Tang Yu nearly cried out in terror, but luckily he had already guessed something before turning his head, and now he forced himself to hold his breath.
The three paper effigies still stared fixedly at him.
Tang Yu not only held his breath, he didn’t dare move a muscle. It was as if he had really become a delicate, exquisite paper effigy himself.
The eyes of the two large paper effigies began rolling around, as if searching for something.
The next second, they suddenly lunged straight at Tang Yu, their deathly pale faces, rouged with blush, pressing against his own.
On every floor stood at least one player.
The first rule said: if you encounter danger, immediately contact property management and press multiple buttons to avoid exposing your real residence.
She Qulin pressed three elevator buttons: 6, 11, and 4.
Soon, messages popped up in the group chat:
“Nothing found on the 20th floor. Do you think the monster went directly into an NPC’s home? Should I just pick a lock?”
“There’s a monster on the 6th floor! D*mn, d*mn, it’s just the two of us! Get over here quick!”
“4th floor has that dead man too! Hurry, we need people!”
“Why nothing on 11th floor? @She Qulin did you really press 11?”
“D*mn it! How can this monster be visible but untouchable?! No matter which direction you look from, it’s always its back—you can’t grab it at all!”
“……”
The 6th and 4th floors both had monsters appear, but only the 11th did not. It seemed that this particular strange being really did dread the anomaly in Tang Yu’s home.
Although the players were now all surrounding the monster, it didn’t follow them, because for the moment none of those players had signed a rental or purchase contract.
This world was completely realistic—whether renting or buying, it all required money and time.
She Qulin had paid extra money to speed up the process and become an official resident of the building.
He continued pressing buttons, every floor except the 11th.
The players in the group went mad, begging for reinforcements. The shadow monster appeared on nearly every floor number She Qulin pressed, except the 19th and 20th.
Why? Was it because those were the last two floors he pressed?
***
The first time a Nightmare-level “anomaly” was recorded by headquarters, it was when someone discovered a bus that, in the span of one night, appeared successively in two cities thousands of miles apart.
Its driving route made no sense, its body so mottled the license plate couldn’t be read, and the driver’s seat completely empty. All this proved it was no ordinary bus, but a strange being with autonomous activity.
However, since no casualties occurred wherever the ghost bus passed, when it was first recorded, headquarters classified it as Harm-level.
Only when an ability-user accidentally sighted the ghost bus and reported what he had seen did headquarters reclassify it as Nightmare-level.
Chameleon, as an A-rank ability-user, had clearance to read the record book. He still remembered the page on the ghost bus—it carried a single sentence that made his hair stand on end: “The ghost bus is full of ghosts.”
That ability-user was very low-ranked and had only brief contact with the ghost bus. He said that while he was entangled with an ordinary-level anomaly, a beam of light suddenly flashed into his eyes and blinded him.
Before he could even realize what was happening, a chill and shudder swept through his body, as if something cold had passed right through him.
When he opened his eyes again, an old-fashioned bus had silently passed by his side. Inside, the carriage was pitch dark, rows of passengers sat stiffly in their seats, their faces indistinct.
The anomaly he had been fighting only a moment ago had also become one of the passengers on that bus.
The low-ranked ability-user swore the bus was packed with ghostly passengers, but some suspected that in his over-nervous state, he had simply hallucinated.
After all, if the ghost bus really was filled with anomalies, even if they were the weakest kind, countless people would have died.
But so far, every appearance of the ghost bus had caused no casualties, so headquarters left its classification at Nightmare-level.
And now—this unpredictable ghost bus had appeared right before his eyes, and was somehow linked with Tang Yu, whose danger level was even higher!
What was going on?!
Did Tang Yu know about the ghost bus?!
Were they about to clash?!
But…
Chameleon recalled the scene from not long ago: Tang Yu had just walked to the roadside when the ghost bus silently pulled up, stopping perfectly before him. Calm and unhurried, Tang Yu boarded, the doors closed, and man and bus disappeared from Chameleon’s sight.
The scene had flowed as smoothly as water, as if rehearsed hundreds, thousands of times. There was no sense of confrontation at all. On the contrary, it almost looked like…
The ghost bus was Tang Yu’s personal means of transport.
Chameleon was shaken by the sudden, absurd thought.
Impossible.
How could a Nightmare-level anomaly possibly be reduced to an ability-user’s vehicle?!
But… why not?
Chameleon’s heart raced, and he couldn’t stop following that line of thought.
If Tang Yu could so easily handle a Nightmare-level Dream Ghost, why couldn’t he command the ghost bus as well?
Why had Tang Yu suddenly changed his schedule this night?
Where was he going on the ghost bus?
Judging from his outfit, it looked like he was going to a funeral.
Reddish-blue eyes surfaced in Chameleon’s mind. At first sight they had only inspired dread—Tang Yu’s overwhelming power left no room for other thoughts. But now, recalling carefully, the crushing pressure had faded enough for the beauty of the details to emerge.
Chameleon found himself dwelling on those eyes, as if they had just cried—those wet, blue eyes.
Could such a strong, mysterious, almost inhumanly beautiful ability-user… also shed tears?
The midnight rain poured on. Thoughts swirled in his mind like the rain, falling heavily onto his heart.
Why had he cried in this dark night?
For what… or for whom?
The damp blue eyes filled his thoughts. Lush lashes fluttered like butterfly wings, and the fragile sorrow spilling over turned into tears streaming down.
The damp water trail slid down Chameleon’s Adam’s apple, slipping lower toward his chest, seeping into his skin, passing through his ribs, and sinking deep into his violently pounding heart.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The sound of his heartbeat was deafening.
A superpowered being, practically a walking natural disaster—yet he had a side so fragile, he could shed tears…
Chameleon found himself entranced, replaying that moment over and over again: the stark contrast, the thrill of approaching danger during his investigation, and those blue eyes, still damp from crying…
BOOM!
Sudden thunder shattered the whirlpool of infatuated thoughts.
Chameleon broke out in a cold sweat, a wave of lingering fear washing over him.
***
“But after a while, it should be fine!” Yu Gu hurried to explain, afraid his wife would think he was useless. “Once €€* grows up, it’ll all be okay!”
* the text has this symbol
Tang Yu saw right through Yu Gu’s current frustration and nervousness, and gently reassured him, “Alright, I believe €€ will grow up very soon.”
When €€ grows up, that means his wife will love him even more!
Which basically means—his wife just confessed to him again!
Overjoyed, Yu Gu happily took two big bites of rice, wishing he could grow up right this second.
Tang Yu picked up a bite of food. Watching Yu Gu happily cradle the bowl and scarf down rice with a blissful face, his own appetite was stirred. He mentally added another career to the list of jobs Yu Gu might be good at: food streamer.
“By the way, Tang Yu,” Yu Gu swallowed his mouthful of rice and looked at Tang Yu with bright amber eyes, “do you dislike that guy just now because he’s too smart?”
“I don’t dislike him because he’s smart,” Tang Yu said softly. “Just like I don’t like you because you’re dumb.”
“Eh?” Yu Gu scratched his head, wearing an expression of vague confusion but clear delight.
His wife just said he likes him!
The next second, there was a knock at the door—knock knock knock.
Yu Gu’s smile froze on his face.
Who is it?! What the h8ll?! Why is someone bothering me and my wife while we’re eating?! My wife hasn’t eaten in like ten minutes! She’s gonna starve to death!!!
Tang Yu glanced at Yu Gu’s face, which was about to explode with rage, just as a familiar voice sounded from outside the door: “Tang Yu, it’s me, She Qulin. I just introduced ten households to Li Sheng’s paper effigy shop today.”
No wonder he’s pissed—it involves Li Sheng.
Tang Yu reached out his hand toward Yu Gu. Instinctively, Yu Gu tried to take it—
—but that pale hand… dodged.
Dodged.
Opened.
Let go.
Yu Gu: “……?!”
He looked like a well-trained puppy who had been taught to shake hands, but just as he raised his paw out of habit, his owner pulled their hand away.
“I’m not some dumb mutt, I’m Yu Gu. You’ve got the wrong guy.” Yu Gu turned to Shen Junxing and scratched his head. “Dr. Shen, did you maybe sneak a bite of his brain while you were treating him?”
“Eat what? What brain? Dr. Shen likes eating that sort of thing?” the elderly man asked enthusiastically, the sincerity nearly spilling off his face. He looked ready to pack up a whole basket of brains and gift them to Shen Junxing.
“Sir, you should head home and get some rest,” Shen Junxing patiently advised. “Staying up too late isn’t good for the brain—your memory can deteriorate.”
The old man muttered, “Getting old, huh. My memory’s already going. Well then, I’ll get going, Dr. Shen—have a good rest!”
Tang Yu poked his head out from behind Yu Gu and watched the elderly man’s shuffling figure slowly disappear into the night.
The old man looked like such a kind grandpa. Would Shen Junxing’s treatment really harm someone like that?
After the man left, Shen Junxing seemed to sense the doubt in Tang Yu’s mind. He turned back and said gently:
“Don’t worry, Little Yu. It wasn’t anything good to begin with.”
Tang Yu: “……?”
What does that mean? “Wasn’t good to begin with?” Is he saying the old man already had a condition—like Alzheimer’s?
“But I’ll cure it,” Shen Junxing’s gentle eyes behind the lenses looked at Tang Yu. “Not just that one—every ‘it’ in the village—I’ll heal them all.”
“See? In my clinic’s coverage area, no one’s died, no one’s gotten sick. Everyone’s living well. Isn’t that perfectly normal?” Shen Junxing spread his arms in the dark like a savior giving a speech.
Tang Yu stared dazedly at him. His head was spinning. Every word Shen Junxing said felt wrong, but he couldn’t figure out why.
This feeling… ah, it was like being in math class.
Yu Gu, on the other hand, scoffed at Shen Junxing’s claim. He muttered, “What kind of cure is that? If the brain ends up like this, that’s a quack doctor. In my opinion, just drink a bowl of talisman water and it’ll be fine.”
Tang Yu looked blankly at Yu Gu.
Yu Gu quickly patted his chest. “Really! Drink it and it’ll grow a brain! Super smart!”
Tang Yu: “……?”
Talisman water that cures dementia? No, from what Yu Gu said, it even makes you grow a brain? Even commercials wouldn’t go this far!
While Tang Yu stared in confusion, Yu Gu explained clumsily but earnestly: “Wife, don’t worry about what others say about that weird disease in Double Happiness Village. And don’t believe them saying it was my grandpa who spread it—that’s slander!”
Tang Yu: “……?”
Wait, did anyone say the illness was from Yu Gu’s grandpa? Maybe it was just Shen Junxing who said people believed he was the first to get it?
But then again, he vaguely remembered hearing it… or did he forget? His memory wasn’t great.
“I think that so-called illness is actually caused by dirty things in the village. Before, Grandpa was here and could suppress them. They didn’t dare hurt people. After Grandpa died and I left, no one could protect the village, and people started falling ill.”
Yu Gu pulled out a talisman, slapped it in the air with flair. “Now that I’m back, I’ll drive them all away! Don’t be afraid, wife!”
He spoke confidently, as if the strange illness in Double Happiness was a supernatural invasion like the one they’d faced before. With talismans, everyone could be saved.
It sounded quite reasonable.
Tang Yu’s mind felt like it was spinning in circles. It was hard to tell where superstition ended and science began, where reality turned into illusion.
“This is feudal superstition,” Shen Junxing said, adjusting his glasses. “Only ignorant villages believe drinking talisman water cures disease.”
Tang Yu: “……???”
Wait, wasn’t that… technically correct? This was feudal superstition. Shouldn’t we believe in modern medicine, like Shen Junxing’s clinic?
“I told you, it’s not a disease—it’s something dirty. Of course talisman water works.” Yu Gu insisted, his logic strangely complete.
His blue eyes widened slightly. Tang Yu felt his dazed brain couldn’t tell superstition from science, illusion from reality, anymore.
“Our ideologies differ,” Shen Junxing said.
“Our methods differ,” Yu Gu echoed.
“But our goals are the same. It’s not about right or wrong. There’s no better or worse—well, except people like Li Sheng, who bury everything indiscriminately. That’s the worst.” They spoke on Li Sheng’s behalf, who couldn’t be there.
Tang Yu raised a hand to press his temples.
“What’s wrong, Little Yu?”
“Wife, are you okay?”
Two voices, different in tone, echoed like one in his ears.
“…What dirty thing? What illness?” Tang Yu murmured. Through the fog, he finally grasped something crucial: “I don’t think I even know what’s happening to the people in Double Happiness Village… You all keep saying they’re sick…”
“Little Yu hasn’t realized yet?” “Wife, you didn’t know?”
Ding-dong!
His unfocused blue eyes looked at the phone screen. A message from Li Sheng:
Amid Yu Gu’s heartbreak and disbelief, that beautiful hand reached up and gently rested on his head.
Tang Yu patted his curly hair lightly. Fingers sifted through the strands, tingling down to his scalp.
That happiness felt like it poured down from the top of his head.
Yu Gu was stunned, mouth slightly open. All his anger and frustration were calmed by that simple gesture.
Doggy me… I’m happy again!
“Be good. Go on now,” Tang Yu said gently.
Wife called me good! I have to live up to it!
Yu Gu stood up instantly and obediently left the room.
Tang Yu put on a mask, adjusted his hat, and opened the door. She Qulin was standing there. But this time, he wasn’t looking at him with that probing, uncomfortable gaze.
For the first time, She Qulin looked subdued—like a dog who had just been scolded.
A faint metallic scent spread through Tang Yu’s mouth. Despite the severe lack of oxygen, he couldn’t tell what he was smelling.
Unbearable tingling and suffocation overwhelmed him. He tried to turn his face, but then—a cold hand cupped his cheek.
…No!
Terror mixed with confusion as Tang Yu’s brain grew fuzzy. His blue eyes, which should’ve only seen the faint blue interface in the dark, now saw rippling waves, tranquil underwater plants, and schools of fish swimming past him.
A pair of strong hands held him up, lifting his drowning self back to the surface——
Tang Yu gasped, drawing in oxygen like it was life itself. A sharp, cold fragrance filled his nose and mouth.
He could finally smell it—that rich scent, thick enough to become mist.
Unfortunately, with the current chapters I have, the translation feels too fragmented and doesn’t quite make sense. Because of that, I’ve decided to drop this novel. Thank you for reading along with this short snippet. Hopefully, someone else will pick it up—or if there’s a clearer official release in the future, I might return to it. In the meantime, I encourage you to explore and enjoy other fun novels here.
