Shen Lu: I've Mutated into Multiple Game-Breaking Abilities

Chapter 17: Lin Shurou

“Is anyone home?” After entering, Ling Yi called out a few times. Seeing no response, he set Lin Shurou down on the living room sofa and began looking around. It was a small two-story house; the entrance led directly into the living room. A large red rug covered the center of the room, upon which three burgundy sofas—one long and two short—were neatly arranged. In the middle of the sofas stood a large solid-wood table, completely empty. Lin Shurou was currently lying on the two-meter-long sofa in the middle. Opposite this set of sofas was an approximately 80-inch TV mounted on the wall—much larger than the one in Ling Yi’s room. He walked around the first floor, from the kitchen on the left to the gym on the right, and also checked out the bathroom and storage room, finding that all these areas were exceptionally clean. In the kitchen, he saw only a set of dishes and utensils that had been taken out to be washed. It looked like they’d been washed after last night’s meal. “Is she really the only one here?” At the thought of this possibility, Ling Yi immediately furrowed his brow. He’d only intended to take her home; he’d leave the rest to her family to handle. Who would’ve thought she actually lived alone? Raising an eyebrow, Ling Yi felt helpless. He had no choice but to take her cell phone out of her pocket to see if he could help her contact her family. But to his surprise, her contact list was just like his—as blank as a sheet of paper! Ling Yi: “......” He rubbed his chin, staring at the girl’s gentle, sleeping profile, and mused, “Living all alone, with no contact information for any relatives or friends.” “Could this girl be a victim of some kind of accident?” He didn’t really care about her identity. What he cared about more was what to do next. “Oh well, might as well see it through. I’ll figure out how to break this curse,” Ling Yi said with a sigh after gazing at the girl for a moment. His place was just up ahead anyway, so he wasn’t in a hurry to get back. He immediately sat down on the nearby sofa and logged onto a forum to search for a solution to the nightmare curse. Before long, He found several solutions. The simplest one was to simply buy a curse-removal talisman from the Divine Path Store. It was a talisman capable of lifting low-level curses; just one could remove a low-level curse cast on players (including ordinary people) below level 10. He logged into the Divine Path Store and discovered that there was a daily limit of one talisman per player, and each cost only 1 gold coin. “That cheap? If I’d known, I would’ve searched for a cure right there in the dining hall.” Ling Yi, looking utterly speechless, purchased the [Curse-Lifting Talisman] and immediately used it on the sleeping girl. The next moment. A cluster of pale blue specks of light materialized out of thin air, as if a small constellation had appeared in this space. These specks drifted slowly toward Lin Shurou’s body, penetrating her clothes and merging with her skin. “She should be healed by now.” Ling Yi was already preparing to leave. But just then, a message appeared before him that was far beyond his expectations. [Current Curse Removal Progress: 1/3] [Hint: This target is above Level 10 and requires more curse-removal power! ] “Above Level 10!?” His eyes widened as he stared in astonishment at the sleeping woman. It was truly hard to associate this delicate-looking woman with a powerful high-level player. As he stood there in astonishment, the woman’s eyelids began to flutter rapidly, as if she were struggling to wake herself up. Ling Yi thought for a moment and decided she might need a little help, so he gently shook her. The effect was immediate. Lin Shurou woke up at once, her moist, sapphire-blue eyes widening. When Ling Yi looked over, she turned her eyes toward him as well. They locked eyes for a moment, then the woman let out a soft gasp of “Ah!” and immediately scrambled to her feet. Crossing her arms over her chest, she scurried to the corner of the sofa like a startled little rabbit. Her face was flushed with embarrassment. “How did you wake up?” Ling Yi asked curiously. The curse-breaking progress was clearly only at one-third—wasn’t she supposed to wake up only after it was fully broken? But under these circumstances, that statement carried a bit of ambiguity. Lin Shurou glanced at him nervously, then quickly looked down at herself. Seeing that her clothes were still intact, she finally breathed a slight sigh of relief. Seeing this Ling Yi immediately added, “Wasn’t the curse-breaking progress only at one-third?” “Even with just a tiny bit of progress, I can wake up for a short while,” Lin Shurou replied timidly. “Well, since you’re awake and you’re a player too, you can handle this on your own from here on out. I won’t stick around.” Ling Yi waved his hand and was about to leave. But just as he turned around and hadn’t taken a single step, an urgent voice called out from behind him: “Wait a minute—I still need your help.” “Huh?” Ling Yi turned back, looking puzzled. Seeing this, Lin Shurou took a deep breath and explained her situation to him. It turned out. She used to be a player—a Level 30 player. Back then, she was optimistic and cheerful, always wearing a confident smile. Later. During a Shen Lu assessment, their server failed the test. The crystal was seized by the Demon Army, and everyone on the server was permanently restricted from “entering the Shen Lu or using player powers.” In other words, although her level remained, she was now just an ordinary person. Having fallen from being an extraordinary being back to an ordinary person, she felt a profound lack of security. Ever since then, she’d been extremely cautious in everything she did, and her personality had gradually become more timid. “Although I still have a level now, I can no longer use my player powers.” As Lin Shurou spoke, she took off her shoes and placed her feet—clad in white stockings—on the sofa, sitting cross-legged and facing Ling Yi. “I can’t access the Divine Path Store, so I have no way to buy a Curse-Removal Talisman. That’s why I’ll need your help for the next two days.” With that, she finally explained the whole story clearly. “Oh, is that all? No big deal.” Ling Yi understood as well. It simply meant buying her one [Curse-Removal Talisman] each day for the next two days. The cost of two gold coins was nothing to him. He patted his chest and agreed right away. Lin Shurou looked at his generous smile, pondered for a moment, then pursed her lips and whispered, “But I don’t really have anything to repay you with.” Her gaze swept back and forth around her home for a moment; seeing nothing worth offering, she looked even more flustered. Ling Yi, however, didn’t see it that way. “No, you do have something to repay me with.” He stared at Lin Shurou’s face and chuckled. She used to be a Level 30 player who had nearly completed the entire beginner’s map. The information in her head was worth far more than a few gold coins! Although most of this information was public and could likely be found with a thorough search on the forums it was undoubtedly better to have someone right here who already knew it. Seeing the young man in front of her staring at her and smiling, Lin Shurou froze for a moment, then her cheeks flushed. She wrapped both hands around her chest again and stammered nervously, “Th-th-th-that kind of thing isn’t allowed.” Her large, azure, dewy eyes were on the verge of welling up with tears. Ling Yi: “......” He skipped over the topic and formally introduced himself to her. “Come to think of it, you don’t know my name yet, do you?” He held out his hand to her and continued, “Let’s get properly acquainted. My name is Ling Yi.” “The ‘Ling’ as in ‘soaring ambitions,’ and the ‘Yi’ as in ‘unparalleled excellence.’ ” “I just became a player today, and right now… well… I’m at a pretty good level.” Lin Shurou blinked, staring at him blankly for a long moment. Then, with a resigned sigh, she extended her snow-white hand and placed it in his palm. “Lin Shurou. It doesn’t have any special meaning—you can call me whatever you like.” “Just an ordinary person with no one to rely on.”