Chapter 51: Extraordinary World

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Extraordinary World

’Contact with extraordinary things?’

’Gaining Extraordinary Power from it?’

’Has my system been discovered?’

Gu Qing’s heart tightened.

But he quickly dismissed the idea, his mind racing.

’No.’

’I’m not coming into contact with extraordinary things.’

’I’m coming into contact with people.’

’And all of them are ordinary people.’

’So...’

’What this man in black is talking about—contacting extraordinary things to gain Extraordinary Power—must be different from my tag system.’

"Come on, let’s add each other on WeChat."

The man in black took out his phone, opened his WeChat QR code, and casually held it in front of Gu Qing.

Gu Qing didn’t overthink it, simply pulling out his phone to scan the code and add him.

Once they were friends, he briefly glanced at the man’s WeChat profile.

Nickname: Lin Tianyang

Profile Picture: Crayon Shin-chan mooning

Friends Circle: Posts from the last three days are visible

His WeChat name was his real name, which had an old-man vibe.

But his profile picture was rather bizarre, suggesting he was some kind of internet jokester.

The elements were too contradictory.

Gu Qing couldn’t get a read on the man’s personality.

Just then, the man in black spoke.

"Let me introduce myself. My WeChat name is my real name."

"As for age, I should be about ten years older than you."

"From now on, just call me Brother Yang."

After Lin Tianyang finished speaking, he habitually flicked his slanted bangs, revealing the right eye that had been covered by them.

He was born in the ’90s, and his middle school years were right in the middle of the "non-mainstream" era.

He’d had this classic, eye-covering hairstyle since his first year of middle school and had never changed it in eighteen years.

He just liked this feeling of having one eye covered by his hair.

He thought it looked cool and gave him an edge.

"Brother Yang, I’m Gu Qing. I sent you my name on WeChat. I’m a junior in college."

Gu Qing gave a simple introduction as well.

Lin Tianyang saved the contact info for Gu Qing.

He then put his phone away, looked at Gu Qing, and asked, "How much do you know about the other side of this world?"

’The other side of the world?’

’Is he referring to the Extraordinary World?’

Gu Qing shook his head. "You could say I’m completely in the dark."

’Completely in the dark?’

Lin Tianyang was a little surprised by Gu Qing’s answer.

But he didn’t dwell on it and patiently began to explain.

"This world has all kinds of hidden monsters."

"They are born with Extraordinary Power, and most of them are hostile to humanity."

"Killing, devouring, enslaving, and corrupting humans... they stop at nothing."

"Among them, the greatest threat to humanity are the monsters skilled at corrupting people."

"They have the ability to grant humans Extraordinary Power."

"Lured by them, many people seeking Extraordinary Power choose to worship these monsters, becoming traitors to humanity and turning their blades on their own kind."

Lin Tianyang spoke, glancing at the three corpses inside. "Those three dead men in the room were traitors who worshipped a certain monster."

Gu Qing asked, "The monster they worship... is it related to rats?"

"That’s right."

Lin Tianyang nodded. "They worship a monster known as the Source of Plague, and this monster is indeed somewhat related to rats."

"Regarding the origin of this monster, there are currently two theories."

"One theory is that this monster is a Catastrophe Beast of the Rat Race left over from the Ancient Era, which was frozen for some reason and has reawakened in the modern age."

"The other theory is that this monster is not a native creature of Earth, but a Rat Race Exotic Beast that has invaded Earth from another plane."

"As for which theory is the truth, it’s not yet clear."

"But one thing is for certain."

"This monster has the ability to grant Extraordinary Power to humans and has already corrupted many people into becoming its followers, severely disrupting social order."

After listening to Lin Tianyang’s explanation, another question quickly formed in Gu Qing’s mind.

He asked in confusion, "Why would the traitors who worship this monster target Senior Zhou?"

Lin Tianyang explained, "The Extraordinary Power granted by that monster is somewhat toxic, causing significant harm to the bodies of those traitors."

"And your senior, the PhD candidate, happens to be researching a universal anti-toxin vaccine."

"His research might reduce the harm that Extraordinary Power causes them, helping them better control it."

"So they targeted him."

"..."

"I see."

Gu Qing’s face showed understanding. He then asked, "By the way, what are the Awakened?"

Lin Tianyang replied, "Me, you, and those three dead traitors in the room—we are all people who have come into contact with extraordinary things and gained Extraordinary Power from them. We are Extraordinary Contactors."

"An Awakened, however, is someone who has become an extraordinary entity themselves. They don’t need to obtain Extraordinary Power from other sources; they generate it on their own."

"The former rely on external sources to grow stronger, so their potential is limited."

"The latter can develop independently and have much higher potential."

"..."

Gu Qing asked again, "These extraordinary things... what exactly are they?"

Lin Tianyang answered, "Extraordinary things can be roughly divided into two categories: living and inanimate."

"’Living’ refers to extraordinary individuals that are alive."

"For example, monsters and the Awakened."

"Their defining feature is that, as long as they’re alive, they can continuously generate Extraordinary Power."

"..."

"’Inanimate’ refers to items imbued with Extraordinary Power."

"For example, Divine Weapons or magical artifacts and items from movies and TV shows."

"Their defining feature is that they are merely vessels. They can’t generate Extraordinary Power, only store it. Once it’s used up, it’s gone."

"..."

At this, Lin Tianyang sighed. "The Awakened are extremely rare."

"The vast majority of us are just lucky enough to have scraped together a sliver of power through chance encounters with extraordinary things."

"Take me, for example. I’ve been dealing with extraordinary things for almost ten years, and my body can still only barely withstand bullets from a regular handgun."

"As for those three traitors in the room, they’ve probably only been in contact with extraordinary things for a few months."

"They can only achieve minor physical mutations and gain some Attribute enhancements. Essentially, they’re still within the range of ordinary people. They can’t take a bullet from a handgun and can still be killed with a knife."

"In contrast, an Awakened, once they fully awaken and become an extraordinary entity themselves, often only need half the time to obtain the same level of enhancement as an Extraordinary Contactor, and some can even possess special Superpowers."

"..."

After finishing his explanation, Lin Tianyang asked curiously,

"By the way, when did you first realize your body was different from the average person’s?"

"It’s been almost ten years."

Gu Qing thought for a moment and gave a number that would seem reasonable to the other party. "It was one night in my first year of middle school that I suddenly discovered my body had become stronger."

Lin Tianyang: "What’s your Physical Strength level now?"

Gu Qing said half-truthfully, "I can barely withstand handgun bullets. Just now, one of those three traitors shot at me. It hurt a lot when it hit me, but I wasn’t really injured."

Lin Tianyang looked envious. "You can take a handgun bullet and you’re only in your early twenties?"

"Your starting point is much higher than mine."

"I didn’t encounter the extraordinary until I was about to graduate from college. Now I’m thirty, and I can only just barely take a handgun bullet."

...

P.S. Holding out my bowl, begging for monthly passes and recommendation votes!