Fang Xiu awakened once more from his slumber, the madness that had once overtaken his face now receded, leaving behind a tranquility as stagnant and lifeless as still water.
He repeated his previous actions—dressing, washing, using the restroom, eating, and then stepping out the door.
Once again, he encountered the countless bizarre creatures in the sky and the adorable little girl eating a lollipop.
Ignoring everything, he left the residential area and made his way to the street.
The street was bustling with people, the traffic flowing incessantly.
People hurried along, preoccupied with their work or studies, utterly oblivious to the grotesque entities scattered about. Some even had snake-like heads perched upon their shoulders, but they were none the wiser, laughing and chatting with those around them.
Sometimes, ignorance is indeed a blissful thing.
Fang Xiu casually picked up a shared bicycle by the street, planning to ride around and observe the peculiarities closely. To defeat them, he first had to understand them.
Of course, this observation was not about staring directly at the creatures, for if they noticed him, he would have no choice but to succumb to his fatal reset.
He could only act as though he were idly wandering, looking around surreptitiously.
He wanted to see if these entities were everywhere, and if they had a common source.
Ding!
A crisp notification chimed.
Fang Xiu stopped his bike and pulled out his phone—it was a message from the work group.
Manager Wu Dahai was @-ing him.
"Fang Xiu, what time is it, and you're still not at work? How many times has this been this month? Do you still expect your bonus for this month?"
The barrage of questions came one after another, his tone aggressive and commanding, as if the boss were interrogating him in person.
Had this been the old Fang Xiu, he would have immediately apologized, trembling with fear.
But now, Fang Xiu couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters.
In this hellish world, his sole desire was to uncover the truth of existence and exact his revenge.
To go to work peacefully felt like an extravagant luxury.
Imagine, every day pretending not to see the aberrations around him, constantly treading carefully, for even a moment's distraction could mean being devoured. In such a state, simply surviving was a Herculean task, let alone working.
As he was about to close the group chat and ignore the petty concerns, his eyes lingered on the three-digit balance in his bank account.
"To uncover the truth of this world, a few hundred yuan will never be enough. I can't just ride a shared bike all over the place.
This city may be rife with abnormalities, but other cities might not be. To travel, I'll need high-speed trains, even planes—those all require money.
It seems there's still a commission pending from my previous work. If I receive it, it should be enough to sustain me for a while."
With that thought, Fang Xiu decided to pay the company another visit, resign, and collect his commission.
He had considered using his death reset ability to win the lottery, but quickly dismissed the idea—he simply didn't have the luck for it. Furthermore, unless there was an extraordinary circumstance, he really didn't want to die again. The sensation of death was something he found deeply repulsive, even after having died so many times.
Fang Xiu's city was called Green Vine City, and his company was located in the Green Vine City Development Zone. Within it lay a villa district called Bai Liu Academy, where he worked as a sales associate at the sales office.
Half a year ago, he had sold a villa, but his commission had never been paid.
So, Fang Xiu began typing a message in the work group.
"I've resigned. I'll come by the sales office this afternoon to settle the commission from my last sale."
He finished typing and sent it without a second thought.
Fang Xiu's words were blunt, without the usual pleasantries, akin to a naive newcomer to the workforce who might easily offend others.
But he didn't care; he was too lazy to deal with social niceties. He preferred efficiency and didn't want to waste time on such matters. He just wanted to resolve these mundane concerns and focus on his own affairs.
As soon as the message was sent, the group chat exploded.
Manager Wu began @-ing him furiously.
"Fang Xiu, what do you mean by this?? Didn't I already tell you? The commission will be paid by the end of the year! If you resign now, you won't get a single cent!"
Fang Xiu glanced at the messages casually without replying and simply closed the group chat.
He then rode the shared bicycle directly to Bai Liu Academy.
His home was far from Bai Liu Academy, and it would take two hours by bus, but he wasn't in a hurry. He intended to observe the city closely.
Fang Xiu rode slowly, pretending to be leisurely, but his attention was fully focused on the bizarre entities around him.
The farther he rode, the more varied the aberrations he encountered—strange, peculiar, and all uniquely terrifying.
Gradually, he began to notice a pattern.
These creatures could see humans, but humans could not see them.
The anomalies seemed to fall into two categories.
One type of creature was devoid of intelligence, grotesque and hideous, simply howling madly or relentlessly attacking humans around them, yet they seemed to pass through the world as if they were invisible, unable to affect anything at all.
The other type resembled humans, often impersonating colleagues, classmates, family members, and so on, staying by people's sides, chatting and conversing with them.
Naturally, humans could neither see nor hear them.
It was clear that his wife belonged to the second type of entity.
The second type was quite distinctive—most resembled humans, or in some cases, they appeared to be humans at first glance.
They seemed to aim to integrate into human lives, persistently accompanying and speaking with people, even though they were invisible and inaudible to humans—like outsiders, yet they still strove to remain close.
This puzzled Fang Xiu. Why were these entities so obsessed with role-playing? They could not affect reality, so why persist in staying close to humans?
Reflecting on his wife's actions, a thought began to form in his mind.
These beings were testing whether humans could see them. After all, once they were visible, they could attack.
No, wait!
Fang Xiu immediately rejected his initial hypothesis.
Testing was only one part of it.
Normally, after confirming a human couldn't see them, the creatures would move on to the next target to test. That would be the most efficient approach.
But his wife had not left after failing.
Not just his wife—on his way, Fang Xiu had observed many human-like entities, all fixating on a single person, relentlessly speaking to them, even though the person couldn't hear.
Why?
Suddenly, Fang Xiu's mind was struck with a chilling realization.
They were integrating into human lives!
Yes, that was it!
Otherwise, why would his wife engage in role-playing?
If these entities wanted to test whether humans could see them, they could simply intimidate humans, appear suddenly, or use other means—not by role-playing.
The only plausible explanation was that they aimed to integrate into human lives.
But why?
Let's work backward.
Their objective was clear—they sought to consume humans. Everything they did was for the purpose of preparing to devour humans.
Could it be... that integrating into human life made it easier for them to approach humans?
The entities seemed to exist in an ethereal state—when humans couldn't see them, they were merely figments, existing in a shadowy form. Only once both parties confirmed they could perceive each other would the entities become solid.
Why did they need to be seen?
No, wait!
Perhaps hearing was enough.
Fang Xiu could see and hear the entities, while others could neither see nor hear them.
Both sight and sound represented information.
Once the entities confirmed that humans could receive their signals, they would become tangible.
So, the reason they integrated into human lives was to ensure humans could perceive them, to make them aware of the entities'existence.
Integrating into life surely expedited this process. Otherwise, the entities wouldn't bother.
At that moment, Fang Xiu suddenly realized—perhaps some people's auditory hallucinations or visual distortions weren't mere illusions after all.
Some people, unwittingly, might hear their names being called or voices speaking to them, only to find no one around. This was likely the entities integrating into their lives.
The deeper their integration, the longer they persisted, the more likely humans might inadvertently receive certain signals!
As more signals accumulated, the probability of encountering the entities increased.
Therefore, never respond!