Tan Tong Xue felt a strong sense of contrast.
Unlike Yi Dong, who had been diligently leveling up during this time, Mo Tan Tong Xue had quite a bit of interaction with Yu Cheng in the game recently, which was why he felt a bit disoriented when he saw her in person again.
After all, in his impression, she should have been…
'Oh my! What a coincidence! ╰(*°▽°*)╯'
'Hello, Mo Tan Tong Xue! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o'
'What are you guys doing? (*-*)'
【It should be like this, it’s like two different people… But she was also like this when they met in reality last time, so is it ultimately a matter of personality?】
While casually guessing in his mind, Mo Tan Tong Xue smiled and said, “Not at all, we were just chatting, if you don’t mind, you can come over and just talk with us.”
“Mm, mm… Then I’ll intrude.” Yu Cheng then poked her head in and walked inside, her cautious demeanor as if she was holding Jia Deka’s magic staff.
She was indeed alone now; in fact, not long ago, an auntie was accompanying Yu Cheng, but because the other party suddenly had a small meeting to attend, she left first, stating before she left that Yu Cheng could go check a certain classroom, where there should be familiar people.
So Yu Cheng didn’t go directly back to the hotel where she had been staying these days, but obediently came over for a stroll first, and then she saw Mo Tan Tong Xue and Yi Dong.
“Yu Cheng, you’re not a student here, are you?” Yi Dong asked somewhat curiously, “Do you have any friends you know here?”
The girl, who had sat down opposite Mo Tan Tong Xue, gently shook her head and whispered, “No, I just… came here to visit.”
“Visit?” Yi Dong, who couldn’t skip classes all year like Mo Tan Tong Xue, clearly had no fondness for this place, and asked in surprise, “What’s there to visit in this rotten place? There should be quite a few fun places in B City, right? If you want to look around properly, I can introduce this guy to you as a guide.”
He pointed at Mo Tan Tong Xue beside him with a grin.
The latter, however, pouted, “Introduce me as a guide? Are you crazy?”
“Ah, I’m sorry…” Yu Cheng inexplicably apologized.
Mo Tan Tong Xue immediately waved his hand, “Don’t mind it, I didn’t mean that, it’s just that my sense of direction… uh… isn’t very good.”
“Mo Tan Tong Xue is being modest.” Yi Dong chuckled and explained to Yu Cheng, “His sense of direction is more than just ‘not very good’; honestly, these days, not many people can get lost near their own doorstep.”
Yu Cheng gasped in surprise, covering her mouth, and after staring at Mo Tan Tong Xue for several seconds, she quietly asked, “Yi Dong… are you joking?”
Mo Tan Tong Xue, currently in his ‘Absolute Neutral’ personality, shrugged, “Although I don’t really want to admit it, he’s not joking.
I really used to get lost near my home if I didn’t bring my phone.”
Then Yu Cheng burst out laughing, and immediately, flustered, whispered, “Ah, I’m sorry… I wasn’t laughing at you!”
“It’s fine.” Mo Tan Tong Xue said indifferently, “That was a long time ago, my ability to find my way is much stronger now.”
Indeed, ever since he mastered the skill of memorizing maps to position himself, Mo Tan Tong Xue’s ‘sense of direction’ had greatly improved.
However, it was also true that his sense of direction had not improved at all.
“So that’s how it is.” Yu Cheng nodded, her two fair, slender index fingers unconsciously tapping together, then she quietly asked Mo Tan Tong Xue, “Um… Mo Tan Tong Xue, how much longer until you reach Misha County?”
She was naturally referring to ‘Black Vatican’ in Innocent World, the only character equivalent to Mo Tan Tong Xue in the real world.
And Misha County was the place where the two had agreed to meet in the game, located in the east-central part of the continent, south of the Sanctuary, and north of the Violet Empire’s Fire Claw Territory, a large Plague-stricken area.
“Probably another three or four days.” Mo Tan Tong Xue calculated the time briefly, then spread his hands awkwardly, “I have a few part-time jobs in the evenings recently, so my online time isn’t very stable…”
This was, of course, a lie; after all, he and Yu Cheng weren't close enough for him to tell her about having three characters, so he explained it this way to both Yu Cheng and Wan Yang and the others.
Yu Cheng nodded and said weakly, “It’s okay, we still need about two more days to get there.
We’ve met a lot of refugees fleeing to the Sanctuary these past two days, and Holy Maiden… and I have been helping them, so our travel speed won’t be too fast either.”
“Refugees?” Mo Tan Tong Xue frowned slightly, “How serious is the Plague?”
“Much more serious than previously expected.” Yu Cheng seemed less introverted when discussing matters in the game.
She said worriedly, “The Plague is spreading rapidly, and the dozens of churches within Misha County still haven’t found the source.
They are already doing their best just to treat the victims, Mo Tan Tong Xue, you must be careful when you come…”
In fact, by the time Yu Cheng was forced offline this morning, things had already become somewhat uncontrollable.
Natural and man-made disasters in Innocent World are not uncommon, but the ‘Plague,’ which has almost as much destructive power as war in reality, generally cannot cause large-scale harm to people…
One should know that although medical science in the game still remains in the Middle Ages, there are many powers such as magic, divine arts, and alchemy in the Innocent Continent, and these powers often do not follow logical rules.
Perhaps no priest understands the principle of a cold, but this does not prevent them from directly achieving the goal of ‘healing’ with divine arts.
They don't need to understand what hemolytic streptococcus is, nor do they need to know about influenza bacillus, pneumococcus, staphylococcus, and all sorts of other things.
In most cases, these clerics only need to mumble a few words like 'XXX is bluffing you!', 'Goddess help me!', 'Divine power is invincible!', 'My God!' and that's enough.
Divine arts are so unreasonable, and so is magic, and even the magic potions concocted by Alchemists often go straight to the result, ignoring the process.
This made something like Plague have very little market in Innocent Continent…
Even the Black Death, which caused a total of over 100 million deaths in reality, would probably be resolved with a prayer or a single spell in Innocent World.
So, the news of the Plague outbreak in Misha County didn’t cause much of a stir before.
The Holy Church United, which had no affiliation with it, didn’t pay too much attention to the matter, and the aid sent this time was merely out of the self-cultivation of the clergy.
But now, it seems the situation is different from what was previously expected…
The churches, Mage Guild, scholars, and Alchemists in Misha County were all helpless against this Plague.
The epidemic, which was originally thought to be confined to a few main outbreak areas, expanded several times over in just a few days, and the death toll rose geometrically.
As of today, more than 70% of Misha County, which previously only had a few affected villages and towns, has become an epidemic area!
“The churches of all sizes there have tried very hard, and many mages and Alchemists skilled in healing magic have also tried various methods, but… with very little effect.” Yu Cheng lowered her small head, saying somewhat heavily, “Many people are powerless.”
Mo Tan Tong Xue also sighed softly, “I’ll try to speed up, though it seems I won’t be much help.”
One must know that his professional level in the church was, at most, that of an apprentice priest.
Since the local church was helpless, even if he went, he probably wouldn’t be of much use…
“Uh, sorry to interrupt.” Yi Dong suddenly narrowed his eyes and interrupted, “Are you two talking about… a game?”
Mo Tan Tong Xue glanced at him, “That’s right, simply put, ‘I’ and Yu Cheng are both heading to a place called Misha County, where a very serious Plague has broken out.”
He emphasized the word ‘I’ more, clearly reminding Yi Dong of something.
“Alright, we’re quite far apart, so it seems I won’t be able to help this time.” Yi Dong casually cooperated, then motioned for Yu Cheng to ignore him.
The girl drew circles on the table with a worried expression, and after a long while, she quietly said to Mo Tan Tong Xue, “Don’t rush, but you must protect yourself.
There have already been cases of clerics dying, if you accidentally get infected… you must quickly come find us, Holy Maiden will have a way.”
“Don’t worry~” Mo Tan Tong Xue shook his head, “We are players, even if we accidentally get infected, at most we just die and restart, and didn’t you say before that divine arts still have some control over the Plague~ I don’t think it’s a big problem.”
Yu Cheng nodded, then showed a gentle smile, “But it’s quite a surprise.
I originally thought it would be a few more days before we met, but I didn’t expect to run into Mo Tan Tong Xue in reality first, and also Yi Dong, it feels a bit like a pleasant surprise…”
“Haha, however you look at it, I seem to be an add-on.” Yi Dong pretended to be hurt and winked at Yu Cheng, “Like a freebie.”
As expected, under his good-natured teasing, the girl immediately lowered her head, her face flushed, and stammered an explanation, “No, not at all… it’s just that I chatted with Mo Tan Tong Xue a bit more in the game before…”
“Stop messing around.” Mo Tan Tong Xue elbowed Yi Dong, then turned to Yu Cheng and said, “He’s just joking, don’t take him seriously.
And you can just call us by our names, calling us ‘Tong Xue’ feels a bit too formal.”
Fortunately, he was currently in an ‘Absolute Neutral’ state.
If his current personality were ‘chaotic neutral’… Mo Tan Tong Xue would absolutely make Yu Cheng call him by his English name.
Something like Grand Fard…
“Okay, okay, Mo Tan Tong… uh, Mo Tan.” Yu Cheng changed her address quite quickly; Sir Tairo’s previous ‘Great King Triple’ had left her with a considerable shadow, so… do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Mo Tan Tong Xue smiled at her, “Don’t worry, I remember you said that Holy Maiden is very powerful.
If I accidentally get infected with the Plague, I will definitely come to you as soon as possible.
By the way, have the transmission routes and the nature of the Plague been figured out?”
“I don’t know…” Yu Cheng pinched the corner of her clothes in distress, sighing softly, “The transmission routes are unclear, but they definitely include droplet infection, foodborne transmission, wound infection, and waterborne transmission.
However, soil transmission, vector-borne transmission, and airborne transmission are also very possible, it feels completely impossible to start anywhere.”
Yi Dong was stunned, and after a long silence, he clicked his tongue and said, “Did you specifically search for that on Adu?!”
“I’m studying medicine in S City, so I know a little about some pathological knowledge.” Yu Cheng shrunk her neck a bit shyly, “But what I know is actually limited…”
Mo Tan Tong Xue shook his head, “I think no matter how much you know, it’s useless, because it’s not the same system at all, and there’s no professional equipment or tools.
It would be very difficult to try to approach it from the perspective of modern medicine.”
“That’s right…” Yu Cheng lowered her shoulders, her brows filled with sorrow, “Many of those refugees are also infected, everyone is so pitiful, but my divine art level is too low, I can’t help too many people, although Holy Maiden can temporarily cope, but…”
“But?”
“Misha County has been sealed off, and there… are still hundreds of thousands of people…”
Chapter 117: End