Chapter 2: Temporarily Losing Reason

Chapter 2: A Moment of Madness

Yet, the dog did not tear into Su Shi’s flesh.

Even the spot on Su Shi's neck, pierced by the dog's sharp fangs, slowly began to ache less.

[Detected strong self-healing ability. Rapidly repairing wound. Progress: 10%, 30%...]

[Detected healing of an infected mutated monster. Healing progress: 10%, 20%...]

[Bzzt—Insufficient energy detected. Please reallocate self-healing and healing energy!]

[Warning, warning! Viral content in your world is critically high. Mass plant mutation expected in 5 minutes! Enter the car immediately to avoid death.]

Su Shi still couldn't understand the strange electronic voice, but he could clearly sense that the dog, which had just fiercely pounced on him, was no longer so aggressive.

This filled Su Shi with surprise and relief.

As if rediscovering a lost treasure, he lifted his arms—far smaller than those of his peers—and repeatedly stroked the dog's head. The dog's head seemed to have grown larger, its fur much coarser.

But Su Shi didn't let go, even though the fur pricked his skin.

Instead, he turned his now less-painful neck and gently pressed half of his cheek against the dog.

[Detected continued healing. Healing progress accelerated: 30%, 50%...]

"Woof... whimper..."

The infected, mutated dog’s beast-like eyes were gradually regaining clarity.

It seemed to sense Su Shi’s concern, as if aware of its own dangerous state. The gaping, blood-red maw that had been ready to tear at Su Shi after the infection was now tightly shut, emitting only low, urgent whimpers from its throat.

Somehow, Su Shi understood the dog's meaning from these sounds.

The dog was urging him to abandon it and leave...

"No, I can’t!" Understanding this, Su Shi hugged the dog even tighter.

He put all the strength his small, five-year-old body could muster into the embrace.

Su Shi’s childish voice was tinged with an obvious sob, yet he shook his head firmly in refusal.

"No, I won’t! I won’t abandon the dog! I... I only have the dog! Sob-sob, I won’t abandon the dog!"

Tears of desperation streamed down his face, splashing onto the dog's fur.

Due to the child's insufficient energy, Su Shi's tight embrace was interpreted as a choice to dedicate all available energy to healing the infected dog. As a result, Su Shi's not-yet-fully-healed wounds tore open again.

The scent of fresh blood, accompanied by intense pain, spread anew.

Yet Su Shi instinctively bit his lip, determined not to cry out in pain.

[Detected bleeding wound. 90% probability of viral infection. Please enter the car immediately!]

[Detected that the infected mutated monster you are healing has reached 80% progress and is temporarily out of mutation danger.]

[Detected energy depletion. Detected numerous plants mutating nearby. Please immediately follow the indicated route and enter the car before the 3-minute countdown ends to avoid death!]

[Warning, warning! Due to critically high viral content in your world and halted healing progress, the temporarily stabilized mutated monster you are holding will become reinfected and mutate again! Please immediately distance yourself from the monster and enter the car!]

[Monster's current mutation level: 25%! If the monster's mutation level reaches 50%, it will attack you again!]

[Detected viral infection. Detected ongoing mutation. Mutation level: 10%! If your mutation level reaches 50%, you will temporarily lose rationality! If your mutation level reaches 90%, you will be unable to enter the car! If your mutation level reaches 100%, you will completely become a monster! Please enter the car immediately!]

[Warning, warning! Countdown: 2 minutes 30 seconds, 2 minutes 29 seconds...]

The strange electronic voice crackled on, spewing another barrage of warnings.

Coupled with the blaring alarms that kept going off—Su Shi felt as if his small head was about to explode.

Though he still couldn't understand what this sudden electronic voice was saying.

Su Shi could clearly feel that the dog he was holding seemed to be in great pain again.

Moreover, the dog's expression, which had just calmed, now revealed its sharp fangs once more, its mouth wide open. Its head kept lowering, as if it wanted to bite Su Shi’s neck again.

Yet, just as it was about to sink its teeth into the tender skin of the young child’s neck, the dog forced its mouth shut.

In the end, only the stiff dog fur pricked Su Shi’s neck, accompanied by the dog’s pushing motions.

As if it was trying to push Su Shi away from here as quickly as possible...

“N-no, don’t push me! We—we’ll go together!”

Su Shi’s head ached in a strange way at that moment. It felt as if something was trying to push out of his head but couldn’t escape due to his skull, only expanding relentlessly inside.

At the same time, Su Shi noticed something was wrong with his eyes.

Because everything he saw now was gradually turning red.

The reddened dog, his reddened hands, the reddened sky above... even the colors slowly shifting to blood-red.

And Su Shi felt his heart rate accelerating rapidly. The violent "thump-thump-thump" was even faster than when he had been scared of being beaten before—like it might explode inside his body.

[Detected your mutation level has reached: 20%! Please enter the car immediately!]

[Detected the monster you are holding has reached a mutation level of: 30%! Please distance yourself from the monster immediately!]

[Warning, warning! Countdown: 1 minute 59 seconds...]

The strange voice returned once more.

Su Shi’s head felt like it was about to split open. In a daze, he lifted his small hand.

Staring at its now strange color—

And finally catching some information: the monster he was holding... Was that voice, coming from somewhere, saying that the dog he was holding was... was a monster?

That couldn’t be. Because... because the real monster should be him!

Su Shi’s eyes widened, but he bit down hard on his lower lip. Even as thick blood welled up from where his gradually sharpening teeth pierced the flesh, he wouldn't let himself open his mouth wide.

Helplessness flooded his pupils.

Simultaneously, a deep, uncontrollable craving to gnaw on flesh and blood surged from within him.

Though Su Shi was only a child not yet five years old, he knew the meaning of "monster."

After all, adults—both familiar and unfamiliar—were always saying things like: "If you don’t behave, the monsters will take you away and eat you." Or: "That person is terrifying, just like a man-eating monster."

So monsters are scary; they crave eating children and people...

And now, though no one else was present before Su Shi, the mere thought of the word "person" in his mind triggered an uncontrollable hunger in what should be a young child's belly.

He even instinctively added "want to eat" before the word "person."

He wants to eat people—he actually wants to eat people right now! Not just people, but the dog in front of him... Looking at the dog’s fluffy head, Su Shi couldn’t help but want to swallow.

So, he was the monster!

He actually wanted to eat people—and even the dog!

At this moment, Su Shi felt terror.

He felt like a nightmare, too dangerous.

Terrified, Su Shi clamped a hand over his mouth, desperately fighting the urge to open his mouth and tear at the dog. His other hand—which had been tightly hugging the dog—also quickly pulled back.

This time, without needing the dog to urge him, Su Shi immediately thrashed away, shoving the dog off.

Even though he was not yet five, Su Shi's strength suddenly became immense. Even though the dog had grown much larger, Su Shi gritted his teeth and pushed with all his might, managing to shove the dog away in no time.

Once free, Su Shi stumbled backward, taking several frantic steps.

He almost toppled over again.

His hands, now tipped with sharp claws, tightly covered his mouth, even digging into his cheeks. Su Shi’s expression was fearful and helpless, eyes brimming with tears as he whimpered, "Dog, run! I... I think I'm a monster!"

After saying this, Su Shi didn’t dare look at the dog again.

He turned and bolted down the path, his tiny legs pumping wildly.

It wasn’t that Su Shi wanted to abandon the dog—it was just that now, every time he saw the dog, all he could think about was eating it—devouring it. Eating it raw, tearing its flesh...

[Detected route deviation—static—route recalibrated. Player, immediately follow the path to the car! Otherwise, when the countdown ends, you will face attacks from hordes of mutated plants!]

As soon as the strange electronic voice finished, a vast expanse of blue suddenly appeared before Su Shi. The blue spread across the ground, starkly contrasting with the red that filled Su Shi’s vision.

At the very front of the blue path, an arrow even appeared, pointing the way Su Shi should go.

Su Shi, not yet five years old, didn't truly understand what was happening.

But in a world where everything was a terrifying red, that patch of blue felt like a clear sky, bringing him a sense of peace.

So, even though he didn't understand what the strange voice was saying, his body instinctively followed the blue path that had suddenly appeared on the ground, running along it.

He needed to get away from the dog; he had to stay away.

He was a monster.

But he couldn’t eat the dog!

Following the correct route, combined with the enhanced speed from his infection, Su Shi—still just a child—managed to stumble his way to the car in less than half a minute.

The blue path vanished beneath his feet.

Suddenly appearing before him was a brand-new, exceptionally tall car.

[Detected that you have reached the target location. Enter the car immediately!]

[Detected your mutation level has reached: 40%—about to lose rationality! Enter the car immediately!]

As the strange electronic voice urged him, the car door handle suddenly lit up with a massive "!" symbol. Beside it, a vivid icon appeared, showing how to pull the door open.

Su Shi stared blankly, utterly confused about what was happening to the world.

Not only was there a strange voice constantly following him, but his eyes were also problematic, turning everything he saw blood-red. There was the sudden appearance and disappearance of the blue path, and now this strange icon...

To make matters worse, Su Shi sadly realized—he had become a monster.

He wanted to eat people, eat the dog, consume flesh and blood.

And... he couldn't just open this car, could he?

This wasn't his family's car... Even if it were, since he'd been kicked out, he wasn't allowed to touch it.

Opening someone else’s car?

That’s stealing. The police would arrest him.

Having spent half a semester in kindergarten, Su Shi was very familiar with many rules that needed to be followed.

So even though the strange electronic voice kept urging him to open the car door, Su Shi—knowing that stealing was wrong—chose not to.

His head pounded, and he wanted to leave.

His nails were too sharp now—if he accidentally damaged the car, he would definitely be caught.

Maybe even thrown to monsters to be eaten.

Monsters loved to eat bad kids who caused trouble like him!

But soon, Su Shi realized—he was the monster now...

The thought made him even more miserable.

Just as Su Shi was about to hide farther away to prevent himself from biting someone or the dog due to his transformation, his vision suddenly lurched.

Then, Su Shi's consciousness completely vanished.

[Bzzt—detected your mutation level has reached: 50%. Rationality temporarily lost.]

[Detected you are a new player and within one meter of your car. Automatically deducting 10 points and activating newbie protection!]

The moment the electronic voice spoke, Su Shi—who had lost all rationality and was about to lunge like a true monster to hunt for flesh and blood—suddenly froze in place.

Then, like a puppet, he stiffly turned.

And raised his arm, now bulging with mutated muscle, reaching for the car door.

*Click.*

The car door opened. Su Shi, eyes blank, was controlled and pulled into the car.

[Congratulations, player! You have successfully entered the car and started your fight for survival!]