Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Mingjiang City.
“Alert! Citywide alert! An S-class anomalous presence has been detected!”
The warning sirens blared without warning.
In the blink of an eye, dense black clouds flooded the sky above the entire city.
From public squares to countless high-rises, piercing alarms began shrieking all at once. People fled in panic-
Inside a conference room at the Mingjiang City Anomaly Suppression Bureau, the atmosphere was unbearably grim.
The bureau’s director, Xu Changjiang, stared solemnly at the dossier on the large screen.
Anomaly Codename: Rain
Classification: S-class
Ability: Causes everyone within its area of effect to sink into depression, suffer a mental breakdown, and eventually commit suicide.
Identifying Characteristics: Before she appears, she alters the weather. Thick storm clouds gather and the ambient temperature plummets. Once the “Damp Drizzle” begins, her anomaly domain fully descends. No one within the affected area will be able to escape.
Notes: This anomaly has caused mass casualties in several cities. As many as one million people have taken their own lives because of her. She vanished three years ago.
“Director, the Damp Drizzle… It’s about to start. We’re out of time.”
Beside him, a woman in tactical gear knitted her brows. Her name was Leng Qingyan, and her athletic figure was accentuated by the close-fitting uniform.
“Rain appeared too suddenly this time. There’s no time to evacuate the population…”
Xu Changjiang drew a deep breath. Gritting his teeth, he ordered, “Prepare to initiate the blood sacrifice!”
Everyone’s breathing stopped.
A blood sacrifice meant sacrificing every anomaly wielder in the Anomaly Suppression Bureau. Their blood might open a path and win the people of Mingjiang City one slim chance to flee.
As for fighting Rain?
They didn’t even need to consider it.
The strongest anomaly a branch like theirs could handle was B-minus-class!
Every member of the Anomaly Suppression Bureau looked grave, but no one backed down. They had all prepared themselves for this day long ago-
“Wait… The clouds have stopped moving!”
Just then, the officer monitoring the readings cried out in shock.
Everyone spun around and looked at the large screen.
…
Meanwhile, at Mingjiang No. 7 Special School.
“Sir, Lin Xiaoyu is crying again!”
Li Que had only just stepped into the classroom with his lesson plan tucked under one arm when he heard the commotion.
He looked up and saw the girl in the front row sobbing helplessly. She looked sixteen or seventeen, quiet and delicate.
“What happened? Who upset her this time?”
Li Que frowned.
These students really weren’t easy to teach.
“Sir, I’d like to report Meng Mo! He drew a turtle on her back!”
A boy eating potato chips nearby raised his hand.
Li Que’s gaze immediately landed on the boy sitting behind Lin Xiaoyu. The grin vanished from Meng Mo’s face, and he lowered his head.
“Sir… I-I didn’t mean to.”
Li Que’s expression turned stern. “Apologize to Lin Xiaoyu.”
“Lin Xiaoyu… I’m sorry,” Meng Mo said.
Lin Xiaoyu wiped away her tears and bit her lower lip without saying anything.
Li Que walked over, pulled a handful of White Rabbit milk candies from his pocket, and set them down in front of her.
“There, there. Don’t cry. I brought you the candy you like.”
Lin Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up at the sight of the candy. She carefully picked one up, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. Only then did she whisper, “Thank you… sir.”
At the same time, a notification chimed in Li Que’s mind.
“Ding! The host has disciplined Meng Mo once and cared for Lin Xiaoyu once. You have gained 2 Good Teacher Points!”
A smile immediately spread across Li Que’s face.
Three months ago, he had inexplicably transmigrated into this world and become a teacher at this special school.
At first, he’d been thrilled to discover that this world was much like Earth. He’d thought he was about to strike it rich.
After all, he read trashy web novels every day. Surely he could make a fortune by copying a few web novels or writing a few songs.
But once he learned the truth about this world, he was utterly dumbfounded.
This world… had anomalies.
Corpses vanished from morgues. Something went from door to door in the dead of night, devouring anyone who opened up.
When sleeping, you could never point the toes of your shoes toward yourself. Otherwise, an anomalous entity might crawl along them and onto your bed during the night, pinning you down until you couldn’t breathe.
If the reflection in your mirror split its mouth open while you were doing your makeup in the morning, you mustn’t panic. You had to compliment the reflection on how pretty it looked-or you would die.
Li Que had heard far too many true stories about anomalies.
Mingjiang City alone had detected signs of the S-class anomaly Rain twice over the past few months.
It was far too difficult for ordinary people to stay alive in this world.
And only anomaly wielders could fight anomalies.
It was extraordinarily difficult for an ordinary person to become an anomaly wielder. Fortunately, Li Que had awakened the Good Teacher System.
As long as he fulfilled a teacher’s duties and properly instructed his students, the system would grant him all kinds of rewards. Most were miscellaneous little items, such as the White Rabbit milk candies he’d just given Lin Xiaoyu or the ruler he used to discipline students in class…
And, most important of all, Good Teacher Points!
Once he accumulated ten thousand Good Teacher Points, he could become a true anomaly wielder.
Then he would no longer have to spend every day looking over his shoulder.
At present, Li Que had 278 Good Teacher Points.
Ten thousand was still a long way off.
But there was no need to rush. As long as he remained patient and taught these students well, that day would come sooner or later.
With that thought, he glanced around the classroom again.
The class he was responsible for currently had four students in total.
Every one of them had some kind of issue that made regular schools unwilling to accept them.
Lin Xiaoyu had autism. She rarely spoke, and her gentle, delicate nature made her a frequent target for the other students. She cried whenever someone bullied her, but fortunately, she was easy to comfort. A White Rabbit milk candy was all it took.
Meng Mo had narcolepsy. He slept through every class, then started causing trouble as soon as he woke up. As the most mischievous student in the class, Li Que had rapped his palm with the ruler more times than he could count.
Bai Lu was exceptionally beautiful, yet suffered from severe appearance anxiety. She spent the entire day looking in a mirror.
Nian Youyu had binge-eating disorder. Chubby and round, he snacked through every lesson and started yelling whenever his hands were empty.
…
“Forget it.”
Li Que had planned to teach an academic lesson, but one look at the state his students were in told him that any math or literature he tried to teach would go in one ear and out the other.
After thinking it over, he said, “Come on. Today, I’m taking you to visit an elderly person who lives alone. It’ll be a practical lesson in community service!”
As Li Que saw it, these children were still young. Their various problems were largely caused by difficulties with socialization.
After mulling it over, he’d come up with this solution.
He would help them rebuild their understanding of society.
By having them care for an elderly person who lived alone, they could experience what it felt like to be needed and come to understand that they had value.
That could treat many psychological disorders.
He picked up a file containing a list of elderly people living alone that he’d collected from the community office, along with their addresses and other details.
“Zhang Mingcui, Jixiang Alley.”
He made his choice.
…
Li Que did not notice that, the instant Lin Xiaoyu ate the candy and her mood improved, the heavy bank of black clouds above Mingjiang City abruptly dispersed.
The wail of the sirens along the streets gradually died away.
The terrified people who had been fleeing through the streets stopped and looked up at the sky.
“The alert has been lifted. The alert has been lifted!”
“Residents, please remain calm. The danger has passed!”
As the announcement rang out, everyone looked bewildered.
“Damn it, are these anomalies ever going to let us live in peace? This happens several times a month, and then nothing even shows up…”
“You’d better be grateful! That’s an S-class anomaly. If she really appeared, everyone in the city would die!”
“At least we’re safe.”
Countless people talked among themselves.
…
Back in the Anomaly Suppression Bureau’s conference room…
“She disappeared again?”
The officers stared at one another blankly.
The clouds had gathered, the Damp Drizzle had already begun to fall, and everyone in the bureau had finished writing their final letters. Yet the anomaly had vanished again?
After heaving a long sigh of relief, they couldn’t help feeling deeply puzzled.
“Maybe she was just passing through?” one officer muttered.
Leng Qingyan shot him a look. “Does an anomaly pass by your house three times a month?”
She frowned and turned to Xu Changjiang.
“Director Xu, we have to get to the bottom of this. An S-class anomaly hiding God knows where is far too dangerous.”
Xu Changjiang shook his head. “We can deal with Rain after the people from headquarters arrive in a few days.”
An S-class anomaly was far beyond the Mingjiang branch’s capabilities. There was no sense making pointless sacrifices.
Leng Qingyan still wanted to argue, but Xu Changjiang had already continued.
“The appearance of an S-class anomaly like Rain agitates the other anomalies hiding throughout the city… especially this Stray Cat.”
He picked up a dossier. “It’s only B-minus-class, but it has already killed fourteen people in a row…”
Just then, the officer monitoring the readings suddenly spoke. “We’ve detected the Stray Cat’s presence.”
“It’s moving toward… Jixiang Alley!”
Xu Changjiang’s expression sharpened. “Leng Qingyan, take a team there immediately!”
Leng Qingyan badly wanted to investigate the S-class anomaly, but she knew the Stray Cat posed the more urgent threat. She immediately led several officers out at a run.
…