The situation was changing at an accelerating pace. Only the clear-sighted few who stood high enough could see it more directly.
For cities, when one was within them—wrapped in reinforced concrete and packed among huge populations—the changes might not have seemed obvious. But out in the wilderness, especially in the relatively vast uninhabited zones, as time gradually passed, many differences had already begun to reveal themselves.
Anyone who saw nature flourishing lushly in the wild despite the severe cold, even beneath frost and snow, would have noticed entire swathes of plants covering one another. Within those slightly warmer "inner layers," tender seedlings and fresh sprouts had begun poking out throughout winter, defying all common sense—
That was the greatest abnormality!
Who could help being afraid?
When even these unconscious plants had begun to faintly break free of the "instincts" shaped by hundreds of millions of years of evolution, who could say for certain what they would face next?
Those so-called "users" might have been troublesome, but their numbers were ultimately limited, and they were still somewhat constrained by social norms. Most of their influence had also remained concentrated on that special platform—but now, these seemingly inconspicuous yet earthshaking changes were truly happening around everyone!
No one could avoid them!
Infrastructure and roads had begun to "age" for no apparent reason. Roots and stems had forced their way out from concrete walls—
Roads were being obscured by weeds. Migratory bird populations had accelerated their movements. Wild beasts had begun appearing abnormally during winter—
There were even the baffled reactions of many people after receiving work notices from their superiors—"Strengthen urban traffic monitoring and pipeline inspections? Ensure the safety of water, electricity, and gas supplies—this workload won't be small—"
By comparison, the occasional unexplained disappearances of people here and there no longer