["What's going on? What's that noise?"]
[Aina exclaimed as she ran back inside, her clothes still not properly worn, barely wrapped in a thin bath towel, with her big tail dragging behind her, dripping water droplets.]
[Your Happiness Level +10]
[Your Lust Value +3]
[Note: Traveler, no lewd thoughts allowed!]
["Aina, put your clothes on right now! What kind of display is this in front of others!"]
[Wei'er, so agitated that her cat ears and tail were sticking up, didn't bother with the wooden bed you'd collapsed, and dragged Aina out of the room with one hand.]
[Having damaged someone else's property, you, the Traveler, didn't dare to move a muscle, and could only sit amidst the broken wood planks, feeling the differences in your own body.]
[You raised your hand to touch your head.]
[As you suspected, a pair of small horns had grown on top of your head, very hard in texture, somewhat like teeth or bones, and immovable even if you tried to twist them.]
[Traveler, you sensed a peaceful energy in the air around you.]
[Even though you couldn't see the energy filling the space around you, you could fully feel it providing you with strength; you were now much stronger than before.]
[You swung a gentle punch towards the table, and the wind from your fist instantly extinguished the burning candle.]
[A minute later, the cat-eared girl returned to the room, gasping for air, and shut the door tightly behind her to prevent her unruly sister from coming back in.]
["Eh, how did the candle go out?"]
[Wei'er relit the candle, then turned to look at you sitting on the broken bed planks, and said with a speechless expression, "How much longer are you going to sit? The floor is very dirty, it hasn't been swept for years."]
[You stood up from the ground and asked, "How much for the bed?"]
["Forget it, this old bed isn't worth much, it has not been used for a long time anyway." Wei'er shook her head, "You must have noticed the changes in yourself. I didn't expect the Mutant Factor infecting you to be of the Dragon Species Category. I'm not sure whether to call it good luck or bad luck."]
[You touched the small horns on your head curiously and asked, "What do you mean by that?"]
[Wei'er squinted at the horns on your head, and explained, "The Origin Beasts of the Dragon Species Category are among the strongest and rarest at their Tier, and their Mutant Factors are filled with 'destructiveness' and 'offensiveness,' and they are also highly unstable, making them the class of factors most likely to cause Mutant Patients to lose control."]
["Of course, it's also for this reason that Mutant Patients of the Dragon Species Category, once they transcend, tend to experience the most dramatic increase in strength compared to others. Right now, you are only in the early stages of being corrupted by the Mutant Factor, but you must feel the sudden surge in your own strength. In a pure test of strength, even I might not be your match now."]
[Traveler, hearing Wei'er's description, you felt that the risk associated with this increase in strength was acceptable, at least for the moment you hadn't turned into a monster, and you still had time to find a solution to your problem.]
[The cat-eared girl added, "But don't get too happy too quickly. I've hardly seen any Mutant Patients of the Dragon Species Category peacefully close their eyes and leave this world. As I've said before, for people like us, sublimation is akin to mutation; the more we use this power of calamity, the deeper we fall into the abyss of destruction, and sooner or later we become monsters devoid of humanity."]
["Besides, your body and bones are valuable commodities to the criminals; they can't slay the Dragon Species itself but killing a Variant with the Dragon Species factor is easy, and they can sell you for a decent amount of money."]
[Your Happiness Level -10]
Luo Xi read the text with a sinking heart.
Just how dark is the world background of this text game?
Can there be more trust and beauty of kindness between people?
But it seems he could resurrect, right?
What if he sold his body from before resurrection? What would happen then?
Luo Xi fell into contemplation.
Maybe he could exploit a bug?
Crack crack crack—
Suddenly, he heard the sound of steel shattering.
Luo Xi shifted his gaze from the smartphone screen and discovered to his surprise that he had unconsciously crushed the balcony's steel railing, as thick as a calf, with his fingers.
The strength he had gained in the game was fully manifested in him in reality, and he had also noticed that his vision had improved significantly.
Luo Xi controlled the strength of his fingers and lightly tapped the screen, continuing to read the text.
"You look up at the girl and gently ask, 'After becoming a Variant, is there no chance of returning to a normal person?'"
Luo Xi abruptly held his breath.
This was exactly what he wanted to ask.
Wei'er gave you a despairing answer, "There is no chance. All we can do is try to delay the uncontrollable progression of Mutation Syndrome. Some lucky people may live their whole lives in a daze; I've heard that some Variants can embark on the legitimate path of Sublimation, but that is definitely irrelevant to us."
"After a long silence, you ask, 'Why does this world hold so much malice against the "Variants"?'"
"Wei'er laughed at herself mockingly and pointed at the cat ears on her head, saying, 'Why else, it's because we have Mutation Syndrome, and that's the biggest reason.'"
"You asked me yesterday where my parents went, right?"
"Origin Beasts of calamity level and above release something called 'Mutant Factor,' and pregnant women who inhale it may cause their fetus to undergo Mutation, like me and Aina, born Mutant Patients."
"According to my mother, my father wanted to kill me by throwing me to the ground right after I was born. It was my mother who fought desperately to snatch me back, took me from home, and came to this remote place to live in concealment, raising me alone, running around to earn money. Three years ago, she perished with a convoy in the wilderness, and even her body was never found."
The cat-eared girl seemed to be venting her emotions, and the overly heavy topic made the atmosphere in the room suddenly sink to its lowest.
Wei'er stopped talking and just sat quietly on the stool, gazing at you with her beautiful red eyes, bearing a look of reminiscence, as if lost in distant memories.
...
...
The crimson horns.
The woman who sent little Aina to Grey Stone Street in the year of the snow, she too was a Mutant Patient of the Red Dragon Species factor, wasn't she?
Wei'er had seen with her own eyes, beneath that woman's clothes, a body nearly completely covered by red scales; the agony and numbness on the woman's face merging together, fully portraying that being alive was worse than being dead.
This world has never been kind to those who have suffered hardships.
It only pushes people step by step into the abyss of utter despair.
That woman had begged every resident of Grey Stone Street, knocking on door after door, hoping they would take care of Aina, but no one wanted to raise an unknown burden.
One more person meant more mouth to feed, and why use that food to raise someone else's child instead of having one more of your own?
In the end, it was Wei'er's mother who agreed to the woman's request.
The woman kneeled on the ground, expressing her immense gratitude, and took out all her belongings. After handing little Aina to Wei'er's mother, she was engulfed by a fire originating from within herself.
Wei'er still remembers the smile on that woman's face amid the flames, a smile that must have carried both relief and regret.