GRMFBS CH89

Seeing Approaching Science log off, Gu Jiancheng closed the private message, satisfied.

Although Approaching Science was powerful, his awareness of danger was a bit too weak. The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was looking for Infinite Fragments, a time when they desperately needed information-type supernaturals, and people from the Management Bureau were currently trying to recruit him. And now, Approaching Science still wanted to investigate the Infinite Fragments?

Even if he dodged the information pollution of the Infinite Fragments, as an information type with no combat or self-preservation abilities, getting involved would destine him to be nothing but a tool!

The next day, the film crew notified the group of college student extras that their scenes were almost finished. In another two days, everyone could get paid and go home!

A wave of cheers erupted. Being an extra on a film set was fun, but it was also genuinely tiring. Especially now that it was deep winter, after the initial novelty wore off, everyone was feeling a bit fatigued.

The New Year was just around the corner. Who wouldn’t look forward to going home for the holidays with their wages?

Zhan Yan wanted to go home too. It was only because his dad wasn’t home, meaning he couldn’t eat his dad’s cooking, that Zhan Yan was able to stay on set so peacefully for so many days. Otherwise, he would have gone back long ago; every day he delayed was an insult to his father’s culinary skills!

But now, going home also presented Zhan Yan with a bit of a problem.

Beauty had led him astray. He had carelessly agreed to Gu Jiancheng’s “meet the parents” proposal, but he still hadn’t told his family yet!

Now that filming was over, there was no reason to delay any longer. What to do, what to do?

Zhan Yan quietly glanced up at Gu Jiancheng.

Gu Jiancheng’s brow was slightly furrowed, as if troubled by something difficult.

Just now, when the field director announced the wrap-up in two days, Gu Jiancheng had suddenly felt his shadow move. The shadow double with the Magician had sent him a message.

“What’s wrong?” Zhan Yan gently nudged Gu Jiancheng with his arm.

Gu Jiancheng snapped back to reality. “Nothing, just got up a bit early, feeling tired. I’m going to go sit for a bit.”

Zhan Yan saw that he didn’t look like he had a headache, so he nodded. “There’s a soft chair over there. You can take a nap. I’ll call you if anything comes up.”

The soft chair belonged to Xie Dongshu. He had no scenes today and was in the hotel adjusting his state of mind and studying the script. They could use it freely.

Gu Jiancheng leaned back on the soft chair and closed his eyes. His feet moved slightly, making him look like he was asleep, but his consciousness had already sunk into the world of shadows.

The shadow beneath his feet spread out like a sea of dead silence, with a bottomless abyss below the surface. The black seawater stretched boundlessly.

Gu Jiancheng tapped his toe, and a ripple appeared on the sea’s surface. A photo frame floated up from the ripple.

The photo in the frame was black and white. A few shadows could be vaguely seen, looking like people but it was hard to be certain, because the photo was covered in black and white noise like an old television.

This was a monster from the Infinite, or as this world called them: an Anomaly.

Gu Jiancheng’s ability could devour anomalies. Those he swallowed into his shadow would sink into this boundless, bottomless sea of shadows, to be dissolved and eroded, leaving only a residual image—a part of their abilities.

Now he was going to use this anomaly’s ability to see the situation on the Magician’s side.

Black and white noise spilled out from the photo frame. Upon contact with the surrounding sea of shadows, it quickly began to churn, piling up to form a small alley.

Snow had accumulated in the alley, and waterproof plastic sheeting covered a lot of miscellaneous junk. The Magician had turned into a cat, curled up between a broken-legged stool and a cabinet with a half-broken door. Her two dowsing rods for finding “water” had become two small tufts of sharp fur, growing on the tips of her two ears.

She was lying on the snow but left no tracks, as if this were just a cat’s projection, without any weight.

The Magician extended her claws and drew in her shadow, letting out a soft purr from her throat that, upon entering the shadow, turned into human words: “Hello, hello? Can you hear me? Is this Deep Shadow’s shadow messaging thing any good?”

Gu Jiancheng tapped the cat’s shadow, and it rippled like water.

The Magician’s whiskers twitched. She said, “Found the Black Nest. It’s right next door. This Black Nest is not right, it seems to be alive. I dare not get any closer.”

The cat’s shadow slowly swam and touched the shadow of the wall.

The alley in the shadow world suddenly extended by a large area, like a map being wiped clean of dust.

The closer the noise got to a certain house, the blurrier it became. This was a passive protection mode that allowed it to always remain at a distance just “before being discovered.” Although the scouted information wouldn’t be very precise, it could guarantee secrecy and safety.

It was indeed a Black Nest.

Gu Jiancheng’s pupils shrank slightly. The faint metallic, fishy taste returned to the tip of his tongue.

He felt excited and a bit of familiar tension.

In the Infinite world, a Black Nest meant an endless stream of monsters, the best rewards, the highest difficulty, death and despair… Even Gu Jiancheng, who had reached the pinnacle of power in his later days, had to be extremely cautious when facing a Black Nest.

The appearance of a Black Nest here reminded him of his days in the Infinite. Countless moments hovering on the edge of life and death flashed through his mind as a myriad of blurry images, like the strongest stimulant, stimulating his body to secrete dopamine and adrenaline.

The group of people who could fight their way to the top in the Infinite, more or less, came to enjoy danger. Players who enjoyed the thrill of the edge of life and death too much would eventually fall into the abyss, and those who didn’t enjoy danger at all would sooner or later snap their overly tense nerves.

To put it in a more sober and polite way: they were all sick.

Gu Jiancheng slowed his breathing and gradually adjusted his heart rate.

The Infinite was now destroyed. The surviving Black Nest was just a rootless duckweed.

But this was still not something the Magician could handle.

He had to go kill it!

“Don’t move recklessly. Wait for me to get there.” The cat’s shadow formed a line of words, which then dissipated in an instant.

The shadow slowly spread under the layer of snow, silently laying out a net.

The Magician shrank further into the cabinet and let out a small yawn.

Her mission was complete. Now she just had to keep an eye on this Black Nest. Fighting a Black Nest was a job for combat types like Deep Shadow.

Gu Jiancheng withdrew his ability and remembered a troublesome matter.

A Black Nest was a Black Nest, after all. Although Gu Jiancheng liked to verbally scorn his enemies, he never underestimated them in a fight. To eliminate the Black Nest, he certainly couldn’t do it like this, using a shadow double. He had to go in his original body.

But if his original body went… he couldn’t accompany Yan Yan home!

Aiya, we had already agreed… How am I supposed to explain this to Yan Yan now?

Gu Jiancheng was troubled.

…

Zhan Yan dragged an empty suitcase and sat down next to the soft chair, opening the family group chat on his phone.

Aiya, how am I supposed to tell my family I have a boyfriend?

But he had already promised Gu Jiancheng they would go back together for the holiday. Would it be believable if he said it was just a regular classmate visiting? Maybe he should first persuade Gu Jiancheng to just “meet” the parents this time, and not do a formal “meet the parents”?

But even if he were to bring a classmate back, he would still have to tell his family.

Worried, Zhan Yan first sent the message that “filming on set is almost done, he can come home in two days” to everyone.

The family group chat immediately became lively.

Zhan Suiru: “Have you booked your ticket? I’ll drive to pick you up then.”

With their parents not at home, they couldn’t count on her brother with his social anxiety. Zhan Suiru could also drive.

Zhan Yan: “Not yet. I’ll book it once it’s confirmed.”

Zhan Yunkai: “How have the past two days been? Is filming tiring?”

Zhan Yan: “Everything’s fine, same as before!”
“Ah ah, right, I forgot to tell you.”
“These past few days, the director used my sister’s sculpture as a prop while filming. It was shot so well!”
“That scene was so beautiful! My sister’s sculpture had a very special kind of power in the shot!”
“I really want you all to see it, but unfortunately, we can’t take pictures on set.”
“Let’s go see it together when the movie comes out!”

The lively family group chat suddenly fell into a bizarre silence.

Ji Yueming started a private chat with Zhan Yunkai: “Old Zhan, have we been paying too little attention to Yan Yan recently?”

How did a good kid’s sense of aesthetics suddenly get so warped?

Zhan Yunkai was very distressed: “I’ll come back as soon as I’m done here! Let’s have a good talk with the child!”

What on earth did my cub go through without my knowledge? How did he become like this?!

Having one cub with a warped sense of aesthetics in the family is enough!

God knows what he and his wife felt the first time they saw Zhan Suiru’s artwork!

That feeling… it wasn’t exactly the same as the first time they tasted Zhan Jinli’s cake, but in some ways, it was uncannily similar.

Best not to mention it.

His eldest son had social anxiety and abnormal tastes; his second daughter had an abnormal aesthetic sense. Only his youngest son had always been obedient and normal. How was it that he now seemed to be on a trend of becoming warped too?!

Three cubs, three warped. What was going on?!

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming simultaneously began to doubt their parenting abilities.

After a bizarre five-minute silence in the group chat.

Zhan Yan: “Why is no one talking?”

Zhan Jinli was the first to break the silence: “Yan Yan…”
“Have you been hit by something recently?”

Zhan Suiru: “Zhan Jinli, what do you mean?!”

The brother and sister started a duel of words in private chat.

Zhan Jinli: “Do you really think your aesthetic is normal?”

Zhan Suiru: “It’s more normal than your taste!”

Zhan Jinli: “My taste is my own; I didn’t lead Yan Yan astray.”

Zhan Suiru: …
“It wasn’t me who led him astray either!”

She just sent a few photos and a sculpture! When she first sent them, Yan Yan’s aesthetic was still normal!

It was all Ji Lele’s fault!

The group chat once again fell into a bizarre silence.

Dad, Mom, older brother, and older sister all left the group chat, typing furiously in private chats.

After being lonely in the group chat for a few minutes, Zhan Yan sent another message:
“I’m fine, everything’s fine, I haven’t been hit by anything. Really!”
“I’m serious! You’ll know when you see it!”
“My sister’s sculpture really has aesthetic value!”

It’s bad; he’s even more abnormal!

Ji Yueming was gentle and considerate: “Yan Yan, it’s getting cold now. Is filming on set very hard?”

Zhan Yunkai was hearty and open-minded: “Yan Yan, is there anything you want to eat? Dad will make it for you when he gets home!”

Zhan Jinli was meticulous and thoughtful: “Let’s watch some comedies when we get home. Horror movies are all fake. All that supernatural stuff doesn’t exist.”

Zhan Yan: “You guys weren’t like this two days ago!”
“Before, when I said my sister’s sculpture had found a new soulmate, you were all so happy!”

Zhan Suiru was very sincere: “Yan Yan, I’m also very happy that the sculpture was sold, but you don’t have to learn those aesthetics from Ji Lele. Your original aesthetic was perfectly fine.”

Zhan Yan: ?
What’s going on!
Sis, what’s wrong with you, sis?!
Didn’t you make this sculpture?!