Chapter 1

Late winter and early spring. The sun was shining brightly that day, a rare nice weather.

Yun Xin was copying documents when suddenly her right eye started twitching uncontrollably.

“The materials are for the meeting this afternoon, no rush. It’s lunchtime now, let’s go eat first,” Tan Qiaoqiao said, walking over with a smile.

Yun Xin glanced at the wall clock and then around the room. “Where is everyone else?”

“They’re still busy, said they’re planning to order takeout and not go out to eat,” Tan Qiaoqiao said while pressing the elevator button. “For working folks, it’s quite normal to work overtime during lunch break.”

Yun Xin pressed the corner of her eye. But instead of calming down, her right eyelid twitched even more vigorously. “I’ve recently moved, and I’d like to treat everyone to a meal. Why not invite them all along?”

A free meal? What a treat!

Tan Qiaoqiao readily agreed. “Sure, I’ll go tell them.”

Upon hearing that someone was treating them to a meal, everyone stopped working immediately. They happily stood up and headed out.

Liu Na looked around and couldn’t help but ask about her boyfriend’s whereabouts. “Where’s Chang Heng? Why hasn’t he come?”

Tan Qiaoqiao replied, “He said he has a stomachache and will join us later.”

“Such a big person can’t just disappear. Besides, you can contact him by phone, what’s there to worry about?” Liu Na didn’t say anything more.

By now, seven minutes had passed since Yun Xin’s right eyelid first started twitching. Not wanting to delay any further, Yun Xin said, “If we go too late, the food will take a long time to arrive. Let’s go ahead and order.”

At the ninth minute, everyone walked out of the office building. By the eleventh minute, Tan Qiaoqiao noticed that they weren’t heading towards their usual restaurant and quickly reminded Yun Xin that she was going the wrong way.

Yun Xin explained, “I know, but I want to go to a more expensive restaurant this time and treat everyone to a nice meal.”

When the person treating everyone says so, Tan Qiaoqiao naturally had no objections.

By the sixteenth minute, Yun Xin’s right eyelid started twitching more slowly. At the same time, she felt a tightness in her chest—a sense of palpitations.

At the nineteenth minute, the group arrived at the restaurant and got a private room.

“This place is pretty far,” Tan Qiaoqiao said, flipping through the menu. “Walking this long tired me out. Let’s see what good food they have.”

Liu Na took out her phone and tried calling her boyfriend several times, but there was no answer. She couldn’t help but wonder, “Strange, why isn’t he picking up?”

“The room feels a bit stuffy. Let’s open a window for some fresh air,” Chen Xuan said as he opened the window.

As soon as the window was opened, a loud noise suddenly erupted from outside, startling everyone.

“What’s going on, what’s going on?” Chen Xuan looked outside.

A massive wave, about seven or eight meters high and composed of an unknown liquid, suddenly engulfed the nearby village. Pedestrians on the street and vehicles by the roadside were swept away.

At the same time, a sweet scent filled the air.

“Ah—” Liu Na let out a piercing scream as she recognized the location of the incident.

Everyone else was stunned. “Isn’t that area that got flooded where our company is?”

“I’ve told them so many times not to rent cheap office space in those urban villages, but they wouldn’t listen. Now look, it’s flooded.”

“Shouldn’t we call the police for such a big incident?”

“Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!!! If Yun Xin hadn’t invited us to lunch, would we still be in the office working overtime right now?”

With these words, everyone broke into a cold sweat. They realized they had narrowly escaped death.

Tan Qiaoqiao, who was tired and hungry a moment ago, now felt nothing but fear after being frightened. She looked out the window, unable to suppress a shiver. “What kind of liquid is this? It looks so sticky and thick… and it’s even emitting heat.”

“Come to think of it, should we go out and help rescue people?” Someone glanced around the room, hesitating. “There are several men here. It would be great if we could lend a hand and pull people to safety, wouldn’t it?”

“Going out will only get us killed,” Chen Xuan pointed to a certain direction. “Look at him, he’s a big strong guy, looks like he’s been to the gym. But he can’t break free. The more he struggles, the deeper he sinks. What use would we be if we went out?”

Feeling guilty, the person thought for a moment. “I’ll call the police instead.”

But when they tried to make the call, they found it continuously busy, unable to get through.

“There are many people outside making calls. Ambulances and police cars should be on their way,” Chen Xuan kept an eye on the situation outside.

“Thank goodness we didn’t dine at our usual restaurant,” Tan Qiaoqiao observed. “It’s close by and got affected too.”

Though it was only on the outskirts and the damage wasn’t severe, with no apparent threat to life, they were still involved. They might have to wait for the police to rescue them. Unlike them, who were far away at the moment, feeling a sense of safety deep within.

“We’re safe, but what about Chang Heng? What should we do about Chang Heng?!” Liu Na was distraught, crying and wailing.

Seeing her in such distress, Tan Qiaoqiao couldn’t bear to rub salt into the wound, but she couldn’t help thinking, not being proactive about lunch, there’s a problem with his mindset. Even when someone tried to save him, he wouldn’t leave. If something happens, who’s to blame?

Others seemed to share the same thoughts, each trying to console her.

“It’s rare for someone to treat us to a meal, and everyone came, but he’s stuck with a stomachache and stayed in the office… It means fate has it that he couldn’t escape. You better try to accept it.”

“It’s not that we don’t want to save him, it’s Chang Heng himself who’s not reliable, unable to seize the opportunity to save his own life! What can we do? Drag him here forcefully?”

“If it weren’t for Yun Xin, none of us would have escaped! We’ve just managed to save our lives, let’s be content.”

After being persuaded by everyone, instead of calming down, Liu Na seemed to have discovered something. She stared at Yun Xin with widened eyes. “Did you already know?”

“What are you talking about?” Yun Xin tilted her head. “I just happened to want to treat everyone to a meal. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Yeah, Yun Xin just saved everyone’s lives. You can’t turn against her now.”

“Liu Na, it’s understandable that you’re upset about Chang Heng. Come, sit down, have some tea, and calm down,” someone suggested.

“Justice will be served to the one responsible for the tragedy. Yun Xin hasn’t done anything wrong; she’s innocent.”

With everyone persuading and pulling her away, Liu Na was moved further away from Yun Xin.

In the distance, the waves gradually subsided. Meanwhile, the people caught in it gradually stiffened, eventually freezing into statues.

The sound of police sirens echoed, signaling the end of the ordeal.

At that moment, a transparent panel appeared in front of Yun Xin.

“Welcome to the Evolution Game.”

“Congratulations, player, for successfully surviving in scenario 111679 – ‘The Honey Tragedy’.”

“Because you saved eleven human lives, your rating for this scenario is ‘A’, granting you attribute points: Strength +0.2, Agility +0.2, Stamina +0.2, Spirit +0.2.”

“Note 1: Players can only learn about the existence of the Evolution Game if they achieve a rating of ‘A’ or higher.”

“Note 2: Players who achieve a rating below ‘B’ will only receive attribute point rewards and will not learn about the existence of the Evolution Game.”

“Note 3: Standard adult female four-dimensional attributes: Strength 0.5, Agility 0.5, Stamina 0.5, Spirit 0.8. If any attribute value exceeds 3, 6, or 9, special abilities will be obtained.”

“Note 4: Revealing the existence of the Evolution Game to non-players or players who have not achieved an ‘A’ rating may result in unknown serious consequences.”

Yun Xin reached out to touch the panel, but her fingers passed through it effortlessly. The panel was visible but not tangible.

“The Evolution Game? Scenario 111679?”

Suddenly, Yun Xin remembered that this year had been full of disasters. There were many news reports about fires and accidents. If every accident was a game…

“Although I know I should be grateful for surviving, I still want to ask, are we still having this meal?” someone weakly said. “All these emotional fluctuations have made me hungry.”

“Yes, let’s eat. Call the waiter to order,” Yun Xin replied positively.

“Great!” someone exclaimed excitedly and called the waiter over.

However, in the end, the meal never happened. The owner and chef were too afraid and decided to close for a while until the police investigation was completed before reopening.

Colleagues exchanged looks.

“Let’s find another restaurant,” Tan Qiaoqiao suggested. “And let’s not let Yun Xin treat us again. She gets a free meal, and the rest of us split the bill.”

“Agreed.”

“Sounds good.”

Except for Liu Na’s reluctant agreement, everyone else readily accepted.

At the new restaurant, while dining in the dining hall, other diners were also discussing the recent accident.

“I heard it was a leak of scalding hot syrup. Some despicable person was making and storing syrup in a residential area, causing harm to so many people,” one person said, spitting out their disgust and muttering curses under their breath.

“No wonder I smelled a strong, sweet scent. It was syrup!” someone else exclaimed, suddenly realizing.

“Do you know how tragic it was for those who got caught in it?” the first person sighed repeatedly. “That syrup was thick and sticky. People trapped in it couldn’t move. Have you ever seen an animal stuck in a swamp, struggling to climb out? It was almost like that just now.”

“Everything happened so fast,” the listener shook their head continuously. “I happened to witness the spectacular scene when the syrup burst out. In the blink of an eye, a huge wave appeared. Blink again, and people and cars were swept away. Blink once more, and lampposts and houses were washed away!”

“In such a short time, people didn’t even have time to react. And even if they did, they couldn’t outrun that wave.”

“Thank goodness we were far away. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be standing here safely.”

The mix of relief from surviving the ordeal, the shock and fear of witnessing the disaster, and the regret for the deceased, all mingled together, making the restaurant particularly lively.

While eating, Liu Na suddenly burst into tears. “No matter what, I have to find him! After we finish eating, will you accompany me to look for Chang Heng?”

“Uh…”

At times like this, Liu Na didn’t dare to act alone. But the problem was, at times like this, others were also afraid to move! With over a dozen people gathered together, no one dared to suggest returning to the office.

Someone turned to Yun Xin for advice. “What do you think?”

“It’s hard to say,” Yun Xin replied cautiously. “These kinds of accidents are usually sudden, but no one can say for sure if there will be a second wave. Thankfully, the police are here, and ambulances have arrived. If something were to happen, it wouldn’t escalate.”

Colleagues exchanged looks. They heard what was said but felt like they hadn’t really heard anything at all. Useless chatter.

“If you ask me, those who are brave and willing to go back should go first, and those who are more cautious can wait and see how things develop,” Tan Qiaoqiao finally put down her chopsticks and spoke frankly. “I’m cautious and value my life. If things don’t look good this afternoon, I might just skip work. If the boss wants to deduct my wages, so be it. Otherwise, I might just quit.”

Continuing, she said to Liu Na, “I understand how you feel, but acting impulsively won’t solve anything. If you want to see Chang Heng, you can wait for the police to find him. Rushing into the most dangerous and severely affected area now could end up putting everyone in danger.”

“You don’t understand!” Liu Na shouted. “We’ve known each other since childhood, and we’ve been in love for three years. He’s more important to me than anything…”

Before she could finish her sentence, she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye, and she froze on the spot, as if struck by lightning.

Following her gaze, Tan Qiaoqiao saw several police officers carrying small candy figurines past them.

The sudden outbreak of the accident, the syrup rushing out instantly, enveloping the victims who were nearby. Their actions and expressions were frozen forever at the moment of the tragedy.

When the high temperature subsided and the syrup cooled down, the victims turned into small candy figurines.

The statue currently being carried was of a man and a woman, embracing and kissing.

The scene was beautiful, but unfortunately, the male protagonist looked too familiar. He was Chang Heng, the one Liu Na was desperate to find.

Tan Qiaoqiao realized what had happened. He didn’t have a stomachache; he was just waiting for everyone to leave so he could fool around.

“I don’t quite understand risking your own safety for a cheating scumbag,” Tan Qiaoqiao murmured softly.