The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 8: The First Note

“How about this? Do me a favor, and I’ll tell you all the Talents after serial number 50.” Holding chopsticks with his left hand, Officer Huang picked up a piece of spinach that was just the right degree of doneness. “In addition, I’ll answer one of your questions, no strings attached. It can be anything you want to know as long as I have the answer.”

“What’s the favor?” asked Qing Ling.

“You have to agree to the deal first.” Officer Huang smiled. “Nothing difficult, and I promise your life won’t be in danger.”

Qing Ling didn’t respond.

Gao Yang stayed quiet as well. He knew he was in no place to negotiate with Officer Huang. He might as well keep up the image of being mysterious and secretive.

“You must know that humans are only one out of ten thousand of the population. That tells you how dire our situation is.” Officer Huang let out a deep sigh. “We’re all orphans in this world, abandoned by God.”

Qing Ling hesitated, still not opening her mouth.

Gao Yang followed her lead.

Officer Huang spoke like a shepherd guiding lost sheep. “To survive in this world shrouded in mysteries, I believe you need powerful Talents as well as a good grasp on the rules. The more you know, the better.”

He seemed to be gazing into the distance, but his tone was firm. “I can assure you that my information is worth more than a fortune. It’s a bargain for you.”

“Deal.” The answer tumbled out of Gao Yang’s mouth. His reasoning was simple: the man had gotten to such length to entice them. It was better to accept the deal first. They could always go back on their words.

Qing Ling shot Gao Yang a glare, but didn’t say anything in opposition.

“Smart boy.” Officer Huang was pleased. He took out a stack of post-it notes and a pen from the pocket of his uniform. There were a quick succession of rustling noises as he wrote three notes. “Don’t blame me for being stingy. I can’t trust you fully just yet. We’ve been birthed into this hell. It’s all we can do to survive with all we have.”

He folded the notes and handed them to Qing Ling.

When she reached out to take the notes, he pulled back quickly. “Remember, unfold the first note during your evening study tomorrow. After you do what’s said on the note, read the second one. Then you’ll finish the task and read the third. You must follow my words to the T.”

Qing Ling took the notes and tucked them into the breast pocket of her school uniform. “I’m going to ask two questions once this is done.”

“Deal. I’ll contact you after everything.” Officer Huang stood up and took out his phone. “Old Liu, check, please.”

...

When Gao Yang returned home at midnight, he wasn’t the same person he had been.

Knowing the staggering ratio between humans and monsters, he had trouble looking at his once warm and loving family the same way.

According to what the owner of the body had witnessed that night when he was four, Gao Yang was pretty certain that his grandfather was a monster, though he wasn’t sure what kind he was. And since his grandparents shared a room, his grandmother was most likely a monster as well.

As for his father, mother, and sister...

Gao Yang had to stop himself. He so wished that his family would turn out to be all humans even though the chance of that being the case was akin to winning the lottery. Still, he couldn’t give up on the hope, no matter how slim. At the end of the day, they were family he had been with every day for the past twelve years.

If he hadn’t run into the man the night of his eighteenth birthday, if he had simply led a life of ignorance into adulthood, started a family, and eventually met a peaceful end, perhaps he would’ve been happier.

There was nothing pitiful about living in lies and falsehood—as long as he had never woken up from the dream, that was.

But that was merely wishful thinking. Gao Yang had awakened, and his once peaceful days were no more.

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Now, hell was other people![1]

He must take every step carefully like he was treading on thin ice. A misstep was all it took for him to fall into a bottomless abyss.

It was three o’clock in the morning. His family had long retired to bed, and Gao Yang was sure that he would get a good scolding from his parents tomorrow morning. But at least tonight, he didn’t have to face them. He had time to prepare himself mentally so that he could find the right way to treat his family.

Exhausted both physically and mentally, Gao Yang lay down in the bathtub, looking to enjoy a hot bath. When he looked up, though, a hexagram glowed before his eyes. He didn’t touch it this time, but instead closed his eyes and made a command in his mind: Access system.

[Beep—]

[Access granted.]

[You have acquired 27 Luck points. You now have a total of 30 Luck points. Do you want to use them?]

—Yes.

[Open Status Screen.]

[Constitution: 12 Endurance: 12]

[Strength: 11 Agility: 11]

[Willpower: 11 Charisma: 10]

[Luck: 0]

Gao Yang noticed immediately that his basic stats had risen, albeit only by a small margin.

—Do stats go up on their own?

[Stats will fluctuate according to your physical abilities and condition.]

[You have gone through a productive day and become a little stronger than you were yesterday.]

—Then if I do 100 pushups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats, and run 10 kilometers every day for three years until I go bald, would I become the strongest man on Earth?[2]

[In theory, you will become physically stronger, but you may also suffer muscle sprains, knee degeneration, and any other problems.]

—Then how do I get stronger?

[Use Luck points to permanently increase your stats.]

[And different Talents will grant permanent bonuses to different stats.]

—How’s Qing Ling’s Talent, God of Blades?

[Talent: God of Blades. Serial Number: 32. Rune Type: Damage.]

[Max Level God of Blades: proficiency in bladed weapons, damage output of bladed weapons * 3, chance of physical guard break is 91.4%.]

[Stats Bonuses of Max Level God of Blades: Constitution + 400, Strength + 800, Agility + 1000, Charisma + 400.]

—What about God of Firearms?

[Talent: God of Firearms. Serial Number: 41. Rune Type: Damage.]

[Max Level God of Firearms: proficiency in firearms, firearms accuracy is 97.3%, speed is 12 shots/second.]

[Stats Bonuses of Max Level God of Firearms: Constitution + 300, Strength + 700, Agility + 800, Charisma + 300.]

—Frick.

[Freak?][3]

—You’re a shit system!

[Superstition will not make you lucky, and spending money is not enough to change your fate.][4]

[You learned about Talent: Metal today. Do you want more information?]

—Don’t. My heart can’t take it.

[Do you need suggestions for Luck points allocation?]

—It’s just 30 points. What is there to allocate? Hell, put it all in Luck. I’ll see how lucky that’ll make me.

[You cannot go back on your decision after Luck points are allocated. Do you confirm the allocation?]

—Yeah, yeah! Just get it done already!

[Congratulations! Your Luck has exceeded 30. All stats permanently increase by 6.]

[Constitution: 18 Endurance: 18]

[Strength: 17 Agility: 17]

[Willpower: 17 Charisma: 16]

[Luck: 30]

—Only 6 points? How stingy are you?

—Wait, That’s 36 points in total for all six stats. Pretty good deal.

[You have triggered a hidden section. Do you wish to unlock it?]

—Unlock it! Now!

[Apologies. You don’t have enough Luck points.]

—Then why did you ask?!

[Access ends. System hidden.]

[Beep—]

...

The next day, Gao Yang woke up early in the morning. He got scolded by his mother just as he had anticipated. “The entrance exam is coming,” she said. “But you stayed out late for two days in a row and never responded to our messages or calls. You’re making us worry more and more.”

Gao Yang lied that it was Wang Zikai’s birthday, and that he was dragged to the karaoke and sang until midnight.

That only made his mother angrier. “Wang Zikai? Wasn’t he expelled? Stop hanging out with that brat. He’s a bad influence.”

At the table, his father chuckled as he chewed on a youtiao[5]. He thought differently. “Little Kai? His dad’s got money. That’s a friend you should have, Son.”

His mother glared at his father. “Don’t listen to that nonsense. You are the company you keep!”

“Time has changed, my dear.”

“How so?”

“In today’s society, your connections come first, even before your competence,” his father argued. “Someone like Little Kai will be useful to our son in the future.”

“Do you hear what you’re saying?” His mother was mad.

“I don’t mean it that way, sweetheart. I just want our son to make more friends so that he’ll have more options in the future. I’m sure Yang Yang can make his own decision rather than letting his friend influence him.” His father seemed a bit aggrieved and gave Gao Yang a pointed look. “Wouldn’t you say so, Son?”

“Dad, mom, I’m done with breakfast.”

Gao Yang’s head was a mess. He didn’t know how he should treat his family—or ‘family’. After getting two mouthfuls of food, he picked up his backpack and left for school.

He knew that his family were very likely to be monsters, but for a moment, Gao Yang found his resolve wavering. His parents had raised him to adulthood. They had been with him every day and had taken care of him. They loved him so much. How could they be monsters? But Li Weiwei had been his childhood friend. The lovely girl had transformed into the devil in a second.

What were monsters?

What did they want?

What was the deal with this parallel universe?

Gao Yang didn’t have an answer. He didn’t have an answer for why he had transmigrated to this world and why he had acquired a useless system, either.

...

He went to school and spent a normal day.

For the whole day, he never once had a conversation with Qing Ling, nor had they exchanged a look. After their evening self-study, Gao Yang found his way to an alleyway without any surveillance camera near the school.

Soon, Qing Ling showed up. She took out two black hoodies, two caps, and two masks from her big backpack. “Put these on.”

“Right here?”

“Or what? Want me to build a changing room here?” Qing Ling was already taking off her uniform as she spoke. She was so quick that she took off her top in a matter of seconds like a snake shedding skin, revealing her fair neck and sensual collarbones. Gao Yang hurriedly turned his back to her and awkwardly took off his clothes.

Three minutes later, they had both changed into black hoodies and pulled on the hoods. They put on caps on top of that and covered their faces with masks.

Before they set out for their mission, Qing Ling took out the first note from her pocket and unfolded it.

1. A famous line from Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit, referring to the struggle of being subject to the scrutiny of others without escape. ?

2. A reference to the manga/anime One Punch Man. ?

3. In the original, Gao Yang said, ‘艹.’ And the system replied, “A kind of plant?” The character is pronounced ‘cao’, and it means ‘grass’. But it’s also almost the same as 操, which means ‘fuck’ in Mandarin, only in a different tone. ?

4. A reference to gamers’ behavior when playing gacha games. Many have their own rituals for pulls, such as doing it in the bathroom or getting certain food and drink as tributes. ?

5. Fried dough with a lot of layers of dough. Common breakfast food. ?