Chapter 3: Unseeable
Xu Zhi didn’t plan to open the door. There were no security cameras installed at home, nor did she intend to approach the door to look through the peephole to see who was knocking.
After all, she didn’t have the kind of body that could escape in time if something unexpected happened.
Bang, bang, bang.
Another series of knocks came, but this time the sound was clearly louder than the last.
Xu Zhi held the game console tightly in her hand, her heart beating slightly faster. She remained silent, as if she hadn’t heard the increasingly urgent knocking.
Until the person outside seemed certain that she wouldn’t open the door and finally gave up on the pointless knocking, instead saying, “I know there’s someone inside. We’re not bad people, we just want to find some companions.”
“I’m a student from Cloud City High School, and there are a few other classmates with me. We can show you our student IDs. Everyone can’t get out now, and hiding at home isn’t safe either. Why don’t you join us to build a base?”
“If you don’t want to go, just say something, and we won’t bother you again later!”
A slightly young male voice sounded outside. His tone was sincere, but his speaking speed was quite fast, as if he wanted to persuade the person inside while also being in a hurry to get to the next place.
But in Xu Zhi’s ears, even though the boy was already shouting, Xu Zhi still heard him somewhat vaguely. She even had to half-guess what the boy was saying in some quieter parts. Her hearing had been declining since four years ago.
After waiting for about ten seconds, the person outside seemed to realize that they wouldn’t get a response. “Do you think we’re untrustworthy? Then we’ll leave first. Would you be willing to talk if a female classmate comes next time? Or if you change your mind, come find us at the high school!”
After saying that, it finally became quiet outside. Xu Zhi couldn’t hear the sound of them leaving, so she could only wait for a while and, seeing that no one continued to knock or shout, judged that the person seemed to have left.
When the Federation issued the emergency evacuation, it specifically mentioned that if people inhaled the black fog, it would affect their bodies and minds. The most obvious effect was that some people became paranoid after inhaling the black fog, as if they had developed persecutory delusions, their temper became irritable, their aggression became extremely strong, and even their strength increased.
However, after careful examination by medical equipment, it was found that the price of increased strength was the overdraft of their lifespan. Their metabolic rate also became extremely fast, and they would age twice as fast as ordinary people!
The most bizarre thing was that their brains seemed to have undergone some kind of mutation. This mutation made their emotions particularly sensitive, and the slightest disturbance would cause them to go berserk reflexively.
No one could remain rational after inhaling an excessive amount of black fog, and even ordinary people would become more agitated than usual if they stayed in a misty environment for just 2 hours, let alone those who had been in this black fog-shrouded city for nearly a week.
Probably, there were no mentally normal people left in this city.
As for Xu Zhi herself, she didn’t think her mental state was very good either. Otherwise, how could she have thoughts of killing someone?
She clearly knew that something was wrong with her. The biggest problem was that she didn’t think it was a bad thing at all. She even felt like she had let go of some heavy burden, and she felt lighter.
Even when the male voice sounded outside just now, the thought that flashed through her mind was: if he breaks in, what ways do I have to kill him?
Xu Zhi didn’t think at all that the person outside was a “good person.” She was convinced that the boy must have some evil purpose and wanted to trick her into opening the door.
How did he know there was someone in this house?
Had he and his accomplices already set their sights on her?
Xu Zhi’s mind was full of these questions. She even began to think that the next time these people came to her door, they would forcibly break in and kill her!
“Was I this radical before?”
No. A few days ago, her thoughts were still about how she wanted to get revenge on her parents, such as making their lives difficult and letting her younger brother experience her life. But today, this thought was slowly becoming more extreme.
The girl sighed, feeling that if she continued like this, even if she became stronger, she would only become a villain in a story.
However, becoming a villain was still much better than becoming cannon fodder who died at the beginning of the story.
“I hope I can improve my strength and find a way to leave here before I go completely crazy.”
Now, seventy percent of the black fog was entrenched inside Cloud City, and only about thirty percent was spreading to various parts of the world. Especially in the city, the ground fog was so thick that it was like a black tide. If a person was in it, they might not even be able to see the person next to them, and taking a deep breath of the fog inside would be enough to drive an ordinary person mad.
Under such circumstances, that boy actually dared to say that he came from the high school.
Even if Xu Zhi was sober, she wouldn’t give him any response.
But the boy’s appearance did serve as a reminder to her that in this city, the danger wasn’t just the alien monsters. The humans who remained here would also slowly turn into some unknown danger over time.
This increased the sense of urgency in Xu Zhi’s heart a lot. She stopped overthinking and picked up the handheld console, wanting to level up as soon as possible. This was the only thing she could do at the moment.
After the evolution was completed, the little snake’s strength had increased again, and the 50 evolution points left over after eating the eagle were still retained. The current requirement to evolve to the next level was 200 evolution points.
[Current Evolution Points: 50/200]
[Your Familiar defeated an enemy stronger than itself. Its evolutionary path has slightly accelerated, but good luck will not always be on your side! Each of your choices still needs to be more cautious.]
[Now, it’s time to make a choice again.]
[1. Find weaker prey, 2. Find prey with similar strength, 3. Find powerful prey.]
In Xu Zhi’s eyes, this wasn’t a difficult choice at all. She chose 2 without hesitation.
The little snake on the screen moved again, and at this moment, the already dim sky outside the window slowly darkened, and night had fallen.
This was the first time Xu Zhi had played for so long. She felt a slight excitement and slowly raised her head, relieving the fatigue in her shoulders and neck from looking down for a long time, marveling at one of the benefits of this game: she didn’t have to operate it herself all the time.
As the little snake in the game repeatedly defeated prey with similar strength to itself, and the evolution points were about to reach 180, meaning it could level up again soon, a line of subtitles popped up again.
[Approaching midnight, the intersection of past and future emerges from the void, its power scattered across the world, waiting for someone to pick it up, but not now!]
[Your Familiar is not yet capable of walking in the midnight. Please make it close its eyes and rest as soon as possible. Do not directly look at anything shrouded in the night mist, and do not expose yourself to the midnight.]
[Of course, if you wake up early enough in the morning, you might gain something else.]
[Now, it’s time to rest.]
[Please choose: 1. Continue to linger and search for prey, 2. Find a hidden place to rest.]
“Midnight?”
Xu Zhi chose 2 while feeling puzzled.
She wasn’t the type to ignore advice, especially since the game’s narration kept guiding her. It was too early to court death.
Once the game screen showed that the little snake had begun to rest and the only option left was [Wake it up], Xu Zhi also controlled her wheelchair to prepare for rest.
But as she steered the wheelchair, preparing to return to the bedroom, her gaze inadvertently swept across the window and she saw a surprising scene: In the night, the black mist that permeated the streets was surging like waves.
“……”
Xu Zhi was silent for a moment. She thought, was something else about to happen?
She sat by the window, quietly staring at the black mist for a few minutes, then realized that even if something was really going to happen, she was powerless at the moment, so she gave up on this meaningless action.
Her body finally began to feel tired. After the little snake rested, drowsiness also surged in as a delayed reaction, as if someone had hit her on the back of the head with a blunt instrument. If she didn’t rest soon, she might even fall asleep in the wheelchair.
That wouldn’t do. She would definitely be sore all over when she woke up.
Holding onto the resigned thought that even if something happened, she couldn’t run away in her current state, Xu Zhi even lay down on the bed and closed her eyes to sleep with some peace of mind.
She needed a wheelchair because her body was too weak, not because she was disabled, so getting in and out of bed wasn’t a problem for her.
The alarm was set for 5 am. It was already close to 12 am. Usually, sleeping only five hours a day was as good as taking her life, but now, Xu Zhi inexplicably felt that five hours of sleep might be enough for her.
*
Ding, ding, ding.
At five in the morning, the alarm rang. Not long after it started, a pale, slender hand reached out from the quilt and turned it off. Then, Xu Zhi slowly propped herself up with her hands to sit up. Although her thoughts were still a bit hazy, she had already subconsciously reached for the game console placed beside her pillow.
After seeing the [Wake it up] option on the screen, Xu Zhi finally blinked hard to make herself a little more awake.
She hadn’t expected that one day she would play games so obsessively that she would forget to eat and sleep.
Leaning the pillow horizontally against the headboard, Xu Zhi leaned against it as well, then pressed her finger on the confirm button of the game console.
[Morning, you have awakened your Familiar.]
[The power that does not belong to this world has just dissipated. Most creatures are still asleep. If your luck is good enough, you might pick up something, but it is also possible to gain nothing. If you choose to hunt, you can find many prey that have no power to resist.]
[Please choose: 1. Search for midnight remnants, 2. Search for prey.]
“Is this ‘the early bird gets the worm’?”
“No, it should be ‘the early snake’.”
There was actually such a good thing in the morning. It seemed she would have to get up at 5 am every day from now on.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Zhi chose 1.
After all, the narration had hinted at it. Although prey with no power to resist was also very tempting, Xu Zhi was more curious about what the midnight remnants were.
After pressing the select button, the little snake began to wander around nearby, as if searching for something. It searched for more than ten minutes. Finally, the little snake stopped in front of a strange plant.
It was a black, withered branch extending from a crack in the ground, only about half a meter high and without any forks. At the top of the withered branch hung a black fruit about the size of a human thumb.
[Your luck is unbelievably good. You actually found it. Although its concentration is not high, it is already a very precious existence for you now.]
Then, the only option on the screen lit up: [Pick it up]
After Xu Zhi clicked it, the little snake approached the black fruit, and then the fruit disappeared. A line of text appeared in the lower left corner of the screen.
[A low-concentration unknown fruit]
[This item has been placed in the player’s inventory. Press * key to open the inventory.]
“Huh?”
New things had appeared. She actually had a player inventory?
Curious, Xu Zhi pressed the * key to open the inventory. The inventory interface was no different from the backpack interface of other games. At the moment, there was a single black fruit inside.
When Xu Zhi selected the fruit in the inventory, a shocking option appeared before her eyes.
[Feed to Familiar: Snake]
[Retrieve from Game]
“…..Retrieve from Game? Is it what I think it is?”
Not retrieve from inventory, but retrieve from game?
Xu Zhi was stunned for a few seconds, then tentatively pressed the retrieve from game option. Then…A black fruit the size of a thumb appeared out of thin air in front of her, quietly falling onto her quilt.
She had actually brought an item from the game into reality.
