Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Convincing Little Monster to read the arcane text with him finally helped Shi Yu feel less dizzy. After all, nothing was more convincing than watching the usually energetic little Horror fall asleep within seconds of reading the *Coding Tutorial*.

Right? It wasn’t just him who couldn’t get through it. Even Little Monster, who normally chattered nonstop all night long, ended up nodding off—how could it be his fault?

Shi Yu took a sip of coffee as he read, then narrowed his eyes at his phone, fully realizing now that yesterday’s afternoon tea had been nothing but a honeyed trap, bait meant for gullible fish like him.

What good intentions could a boss—whose real face he’d never even seen—possibly have? This was just another way to torment him, and with knowledge, no less—the subtlest torture of all.

Shi Yu glared at the book, determined to finish five pages today, send them over, and then never, *ever* take the bait again!

But by noon, after struggling through the reading with Little Monster in a daze, he finally managed to flip through five pages, making sure to show visible signs of reading, and casually sent them to Big Boss.

Whether he actually understood any of it was another matter, but at least he made a convincing display. Shi Yu felt he’d more than earned yesterday’s sugared pastry.

A few minutes later, Big Boss replied.

"Quite impressive."

"Five pages this morning."

Shi Yu: ???

Was he being sarcastic?

For a moment, he thought Big Boss was mocking him. He held back his irritation, glaring at the screen.

But Big Boss didn’t appear to be mocking him. The reply came naturally, as usual:

"Reading this much during extra part-time hours is already quite good."

"I can tell you’re working hard."

Huh? Was that really the intention?

Though “I can tell” was entirely subjective, Shi Yu swallowed his frustration and put on a polite smile:

"Yeah."

"After reading all morning, I realized my energy just isn’t what it used to be since graduation."

"Don’t have the same stamina as my student days." He was about to use this as an excuse to get out of this reading assignment when—

Big Boss sent a screenshot.

"What do you like for lunch?"

"If you're tired, maybe some nourishment will help."

Shi Yu’s refusal stuck in his throat.

How could he possibly say no to this?

Each food photo was more lavish than the last—this was pure temptation!

Maybe… he’d take this meal first and quit later?

Premium seafood flown in from a coastal restaurant—he’d never even tasted anything like it before.

Staring at the endless list of dishes on the screen, Shi Yu wisely kept quiet.

"The boss is right."

"Low energy? Just eat something nutritious."

"You know, reading’s actually pretty fun. Haven’t felt this chill since graduation."

"I swear I just aged backward a few years."

Sang Huaiyu lowered his gaze to the screen, raising an eyebrow. He could practically *hear* the nonsense from the other end.

Would’ve loved to see what Shi Yu was like back then.

But the conversation wasn’t over. The ever-serious deity, always diligent about knowledge, asked:

"So, anything else tripping you up?"

Shi Yu: [silent scream]

Why’s he *still* asking?!

Wasn’t “knowledge made me younger” enough?!

Could he say he didn’t get *anything*? Mortifying, but Shi Yu stared at the screen, knowing there was no hiding it.

He sent back all the parts that had left him completely lost.

"Here, here, and here."

Three red marks—ugh, the secondhand embarrassment was real.

Nope, he needed a scapegoat.

The Little Monster was still zoning out with a soft "blah blah," its (questionably existent) brain convinced the *Advanced Coding Tutorial* was the scariest thing ever written.

But for Mom… it’d suffer through anything…

After sending the message, Shi Yu lowered his head and deadass lectured the Little Monster, zero shame.

"Listen up later. Dad asked these *for you*, got it?"

"Not my problem at all."

Right, it wasn’t *him* who didn’t understand—it was the Little Monster. He was just asking on its behalf. Nothing awkward about that. Shi Yu instantly convinced himself, throwing the illiterate Little Monster under the bus, then glanced at his phone.

He’d expected the other side to take time thinking, but within minutes, several answers came flying in—like they didn’t even *think*, just *knew*.

Show-off.

Frowning, Shi Yu picked up his phone, gearing up to nitpick.

Steeling himself for agony, he started reading—only to realize, to his horror, that he actually… understood?

Wait, this guy’s *actually* a genius?!

Shi Yu blinked in confusion, then turned back with disbelief to check again. It wasn’t a hallucination—he actually got it.

His expression froze for a moment, and the look on his face became unsettling.

Who *is* this god-tier expert? Out there in the wild, his tutorials would sell out instantly, right? The Boss explaining things so even *I* get it?

He blinked again, suddenly feeling awkward about his earlier resentment.

“Uh, I think I kind of get it now.”

“Thanks, boss.”

Shi Yu laid it on thick: “Didn’t expect the Boss to be crushing profits *and* dropping knowledge.”

For most people, wouldn’t this make him total husband material? Earning cash outside, then coming home to tutor the kids—avoiding basically all family drama.

Wait, what the hell was he thinking?

Shi Yu shook his head and shut that thought down fast, though he still weirdly amazed by the Boss’s teaching skills.

Sang Huaiyu had no idea the human on the other end had wandered into domestic fantasies. He glanced at the flattery and replied, “No big.”

“Oh,” he added, “I can also cook.”

“Maybe you’ll get to try sometime.”

Huh?

Cooking? The Boss does *that* too?

Shi Yu did a double take. These days, not many people could actually cook—otherwise his Mukbang streams wouldn’t be so popular. No cap, the Boss could sling pans?

He rested his face in his palm, “Pfft, as if.”

“There’s no way the Boss should cook for a subordinate.”

After saying that, Shi Yu assumed he was joking. But then the Boss went radio silent, probably overthinking something, before hitting send.

“Why not?”

“I quite enjoy geeking out on human stuff.”

Sang Huaiyu loved studying human things, so he’d picked up a lot. But until now, he’d never considered showing any of that side to others.

After all, humans were barely even the same *taxonomy* in His eyes.

But Shi Yu was somewhat of an exception.

Even He was a little surprised after typing that line so naturally.

Cook for Shi Yu?

Weirdly, it didn’t sound totally off the table. A faint curiosity stirred in Him, and just as He lowered His gaze, a rapid reply came through.

“Lmao, boss, you’re hilarious.”

“Hold up, someone’s knocking.”

Shi Yu set the phone down and went to check, only to find the smart-guy snack pack from the Boss was already at his doorstep.

That was quick.

He muttered to himself, letting the delivery guy leave the food at the door before bringing it in. While texting his boss, he grabbed a pair of scissors to open the package.

"Wala."

The Little Monster, dazed after studying, obediently watched its mother eat, its head still spinning from the weird stuff it had just learned.

Shi Yu had just taken a bite of his seafood spread when the "wala" sound startled him. After sending a photo of the food to his boss, he couldn’t help but bite his spoon and lower his head.

He couldn’t help thinking: *Ugh, why do I feel like I’m hogging all the food?*

*Is this little guy still cramming?*

*I was just messing with it.*

*Why’s it taking this so seriously?*

Thinking about the Little Monster studying hungry while he indulged in a seafood feast, he felt weirdly guilty, like a parent scarfing down snacks while their kid starved.

The Little Monster in his belly was clueless, but Shi Yu, feeling bad after tricking it, hesitated before deciding to make it up to the little guy.

*Maybe I should grab a late-night bite after the livestream tonight.*

*Last time, it missed out on the Horror Photo. This time, I’ll get it something extra.*

*Anything’s fine—can’t let it go hungry.*

With his mind made up, Shi Yu relaxed and happily tore into his food.

Meanwhile, Sang Huaiyu remained expressionless upon seeing the photo Shi Yu sent. Recalling his earlier thought about cooking, he averted his gaze... deep in thought.

...

By evening, after finishing up his usual stream and bidding farewell to his fans, Shi Yu stretched and, remembering his promise to reward the Little Monster, shook off his sleepiness to head out.

Grabbing his hoodie from the closet, he checked himself in the mirror, making sure he was covered head to toe before putting on his mask and leaving.

Since the idea of treating the Little Monster was spontaneous, he hadn’t planned where to go. Only after riding the elevator did he start thinking.

*Not nearby.*

*Orange Blossom Road’s had too many weird incidents lately. Any more would raise suspicions—whether from evil gods or the Ability User Association.*

That eerie stare from before still had Shi Yu on edge. After careful consideration, he thought of a place...

—"Leling Amusement Park."

*Hmm, didn’t this place have some Horror incidents?*

From what he remembered of the original story, a ball in this park got haunted, bouncing around at midnight and drawing complaints from nearby residents.

At first, the park owner thought kids were sneaking in to play at night, disturbing the neighbors. But after installing surveillance, they found... no one at all!

Instead, the ball from the "Rebound Ball" attraction was bouncing on its own.

At night, all the rides were supposed to be powered off, yet the Rebound Ball activated itself, bouncing all over the park—way past where it should’ve stopped.

Traces of the ball were found in nearly every corner of the amusement park!

The amusement park wasn’t large to begin with, and the owner was just running a small business. After discovering this phenomenon, he was immediately scared stiff and quickly shut it down, putting it up for lease.

When Shi Yu arrived, what he saw was a run-down little amusement park in the western suburbs.

A giant “For Rent” sign was plastered front and center, with the rent already slashed from tens of thousands a month to just ten thousand.

For such a large space, only ten thousand… Shi Yu’s jaw clenched at the thought.

Tugging his hood up, he frowned and headed toward the surveillance room. Fortunately, the owner had been so spooked by what he saw at night that he had already taken down the cameras in recent days, which worked to Shi Yu’s advantage.

With everything prepared, Shi Yu turned and walked into the amusement park, curious about this mysterious bouncing ball.

He arrived just around nine in the evening, the time the ball was said to come alive according to nearby complaints.

As soon as he pushed open the gate and stepped inside, Shi Yu immediately sensed that the atmosphere in the amusement park was different from the outside.

If he had to describe it, the park seemed to carry... a metallic tang of blood. A smell that shouldn’t be there.

The cramped space radiated an oppressive energy, making anyone who stepped through the gate feel their chest tighten and vision blur.

This was supposed to be a place for relaxation, yet the moment one entered, a creeping dread settled in—especially when, amid the chaotic thoughts already swirling in one’s mind, a jarring *bang* exploded in his skull.

With a *whoosh*, the pent-up fury brewing inside him flared up violently. Even someone like Shi Yu, who usually had little emotional fluctuation, felt his temper spike.

He paused and forced himself to analyze.

Mind games?

Since he had deliberately refrained from releasing his Spirit Threads upon entering—to avoid scaring off the ball and instead appear as an ordinary trespasser—he was hyper-aware of his fraying nerves.

The park’s aura affected one’s emotions, fueling raw, gnawing panic.

The most absurd part was that, despite the park being utterly silent in the dead of night with no one around, and the only sound being his own breathing, it still made him furious—so much so that for a moment, he wished he could mute his own lungs.

*Calm down!*

*Calm down!*

Shi Yu closed his eyes, reined in the rage, and when he opened them again, he noticed that the surrounding rides had somehow started operating on their own.

First the merry-go-round, then the roller coaster, the Ferris wheel—one by one, the attractions sputtered awake, turning the empty space into a grotesque parody of fun.

It was as if an invisible hand had flipped a switch, only intensifying the smothering, feverish tension.

—In this amusement park, it seemed like every noise was a razor to the brain.

Shi Yu glanced around, gripping his mask in feigned irritation. Before he could react, another *bang* struck.

Just as the roller coaster reached its most thrilling descent, a deafening *clang* drove a spike through his temples.

The violent tremor nearly stopped his heart cold. If Shi Yu hadn’t known exactly what was happening, he might have truly believed his heart had plummeted to the ground along with the coaster.

Anxiety, fear, disorientation—a flood of emotions surged in an instant. After testing it a few times, Shi Yu gradually cracked the Horror’s MO.

—This bouncing ball-related Horror had the power to manipulate emotions.

But it was clever. It crafted illusions based on emotional shifts, gradually blurring the line between hallucination and reality by amplifying agitation. For instance, the initial tremors only induced irritation, but later, the combined sound and impact of the roller coaster’s sudden drop became the real killing mechanism.

The frequency escalated over time, shifting from emotional influence to direct physical assault on the heart. Only after the relentless *bang-bang-bang* had thoroughly disoriented the mind would it seize the moment of lowered guard to violently rupture the victim’s organs—make them burst like overripe fruit.

How sneaky.

If he hadn’t read the original, and had some understanding of this horror, he might have fallen victim to it. But since this thing had existed here for so long, the surrounding residents must have already been affected—it needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

Coming to his senses, Shi Yu took a deep breath and faked being overwhelmed during the final jolt, crouching on the ground.

The roller coaster above was still running. He *“weakly”* leaned against the wall, waiting quietly.

Shi Yu figured the other party would show up once it sensed he was at his limit.

He could feel that after he’d *pretended* to show a hint of pain, the bouncing ball’s vibrations actually sped up, as if deliberately.

This freaky thing clearly took great pleasure in crushing people’s spirits, and would most likely come out personally to gloat over its work.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, when Shi Yu stopped, the ball manipulating emotions from the shadows appeared. A half-blue, half-red ball rolled onto the ground, sliding along the path with a clattering sound, gleefully.

Shi Yu lowered his gaze, easing up once he spotted it.

Good. Finally, after all that playacting, he’d lured it out.

The ball, after appearing, just stared at Shi Yu, bouncing little by little.

As it approached, the metallic reek of blood grew stronger.

At the very last moment, just as it prepared to leap excitedly and blow the human’s brains out, things took a sudden turn.

The red ball launched upward—only to be suddenly seized by something, forced to lock rigidly in place.

Meanwhile, the “weak” human in front stood up, his expression shifting in an instant.

Shi Yu clapped his hands, finally able to drop the charade, and bent down to pick up the ball for inspection.

“This is it?”

Trying to make him anxious? Dream on.

Still, he glanced at the ball, turning it over in his hands, hoping it might leave something behind before vanishing—like the previous “horror photo” had.

But after being caught, the “emotion ball” in front of him went limp like a deflated toy.

Shi Yu: …

Useless.

Felt way worse than the “horror photo.”

Then again, the “horror photo” was SS-class, while this ball was probably only A-class. No special skills? Figures.

His lip curled. Seeing the ball locked rigidly in place and unable to manipulate emotions anymore, he simply handed it to the Little Monster.

“Fine, eat up.”

“Call it a treat today.”

Mom… gave it to him?

The Little Monster was stunned for a moment, but perked up at the mention of food. Staring at the round thing in front of it, it let out an excited “Wah!”

The once-malicious “emotion ball,” now caught, panicked completely. It had no idea what was happening with this human and desperately tried to escape—but no matter what, it couldn’t touch the ground again.

It had bounced countless times before, becoming the nightmare of nearby humans, but now it couldn't move at all. It could only sense with terror that something seemed to be... approaching!

Shi Yu yawned and leaned against a pillar, waiting for the Little Monster to absorb it.

The tentacles gently pressed against its surface, and the colors on the "ball" visibly began to fade—first the irritating blue, then the bright blood-red. Within minutes, the once super-bouncy Horror Ball had turned into an ordinary toy, plopping to the ground.

Feeling that all the Horror's vitality had been absorbed by the Little Monster, Shi Yu rubbed his stomach.

Hmm.

Not exactly full, but at least not hungry anymore.

Home time!

He pulled his hat down again, and after the Little Monster happily chattered a few times and obediently curled back up, he turned and left the amusement park.

The next morning, the owner of Leling Amusement Park arrived to clean up the premises.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw a complete mess of equipment. How was it even worse than the previous nights?

Did that creepy ball bounce around again last night?

He shook his head and began cleaning. Then, cautiously, he walked toward the bouncing ball area to check if the ball was still there.

Strangely, today he didn’t hear any bouncing sounds even when he reached the sign.

What was going on?

This was the first time the owner had encountered such a situation. Puzzled, he finally worked up the nerve to step inside.

Upon entering the bouncing area, he saw a flat, lifeless ball rolling to his feet.

And the terrifying bounce platform opposite was completely empty!

Was this the ball? Had it finally broken?

The amusement park owner stood frozen, too stunned to react immediately.

Meanwhile, after returning home, Shi Yu cleaned up all evidence. While putting away his things, he suddenly remembered something and wrote down his theory in his notebook.

Hmm, based on the comparison between the "Horror Photo" and the "Emotion Ball," perhaps the higher the Horror's level, the more it could reveal.

But this was just his speculation—he'd need to experiment more next time.

After locking the notebook away, Shi Yu rubbed his stomach and headed to the bathroom. A while later, he returned to the bedroom to rest.

Perhaps because he felt satisfied, he slept deeply and dreamlessly. It wasn’t until the next morning that he finally checked his phone.

Huh? The lease listing for Leling Amusement Park had been taken down?

Seemed like the owner must've realized things had returned to normal. Shi Yu nodded, glad he'd covered his tracks, and slowly sat up.

But something felt odd: the usually energetic Little Monster, which would wake him with noise every morning, was unusually quiet today.

Shi Yu glanced down at his stomach, puzzled. Did it overeat last night?

After waiting a while and still hearing nothing, Shi Yu finally just headed to the bathroom to wash up.

Honestly, he’d grown so used to the screechy chatter every morning that the weirdly quiet morning felt strangely unsettling.

He splashed some water on his face, assuming Little Monster would be awake by noon. But even after lunch, it still hadn't woken up?

His stomach was still quiet. If not for the lingering warmth, Shi Yu would have thought Little Monster had vanished.

What was it up to?

Sitting on the sofa leafing through a book, Shi Yu finally couldn't help touching his stomach.

"Still there?"

"If you are, give me a sign."

Was it sick?

His stomach dropped. It was just an offhand question, but he recalled last night's ball—had it rolled around on the dirty ground and caused problems after Little Monster ate it?

"Wala."

After a while, a faint "Wala" came from his stomach. Shi Yu finally relaxed.

"Why so quiet today?"

He put down his glass and asked.

Little Monster was just as confused. After its extra meal last night, it had been very happy and fallen asleep while reciting *Human... Advanced Coding Tutorials*.

This morning, it had wanted to cuddle up to Mom happily. But just as it was about to press against Mom's skin, it realized—it seemed… different?

Little Monster couldn't look in a mirror, but it keenly sensed it didn't look the same as before.

The moment it tried to get close to Mom, its head bounced back. It felt itself with a tentacle and realized—had it grown another tentacle on its head?

"Wala???"

Little Monster tilted its head, and the new appendage tilted too.

In the living room, Shi Yu waited patiently. After a long while, he finally managed to understand Little Monster's jumbled words.

He went still. After hearing its description, his expression turned odd, disbelieving. "Wait, you're saying... you woke up with a—Ethernet cable on your head?"