Out of habit, to conceal her Star House storage, Yu Xi always carried a large bag wherever she went. In chaotic situations, even if she took out equipment slightly larger than the bag, few would notice—better than pulling things out of thin air.
This café was a two-story building along the street, with booths on both floors. After the first acid rain, the damage had been minimal due to the building’s sturdy construction, and it reopened quickly after a couple of days of repairs.
The situation in Fan City had remained stable since then, with only one rain reaching a pH level of 2.8. Gradually, the initial panic subsided, and people started to breathe a little easier.
With her “world setting” perspective, Yu Xi knew the acid rain problem was far from over. But people in this world didn’t know that. Some believed this would continue indefinitely, while others were optimistic, thinking the worst had passed.
No matter their beliefs, the relative calm over the past few days had lowered their guard somewhat. Thus, at this moment, the café had a few customers, though not many.
There was a couple picking up coffee and cake to-go, a middle-aged businessman looking stressed and overburdened, and a father and daughter pair. The girl, in her twenties, appeared well-groomed, while her father, with graying temples and a weary face, looked downcast.
The father and daughter had already been there when Yu Xi entered. She overheard bits of their conversation—a tale of a man who abandoned his wife and daughter in his youth, now seeking forgiveness in his middle-aged decline, but the daughter refused to forgive her deadbeat father.
The couple seemed to be in a mild argument over the man messaging another woman.
The businessman was desperately pleading with someone on the phone, asking for an extension, lamenting that he had no control over natural disasters.
Everyone was absorbed in their own matters. But as the rain began to hammer against the windows, they all instinctively turned their gaze outside, terror evident on their faces.
For the average person, the mere word “rain” had become a synonym for fear.
“It’s fine, it’s just started. We can run quickly to the nearby subway station and wait it out there,” the man reassured his girlfriend. But before he could finish, pedestrians outside the café were already howling in pain, collapsing under the rain.
The sharp, twisted screams were chilling, and everyone in the café watched in horror as the rain burned and smoked the pedestrians’ skin, causing them to shudder.
“Is… is this that negative pH acid rain? How did it suddenly…” The businessman was so shocked that he didn’t even notice when his phone slipped from his hand.
But no one answered him. Outside the café, one person, drenched in black acid rain, managed to crawl toward the entrance, and the people huddled by the glass instinctively stepped back.
The person didn’t make it far, collapsing as their hand smacked against the glass door.
The automatic door opened slightly, their hand caught in the gap, preventing the door from closing completely. The once-sealed space now had an opening, allowing acid rain to splatter inside, along with a powerful, pungent odor.
Almost immediately, those near the door began coughing.
Frightened, they moved back, wanting to get as far from the door as possible. But the rainwater that had splashed inside was already corroding the floor by the entrance, and the acidic gas spread in the air like a deadly curse.
No one dared to step forward, fearing contact with the acid rain that would corrode them.
Yu Xi emerged from the restroom in full protective gear and took in the situation through her protective goggles. Wearing a moisture-breath mask, she wasn’t afraid of the acidic fumes, but she hadn’t planned her escape route yet and didn’t want to become the center of attention.
Assessing the situation at the door, she quickly returned to the restroom, pulled a metal strip from the decorative ironwork, and bent one end into a hook.
She approached the entrance, first kicking a nearby couch toward the door, then climbed onto it. Timing her move carefully, she waited until the automatic door opened fully and then hooked the person’s arm, pulling them inside.
Once inside, the door’s sensors no longer detected an obstruction, and the automatic door closed.
Yu Xi tossed the now-corroded metal strip aside, jumped onto a nearby table, and locked the glass door.
She jumped down and examined the disfigured person on the floor, who was already lifeless.
With the immediate danger gone, the café’s patrons relaxed a bit, their curiosity now focused on Yu Xi—not only due to her quick, decisive actions but also because her protective gear looked so secure.
In fact, the couple’s bag contained two spare protective suits, though they looked nowhere near as reliable as Yu Xi’s.
Yu Xi stood up, scanning the people in the café. Besides the five customers, there were three staff members. She walked directly over to the couple. “You mentioned a subway station nearby. Where exactly is it?”
The man froze for a moment, then informed her that the subway station was just around the corner, two stores down from the café, barely 50-60 meters away. But in this situation, even a single meter under the acid rain could leave them severely injured.
“Is there another shortcut?” Yu Xi asked.
“Let me think.”
While he was trying to remember, Yu Xi approached the staff, asking where they kept the spare protective suits and masks.
Since the acid rain began, any reopened shop had a few sets of protective suits on hand, especially a high-end café like this, which prepared them for both staff and customers.
As one of the employees went to fetch the suits from the storage room, the man in the couple finally remembered.
He told Yu Xi that the second floor of the restaurant next door had a glass bridge on the side facing the street. By crossing that bridge, they could reach the elevator on the other side, which led directly to the subway station.
The middle-aged businessman, upon hearing this, sighed in frustration, “But we still have to leave the café and go past two stores, which is at least 20-30 meters. You all can go if you want, but I’m staying here. It’s safe enough in the café. We just need to wait until the rain stops.”
By this point, the employee had returned with the spare protective suits. The businessman quickly grabbed one.
The woman in the couple complained, “Not going out but snatching a suit? Shameless.”
With time running out, Yu Xi ignored the argument, pointing to the right wall of the café and asking the man if the glass bridge was in that direction.
He nodded, then looked at her in surprise as she picked up her large bag again. “You’re not really planning to go out now, are you? We’re safe here together in the café.”
Yu Xi secured her bag to her chest, then pointed to the top edge of the wall near the entrance. “This is black acid rain. This building won’t hold out for long.”
Everyone looked in the direction she pointed and noticed that water stains had begun to appear along the wall edges. But these weren’t stains coming in from outside; they were leaks caused by the exterior walls being corroded.
Not only at the door but also at various other points along the outer walls, water was seeping through.
The black acid rain had been falling for less than five minutes, and the walls were already starting to deteriorate. Only now did everyone realize the café wasn’t safe.
Frightened, everyone scrambled to grab a protective suit.
But there weren’t enough. Apart from the couple who had brought their own, the others suited up and then noticed that one person was still without—a father from the father-daughter pair.
The atmosphere became tense as those who’d managed to put on a suit subtly moved a bit farther away. Yet, looking at the rain outside and the trees, cars, and streetlights corroding under it, they felt an overwhelming fear. Could these suits truly protect them from the acid rain?
Amid the growing sense of despair, a series of heavy thuds sounded nearby.
Yu Xi, holding a fire axe she’d taken from the emergency cabinet, was using the back of the axe to pound on the café wall. After a few strikes, she positioned herself and delivered a strong kick to the cracked wall.
With a loud thud, she punched a large hole through the wall.
Through the hole, the adjacent shop’s interior came into view.
Everyone was stunned.
Is… is this really possible?
The neighboring shop, a clothing store, was unoccupied—it hadn’t opened that day.
Once inside, the others watched as Yu Xi began breaking through the wall to the next store. Meanwhile, a few employees searched the clothing store’s storage room, hoping to find another protective suit.
However, this shop hadn’t reopened since the acid rain began. They searched everywhere but only found a pair of protective pants and some protective boots.
Better than nothing, the father quickly put them on as his daughter watched silently.
He looked up and smiled at her, reassuring her that it was fine. Since they’d be moving through the inside of the stores, they wouldn’t be exposed to the rain. They just needed to reach the subway station before the acid corroded through all the nearby buildings.
Yu Xi soon broke through the wall to the next store. In reality, she could have moved even faster—these walls could be kicked through with a single strike given her strength. But she didn’t want to attract too much attention by displaying excessive force.
The restaurant was open, and people inside were startled by the group’s sudden appearance, thinking the building had been corroded and was collapsing. They screamed and huddled together.
In the crowd, Yu Xi heard familiar voices and glanced over, spotting two familiar faces: Bai Yu and Feng Xu.
She considered her current disguise and decided to act as if she didn’t know them.
The people in the restaurant were also hurriedly putting on protective gear. The café staff tried to find another set of protective suits, but the restaurant didn’t have any extra; in fact, both Feng Xu and Bai Yu had brought their own gear.
The restaurant walls were in worse shape than the café’s, with visible cracks and small holes from the corrosion. Frowning, Yu Xi called out to hurry and led the charge upstairs.
The east side of the restaurant’s second floor featured a long glass terrace, with a glass bridge connecting it to an elevator on the opposite side that went straight down to the subway.
Unfortunately, in the middle of the glass bridge, part of the glass wall had been smashed, possibly by debris from somewhere above. Acid rain was now leaking in through the damaged section, turning what had been a safe bridge into a hazardous crossing.
At that moment, the system issued a new random task.
Random Task Refreshed:
Special Hidden Task: Ensure Feng Xu reaches the subway station safely. Completion rewards: 80 Star Coins. Failure: no penalty. Decline option does not count towards the three-task refusal limit. Accept task?
Yu Xi: …
Author’s Note:
Yu Xi could sense the system’s eagerness to push Star Coins her way.
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