Deaths in Cent

第3話 “I can wait, but can you?”

“Whoa, look at the size of that blue crab! Steaming it would be amazing!”

“Come help me catch this bullfrog; it jumps so far.”

“Forget the bullfrog, the supervisor's bones are broken from the crab's claws!”

Qin Yu groggily woke up to the noise from the group chat.

At midnight last night, the eerie knocking on his door started again, and Qin Yu couldn't fall asleep until after 2 a.m.

“There were seven knocks last night, one more than the night before...”

Qin Yu’s face paled as he got out of bed and looked out the window. The red mist was even denser, the plants at Yu Shui Yuan were more overgrown, and the bone he had intentionally left on the table was now covered in disgusting mold.

Green mold spores swayed in the air, looking quite creepy.

“The big willow tree by the artificial lake was barely at the third floor yesterday, and now it’s at three and a half floors.”

In just one night, it grew nearly two meters taller. This growth rate was terrifying.

Qin Yu threw the test bone into the trash can, a trace of worry flashing in his eyes.

Even the extremely decay-resistant bone had mold growing on it. It seemed that within one night, the reproduction rate of microorganisms had increased by more than double.

After some thought, Qin Yu requested three days off from his boss via WeChat.

In these three days, he needed to see how the world would change.

【Ding! Wang Mengting consumed one fried egg, returning 100! They’ve been placed in your portable space.】

【Ding! Wang Mengting consumed one glass of fresh milk, returning 100! They’ve been placed in your portable space.】

【Ding! Wang Mengting consumed one bowl of vegetable salad, returning 100! They’ve been placed in your portable space.】

“Eating so healthily?”

Upon hearing the voice in his mind, Qin Yu sneered.

After living together for six years, he could easily guess what Wang Mengting was thinking.

Why the sudden self-discipline?

She must want to attract a rich suitor now that she dumped him.

Within five minutes, she would certainly post a carefully curated photo of her breakfast on her social media, posing as a healthy, positive girl.

After living together for six years, she still wanted to paint herself as a fresh new car?

Qin Yu opened his social media, and sure enough, he was right.

A nine-square grid of breakfast photos and carefully made-up selfies, posted just now.

“I hope you can keep smiling in a few days.”

Qin Yu sneered, taking out a red, tomato-like fruit from his portable space.

“Spirit fruit?”

Wang Mengting had eaten this yesterday, triggering the system prompt in Qin Yu's space.

“I’ve never seen this fruit before.”

“Why does the system call it spirit fruit?”

“Could it be related to abilities?”

Since he had already transmigrated, seeing red mist, crazily growing plants, and mutated animals, Qin Yu wouldn’t be surprised if this spirit fruit could awaken powers. In fact, he was a bit excited.

After some thought, Qin Yu didn’t rush to eat it. Instead, he took a photo with his phone and searched online for information.

The first result was a forum post.

Posted six days ago.

[TomatoLover: Anyone know what variety of tomato this is? It looks so tempting.][Picture][Picture][Picture]

Qin Yu's eyes narrowed. The fruit in the pictures was identical to the spirit fruit in his hand.

Reading further.

The user “TomatoLover” didn’t post again for several days, until three days ago.

[TomatoLover: Guys, this is unbelievable! I discovered I can control metal now, like Magneto from X-Men.][Video]

Someone replied: Fake. Can’t you try harder? The video’s distorted, and your leg-slimming effect is way too obvious.

[TomatoLover: I swear I didn’t use any effects, the metal really deformed!]

The replies were full of skepticism, while “TomatoLover” kept posting pictures and videos to argue.

Qin Yu's expression grew serious as he scrutinized each image and word from “TomatoLover”.

“404?”

Clicking next page, the post had been deleted.

Searching again, all related information on the spirit fruit had disappeared from the search engine.

“This is getting interesting.”

Qin Yu carefully examined the spirit fruit in his hand, his eyes flickering.

“If I don’t awaken, I’m doomed anyway.”

“Take a gamble.”

He took a big bite.

“Sweet and a bit spicy, not bad~”

Opening his eyes, Qin Yu found his vision blurry.

“What’s happening? Did this fruit blind me instead of awakening powers?”

Panicking, he removed his glasses, and his vision became clear again.

At the same time, a prompt appeared before him.

【Consumed Level 1 Spirit Fruit, awakened visual ability. Vision enhanced, currently at 1 star. Consuming more visual spirit fruits may increase star level.】

“Vision?”

Qin Yu looked around, everything became clearer than when he wore glasses.

My vision must be at 5.0 now!

Overjoyed, his hands trembled uncontrollably.

Abilities!

He had really awakened an ability!

This meant he finally had some means of self-defense in this dangerous world.

Suppressing his excitement, Qin Yu continued reading.

Consuming more visual spirit fruits may increase star level?

Without hesitation, he took out more visual spirit fruits and devoured them.

After eating seven,

【Vision: 2 stars, dynamic vision enhanced.】

“Dynamic vision?”

Frowning, Qin Yu threw a punch forward.

In his eyes, his fist seemed to move in slow motion, its speed halved.

His pupils shook.

Rushing to the window, he looked at the other buildings.

“Whoa, exercising this early?”

In the large window of building 9, floor 18, he saw an explicit scene, and it was in slow motion.

Qin Yu's mouth twitched as he looked elsewhere. 300 meters away, on floor 13 of building 15, a fit, tanned girl with blue-black short hair was doing yoga.

Her sweat sparkled in the first sunlight of the morning, every movement displayed in slow motion before Qin Yu.

“Such flexibility, amazing!”

“So this is dynamic vision. It allows precise capture of the tiniest, fastest movements.”

Qin Yu looked around, noticing a sparrow flapping its wings, and a gecko climbing a nearby building. These usually unnoticeable quick movements were now clear as day.

Understanding the purpose of dynamic vision, Qin Yu's gaze returned to the short-haired girl.

【Bai Qingqing】

【Attractiveness: 9.2, Body: 8.8】

【Number of Relationships: 0】

【Status: Yoga instructor, healthy, excellent flexibility, likes dirty jokes, TV host.】

【Conclusion: Meets requirements】

“The system says, with each additional woman, the return multiplier increases by 100 times.”

“If I get her, my return multiplier should reach 200 times.”

“That means giving her one pack of instant noodles returns 200 packs to me.”

Breathing heavily at the thought, Qin Yu knew he had to be patient.

His eyes fell on the mold-covered bone in the trash can, and his lips curled slightly.

“I can wait, but can you?”

Closing the curtains, Qin Yu ate more visual spirit fruits while downloading various Muay Thai, Sanda, Jujutsu, and mixed martial arts videos.

The internet still worked, but Qin Yu expected it would eventually fail, along with water, electricity, and gas. When that happened, the state machinery would stop, and everyone would be on their own.

He decided to download these videos and train himself, preparing for the future.

Training until noon,

“Huff, huff~”

Qin Yu exhaled, wiped his sweat with a towel, and took a sip of Black Dragon milk tea.

“After raising my vision to 4 stars, I can see the tiniest differences in each movement, practicing accurately as shown in the videos.”

“After two hours of Muay Thai kick training, I should be at the beginner level.”

“Too bad I only have a few spirit fruits left. I need to find a way to get more, either from Wang Mengting or other women.”

As Qin Yu pondered how to get more visual spirit fruits,

“Click~”

Suddenly, without any warning, the door lock made a crisp sound.

Qin Yu shuddered, his eyes moving to the door with difficulty.

The door slowly opened...