The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

The fog enshrouded the dilapidated streets above.

The crowd clung close, following the man as they moved forward.

"Be careful, if a monster attacks... whatever you do, don't run or make any noise," he said gravely. If it were just him... whether to fight or flee was his choice to make.

But leading so many ordinary people increased the danger significantly.

Su Qi also followed at the end of the group.

A little girl with a ponytail, held by a woman, couldn't help but look at the potato chips in Su Qi's hand, "Big brother, are they tasty?"

Facing the little girl's adorable, desirous big eyes,

Su Qi smiled and said, "They're not tasty."

The little girl: "..."

Su Qi wasn't being mean, this little girl couldn't handle even a bit of these chips; it seemed they were contaminated by the fog. Anyone with a constitution under 50 would be affected, somewhat like the second instance of the polluted world.

However, the effect was relatively minor, but it was better not to eat them if possible.

"Can you tell me what they taste like?" The little girl pursed her lips and asked obediently.

Dear patron, please don't be so obstinate!

Su Qi wanted to describe it with some words not fit for mealtimes, but considering her innocent eyes, he ultimately chose leniency:

"They taste like caterpillars."

The purity in the little girl's eyes altered for the first time.

The middle-aged woman quickly pulled the little girl along, "Don't get distracted, stick with mommy."

Su Qi looked away.

According to the information he received from Left Hand, the main content of the new mode... was that players would enter a so-called semi-collapsed or collapsed world, killing Pollution Monsters to get Spiritual Ability Points.

Simply put, it was an opportunity for players to grind instances, with numerous level 20 players having already entered. Without any main quest, all one needed to do was kill, without any need to advance through the instances.

But,

Su Qi felt somehow different from the others.

And at that moment.

Su Qi suddenly looked into the distance, aware that there were groups of crawling monsters.

However, the man also had a sense of something, and he spoke in a low voice, "Be careful, stay silent, hide with me! Don't make any noise!"

The fear in people's faces was clear as they followed him. The only place they could hide was in a store with its door open nearby.

But clearly,

he had misjudged the level of panic ordinary people had under the fog. A blonde young man, agitated and anxious, kept looking ahead... without noticing what was under his feet, and he tripped over a bicycle.

"Clack!"

The bicycle was about to fall and make a noise as it lost balance!

The man's face paled.

But in the next instant, Su Qi reached out and steadily grabbed it.

The man sighed with relief, looking at Su Qi with increased admiration. The young man seemed to be mentally resilient.

There shouldn't be any problems now, right?

But after a few more steps,

Immediately afterward,

A middle-aged woman accidentally stepped on a nail on the ground. Her face showed pain as she instinctively prepared to cry out in agony.

The man was quick to act, covering her mouth and swiftly motioning with his eyes for her to endure.

The middle-aged woman nodded with a pale face.

And at that moment,

another gust of wind blew by... a poster advertisement in the store next door leaned and then fell over.

"???"

Su Qi held it in place with one hand, noticing that something was off; these series of accidents were too coincidental, almost forcefully trying to make some noise happen.

And the man looked at Su Qi again, this time giving him a thumbs-up, seemingly praising Su Qi's quick reflexes.

"..."

Fortunately, no more incidents happened in the following few steps, and the crowd managed to take refuge in the nearby store as they had wished.

The monsters had already crawled over in the street.

There were about five in number, each with a different shape, emitting a foul stench...

The man motioned for everyone to stay still. Only when these abnormalities had left could they continue on.

But then, at that moment, an unexpected event occurred, this time involving a white-collar in a suit... the ringtone blaring from his mobile phone was piercingly shrill!

The man's complexion changed dramatically, and everyone else shuddered.

And Su Qi had a look of "???" on his face.

Your mother's kiss, it's still ringing? And just skipping the act outright!

Su Qi could now be certain that this chain of events was no coincidence; it was too preposterous!

The white-collar's face had gone deathly pale, and he fumbled frantically to silence the ringtone, but it was already too late.

And those five monsters roared and charged over here without hesitation!

"They're pretty fast!"

Su Qi had deduced that this creature was different from the small monsters in the supermarket earlier; it was strong, at least capable of battling a Night Demon.

The man bellowed and hurled a spear with explosive force.

"Bang!"

The spear actually managed to force one of the monsters back!

This guy was also strong; he was no ordinary man.

In such a situation, Su Qi also pulled out the Hundred Man Slaughter Blade and, under the astonished gaze of the man, burst forward with incredible speed!

"Are you an Enhancer too?"

But then,

The man could no longer afford to be surprised because he suddenly noticed one of the spike-covered monsters coiling its body, his eyes suddenly alert as he looked toward the people behind him, "Watch out!"

The monster suddenly unfurled its body, and a mass of spikes burst forth!

"Whizz whizz whizz!"

Their power could actually penetrate glass and steel!

Su Qi and the man didn't need to worry, but behind them came the agonized cries of ordinary people.

In that situation,

Su Qi had no choice but to leap into the air, zooming towards the monster with the Hundred Man Slaughter Blade in hand, and he brought it down!

"Spurt!"

A wave of green blood sprayed out, which, although not corrosive, smelled foul.

[You have killed a monster, earning 1 Spiritual Ability Point.]

[Please note: Any monster can only give Spiritual Ability Points the first time it is killed.]

?

Su Qi was somewhat baffled; what did it mean by the first time? Could it be... this monster could be killed twice?

And working together with the man, it took them less than half a minute to kill the remaining four monsters.

The man, panting heavily, rushed back into the store, "We need to leave quickly, or else the noise from before will..."

Suddenly, his voice seized up.

In the store, a little girl with a ponytail was lying atop her mother's corpse, her eyes bloodshot and face pale, crying in despair... The continuous yet fractured sound was heart-wrenchingly painful!

Of the twelve ordinary people, only four survived, including the little girl.

Su Qi picked up a spike from the ground and said softly, "This has poison on it... if touched, an ordinary person would die instantly."

The crisis unfolded too rapidly; mingled with an eerie string of coincidences, it seemed as though it was fated to occur.

"And he's right... if we don't leave now, even more monsters will..."

Su Qi's words abruptly stopped as he squinted.

At that moment, the girl's crying was fading... the man's face was fading, and the surrounding scenery was increasingly twisted.

The corpses of the creatures seemed to come back to life and their roars reverberated, appearing to rewind as well.

Not just the monsters, but the scenery itself was rewinding!

And it was accelerating!

Until the final moment,

Darkness suddenly swallowed him!

"....."

After a brief spell of astonishment,

Su Qi slowly opened his eyes, gazed at his surroundings, and fell silent for a moment.

He,

had once again returned to the beginning of the instance—the storage room.