Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 163: The 50:50 mark

Qingran frowned slightly at that but didn’t say anything. She got out of bed, changed into fresh clothes, and stepped into the living area.

She could hear soft shuffling from the guest room, and after a moment, Jiyao emerged, hair still tousled from sleep.

"Morning," the girl said quietly.

Qingran nodded. "Sleep well?"

Jiyao nodded. "A little bit. I kept dreaming of the zombies..haha.." she chucked nervously.

Jiyao fell quiet, when Meng Nian, Feng Yuxi and Bai Shiyue entered the living room.

"Good morning." They said in unison, Bai Shiyue sat down, still looking sleepy.

"Morning. Please stand out your reports for yesterday. The room that has only 5, assign Jiong Jiyao there. I think that should be the 38th floor?"

Meng Nian nodded, he stood up and relayed his part. "So far there are 5 injured people in floor 34. 2 with broken arm or ankle, while 2 with major cuts and just 1 person with a odd looking burn."

Qingran eyes narrowed, she wanted to go the hospital as soon as possible, her aim there was to rescue the doctors and nurses there .

Rescuing patients might be an hassle, they were already sick.

"Feng Yuxi show Jiyao to her room. Meng Nian let’s head to 34th floor."

Feng Yuxi nodded, giving Jiyao a small, reassuring smile. "Come on, I’ll take you down."

Jiyao hesitated, glancing once more at Qingran before nodding. "Okay."

Qingran didn’t miss the way the girl lingered in the doorway before finally leaving with Feng Yuxi. She’d need to keep an eye on her—Lingquan’s earlier observation about her neural activity wasn’t something she could ignore. Not in this world.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Qingran turned to Meng Nian. "Let’s move."

Meng Nian adjusted the tablet in his hand and followed her into the hallway. The elevator doors opened with a soft chime, and they stepped inside.

"Any developments overnight?" she asked.

"Nothing extreme," Meng Nian replied. "But the man with the burn... I think you should see it yourself. The others are stable, just uncomfortable."

The ride was quick, the faint hum of the elevator in the background. As they arrived at the 34th floor, Qingran noticed it was quieter than the others. No sound of conversation, just the subdued stillness of people waiting, hurting.

She and Meng Nian stepped into the hallway, they met Yu Song and Chen Wei there.

"Good morning.." they greeted. The entire floor smelt of antiseptic.

Qingran nodded in greeting, her expression unreadable. "Morning. Status?"

Chen Wei answered, glancing at his notes. "Aside from the five you already know about, no one else has shown signs of worsening injuries. The pain meds are holding them over, but we’re running low on antiseptics and gauze."

"We’ll resupply at the hospital today," Qingran said. "What about the burn victim?"

Yu Song shifted his weight, glancing toward a closed door at the far end of the hallway. "Still unconscious. No fever, but he’s twitchy in his sleep. Like he’s fighting something. I’ve kept the door sealed, just in case."

"We’re about to check on him now," Meng Nian added, gesturing for Qingran to follow.

She stopped outside Room 3412. The door was cracked open, a faint greenish light filtering through the gap.

Meng Nian pushed it open fully.

The air inside felt wrong.

It was colder than the hallway, and despite the closed windows, it smelled faintly metallic—like copper and ozone.

The man lay in the bed exactly as before. Shirtless, bandages wrapped tight around his torso, sweat glistening on his brow. His limbs twitched now and then, as if reacting to a dream he couldn’t wake from.

Qingran stepped closer. "Any changes to the wound?"

Chen Wei, who’d followed them in, shook his head. "None. But... watch this."

He moved to the bedside, peeled back the bandages carefully.

The skin underneath shimmered.

It had spread.

What had once been a palm-sized mark was now crawling toward the man’s ribs and shoulder—still no signs of infection, no open wounds, but the skin had taken on a pearlescent gleam, like oil on water.

Qingran leaned in, her jaw tightening.

[Lingquan.]

[Yes, host?]

"Scan again."

A pause. Then—

[Subject still tests negative for infection. However, neural activity has increased by 13%. Cellular mutation rate elevated. Origin remains unknown.]

Qingran swore under her breath. "What kind of mutation?"

[The subject’s cells are attempting to integrate an external energy source. The nature of this energy is... anomalous.]

Her hand clenched into a fist.

"Energy like mine?" she asked quietly.

[No. This is not system-granted. It’s something else. Environmental. Possibly viral-adjacent.]

Qingran pulled back, voice sharp. "He didn’t inhale any strange mist or consume anything untested, right?"

Chen Wei and Yu Song shook their heads simultaneously.

"There were no chemical agents, and we sanitized him immediately after. He never regained consciousness long enough to eat or drink. We don’t even know his name, he suddenly passed out when we were checking for injuries."

Meng Nian exhaled slowly. "Could it be connected to the zombies?"

Qingran’s gaze flicked to the glowing skin.

"Maybe," she muttered. "Or maybe something new is evolving out there."

There was a moment of silence as that possibility settled between them.

Then she straightened. "Seal this room. No one else enters unless I say so. If he wakes up, alert me immediately." ƒгeewebnovёl.com

Yu Song nodded grimly. "Understood."

"We move to the hospital in an hour. Prep yourselves, get your weapons. We’re going in to pull out the medical staff."

Qingran stared at the mark, it had begin to spread like something rotting, poisoning him slowly.

"Lingquan get me symptoms, I don’t care how...but we need to know what’s going on with him."

["..."]

[Got it. I’ll do my best. Maybe you can start using your mind reading ability. Maybe you can read his mind to know what really happen to him."

Qingran’s eyes brightened, she had really forgotten about the mind reading ability.

"Of course, how could I forget about this. How do I kick start it?"