Chapter 8

Han Chu Yi looked suspicious.

Shen Yan smiled slightly. “Believe it or not.”

“I’m not as bored as you are.”

After he said that, sure enough, Han Chu Yi sneered and turned to head into the report room.

Shen Yan paused. Once Han Chu Yi left, his smile faded. He didn’t really know why he stopped Han Chu Yi just now—maybe because he sensed Shi Yu and Han Chu Yi didn’t get along. When he saw Han Chu Yi was about to follow, he naturally helped block him.

Maybe it was because that little livestreamer’s voice was easy on the ears. It made him pay a bit more attention than usual. Shen Yan lowered his eyes and stopped thinking about it.

Shi Yu followed Wang Shan into the building and even felt a little more relaxed, happy not to be stuck in a room with that annoying guy. But as they neared the check-up room, Shi Yu suddenly looked uncomfortable and awkwardly stopped walking.

What’s happening?

Why now?

Why did his stomach start hurting at this moment?

“Ahem.”

“Um, I forgot to ask… do I need to have an empty stomach for this test?”

Wang Shan blinked, surprised by the question. He shook his head.

“No need.”

“This isn’t like a hospital check-up. There’s no blood test or anything. You can think of it more like a check-up for ability users.”

Oh, I see.

Shi Yu seemed like he wanted to say something, then hesitated.

“If it takes a while… could I eat something first?”

He had been okay during the car ride, but now that they were inside the Ability Users Association, the hunger from barely eating all day hit him hard. His stomach growled, and he couldn’t ignore it.

He looked down, embarrassed, but the hunger was so strong, he was scared his stomach would growl out loud.

Wang Shan saw the look and finally realized—Mr. Shi wasn’t like them. Those who had gone through the ability-fusion process didn’t need to eat much, even after a couple of days. But Shi Yu was a normal person. Of course he’d be hungry after going without food all day.

“Of course, my bad for not thinking of that.”

“What would you like to eat?”

“I think there’s a vending machine outside with some snacks.”

There was no need to fast for this kind of test, and the staff would be on duty all night anyway, so there was no rush.

Shi Yu quickly waved his hands. “It’s fine, I’ll buy something myself. Don’t trouble yourself.”

He felt bad letting someone else buy food for him, especially when they were already helping him with the test.

Shi Yu looked in the direction Wang Shan pointed—about 200 meters ahead in the main hall was a vending machine. The lights were on, so there should still be food inside.

“Then, Brother Wang, you can set up the machine. I’ll go grab some snacks.”

Wang Shan nodded and watched Shi Yu walk off, then went into the testing room.

The third-floor hall was completely empty. When Shi Yu reached the middle, he turned on the lights, then walked over to the vending machine.

It was like a small convenience store machine. Most of what it sold were nutrition drinks. The only real food options were a few bags of bread and some canned luncheon meat.

Shi Yu: …

Sigh.

He stared at the only two things he could actually eat and finally pulled out his phone to scan and buy two boxes of luncheon meat.

At least it was meat. He couldn’t bring himself to eat more plain vegetarian stuff.

He scanned the code with a beep. The machine made some noises, and just as Shi Yu held his stomach and reached out for the food, he realized—the luncheon meat was stuck inside.

He had paid, but the item didn’t come out.

“Huh?”

“What’s going on? Is the machine broken?”

He bent down to try again, when suddenly he heard a voice behind him.

“Having trouble?”

The voice was calm with a slight smile, but also cold in a strange way. It made him turn around without thinking.

In the middle of the night, someone had suddenly appeared behind him. Shi Yu was startled. He looked up and saw a young man with long white-gold hair.

The man had long hair hanging down and wore a silver blindfold over his eyes. He had sharp features and a small red mole near his temple.

When he turned slightly to look at Shi Yu, despite his pale lips, there was something about him that was strangely divine—almost too beautiful to describe.

Shi Yu only realized how tall the man was when he looked up—easily over 190 cm. When he leaned slightly forward, it felt like he was towering over Shi Yu completely.

Shi Yu was stunned by the sudden beauty. A moment later, the man gently reached out and tapped the vending machine.

Clunk.

The machine whirred and dropped the stuck luncheon meat out properly.

“All done.”

Shi Yu took a deep breath. As the man stood up, his cool white-gold hair brushed against Shi Yu’s neck. When Shi Yu reached down and picked up the meat, he turned to thank the man, only to see the stranger quietly studying him.

The man didn’t hide his presence at all. Even with the silver blindfold, it felt like he was looking straight at Shi Yu.

“Here for a check-up?”

“Go ahead.”

Shi Yu looked at him, surprised. How did this guy know he was here for a check-up? And… that white hair… looked so familiar.

He felt like the answer was right on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn’t remember it.

Just then, Wang Shan called him from not far away. Shi Yu snapped out of it, gave the white-haired man an embarrassed smile, and headed back toward the testing room.

Sang Huaiyu kept watching Shi Yu and raised an eyebrow slightly after he left.

So familiar.

When he got close to the masked boy, Sang Huaiyu felt a strange sense of recognition. He thought the boy might be like him.

But once he got closer… maybe not.

With his silver-blindfolded eyes looking toward the check-up room, Sang Huaiyu felt a growing curiosity.

After eating two boxes of luncheon meat outside the room, Shi Yu finally felt better. He touched his belly and felt the warm feeling inside. His whole body relaxed, like a well-fed cat.

Wang Shan: “Mr. Shi, are you ready?”

“Yeah.” Shi Yu nodded.

“Alright, please go in.” Wang Shan pointed. “There’s a bed on the right—just lie down there. I’ll call you after ten minutes.”

The testing staff stood nearby. After Shi Yu entered, he lay obediently on the white examination bed.

Once the door closed, the room felt quiet and empty, a little strange.

“Any weird readings?” Wang Shan asked a colleague, not really understanding the machine.

The coworker replied, “Nah, nothing weird. The machine didn’t make any noise.”

The purpose of the testing room was to check whether someone had been infected by strange spatial energy. If someone had been, the system in the control room would sound an alarm.

But several minutes passed, and the machine kept running normally. That meant there was nothing wrong. Shi Yu had been in close contact with a mysterious object called the “Undeliverable Package” and still hadn’t gotten infected.

Lucky guy.

Wen jingjing spoke while glancing at the nearby screen. The red lines on it were moving normally, all within the range for a regular human.

Just as she turned to go write the report, she didn’t notice that the red lines, which had been normal, suddenly paused for a moment.

On the opposite side, the young man’s flat stomach twitched slightly.

Inside the room, the alarm on the ceiling seemed to detect something and was about to go off. But as if affected by some unknown power, an invisible hand erased the abnormality from the machine.

After making a quiet “zzzz” sound, the red line went back to normal.

All of this happened in just a second.

Shiyu was lying with his eyes closed when he suddenly felt like a small electric shock hit his ear. It was a bit uncomfortable.

What was that?

He opened his eyes, confused, but Wang Shan hadn’t said anything, so he thought maybe he just imagined it.

It should be fine, right?

A few minutes later, the door of the exam room opened—just like he expected.

“The test results are all normal.”

“But the report can’t be shared outside yet. It needs to be stored in our records. We hope you understand, Mr. Shi.”

Shiyu shook his head. “It’s okay.”

“As long as everything’s fine.”

Since it was his first time doing this kind of check, Shiyu didn’t realize that the weird “zzzz” sound was abnormal. When Wang Shan said everything was fine, he believed it and thought maybe the shock was just his nerves—or maybe a sound from the machines.

He looked up. “So can I leave now?”

Wang Shan was about to say something, then looked at his phone and seemed a bit embarrassed.

“Sorry, I was going to send you off, but the higher-ups just sent an urgent message. Mr. Shi, if it’s not urgent, could you leave tomorrow morning instead?”

“Don’t worry, we have rest areas for non-ability users too. Everything you need is there.”

Non-ability users can’t leave the Ability Users’ Association building alone, especially without a staff escort. Wang Shan was clearly in a hurry.

Shiyu noticed how strongly Wang Shan’s watch had buzzed and didn’t want to cause trouble.

“It’s okay, go do your thing.”

“I’ll go rest in the lounge for a bit.”

Wang Shan let out a sigh of relief, saved Shiyu’s number, and after showing him where the rest area was, rushed upstairs.

“The lounge is on the second floor. Call me if you need anything.”

Shiyu looked at the signs and figured out the layout: first floor was the registration hall, second was the lounge, third was the testing area, and anything higher up was likely off-limits.

From the way Wang Shan had rushed off, it seemed the message had summoned all the staff still in the building.

Sure enough, there wasn’t another person in sight as Shiyu walked.

Oh well, it’s just one night.

After checking the time, Shiyu found the lounge. But just as he was about to enter, he suddenly felt his footsteps get heavy.

His legs felt like something was pulling on them, stopping him from moving forward. He paused, confused—but saw nothing.

What’s going on?

Did his leg cramp?

He tried to move his left leg, but it wouldn’t move at all.

In the dark, empty rest area, if this wasn’t the Ability Users’ Association—the place even the creepiest monsters avoided—Shiyu might have thought he’d seen a ghost again.

But… what was that?

Just as he was lost in confusion, suddenly, all the lights in the building turned on at once. At the same time, a loud alarm rang out, “Woo woo woo woo!” echoing through the whole place.

“Attention! Attention!
Strange entity number 233 has escaped.
All personnel, protect yourselves and evacuate the floors as soon as possible.”

Shiyu: …???

His body stiffened. Slowly, he looked down.

Crap.