Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Sang Huaiyu had just asked about him on the phone?

Shi Yu froze, his stomach dropping as he slowly pieced together what those words meant.

A chill ran down his spine. He’d never met Sang Huaiyu—how could Sang possibly know who he was? And why would he even ask about him?

The thought of that saintly, radiant exterior hiding a Horror whose true form was unknown made Shi Yu’s skin crawl. Suddenly, even that simple question reeked of blood. His hands clenched instinctively—had Sang noticed something?

He glanced at Han Chuyi, hoping to read something in his expression. But the other man’s face revealed nothing, showing only irritation.

“Hey, why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Cat got your tongue from joy?”

Han Chuyi scoffed. Anyone who had seen Brother Sang would be stunned by his divine looks. And it wasn’t just his beauty—Sang came from an elite background and was the only S-rank Ability User to ever reach the top. With all that going for him, even someone as arrogant as Han couldn’t help but admire Sang Huaiyu.

Seeing Shi Yu’s deer-in-headlights look, he assumed Shi Yu was starstruck too, like the rest of the Ability User Association.

Shi Yu: …

Happy? Yeah, right!

Being noticed by the biggest villain in the book—he’d be lucky to wake up alive tomorrow. Only a suicidal idiot would feel honored. Like this fool in front of him, already under the Horror’s spell.

Shi Yu gave Han Chuyi a weirded-out stare that unsettled Han for no reason he could explain.

“What was that look just now?”

Shi Yu: “If I said I’ve never met the Mr. Sang you’re talking about, would you believe me?”

Han Chuyi: “Never met?”

Who’re you kidding? If you’ve never met him, why would Brother Sang suddenly ask about you? Someone as busy as Brother Sang wouldn’t randomly notice a nobody streamer. And yet this guy claimed they’d never met.

Han Chuyi’s face was full of disbelief.

Shi Yu curled his lip. He really hadn’t met him!

He had only gone to the Ability User Association once, and after that, he stayed home. What the hell was that Horror plotting…?

Wait.

As he thought it through, Shi Yu suddenly remembered running into someone outside the examination room during his visit to the Ability User Association a few days ago.

A hazy memory surfaced. He had been following this train of thought when realization hit like lightning.

—A statuesque guy with silver-white curls, a white silk ribbon, and a delicate crimson mole beside the bridge of his nose.

The image snapped into focus. Shi Yu recalled how the man had helped him retrieve a can of Spam from the vending machine. His expression shifted slightly.

That was exactly how the Horror with divine beauty was described in the book.

He had clearly seen him before—so why had he completely forgotten afterward? He hadn’t even noticed anything off. If Han Chuyi hadn’t brought it up just now, Shi Yu would’ve stayed clueless.

—He had met the protagonist on his very first day at the Ability User Association. Yet after their passing brush, he had remained blissfully ignorant.

Something was *very* wrong here.

Shi Yu had a vivid impression of the book’s protagonist. He might not recognize anyone else, but Sang Huaiyu? No way he’d miss him.

So had he already been influenced by the evil god back then?

A cold dread settled in his chest. Shi Yu pursed his lips—this was the first time he got a real taste of how terrifying this protagonist was.

Han Chuyi’s skeptical voice still rang in his ears. Shi Yu snapped out of it. No way Han Chuyi would buy any excuse he gave now. He swallowed his thoughts and turned away. “Done asking?”

“If you’re done, I’m heading home.”

After a whole day of panic, even Shi Yu was running on empty.

Han Chuyi had been annoyed at first, but seeing how pale and suddenly unwell Shi Yu looked, he let it go. He was about to offer Shi Yu a ride when his phone buzzed.

“Hello?”

“What? Some of the civilians at the hospital got infected?”

Got it. On my way.”

Han Chuyi’s brow furrowed. Things were moving faster than he’d expected. He bit back what he was going to say earlier.

“Alright, you can go.”

“Text me when you’re home.”

Shi Yu blinked. ???

Since when were they that close?

Even when he reported the “men’s high heels” incident and called Han Chuyi, Shi Yu had only felt like he was doing his civic duty—not that they were particularly close.

Besides, hadn’t this guy just been arguing with him?

Shi Yu ignored Han Chuyi, finally exhaling once he was on the bus, letting himself relax and replay the day’s events.

First, a run-in with the Horrors, then Fu Nanyao’s corruption, and finally… a greeting from the evil god.

Ugh, so annoying!

Shi Yu massaged his temples, irritation bubbling up out of nowhere.

But after a moment of hesitation, he thought: That day, they had only passed each other. The high-and-mighty evil god probably hadn’t noticed him, right?

Today’s questioning was likely because he’d reported the “men’s high heels” thing, making his name stick out.

He swore to steer clear of the plot and its characters from now on. When the bus stopped, he glanced at Han Chuyi’s WeChat.

After a beat, he tapped and deleted the chat.

Late that night, after burning the midnight oil, Han Chuyi returned to his villa. He’d just scrubbed off the grime and was about to faceplant into bed when he suddenly remembered something and grabbed his phone.

Sang Huaiyu’s name glared at him from the top of his pinned chats. Han Chuyi thumbed down the screen—

—and landed on the conversation with Shi Yu from over ten hours ago.

That cutesy shark avatar? No way it fit him. Though, wasn’t his stream handle something like “SharkBlowsBubbles” or whatever?

So childish.

Han Chuyi lay on the bed, his sharp, devilishly handsome features outlined by moonlight. After gnawing irritably on his canine tooth, he suddenly sent Shi Yu a meme.

Had he sounded too harsh earlier? He wondered if that guy was even asleep yet.

Just as Han Chuyi was thinking this, his gaze casually flicked to the screen—only to see the meme page freeze for a moment before a blaring red exclamation mark popped up.

*Image failed to send.*

Followed by a bold notification:

*"Dear user, you and the user 'Shark Blowing Bubbles' are not currently friends. Please add them before sending messages."*

In disbelief, Han Chuyi abruptly sat up, stunned for a long moment before it finally clicked: This guy actually deleted me?!

Unaware of Han Chuyi's meltdown, Shi Yu had returned home after getting off the bus, taken a shower, and finally relaxed enough to rest.

Back when there was a small Horror in his home, Shi Yu had always felt somewhat uneasy. But after experiencing the "men's high heels" incident earlier, he found the Mimosa strangely comforting now.

When Shi Yu arrived home, the little Horror that had been left behind was already waiting by the door. Hearing the human enter, it immediately brought over his slippers and even teetered upright, swaying unsteadily as it took the things from Shi Yu's hands.

Shi Yu: "..."

A pang of guilt—though barely.

However, perhaps Horrors had some special olfactory signals among themselves. When the Mimosa touched him today, it started, as if frightened by the scent clinging to Shi Yu.

Realizing this, Shi Yu crouched down. "I'm fine."

"Just had a bit of trouble at the hospital today, but it's over now."

"If it bothers you, I'll just take a shower."

Really?

The Mimosa sniffed the thick, dread-laced aura lingering on the beautiful human and still trembled in fear.

But after hearing his words, its leaves rustled faintly before finally settling down.

Shi Yu felt a faint tickle in his palm and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Alright, go rest."

"We'll talk more tomorrow."

The Mimosa obediently returned to its room.

After finishing his shower and stepping out of the bathroom, Shi Yu dried his hair and closed his eyes—only to inexplicably recall Fu Nanyao from earlier that day.

He wracked his memory trying to recall the book's contents but still couldn’t figure it out: *Can transmutation really be reversed?*

Lost in hazy thoughts, he drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

...

After spending a full day and night in No. 7 City Hospital’s emergency room, Fu Nanyao was stabilized and released, his condition now stable.

Shen Yan had been away on an out-of-town business trip. Upon returning and seeing Shi Yu's missed call on his phone, he was surprised and immediately tried calling back—only to find the call already dropped. It wasn't until he arrived back in B City that Shen Yan found out what went down that day.

The SSS-Class Horror rampaged through the hospital. Shi Yu had called in for reinforcements back then, and fortunately Han Chuyi answered the phone.

Thinking this, he relaxed, looking over at Fu Nanyao, who had been brought back to the Ability User Association an hour earlier.

After his external injuries were treated, Fu Nanyao couldn’t stay in a regular hospital anymore and had to return to the Association.

As the only doctor in the team, Shen Yan sometimes monitored Fu Nanyao’s physical condition.

This time, when he led Fu Nanyao into the examination room, a sense of dread settled in.

He leaned back in his seat, waiting silently, when Sang Huaiyu across from him suddenly said, “Captain Fu is fine this time.”

Fine?

But before leaving the simulation field and heading to Beishan Hospital, Fu Nanyao’s corruption rate had already reached 85%. At Beishan Hospital, he had lost control and battled the “Men’s High Heels” Horror—his corruption rate should’ve spiked.

According to normal standards, a corruption rate of 90% meant becoming a Horror. Beyond 95%, one would completely lose rationality, driven purely by bloodlust.

Before entering the examination room, given that Fu Nanyao had used his powers, Shen Yan had estimated his corruption rate to be around 90%.

Even if he’d turned, he might still retain some rationality. But Huaiyu was saying he was fine?

Sang Huaiyu had fused with a strange Horror Item that gave him powers such as “Prophecy,” “Foresight,” and “Witnessing.” So nobody questioned him when he spoke.

But that made it even stranger.

Facing off against an SSS-Class Horror and ultimately shattering the Nightmare Horror Domain, Fu Nanyao’s corruption level hadn’t risen.

Why?

What exactly had happened at the scene today?

A group of people, including high-ranking Association members, waited outside until the alarms in the examination room finally quieted down and the door opened.

An examiner in full protective gear emerged from the other side, holding the report and wearing a puzzled look.

“The report shows Captain Fu’s corruption rate has been fluctuating wildly.”

“The final reading is—80%.”

Even lower than when he’d exited the simulation field.

But how was that possible?

Honestly, the moment the test results came out, the examiner and his colleagues suspected they had made a mistake.

But repeated checks using the Ability Instruments confirmed it.

No error. Despite the fluctuations, the level had indeed dropped.

This was the first recorded case of an Ability User’s corruption rate decreasing after fusing with a Horror.

For the Ability User Association, it was nothing short of unbelievable.

Shen Yan took the report and read through it carefully, his expression unreadable in the end:

“It seems we’ll have to ask Captain Fu himself.”

"Has Captain Fu woken up?" Shen Yan asked, glancing inside.

Wen Jingjing nodded. "He's awake."

She hesitated slightly before adding, "Captain Fu saw the test report himself just now, but he said… he has no memory of that part."

Inside the examination room, Fu Nanyao lowered his eyes. His mind only recalled being provoked by those men's high heels, his mutation rate reaching 99%, and confronting them. The last bit of his sanity drove him downstairs to break through the haunted zone, ensuring the civilians escaped first.

After that, however, everything in his mind went completely dark.

No one retained memories once their mutation level reached its peak, so Fu Nanyao suspected he had completely become a monster the moment he went downstairs. That was why he had no memory of what happened after regaining consciousness.

But then—how did he turn back?

Fu Nanyao had absolutely no recollection of that day’s events.

Sitting on the examination bed, he furrowed his brows in irritation at the strong disinfectant smell in the room.

It felt as if, at some point, he had unknowingly breathed in something much more pleasant, much sweeter…