This didn't seem to match the original plot. In the original story, the host didn't go through the fever stage—so her arrival had clearly altered the predetermined storyline. That was great! It meant she had a chance to gain an ability.
However, Xie Lingruo couldn't let her guard down. She had to stay calm. If she ended up mutating into a zombie… well, that would be a disaster.
She had originally wanted to ask the system about her condition, but to her frustration, the thing wouldn't respond no matter how she tried to contact it. Helpless, she could only rely on herself, tying herself to the bed and silently enduring the virus violently clashing through her body.
The process was long and grueling. More than once, Xie Lingruo had wanted to give up resisting the virus. But every time she thought about what would happen if she failed—that she'd be sent to the Punishment Plane—she would grit her teeth. She had to succeed. Failure wasn't an option.
After five long hours of fierce struggle with the virus, Xie Lingruo lay in bed like a dead fish, completely drained. She couldn't even lift a finger, her entire body drenched in sticky sweat.
She truly couldn't move. It took another half hour for her to regain some strength. Then, she quickly took a fruit knife from her space and cut herself free from the bindings.
Unfortunately, because her limbs were so uncoordinated, she had cut and bruised herself in several places just to regain her freedom. Now that she thought about it, tying herself up had been an utterly stupid move—basically digging her own grave.
At this point, Xie Lingruo finally realized: she was still human.
She carefully tried to sense the energy in her body and attempted to activate it—but nothing appeared in her hand.
In that moment, she panicked. Was her bad luck acting up again? She had clearly survived the zombie virus—so where was her power?
Wait… just now, when she tried to use that energy, she saw her brother's room. He was already awake, and Papa Xie was helping untie him.
Could it be…?
Yes! That must be the mental-type ability mentioned in the original book. It allowed users to view nearby areas, and once upgraded, could even be used for mental spikes, psychic control, and other hidden attacks.
Thinking about this, Xie Lingruo suddenly felt invincible. Now she had the power to take down that scumbag and that scheming woman. But when she remembered that her ability was still only level 0, she couldn't help but blush a little.
Still, mental powers came with major drawbacks. In the early stages, they were the slowest to level up, because mental-type crystals were extremely rare—only one in a thousand.
What's more, because of their rarity, some twisted scientists loved experimenting on people with mental powers.
So, until she grew stronger, Xie Lingruo decided she must not expose her psychic powers. Publicly, she would continue to pretend she only had spatial abilities.
At this moment, Xie Lingruo began planning seriously in her mind. Her revenge must be swift and fatal—she couldn't leave her enemies any room to breathe. Otherwise, the consequences would be endless.
Fortunately, her earlier planning seemed to have paid off.
Yes—one of her major moves had been hiring paparazzi to expose the affair between those two scumbags. A key reason was to destroy Zhang Wenbin's influence within the team.
In the original novel, the two of them had used her space to win favor within the team, always ostracizing her as just a powerless normal person.
But now, things were different. The space ability had returned to its rightful owner, and their reputations were completely ruined. She figured Lin Yiyi and the rest could no longer live the high life like before.
Meanwhile, Lin Yiyi and Zhang Wenbin were currently hiding in a tiny rental apartment. Ever since people had found out about their affair, everyone around them distanced themselves, and they hadn't been able to find Xie Lingruo, either.
Some people who had always disliked them had even posted their scandal online, attracting widespread scorn and condemnation.
Suddenly, they became the targets of public hatred, with no one willing to hire them. They were forced to rely on their meager savings to survive.
But somehow, it seemed like the world's will still favored them. Lin Yiyi had awakened lightning abilities, and Zhang Wenbin had awakened fire abilities. It could only be said that their luck had not run out.
After waking from their fever and discovering their powers, the two were extremely smug, thinking of themselves as chosen by heaven.
Of course, Xie Lingruo didn't know any of this yet. She was currently getting ready to go to Xie Lingfeng's room—she wanted to see what kind of ability her brother had awakened.