Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Censored by the System

Feng Ling stared at the screen.

“???” she said out loud.

Was that… supposed to be her?

She wasn’t the only one confused. The forum replies immediately lit up.

“What is this? This can’t be right.”

“So the hidden Boss’s skill is healing teammates? It doesn’t even have a party system. Where are the teammates supposed to come from?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao had added her own note beneath it, clinical and bitter at the same time:

Huang Fu Miao Miao’s note: Any ability card support skill is restricted by the System. Buffs can only be used on yourself or party members, like how a healer can only heal teammates in a game—not monsters.

More replies piled on.

“No wonder the System is freaking out. That bug is loud. A Boss is designed to attack players, and its skill is healing? Hahaha.”

“I’m dying. We get screwed by the System every day—turns out the System can get screwed too. Hilarious.”

“Mother Nest is a rare card. System probably didn’t expect a human to pull it when it added it to the deck.”

“Too early to say. How do you know it’s a human and not an animal? Mutated animals are everywhere lately. Regional quests are nonstop. We can barely keep up.”

“If it evolved from juvenile form to subadult form that fast, it’s obviously an intelligent higher lifeform. No debate.”

“Only me jealous of your regional quest density? My area hasn’t had a decent quest in ages. No points. Thinking of moving.”

“Move then. Recommend zones 17-22 and 26-18. Both solid.”

After that, the thread derailed into points, routes, and petty complaining.

Feng Ling scrolled and found herself… interested.

Maybe Huang Fu Miao Miao’s translation was too local, too natural—but the people on the other side of the screen didn’t feel like monsters. They felt like ordinary humans with dirt under their nails, laughing at jokes, chasing gossip, arguing for the sake of it.

And still—

It didn’t change the truth.

The moment they logged into human bodies, they became executioners with blood on their hands.

That included Huang Fu Miao Miao.

Somewhere, the little girl who’d fought cancer for years had vanished the instant Huang Fu Miao Miao logged in. Erased. Replaced.

Feng Ling’s thoughts stayed flat, unshaken, as she read on.

In another thread, aberrants dissected Mother Nest’s weaknesses with terrifying enthusiasm.

One said they should sink her in the ocean—make sure her recovery couldn’t drag her back.

Another suggested traps: lure her into a sealed space and burn her until nothing remained.

Someone else insisted any hunting team needed at least one member who used corrosive fungi, to interfere with Mother Nest’s recovery.

Then Feng Ling saw it:

“The hidden Boss is in Qing Jiang City. Want detailed intel? DM me.”

She scrolled further.

After that line, people argued about team composition like it was a normal day.

No one mentioned Qing Jiang City.

As if that reply didn’t exist.

But how could they not see it?

Feng Ling set the tablet on the shelf and sat in silence.

Being treated like a target was irritating.

She wasn’t afraid. But if too many aberrants poured into Qing Jiang, it would become a nuisance—noise, danger, distractions.

She was at a critical point in Nest-building. Her Corruption value was already 29%. The priority was the Maze. She didn’t have time to swat at problems she didn’t need.

So what did she do?

Feng Ling stood, wrapped a towel around herself, and started drying her hair, thinking hard enough to feel it behind her eyes.

“Little Skeleton,” she said.

Huang Fu Miao Miao looked up. “Yeah?”

Feng Ling asked, “Why do you players kill Bosses?”

“Boss points are high,” Huang Fu Miao Miao said, like the answer was obvious.

“Then why do you need points?” Feng Ling pressed.

Huang Fu Miao Miao blinked. For her, earning points was as natural as breathing. The question threw her off.

“Because…” she started, then forced herself to explain. “Because without points, we die. Human food only keeps the body alive, but staying logged in consumes points. And in-game, nutrition packs and recovery meds cost points. If your character dies and you log in again, it costs a huge amount of points. Rerolling characters and Ability Cards costs points too…”

Feng Ling tilted her head. “How many points do you have?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao hesitated. “Four thousand five hundred and twenty.”

Feng Ling’s gaze sharpened. “Is that enough for you to survive?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao’s expression turned complicated. “Here, yes. But if I log out… it might only last about seven months.”

Feng Ling frowned. “Why? Do you still need points after you log out?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao opened her mouth—

And a string of strange, broken sounds spilled out instead. Like her voice had been overwritten by static.

Feng Ling’s eyes lit with curiosity.

Was that censorship?

The System was that intelligent?

Was it monitoring every player in real time?

Huang Fu Miao Miao didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong. She kept talking, garbled and unreadable, then finished with confidence.

“Now you understand, right?”

Feng Ling laughed. “No.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao stared at her, wounded and furious all at once.

Feng Ling’s smile stayed in place. “Anyway. Your actions are driven by points. So if a target appears with more points than the hidden Boss, players will be drawn away.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Huang Fu Miao Miao said, voice dropping. “No Boss besides the Abyss has ever shown up in a System announcement. The way the System is treating you… your points have to be high.”

Feng Ling slid her bone blade out in a clean, sudden motion. The metal gleamed wetly under the light. She licked her lips.

“Then why don’t you try killing me right now?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao went rigid under the showerhead, like the water had turned cold.

Feng Ling laughed and slid the bone blade away. “Kidding.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao didn’t laugh.

She looked at Feng Ling with a flat stare and snapped, “Put some clothes on!”

Then she dragged herself back to the point.

“The System didn’t just expose your Ability Card. It emphasized you evolved from juvenile form to subadult form. That’s like a limited-time sale—buy now or the price goes up. A lot of players are going to rush to Qing Jiang to hunt you.”

Feng Ling’s eyes curved. “If I were already in mature form, would they still come?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao paused.

…If Feng Ling reached mature form, fewer people would dare.

It was the same reason nobody went after the twelve Abyss Bosses. The reward was one hundred thousand points, and still—no one touched them.

Because they were too strong.

Feng Ling’s smile thinned into something colder.

“Then instead of trying to stop them, I’ll get stronger. If I’m strong enough, the flies and mosquitoes will disappear on their own.”