Chapter 112 – Aberrant 2

In an apartment building exactly a hundred meters away in a straight line from the Tian-shaped building, the five-member team gathered in a clean room with its windows half-open.

The team captain, Teacher Wen, immediately activated his shield, creating a three-cubic-meter safe zone.

It was one of his skills—Safe House—which could last three hours as long as they weren’t attacked by high-level aberrants, with a cooldown of one hour.

Only after entering the captain’s Safe House did the others finally relax—until, moments later, the other three noticed a child appearing behind Big Bear.

“Shit! There’s an aberrant inside the Safe House!” Nurse nearly jumped up, grabbing a palm-sized IV bottle from his medkit.

“Wait! Calm down! She’s not an aberrant—put your damn thing away!”

Big Bear pulled the child out from behind him and explained, “She’s a little player I found while clearing the area. I tested her with my blade.”

Only then did Nurse grumble and put his weapon back into the medkit.

White Eagle, stroking her rifle, frowned. “How could such a small child be a player? Are you absolutely sure she’s not an aberrant?”

Big Bear looked to Teacher Wen.

Teacher Wen studied the tiny child, then said thoughtfully, “According to the intel, there’s never been an aberrant in child form in the Aberrant domain. Last time I was here, I scouted this place myself—she should be a real player.”

“So what if she is? We’re not here to babysit,” Nurse sneered, arms crossed.

Black Cat also stood with arms crossed, tucked into a corner, and said coldly, “If you think she’s a burden and shouldn’t be our concern, why don’t you just toss her out?”

Nurse’s face darkened, and he pulled his coat over his head, pretending to sleep without another word.

If it had been an adult, even a teenager, the team could’ve turned a blind eye without hesitation.

This was, after all, a brutal survival game—and they were here on a mission. But this child was only three years old, likely not even aware of what the System or a task was. Leaving her in a domain full of aberrants would be more cruel than simply killing her.

No one spoke for a while, until Teacher Wen, as captain, made the call: “Let her stay for now. We’ll reassess later.”

Perhaps sensing the strangers’ attitude, Qian didn’t dare cry for her father again. She sat on a small stool Big Bear had set up for her, head nodding with sleep.

As night fell, the Tian-shaped building lit up all at once. Like any apartment complex at night, some windows were bright, some dark, glowing like lanterns attracting moths in the dark.

Teacher Wen stood at the window. His glasses, a System tool, let him clearly observe part of the Tian-shaped building.

It hadn’t been long since nightfall when blood-curdling screams and desperate cries for help suddenly rang out from that direction.

Those were players encountering aberrants in the building—likely casual players just trying to get by.

There were two ways to enter an aberrant domain. One was being chosen by the System and forcibly pulled in, where the player must complete the assigned mission.

In S-rank danger zones like the Aberrant domain, the mission was usually simple survival: check in at the Tian-shaped building, then survive seven days.

Sometimes, the unlucky would trigger a special mission from the System—like obtaining a strand of Aberrant’s hair or entering Room 501 of the Tian-shaped building.

Completing those missions earned massive Survival Points and reward items. Failure, more often than not, meant death.

The second way in was like Teacher Wen’s team—using a special item called a “ticket” to form a squad and enter voluntarily. The System wouldn’t assign them a mission.

“The Pyramids are here too,” Teacher Wen suddenly said, still observing the building.

He’d seen a masked figure flash by in the building’s hallway.

“Trash like the Pyramids again, always here to stir up shit.” It was that same sarcastic tone from Nurse, who rolled his eyes and yanked up his jacket collar.

The Pyramid was a notorious player organization known for treating life as a game and doing all kinds of depraved things in aberrant domains just for fun.

It was full of members with a death wish, mostly younger players. According to the Association’s data, 65% of them were teenagers in their rebellious phase.

And teenagers with powers? Nothing they did could be considered surprising.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve talking—they almost recruited you back in the day, Little Nurse.”

“Can we not bring up my dark past?”

“Come on, don’t tease our little angel. What if you get hurt and he refuses to heal you, then what?”

“How many times do I have to tell you—stop calling me ‘little angel’!” Nurse snapped, flustered.

The youngest member of the team, who had nearly gone down the wrong path and had to be dragged back by his mentor tugging his ear, had lost a bet and ended up stuck with the codename “Nurse.” From then on, his nicknames only multiplied, driving him up the wall.

After a bit of casual teasing to lighten the mood, Teacher Wen gave out orders: “Big Bear, go check the player headcount outside the Tian-shaped building.”

The first night in the Tian-shaped building was the safest.

That’s because on the first night, the domain’s boss—Aberrant—was still asleep and wouldn’t appear unless something triggered it.

So most players would choose to check in on the first night and then retreat to the domain’s periphery to lie low for a few days. It was the optimal survival strategy for casual players.

Big Bear took his blade and headed out. Sniper White Eagle followed, setting up on the building’s rooftop to provide support at any time.

In this deadly domain, Aberrant wasn’t the only threat. Even high-level players had to stay vigilant.

With two people gone, the Safe House fell into deeper silence.

Qian, dozing in her little chair, noticed that the uncle who’d picked her up was no longer nearby. She rubbed her eyes and pouted.

Her gaze swept over Teacher Wen by the window, Black Cat in the corner, and the half-reclining Nurse.

Nurse was also secretly glancing at her. The moment their eyes met, he immediately looked away.

But Qian, staring at his short red hair and scowling face, charged straight at him without hesitation.

“What are you doing—stay away! Don’t come near me!”

Nurse grabbed his medical kit and flipped upright like a startled fish, dodging her. Qian reached out with both hands in a hugging gesture and chased after him.

After being chased around the room by the child, Nurse shouted toward the corner, “Black Cat, aren’t you a girl? You know how to deal with kids, right? Hurry up and carry her off!”

Black Cat stayed silent, her figure completely blended into the shadows.

He looked toward Teacher Wen. The man was focused on the T-shaped building outside the window, turning the dial on his glasses, looking deadly serious—clearly not to be disturbed.

After another round of being chased by Qian, Teacher Wen finally coughed and said, “Nurse, you take care of the child for now. Let Big Bear handle her when he gets back.”

With Teacher Wen’s order, even though Nurse was reluctant, he still let the child cling to his leg.

With Qian wrapped around one of his legs like a limp weight, Nurse hobbled to the sofa like a man with partial paralysis.

“I’m warning you—no crying! If you cry, I’ll toss you out and let the ghosts eat you!”

Qian looked at his annoyed expression and his red hair and called out, “Daddy.”

Nurse: “Who’s your daddy?! Don’t call me that!”

Qian stared at him, let out a burp, and looked like she was about to cry any second. “I’m so hungry… I wanna… wuwu… drink yogurt.”

Nurse: “Where the hell am I gonna find you yogurt right now?! No crying, I mean it!”

Sensing his bluff, the child edged closer and grabbed hold of the strap on his medical kit.

A minute later, Nurse opened his medical kit and pulled out a stamina-recovery potion, uncapped it, and gave it to her. It was one of his items, normally used to heal teammates.

But Qian wasn’t satisfied. After taking a sip, she said, “This isn’t yogurt.”

Nurse looked like it physically hurt him: “Be glad you’ve got anything to drink! Do I look like someone who’s got milk to give you?!”

From the shadows, Black Cat let out a quiet snort of laughter, nearly sending Nurse into a fit of rage.

Qian sucked on the slightly sweet liquid. It didn’t taste good and didn’t fill her up either.

Just as the safe house’s duration was about to end, Big Bear and White Eagle returned to regroup. Big Bear was covered in a layer of black ash—the remains of slain ghost creatures.

He dusted himself off as he stepped in, muttering, “Damn ghosts are everywhere, packed tight outside the building.”

While White Eagle updated Teacher Wen on the player count, Big Bear looked toward the little chair where the kid had been and froze. “Where’s the kid?!”

“…Here.” Nurse grunted unhappily.

He opened his jacket, revealing the child curled up in his lap, fast asleep, hugging a half-empty stamina potion.

“You take her back,” Nurse said impatiently.

With the kid asleep on his lap, he didn’t dare move. He felt like his legs were going numb.

Big Bear chuckled, “I’m covered in ghost ash. Too dirty. Just let her sleep on you.”

“Big Bear, take a break first. The safe house is about to expire. For the next hour, we’ll move toward Point B. Once my safe house is off cooldown, we’ll return to monitor the T-shaped building,” said Teacher Wen.

Without the safe house, they couldn’t stay so close to the T-shaped building. The ghosts swarming around it, drawn by human presence, would encircle them quickly.

As soon as the safe house expired, all five members moved in perfect unison, sprinting to Observation Point B, five hundred meters from the T-shaped building.

Qian remained in Nurse’s arms, strapped to him with his jacket.

“Nurse, can you carry her? I can take her,” Big Bear asked as he ran alongside.

“Think I can’t handle it?” Nurse growled, stabbing a fine needle into a charging ghost. The transparent liquid instantly reduced it to black ash.

“Alright then, I’ll take point!” Big Bear slashed ahead, clearing a path for the team.

Farther from the building, the number of ghost creatures dropped sharply, and stronger ones became rare. The five managed to handle things well for an hour. Once Teacher Wen’s safe house refreshed, they returned to a different observation point near the T-shaped building.

Inside the newly formed safe house, the five sat down to catch their breath.

Nurse opened his jacket slightly and peeked inside. The child’s soft cheek was nestled against his chest, eyes closed in peaceful sleep.

“Figures. Didn’t even wake up through all that.”

“Better that way. If she wakes up and starts crying again, it’ll be a pain.”

Nurse instinctively reached out to pinch her cheek, but immediately pulled back his hand, afraid he’d really wake her.

Once rested, White Eagle and Black Cat went out again, patrolling near the T-shaped building to keep watch.

They needed to know how many had entered the domain this time, whether there were other high-level players, and ensure nothing would interfere with their plans.

Before their scheduled rotation, Teacher Wen suddenly received a signal from Black Cat.

Something had changed.

“Pyramid members are planting explosive devices inside the T-shaped building. Just the two of us found over a hundred,” White Eagle reported the moment she returned.

“Holy shit,” Nurse blurted, while Big Bear scratched his head and winced. “Are they out of their minds?”

Even Teacher Wen adjusted his glasses, clearly surprised that the Pyramid group had come up with such a suicidal tactic.

There had been deranged players in the past who tried blowing up the T-shaped building in the Aberrant domain, but it was impossible. As long as Aberrant lived, the building would never fall.

All they’d do was wake the boss Aberrant early and turn this mission into a nightmare.

Teacher Wen didn’t hesitate: “Full mobilization. Stop the Pyramid members. Kill them if necessary.”

Nurse looked down, hesitating—at the child sleeping soundly in his arms.

Leaving her in the safe house would’ve been best, but this time, even Teacher Wen had to move out—the safe house couldn’t be maintained.

“Just bring her. This place is dangerous no matter where you go. Keeping her with us might be her only shot at surviving,” Black Cat said quietly, walking beside him in the shadows.

“Wooooooohhh—” A young man dashed wildly through the first-floor hallway of the Tian character building, letting out excited howls.

His companion was across the hall, kicking open a locked door with a bang, whistling as he walked in and casually strapped explosives to random spots inside the room.

Compared to the regular players who were forcibly pulled into this domain and moved cautiously, these Pyramid members—with black tattoos on their arms and black masks over their faces—looked like a gang of arrogant robbers.

“They’re a group of five too. Two on the first floor, two on the second, one went up to the third. I’ll take three with White Eagle and Black Cat. Nurse and Big Bear take the first floor. Report every five minutes,” Teacher Wen said quickly as he ran into the Tian character building.

Ironically, inside the building was quieter than outside. There weren’t countless weak ghosts to kill—only mid-level ones hiding in every corner.

Nurse and Big Bear split up to sweep the first floor, heading toward the loudest noises they could hear.

“Crazy bastard, yelling that loud—you in a hurry to die?” Nurse cursed under his breath.

The hallway ahead was lined with old tiles and flanked by a drainage ditch, where a shredded corpse lay scattered. As his gaze landed on it, one of the severed hands suddenly lifted and waved at him.

Looking away, Nurse noticed another window nearby full of staring eyes.

He ignored the distractions and kept chasing after the loud, cocky voice of the Pyramid member ahead.

But the distance between them kept changing. Every time a corpse appeared underfoot, the mad laughter would get closer. When the bodies vanished, the laughter would suddenly stretch away again.

Swearing under his breath, Nurse pulled a thumb-sized vial from his medical kit and hurled it at the pile of corpses.

They burst into flames, and the hallway ahead twisted and burned with them.

Shielding his face and the child in his arms, Nurse ran through the flaming corridor. When he looked back, it was just a normal hallway again—no fire, only black ash raining down from the ceiling.

He finally found the noisiest room and spotted a Pyramid member’s corpse at a glance. The man was hanging from the ceiling fan by the neck, spinning with the fan’s creaks, and still letting out that maniacal laugh from his mouth.

Nurse’s breath caught. He stepped back and contacted the leader.

“Teacher Wen, this one’s dead. I’ll start dismantling the explosives now.”

Teacher Wen’s voice came through the earpiece at the same time: “Change of plans—fall back… zzzt…”

A deafening blast drowned out everything else on the comms.

The entire Tian character building trembled like an earthquake.

“Shit! Those morons really blew it up!”

No time to think—Nurse turned and ran.

But with that tremor and noise, the once-dead-silent Tian character building truly came to life.

It stretched taller. What had just been the first floor was suddenly the seventh, several new floors forming beneath him out of nowhere. Looking down the hallway, it was pitch black below—densely packed with ghost creatures in the stairwells.

Sensing human presence, they looked up. Some crawled toward the stairwell, others scaled the pillars. All around him, ghostly heads popped up from the ground like mushrooms after rain, jaws greedily snapping.

The child woke up from the commotion, peeking her head out from Nurse’s chest.

“Zzz… Aberrant has awakened. Original second floor is now the eighth. Regroup there,” came Teacher Wen’s grave voice through the comms.

“Copy,” Nurse replied, pressing the child’s head back against his chest as he made his way up.

He fought off wave after wave of ghosts, barely able to catch a breath, finally reaching the stairwell to the next floor.

There, hanging from above, was a massive bougainvillea vine. Its branches spread across the floor.

The red flowers were like little clamps. As soon as he stepped on the branches, they viciously stabbed through his shoes.

He’d only read about this thing in reports—never dealt with it in person. Now he was fumbling to react.

Swearing, he suddenly felt his arms empty. For a split second, he thought he’d dropped the child.

A teasing voice called down from above. “Yo, number two! Heard you went and became someone’s nanny. Didn’t think you’d go so far as to nurse a kid too, hahahahaha!”

Nurse looked up. A masked teenager was hanging upside-down from the ceiling, limbs suctioned to the wall like a gecko. He was holding the child in his hands.

“If you joined the Pyramid like me, you wouldn’t be this useless. Didn’t even notice me snatch the kid outta your arms,” the blond boy said, whistling. “Big bro’s taking her out to play.”

“Motherfucker!” Nurse bolted after him, flicking his wrist—ten syringes shot out in a straight line, piercing the ceiling. The last one stabbed straight into the blond boy’s leg.

Grimacing in pain, the boy turned to flip him off with a middle finger, then yanked the child along and disappeared around the corner.