Chapter Twenty-Nine: Red Eyes

Zhou Shu walked out of the Sports Park, glancing at the time—it was already past ten at night. Clearly, he had spent a considerable amount of time there. This visit had truly been worthwhile; he had witnessed the presence of a true master. He now knew the master’s name, where he worked, and had decided that he must get to know him in the future. For now, though, he held back—he needed time for his trembling hands and racing heart to settle.

It was one thing to imagine “supernatural syndromes,” but quite another to actually meet someone with “supernatural abilities.” If Zhang Peng’s highest attribute had been 0.96 or 0.97, it wouldn’t have been so shocking—just a hair above their previous estimation of a “0.95 world champion,” perhaps within the margin of error, or a sign that human potential did have its limits. But now, with an attribute surpassing 1, surely this was no trivial discrepancy? Exceeding the world champion by that much, Zhang Peng could only be described as superhuman!

Zhang Peng’s appearance had once again shifted Zhou Shu’s worldview.

“I’d better go home—I need some peace and quiet.”

Before long, he found himself surrounded by familiar buildings and street layouts—he was near the Baihua Residential Complex. He had needed navigation earlier, but here, he knew his way. As he walked, he entered a patch of darkness—this was once an old village within the city and a dilapidated housing complex, half-demolished during redevelopment. The project had stalled halfway, beset by disputes among various parties and resident objections, leaving behind a mess that remained unresolved.

Zhou Shu had even heard that someone had died here, though he couldn’t recall whether it was a murder or an accident during the demolition. Regardless, most people avoided this place, not only because of its grim reputation but also because the half-demolished state left bricks, chunks of concrete, and all sorts of debris scattered across the narrow paths, making it hard to traverse. Some walls even leaned dangerously, threatening to collapse at any moment. In daylight, at least you could see, but at night, with no electricity, this place was pitch black.

Zhou Shu had intended to take his usual detour, but then he thought: if he cut through directly, he could save a significant amount of time and distance, even if the road was rough—as long as he was careful. He was already feeling exhausted.

He wouldn’t have dared before, but now, having experienced battlefields—having seen many dead, having died himself countless times, and even having slain several alien monsters—what was there to fear from darkness and broken bricks? Even if those experiences were virtual, they had felt real enough, and his courage had grown without him realizing it.

Let the road be dark and treacherous; even if he ran into the escaped murderer his homeroom teacher had warned about, he could summon his powered exoskeleton armor and crush the criminal with a single punch! Most wanted criminals had bounties, after all; perhaps he could even earn a reward and fatten his little stash of savings.

With a bounty, wouldn’t he be able to demolish as many public toilets as he liked?

He spat at himself—he was no longer just a toilet demolisher. The “second kill” of his powered exoskeleton would soon be a glorious achievement!

With a decisive spirit, he switched on the flashlight function of his phone and plunged into the darkness.

After a while, he realized…

“That’s all?”

Zhou Shu walked through the dark demolition zone, feeling rather disappointed. It was just some rubble, after all. But looking at the beam of light ahead, and the brightness of his phone, he couldn’t help but praise, “Glory to technology!”

Lighting in real life was nothing like the lighting in horror movies. In those films, no matter how advanced the technology—even if it was from the space age—it only barely illuminated a tiny patch. A phone’s main function wasn’t even lighting, yet its brightness and range were impressive.

Most human fears sprang from the unknown, darkness included; it was scary because you didn’t know what might be lurking within. For those with vivid imaginations, the terrors from novels, TV, and movies might already be hiding in the shadows. But with the righteous light banishing the darkness, revealing only bricks, cement, and household trash, there was nothing to fear.

“I’ll get home after eleven, no doubt. I was just being impulsive, overestimating my stamina. Why walk all this way when a ride would have been so much better?” Zhou Shu muttered as he walked, discussing the night’s events with the Hunter.

Earlier, they’d defined an attribute of 0.95 as “world record” level. Yet tonight, he’d seen someone with an agility attribute above 1—a shock indeed. Data gathered from less than a meter away was on a different level than distant observation and calculation, so Zhang Peng’s latest stats had changed, and by a significant margin.

[Strength: 0.96–0.98, Agility: 1.12–1.14, Endurance: 0.97–0.98, Constitution: 0.97–0.99]

Every stat surpassed the world record! Even the lowest, 0.96, exceeded existing records; in terms of the 100-meter dash, that was equivalent to a 9.4-second run.

A tenth of a second may not seem much, but it’s like a struggling student improving by dozens of points with the right study method, while a top student can only squeeze out another point or two—if they push too hard, they might even regress.

The 9.58-second world record for the 100 meters had stood for over a decade; even its creator never broke it again, and retired years ago.

Zhang Peng’s highest attribute might be 1.14, or even higher, given that the data was only 95% accurate. Zhou Shu was astounded—he’d have to max out all his mental stats to reach such a level.

Well, it sounded impressive, but the problem was he couldn’t bear to spend his precious Origin Energy…

He had so little of it.

Marveling at the hidden dragons among men, his thoughts took another turn. He’d read plenty of web novels, seen all kinds of bizarre settings—some so wild even he was amazed. It made him wonder: if someone like Zhang Peng was hiding among ordinary people, never revealing his true abilities, was it really just about “scouting talent for extreme sports,” as the rumors claimed?

“Damn, could there be some kind of underworld, a hidden world here…?”

A sudden, sharp noise snapped him from his reverie.

He froze, instinctively lifting his head. Ahead, two points of red light glimmered in the darkness.

His hand moved with his thoughts; the phone’s flashlight swung toward the source.

What he saw next made his pupils contract in shock!

In the beam of light, the first thing he saw was a corpse sprawled across the ground, a pool of blood spreading beneath it. The body’s clothes had been pulled back, and a gaping wound yawned open on its abdomen—but he didn’t look closely, letting his gaze follow the light upward.

For beside the corpse stood another figure.

As the light rose, the two red points climbed as well—the figure was standing up, and its legs looked distinctly strange.

A sense of dread crept over Zhou Shu as the flashlight continued upward.

Could this be Murphy’s Law in action?

He’d thought he might run into a murderer, but as his eyes followed the light, he realized things might be much, much worse.

He saw blood dripping from the figure’s elbow, then two blood-soaked arms, then hands dyed scarlet, cupping… raw organs at its mouth.

Finally, he saw its face.

Completely smeared with blood, the features were unrecognizable—only a savage, twisted visage, and the two red lights Zhou Shu had seen were its eyes.

This… this could no longer be called “human,” could it?

In an instant, every hair on Zhou Shu’s body stood on end.