Chapter 21: The World Is Changing
The scream echoed far across the empty residential compound. Chen Sui's gaze sharpened as he spotted a middle-aged woman cornered against a wall, her legs kicking frantically against the ground.
Chen Sui instinctively looked toward the animal.
A large dog... a Samoyed? A Husky? No, wait — that didn't look like a dog at all.
Chen Sui's expression went visibly blank.
Not a dog? What else could be this big and still show up inside a residential compound?
A hippo?
Then the middle-aged woman's scream gave him his answer:
"A RAT——"
Huh? Huh? HUH?!
Chen Sui did a triple take.
A rat? How could anything this size be a rat?
Even rats raised in the most extreme environments in other countries didn't get this big!
By now, people had come running out, armed with sticks, brooms, and other makeshift weapons, advancing toward the thing that could only tentatively be called a "rat."
The moment they laid eyes on it, the whole crowd froze.
"What the heck is that? A rat?"
"Motherfucker, I've never seen a rat this big in my entire life — don't tell me it's turned into some kind of monster."
"What did it eat to grow that big?"
"Never mind that, let's kill it first. Everyone be careful — this rat might bite."
A group of old men in drooping tank tops and hunched backs slowly surrounded the creature.
They crept forward with the caution of men cornering a wild boar.
Chen Sui was a little tense. He leaned his head out slightly to get a better look.
Thwack!
Someone brought a shovel crashing down on the rat's head.
Clang!
A solid hit.
Instantly, blood sprayed from the rat's mouth and nose.
"Everyone, charge!"
Someone shouted, and the whole mob of old men and uncles surged forward with their weapons.
"Squeeee——"
The rat had been eyeing the crowd menacingly, but after taking that shovel to the head, it panicked, turned, and bolted.
A barrage of sticks and shovels rained down on it as it fled.
The rat pushed through the blows, squeezed through a gap in the crowd, and escaped.
It shot along the base of the stairwell wall and vanished in an instant.
The crowd gave chase with their shovels but couldn't keep up.
All that remained was a trail of blood on the ground.
"What the heck... what was that thing?"
"Who cares, we need to kill it fast — could be carrying all kinds of disease."
"Let's call the police first."
"Right, right, call the police."
The crowd exchanged bewildered looks. With no way to catch it, all they could do was dial the authorities.
Chen Sui pulled his head back in, his expression dazed, at a loss for words.
These past few days, the news had been full of reports about animals growing larger somewhere or another, animals attacking people somewhere or another.
But he hadn't expected things to have already come this far.
A rat — turning into a beast the size of a dog. Was that even reasonable?
Chen Sui knew: either something was wrong with him, or something was wrong with the world.
"Could this be a side effect of Azure connecting to the world? Transcendent power bringing about the enhancement of wild animals..."
Chen Sui's mind instinctively jumped to Azure, that uncanny game.
The theory was surprisingly plausible.
He refused to believe that what happened in his compound was an isolated incident. There was only one possibility: animals all over the world were undergoing some kind of change.
A sense of crisis welled up in Chen Sui's chest. He went online at lightning speed and bought a stockpile of food, medicine, building materials, and weapons.
"Stock up first, prepare for the worst."
"As long as I can hold out until Azure descends and I can summon my own sea beast, I'll be fine."
Only after doing all this did Chen Sui feel a little more secure.
Then he quickly logged into Azure.
It was morning — the quietest time in the group chat. Everyone had been out catching pets last night and had only gone to sleep around four in the morning when the tide went out.
Now only a handful of grinders were still online.
Quhua-Hongtongtong: "Anyone still awake, bros? Come chat."
Seven-Star-Longka: "No energy. I'm hanging out at a pharmacy playing NPC shopkeeper right now. Once my shift's done, I'm going to sleep."
Why Won't My Dumb Bull Stand Firm: "Hardcore grind, still working a shift. Made over two thousand last night, already clocked out."
I'm Wondering Where the Speed Bump Is: "Get out of here, you made over twenty thousand, didn't you? You got a Spinning Starfish with the Sharp talent — it farms mobs insanely fast."
Why Won't My Dumb Bull Stand Firm: "Hehehe."
Chen Sui frowned, thought for a moment, and decided to ask his question.
mlgbfirst: "Stop giggling for a second — let me ask you all something. Are there any news reports about animals getting bigger where you are?"
Quhua-Hongtongtong: "Animals getting bigger? Haven't noticed. I don't usually follow the news."
Seven-Star-Longka: "Nothing like that here either. Why are you suddenly asking, big bro?"
mlgbfirst: "I just saw a rat the size of a Husky in my compound. Combined with all the news I've been seeing lately about animals growing larger, I figured I'd ask if you all knew anything."
I'm Wondering Where the Speed Bump Is: "How big?! That's still a rat? Big bro, are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
Quhua-Fangzhu: "No news like that around here. Things are pretty peaceful."
Chen Sui read through his groupmates' replies, feeling a little puzzled.
Could the rat in his compound really be a one-off?
"I think I've heard something about this."
A new message popped up.
It was from Lu Chengzhi.
"Yesterday when I went out, I heard people talking about it — apparently a German Shepherd in the compound next to ours grew to the size of a horse and was put down after attacking someone. It's been the talk of the whole neighborhood."
Quhua-Hongtongtong: "What? Seriously? A dog the size of a horse? That's terrifying — it's not fake, is it?"
Seven-Star-Lu Chengzhi: "Doesn't seem like it. A lot of people are talking about it. I don't think it's made up."
With that, the others started to believe it.
I'm Wondering Where the Speed Bump Is: "That's so scary. Did some kind of biochemical virus leak? Is something bad going to happen?"
Quhua-Fangzhu: "Now I'm too scared to go outside."
"..."
The group erupted into discussion.
Chen Sui's brow furrowed. Sure enough, his compound wasn't an isolated case.
"This is starting to feel like a real problem..."
Chen Sui knew a bit about what was going on behind the scenes, but he wasn't sure whether he should tell the others. After all, "a game becoming reality" sounded like something a crazy person would say no matter how you framed it.
"Forget it. Better to just keep grinding — farm as much as possible and prepare for what's coming."
Chen Sui was a man of action.
Without dwelling on it any further, he dove straight into the game.
He headed to yesterday's fishing boat rental dock, where a number of NPCs had gathered. From their conversations, Chen Sui gathered that because the tide had come in yesterday, today's catch out at sea had been plentiful.
Because of the NPC crowd, quite a few casual players had also gathered here to watch the action.
Most of them were clustered in front of the cold-faced old man:
"There are so many boats here — can we rent one and head out to sea?"
"No good. I already tried. The boats here won't be rented to us."
Sure enough, when Chen Sui stepped up and asked, the answer was: "No. Outsiders cannot rent boats."
"Sir, can you tell us how we might be able to rent one of these boats? We're willing to pay."
Someone asked.
"If it can't be rented, it can't be rented." The boat-keeper old man kept his face stone-cold, his tone equally harsh.
"Figures — there must be some condition that needs to be met first."
Hearing the old man's answer, the players understood.
But some refused to accept it.
"Hey, old man, are you hard of hearing? We said we'd pay. What's the problem? Get up, stop blocking the way, or I'll kill you."
One player stepped forward. At his feet walked a Red-Mantled Tide Crab.
The Red-Mantled Tide Crab snapped its claws aggressively, as if one wrong word would send it lunging to tear the old man apart.
"If it can't be rented, it can't be rented. Get lost."
The old man said flatly, face still cold as stone.
"Hey? You looking to die, old man? I'll grant you that wish!"
The player flared up instantly.
Seeing this, the players nearby quickly stepped in to hold him back. "Easy, man, calm down, calm down."
"Killing an NPC is illegal — it's just a fishing boat, it's not worth it."
"Chill out, bro."
Indeed, because of the many realistic elements in virtual games, certain actions within them could violate the Virtual Game Conduct Act.
And the penalties weren't light — it counted as criminal liability, subject to sentencing.
Restrained by the others, the player finally calmed down, though his gaze on the old man remained icy.
Chen Sui scratched his head and walked past them. He handed a pouch of Fish Coins to the old man:
"Sir, I'd like to rent a boat."
The boat-keeper old man weighed the coin pouch in his hand, then glanced at him. "Boat number 34. Pay the deposit and go untie it yourself."
"Sure."
Chen Sui smiled and walked on past.
He hadn't expected to hear a voice call out from beside him:
"Wait!"