Birthday party

"Infatuation, greed, wrath, delusion, life, death-all are emptiness. Life is short, one great dream." Baili Yi spoke lightly, yet his voice carried a desolate rhythm.

Gaoyang silently committed the words to memory.

"That about does it." Baili Yi stood and stretched. "Time to clock out. See you."

"See you."

Gaoyang watched Baili Yi walk away. Nothing about the man suggested a doctor; he seemed more like a poet. In any case, Gaoyang had learned plenty of useful information. He could now be fairly certain that Beasts fell into six major categories: Infatuation Beasts, Greed Beasts, Wrath Beasts, Delusion Beasts, Life Beasts, and Death Beasts.

Officer Huang had said that Wrath Beasts had three types: Slayers, Devourers, and Horn Callers.

Li Weiwei had most likely been a Devourer. She hadn't rushed to kill him. The way she had tortured him, and the things she had said... it had seemed more like she wanted to "eat" him.

Aunt He had clearly been a Slayer: she had attacked on sight without a word, and she had been extremely bloodthirsty.

As for Horn Callers, Gaoyang hadn't encountered one yet. If possible, he hoped he never would.

Infatuation Beasts, also known as Lost Ones, seemed to have three types as well.

Old Man Liu, who sold malatang, belonged to the most harmless, gentle type. They probably made up the bulk of this world's population, too. This kind of Beast seemed relatively easy to identify.

The second type consisted of Lost Ones who were indistinguishable from the real thing. Awakened couldn't tell them apart through experience and observation alone; they needed special Talents, such as Baili Yi's [Red Eyes] or that earlier "mental patient's" [Olfaction]. Officer Huang's wife and Gaoyang's own family probably belonged to this category. Of course, he couldn't rule out the possibility that they were humans who hadn't awakened. As long as he didn't "test" them, they would remain "Schrödinger's cats," with a chance of being either human or Beast.

The third type of Lost One was Wang Zikai. He was too much of an oddball to analyze or classify.

Then there was "Uncle Zhang," whom they had encountered a few hours earlier. By rights, he should have been the first type of Lost One, yet he had gone berserk without warning, and his transformed appearance had been downright bizarre. That "White Cat" might have had something to do with it.

Was White Cat a Beast too? Could she be an Infatuation Beast, Delusion Beast, Life Beast, or Death Beast?

Assuming every category had three types, there were at least eighteen kinds of Beasts in this world!

Gaoyang sucked in a sharp breath. Once awakened, there was no going back. He had to join an organization quickly, find someone to back him up, and learn more of the rules. Otherwise, he would always be a "player with his eyes shut," helpless prey whenever night fell. How long he survived would depend entirely on luck.

At noon, his mother and sister came to the hospital to relieve him.

Gaoyang went home to shower and rest. After only four hours of sleep, he felt refreshed. His physical condition had indeed improved significantly since he became an Awakened, probably because of his increased stats.

Gaoyang did a rough calculation: surviving one day earned him twenty-four Fortune points. If he lived for a month, that would be 720 points. Putting all of them into a single stat would make quite a difference.

But Gaoyang had already committed to raising his Fortune multiplier. He disliked quitting halfway, and he hated wasting what he had already invested. So he decided that from now on, half his Fortune points would go toward learning new Talents, and the other half would keep raising his Fortune stat. He would allocate any leftovers as needed.

That evening, Gaoyang ate dinner and went out. Although his mother had requested leave for him, he still decided to attend evening self-study at school so he could compare notes with Qingling. Qingling was extremely cautious and never communicated by phone, since it left traces. Whenever something came up, she preferred to discuss it face-to-face.

The first evening study period had just ended, and Gaoyang was about to find Qingling when Wan Sisi hurried over. "Gaoyang, I heard your dad... was hospitalized."

"Yeah. He was in a car accident," Gaoyang replied.

"Oh my God. Is he okay?" She looked genuinely worried.

"He's out of immediate danger, but things... aren't looking good." Gaoyang felt dejected. "The doctor said he might have to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life."

"He won't. Your dad will recover, I'm sure." Wan Sisi comforted him. "My uncle was in a car accident two years ago. The doctor said he'd definitely be paralyzed from the neck down, but he wasn't. A year later, he could even get out of bed and walk... he still uses crutches now, but he can get around just fine."

"Thank you," Gaoyang said gratefully. Then another thought struck him. Perhaps Wan Sisi's uncle had recovered because he was a Beast. Did that mean his own father would probably recover too, if he was a Beast?

His heart jolted, and the thought sent a shudder through him. How could I wish my dad was a Beast...?

His mind was a tangled mess. When he looked up, he saw that Wan Sisi hadn't left. She was watching him, hesitating to speak.

"Was there something else?" Gaoyang asked.

"Oh, actually..." Wan Sisi's cheeks grew warm. "I was going to ask if you were free this weekend in the afternoon. It's my birthday, but never mind. Take good care of your dad."

"Okay..."

"Gaoyang's going." Qingling appeared without warning, startling him.

Wan Sisi looked at Qingling in surprise, unsure what to say.

"I'm going too," Qingling added. "Am I welcome?"

"O-of course you are!" Wan Sisi smiled, but inwardly she felt a little awkward. She hadn't planned to invite Qingling-not because she disliked her, but because she knew Qingling had an "aversion to men." She had invited boys to her birthday party as well, and she worried things might get too tense.

Gaoyang quickly shot Qingling a meaningful look. She pretended not to notice.

"Then, two thirty this weekend, at Le Baodi. See you there." Having said that, Wan Sisi practically fled.

Qingling sat down beside Gaoyang. "I heard about your dad."

"Why are we going to the birthday party?" Gaoyang asked instead of answering.

Qingling lowered her voice. "You've been getting close to Xiao Si lately, and she's been approaching you more than before. I need to watch her carefully and see if she suspects you."

"You're overthinking it..."

"Was I overthinking things with Li Weiwei too?"

Gaoyang had no answer.

For the next two days, Gaoyang relieved his mother and sister every evening, then went home in the morning to shower and sleep. He woke in the afternoon, got ready, and went to evening self-study, where he checked in with Qingling and asked Wan Sisi a few English questions and the like.

His father spent forty-eight hours in intensive care before being moved to a closely monitored ward. On the morning of the third day, he woke once, but couldn't speak. He could only blink, and soon fell asleep again.

Even that was enough to lift the gloom hanging over the family. For the first time, his mother's tightly knitted brows relaxed. She even felt up to wearing makeup again. His sister's long-absent smile returned, along with her time-honored knack for making fun of Gaoyang.

On Sunday morning, Gaoyang returned home, showered, and woke after only a brief nap.

He opened the system. His Fortune points had reached eighty-five.

He spent sixty Fortune points on an attempt to learn a new Talent. The attempt failed, almost as expected. He kept the remaining twenty-five points for now.

Gaoyang did another calculation. If it took three attempts to successfully learn a Talent, obtaining his third Talent would cost a total of 180 Fortune points. After a successful attempt, the cost of the next would double again, reaching 120 points per attempt. Three attempts would then require 360 points.

Following that pattern, the more Talents he wanted, the closer his demand for Fortune points would come to being endless. If he simply collected them passively, who knew how long it would take? This dangerous world probably wouldn't give him that chance.

Fortune favored the bold. If only there were battles that were dangerous but wouldn't cost him his life. Then half an hour of fighting each day would equal several extra days of passive gains. Once he joined an organization, he would have to look into it carefully. Perhaps he could find a bug that let him farm unlimited "experience."

At two that afternoon, Gaoyang tidied himself up and headed to Le Baodi. Traffic was a little congested, so he arrived last. A receptionist quickly led him to the private room Wan Sisi had booked.

He was about to open the door when he heard a boy wailing at the top of his lungs. "I should have played along with your act, but I pretended not to see, forcing the one who loves you most to improvise..."

You're forcing everyone listening to put on an act, aren't you? Gaoyang thought. You sound this awful, and we still have to applaud afterward. How miserable.

Gaoyang walked in. Sure enough, it was "Young Master Xuan." He sat on a tall stool beside the song-selection machine, microphone in hand, singing with deep feeling and complete absorption.

Young Master Xuan's full name was Niu Xuan. He wasn't quite a rich heir, but he certainly qualified as a small-time moneybags. His father owned more than twenty chain supermarkets in Licheng. Niu Xuan spent generously, loved the limelight, and always had a crowd around him. He was reasonably good-looking too, making him one of the prominent figures in their class.

Compared with a brainless "hellraiser" like Wang Zikai, Niu Xuan was much slicker. He acted one way around his parents, another around his teachers, and yet another around his classmates.

Hanging out with him could make you feel superior. But if you offended him, things generally wouldn't end well. His overt and subtle ways of shutting you out could make life particularly unpleasant. Gaoyang didn't interact much with Niu Xuan. He belonged to the category of people Niu Xuan mostly ignored but didn't bother targeting.

The moment Gaoyang entered the karaoke room, Niu Xuan stopped singing. With excessive enthusiasm, he shouted into the microphone, "Well, if it isn't Gaoyang! You finally made it. Everyone's been waiting!"

For no apparent reason, Gaoyang's bladder tightened.

This feeling... wasn't good.