Notebook and Anomalies

"Tsk, that stings." Xiao Xiao touched the wound on his face, baring his teeth. It wasn't fake.

Xiao Xiao's mind was in a daze, his gaze vacant. The large reading room was silent.

Distant voices faintly reached him, startling Xiao Xiao awake, giving him a sense of returning to reality.

He shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his thoughts, unwilling to dwell on it any longer.

Xiao Xiao took a few steps forward and crouched down, intending to pick up the books that had fallen on the floor. He reached out halfway, then stopped. His fingers were still stained with the blood from the injury on his face.

Xiao Xiao frowned. He had nothing to wipe his hands with. He switched to his left hand and picked up the books from the floor one by one.

"Hmm?" Xiao Xiao looked at a book he had just casually picked up... a notebook? How could there be a notebook here? Someone must have dropped it.

Xiao Xiao examined it. Yes, it was just an ordinary black notebook, still covered in a bit of dust.

Maybe someone accidentally stuffed it in with the books.

Xiao Xiao guessed. He was about to put it on the bookshelf like the other books, but he felt uneasy. It was just a common, ordinary notebook, yet he inexplicably cared about it.

Xiao Xiao's fingers subconsciously rubbed the book in his hand. He suddenly felt a bit ridiculous. If he cared, why not just open it and see? Yet, for some reason, his heart felt restless.

Xiao Xiao placed the book on the bookshelf, swallowed, and awkwardly opened the notebook with his left hand.

Huh? It was blank?

He flipped through it. The entire thing was like this—a new, unused notebook.

Xiao Xiao was a little stunned, then found it amusing, laughing at his own earlier nervousness. He had thought there might be something unusual.

Mainly, his recent experiences had made him a bit jumpy, seeing threats everywhere.

Heh, it's not a novel. As Xiao Xiao was about to close the notebook, his eyes suddenly caught a hint of color. He quickly flipped to that page. In his haste, his finger was cut by the sharp edge of the paper, and blood seeped out. Before Xiao Xiao could react, it had already dripped onto the slightly yellowed paper.

"Ouch~" Xiao Xiao couldn't help but exclaim. In his flustered state, the blood from his right hand also smudged onto the paper. Xiao Xiao looked at both his hands and gave up trying to salvage it.

But as he accepted the reality and looked at the notebook helplessly, he was shocked. The paper, which exuded an old aura, was, as usual... blank. There wasn't a trace of blood.

What was going on?

The blood had clearly gotten on the paper.

Xiao Xiao wondered if he was seeing things. He widened his eyes and scrutinized the notebook from top to bottom, examining it carefully.

Huh? Xiao Xiao rubbed his eyes. Was he really seeing things?

He could see faint patterns on the paper.

Xiao Xiao leaned closer.

There really were patterns.

The lines on the yellowed paper gradually became clearer, with a vermilion hue seeping out. This wasn't...

Xiao Xiao's eyes widened slightly. His pupils reflected a "grotesquely shaped" fish.

It resembled a carp, but with six legs and a bird's tail.

Unlike the aged paper, the vibrant cinnabar seemed to possess a life of its own, slowly flowing on the paper.

Xiao Xiao seemed to hear the sound of "plop" from water. A vivid splash of color came to life. He inadvertently met its gaze, which held a strange smile, tinged with a bit of cunning and innocent malice.

Suddenly snapping back to reality, the only sound in the quiet room was his rapid breathing.

What was going on? Xiao Xiao felt a chill run down his spine.

Was this a monster?

Was the one from before also a monster?

Unlike ordinary appearances, its overly human-like expressions and actions, along with its elusive movements, all exuded a sense of strangeness and eeriness.

Xiao Xiao turned a page. The yellowed, blank paper gradually revealed a shadow under Xiao Xiao's intense gaze.

The pattern became clearer. It was that monster from before!

It resembled a rat, but with a rabbit's head and a deer's body.

A pair of crimson vertical pupils were cold and arrogant. Its tensed limbs seemed ready to leap at any moment, delivering a fatal blow to its opponent.

He seemed to be able to hear the low, threatening growl from its throat.

Despite its small body, it could let out such a deep, violent roar.

Xiao Xiao still remembered the dizziness he had felt.

It wasn't until the stinging pain on his cheek brought him back to his senses.

At this point, he could no longer fool himself with excuses like "seeing things."

Something had truly happened to him.

He had a premonition that his life might not be as smooth and peaceful as he had initially imagined.

Xiao Xiao felt a sense of confusion and fear. His head throbbed painfully, but deep within his heart, in a hidden corner, something else was brewing, stirring. Was it anticipation or excitement?

He flipped through the entire notebook, but there were only these two patterns.

He flipped back to those two pages again, discovering ancient, unfamiliar script next to the illustrations. Though he was seeing the writing for the first time, he inexplicably understood it. He couldn't help but softly read aloud: "Qiuqiu fish... Ear Mouse?"

Were these... the names of monsters?

He pondered for a long time, forming some ideas. The contents of this notebook should be centered around him. He had only ever seen these two types of monsters, so the notebook only presented these two types.

But what was this about? Was it asking him to hunt monsters and demons?

Ugh, he was just a mortal.

He wanted a cheat system.

However, these monsters didn't seem as hideous as described in those storybooks. Was he just lucky to have encountered relatively... Xiao Xiao touched his chin. Uh, friendly monsters?

They were probably friendly, right? Xiao Xiao thought uncertainly, recalling the Qiuqiu fish's strange laughter and the Ear Mouse's violent growls and gleaming fangs just now. Well, at least they hadn't harmed him, had they?

"Student, why did you scatter all your books on the floor?" The librarian, who had appeared at some unknown time, frowned and looked at Xiao Xiao with a look of condemnation.

Uh, Xiao Xiao was startled and suddenly snapped back to reality. A moment of heart palpitations. Phew, he almost had a myocardial infarction!

He glanced at the books scattered all over the floor, then at the librarian whose anger was subtly showing. Xiao Xiao touched his rapidly pounding heart and could only offer a sheepish smile: "I'm sorry, teacher, I didn't do it on purpose. I'll pick them up right away."

"Student, books should be cherished. This is a library, not your personal..." Seeing Xiao Xiao's good attitude, the librarian's expression softened, but he still stood to the side, watching Xiao Xiao clean up, his mouth not stopping.

Xiao Xiao really wanted to tear that Ear Mouse into pieces. It was its fault, but he was the one suffering the consequences!

Xiao Xiao nimbly picked up all the books one by one, arranged them back in place, and after repeatedly assuring he wouldn't do it again, he was finally free.

Doing this actually calmed his originally chaotic thoughts a bit. Xiao Xiao had always been a person who went with the flow. Since things had already happened, he wouldn't dwell on them. Moreover, as far as he could tell, he could only see monsters and hadn't been harmed.

Well, he hadn't been too harmed. He reached up to touch the scar on his face, but his steps suddenly stopped. A strange expression appeared on his face, and he quickly walked to the nearest window. He stopped only when the tip of his nose was almost touching the cold glass.

Xiao Xiao's heart was pounding furiously. The window was very clean, clearly reflecting his face, which was too close.

He reached out and touched the injured spot, wiping away the remaining bloodstains. It was here, where he had been cut earlier. But in the reflection, where was the scar? The sensation under his fingers was also smooth and even. The wound from the sharp wind seemed like a hallucination.

Xiao Xiao couldn't help but tug at his cheek, wincing in pain.

Heh, after being able to see monsters, his body was also undergoing changes?

Was he on his way to becoming Superman?