Chapter 97: Meteorite Violet Eye Syndrome

“Don’t make a fool of yourself, Qin Feng.”

After a brief silence, Ji Linmo coldly pushed the boy aside, his gaze carrying a hint of warning.

“So boring, Mr. Ji, you can’t even take a joke~”

Qin Feng, showing some tact, spread his hands and sat down on the bed, surveying the bedroom.

Looking at the almost barren bedroom, with barely any decorations, the boy’s eyes turned back to Ji Linmo with keen interest.

“But Mr. Ji, since we’re planning to cooperate, why don’t we be honest with each other?”

With that, Qin Feng pulled out a sticky note from his pocket and waved it playfully.

“Let’s start by exchanging the rules we’ve each received.”

He gave a mischievous wink.

Ji Linmo said nothing, merely studying the boy calmly.

—Though he found him annoying, he had to admit that Qin Feng possessed a naturally stunning appearance.

With such a gifted visage, the boy could win others’ affection and goodwill with just a smile, even without effort.

But precisely because of his flawless looks, the boy’s madness, strangeness, and pathology were perfectly concealed.

After all, who would think that this seemingly kind and gentle boy before him was a monster whose logic defied normal understanding?

“Alright, let’s exchange.”

Ji Linmo was the first to take the sticky note from Qin Feng’s hand and examined it.

[Notes left for myself]

[1. Mom and Dad have been acting strange lately; do not disobey them under any circumstances.]

[2. I am the youngest child in the family; I don’t have a sister, only a close older brother.]

[3. No fruit is purple.]

“Very brief…”

Ji Linmo raised an eyebrow and handed the note back to Qin Feng.

Though subtle, he noticed the edge of the sticky note had been cut, as if someone had deliberately torn off the last half, trying to hide something.

“Qin Feng, this handwriting isn’t yours. Did you find this in your room?”

Qin Feng nodded and pocketed the note.

“Yes, I saw it on the bedside table as soon as I entered the instance.”

“And yours, Mr. Ji?”

Ji Linmo took out his phone and casually deleted the message about his younger brother, then re-edited the note.

“Mine’s on my phone.”

He showed the message he’d received to Qin Feng.

[Sister]

[Brother, I know you’re almost home, but something happened while you were away. If you don’t want conflicts with the family, please follow these rules.]

[1. Father has suddenly become extremely irritable; do not disobey him.]

[2. When Mother smiles, she is lying; when she cries, she is telling the truth.]

[3. No fruit is purple.]

“Our rules are similar, but this part…”

Qin Feng pointed at the message sender, “Sister.”

His note stated he was the youngest child and that there were only two brothers in the family.

But Ji Linmo’s message mentioned a sister who sent him the message.

In an instant, Qin Feng and Ji Linmo locked eyes.

They both thought the same thing.

“Let’s go investigate. This extra sister might be very significant.”

Ji Linmo opened the bedroom door and led the way out.

The house they were in mirrored exactly the layout of Ji Linmo’s real-world residence.

In this three-bedroom, two-living-room setup, both he and Qin Feng had their own bedrooms, and the parents occupied another.

If the sister lived here, she wouldn’t have her own room and would likely sleep in the living room at night.

That meant there should be some clues in the living room.

But after a quick inspection, Ji Linmo found nothing unusual—no signs of any feminine belongings.

It seemed, as Qin Feng’s note suggested, that this “sister” didn’t actually exist; only two brothers lived here.

Ringing—

Suddenly, Ji Linmo’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

“Sister” had sent another message.

[Sister]

[Brother, I am actually the youngest child in the family; I don’t have a brother. Don’t believe him.]

Ji Linmo frowned deeply at this message.

What did it mean—no brother?

The previous message had warned about the younger brother’s strange behavior.

He reread the earlier texts and realized that the “brother” mentioned might refer to another “brother” who was actually the older brother to the “sister.”

In other words, Ji Linmo was the eldest brother, Qin Feng was in the middle, and the “sister” was the youngest.

Ji Linmo frowned slightly. He didn’t care much for birth order, but staring at the message, he suddenly paused.

Wait, this “sister” can see them?

Otherwise, how would she know that Qin Feng’s note said he was the youngest child?

Thinking this through, Ji Linmo typed “Where are you?” and sent it to “Sister.”

But the phone remained silent, showing no signal and unable to send.

It seemed this phone could only receive messages from “Sister” but couldn’t reply.

“Brother, have you seen Mom and Dad? Where did they go?”

Qin Feng strolled down from the second floor casually, looking at Ji Linmo.

“Not in the kitchen?”

Ji Linmo glanced toward the kitchen—a spotless, empty space with no one inside.

“I searched everywhere; Mom and Dad aren’t here.”

Qin Feng smiled and pointed to a door deep inside the second floor.

“Let’s check their bedroom. Maybe they’re there?”

Ji Linmo neither agreed nor objected; he simply followed Qin Feng upstairs.

Standing before the innermost bedroom door, Ji Linmo paused and pressed his ear to it.

As expected, nothing but silence came from within.

“It’s locked…”

Qin Feng tried the doorknob but found it firmly locked from the inside.

If all went as expected, their parents were likely inside.

“Brother, this game doesn’t seem too hard, does it?”

Qin Feng laughed, fingers resting on the second-floor railing.

“Since Mom and Dad won’t come out, why don’t we just stay in their bedroom together? After all, we only need to last five days.”

Ji Linmo remained silent.

His current feeling about this S-rank instance was singular—

Too calm. So calm that it felt eerie.

As the highest difficulty S-rank instance, there had been no deadly situation so far.

Even the only possible threat—the parents—did not appear but locked themselves in the bedroom. It was extremely strange.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

After some thought, Ji Linmo decided to return to the living room.

Knock knock knock—

Suddenly, a booming chime sounded.

Ji Linmo turned to see the large standing clock in the living room swinging vigorously.

The hour and minute hands spun rapidly, and in an instant, the time displayed changed to 8 p.m.

Wait, had time suddenly jumped forward by 12 hours?

He recalled it was 8 a.m. when he first entered the living room; now it was 8 p.m.

“Turn on the TV!”

Ji Linmo suddenly realized something and motioned for Qin Feng to hurry back to his room and turn on the television.

The screen first flickered, then glowed faintly, and music played.

“Good evening, and welcome to the nightly news.”

“Coming up, our reporter Xiao Zhuang brings you the latest live coverage!”

A scrolling ticker ran at the bottom of the screen—

—“Mysterious meteorite lands in Happy Town: latest developments.”

Ji Linmo’s eyes stayed glued to the screen.

The footage showed several people in protective suits approaching a massive purple meteorite, large enough to crush a stadium, scraping samples from its surface.

The scene then cut to a laboratory.

A suited expert cleared his throat before speaking to the reporter.

“Cough cough, residents of the town, please be alert. Our research has found that this meteorite carries an unknown virus.”

“This virus amplifies negative emotions in living beings endlessly. Infected individuals become irritable, emotionally unstable, unable to control their feelings, eventually descending into madness and turning on each other.”

The expert then held up a cage.

“Please observe these two white mice.”

The two mice, curled up quietly in their cages, suddenly became extremely aggressive when two pieces of purple meteorite debris were dropped inside.

They began running wildly, and when the cages were opened, the mice attacked each other viciously.

No matter how the staff tried to separate them, the mice fought with murderous rage.

Eventually, one mouse died, and the other released its grip, exhausted itself, and collapsed.

“Notice how they turn on each other—that is a classic symptom.”

“So, residents, until the meteorite is contained, please avoid going outside.”

“If you notice your family acting strange, such as irritability or mood swings, try this while they sleep…”

As he spoke, the expert pulled down his own lower eyelid.

“Look closely. If their eyes look like this, filled with bloodshot veins, that’s normal.”

“But if their eyes show a purple hue beneath the eyelid—this ‘Meteorite Purple Eye Syndrome’—then your family member is infected. Please contact us immediately; we will handle it promptly.”