Ch 98: Apocalypse Star House Hoarding

Feng Xu immediately recognized the woman in the group wearing a silver-gray mask. He felt a surge of excitement, which even eased the tension he’d felt from the sudden acid rain. Since that night, he’d regretted not asking for her name.

He noticed her glance over at them and assumed she would recognize him. After all, he stood at 1.88 meters, towering above most people, and, with his mask still off, his good looks made him a focal point in any crowd.

But she simply glanced at the group and passed right by them, heading upstairs. Determined, he put on his mask and followed her, not even sparing a glance at Bai Yu, who was still struggling to put on her protective suit.

Annoyed, Bai Yu frowned and called after him, but he ignored her, leaving her somewhat anxious.

Normally, she wouldn’t care if Feng Xu ignored her—she was only with him because she needed a place to stay with free food and board. Feng Xu was just a convenient mark. After she’d been thrown out by Yu Xi following a few harsh words, she was preparing to leave with her luggage when she ran into Feng Xu, who was driving back to the villa area.

She’d stayed at Yu Xi’s place frequently over the past two years, so Feng Xu knew her. In her eyes, Feng Xu was a fool, truly rich and naive, though he was loyal and straightforward, not a particularly calculating person.

When he saw her alone with her luggage, waiting for the bus at a nearby station, he stopped to ask what had happened. After she told him she’d been kicked out following an argument with Yu Xi, he seemed thrilled and even offered to help her if she was in trouble, suggesting they grab a meal and chat.

Bai Yu didn’t think Feng Xu had any romantic interest in her; she could tell he had other intentions. But so did she, so she directly asked if he’d let her stay over.

Both of them had ulterior motives and didn’t see anything wrong with a girl staying at a guy’s house alone. So, after Yu Xi had “physically slapped” away the freeloaders at her own home, Bai Yu ended up in the neighboring villa with Feng Xu.

Feng Xu had been trying to learn Yu Xi’s weaknesses from Bai Yu, such as her fears and habits, wracking his brains to find a way to put Yu Xi in her place. Bai Yu thought Feng Xu was pathetic; he liked someone but was too afraid to say it directly, instead trying to get her attention like a schoolboy, childish and immature.

She’d grown tired of the food Feng Xu’s housekeeper made and suggested going down to the mountain restaurants today for a better meal, sharing some amusing stories about Yu Xi’s first days in college along the way.

But they’d been unlucky enough to encounter the acid rain, and seeing Feng Xu apparently heading upstairs without concern for her, she grew anxious and hastily finished donning her protective suit.

On the eastern side of the second-floor glass terrace:

This time, Yu Xi wasn’t blinded by the appealing reward of Star Coins or the lack of penalty for failure. She had sensed something odd before, but now it felt even stronger.

Since arriving in this world, out of the four random tasks she’d received, three were connected to Feng Xu. Why?

Especially this current task, with a reward of 80 Star Coins. In the past, she’d barely earned more than 180 Star Coins per world traversal.

If this world had been a mid- to high-level one, it might make sense. But this was a mid-to-low-level world, equivalent to the zombie apocalypse world. And here was a small random task offering 80 Star Coins with no penalty for failure and no risk of death.

What did this signify?

It meant that the Star House system very much wanted her to accept this task, not wanting her to reject it out of concern that she might not complete it.

Yu Xi considered, Do you want Feng Xu to survive that badly? Why? Could it have something to do with the System Tower?

Accept task?

Auto-deny countdown: thirty seconds. Thirty, twenty-nine…

Yu Xi: Here we go again.

Yu Xi accepted.

Why not accept it? There’s a reward of Star Coins, and no penalty for failure.
Besides, every time the system doesn’t answer directly, it means my guess is close to the truth. My system is fairly predictable.

Random Task: Special Hidden Task accepted. Progress 5%
Yu Xi was surprised. She’d just accepted the task and done nothing, yet the progress was already at 5%.
Why?

She quickly understood why as hurried footsteps approached. Feng Xu, holding his protective mask, ran up beside her, smiling enthusiastically. “We meet again! Such a coincidence! What brings you here? I didn’t get a chance to thank you for last time. What’s your name? I’m Feng Xu. Are you one of the residents in our villa area? Where do you live?”

Yu Xi: …

“Were you the one who broke through the wall? That was so cool! Why are you wearing that silver-gray mask? Doing good deeds and staying anonymous?”

“Shut up.” Yu Xi, unable to tolerate it anymore, glanced at the “80 Star Coins” reward, frowning and speaking sharply, “Put on your protective mask immediately. When we cross the glass bridge, stay close to me.”

Feng Xu seemed to misunderstand, his face lighting up with a smile as he looked at her, responding with a gentle, “Alright.”

Yu Xi got goosebumps.

The glass terrace was fully enclosed, and the glass bridge was a notable design feature in the area. It was three meters wide, about thirty meters long, spanning the road below, and connected to a glass observation deck on the opposite side. To the right of the observation deck was a staircase leading down to the street, and on the left, there was an elevator that presumably went directly to the subway station, just as the couple had said.

There were no supports beneath the bridge; the floor was made of large, seamless glass panels, meaning that if any section was damaged, the entire bridge could be compromised.

Fortunately, the broken glass was on the left wall. The only issue was that the damage was extensive, allowing acid rain to seep in, and the rain had spread to the middle of the bridge.

Of the three meters in width, only a little over one meter remained safe to walk on, and they still had to avoid incoming raindrops.

With acid rain like this, no one could be sure if their protective suits and shoes would hold. They had all witnessed the horrific sight of pedestrians being corroded by the acid rain; no one wanted to risk even a drop.

Yu Xi quickly assessed the situation. She reached into her Star House storage bag for a metal umbrella, grabbed Feng Xu, and began walking across the bridge. They’d barely taken a few steps when someone rushed over from the restaurant terrace, quickly catching up to Feng Xu. “Wait, I’ll go with you!”

Almost as soon as the other person stepped onto the bridge, Yu Xi felt the glass floor tremble slightly beneath her feet—a subtle sensation, one only detectable due to her heightened senses.

She didn’t hesitate, using the metal umbrella to push the person back, saying, “Retreat immediately.”

Bai Yu stumbled back a few steps, about to protest, but then she noticed Yu Xi pulling Feng Xu back as well.

Yu Xi’s gaze swept quickly across the glass bridge and landed on another crack near the left wall, close to the damaged area, where a second fracture had started to spread.

As they paused and stepped back, others from the restaurant’s first floor came up, and Yu Xi spotted the one person without full protective gear. She pulled a spare protective mask from her bag and tossed it to him. “For the acid fumes.”

The person accepted it with a quick “Thank you.”

Not wanting to cause panic, Yu Xi spoke decisively, “Form groups of two. Once a pair has crossed, the next two can go. Until then, everyone else should wait on the glass terrace and stay off the bridge. Got it?”

After seeing her break through the wall, the people from the café had no objections. However, a few restaurant patrons, looking disgruntled, pushed forward and demanded, “Why should we listen to you?”

Yu Xi stepped aside. “Go ahead, you can go first.”

The sight of the damaged wall and the acid rain seeping in made the bridge look especially dangerous.

Those who had stepped forward took a few steps and then sheepishly backed off. “Maybe you should go first.” They clearly wanted someone else to test the path.

“Stop wasting time and form your pairs,” Yu Xi commanded, grabbing Feng Xu’s arm and turning to head across the bridge. Bai Yu instinctively tried to follow, but Yu Xi blocked her. “You can go first or wait for the next round.”

Bai Yu glanced at Feng Xu, who showed no reaction, and reluctantly stepped back. “You go first.”

With light, quick steps, Yu Xi led Feng Xu across the bridge.

When two people walked on the bridge at the same time, the glass floor didn’t tremble like before, indicating it was within its load limit. There were fewer than twenty people in total, so if everyone followed the plan, they could all cross safely in a short time.

Yu Xi and Feng Xu soon reached the damaged section of the wall. She opened her metal umbrella, which was a large folding type, shielding Feng Xu as he passed the broken area. Then, aiming carefully, she threw the umbrella at the damaged spot, lodging it in the broken glass and blocking the acid rain from outside.

“Wow, that was amazing!” Feng Xu nearly clapped.

Yu Xi didn’t respond, pulling him quickly through the remaining section of the bridge to the observation deck. She then told Feng Xu to call the elevator.

Seeing them cross safely, the others on the restaurant terrace began crossing the bridge in pairs. Initially, it went smoothly, with about half the people crossing safely. The elevator soon filled, and Yu Xi signaled Feng Xu to go down with the others to the subway station. Just as the elevator doors were closing, Feng Xu slipped out, with Bai Yu unsuccessfully trying to pull him back.

“I’ll wait and go down with you,” he said through his mask.

Since it didn’t impact the task, Yu Xi nodded.

Things were fine on her end, but a dispute arose at the other end of the bridge.

A mother and daughter, who had been eating at the restaurant, were slow in putting on their protective suits and ended up at the back of the line, growing increasingly anxious. After a quick conversation, the daughter asked the next person, a man with his girlfriend, if they could go first, explaining that her mother wasn’t in good health.

The boyfriend agreed to let them go, which infuriated his girlfriend, who asked him angrily why he made decisions for her and if it was because he thought the girl was attractive.

Ignoring the couple’s argument, the mother and daughter took the opportunity to move ahead. The girlfriend, now furious, grabbed the daughter’s arm and yanked her back.

“What are you doing?” The daughter stumbled and fell heavily onto the glass floor.

No one noticed that a crack in the glass near the damaged area had started to spread wider due to the impact.

“Get back to your place! Just because that fool agreed doesn’t mean I did.” She tried to leave, but the mother grabbed her, leading to a brief scuffle before she shoved the mother aside as well.

Without hesitation, the girlfriend turned and continued forward.

Yu Xi heard a faint cracking sound and hurried back to check the bridge. She saw that the crack in the middle of the glass floor had already spread halfway across.

The wall on the restaurant side wasn’t in great condition either; the bricks had been corroded to a fragile state and were slowly crumbling.

On the other side of the bridge, those remaining included the mother and daughter, the boyfriend, a restaurant employee, and the café’s middle-aged man and father-daughter pair.

The girlfriend, who was the furthest along, had covered about a third of the bridge. The middle-aged man, who had grown impatient, saw people crowding near the bridge’s entrance with only the girlfriend crossing and shoved past them, charging forward.

Fearing the acid rain on the floor, everyone stuck to the right side of the bridge. The man quickly caught up to the girlfriend and, finding her pace too slow, gave her a push to move ahead of her.

The girlfriend, who had slowed down to avoid stepping in any rain that had seeped in from the damaged wall, was caught off guard by the shove and fell heavily onto the glass floor. The already cracked glass couldn’t withstand multiple impacts and began to shake.

The metal umbrella wedged in the wall shifted due to the tremor and, with a gust of wind, fell out, allowing acid rain to pour in, landing directly on the middle-aged man.

The acid rain poured over him, and his protective suit failed to shield him; it began to corrode instantly, and he slapped at his smoking suit in terror, screaming as the bridge shook even more.

Feng Xu instinctively tried to rush onto the bridge but was stopped by Yu Xi.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to help!” He looked at her in confusion. “Why are you holding me back?”

“The cracks in the glass floor have widened. Going up there won’t help—you’d only add more weight and make things worse.”

On the other side of the bridge, the others were paralyzed with fear by the acid rain flooding in and the sight of the man writhing and screaming on the ground. No one dared to step forward.

The fallen girlfriend glanced back at her boyfriend, who remained still in fear, let out a scornful laugh, and, summoning some unknown strength, quickly crawled along the right side of the glass wall, crossing the shaking bridge.

The middle-aged man continued to scream and writhe near the broken wall section. Yu Xi, frowning at the hesitant group on the other side, shouted, “Hurry up and cross! Waiting any longer is even more dangerous.”

The hesitant people began moving again. The restaurant employee ran across first, followed by the daughter from the café father-daughter pair. Among those who’d tried to cut in line earlier, the mother had twisted her ankle during the scuffle with the girlfriend, so she urged her daughter to go first.

The daughter made it across, followed by the boyfriend. Only the mother with the twisted ankle and the father from the café remained on the other side.

“You go first,” he said, wearing the protective mask Yu Xi had given him, which shielded him from the acidic fumes. The wind had died down, and the acid rain was no longer pouring through the broken wall, only splashing a few droplets inside. In his view, if they didn’t push or rush, everyone could get across.

But disaster struck again. As the middle-aged woman crossed the damaged section of the wall, the businessman who had been lying still suddenly reached out and grabbed her ankle.

The woman screamed and fell heavily, causing the entire bridge to shake again. A loud cracking sound echoed from the glass floor, and this time, everyone heard the terrifying noise.

Yu Xi looked up and shouted, “The bridge is about to collapse—run!”

The father sprang into action, sprinting across as fast as he could.

The woman’s daughter, watching her mother scream in pain from being exposed to the acid rain and held back by the man, pleaded with him, “Save her, please save her!”

The father hesitated. Without a protective suit, rescuing her would expose him to the acid rain. He glanced at his daughter, who stood watching him silently.

Gritting his teeth, he ran over, pried the middle-aged woman free from the grip on her ankle, and helped her up, both of them racing toward safety.

Seeing the glass floor breaking and falling beneath them, the others shouted, “Run faster! Faster!”

The acid rain on the woman’s protective suit had spread to the man’s hands and body, causing him to convulse in pain. But he pushed through, driven by the widening cracks that chased him like a death sentence. He could only wish he had wings to fly across.

In those final seconds, everything felt magnified. The glass bridge, unable to withstand the repeated impacts, finally shattered.

Yu Xi and Feng Xu reached out, grabbing the two people who were falling with the glass and pulling them onto the observation deck. Together with the others, they quickly ran toward the elevator.

As the bridge collapsed, the restaurant across from them couldn’t withstand the acid corrosion either, and it too began to crumble. The middle-aged businessman, along with the fractured glass floor, plummeted into the rain below.

As the elevator descended, the group caught a glimpse of the businessman struggling in the acid rain below. He writhed and twisted like a fish flung onto the shore, before finally going still.

In the elevator, the daughter looked at her rescued mother and the injured man who had saved her. Her voice trembled as she repeated her thanks and apologies over and over.

From the time the acid rain began to when everyone reached the subway station, only about ten minutes had passed. Yet those minutes felt like days and nights.

The group remained silent, burdened by the weight of what they had experienced. Yu Xi, too, said nothing. In the face of disaster, even a small choice could lead to major consequences. Right and wrong lost meaning in the presence of death, and they lacked the energy to blame anyone.

As soon as Bai Yu saw them in the subway station, she hurried over to Feng Xu. Yu Xi noted that her task progress had reached 100% and let go of Feng Xu’s arm, which she had held onto throughout.

Her Star Coin balance was now 538. This hidden random task hadn’t been particularly difficult, but its ease only underscored that the focus wasn’t the task itself, but Feng Xu.

Feng Xu called after her, but Yu Xi pretended not to hear and blended into the chaotic crowd with a few quick turns.

The subway station was crowded. The lobby and platform were filled with people who had rushed inside to seek shelter when the acid rain began. Most of them lacked protective suits or masks; many had been splashed by the rain and were lying or sitting wherever they could, groaning and crying out in pain.

Subway staff were working to clean up the traces of acid rain tracked inside by people, using buckets of soapy water. Other staff moved through the crowd with medical kits, giving emergency treatment to the wounded.

Some people who had inhaled large amounts of acidic fumes were coughing up blood, wishing only for the pain to end.

Those who had been in the subway station when the rain began had gathered in other areas, keeping as far as possible from those affected by the acid rain.

Everyone’s faces reflected fear and confusion. The rain was corroding the buildings outside—what about those who hadn’t made it to safe areas in time?

They thought of their loved ones. Some couldn’t get through to their parents on the phone and began sobbing; others remembered their children at home, crying in despair.

The black acid rain that had struck Fan City also blanketed several nearby cities.

According to measurements, the acid rain with a negative pH level had fallen for about twenty minutes. Afterward, the pH gradually rose to around 2.6, continuing for two or three more hours.

The people sheltering in the subway station didn’t yet know that two days later, when they finally managed to clear the entrances clogged by collapsed debris and return to the surface, they would find that half the city outside had been destroyed by those twenty minutes of black acid rain.