Chapter 2: Dark Joke

"Please, System Bro, swap me to a different system!"

"Say something! Playing the expert by staying silent, huh!"

"I'm super freaking generous!"

Although System Bro had gone haywire and treated Meilijian as a Cthulhu world, Roger ultimately chose to accept reality and follow the system's intel to complete the investigation.

After all, he was flat broke right now—if he finished the investigation, at least he could earn 50 dollars, enough for a quick meal on the street.

As for the skill "Anchor Point" and the Bronze coin, Roger still didn't know what they were for, and the system offered no extra hints.

"Forget it, no matter what, having a system means I have capital to turn things around. I'm going to take back my car and my house, get off the Execution Line—I absolutely can't keep being a homeless man!"

So he let go of his inner conflict and unwillingness, and turned to look at the intel.

According to the witness description, the guy who whispered to the stray dog was located at the intersection of Third Avenue and Clay Street.

Roger knew that place, because there was a shelter there. But it only took in young people aged 18 to 25, and beds were scarce—every day the homeless had to fight for a spot to get in.

He vaguely remembered Zoe seemed to have been there, so he patted the girl's shoulder and asked, "Have you been to Disan Bihusuo? What's it like there?"

"Not great," Zoe said without hesitation. "You'd better not go."

"Why?" Roger asked, puzzled.

Zoe frowned with disgust: "Because it's full of sexual predators. Every night someone gets... you know. I stayed one night, and in the middle of the night someone climbed into my bed, but I kicked them off."

"I remember the place separates men and women, right?"

"Who says women can't be sexual predators?"

Zoe's words left Roger speechless.

True enough—homeless people don't discriminate. Even a woman, as long as she puts on a receiver, can broadcast a signal to a man.

So a girl with a great figure like Zoe would definitely be a delicacy in the eyes of those old hands.

Figuring this out, Roger asked again: "So where are you staying now?"

"I'm staying at Anjilin Funv Bihusuo right now, but it's about to close soon—it won't reopen until winter."

Some shelters have gender restrictions; for example, the Anjilin Funv Bihusuo the girl mentioned is a typical women-only place.

It's also a seasonal shelter, only open in summer and winter.

This reminded Roger of a dark joke:

One morning, the frozen body of a little boy was found under a tree.

The police initially thought it was a child abuse case, but after a series of investigations they discovered the little boy had slept under the tree because he and his mother were homeless and had no house.

So where had his mother gone?

After another round of investigation, the police learned that the little boy's mother had died of pneumonia two days earlier.

Well, up to this point the story is at most tragic.

The funny part comes later.

Later, the police learned from witnesses that the little boy and his mother had been staying at a homeless shelter with a fixed bed.

The police were baffled—if there was a place to sleep, why had the little boy insisted on sleeping alone under the tree and frozen to death?

It wasn't until a witness came forward that the truth was revealed.

It turned out that when the little boy came to the shelter alone, the staff refused to let him in.

The reason was that the shelter only accepted adult women and their children; the little boy had no mother and was male, so he didn't meet the rules and was turned away.

What the hell!

Oh, there's something even funnier...

That is—this freaking thing actually happened!

What the hell?!

"So have you figured it out—where will you stay when the shelter closes?" Roger asked.

Zoe shook her head: "I don't know, I'll play it by ear. Maybe I'll have found a job before then?"

The girl's bright smile looked especially unreal under the brilliant sunshine.

Roger sighed inwardly.

Although he didn't want to discourage Zoe, the truth was that once you fall out of your class and become homeless, life only gets harder day by day.

Especially for a young girl like Zoe—when hunger keeps her from maintaining her polished makeup and decent clothes, what awaits her will be a series of temptations and abysses.

But that had nothing to do with him.

Roger could, at most, offer advice out of the friendship built during this time, and help her within his ability, but anything more was beyond him.

As time passed, the line ahead grew shorter and shorter; by the time the two of them got bread, salad, and coconut water, it was already half past nine.

"Oh no, I'm about to be late—here, you eat this." Zoe had no time for breakfast, shoved the small bowl of salad at Roger, hurriedly said goodbye, and walked off quickly with her bag.

Roger shrugged behind her, hoping she wouldn't be turned away for being late this time.

Then he casually found a corner to sit down, took out his phone, and snapped a selfie.

"Hey, got food, fam!"

He opened with a famous quote from a lecturer, then ate while opening up the system to study it.

This Cthulhu system had no traditional, complicated stat panel; in its place were the simpler Reason Value and SAN Value.

【Roger West】

【Age: 28】

【Title: One Who Knows Nothing】

【Class: Homeless Man】

【Status: Unstable Cognition (Your understanding of reality has become skewed, but daily SAN Value recovery +1)】

【Spirit Vision Value: 9】 (The higher the value, the more you can see the truth through the darkness—but that may not be a good thing)

【SAN Value: 10/20 (Daily Recovery: 2 points)】(The lower the value, the more insane you become—but that isn't necessarily a bad thing)

【Physical Function: 5】(You're too weak; even a mere blood offering for an evil god could instantly kill you)

【Skills: Scavenging, Electrical Repair】

(Reference 1: An ordinary person's Spirit Vision value is between 0-5, and SAN Value is between 10-20)

(Reference 2: An ordinary 20-year-old adult male who can complete a 1,000-meter physical test within 5 minutes has a Physical Function of 5)

……

Fuck, so my SAN Value is this low?

Roger had originally thought his mental state was pretty good, but now it seemed he had overestimated himself.

Still, for a vagrant who never knew if he'd survive the next day and endured hunger and cold daily, his sanity value indeed couldn't be too high.

Roger looked around, estimating that the sanity values of this group of vagrants present were even worse than his own.

Just as he thought this, a shabbily dressed older fellow suddenly walked up behind him, his mouth full of yellow teeth, his hair looking greasy from not being washed for a long time.

This spot was rather out-of-the-way; Roger had assumed this older fellow was like himself, seeking peace and quiet. But seeing his empty hands and vacant-eyed look, it seemed he had come here to get high.

And just as Roger shifted his rear end, preparing to move to another spot, the older fellow suddenly leaned against the base of the wall.

Roger followed his gaze and turned his head, only then noticing a bikini girl poster with the head torn off pasted on the opposite wall.

No way, this works too?

Spoiled by all kinds of "teachers," Roger scrambled away from the spot and headed straight for Disan Bihusuo, preparing to complete the investigation as soon as possible.

Roger thought to himself, since the intel said someone was whispering with stray dogs, that should be easy to investigate—after all, vagrants with this kind of mental state were genuinely rare.

If he went too late, he was afraid this fellow wouldn't live until tomorrow morning.

Only, the timing of this investigation was quite tricky.

"A vagrant camp at deep night—even Satan would cover his ass and leave."