Chapter 12: Chronic Cataclysm Grade Urban Legend Incident?
Beneath Huacheng.
In a dark and damp sewer pipe, a black and ugly monster fish cut through the filthy water, constantly mumbling something to itself.
“I found it, I found it! Finally, I found a guy with spirit energy fluctuation in this d*mn place! This time it has to work, right?”
After several days of observation, the system discovered that this time it “rebirthed” at a time point that, for some reason, seemed to have the long night that causes changes in the world arriving later than usual.
During this time period, the length of the night was still basically at normal levels, and urban legends and spiritual ability users were still quite rare. Finding a host with spiritual ability potential was not an easy task.
Thus, its previous direction was completely wrong. In this scenario, it should focus on humans who already had spirit energy fluctuations. Compared to ordinary people, they would be much more accepting of mysterious matters.
After several days of arduous searching, it finally found a presence with spirit energy fluctuations.
“Swish—!”
The tail fin broke through the water’s surface as the system performed a magnificent tail swipe in the sewage, turning a corner, and ahead appeared a flicker of light.
It sped toward the source of the light and soon jumped out from a sewage pipe by the riverbank, greeted by glorious sunlight.
Then…
It saw a woman lying on the riverbank, covered in bl**d, and on the verge of d*ath.
“Tsk tsk, about to d*e? Good riddance!” the system mumbled to itself, swimming close to the woman along the riverbank.
After finally finding a human with spirit energy fluctuations, the system naturally hoped she could become the next host.
From its experience of selecting hosts, when a person is severely injured or terminally ill, humiliated by rivals without restraint, or has their family or loved ones cruelly killed by dark forces, the likelihood of forming a contract and becoming a host is much higher, along with greater potential for growth.
Although hoping for misfortune to befall a potential host or their family is somewhat ruthless, the system did hope to encounter such a host since it would help solve any misfortune that befalls them later.
This method had proven successful multiple times, except for the one time it went wrong with Gu Qiqi, where a careless mistake turned a heavy tragedy into a food comedy.
To this day, the system still remembers the first time it encountered the street-dwelling Gu Qiqi, crying like a pear blossom in the rain, calling out for her uncle and brother.
It initially thought Gu Qiqi’s wish was to find her missing family, which would serve as her belief supporting her growth in the future. However, it later learned that she was crying from hunger that day.
Sigh, this girl Gu Qiqi… the system sighed inwardly, a sudden pang of melancholy washing over it.
As it moved closer to the woman, the system activated its innate skill, concealing its form and transmitting sound and images into the woman’s mind.
“Ding——!”
“Hello, your 【Super Magical Girl Demon Slayer System】 has successfully connected. Would you like to start loading? [Yes/No]”
Upon hearing a voice by her ear and seeing a classic translucent light blue panel suddenly appear before her, the barely alive woman stiffened for a moment, and a strange light flickered in her dimming eyes.
Sy… system? The woman thought, perplexed.
“Hello, I am here,” the system replied with a composite mechanical voice, “How can I assist you?”
Is it really? There’s really a system in the world? This isn’t some urban legend! the woman thought.
System, “……” You’re so smart!
“Hello, I am not the urban legend you think I am, but a system formed by the will of the Great World to eliminate disasters and other factors that destroy the world. I have detected that you meet the loading criteria. Would you like to start loading? [Yes/No]”
Although the system didn’t know what the will of the Great World was, it had to make something up to gain the woman’s trust at that moment.
That voice just now… did it say “disaster”? The woman’s eyes widened, her pupils violently constricting.
System, “……”
No, how did you know the term “disaster”?
At this time, the disaster shouldn’t even have been born yet!
As if stimulated by something strong, the barely alive woman seemed to have a moment of clarity as she struggled to sit up, her face expressing terror as she trembled and asked, “Did you just say the word disaster?”
“Hello, yes, this system is intended to eliminate disasters and other world-destroying factors…” the system stiffly repeated, but before it could finish, the woman suddenly lost control, clutching her head and screaming.
“Ah——! Disaster, it’s a disaster, the disaster is coming again! I’m going to d*e, I’m going to d*e!”
System, “……” d*mn! What do you mean it’s coming again? Don’t scare me!
While the system was pondering this, it suddenly sensed the woman’s heart rate skyrocketing to an abnormal level, her pupils started to dilate, bl**d pressure dropping, and vital signs fading rapidly.
“Warning! Abnormal life signs detected. Please start loading the system so I can repair your body.”
To prevent the woman from heading toward d*ath, she must first load the system. Without a signed contract with a host, the system had several means to save her, but couldn’t test any of them.
“Warning! Detecting you…”
“Gah——!”
The woman suddenly let out a strange whimper, her muscles tensing up, her pupils shrinking to the size of grains of rice, her hands gripping tightly onto the pebbles on the riverbank, and then with a push of her legs, she died.
Cause of d*ath: cardiac arrest.
“Ah, this…” The system was stunned for a moment, revealing itself from the void, jumping onto the woman’s body while attempting CPR and cursing, “d*mn, d*mn, d*mn! What the hell is this?!”
“If you want to d*e, just d*e! But at least clarify where this disaster is coming from at this time before you d*e, okay?”
“Shouldn’t she still be well-supervised by her father right now? How did it turn into a disaster!”
“……”
Five minutes later.
The system finally confirmed that the woman was indeed dead, awkwardly shifting its black and ugly body away from her, lying on the riverbank, staring up at the sky like a dead fish.
“Right now, I really want a smoke to calm down…” the system sighed weakly.
As soon as it finished speaking, a soft sound of glass clinking suddenly reached its ears.
“Bang—bang—bang—!”
Accompanying the sound was a crystal container filled with dark red flesh rolling out from the woman’s arms, landing on the rocks of the riverbank and shattering.
The system steadied itself, looked towards the sound, and when it saw that clump of dark red flesh, its pudgy body jolted as if electrocuted, leaping back in shock and exclaiming.
“d*mn! Profane flesh!”
In its surprised exclamation, that lump of dark red flesh suddenly soared up and darted toward it.
“!!!”
It’s over, it’s over!
It absolutely cannot let that thing touch it; otherwise, it would be finished before it even began!
If the world is full of people with systems, the world will definitely end!
While the system was rolling and crawling away, it thought this was bad.
Just then, it noticed that lump of dark red flesh, after catching up to it, did not duplicate its powers as it had assumed, but hovered above its head.
Then…
A few seconds later, the dark red flesh suddenly plummeted, diving into the soil of the riverbank.
“……”
No… it didn’t copy my powers?
The system was momentarily stunned, cautiously moving closer to see that the dark red flesh had left a fist-sized, bottomless pit in the riverbank, falling into deep contemplation.
Dug itself underground?
Why would that be?
Could it be… there’s hidden in this land some kind of urban legend power superior to mine? The system pondered, its mood gradually becoming heavy.
————
Huacheng Central Hospital, Emergency Department.
The attending physician Cheng Zhiyu was treating an emergency patient.
A boy around seventeen or eighteen lay on the examination bed, showing a painful expression, constantly letting out moans of agony.
“It hurts so much, doctor, my head hurts so badly; it feels as if it’s not even my head anymore…”
The boy’s name is Lin Weimin, a college student.
He appeared pale with a slight bluish tint; anxiety and fear filled his slightly constricted pupils, and he had no obvious external injuries. His hands gripped the edge of the examination bed tightly, his finger joints turning white from exertion.
The doctor asked him several questions, but the boy seemed not to hear, only to repeatedly cry out in pain.
Cheng Zhiyu made a preliminary observation of Lin Weimin’s symptoms, noting his pale complexion, significantly constricted pupils, shallow and slow breathing, and slightly unclear consciousness, seeming somewhat similar to a concussion.
However, that was just his initial judgment.
The brain is the most complex part of the human body’s structure, and a situation such as this suspected concussion must not be hastily determined. One of the fastest and most convenient ways to ascertain the specifics was to conduct a cranial CT scan.
Cheng Zhiyu wrote up the request for the CT scan and looked to the three boys of similar age accompanying Lin Weimin, asking, “What’s your relationship with him?”
“We’re all students from Huacheng Normal University and classmates of Lin Weimin,” one of them said.
“We’re also roommates,” another added.
“Alright.” Cheng Zhiyu nodded. “Then two of you take him to the CT room for a scan, and one person stay behind to give me more details about the situation.”
The patient was writhing in pain, having shown no response to his previous questions, clearly exhibiting confusion and unable to communicate effectively. They had to rely on his companions to understand how he got injured.
One of the boys looked at the other two, then at the doctor, and volunteered, “I’ll stay behind and talk to the doctor. I was with him the whole time last night.”
“Okay.”
The other two boys responded in unison, and together with the nurse, they lifted Lin Weimin onto a mobile stretcher and took him to the CT room.
Cheng Zhiyu turned to the boy who stayed behind and asked, “You said you were with him all night last night. Do you know how he got hurt?”
“He… he didn’t get hurt,” the boy replied.
“Doctor, the thing is, we were up all night at the internet cafe by the school, and as soon as we came out in the morning, he told me his head hurt and that it felt like his head was light and about to fly away.”
“Wait a minute, did he bump his head when leaving the internet cafe?”
“Absolutely not!” the boy asserted. “When he just came out of the internet cafe, he was still in good spirits; he even wanted to stay for another two hours.”
“Ah! You young people nowadays… keep going?” the doctor sighed with resignation.
Staying up all night in such an environment strains the body, isn’t staying out all night without returning to the dormitory risky given that urban legends could occur?
The boy said with an awkward smile, “Oh, I initially thought he was just a bit dizzy from staying up all night without breakfast, so we went back to school together to rest.”
“By noon, when I woke up, I was ready to go eat in the cafeteria, only to find him curled up in bed, crying out in pain. Upon asking, I learned that his head had been getting worse since we returned to the dorm, eventually waking him up from the pain.”
“I thought something was off, so I called the other two roommates and asked them to come with me to bring Lin Weimin over. When we left the dorm, he could still talk to us, but on the way, his condition worsened, leading to how he is now.”
“……”
This sounds like it could be a brain hemorrhage. Cheng Zhiyu thought after hearing the boy’s account.
Many young people who d*e suddenly after all-nighters do so due to such conditions.
As he pondered, the boy hesitated and carefully asked, “Doctor, Lin Weimin… he won’t d*e, will he?”
“We’ll have to wait for the results…” Cheng Zhiyu was saying when a new file arrived on his computer. He opened it, and his eyes widened.
To date, this is the tenth year he has been working in the emergency department. Throughout this time, he has encountered all kinds of bizarre patients, from those who sneeze and break ribs, to cases of athlete’s foot leading to acute sepsis, and even someone who claimed to have accidentally fallen and placed a pet hamster in their anus.
But after so many years, it was still the first time he saw a person with another head growing inside their head.
Staring at the CT image showing two overlapping skulls, one large and one small, Cheng Zhiyu fell into deep thought.
This is too strange! This must be some kind of Nightfall Syndrome!
————
At the same time, Huacheng Second People’s Hospital, Orthopedic Department.
“Doctor, doctor, help me! I feel like my leg is no longer my leg!” a middle-aged man cried out in pain.
The doctor on the opposite side saw the patient in such pain and felt some sympathy, but he had never encountered such a scenario and dared not make a hasty judgment. He could only soothe the patient, “Don’t worry, bear with it a bit longer; I’ll take a look at your leg first.”
Just as the doctor was about to reach out to roll up the patient’s pants, the patient exclaimed in terror, “No, no! You can’t touch my leg! If you touch it, it won’t be my leg anymore!”
The doctor forced a smile and turned to his intern, “Xiao Liu, hold him down for me; I’ve got to examine his leg.”
Many patients will ramble on while in pain. For their health, they cannot be allowed to act on their whims at such times.
However, when the intern held down the patient and rolled up the pants leg, the doctor gasped sharply.
On the patient’s instep, three tender toes, like those of a newborn, wriggled as if they were some kind of parasite…
————
At a little past three o’clock, Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau.
An Qing leaned back in her chair, eyes closed, one hand rubbing her forehead, her face full of fatigue.
Since around four o’clock yesterday morning, she had been in the Siye Society’s dissection room. Initially, it was just a dissection of animal corpses sent by Jiang Li from the old mining area of the cement factory, but by morning, with no time to rest, she received several corpses of Nightfall Syndrome patients, and only now had she gained a moment’s respite.
“Just k*ll me instead; even Zhou Bapi wouldn’t dare to exploit the long-term workers under him like this…” An Qing weakly complained.
“Snap.” A light sound came from the desk.
An Qing opened her eyes, glanced at the documents on the desk, then looked at Jiang Li, who appeared somewhat haggard on the other side of the table, and sighed silently.
“More new corpses have been sent over?”
“Mm.” Jiang Li nodded slightly.
An Qing sat up straight, roughly flipping through the documents on the desk. “Goodness, two more corpses?”
“I remember, this is the tenth and eleventh case of Nightfall Syndrome patients exhibiting similar symptoms since we found that member of the Solar Eclipse Society’s corpse, right?”
“No.” Jiang Li gently shook his head. “If you count last night’s plants and animals, as well as the strangely behaving abandoned factories and scenic areas discovered this morning, it’s already the one hundred and seventeenth case.”
Although last night, Jiang Li and the members of the Special Action Team had quickly sealed off the area around the old mining site of the cement factory.
That strange condition had still silently spread within Huacheng.
Like some kind of chronic infectious disease with an unknown pathogenic factor, unclear transmission paths, but extremely high mortality rates.
“……”
If this situation isn’t brought under control, it’s likely to develop into a cataclysm grade urban legend incident, right?
Uh… chronic cataclysm grade urban legend incident?
Besides the X Tai Sui incident, has there been any other precedents before this?
An Qing’s expression became grave as she fell into silence for a few seconds, tilting her head to ask, “What did your report to the higher-ups say?”
“The Inspector received the news and has dispatched some detection-type and treatment-type spiritual ability users to come over. They will arrive in Huacheng by tonight at the earliest and tomorrow morning at the latest. Before that…”
Jiang Li said while looking to the documents on the table, raising an eyebrow at An Qing.
“Let’s first deal with these bodies and then archive the cases, shall we?”
An Qing, “……”
Do you see that?
This lady here is Jiang Bapi of the Huacheng Siye Society, the Young Lady Jiang.
An Qing thought as she stood up, stretched, the fitted white shirt under her lab coat tightening and accentuating her alluring curves.
“By the way, Jiang Bapi, after Li Xuan and Bai Kai come to take over tonight, let’s go relax a bit?”
“……” Jiang Li hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, “Okay, two hours.”
“Two hours it is! I suddenly want to play mahjong; let’s set up a girls’ mahjong party?”
Jiang Li shot An Qing an eye, her gaze filled with disdain, “Rest is rest; let’s do something healthy instead?”
An Qing, “?”
Something’s off! Who taught me to play mahjong before?
