Love, death, and false man

Chapter 31. Territorial Consciousness
9/25—7:21
Rainwater meandered like wriggling earthworms on the glass, and the humid air settled, blurring the street scene with mist.

All the breakfast stalls outside No. 6 Middle School have disappeared, leaving only those with storefronts.

"I was here first, so you should give me what I asked for first."

Fang Yan, his face grim, gave orders to the shop owner.

The shop owner's hands transformed into four raw, fleshy tentacles dripping with blood, and his head suddenly split into four pieces, with a ribbon-like sound-emitting body vibrating with murmurs from the void.

"The test failed. The Lord of Souls is watching you. Join us, become one with us. You cannot escape. All you can think of is what you can think of."

……

Fang Yan gripped the shop owner's collar tightly and pressed his head against the countertop.

When he finally realized what was happening, he was surrounded by surprised looks from students and the shop owner's eyes were filled with unconcealed fear. His other hand was still braced against the knife he used to cut starch sausages on the cutting board.

He was panting when he released the shopkeeper, didn't even open his umbrella, and quickly fled the scene, running towards his classroom.

Why was someone spying on me yesterday? On urban legend websites, I rarely have doubts. What are the criteria for judgment? Or am I just too conspicuous?

We can't stay on the defensive forever. [The Hunting Channel] has already overwritten the data on the other party's temporary server, but there's still a risk that they'll come knocking again.

Each time it might be more dangerous than the last, so we need to take the initiative and kill them all first.

Today we also have the task of establishing contact channels with our comrades. Starting tomorrow, we will investigate all the "influential figures" of the Sixth Middle School on the website, as well as the administrators of the Earth Defense Base, and remove all the dangers around us to ensure that the Sixth Middle School is completely under our sphere of influence.

My current rank is worth 1200 points. Killing the one last night added 200 points, but to reach the sergeant rank, I need a full 10000 points. This means that I need extremely experienced hunting skills and comprehensive abilities, and at least one or two years of service.

What was that just now? Was it an illusion?
[You cannot actively convert the heat of the soul fire into kinetic energy; this is determined by your subconscious.]

[When one forcibly defies the characteristics of Soulfire and actively performs work on the universe, it will increase entropy and induce irreversible damage, including epilepsy, dementia, paralysis, confusion, schizophrenia, and depersonalization.]

The blood-red, mysterious code imprinted in my consciousness, the EXE executable file—they are just programs; my own system is still running.

Having only experienced a few battles, I've already seen the initial signs, though they're very minor and negligible. My mind is still functioning, my thoughts are relatively clear, and I haven't sensed any brain fog. However, as the system's chaos increases, I might even lose my ability to take care of myself.

It should be used sparingly when not necessary.

Where did this code come from? The Salvation Army's servers were also unable to read or decode it.

9/25—7:26
When Fang Yan arrived at the classroom, although there was a rule against bringing breakfast in, many students ignored it and continued to do as they pleased.

Because it was raining today, all the breakfast stalls were closed. Fang Yan's long-distance running concentration training over the past two days has consumed a lot of calories, so he didn't go to the convenience store today and planned to buy two baskets of steamed buns instead.

But an unexpected situation arose.

"Can it really work? The bar counter for that newly opened store was already fully booked after the news was released the day before yesterday."

Weng Qing had clearly dressed up deliberately today. Unlike before, she didn't wear her school uniform and trousers. Instead, she wore a school uniform jacket, which she then took off to reveal a sleeveless, flat-top top with a mesh and ribbon neckline, chain embellishments, a red and black plaid skirt, stockings, and ankle boots.

Several unseen admirers in the class felt a strange, heart-wrenching pain as they watched the female anchor's IP address change. Who set my CRUSH like this?
"Aren't you annoying? I already said it's foolproof."

Fang Yan was a little hungry, so he grabbed a sandwich from Weng Qing's table, tore open the packaging, and ate it in two bites. Weng Qing had dark circles under her eyes; she hadn't slept well last night because she was a bit excited. That bar seemed to have a large investment; it hadn't been open long and was touting itself as one of the top venues along the coast. There was more than one band tonight, one of which was even more famous than Soda Revolution, but Weng Qing wasn't buying it. She'd never been to a nightclub before, and she was worried she'd be turned away because she was a student. Since Fang Yan said it was fine, she had no choice but to continue scrolling through her phone.

Fang Yan scanned everyone in Class Two and decided to start by eliminating his own class, secretly taking care of all the dangers.

There are two people in the class who have the most attention on the website. One is Su Ci, who is called the ultimate model, and the other is... a prostitute. There are many rumors about her, and her appearance even attracts many people from other schools.

However, according to Fang Yan's observation, it was the so-called "cheese-shaped" highlighter, which always resulted in him being at the bottom of the class in exams. His grades were in the lower middle range in Class Two, but his reading comprehension was quite normal.

That bitch actually sold my WeChat account for fifty yuan! No wonder I've been getting so many friend requests lately. I have to cut ties with her.

Fang Yan read the text jumping above his head. Both the events and the mindset were consistent with the thinking of a female high school student. It has to be said that Su Ci is the kind of person who is popular with everyone. Her bone structure is extremely beautiful, and she has the tall figure of a stage actress. Even the stupid school uniform of No. 6 Middle School can't hide it.

The other person, Fang Yan felt was somewhat similar, was a very eccentric person who didn't fit in with others. He remembered that his name was Xiao Long. He was extremely anime-loving, thin to the point of being sickly, but quite tall, with prominent cheekbones and a face full of "spiritedness." He was the ultimate otaku.

[Main weapon: twin 381mm main gun; Secondary weapon: 113mm anti-aircraft gun; Repair tool: T3; Cute little devil sauce.]

How...how eerie.

Fang Yan was greatly shocked. It made no sense at all. No wonder he had been suspected more than thirty times. Maybe he should check whether he was a fake after morning self-study.

No...

I can't start hunting down people from my own class. I'm already quite suspicious, and if they find out someone's dead, I'll become the target of everyone's suspicion.

Is it because of this scar on my face? Damn it.

Fang Yan found a boy in the class who had a cold and was wearing a medical mask, and got up to walk towards his seat.

"Hey, could you give me a face mask? Thanks."

"well.

Fang Yan successfully obtained the disguise props, including a standard blue mask, which he put on his face, hoping to reduce his visibility somewhat.

I'm practically disfigured, so even if I don't have a cold, no one will object to me wearing a mask; it's like a prosthetic limb for a disabled person.

Considering it's September, there's no need to spend too much effort searching for first-year high school students, who are just newly promoted kids. It's better to focus on second and third-year high school students and monitor and investigate all the "prominent figures".

However, Su Ci and Xiao Long must also pay close attention. If there is any long-term abnormal behavior, they will have no choice but to take the risk of killing it.

Salvation Army...

It seems to tacitly condone killing suspects without concrete evidence. In order to ensure the safety of agents, people are treated more like population units. Should I do that?

Speaking of which, someone left a strange message under my profile picture yesterday. I don't know if it was a man or a woman. It's very likely that it was a prank by some crazy, gay bastard.

But there was no way to find him; he didn't know if it was someone from his own class or another class who had encountered him. Fang Yan had been in a state of mental confusion since the summer vacation, and only today did he realize how conspicuous the scar was, and that he would have to wear a mask from now on.

Since things have come to this, let's pretend to study for now. There's still work to do after school in the afternoon, so Fang Yan continued drawing sketches of the strange buildings, trying to outline the multi-layered nested vector direction cycle.

(End of this chapter)