The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 82

On the second floor of a dilapidated building, old newspapers and book pages were plastered tightly over the windows, blocking out the dim red moonlight.

The cramped room was pitch-black, save for the occasional flicker of a weak flashlight beam in the corner, accompanied by the faint rustling of someone searching through items and the muffled sound of sobbing.

About a dozen people were hiding inside. Some were residents of Dongyu Street who had been trapped when the anomalous event first broke out, while others had sneaked back later to retrieve valuables from their homes.

There had been many more at first—forty or fifty—but after over a month, only these few remained.

After everything they’d been through, they now understood what they were up against. Especially those who had been evacuated by the Special Countermeasures Department (SCD) only to return—regret gnawed at them like a physical pain.

Fear had shattered the sanity of many. None had ever imagined they would witness monsters straight out of horror movies in real life.

The reason these people had gathered here—and hadn’t succumbed to panic—was because they still clung to hope.

And that hope came from an elite SCD agent.

Near the window stood a lean, short-haired woman in the SCD’s signature black camouflage uniform. Pressed against the wall, she lifted a corner of the newspaper with two fingers, scanning the street outside.

The two soldiers sent to scavenge for food had been gone for nearly ten hours. With no communication possible inside the anomalous space, they were likely already dead.

The woman’s name was Fang Mingyue, an elite agent from the capital.

As a member of the central headquarters, her skills were formidable.

When HQ decided to dispatch elite agents to Dongyu Village to deal with this Tier-4 anomaly, Fang Mingyue had volunteered, accompanying Elder He to Chongqing.

After meeting with the Southwest Division’s agents, she’d been disgusted by their sluggishness—endless discussions but no action. So she, Elder He, and another capital agent had led a team into the anomalous space.

But once inside, Fang Mingyue lost contact not only with Elder He but with her entire squad.

Terror. Oppression. A dim, yellow underground labyrinth. No matter how hard she tried to find an exit, she always wound up back where she started.

The deeper she went, the worse it became.

Fang Mingyue wasn’t new to anomalous spaces, but she’d never encountered one so bizarre—where every path looped back on itself.

She marked the walls, trying to track her progress. One day. Four. Ten. Even rationing her supplies carefully, she eventually ran out.

After two days without food or water, her mind began to fray. In a final, desperate act, she tried to blow up the entire parking lot—and somehow, she escaped.

Or so she thought.

When she clawed her way out of the rubble, she found herself in a desolate, abandoned district. According to Chongqing Division’s intel, Dongyu Village wasn’t as developed as the city center, but it was far from the decades-old ruins now surrounding her.

The streets were empty, populated only by wandering anomalies. Fang Mingyue had been trapped here for months.

A post-apocalyptic hellscape. Scarce resources. Monstrous creatures. For an agent on her first high-tier mission, the ordeal was unbearable.

The suffering wasn’t just physical—it was mental.

Time and again, she wanted to give up. But thoughts of her family, her comrades, and the civilians trapped alongside her kept her going.

She didn’t know how long it had been—days? Months? Just as she was on the verge of breaking, she encountered a Chongqing Division soldier.

To her shock, while he had entered the anomalous space only a month ago (by the division’s timeline), he claimed to have been inside for three months.

Fang Mingyue realized the space wasn’t just spatially distorted—time was warped as well. What felt like months inside might only be weeks, or even days, outside.

As they searched for survivors, they found more—both civilians and soldiers—confirming her theory.

Escaping would require identifying the space’s rules and weaknesses. But with time and space in chaos, there were no rules.

As for weaknesses…

Fang Mingyue had yet to encounter the space’s “master.” Or rather, she dared not seek it out.

Because the sheer number of low-tier anomalies here was enough to make her blood run cold.

A few? Dozens?

No.

One night, she had witnessed hundreds of them prowling the streets, hunting for living prey. The sight—like a parade of demons—haunted her nightmares.

This horde dwarfed the total anomalies the SCD had ever faced, save for one other Tier-4 event.

After that night, Fang Mingyue abandoned hope of survival. Her only goal now was to protect these civilians until she found Elder He or other elite agents.

If they were still alive.

“Mine! I found it! It’s mine!”

A sudden argument erupted. A sharp slap rang out, followed by a woman’s scream.

“You bastard! I saw it first! It’s mine!” A middle-aged woman and a gaunt man wrestled over a can of food.

Fang Mingyue’s expression darkened. “Have you lost your minds? Do you want to draw those things here? If you’re so eager to die, get out! Don’t drag the rest of us down!”

The woman clutched the can, glaring. “He tried to steal it! I haven’t eaten in two days! No one’s taking this!”

The man snarled, “Li Shufang, you ungrateful shrew! I shared my food with you last week! Now you’d hoard this?”

“We’re all going to die anyway! Why shouldn’t I keep it?”

“Enough!” Fang Mingyue snapped. “It’s just a can! Fight over it, and you’ll become food for those monsters! The soldiers are out scavenging—you won’t starve!”

The woman muttered, “It’s been too long. They’re probably dead—or eating without us.”

Fang Mingyue was about to retort when a faint rustling came from the stairwell.

Gurgle.

Gurgle.

The sound of something swallowing.

“Anomalies!” Fang Mingyue recognized it instantly—the noise those Hounds and other creatures made.

The argument had drawn them.

“Monsters! They’re here!”

“Are we going to die?”

“I don’t want to die!”

“Save us! Agent Fang, please!”

“Quiet!” Fang Mingyue hissed, pressing against the wall near the stairs, listening.

The gurgling grew closer. She aimed her flashlight carefully, trying to count them.

One or two, she could handle. More than that…

Gurgle.

Gurgle.

Her heart pounded. They were on this floor now.

This was the third time they’d been found hiding. Evading anomalies with such sharp hearing was nearly impossible.

But with a dozen civilians in tow, where else could they go?

And yet, these people still fought over scraps. Calling them dead weight was an understatement—if they tried fleeing outside, they’d be wiped out in a day.

A moment later, her flashlight beam landed on a crimson figure.

Fang Mingyue’s pupils contracted.

What is that?

A creature, half-melted like a candle, draped in what looked like a blood-soaked cloth. Dark mist—anomalous energy—swirled around it, and the stench of decay rolled off its body.

“This thing… is at least Tier-2.”

Just its aura alone made the space around her warp, as if two anomalous domains were colliding.

A Tier-2 anomaly. How could she fight that alone?

Her heart sank. Even as a seasoned agent, facing this abomination felt like staring into a nightmare.

Fight?

Run?

She bit her lip hard, the pain sharpening her mind. She needed a plan—fast.

Escape? With her gear and training, she could probably slip away.

But if she fled, these civilians would die.

Raised in a military family, Fang Mingyue had been taught never to abandon those she was sworn to protect.

So—fight it was.

The anomaly didn’t give her time to strategize. Though slow, its massive bulk blocked the entire stairwell.

Even five meters away, Fang Mingyue didn’t dare act recklessly. She couldn’t kill a Tier-2 in one strike. Her only option was to buy time—to let the civilians escape. Even if only a few made it out.

Gurgle.

Gurgle.

The sound pressed down like a physical weight.

Then—

“AHHH!”

A woman screamed, her mind finally snapping under fear and hunger. She bolted for the balcony and jumped through the window.

“Idiot! Come ba—”

Before Fang Mingyue could finish, the anomaly roared, drawn by the noise, and charged into the room.

Chaos erupted. Some survivors screamed in corners; others scrambled blindly. A few followed the woman’s lead and leaped from the window.

Fang Mingyue had planned to trap the creature in the stairwell, giving the others a chance to run. Now, with everyone in panic, her only concern was survival.

GURGLE!

The anomaly let out a wet, guttural cry. Its “blood cloak” suddenly stretched like a net, snaring a fleeing civilian.

In the next instant, the victim was yanked forward—and the creature’s molten-black maw tore off his head.

Horrifyingly, the cloak itself seemed alive, devouring the body.

“Two fused anomalies?!”

Not a Tier-2, but two Tier-1s merged together. Fang Mingyue didn’t know if that was better or worse, but she had to act.

She whipped out a metal rod, twisted it, and with a click, it expanded into a large, net-like “fly swatter.”

With a grunt, she slammed it down on the creature. The net morphed into a cage, trapping it.

“I’ll hold it! Run! NOW!”

A few survivors bolted for the stairs, but others were frozen, weeping.

“MOVE, OR YOU DIE HERE!”

The screams, sobs, and Fang Mingyue’s shouts agitated the sound-sensitive anomaly. It thrashed violently, shaking the metal frame.

The remaining civilians finally snapped out of it, scrambling for the exit.

But as they reached the stairs, the creature’s blood cloak oozed through the bars—morphing into a gaping maw that chomped down on the nearest person.

SPLAT.

Half the man’s body vanished. Entrails and blood splattered the floor. The survivors behind him collapsed in terror.

“GO! RUN!”

Fang Mingyue strained against the metal rod. The Blood-Cloak Hound’s strength was monstrous—like restraining a raging bull.

With a metallic SCREECH, the cage began to buckle. As the creature forced its way out, Fang Mingyue gritted her teeth, retracted the rod, and charged at it.

A dark brown pauldron on her right arm suddenly inflated like an airbag.

The Hound lunged, biting down—

BANG!

The pauldron exploded in a blast of compressed air. The force would’ve sent a normal person flying, but the Hound barely staggered back a step.

Fang Mingyue reinflated the pauldron, bracing for another strike.

Sigh.

This is it.

She knew she couldn’t stop it. After all her efforts… nothing had changed.

Her heart plunged into darkness, like the abyss around her, dragging her down.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the end.

Then—

“Hey. If you wanna live, deactivate your gear and get back.”

A man’s voice.

Fang Mingyue’s eyes snapped open.

A blade flashed.

THUNK.

The Hound’s head hit the floor.

In the fallen flashlight’s beam, a pair of yellow protective boots came into view.

That light—like warm spring sunshine—wrapped around her, pulling her from the abyss.

Its name was—

Hope.