[His body is secreting excessive gastrin, and the brain’s hunger nerve center is missing. Please evacuate immediately!]
A prompt panel appeared above the man’s head.
Gastrin is a hormone secreted by the stomach, which stimulates the brain’s central nervous system to produce a sense of hunger.
Watching the man devour food like a madman, his belly as big as a pig’s, made Li Ran recall a biology class back on Earth, where the teacher once talked about an experiment.
If the "fullness nerves" in a mouse’s brain are removed, then it will never eat again, unable to feel hunger, and would starve to death in front of a feast.
If the "hunger nerves" in a mouse’s brain are removed, it will eat non-stop, becoming so obese it looks like a monster, unable to move in the cage, yet still feeling intense hunger until it eats itself to death.
At this moment, the man was like a mouse missing its “hunger nerves.”
He would eat endlessly until his belly burst and he died.
Pain filled the man’s face, yet his hands kept stuffing food into his mouth, and he was mumbling through his chewing: “Uh… so hungry… i'm so hungry… so hungry…”
In just a moment, Li Ran saw the man’s belly swell up another large size.
It had nearly reached the limit of what a human belly could stretch to.
“Bro, stop it! You're seriously gonna blow up!”
At this moment, the man’s belly looked like a balloon on the verge of exploding.
Bulging veins were visible on the swollen skin, the blood vessels grotesquely stretched and deformed.
Li Ran even saw several stretch marks burst open on the surface of the man’s belly.
Li Ran stared in disbelief, step by step retreating.
“AHHHHH!!!”
Suddenly, the man spewed out a mouthful of food residue and let out a painful, blood-curdling scream.
“So hungry… so hungry… so hungry… AHHH!!!”
As he screamed, he shouted "so hungry" over and over, and his belly swelled to an absurd degree.
"Rip!!"
Just then, Li Ran saw the man’s massive belly split open with a bloody gash—like someone had sliced a balloon and the gash surged open and widened.
"Rip!!"
"Rip!!"
One after another, the shrill sound of tearing echoed in Li Ran’s ears.
Li Ran’s face turned completely pale.
He turned and sprinted out of the pavilion, dashing with the speed of a 100-meter sprint.
“Crashhhhhhhhh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~”
“Gululululu~~~~~~~~~~~~~”
He heard the sound of floodgates opening behind him and debris raining down.
……
Li Ran ran far away,
Until he could no longer hear any sound behind him.
At this moment, he couldn’t put his feelings into words.
A living, breathing person exploded right in front of him!
That was a human being, not a balloon!!
But he exploded!
Li Ran could barely believe what he had just witnessed.
The strangeness of this neighborhood far exceeded his imagination.
His instinct told him that the man who just exploded was most likely one of his teammates.
Because the fat man’s face had become deformed, he couldn’t recognize the original appearance.
“Two teammates died already, just like that.”
Why the fat man was eating like crazy, no one knew, but the amount was outrageously excessive.
Li Ran guessed it was likely due to infection by some virus.
Otherwise, how could someone eat themselves to death?
One bizarre and unimaginable phenomenon after another shattered Li Ran’s understanding of this world.
“I need to level up fast, or I won’t even know how I died.”
“From the looks of it, the activity range in the neighborhood is large, and even if there's danger, there's room to escape—as long as I don’t do anything stupid, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”
“But inside the buildings is more dangerous—if the virus of mental desire can spread through the air, then the entire residential complex may be infected.”
“So, there's a high chance all residents in this neighborhood have been infected.”
Li Ran walked toward the neighborhood park, analyzing the situation as he went.
“If I don’t do anything, my chance of surviving these fifteen days is extremely low.”
“Missions are triggered randomly—maybe by meeting someone, or encountering something, or even picking something up…”
“Wait a second…”
A flash of inspiration crossed Li Ran’s mind.
He might have figured out a way to actively trigger missions.
Li Ran walked forward along the path, his eyes scanning the lawns, flower beds, tree canopies, park benches, and fitness areas.
In higher-end neighborhoods, there was always some exercise equipment set up downstairs. Good for a bit of fitness after meals.
[In the sandpit area by the pull-up bars, search carefully—you might find what you're looking for.]
A prompt appeared above the sandpit.
Li Ran didn’t look elsewhere anymore.
Coming to the sandpit, he began searching by hand.
The sandpit wasn’t deep, filled with soft fine sand, and after a bit of digging, Li Ran really did find something.
[A bunch of keys: Uncle Ge from the security room often exercises here. Moody and fond of tea—you might try chatting with him.]
The prompt from his golden finger confirmed even more clearly the direction he should level up in.
Instead of blindly hoping to trigger missions, why not actively seek them out?
See? A mission just came to him.
“As long as I return these keys to their owner, I refuse to believe it won’t trigger a mission.”
Afterward, Li Ran continued “picking up stuff” around the neighborhood.
He looked toward a trash bin beside the walkway.
[You’re not actually thinking that cup with the anime print is what you’re looking for, right?]
Li Ran: “……”
A line of prompt appeared above the trash bin.
Even though the prompt didn’t reveal anything useful, Li Ran was now certain there was a homebody guy in this complex with weak kidneys.
On a branch of a big tree, Li Ran saw a pair of large pink women’s underwear.
[Young girl’s panties: blown here by the wind, it’s been here for a week. Size 5XL.]
“Just how big do you think young girls’ waists are?” Li Ran muttered speechlessly.
Underneath a bench, Li Ran’s eyes lit up.
[Man’s ID card: Behind Happiness Garden there’s a beauty salon—you’ll find the person from the ID there. Also, this item can be used as a bargaining chip.]
“Bargaining chip?” Li Ran didn’t quite get it.
But he didn’t think too much and casually tossed it into his inventory.
Everyone who enters this strange world has a personal storage space, which can store items.
“I’ll check out that beauty salon when I have time.”
From the looks of it, this item was just a quest-triggering prop.
In just a short while, Li Ran had found two useful items.
Turns out, “picking up trash” in the neighborhood is the true path to power.
Li Ran wandered to the lakeside in the middle of the park.
The water was clear, and the blooming lotus flowers swayed gracefully on the emerald surface like dancing maidens.
“Yo, another discovery.”
At the center of a round, wide lotus leaf, something sparkled—it looked like a glass marble from a distance.
Li Ran picked up a branch and pulled the lotus leaf toward him to get a closer look.
“What the—!” Li Ran’s expression changed, his hand trembling, almost dropping the branch. A chill ran through his entire body. “Who the hell is so messed up, leaving an eyeball on a lotus leaf?”
And to think he thought he had found treasure.
But then, the golden finger prompt text that popped up made Li Ran frown slightly.
[Well-preserved eyeball: Give it to the blind fortune teller at the neighborhood entrance. His fortune-telling accuracy will increase by 50%. You’ll get a free reading.]
(End of this chapter)