Chapter 25

Chapter 25

In the world where Su Xuanxiao was born, the sky was perpetually obscured by exhaust fumes from massive chimneys. Only on the clearest days of the year would the night sky reveal its true appearance, scattered with pinpricks of light.

As part of the lower class destined from birth in the city, they were called "flesh-people" by the upper class.

Labor—blood—limbs—life.

In the long years that followed, during his battle with the mental fog, Su Xuanxiao sometimes became disoriented, momentarily wondering what he was still searching and waiting for.

Was what he had lost truly so important?

He had long since grown powerful; the decadent world that once hindered him had become his sustenance. He was an aberration born from a shattered world, and so were his younger brothers.

Later, he thought again, yes, it was important.

To him, his youngest brother was the kindling that ignited life, his window to the world, his ears to truth, his heart to feel the world.

It was the first key to unlocking wisdom.

The spark that transformed "flesh" into "human."

And once this transformation occurred, as a human, one must learn to think.

When those who were raised merely as masses of "flesh" began to ponder their existence, to question why they were alive, they faced only the blood-stained, rancid truth.

But that was alright, because only by becoming aware of one’s existence could one truly live.

He was no longer a mass of flesh in the city, meant only for use and sacrifice. He was alive.

His surname was Su, and his name was Xuan Xiao.

Xuan Xiao, Ju Zi, Jiang Lou, and Xi Mu—like them, they were the names of stars.

Their youngest brother had said so.

So, the tiny points of light in the sky were called stars.

***

"Big Brother? What’s wrong?" Su Ximu looked at his elder brother, whose expression had grown odd again after he called his name a few times. He couldn’t help but want to reach out and touch his forehead to see if he had a fever.

Su Xuanxiao returned to the present and, when he looked at the young man before him again, his gaze became much softer. He released his tightly clenched hand and, acting on impulse, raised his arm to ruffle the young man’s soft hair.

Unfortunately, in that brief period of redemption and being redeemed, where the child acted purely on instinct, as one of the protagonists of the story, he hadn’t learned many of the stellar virtues.

He was greedy, cunning, harsh, and stingy. Even though he had already harbored grave suspicions just minutes earlier, until he confirmed them, he remained reluctant to reach out and show true kindness.

He would only give his love to his actual brothers. Any other existence that took even a sliver of it was an offense, deserving to be shredded to pieces.

***

The morning trip to the amusement park went by in a blur for Su Ximu. After saying goodbye to Du Du and Du Du’s father, he returned just as dazedly.

Since it was a children’s amusement park, even with the rare encouragement from his "Big Brother," he still was too self-conscious to try many of the rides.

Sitting on the small slide meant for children, he felt as if he were taking toys from children.

Su Xuanxiao also realized he had been a bit thoughtless. Observing carefully, he noticed that Xi Mu often seemed nervous around him.

For a successful businessman, patience was an indispensable trait.

He quietly worked through his feelings internally while outwardly pretending nothing had happened, smoothly escorting the young man back to the Tourism Park.

Before Su Ximu got out of the car, he heard his "Big Brother" ask, "Hold on a second. Tell me about your next job. I heard from Jiang Lou that a coworker told you about it, right?"

As a caretaker, such inquiries were normal.

Su Ximu didn’t resist.

He didn’t dislike his "Big Brother"; he was just naturally cautious.

Hearing the question, he answered earnestly, "It’s a talent search show. Group Leader Lan242 said that since it’s a new program team, they need a lot of staff for every segment. If I want to join, there are still positions available."

Su Ximu took out a sheet of A4 paper he carried with him, densely filled with what looked to be over a hundred job positions at first glance.

They could be broadly grouped by workplace:

Stage, practice room, filming location, performance venue, trainee dormitories, makeup room, editing room…

Even the cafeteria and supermarket were listed, recruiting food servers and cashiers respectively.

Some positions required professional skills that Su Ximu might not yet be qualified for, but aside from those, he was willing to work hard, he could do the rest.

A few positions on the list were circled in red—recommendations from Group Leader Lan242.

Su Ximu had no experience in the entertainment industry and was still young, unaware of its complexities. But Su Xuanxiao, after taking the sheet and giving it a quick glance, immediately sensed something off.

A blue-level Tourism Park employee also serving as an associate director for a major talent show?

"Xi Mu, since your friend is so concerned about your affairs, as your Big Brother, I should thank him. Is he at the Tourism Park now?"

Su Ximu shook his head. "Group Leader Lan242 has been busy these past couple of days. He wasn’t at the Tourism Park this morning."

As for his afternoon plans to hang out with Group Leader Lan242, Su Ximu instinctively felt it was better not to mention it to his "Big Brother" for now.

Not in this morning? What a coincidence.

"It is rather unfortunate," Su Xuanxiao said, taking out a black credit card and handing it over. "Making friends is a good thing. Don’t forget to reciprocate gestures. If someone gives you something valuable, remember to return the favor. And don’t shortchange yourself when you’re out."

In his previous world, Su Ximu had heard legends about black cards but had never seen one in person. He looked at his "Big Brother," then at the card, feeling incredibly honored and surprised.

"Take it. Your third brother has one too."

A lie—the third brother didn’t have one.

With things put this way, refusing would seem distant and formal, unlike family.

Once he stepped out of the car, the heavy black card in his pocket and his brother’s promise to allow the job change, Su Ximu had only one thought:

His "Big Brother" must have been angry about him getting drunk a few days ago. Today, he seemed to have cooled down.

Not only did he give an incredibly generous allowance, but his voice had also softened a lot.

Watching the young man head upstairs to his dorm, Su Xuanxiao closed his eyes in the car to rest for a moment. Lightly tapping the armrest, he reopened his eyes, and like mist dissipating, he vanished.

Su Corporation

***

For several kilometers around, wails and howls echoed incessantly, a cacophony of ghostly cries and wolf-like howls.

The sales department manager, who had narrowly escaped by jumping out a window just before the building collapsed, was now digging by hand through the rubble, trying to rescue his loyal subordinates.

"Ah! Awooo!" The agonized screams of the eerie employees trapped beneath the debris were a genuine form of mental pollution, prompting the nearby trapped players to cover their ears in silence.

Folks, players, teammates! Who could have imagined this?

We were halfway through clearing the Su Financial Group building sub-dungeon, and suddenly half the dungeon collapsed!

No one’s dead yet, but we’re buried underneath. Just waiting for our eerie superiors to rescue us.

Generally speaking, unless a more powerful entity forcefully breaches the dungeon, the dungeon’s eerie beings hold complete ownership of it.

The Su Financial Group building, though it appears to be a massive structure, is actually a large-scale dungeon—one with countless sub-dungeons.

It belongs to the owner of the Su Financial Group, a powerful entity known only in the legends of the Weird Tales State Secrets Bureau.

Dungeons and their eerie inhabitants are closely linked. If a dungeon suddenly collapses, it can only mean something has gone wrong with the dungeon’s eerie beings.

But as an experienced player, I can clearly sense that the dungeon’s suppression and restraints haven’t weakened in the slightest.

In other words, even though the dungeon has collapsed, the eerie beings’ control over it remains entirely intact.

If their control isn’t compromised, it means the eerie beings’ power hasn’t diminished. The collapse must have another cause.

As a player, Li Qingping could analyze the situation quickly, and the other eerie beings subordinate to the big boss in the dungeon could naturally figure it out too.

This was also the main reason why the lucky ones who escaped didn’t flee immediately but instead turned back to rescue their colleagues.

Quietly tearing two strips of cloth from her hem to stuff her ears, Li Qingping tried to minimize her presence while observing her surroundings.

All around her were scattered limbs and body parts.

Some lower-paid ordinary employees were gnawing at the ground, wriggling their bodies to reach their own dismembered limbs.

Their motto was frugality—reattach and reuse.

Others were so tightly pinned that they shouted urgently upward. Faintly, one could hear them yelling, "Old Zhou, hurry! Rescue the construction department first! We can rebuild the building in half a month!"

Old Zhou, the sales department manager with Herculean strength, heard the shouts but hesitated briefly before ignoring them and continuing to rescue his own prized subordinates.

Down here were three employees who were supposed to sign contracts with partners this very afternoon! He had to dig them out quickly.

As long as the company didn’t go under, this was all part of his performance metrics.

The construction department manager, seeing that Old Zhou above was ignoring him, instantly erupted in curses: "Zhou Renmei! You son of a bitch! Just wait! I’ll tear you apart when I get up there!"

No sooner had he spoken than a loud crash echoed from above. Someone seemed to have accidentally dislodged a support, causing rubble to collapse and bury the cursing construction manager completely.

When Su Jianglou arrived, he was met with this scene of utter chaos.

Standing beside him was another person who, at first glance, seemed utterly ordinary—the kind you’d lose in a crowd.

"This... what’s going on with Big Brother?" Holding a tightly wrapped picture frame, Su Jianglou took a few steps forward, looking bewildered as he stepped onto the grounds of the Su Financial Group building.

After a careful assessment, he concluded that neither Big Brother nor the dungeon was in any real trouble. The ones in the most danger were clearly the employees buried beneath the rubble.

Although Big Brother had taken his cake during his last birthday, they had already fought it out yesterday, so the matter was temporarily settled.

Truthfully, Su Jianglou was mostly feeling guilty. He remembered there was a critical matter he was still hiding from Second Brother—the person he was currently hiding in the Tourism Park.

When guilt sets in, one unconsciously becomes less irritable.

Standing beside Su Jianglou, the one he called Second Brother—Su Juzi—shook his head and said only, "Big Brother lost control of his emotions today."

"Did he lose money on an investment?" Su Jianglou could only guess, averting his gaze from the person in front of him.

Second Brother’s current "skin" was truly hard on the eyes.

Not wanting to linger in this chaotic scene, Su Jianglou said to Su Juzi, "Second Brother, I just remembered I have something to do. I’ll head out first. When Big Brother shows up, tell him I’m borrowing this painting for a couple of days."

With that, he casually lifted a massive slab of flooring, rescuing the employee trapped beneath, then turned and vanished.

Shortly after Su Jianglou disappeared, Su Juzi, who had been standing still without helping or causing trouble, looked up and took a few steps to the side.

A second later, the spot where he had been standing began to sizzle as the ground corroded, instantly forming a terrifying pit.

What followed…

If Su Ximu had been present, he would have understood that the scene of Big Brother beating Third Brother earlier was nothing compared to what happened next.

Perhaps out of respect for Big Brother, Su Juzi only evaded the attacks and rarely fought back.

While dodging passively, black venom eventually splattered onto him.

The human "skin" that Su Jianglou had found so hard to look at began to sizzle upon contact with the venom, much like real flesh meeting sulfuric acid. The outer layer melted away like butter.

Then the second layer, the third layer…

Su Xuanxiao, who had initiated the attack, revealed himself and said with a hint of helplessness, "Ju Zi, aren’t you hot wearing so many layers?"

Su Juzi didn’t answer, instead shaking off the black liquid clinging to his hand.

Finally, the fourth layer.

A youthful, sunny, and handsome figure emerged, with a blue badge pinned to his chest bearing the number: 242.

Blue 242.

Su Xuanxiao leisurely spread his palms and said, "Group Leader Lan242, I never expected that my supposedly overwhelmingly busy younger brother would have the time to apply for a job at my park."

In the next moment, he flipped his palm downward, and instantly, the entire space seemed to seal shut.

Black mist filled every corner around Su Juzi.

Elsewhere in the space, the eerie employees and players trembled in fear, huddling together.

The players, in particular, covered their mouths and noses, not daring to even breathe.

Of course—judging by the reactions of the other eerie employees, this was clearly the dungeon’s BOSS.

Folks, who could have seen this coming?

We were just tackling a sub-dungeon, so why did the big BOSS show up in person? No need to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

If any of them were to come into contact with even a wisp of that black mist today, they’d be trapped in this eerie world forever—or sent to a mental institution if they ever made it out.

On the other side, seeing the black mist about to corrode even this outer layer of his appearance, Su Juzi finally refused to tolerate it. Beneath this layer was his actual body.

In an instant, red mist filled the space, carrying an even more eerie and ominous aura than the black mist.

Seeing this, Li Qingping’s eyes widened in horror, like an extreme clean freak about to be splashed with filthy water. Without a care for rank, she shoved aside her department manager and frantically squeezed deeper into the crowd of beings.

At this moment, even this huddle of eerie beings felt safer than the outside.

Su Xuanxiao and Su Juzi were fairly evenly matched in strength. Unless they were fighting a life-or-death battle, neither could gain the upper hand in a short time.

Instead, the other half of the Su Corporation Building was the first to suffer.

Su Juzi wanted to leave—he had important business to attend to in the afternoon.

But Su Xuanxiao refused to let him go; he needed to vent his pent-up anger.

As their standoff dragged on, Su Juzi, in a fit of rage, seized an opportunity to escape the confines of the Su Corporation Building.

In an instant, red mist filled the sky, nearly enveloping half of Tanzhong City.

Tourism Park

***

Su Ximu was walking with his "third brother," who had come to visit, when he suddenly pointed skyward in surprise. "Fire clouds."

"Third Brother, look! Fire clouds! So red."

In Su Ximu’s understanding, exceptionally red clouds could only be "fire clouds."

It was just that the timing of this phenomenon was rather strange.

Didn’t it usually happen in the afternoon?

A few seconds later, the sky suddenly darkened. The boy, who had been looking up at the clouds, blinked, not quite processing it. "It’s dark now."

The boundless sky was split in half—one side a thick, bewitching red, the other pitch-black. Such a spectacle was something Su Ximu, in his nearly twenty years of life, had never seen. He doubted even his grandmother had witnessed it before.

If she had, she would surely have told him about it.

Along with this marvel, an eerie atmosphere settled over the entire Tanzhong City, and an uneasy silence fell over everyone.

A streak of red light shot across the black part of the sky.

Bang!

A loud crash rang out.

The boy stared up, stunned and disbelieving. "Did a meteor just crash down?"

Su Jianglou wore a complex expression, lost in thought: No, it was Second Brother who crashed down.

Author's Note:

Little Mu: Look, a shooting star~ Quick, make a wish~