The man's frenzied shouting in the apartment complex quickly drew a crowd. When Chu Yian opened her window, she saw people gathered at windows across from hers, all watching.
In the end, the man was taken away by the police and a psychiatric team.
Later that afternoon, when Chu Yian went downstairs to throw out the trash, she overheard some of the older residents chatting.
"That young man who had a breakdown earlier? Lives right above me,"
an old man said, shaking his head.
"He couldn't buy any food for the past few days, the stress got to him. Had a total mental collapse."
"That's just… sad,"
a woman in a floral shirt sighed.
"Such a good kid—how does someone end up like that?"
"And I'll be honest,"
another old lady in a black coat said, patting her chest.
"What he was shouting about today… it was terrifying.
Crops rotting, seeds going bad, animals starving—what's left for humans to eat?"
"Young people nowadays talk nonsense,"
she huffed.
"If it were really like that, the whole world would fall apart."
Well… the world was falling apart.
Some people had already been quietly moved into the Safe Zones.
Chu Yian didn't think the man was crazy. She suspected the super mold really had reached catastrophic levels.
How much longer could the authorities keep up the illusion of control?
If the truth got out, what kind of mass panic would follow?
"Ugh, the trash in the complex stinks!"
"What's wrong with management? It hasn't been collected in two days!"
The wealthy housewives of the upscale neighborhood wrinkled their noses as they dumped their garbage, grumbling about the incompetent property managers.
Chu Yian noticed something strange: the security booth at the gate was empty.
Residents returning home were complaining that even though they were spending more money, they were buying less and less each day.
On the streets, few cars remained, and piles of garbage lined the roads.
Garbage trucks, street sweepers, buses, taxis—everything that used to keep the city running was disappearing.
Was this a sign the government wouldn't be able to cover things up much longer?
Chu Yian tossed out her trash and hurried back upstairs.
She had only one goal now:
Crack the code behind the badge's emblem and get to the Safe Zone as fast as possible.
She was completely immersed in decoding the symbol—so much so that she barely noticed that the news channel had stopped broadcasting and was now playing reruns of soap operas.
While analyzing the emblem again for the hundredth time, she finally noticed something new.
The mountain-shaped pattern on the badge wasn't a mountain at all—
It was a flower.
Chu Yian had found this by accident after countless trace attempts and a random image search on her phone.
It was the first time she had ever seen a green flower shaped like a mountain. It looked… unnatural.
The flower was called Mianspring, and it was the official city flower of M City.
Suddenly, her printed national map came in handy.
She quickly located M City—it was in the northwest corner of the map, and wasn't far from her own city, X City.
But the problem?
M City was massive.
It was ten times the size of X City—larger than some entire provinces.
Chu Yian's jaw dropped.
So much for her original plan to wander around M City hoping to stumble upon a clue.
She'd have to dig even deeper into the badge's design.
She spent the entire day laser-focused on this task, completely missing the fact that the TV news had been replaced with hours of old dramas.
Day Seven of the Game
Chu Yian got up early.
Today was her treasure chest reward day, and she didn't hesitate to open her blind box first.
[Ergonomic Gaming Chair]
Note: Will be reclaimed after the game ends.
Item Thoughts: "Not as ergonomic as it claims. Sit too long and you'll still get scoliosis or herniated discs."
Uh… pretty useless.
Still, her first reward had been cash, and her second—a utility knife—had saved her life.
So even though this one was useless, Chu Yian held no resentment.
"You have to be patient with the Treasure Chest."
Then she looked at the box again and added seriously:
"Of course, if you gave me a pistol with unlimited ammo, I'd worship you like a god."
After all, only people who've been mugged know the true value of a weapon.
With a gun, she could practically walk around the city with impunity.
"I'd settle for a halberd like in those wuxia dramas too,"
she muttered casually, clearly hinting—no, pleading—with the chest.
After her little ritual, she got out of bed, washed her hands obsessively like she was preparing for surgery, then took the last of her rice from the fridge to make porridge.
Her food consumption followed a plan:
She started with perishables like meat and rice, saving strategic items like instant noodles, compressed biscuits, and chocolate, which provided high energy without needing prep, for emergencies and travel.
After breakfast, she exercised for nearly an hour.
Just as she sat down again to resume her badge investigation, she heard someone shout from across the building—
"Holy sh*t!"
And then… more shouting.
People were yelling from their apartments.
Chu Yian, not being a property owner, wasn't part of the community group chats, so she had no idea what was happening.
But she soon found out—her phone was flooded with push notifications.
[GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLY DEPLETED!! Total remaining food can only support the global population for THREE DAYS!]
[Seed vault in Molsta—completely emptied!]
[Tragedy: Minister of Agriculture in [Redacted Country] commits suicide by firearm]
[Super mold spreading uncontrollably—projected to cover the planet in one year]
[Nation of [Redacted] declares complete governmental collapse]
One after another, the alerts rolled in.
It was as if the tower of human civilization had crumbled in an instant.
Even though she had mentally prepared, Chu Yian still felt the impact deep in her chest.
A tiny mold—just a microscopic organism—was enough to bring humanity to its knees.
Outside, the masses could no longer contain their panic.
They rushed out of the residential areas and took to the streets.
They had a clear destination in mind—
City Hall.
Some of the younger ones still thought this was some elaborate prank or ARG.
They joked and laughed, whistling and shouting, thinking it was all a game.
Chu Yian stood at her window, watching the growing crowd surge toward City Hall.
She understood what they were hoping for:
They wanted someone in authority to tell them the news was fake.
To say it was all just a mistake or a hoax.
Some even checked the calendar, hoping today was April Fools'.
But when they got there, the truth would crush that hope.
City Hall's grand entrance was sealed shut.
It was Friday, 10 a.m.—supposed to be business hours.
But the building was empty.
Panic began to ripple through the crowd.
People shouted, demanding answers.
"You told us the mold was just due to moisture!"
"You said food deliveries were coming soon!"
"Come out!"
"Somebody give us an explanation!"