Chapter 6

There was no unexpected windfall, but it was also as expected. Director Zhang never really thought that Little Gu could know anything. The surveillance footage clearly showed that—

At the time, Old Ding was in the duty room, and Little Gu walked by outside. The two of them just exchanged a few words from a distance, greeted each other, and there was no contact at all. Moreover, after Little Gu left, Old Ding didn't show any signs of anything unusual; the so-called "bad luck" only happened an hour later.

To put it bluntly, it would be hard to even try to extort someone, especially with something like "bad luck."

So this middle-aged woman spoke vaguely, saying that the security in the area had been poor recently and that he should be careful. She used this to dodge the real reason for her questioning. Gu Mo, of course, knew it wasn't for this reason, but he didn't guess the specifics. He just thought that Old Ding had started spreading rumors about him again, using his talent for gossip.

This made him somewhat suspicious. Was it really just Old Ding's imagination that could leap so far, making him think of white arms at the sight of short sleeves, so that even a slightly strange behavior could immediately make him suspect something was wrong with him...

—Or was it that he really was so obvious, with so many flaws in his behavior that he already looked very suspicious to others?

However, it's never too late to mend. He had already decided to start acting like a normal person from now on, so no one would notice anything wrong.

After getting home, he first took a shower, then threw the washed clothes into the washing machine, tidied up everything, dried his hair, and then lay down on the bed. After all these actions, he picked up his phone and saw that there was still about half an hour left.

He let out a light sigh. Gu Mo wasn't sure if he should be happy about this, as it seemed he was gradually getting used to the current rhythm... Indeed, people are often pushed to their limits, aren't they?

But this was also an inevitable situation. Given his current circumstances, what other choice did he have besides adapting?

"Maybe I should consider moving."

Recalling how Director Zhang had stopped him for questioning, this thought irresistibly arose in his mind. Gu Mo started searching for rental listings in the area on his phone. Although it might seem a bit paranoid, he felt it was better to be safe.

This neighborhood was most densely populated by elderly people. Old Ding was just one of the more talkative ones, but he was certainly not the only one, nor the most influential. More frighteningly, these elderly people seemed to understand the key to "combining forces to enhance combat power," often gathering to spread rumors and create stories, amplifying the power of gossip exponentially...

He had been foolish to think that the conditions here were good and to move to this place.

So, he should move to another area where no one knows him... Hmm, it doesn't have to be too far. After all, in this day and age, people's social circles in the city are fragmented, and often not even all the residents in one neighborhood know each other.

Unlike in rural areas, where leaving one village means the next village, and the village after that, might have heard of you or be related to your distant relatives...

If he moved just two streets away, he estimated that the people in this neighborhood would never find him again and would eventually forget about him.

"Hmm, it would be best to move near that restaurant. If it's close enough, even if they don't have a delivery service, they should be able to set aside a reservation for me..."

Thinking about this, Gu Mo became even more determined to move.

Perhaps it was just his imagination and delusions, but last night, he wandered around the city, visiting various night food stalls, and found that the food was all hard to swallow.

"Hmm, what was the name of that street again?"

Lifting his head to think, Gu Mo realized he hadn't paid attention to this information and couldn't use it to search for nearby rental listings... He thought for a moment, then opened the food delivery app and entered "Xingping Restaurant" as the keyword.

After clicking search, a new page appeared in less than a second.

"Xingping Restaurant," "Xingping Catering," "Xingfu Restaurant"...

A series of similar search results were listed, with the nearest "Xingping Restaurant" being 8.7 kilometers away. He couldn't find the exact one.

Raising an eyebrow, Gu Mo wasn't surprised. He had already expected this. After all, the restaurant didn't have mobile payment options, so it made sense that it didn't have a delivery service and wasn't registered on the platform.

"Whatever, I'll go check it out tomorrow."

Looking at the time on his phone, he sighed, put the phone down, and adjusted his position, trying to get comfortable... He knew what would happen next. As the time approached, he would lose consciousness and everything would go black.

When he opened his eyes again, his perception and thinking would come back online, and it would be the next morning at midnight, feeling refreshed.

Heaven knows, he had never slept so well before!

But this was definitely not a good thing. Gu Mo didn't think it was acceptable, especially now that he had decided to save himself and believed he still had a chance to correct things.

He still knew that this was abnormal, which was his greatest advantage and proof that his condition was still mild. If he were like the mentally ill person he had seen, who had completely accepted a new identity and adapted to a distorted worldview, thinking that a fruit knife made him a martial arts supreme...

—That would be truly hopeless.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Counting down silently, Gu Mo tried to stay alert, opening his eyes wide and repeatedly telling himself— I'm energetic, it's still early, I'm normal, and I don't feel anything wrong with me... I can't sleep, I don't want to sleep...

Four, three, two, one, time's up.

With a sharp, electric-like ringing in his ears, everything went black, and his consciousness quickly faded. The connection to reality rapidly disappeared.

"Buzz... %￥#@&... buzz... $#%&@..."

"Scene: Xingping Restaurant... buzz... $#%&..."

"Difficulty: Easy."

"Current scene exploration... buzz... $#%&..."

"Buzz... mode: Peaceful."

"Triggered tasks: 0."

"Completed tasks... buzz... $#%&..."

"Overall evaluation: F- (lowest rating)."

Like an electric current through his nerves, the chaotic noise was meaningless, but amidst the fragmented information, some parts were clear or fuzzy, barely discernible. However, for the person who had been "forcibly logged out," these things didn't exist.

"Unlocked achievement... buzz... $#%&... obtained title 'Beginner (Bronze)', title badge effect activated by default..."

"Your... $#%&... life level has increased, now at level 1, gained 1 free attribute point, please choose carefully where to allocate the points..."

"%￥#@&... users under 18 years old will be subject to anti-addiction... buzz... online time has reached 8 hours, will be forcibly logged out... please complete... buzz... %￥#@&... real-name verification..."

Amidst the sharp, static-like noise, like an old TV with a malfunction, the strange sounds continued. After the last fragmented information was broadcast, everything stopped, and the young man on the bed breathed deeply and quietly, as if in a deep sleep.

...

...

It was unknown how much time had passed.

The familiar sensation of an electric current through his nerves was the first to return, followed by the full recovery of his senses.

It wasn't the gradual process of waking up from sleep, where the body's functions slowly recover, and consciousness gradually clears. Instead, it was a sudden and abrupt—

Well, how to describe it? One second he was sound asleep, and the next, he was fully awake, all drowsiness gone, feeling completely refreshed and energetic. This feeling was indeed strange and hard to describe.

"At least I don't have the problem of oversleeping anymore..." Sitting up in bed, Gu Mo blinked and saw the digital clock on the bedside table in the dim room. The time told him that he had woken up precisely at midnight, just like the previous night.

He shook his head, got out of bed, and put on his shoes. In the past, he would stay in bed because he was still sleepy and wanted to sleep more, even activating his "Stand: Waste Time" ability...

But now, every time he woke up, he was so energetic that he had no desire to sleep more, so there was no need or desire to stay in bed.

This was probably the only benefit Gu Mo had found from his strange condition...

It seemed that his efforts yesterday had failed, and his mental preparation hadn't worked. He still fell asleep as soon as the time came. Thinking about this, he went to the bedside table, picked up the digital clock, and saw that he had woken up precisely to the second, just like the previous night.

Although a normal biological clock can be controlled with regular exercise and a regular schedule, and it's said that jockeys have a biological clock accurate to a tenth of a second... Gu Mo didn't think he had that ability under normal circumstances.

How could his biological clock be so precise in his current state?

—Well, the world of the mentally ill is indeed hard to understand.

He put down the clock, turned to the computer desk, and picked up the clothes he had prepared the night before, as he would need them the next day.

Entering the bathroom, Gu Mo quickly brushed his teeth, washed his face, and took a shower.

Coming out, with wet hair, he didn't even look at the hairdryer, but instead grabbed his keys, phone, and wallet, and rushed downstairs.

He didn't know how long the restaurant would be open. Last night, it was already quite late, and he wasn't sure if he could make it today... This gave him a sense of urgency. If possible, he would have gone without even washing up.

"Little Gu, going out so late?"

At the entrance of the neighborhood, the middle-aged man in the duty room heard the noise, looked out nervously, and relaxed when he saw it was Gu Mo.

"Yes, I recently found a night shift job..." Despite his anxiety, Gu Mo stopped to explain patiently to maintain his normal persona. He then looked at the middle-aged man curiously, "But Uncle Zhang, why are you on duty tonight? Isn't it Old Ding's turn this week?"

"Old Ding... he has some things going on these days, so I'm helping him out," the middle-aged man's expression became a bit strange, and he answered with a forced smile and a stiff tone.

"Got it, take care of yourself, the wind is strong at night, don't catch a cold..."

Gu Mo nodded, having just asked out of politeness, and waved as he quickly walked out.

Watching the young man's figure disappear, the middle-aged man looked around nervously, sat back down, and seemed a bit paranoid. He didn't believe Old Ding's ramblings, but he couldn't deny that it made him feel uneasy.

...

...

Two minutes later.

"How can this be? I remember it was right here..."

Gu Mo walked back and forth several times on the street near the end of the food alley, ignoring the enthusiastic calls from the shop owners and servers. He looked around carefully.

It couldn't be! How could this be?

In his memory, the alley leading to the other commercial street was right here. But now, all he saw was a dead end filled with various debris and a rusted, locked iron gate that looked old.

Did he remember wrong? He looked back with a complex expression and then walked over to the other side.

Reaching the other side of the street, he looked around and his eyes lit up.

The dim alley...

The light at the end of the alley...

It was really a mistake. It wasn't on that side but this side. He felt relieved and then walked in decisively, frowning at the sharp buzzing and static. He finally passed through the dim and flickering alley and reached the other side.