C1 — Paper Life

[14: Congratulations to Nannan for successfully binding the Save the Monster System.]

 

[14: The staff member serving you at this time is number 0900114, and you may address me as Fourteen, or Yao Si.]

 

[14: You entered a vegetative state in your original world due to a car accident. If you complete this task, your bodily functions will be reactivated, which means you will gain a second life.]

 

[14: Your memories will be temporarily sealed to avoid affecting or even hindering your progress in completing the task. However, for every monster successfully saved, I will unseal a memory.]

 

14 explained very clearly that if he refused, he would face his death as soon as he returned to his original world.

 

It was useless to go back.

 

 

Shang Nan opened his eyes and was playfully hit on the shoulder. Immediately, a boy’s voice, which was in a period of voice change, rang out in his ear. “Nannan, why don’t you take action?”

 

“What?”

 

Shang Nan found himself holding the handle of an umbrella in his hand. The metallic handle was icy cold, making his finger joints snow white.

 

Light rain fell on the umbrella surface, following the umbrella ribs and dripping into the muddy ground.

 

 

His shoes were covered with mud and water, and the person facing his shoes was a boy who was curled up in the corner wearing the same blue and white school uniforms as him. The other held his head and shrunk his body into a ball.

 

Perhaps because he was unable to hear Shang Nan’s answer after a long time, the boy slowly put down the hand holding his head and looked up at Shang Nan with trembling eyes; his eyes carried a scorching temperature, as if they had turned into substance, wanting to lick Shang Nan from head to toe.

 

“Look, damn it, look!” Seeing the look in his eyes, Meng Xiao, who was resting on his shoulder, got goosebumps all over his arm and raised his fist in a gesture to hit someone.

 

The boy immediately raised his hand and tightly hugged his head. The rain had soaked him thoroughly, and the school uniform was stuck to his emaciated back, with a high and protruding spine in the middle.

 

 

He was trembling, maybe because of the cold or because he was afraid.

 

Shang Nan grabbed his friend’s wrist and softly said, “Meng Xiao, forget it.” He held up the umbrella as he spoke to Meng Xiao beside him.

 

Meng Xiao was a bit confused. “Forget it? People like Zhang Gou should be beaten up hard as a warning.”

 

“Stealing your jacket and hiding it, shit! I’ve never seen such a disgusting person.”

 

Meng Xiao saw that Shang Nan was silent and thought his heart had softened. He crossed his arms and drenched himself in the rain as he circled around Shang Nan twice, saying in exasperation, “Although the kid’s good-looking, with his disgusting nature, his face value is discounted.”

 

Shang Nan didn’t want to hit anyone; that wasn’t the way it could be solved.

 

“You guys go back first; I’ll handle Zhang Gou’s affairs myself,” Shang Nan said to Meng Xiao. In this world, Meng Xiao was his best friend, with similar family background, personalities, and the same mediocre grades. “I’ll treat you to dinner later.”

 

Meng Xiao chirped, “How rare.”

 

After saying that, he propped up the umbrella in his own hand, then casually spoke, “Let’s go; remember to treat me to dinner.”

 

As soon as Meng Xiao left, it was impossible for the others to stay; they were all Meng Xiao’s followers. After looking at each other for a while, they said, “Brother Nan, we’re leaving too,” and went after Meng Xiao.

 

The group of tall and powerful high school seniors left together.

 

The rain was still falling, and Zhang Gou continued to maintain his previous movements, holding his head and huddling up, revealing his thin and emaciated ankles.

 

Shang Nan lifted the umbrella over his head.

 

The rain on his head suddenly disappeared, and Zhang Gou looked up blankly, staring at the dark umbrella face above his head for a long time before shifting his gaze to Shang Nan’s face. Only then did Shang Nan see Zhang Gou’s complete face.

 

His face was small, fragile, and pale, with blue bloo-d vessels faintly visible in his neck. His gaze towards Shang Nan slowly became mournful.

 

He changed his posture, lowered his arms, and moved his overly thin fingers along the flowing water channel to the upper part of Shang Nan’s shoe. He held onto Shang Nan’s ankle in a false grip, and the moment his skin touched it, his eyes revealed his obsession. “It’s so warm… Shang Nan, you have a good impression of me, don’t you?”

 

“No,” Shang Nan answered decisively. He took out a pack of tissues from his pocket, bent down, and stuffed them into Zhang Gou’s hand. He took a step back, since Zhang Gou didn’t hold him tightly, he stepped back easily. “Take care of yourself.”

 

He walked freely, and behind him, Zhang Gou tilted his head slightly.

 

On the way back to the classroom, 14 briefly informed Shang Nan of the current known plot and information; getting more information would require further contact between Shang Nan and the monster.

 

[14: The monster’s name is Yu Zhibai, and you are his pursuer. You once pursued him, but he rejected you when you first confessed to him. You were very angry, but it was of no use. You knew emotions couldn’t be forced, so you can now be described as strangers. You haven’t spoken to each other for a long time.]

 

 

[14: Yu Zhibai’s family is very poor; he’s a poor student, with only one relative left, his grandmother.]

 

[14] Nannan, Yu Zhibai has a very good personality. According to my calculations, the chance of him hurting you is very small. You’re lucky.]

 

[14: I’ll begin by describing what the monster suffered: the monster suffered very serious school violence as a child; someone tore up its books, someone broke its arms, someone shaved its hair, someone branded its face with a red-hot iron, someone locked it up in an abandoned factory and showed it a lot of very scary movies, and someone pushed it off a tall building.]

 

 

The main system said that Shang Nan was the most suitable host to complete this task and also the most likely person to complete this task.

 

“Because on his deathbed, Shang Nan was actually thinking about a cat, and if he’s so loving to animals, he must be the same to monsters.”

 

“People without compassion cannot complete this task. They are monsters, not fools.”

 

 

14 only recognized the second point that the main system had made, it didn’t quite agree with the first one; after all, fluffy cats weren’t in the same order of magnitude as cold-bl-ooded and dystopian monsters.

 

 

Shang Nan yawned and drifted off to sleep amidst the pattering rain, all the while thinking about how he should repair his relationship with Yu Zhibai before talking about his salvation.

 

 

He had pursued Yu Zhibai and hadn’t had any communication with him for more than half a year; their relationship was worse than ordinary classmates.

 

It was a terrible start.

 

[14: The current blackening value of the monster is 50.]

 

 

[14: It hates all humans.]

 

 

Shang Nan: “What about me?”

 

[14: It hates you.]

 

“……”

 

“Being hated by the monster isn’t a good thing.” Shang Nan felt helpless. “Thank you for giving me this assignment.”

 

Zhang Hu, Shang Nan’s deskmate, was eating bread when he saw that Shang Nan was staring at him intensively. He handed the bread over and shared it with him. He thought that wealthy second-generation people like Shang Nan would disdain eating bread bought from the school supermarket, but he didn’t expect Shang Nan to smile and say thank you, then he ate it happily.

 

“Tomorrow I’ll bring you chocolate, “said Shang Nan as he bit into the bread, his soft and smooth bangs parting. He didn’t make a sound while eating, and his fingers were thin and long as he pinched the bread slices. His movements were extremely cultured.

 

 

Zhang Hu was a little dazed; the difference between a beauty and an ordinary person was really outrageous.

 

A thunderclap sounded outside the window; the glass was shaken, the leaves were flying, the rain was as dense as a weave, and the night was deep and cold.

 

As soon as it was time for the bell to ring, everyone in the classroom started moving together—one minute before the bell rang, everyone was ready.

 

 

Class time had already passed, but Shang Nan hadn’t seen Yu Zhibai, the monster in 14’s mouth.

 

[14: The monster’s blackening value has increased by two points; it is getting beaten up.]

 

 

Shang Nan’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he carried his backpack and umbrella and walked out of the classroom.

 

Zhang Hu, who was still packing up his things, almost didn’t react and thought that Shang Nan instantaneously teleported.

 

The rain was heavy, the street lights were dim yellow, and the asphalt road was beaten to the point that it became black and shiny. The accumulated water on both sides gathered into small streams of water flowing towards the drainage outlet. Fallen leaves stuck to the road surface, accumulating a thin layer like a wet, dirty carpet.

 

 

Because Changyu High School was so large and not located in the city, after leaving the crowded and bustling school entrance, the surrounding area gradually fell silent.

 

The road gradually narrowed, with occasional barking of dogs. Reflective road signs indicated that this was a north-south straight road, 553 m long without branches, followed by the Hongshi Tunnel, which was 887 m long, and then after crossing the overpass, you’d enter one of the busiest streets in Huinanfang.

 

The long handled umbrella was held in his hand, but the rain was still blowing on his face. The sidewalk was uneven, and from time to time, he would step into muddy puddles. His pants and canvas shoes were wet, but he just ran forward until he heard someone laughing and cursing.

 

“Count, count, count how many men your mother has seduced!”

 

“Don’t you have good grades? Can’t you count?”

 

“Count it; how about I give you a slap as a reward?”

 

The streetlights were behind Shang Nan, and the shadows of a few boys were stretched out to infinite lengths; they flailed, and their shadows flailed together; they looked like a bunch of demons just by their shadows.

 

Yu Zhibai was in the middle, leaning against the wall with his backpack in his hand. He lowered his eyes; his face was pale, and his long legs were slightly bent, looking at the group of people in front of him with a relaxed posture.

 

“What are you guys doing?” Shang Nan held the umbrella handle and stood behind them. His eyelashes were wet from the rain and had twisted into strands, making him squint uncomfortably.

 

 

Lu Yang heard the sound, and his expression changed, becoming fierce. But when he turned around, he saw that it was Shang Nan. He forced out a smile and greeted, “Hey, brother Nan.” The other few people also followed suit and called out ‘Brother Nan.’

 

 

Lu Yang, Shang Nan, and Yu Zhibai were classmates, and currently, Shang Nan wasn’t clear about their motives for bullying Yu Zhibai.

 

 

They called him brother Nan not because Shang Nan was also a bad student like them, but because the Shang Nan’s family had money. In this world, having money made one a brother.

 

Obviously, Shang Nan didn’t have good intentions, so the smile on Lu Yang’s face slowly disappeared.

 

Shang Nan and he were from the same circle, and their two families met to some extent in business. Therefore, although Shang Nan liked Yu Zhibai, he never intervened in the feud between him and Yu Zhibai.

 

What happened today? Charge forward for love? Internally, Lu Yang was angry, but he thought a lot about it.

 

 

If he opposed Shang Nan, he wouldn’t gain much advantage. The Shang family only had one son, and Shang Nan’s father was already dead. It was no surprise that Shang Nan would 100% become the head of the Shang family in the future.

 

The silent confrontation lasted for a long time. Then Lu Yang raised his hands and smiled, saying, “Okay, okay. Since brother Nan wants to protect him, I have nothing to say.”

 

Lu Yang was walking under the umbrella of his follower when he passed by Shang Nan. He stopped and leaned against Shang Nan’s earlobe, whispering, “You will know in the future how foolish it was for you to protect him.” After he finished speaking, he left with a group of people, showing off his power.

 

After a long moment of silence, only the sound of rain remained.

 

The ground was covered in mud with deeply sunken footprints; books and homework were scattered on the ground, but the boy leaning against the wall remained motionless and silent.

 

The street lamp shone from behind towards Yu Zhibai’s face. Half of his face was as pale as paper, and Shang Nan could clearly see the clear shadow under his eyes that were cast by his eyelashes. His face was so white, but his lips were as red as bloo-d.

 

Shang Nan walked over and leaned his umbrella against the wall. He took out a small packet of tissues from his backpack and asked softly, “Are you okay?”

 

Yu Zhibai was hesitant to look up.

 

Shang Nan thought the other was crying and thought to himself that this monster was quite fragile. He tilted his head slightly, wanting to see what Yu Zhibai looked like and whether the monster was injured.

 

However, at this moment, Yu Zhibai suddenly lifted his head; his eye socket was empty, and he looked around several times before finally landing on the face of the handsome boy in front of him, who looked like an artwork. He carefully examined and watched as the other person’s worries dissipated, turning into an indescribable shock.

 

Yu Zhibai curved the corners of his mouth in a polite manner, as if completely unaware of how abnormal his current appearance was. “Shang Nan, can you help me find my left eyeball? It’s gone,” it said.

 

 

Its eyes were filled with ink color, with the ink color in its right eye gradually fading, while its left eye was pitch black and bottomless. Upon closer inspection, the left eye… the left eyeball had completely disappeared, and an empty and deep black hole appeared in the eye socket.

 

Even though he lost his eye, Shang Nan could still feel the other person’s gaze.

 

At the moment of eye contact, Shang Nan’s throat immediately felt like it was being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand.

 

Shang Nan could roughly predict the situation he would face in this quest, but even though he had prepared himself mentally, it took Shang Nan a long time to get used to the monster in front of him who was emboldened to reveal its identity in front of him, and he agreed to the other party’s request half a beat slower: “Okay, okay, you… you, wait a moment.”

 

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TN:

I’m so excited for this one, lessgoooo!!

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