1: Chapter 1 Do you think I'm pretty?

The evening breeze blew into the alley entrance of the old district.

The air tasted sweet, carrying a scent of decay.

Su Yun walked home with his schoolbag on his back.

He looked down at his phone.

It was a message from his sister sent a minute ago: "Don't leave school, wait for me! I'm coming to pick you up."

Before he could reply, someone stood at the alley entrance ahead.

To be precise, it was a woman.

She wore only a thin white slip dress, the fabric clinging to her body, outlining her curvaceous figure.

Seeing Su Yun approach, she didn't step aside; instead, she lazily straightened up, stepped into the middle of the path in her high heels, and blocked his way.

By the light, Su Yun could clearly see her face.

She wore an exquisite lace mask, and the eyes exposed above it were filled with mist.

"Little handsome boy……"

Her voice carried an indescribable tone.

She took a step forward, the distance becoming overly intimate.

Su Yun could even smell the fragrance wafting from her.

It made his heart race.

A hand with bright red nail polish rested on Su Yun's shoulder, fingertips sliding down the strap of his schoolbag, finally tapping his chest.

"It's so late, walking alone…… aren't you lonely?"

Warm breath sprayed against his earlobe.

Su Yun avoided her hand: "Not lonely."

The woman paused for a moment.

Her soft body was almost pressing against him, and she tilted her head back, her watery eyes staring fixedly at Su Yun,

"My car broke down, and my phone is out of battery."

"Can you…… take me home?"

A normal adolescent boy, faced with such a romantic encounter, would likely have been blushing and flustered by now.

But Su Yun only took half a step back, avoiding her touch: "No."

The woman's movements stiffened for an instant.

The allure in her eyes seemed a bit difficult to maintain.

"You're so cold……"

She tilted her head and let out a coquettish chuckle, her fingers slowly hooking the edge of the lace mask, "Do you think that because I'm wearing a mask, I might be ugly?"

She narrowed her eyes, and her voice suddenly turned shrill.

"Then do you think…… I'm pretty?"

Su Yun looked at her: "Pretty."

The next second, that hand slammed onto his shoulder.

The scent of powder and makeup vanished, replaced by a foul, fishy stench.

The woman's eyes widened, her eyeballs almost bulging out as she stared fixedly at Su Yun's face.

"Really?"

She ripped off her mask.

Her face split open from the corners of her mouth, all the way to her earlobes.

Bright red muscle fibers twitched, revealing dense rows of sharp teeth inside.

Saliva mixed with blood dripped down her chin.

"Then…… h-o-w, a-b-o-u-t, t-h-i-s?!"

She roared, her split-open mouth looking as if it would cleave her entire head in two.

Su Yun was silent for two seconds, then nodded and answered seriously.

"Still very pretty."

The Slit-Mouthed Woman was stunned.

No screaming? No wetting himself?

Whose subordinate is this, so brave?

In the moment she was stunned.

Su Yun could no longer suppress it.

His mouth corners began to tear.

The skin and flesh split open silently to both sides, revealing neat teeth, tearing all the way to his earlobes, exactly like hers.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman's pupils constricted sharply.

Anyone she asked "Are you pretty?" to, no matter how they answered, would eventually become a monster like her and then be devoured.

But……

Her rule hadn't been activated!

What is happening now?

"Then do you think……"

Su Yun tilted his head, his split-open mouth pulling into an eerie smile, "Am I handsome?"

The Slit-Mouthed Woman's movements froze in mid-air.

Her pupils began to dilate, the whites of her eyes filled with bloodshot veins, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Su Yun's eyes had changed.

In those pitch-black pupils, countless twisted tentacles, shattered stars, collapsing geometric shapes, and a silhouette so vast it could not be understood were reflected.

Countless tentacles emerged from the Void Realm, gradually wrapping around the Slit-Mouthed Woman's body.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman felt her consciousness melting.

Countless insane whispers flooded her mind, tearing at her sanity.

[You are gazing into the abyss]

[The abyss is also gazing into you]

[SAN Value: -100]

[Current SAN Value: 0/100]

The Slit-Mouthed Woman's body began to disintegrate, starting from her fingertips, turning into black mist that was swallowed in one gulp by Su Yun's open mouth.

A translucent screen appeared before Su Yun.

[Strange Talk Sequence 000: Lord of Blind Idiot God]

[Current Status: Infancy]

[Growth: 1/100]

[Devoured: Slit-Mouthed Woman (D-Level Strange Tale)]

Su Yun wiped the corner of his mouth, the split wound healing instantly, returning to that harmless face.

He sighed.

Is this a D-Level Strange Tale?

It tastes terrible.

At this rate, how long will it take to reach 100 points of growth?

Besides, as an ordinary person, how could I suddenly have an Awakening of such a bizarre thing today?

The most crucial thing is, not only am I not afraid, I'm actually a bit excited?

Just as he was thinking this, a sharp screeching sound suddenly exploded.

"Screech!!!"

It wasn't tires; it was the sound of soles violently scraping against the ground.

A dark shadow rushed into the alley at a near-manic speed, the wind it kicked up swirling the fallen leaves on the ground.

The person braked hard three meters in front of Su Yun, the ground plowed with two scorched deep marks by the specialized combat boots.

Before Su Yun could see clearly, that figure had already crashed into his arms.

"Xiao Yun!!"

The voice was trembling.

Su Yao couldn't even bother to catch her breath.

Her hands gripped Su Yun's shoulders tightly.

"Let me see…… quickly, let me see!"

Her face was covered in cold sweat.

Her eyes were bloodshot.

She looked extremely exhausted.

She frantically checked Su Yun's body from top to bottom—his neck, wrists, chest—fearing she might miss even the slightest detail.

"Are you hurt? Did that woman touch you? Does anything hurt? Even if you've been scratched, you must tell me! Speak quickly!"

Su Yao's fingers were ice-cold and still trembling violently.

Her mind was filled with images from her previous life.

Her younger brother's mutilated corpse, blood all over the ground, and that grinning monster.

"Sister…… sister?"

Su Yun was 'frightened' by her appearance, letting her handle him stiffly, looking very 'confused'.

"I'm fine, I'm really fine…… what's wrong with you?"

After confirming Su Yun wasn't hurt.

Su Yao finally felt relieved.

She lunged into Su Yun's arms, hugging him tightly, her arms squeezing so hard Su Yun could barely breathe.

"Thank goodness…… thank goodness……"

Her face buried in the crook of Su Yun's neck, warm tears instantly soaked Su Yun's collar, her voice choked with sobs.

"If something happened to you, what would I do…… what do you want me to do……"

Su Yun kept his hands at his sides, his chin resting on his sister's trembling shoulders.

A flash of complexity crossed his pitch-black eyes.

It was something buried deep in his memory, concepts about family, warmth, and protection.

Even though he was no longer purely human now.

And even because of the Strange Talk Sequence he had awakened today, he might stand on the opposite side of humanity in the future.

But this emotion still existed in reality.

Then he slowly raised his hand and gently patted his sister's back.

The movement was skillful, just like how he had learned it countless times when his sister comforted him in the past.

"Sister, I'm not afraid; that strange lady has already left."

This sentence caused the woman sobbing in his arms to instantly stiffen.

A few seconds later.

Su Yao let go and took half a step back.

The sense of collapse receded; she raised her hand to wipe the tear stains from her face, her eyes returning to the sharpness unique to an investigator.

"Left?"

Su Yao's voice sank, her gaze passing over Su Yun to stare fixedly at the ground behind him.

There remained a pool of dissipating, black, foul-smelling slime.

That was the trace left behind after a Strange Tale was completely eradicated.

It didn't leave.

It died.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman, codename D-0337, was known for being cruel and bloodthirsty.

When encountering a lone human, it would fight to the death.

Even a C-Level Psionic User would have to shed a layer of skin to deal with it.

How could it have let Su Yun go?

And how could it have died so cleanly?

Not even a corpse fragment remained, as if it had been…… simply devoured by something.

"What did that woman do to you?"

Su Yao stared into Su Yun's eyes. "What did she ask? How did you answer? What happened afterwards? Tell me all the details."

Su Yun blinked, his eyes clear and innocent: "She asked me if she was pretty."

"And then?" Su Yao's heart was in her throat.

"I said she was pretty." Su Yun scratched his head, "Then she seemed very happy, and just…… suddenly turned into black smoke and disappeared."

"Liar!"

Su Yao subconsciously shouted in a low voice.

This didn't fit the rules of the Strange Tales!

Whether one answered pretty or not pretty, the Slit-Mouthed Woman would attack!

How could it have turned into smoke and left?

There must be a third person here, or…… a second monster.

Su Yao warily looked around, her hand gripping the hilt of her sword.

There was no Psionic User fluctuation.

No traces of a fight.

In this dead-end alley, apart from her and her brother, there was no one else.

Her gaze finally fell back onto Su Yun.

The boy in front of her carried his schoolbag, his figure thin, his face still a bit pale from the shock, and in his eyes was confusion and fear at his sister's fierce appearance.

This was her younger brother whom she had watched grow up; he was as simple as a blank sheet of paper.

He wouldn't lie.

Thinking of this.

Su Yao took a deep breath.

Suppressing the sense of dissonance.

Watching Su Yun cautiously observing her expression, Su Yao's heart ached.

A strong sense of guilt arose.

How could she yell at her brother like this!

Perhaps a passing high-level powerhouse had cleared it out while passing by?

Or perhaps some kind of deviation had occurred in the timeline of this life?

Regardless, her brother was still alive.

As long as he was alive, that was enough.

"……It's okay now."

Su Yao closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, only tired tenderness remained.

She reached out and ruffled Su Yun's hair vigorously, her tone complex: "You were lucky to have met…… a kind stranger."

"Let's go, stay close to me, let's go home."

She turned around, leading the way with her back to Su Yun, but her right hand never left the sword hilt.

Su Yun obediently said "Mm".

At an angle Su Yao couldn't see, he gently licked the corner of his mouth, the expression of a frightened little white rabbit instantly vanishing, and a faint, subtle smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

His gaze fell on his sister's back.

There, a translucent humanoid monster was clinging tightly, countless greedy eyes staring back at him.

[B-Level Weird Tale: Endless Nightmare]

[Status: Parasitizing]

Su Yun lowered his eyes, his peripheral vision sweeping over the twisted shadow behind his sister.

That thing seemed to sense his gaze, all its eyeballs swiveling in unison towards him, full of malice.

[Detected B-Level Weird Tale]

[Devour?]

Su Yun silently replied "No" in his mind.

Not now.

His sister was right beside him.

Besides, she was clearly not just a simple Strange Tales investigator.

Su Yun remembered that Su Yao used to be among the weakest of the investigators.

But based on her current performance, that was clearly not the case.

For example, her terrifying speed, or how she knew he would encounter danger?

Something must have happened to Su Yao!

He just didn't know yet.

Before he could think more.

"Xiao Yun?"

Su Yao sensed his silence and turned her head to look.

"Mm?"

Su Yun immediately withdrew his gaze, showing an obedient smile, "I was thinking about tomorrow's exam."

"Don't think about it, go home and get some sleep."

Su Yao ruffled his hair, her tone gentle.

She didn't notice that beneath her brother's lowered eyelashes, in the depths of those pitch-black pupils, something flashed by.

Su Yun followed behind her, giving up on thinking about his sister's affairs.

He began to think about how to handle the Endless Nightmare.

A B-Level Weird Tale, much stronger than the Slit-Mouthed Woman just now.

If he could eat it, his growth should increase quite a bit.

Su Yun looked up at Su Yao's back.

His sister was very good to him, protecting him since he was a child.

So……

Su Yun narrowed his eyes.

He had to find an opportunity as soon as possible to peel that thing off without hurting his sister.

And then eat it in one bite.

He licked the corner of his mouth, his face still wearing that harmless expression.

"Sister, can I sleep in your room tonight?"

Su Yao paused, turning back to look at him: "What's wrong?"

Su Yun lowered his head, clearly a bit 'frightened', "Just now when you suddenly rushed out, I thought I had encountered a bad guy."

Su Yao's heart softened.

Her brother had been timid since he was a child and often had nightmares.

"Okay." She nodded, "Sister will stay with you tonight."

Su Yun obediently responded, a dark gleam flashing in his eyes.

That thing was parasitizing his sister; it would definitely be most active when she was asleep.

At that time……

That would be the best opportunity.