Kisaragi's Long-Strange Collection Notes

Things in the world are strange.

Like the strange thing in this mist.

They appear immediately when you don't want to encounter them; but when you want to find them, you can't.

In the final five minutes before [No Tomorrow], Chen Meimei, empowered by Hengyue's abilities, ventured into the wilderness, a place inaccessible to the other trainees.

But now, in the fog, after walking for an hour, Chen Meimei hasn't seen a single strange hair.

Qinghua and Bobo returned to their original forms, walking on either side of him.

"Is this a legitimate fog? Why isn't it shipping anything?"

Qinghua thought it was quite normal: "We oddities also have a sense of territory; there are usually not many oddities in one area."

Bobo also thought it was normal: "Normally the strange creatures are in the wild. During this [No Tomorrow] period, many of them are taken to the city by the fog, so there are fewer of them in the wild."

"You two stop making sarcastic remarks and get to work. Find one of the weirdos first."

Chen Meimei was an exceptionally steady person. Although he seemed impatient to find the strange thing, he actually walked and spoke very softly, for fear of being targeted by something inexplicable.

There's no moon right now, and his three cheat codes aren't online. He definitely won't get cocky just because he has two weird teammates and a huge bag of gear.

Even if they encounter something strange, he should be the one to discover it first, rather than letting the other side initiate the fight.

Moving through the fog is not a pleasant experience.

Visibility was very low; with Chen Meimei's eyesight, she could only see a range of about 20 meters.

The dispersing mist could move, occasionally accompanied by strange noises from unknown sources.

Qinghua and Bobo are very used to this environment; it's like they've come home.

In fact, what they can see is not much farther than what Chen Meimei can see.

But the mindsets of the weirdos are different.

If two weirdos were to suddenly meet in the fog, they would simply kill each other. Since they are all weirdos, none of them are afraid of the other.

If you can win, then fight; if you can't, then die. If neither of you can do anything about the other, then ignore each other, go your separate ways, and pass each other by.

"Qinghua, if you kill another monster, what are the benefits, like becoming stronger?"

"Most of the time, no. Strange deaths are just the dissipation of the physical form. The [mysterious] core will condense into materials. Occasionally, I happen to get materials that are useful to me, and that's when I can say I've gained something."

"Is the material you're talking about useful to humans?"

"Yes, the seven major races' [mysterious] skills require corresponding materials for each breakthrough to a higher rank."

"Hmm? That's not right. Last night I went to the [Southern Lord's Society] and saw them clearly. I didn't see any materials with strange powers."

According to Chen Meimei's understanding, it's obviously abnormal for such a large association to have no inventory.

The blue-and-white porcelain expert explained: "This material has a very high time sensitivity. It generally needs to be used on-site. If the interval exceeds half an hour, its power will begin to dissipate rapidly, and it will be completely lost in about an hour, turning into a pool of mist."

"Turn into mist?" Chen Meimei felt that there was a big story hidden in this final form.

"Chen Meimei, Qinghua, something strange is up ahead." Bobo spotted the target.

Chen Meimei was surprised and began to look at Bobo with new respect.

He always felt that compared to Qinghua, Bobo was a bit weaker, and was the family's lucky charm. He never expected that this time it would be Bobo who spotted the target first.

Does it also have the ability to locate enemies at extremely long distances?

"Do you know what kind of weird stuff?"

Strategically, we can despise the enemy, but tactically, we must take them seriously. Each monster is a blind box, with vastly different strengths and weaknesses. Chen Meimei will deal with them with all her might and will not relax in the slightest.

"I know, it's the performance evaluation slime, a really annoying guy." Bobo actually had specific information.

"Slime? You know it?"

"I don't want to know it. I can smell its scent from far away. Humph."

"Dear Bobo, tell me the details about this jerk."

"That guy is a slime that can change its size and color. He likes to assign tasks to people and evaluates them based on the KPIs they achieve."

If it fails to complete the task, it will expand and turn a warning color, enveloping the person's head and gradually suffocating them to death; if it exceeds the target, it will spit out a small gem as a reward.

"That sounds relatively normal for something weird, at least there are rewards and punishments. What do you hate about it?"

"Hmph, I asked it to issue the task of 'having to eat pineapple roasted chicken every day,' and that slime head actually refused! It's outrageous!"

"Oh, that's really annoying."

Chen Meimei thought about it and decided that he didn't really need this strange ability, so he bypassed it slightly and continued forward.

Midway through, the performance evaluation slime spotted Chen Meimei's group from afar. Its tiny slime blinked twice, jumped around a bit, but surprisingly didn't come looking for them.

Perhaps it doesn't really like Bobo constantly pestering it with boring tasks.

"Why do I have this feeling that you strange people all know each other?"

"In the mist, the law of the jungle prevails, and 'friendships' are forged through battles. Being neighbors at least means you won't be instantly killed by the other. Over time, most of the strange creatures that have survived near Sixiang City have already met each other."

But globally, we probably know less than one ten-thousandth of other bizarre phenomena.

We walked for another half hour.

A small body of water appears ahead.

Chen Meimei asked cautiously, "There must be something in the water, right?"

"Huh? How did you know? That's amazing."

"Hmph, I've watched Animal World. Water is a highly contested area in nature. In the past, deer drinking water would often be ambushed by large crocodiles lying in ambush in the water."

Bobo released a roasted chicken and threw it into the water.

It was only two seconds after the roast chicken fell into the water.

The once calm water surface suddenly churned into countless waves, as if a pot had exploded inside.

The roast chicken was instantly torn to pieces and devoured by some blurry shadows on the bottom of the water.

"What the hell, a piranha?"

Qinghua threw a few pieces of porcelain into the water.

There was no movement in the water; the porcelain shards sank to the bottom without causing any disturbance.

Qinghua reached her porcelain hand into the water and pulled out a soft, muddy mess.

"It's a brain in a vat."

Chen Meimei cast a curious glance at her.

"In this body of water, there are countless brains, which together form a whole."

Chen Meimei's scalp tingled: "So, you mean there are a lot of brains in this water? What are they, or rather, what are they trying to do?"

"Brains collectively construct and immerse themselves in a virtual world that they perceive as 'real.' Creatures that enter or drink this water are assimilated into it, or rather, become part of it."

"So every brain in this water is a victim?"

"Most of the time, they don't see themselves as victims; they are quite happy."

"That was scary, but thankfully it's okay as long as you don't go into the water."

"No, they actually attacked you a long time ago, but your [flower hat jellyfish hat] helped you block the illusion attack."

"What would happen if my precious hat didn't cover it up?"

"Then you must have already been lured into the water and joined the perfect world created by brains."

Chen Meimei: ......

"Quickly, let's get out of here. I'm getting goosebumps." Chen Meimei clutched her hat tightly, afraid it might fall off if she didn't wear it properly.

And so, Chen Meimei gave up on the second strange creature he encountered.