5: Chapter 5 Congratulations, you have obtained the title: Observer

Gu Changming pulled the door open, but before he could even take a step, his gaze collided with a figure quietly approaching in the corridor.

It was Su Wan.

She had clearly come prepared, and might have even been waiting there for a long time.

Su Wan was standing by the edge of the corridor. As soon as she saw him come out, her eyes immediately lit up, and she quickly approached.

Once she reached him, she brought out the hand she had been hiding behind her back—she was holding a bag containing a few pieces of bread and bottled water.

She offered the items to Gu Changming while her other hand had already pulled out her phone, and she lowered her head to start typing.

A moment later, she turned the screen toward Gu Changming.

[I didn't see you after I came out yesterday, so I brought these for you.]

After showing it, she seemed to remember something else and took it back to type a few more times.

[Thank you for helping me yesterday.]

Gu Changming looked at the items she was holding out. His face remained expressionless as he simply shook his head and tilted his body slightly, intending to bypass her, showing through his actions that he didn't need these things.

However, just as he moved, Su Wan seemed to anticipate his movement. She stepped to the side almost simultaneously, blocking him again.

She pursed her lips, her gaze persistent, still holding up the water and bread.

Gu Changming stopped, looked at her for two seconds, and reached out to take her phone.

He tapped a few times on the screen and handed it back.

[No need, I have some at home.]

Just as Gu Changming was about to leave, he saw her start typing rapidly on her phone again.

Then she held up the phone once more, the screen almost pressing against his eyes.

[I also cooked dumplings at home. Wait a moment, shall I bring some down for you?]

Gu Changming looked at the line of text and then looked up at her.

The expression on her face was very serious, as if she didn't want to owe him anything.

Then, Gu Changming took the phone back and lowered his head to type.

He first typed "Just mind your own business," then his fingers paused. Feeling it was too harsh, he deleted it and re-entered:

[Just take care of yourself.]

He handed the phone back to her and didn't linger any longer, stepping past her and heading straight for the elevator.

After Gu Changming left, Su Wan remained standing where she was.

Only after a while did she belatedly pick up her phone.

Upon seeing the words on the screen, the slight embarrassment and disappointment she had felt earlier slowly dissipated.

To be honest, her trip over wasn't entirely out of gratitude. The world had suddenly undergone such a massive change, and he had helped her yesterday.

So, subconsciously and involuntarily, she wanted to rely on him—or rather, for the two of them to huddle together for warmth.

But he didn't seem to have that intention... She also felt curious: could someone really remain so calm and self-sufficient on their own in such a desperate environment?

...

Leaving the residential complex, Gu Changming walked away from the residential area.

The streets were empty. Just as he had guessed, there weren't many people outside. Occasionally, he could see a figure or two, but they were all in a hurry, not daring to make the slightest sound.

Gu Changming walked for about half an hour, passing through several deserted streets. Finally, he arrived near a bridge that spanned a river on the edge of the city.

The area under the bridge was deep and dark, half-hidden by weeds on both sides—a secluded spot.

He stopped and looked around carefully, confirming there was no sign of anyone in any direction.

Gu Changming walked around the area a few more times. Among the weeds and piles of discarded construction materials, he found several stones of various sizes and half of a rusty iron bucket.

Once everything was ready, he walked to a relatively open spot under the bridge and began his attempt.

"Test," he whispered, his voice barely a breath.

Before his voice even faded, that familiar, icy sensation of being locked onto by something invisible descended once again.

Without hesitation, he slammed a stone in his hand hard against the iron bucket beside him!

"Clang!"

The piercing sound of the impact echoed under the bridge.

The sensation of being locked onto shifted instantly.

He retrieved the iron bucket that had been knocked away, repositioned it, and with an unwavering gaze, continued his attempts.

The third time was also completed successfully.

A panel notification popped up.

[Successfully triggered and completed "Sound Pressure Coverage" 3 times.]

[Congratulations, you've obtained the title: Observer.]

Seeing this line of text, a very faint hint of joy flashed in Gu Changming's eyes, a rare sight.

He didn't pause and immediately began the fourth attempt. He still let out a short syllable first, then exerted force with his arm, slamming a larger stone against the iron bucket.

"Thud!"

A loud noise rang out.

However, the moment the sound exploded, Gu Changming's heart suddenly tightened.

Something was wrong.

The lock from those "things"... didn't completely and quickly leave him like the first three times!

Instead, some of it still lingered on him.

With an instinct honed through life-and-death struggles, he didn't even think; his body lunged forward before his consciousness could react, and he performed a roll on the spot!

"Boom!"

In the next second, the hard ground under the bridge where he had originally stood was struck as if by an invisible giant hammer. Sand and gravel exploded outward, leaving a shocking crater!

Gu Changming quickly stood up and looked back at the crater, shock flashing in his eyes.

Had those things become smarter?

Or was the original mechanism always like this—the more attempts made, the more the difficulty would increase?

Gu Changming looked at the task rating again, and finally his gaze landed on that S-grade title.

Lucky One?

He seemed to understand.

As the difficulty increased, only those who could still dodge ten times were worthy of the title "Lucky One," right?

...

Inside the residential complex.

In the same building, on a higher floor.

A slightly chubby man wearing a crumpled T-shirt was slumped on the sofa, his fingers swiping rapidly across his phone screen.

His hair was greasy, looking as if it hadn't been washed for days, and dark stubble covered his chin.

After a while, he caught a glimpse of a figure stopping by the sofa out of the corner of his eye, remaining motionless.

He ignored it and continued scrolling through his phone. Although short videos couldn't be viewed, there were still text and images to see.

But that figure kept standing there, like a pillar, her gaze glued to him.

Finally, he looked up impatiently, knitting his brows as he looked at his wife.

She was wearing a faded housecoat with an apron tied around her waist. She was thin, and her face was expressionless.

Seeing him look over, the corners of her mouth curled downward, revealing an undisguised look of revulsion before she turned and walked away.

Li Jianbin's Adam's apple bobbed. He wanted to curse, but he forced himself to hold back, only letting out a huff of foul air from his nose.

Wang Shuhua ignored him and walked straight to the kitchen, where she quietly boiled a kettle of water.

Once the water boiled, she carefully took a cup of instant noodles from the cabinet, tore open the packaging, sprinkled in the seasoning packets, then poured in the hot water. She used a fork to gently press down the paper lid and carried it back to the living room.

A few minutes later, Li Jianbin's nose twitched as the aroma of the instant noodles wafted over.

He looked up at Wang Shuhua, who was sitting not far away.

Wang Shuhua was holding the cup of noodles, eating small bites and making extremely faint slurping sounds.

Sensing his gaze, she paused her movements, then turned around to face away from him.

Li Jianbin's face darkened. He then grabbed his phone, tapped out a line of text, and sent it.

Wang Shuhua's phone, lying nearby, lit up.

[Only making it for yourself?]

She didn't react, leaving the phone carelessly on the table.

Anger flared in Li Jianbin's eyes, and he poked the screen forcefully.

[Make a cup for me too!]

Seeing this, Wang Shuhua simply flipped her phone face down on the table and continued eating her noodles with her head down.

A sense of humiliation from being ignored and the irritability brought on by hunger mixed together, surging to the top of Li Jianbin's head.

He stood up abruptly from the sofa, instinctively opening his mouth:

"Are you trying to rebel..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze.

Wang Shuhua also jerked her head up and looked over, her eyes widening in terror, as if she had anticipated something.

Li Jianbin's mouth hung open, his throat feeling as if it were being throttled by an invisible hand, the second half of his sentence stuck in his gullet.

Absolute terror seized him in an instant, but in the next second, that terror transformed into a violent rage.

He glared at his wife in front of him. It was all her fault! If she hadn't intentionally cooked a bowl of instant noodles and then intentionally ignored him, how could he have lost control and failed to react in time?!

He suddenly slammed the phone he was clutching hard toward Wang Shuhua!

The phone struck Wang Shuhua's shoulder blade with a heavy thud. She let out a low cry of pain: "Ugh!"

Before Wang Shuhua even had time to feel terror, an invisible force suddenly descended upon the crowded living room in the next second.

"Pfft!"

A dull, soft sound.

Blood—warm, viscous—erupted from inside her body like a bursting water bag, spraying everywhere.

A few drops of deep red, carrying body heat, splashed precisely onto Li Jianbin's frozen face.

At almost the same moment, that cold, genderless voice rang out clearly in his ear:

[Successfully triggered and completed "Sound Pressure Coverage" 1 time.]

[Congratulations, you've obtained the title: Self-Saver.]