Chapter 232: Monsters Grinding Below

Yang Yixie stared at the computer screen that suddenly went pitch black, leaving only the central notification popup, and was stunned for a full three seconds.

No, he hasn't finished this mission yet!!!

........ Damn. Yang Yixie couldn't help but mutter a low curse.

This broken game's timing is truly punctual; the rock‑solid seven‑day game timer forced a logout.

What really gets under his skin is the new storyline!

The kind that comes with an exclusive opening CG!

White hair, red eyes, black windbreaker—clearly not a random NPC, and maybe they chose this exact moment to appear, deliberately snagging the player right as they're about to log out!!!

The result? As soon as they crossed paths, the CG animation finished, and then he got kicked offline with a single kick!

"Stopping here, are you trying to drive an obsessive‑compulsive person to death?"

Yang Yixie gloomily scratched his hair, a whole bunch of cliffhangers hanging in mid‑air, his mind itching unbearably.

But there's nothing he can do; the game's rules are that weird.

This game had no promotion at all before, maybe it was made by some tiny studio—show a bit more patience to them.

"....... Anyway, once I wake up I can keep playing; being anxious won't help."

Yang Yixie sighed, closed the game launcher, and casually opened the streaming software.

Since he couldn't fall asleep anyway, he might as well waste some time in his own little streaming room.

The streaming room quickly filled sparsely with a few dozen night‑owl viewers; seeing him in the login‑match queue, they flooded the chat with greetings.

"Are you still opening the broadcast this late today?"

"Streamer, why don't you start earlier from now on? Every time it's this late, and you only stream one or two hours......."

Yang Yixie didn't turn on his webcam, played a few rounds, checked the clock—almost midnight. He felt that the surge of adrenaline had finally worn down, and drowsiness gradually rose.

He yawned, said goodnight to the viewers, and ended the stream.

Having sat in front of the computer for far too long, Yang Yixie stood up to loosen his stiff neck and shoulders, preparing to wash up and go to sleep.

He walked to the window and noticed the curtains hadn't been pulled tight, leaving a gap about two fingers wide.

Can he tolerate this? He can't stand even a little.

As Yang Yixie's hand touched the edge of the curtain, his movement suddenly halted.

Outside the window was a heavy night, with only a few houses across the street lit up.

His room's window view was fairly open, allowing him to see a corner of the downstairs community garden.

Everything seemed just as usual.

But........ something felt off.

Subconsciously, Yang Yixie squinted and leaned toward the curtain gap to look outside.

The late‑night community was unusually quiet; trees in the garden swayed gently in the night breeze, casting trembling shadows.

Logically, this should have been a night of sweet dreams.

But tonight was destined to be different.

Yang Yixie's gaze drifted aimlessly over the vacant lot, flower beds, and fitness equipment area downstairs....... then suddenly stopped.

Near the edge of the community wall, there was a designated trash‑recycling point, where bins of various colors were neatly arranged.

And in the shadow of those bins, he thought he saw something moving?

No, it wasn't "thought".

Something was actually moving!

That clump of shadow was denser than the surrounding darkness, as if it were....... wiggling?

What was it? A stray cat? A stray dog?

But the black mass he saw was far larger than either of those.

Yang Yixie's heartbeat inexplicably quickened; he held his breath, trying to discern what that shadow actually was.

The light from the community streetlamp barely reached that spot, only sketching a vague outline.

Then the shadow shifted slightly, exposing the thing beneath it to the light.

It was a human corpse.

The corpse lay twisted in an extremely unnatural posture, its clothing torn, revealing blurred flesh underneath.

Its organs had been ripped out brutally; the monster's huge claws were still pulling a lump of indistinct, mushy tissue from the gash and stuffing it into its mouth, continuously making chewing and swallowing sounds.

Almost black blood oozed from beneath the corpse; even through the glass and several floors up, Yang Yixie seemed to smell the nauseating stench.

Yang Yixie's fingers clenched the curtain edge tightly, his knuckles whitening from the strain.

What is that?

Xi Ren Sheng!

A familiar game ID suddenly jumped into his mind, that jerk who had suddenly messaged him, babbling about some "game" and "monster".

Although he had already been inoculated by Xi Ren Sheng's obviously unscientific ability before, witnessing this blood‑soaked scene still sent chills through his limbs.

According to Xi Ren Sheng's earlier words, the game he mentioned seemed to have some sort of selection mechanism.

So what does this mean? Was he selected?

Yang Yixie had originally thought the game Xi Ren Sheng mentioned was something like entering a god‑realm to complete missions, but now this monster had come straight into reality.

With that, the situation was completely different from before.

His eyes gradually cooled; being dragged from the real world into a dangerous other‑world game, and a dangerous game invading the real world are two entirely separate concepts.

"Does the official know?"

Yang Yixie forced himself to look away, slowly pulling the curtain gap shut to block the nauseating view outside.

He leaned against the cold wall, his mind racing.

If the authorities are completely unaware, that means the current social order may be even more fragile than he imagined; the authorities' response speed and ability to deal with such unconventional threats will be greatly reduced, and the danger will rise sharply.

If the authorities have any awareness, or even have already intervened.......

Then people like Xi Ren Sheng, the "informed" or "participants", their relationship with the authorities becomes extremely subtle and complex.

Is it a collaborator? An edge observation key holder? Or........, in some sense, a "rebel" or an "exploiter"?

Yang Yixie took several deep breaths, and the cold air barely suppressed the churning nausea.

He can't panic; at least for now that thing is still "feeding" downstairs, and hasn't shown interest in any other potential food upstairs.

But he can't pretend he didn't see it.

Call the police? On what grounds? Say he saw a monster eating people?

If the authorities are unaware, the operator will most likely treat it as a prank or a mental issue.

Speaking of recent times, a lot of strange incidents have indeed happened around him.

Once he starts to think deeply about possible connections, Yang Yixie can only feel a throbbing headache.

He walked to the desk, picked up his phone, unlocked it, and the screen's light seemed a bit glaring in the dim room.

He silently dimmed the brightness, opened the chat window with Xi Ren Sheng, and the last conversation was still the "see you in seven days" message from Xi Ren Sheng.

But now he can't wait seven days.