Chapter 1 Saturday Morning, Yin City Zoo

It was Saturday morning at Yin City Zoo.

Li Ang, whose face was a portrait of laziness, held the handlebars of his bicycle with one hand and tapped on his phone with the other, slowly riding along the side of the road.

"Over here!"

Wang Congshan's voice rang out. Li Ang looked up and saw the class monitor, wearing a beige sweater and floral dress, waving at him not far ahead.

Li Ang rode over and slowly stopped. "Have you been waiting long?"

"I just got here. My older cousin dropped me off."

Wang Congshan scanned Li Ang up and down, taking in his long black coat, white turtleneck sweater, jeans, and white shoes. She said with a smile, "How come you seem to dress better than before?

"You used to wear that hideous monochrome down jacket and those same old blue jeans every winter.

"Why the outfit change today?

"Tell me! Do you have some online girlfriend helping you with your fashion choices?!"

"Huh?"

Li Ang scratched his head. "I'm not the main character from a Japanese anime who only wears one set of clothes. Men change as they grow older. It's normal to wake up one day and become handsome, right?"

The class monitor tilted her head and thought about it carefully. Li Ang's personality meant there was no way he would have an online relationship. She patted him on the shoulder with a relieved expression.

"Not bad, kid. Keep it up."

[Tsk, tsk, tsk]

Miss Chai's sour, clicking sounds rang out inside Li Ang.

Li Ang pretended not to hear it.

This outfit had actually been arranged by Chai Cuicao, who heard he was going on a date and insisted on helping him pick out what to wear.

Moreover, Chai Chai threatened to die unless Li Ang took her out with him, claiming,

"A chimei like me gets scared at home. I keep feeling some dirty things are around."

Um, although he didn't know what this already-trash chimei was afraid of, Li Ang decided to take her out anyway, just to let her take a walk and get some fresh air.

After praising Li Ang for being more enlightened, the class monitor rubbed her hands together and pulled Li Ang along as they used their electronic tickets to enter the zoo.

Yin City was colder this winter than in previous years,

but it was the weekend, and there were still many tourists in the park, either with their lovers, with their families, or on group tours, making it quite lively.

Li Ang walked slowly with Wang Congshan and casually asked, "Why did you think of visiting the zoo?

"Weren't the [Full of Youthful Pink! Selection of Dating Spots for Boys and Girls] and [One Hundred Essential Dating Tips] files I sent you yesterday scientific enough?"

"You obviously made up those two documents yourself, right?"

Wang Congshan rolled her eyes. "Who in their right mind would go to the funeral home for a date to experience Yin City's new electronic funeral culture?"

"They've recently adopted recyclable electronic wreaths, with long LCD screens in the middle displaying scrolling subtitles and automatically providing suona accompaniment!

"It couldn't be more cyberpunk.

"It's really a suitable place for online dating meetups and couples' dates."

Wang Congshan pretended not to hear and continued to complain, "Also, what's with the winter swimming in Moon Bay in that book of dating tips?

"Who in their right mind would go winter swimming in the Huangbu River on a date?"

Li Ang said with a serious expression, "Winter swimming can temper the will and improve health.

"Zul'jin, the famous forest troll chieftain of the Amani tribe, likes to swim in winter and eat vegetarian food to temper his mind and body."

"What kind of meme is that now?!"

Wang Congshan followed suit and continued to complain all the way.

Yin City Zoo, formerly known as West Suburb Park, is a memory for many Yin City residents and the second-largest city zoo in the East.

The park covers a huge area with lush trees and a peaceful environment, with many attractions to enjoy.

Amidst laughter and playful banter, Li Ang and Wang Congshan visited many ecological gardens, went to the Science and Education Museum, the Goldfish Gallery, and the Butterfly House, and even took a ride on the Ferris wheel, enjoying a panoramic view of the park from above.

During this process, Li Ang also had his usual bout of craziness, leaning against the glass walls of the reptile cages and "hissing" at a large yellow python inside.

Then, he said affectionately to the python, "Little Yellow, do you still remember me? I'm finally an adult. Don't worry, I'll definitely find a way to save you."

This action scared a bunch of couples nearby. Before Li Ang could explain to them that it was a special ability called [Parseltongue] that allowed him to talk to snakes,

he was dragged away by Wang Congshan.

The two of them strolled from morning until two in the afternoon, then went to a restaurant when they got tired, sitting under a sunshade to eat and drink.

The class monitor sipped her milk tea in small sips, while protecting the cup and staring warily at Li Ang with wide eyes.

The latter had already finished his milk tea and was now holding his straw, staring eagerly at her cup.

"Slurp—"

Amidst Li Ang's regretful gaze, the class monitor sucked up the last pearl, leaned back in her chair with satisfaction, and let out a sigh of "Ah~".

Life is incomplete without good food and milk tea. Even Li Ang can't take it away.

The class monitor chuckled and enjoyed Li Ang's resentful gaze as she took out her phone to play with it.

She had had a pretty good time today, but sometimes, she felt enveloped by a sour feeling that she couldn't quite place.

It was really quite inexplicable.

The sound of typing on a keyboard came from the class monitor's phone. Li Ang also stretched and took out his phone to play with it.

Since the government officially acknowledged the existence of anomalies, everything had been brought out into the open.

The agents of the Special Affairs Bureau can officially appear and go to the scene of abnormal events as soon as possible to handle the cases.

In addition, there are vehicles and agents patrolling the streets twenty-four hours a day,

and the official telephone line for reporting abnormal events is also open around the clock.

Coupled with more dense surveillance cameras and a highly centralized city-wide monitoring system,

Yin City has recently become much calmer.

Or rather, it seems to have become much calmer.

For low-level players, the government's monopoly on handling abnormal events is equivalent to the government monopolizing conventional tasks in the real world.

As ordinary low-level lone wolf players, it is difficult to get news of abnormal events before the government.

And driving to various places in the city to try to trigger conventional tasks

is not only inefficient, but also easily detected by the monitoring system, which can lead to the government tracking them down.

The living environment of low-level lone wolf players is much worse than before.

Li Ang thought to himself, continuing to scan his phone screen with nothing to do.

He didn't have any desire to go out and do regular tasks recently. The gains from the modified version of the fairy tale world were already large enough,

requiring him a considerable amount of time to complete digestion.

If the class monitor hadn't strongly invited him today, Li Ang wouldn't have even left the house,

but would have continued to stay with his lovely worms, insects, and caster corpses, spending his weekend.

"Eh?"

Wang Congshan's questioning voice rang out across the small round table. Li Ang looked up and saw the class monitor frowning, turning her phone screen around for Li Ang to see. "Take a look at this."

Wan Jia Xiong Meng