Fang Xiu awoke again, the madness on his face faded, replaced by a calm, stagnant calm.
He repeated the same routine: dressing, washing, using the restroom, eating, and then leaving the house.
He once again saw the strange creatures swirling around him, as well as the adorable little girl eating a lollipop.
Ignoring everything, he left the neighborhood and entered the street.
The streets were crowded with pedestrians and traffic.
People hurried to work or school, completely oblivious to the strange creatures swirling around. Some even had human-headed, snake-like creatures perched on their shoulders, completely unaware, chatting and laughing with those around them.
Sometimes, ignorance can be bliss.
Fang Xiu spotted a shared bike on the street and decided to wander around, observing the creatures carefully. To kill them, he had to understand them first.
Of course, observing didn't mean staring at them; if he was noticed, he'd die and rewind.
Fang Xiu could only pretend to wander around, observing. He wanted to see if strange things were everywhere, and if there was a source for them.
Ding!
A crisp notification chime rang out.
Fang Xiu stopped the car and pulled out his phone. It was a message from the work group chat.
Manager Wu Dahai was @ing him.
"Fang Xiu, what time is it? Why haven't you come to work yet? How many times have you been late this month? Do you still want your bonus?"
He started with three questions, his tone aggressive and oppressive, as if his boss were questioning him.
If it were the old Fang Xiu, he would have apologized profusely by now.
But now, Fang Xiu simply couldn't bear to deal with such mundane matters.
In this hellish world, he only wanted to seek the truth and then seek revenge.
A stable job was a luxury for him.
Imagine having to pretend not to see the strange things around you every day, constantly on guard, and vulnerable to being eaten at the slightest mistake. Living in this state would be hard enough, let alone working. Just as he was about to close the group chat and ignore these mundane matters, he suddenly thought of the three-digit balance on his bank account.
"If I want to explore the truth of this world, a few hundred yuan is definitely not enough. I can't just ride around on shared bikes.
This city may be full of strange things, but other cities aren't necessarily like that. You need to take the high-speed rail or even a plane, and that costs money.
It seems my predecessor still has a commission that hasn't been paid. If I get that commission, it should be enough to sustain me for a while."
With this thought, Fang Xiu decided to go back to the company, resign, and claim his commission.
In fact, he had considered using his death rollback ability to win the jackpot, but on second thought, he decided against it. He wasn't destined for that. Besides, unless there were special circumstances, he really didn't want to die again. The feeling of death was truly unpleasant, even though he had died so many times.
Fang Xiu's city was called Luteng City, and his company was in the Luteng City Development Zone, where there was a villa complex called Bailiu Academy. He worked as a salesperson at the Bailiu Academy sales office.
He had sold a villa six months ago, but the commission hadn't been paid. Fang Xiu began typing a message in the work group chat.
"I've resigned. I'll see you at the sales office this afternoon to settle my commission."
After finishing, he clicked send. Fang Xiu's words were straightforward, without excessive politeness, like a young man just entering society, easily offending others.
But he didn't care. He didn't bother with social etiquette. He simply pursued efficiency and didn't want to waste time on it. He just wanted to quickly resolve these mundane matters and get back to his own business.
As his message went live, the group chat erupted in excitement.
Manager Wu was even more furious.
"Fang Xiu, what do you mean? Didn't I tell you last time that the commission will be paid at the end of the year? If you resign now, you won't get a penny!"
Fang Xiu glanced casually at the group chat and didn't reply. Instead, he closed the group chat.
Then he rode his shared bike straight to Bailiu Academy.
His home was far from Bailiu Academy, a two-hour bus ride away, but he wasn't in a hurry. He planned to take a good look at the city. Fang Xiu rode slowly, seemingly strolling leisurely, but his mind was completely focused on the creatures around him.
As he rode further and further, he saw more and more creatures, all of them bizarre and unique.
Gradually, he began to notice a pattern.
These creatures could see humans, but humans couldn't see them.
There are roughly two types of creatures.
One type is irrational, with bizarre and ferocious appearances. They only know how to roar wildly or constantly attack the humans around them, but they are like air, completely unable to affect anything around them.
The other type is some humanoid creatures that pretend to be colleagues, classmates, relatives, etc., accompanying you and chatting with you.
Of course, humans can't see or hear them. Clearly, my wife belongs to this second type of creature.
This second type of creature is very distinctive. Most of them resemble humans, and some even look human. They seemed to try to blend into your life. Even though you couldn't see or hear them, like outsiders, they still tried to stay by your side.
This puzzled Fang Xiu. Why did these creatures persist in playing roles? They clearly couldn't affect reality, yet they persisted in staying by people's side?
Recalling his wife's actions, Fang Xiu had a hypothesis.
These creatures were testing whether humans could see them. After all, if they could see, they could attack.
No!
Fang Xiu instantly dismissed his hypothesis.
Testing was only one aspect. Normally, after proving that humans couldn't see them, creatures should move on to another target, after all, that was the most efficient approach.
But his wife didn't leave after her failure.
Not just his wife. Along the way, Fang Xiu encountered many humanoid creatures, all of them clinging to a single person, desperately trying to speak to them even when they couldn't hear.
Why was this happening?
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Fang Xiu, and a chilling thought emerged.
They're integrating into human life!
That's right!
That must be the case!
Otherwise, why would my wife be role-playing?
If the weirdos wanted to test whether humans could see them, they could have used intimidation, like suddenly appearing, rather than role-playing.
So the only possibility is that they're attempting to integrate into human life.
So what's their purpose?
Let's start with the results.
The weirdos' goal is clearly to eat humans, so everything they do is a preparation for that.
Could it be that... integrating into human life will help them better connect with humans?
The weirdos' state seems illusory. When humans can't see them, they're illusory. Only when both parties confirm they can see them does the weirdos become real.
Why must they be seen?
No!
Perhaps hearing them will work.
You can see and hear the weirdos, while others can neither see nor hear them. Seeing and hearing both convey information.
Once the weirdos are sure humans can receive their information, both parties can interact.
So, the weirdos' integration into human life should be intended to allow humans to receive information, or perhaps to sense their presence. Integrating into everyday life certainly accelerates this process; otherwise, the spirit wouldn't have needed to do this.
At this moment, Fang Xiu suddenly realized that perhaps some people's auditory hallucinations and visual hallucinations might not be illusions at all.
Some people might inadvertently hear someone calling their name or speaking, but find no one around. This is most likely the spirit infiltrating their lives.
The more it integrates, and the longer it lasts, the more likely humans will inadvertently pick up signals!
And the more signals they receive, the higher the chance of the spirit appearing!
So, absolutely don't respond!