The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 10

Shen Ge recalled Xiao He mentioning earlier that the foul smell was strongest beneath the sink in the restroom. But he didn’t rush in to check. Instead, he closed the door and headed for the stairwell.

Once there, he paused briefly, then decided to go upstairs first.

Arriving at the 20th-floor restroom, he knocked on the women’s restroom door and called out, “Is anyone in there?”

After two unanswered calls, he pushed the door open but didn’t step inside. Instead, he crouched at the entrance, scanning the room—yet found nothing.

Still no alert from the system.

Frowning, Shen Ge was about to leave when he caught a faint whiff of something rotten—similar to the decay Xiao He had described.

After a moment’s thought, he dashed up to the next floor.

At the next restroom, the stench grew slightly stronger.

Shen Ge’s reasoning was simple: Xiao He had said the odor was strongest beneath the sink’s pipes. If the smell was fading downward, it likely meant the source of the rot had been “washed” further down the plumbing.

Logically, searching downward would lead to the decaying matter. But since Cheng Shengnan could still smell it, the “source” above hadn’t disappeared either.

And now, even he could detect the rot as he moved upward—meaning the supernatural presence was becoming more pronounced, with its origin likely on a higher floor.

Shen Ge followed the trail all the way to the 33rd floor. The moment he stepped out of the elevator, his dormant system suddenly sprang to life.

[Warning! Tier-5 Supernatural Entity (Trait: Immobility) detected ahead. Host is advised to evacuate immediately. Do not recklessly endanger your life!]

“A Tier-5 entity!”

Finally, Shen Ge understood why the system hadn’t warned him earlier. Tier-6, -7, and -8 entities were too powerful, capable of creating supernatural domains. The system deemed them an immediate threat upon entry, triggering frequent alerts.

But entities below Tier-6 had no such domains and didn’t alter their surroundings. The system would only warn him if he saw them or got too close.

The 33rd-floor restroom was likely where this “Immobility” entity resided.

*”The system ‘sees’ entities as they’ll be four years from now. So this current ‘Tier-5’ probably isn’t actually Tier-5 yet.”*

From past alerts, Shen Ge deduced that this “Tier-5” was likely only Tier-1 or -2 at most.

But even at Tier-1, Shen Ge was practically defenseless—his only ability being the “Silent” trait, which erased all sound he made.

“Hah.”

His heartbeat quickened, and hesitation crept in.

Then his gaze landed on the fire extinguisher in the elevator lobby. After a brief pause, he grabbed it, activated “Trait: Silent,” and approached the restroom.

“‘Silent’ eliminates all sound I make. ‘Unbreakable’ ensures I don’t get damaged. So what does ‘Immobility’ mean—that the entity can’t move?”

Shen Ge tried to deduce the trait’s effect. Understanding it would make dealing with the entity much easier.

For example, with “Silent,” if the stray cat had fully manifested as a supernatural entity, the trait would render it completely noiseless. But if spotted beforehand, the trait’s impact would be minimal.

“Whether ‘Immobility’ means the entity can’t move or that I can’t move without being affected, staying in motion is probably safer.”

Of course, there was also the possibility that not moving would protect him from the entity’s influence.

Traits could vary, and Shen Ge’s theory was based solely on his experience with “Silent.”

Reaching the restroom, he twisted the extinguisher’s safety pin free, tucked it under his right arm, and poised his finger over the trigger. With his left hand, he slowly pushed the door open.

[Warning! Host is about to enter a zone inhabited by a Tier-5 Supernatural Entity (Trait: Immobility). Extreme danger detected. At host’s current rating, survival is impossible. Evacuate immediately!]

“Hah.”

Shen Ge’s heart pounded so hard he could feel it in his throat. He slapped his cheeks lightly, forcing himself to stay focused, and pushed the door open.

The moment it swung open, a wave of rot assaulted his senses.

In his nervousness, Shen Ge instinctively squeezed the extinguisher’s trigger the second the door opened, unleashing a cloud of white powder into the restroom.

Thanks to “Silent,” even the extinguisher’s discharge made no sound.

But the restroom was empty—he’d sprayed nothing.

“Nothing here?” Shen Ge scanned the room, including beneath the sink, but found no trace of the entity. Yet the system had clearly warned him he’d entered its territory.

Wait—

The system had said the entity “frequented” this area, not that it was its “lair.”

Shen Ge’s eyes locked onto the pipes beneath the sink. A realization struck him. He grabbed the extinguisher and bolted for the stairwell, heading straight for the rooftop.

[Warning! Warning! Warning! Host is approaching the lair of a Tier-5 Supernatural Entity (Trait: Immobility). Host’s current attributes are no match. Retreat at once to avoid certain death!]

Though the system couldn’t yet scan areas to pinpoint supernatural entities, its alarm function had successfully led Shen Ge to the entity’s nest.

Stepping onto the rooftop, Shen Ge remained vigilant. The system had awakened four years early—meaning most entities were still in their infancy. He did have a fighting chance.

Stopping this entity now, before it matured, was the only way to prevent its growth. Left unchecked, it could become a genuine Tier-5 threat.

Besides, unless he quit his job tomorrow, he’d have to keep working in a building haunted by this thing. And with two people already missing—both last seen with him—disappearing right after would make him the prime suspect.

Not to mention, these were people he knew. Running away wasn’t something his conscience would allow.

No matter how he looked at it, eliminating the entity before it grew stronger was the best option.

Shen Ge’s gaze swept the rooftop before settling on the five-meter-tall water tank. He remembered chatting with a building security guard who’d mentioned the office had its own filtration system. Rainwater was collected in rooftop tanks, purified, then distributed to sinks and toilets throughout the building.

“If the problem lies in the pipes beneath the sinks, the source must be the water tank.”

Climbing the tank with the extinguisher, Shen Ge noted that “Silent” only lasted about five minutes—half of which had already passed. He had to hurry.

The higher he climbed, the stronger the stench grew.

When he finally peered into the tank, he nearly vomited.

About two-thirds full, the water was fouled by a massive, tangled black mass of hair—like a ball of yarn, at least two meters in diameter.

Embedded within it were hundreds of rotting rats, some reduced to skeletons.

“Ugh.”

The stench made him gag. Just as he raised the extinguisher to spray the hairball, movement caught his eye—a rat crawling out from the filtration unit in the corner.

The rat tried scaling the pipes to escape but stepped on a strand of hair. Instantly, the hair twitched—then coiled around it like a living thing.

The rat squeaked frantically, only for more hair to lash out, ensnaring it completely before—twisting.

In the next second, the rat vanished before Shen Ge’s eyes. Its squeaks cut off abruptly.

Then, droplets of blood dripped from the hair into the water below—and where they fell, new strands of hair sprouted and grew.