Chapter 2

But it’s okay, there’s still pumpkin soup.

Standing up and waving at the camera, Shi Yu turned and walked to the kitchen to bring out the pumpkin soup.

He’s not picky about food and usually enjoys both meat and vegetables. After eating a plate of chicken wings, he thought a bowl of light pumpkin vegetable soup would be just right.

However, something unexpected happened.

The pumpkin soup smelled delicious, but suddenly, he lost his appetite.

As the light scent of pumpkin filled the air, Shi Yu frowned slightly. He still felt a bit hungry, but he just couldn’t bring himself to eat it.

He stared at the soup for a while. After thinking it over, he realized—he wasn’t the kind of person who liked to force himself.

Never mind, he relaxed his eyebrows and decided to leave it for tomorrow.

Maybe today, he was just craving something meaty and didn’t feel like eating vegetables.

So, the freshly made pumpkin soup was put into the fridge to cool down.

Fans in the livestream had waited for a while, only to hear the streamer say, “Just kidding, I suddenly don’t feel like eating anymore.”

“We’ll have it tomorrow instead.”

Chat comments: …

“You scared me, I thought the streamer was really going to drink another bowl!”

The fans joked and sighed in relief.

Shi Yu’s expression changed slightly. To be honest, if the soup hadn’t tasted off to him, he probably would have eaten more. But the thought quickly passed, and he didn’t say it out loud.

When the streamer didn’t eat anymore, fans in the chat started talking about recent news. One fan suddenly asked:

“Streamer, you’re from City B, right?”

Because the livestream location showed an IP address, Shi Yu didn’t deny it.

Another person asked, “What’s going on in City B?”

“I live in City B too.”

“Not sure exactly.”

A fan with an anime avatar kindly typed:

“My relative works in security and said there’s a rumor that someone’s been putting dangerous things inside packages in the Chenghua Road area of City B. Now all the packages are being checked one by one. Streamer, be careful if you get any strange deliveries.”

Dangerous items in packages?!

After that comment, the chat blew up.

“Who’s so evil to put dangerous stuff in deliveries?”

“No wonder delivery’s been so strict lately—something really happened.”

The chat was filled with worried comments.

Shi Yu was surprised too. He hadn’t heard of this news before, but his instincts—sharpened from living in a strange world—made him believe it. He took out his phone to check.

He opened his shopping app and looked through his orders.

Hmm, he hadn’t ordered anything in the past month. The delivery page didn’t show any upcoming deliveries either.

But because of what the fan said, Shi Yu became more cautious. After thinking for a moment, he added a setting to block unknown calls. Feeling more secure, he put his phone down again.

Now he should be safe to sleep, right?

As long as he didn’t answer any unknown calls, the dangerous delivery shouldn’t be able to reach him… right?

11:59 PM

Shen Yan had just finished checking the South Building and frowned when he saw the time.

“Dr. Shen, we still haven’t found it.”

Earlier in the day, they were able to find traces of the “undeliverable package.” But after it absorbed someone’s flesh and blood, it got stronger—and much better at hiding.

Now, it could be hidden not just in apartments but also in pipes and cracks in the walls.

Even worse—the “undeliverable package” had a rule: it had to eat one person every two days. It had just killed a middle-aged man living alone yesterday. That meant it would definitely try to kill again before noon tomorrow.

Based on past tracking, the cursed package rarely returned to the same building. So the next target was likely in one of the unchecked buildings.

And since it hadn’t fully recovered, it would probably go after someone living alone again.

“Let’s move faster,” Shen Yan said.

Everyone knew how serious the situation was. After nodding, they split up and headed for the remaining buildings.

Shi Yu always had a good schedule: he woke up at 8 a.m., and went to sleep before 11 p.m. After finishing his stream that night, he cleaned up, took a shower, and got ready for bed.

His phone was set to silent and placed on his nightstand like always. But just as he closed his eyes, a red alert suddenly popped up on the previously empty delivery screen—as if a delivery man was on his way right now.

But it was already midnight!

The phone screen flickered slightly under the dark room. Just as the red light blinked, a delivery call came in—but it instantly got blocked due to the settings Shi Yu had just applied.

The delivery person—or rather, something pretending to be one—had not expected that. For the first time, it failed.

Outside his front door, on the red hallway carpet, a small 25cm package sat quietly. No one knew who had delivered it there so late at night. Under the cold, white hallway light, it looked creepy.

A minute later, the delivery notice reappeared. This time, the cursed item had bypassed the block.

Just as it was about to knock—

Footsteps came from downstairs.

“Old Wang, hurry up.”

“You really need to exercise those old bones.”

Two middle-aged men’s voices echoed up the stairwell, and they climbed faster.

The sounds reached the 19th floor. The cursed package, which had been about to knock, froze. Though it hated to do so, it had to retreat and hide again.

But before it disappeared, the small box left an imprint of the apartment number on the ground.

Zhao Wen and Wang Shan had been assigned to this building. As they reached the 15th floor, their detector started picking something up again.

It felt similar to the building where they found a victim earlier that day.

They paused and looked at each other, then sent a message to Dr. Shen before quietly climbing up the stairs, carefully alert.

When they reached the 19th floor, they noticed the red carpet outside one apartment looked like it had been moved. Wang Shan held his breath and walked closer.

His eyes widened—on the carpet, there was an eyeball.

They both thought the resident inside must already be dead, just like the last victim they found.

“We should’ve moved faster,” Zhao Wen said grimly.

“If only we hadn’t stopped to send that message.”

Wang Shan patted his shoulder. “Wouldn’t have made a difference.”

“Let’s wait for Dr. Shen.”

Dr. Shen had just gone downstairs when he got the message. He rushed back up and found the two men waiting, looking guilty.

“The cursed package was here?” he asked, looking at the door number.

Zhao Wen nodded. “It ran just before we got here.”

“The person inside…” Zhao started.

“They’re fine,” Shen Yan said.

As he was coming upstairs, his spiritual sense had detected life inside apartment 1903—unlike the other places where people had died.

Someone’s alive?!

Zhao Wen and Wang Shan were shocked. After encountering that cursed package, someone actually survived?

Dr. Shen found it strange too, but guessed the package had noticed the two men approaching and didn’t want a confrontation—so it hid again before it could act.

“What now, Dr. Shen?”

Since Captain Fu was away, everyone followed Dr. Shen’s lead.

Shen Yan narrowed his eyes. “Knock and check inside.”

“I’ll do it,” Wang Shan said. “I’m stronger.”

Shi Yu had locked his door tightly and was half-asleep after pulling the curtains. Suddenly, he thought he heard knocking.

A dream?

Who would knock so late at night?

He stared blankly at the ceiling, then turned over and pulled the blanket over his head. No way was he opening the door in this creepy world.

Even if it wasn’t his imagination, he wasn’t risking his life just to open the door.

The knocking continued for about 10 minutes. Nothing happened inside.

Wang Shan’s arms were numb from knocking. If not for Shen Yan’s spiritual sense, they would’ve thought the resident was dead.

“He’s sleeping this deeply?”

“He’s like a sleep god.”

Shen Yan didn’t know what to say. But he realized the deep sleep might have helped the person avoid being bewitched by the cursed package.

“Forget it. Since he won’t open the door, we’ll just wait.”

Once the cursed package picks a target, it never gives up. It would come back for 1903.

The next morning, sunlight through the curtains woke Shi Yu.

Huh?

What time was it?

He rolled in bed and planned to sleep more, when suddenly there was loud knocking—thud thud thud thud—coming from outside the living room.

He frowned, thinking it might be building staff. Unable to sleep through it, he got up, threw on a sweatshirt, and walked to the door.

“Who is it?” he asked through the door.

His lazy voice came through the door. Wang Shan nearly cried with joy—finally, the guy was awake!

If he hadn’t woken up by morning, they were ready to break the door down.

“Dr. Shen?” Wang Shan looked to Shen Yan.

Shen Yan stepped up to the peephole.

“Hello, is this Mr. Shi?” he said calmly.

“We need to talk. Can you open the door?”

While they waited for Shi Yu to wake up, Shen Yan had already gotten Shi Yu’s profile from Han Chuyi at the association. He read it in the hallway.

Shi Yu, male, 21, orphan. Parents died and left him this apartment. After college, he became a full-time livestreamer.

The photo sent was old and blurry. Shen Yan frowned, thinking Han Chuyi sent it on purpose.

His mood soured remembering their argument yesterday. Han Chuyi always listened to Sang Huaiyu, and this wasn’t the time to play around.

Just as Shen Yan was about to ask for a clearer photo, he heard movement from inside the apartment.

He put away his phone and looked through the peephole.

Early in the morning, Shi Yu was completely confused by the sudden introduction.

What the heck?

Not from property management?

He looked through the peephole and saw a young man in a white coat standing confidently outside. He looked polite and handsome, with sharp features—but he also seemed a bit cold.

There were a few other people behind him. When this man spoke, everyone else went quiet.

Shi Yu: …

Everyone knows that in a “male lead romance” novel, someone with a face like that is never just a side character. And this guy wasn’t just good-looking—he looked cool and distant, like a flower on a high mountain.

Shi Yu stared at him a bit longer, and his rusty brain slowly turned. He felt like this guy looked kind of familiar—like someone from the story’s plot.

But… what was this guy doing here?

Shi Yu didn’t answer for a while.

Getting your door knocked on by strangers at night—yeah, he had every right to be cautious. Shen Yan understood that, so he pulled out his ID.

“My name is Shen Yan, I’m a doctor from the city’s Fifth Hospital. You can check the photo and see it’s me.”

Shen Yan?

Shi Yu’s heart skipped a beat—he was right! This guy was the second male lead in the book!

Shi Yu: …Wait a second.
What kind of big trouble did I just get dragged into?!