VAP - Chapter 20
Chapter 20: The Sleeping Beauty Whose Words Are Law (19)
The mass outbreak of Esper Abilities arrived quietly at the designated time.
It was five in the morning. The stars and moon were gradually fading as the clear night drew to a close, and the eastern horizon was beginning to pale.
Sanitation workers were already diligently at their tasks, teenagers in internet cafes were furiously tapping their keyboards after a long night, lights flickered on in the kitchens of breakfast shops, and the first bus of the day started its engine… Everything seemed no different from any other day.
Most people were still asleep, but the city was already beginning to stir.
At the same time, something else descended. It spread with extreme speed, like a vast white mist, occupying every space and shrouding everything in sight.
Qi Jiu watched, leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window in her bedroom. Her lashes were lowered, the emotion in her deep, dark eyes unreadable.
“The Recovery Mist has descended across the globe, including over the oceans. It’s expected to envelop the entire planet in another thirty seconds,” Yue Du said softly.
She had spent one point to activate a global satellite view. Every corner she could see was rapidly being stained a thick white. From primeval forests rarely touched by human feet to the depths of the ocean, there were no exceptions.
This was what later generations would call the Recovery Mist. No one knew where it came from; it was as if tens of thousands of “points” had abruptly appeared all over the world, spewing out a white mist that clawed its way across every inch of land.
Its arrival signified the awakening of Esper Abilities—a fact no one yet knew, of course.
The people of Shengjing City, and others in time zones where it was also early morning, simply mistook it for morning fog. But in other parts of the world… whether it was high noon under a blazing sun, evening, or the dead of night, all were equally enveloped in the eerie mist.
People were abuzz with discussion, but for the time being, no one could answer their questions.
It was only now that Yue Du truly felt the reality of being in a small world, one completely different from her own.
From this moment on, the two worlds would grow increasingly different, diverging at a crossroads of evolution and heading toward an unknown future—
Perhaps this was the charm of parallel worlds.
Her fair fingertips touched the mist-covered glass. Qi Jiu lifted her gaze slightly, her brow furrowed.
Yue Du noticed the change in her host’s expression. “What is it?” she asked.
“Is this all?” Qi Jiu said, her lips turning down in boredom. It was hard to say if she was disappointed or something else. “If I’d known it would be this dull, I would have stayed in bed.”
Yue Du: “…”
Why do you think I made you stay awake?
It wasn’t for the spectacle, you know!
Don’t close your eyes now! Pull yourself together and properly welcome your Esper Ability awakening, my dear lady host!
The process of awakening an Esper Ability was no joke. The system’s built-in data might have been mostly useless trash, but it clearly stated the dangers of the awakening.
Espers who awakened at the start of the mass outbreak made up ten percent of all humanity, and nearly half of them died, unable to withstand the shock of the awakening.
The Earth of this small world had a population of seven billion, which meant nearly 350 million people would die today.
This was one of the reasons the world descended into a brief period of chaos after the mass outbreak.
So, in such a dangerous situation, how could Qi Jiu remain so completely unfazed and still just want to sleep!
Although Qi Jiu couldn’t see Yue Du’s expression, she could feel her system’s silent condemnation.
She let out a small yawn and said nonchalantly, “Relax. Now that I’m awake, I won’t fall back asleep. I just want to go lie down on my bed.”
Yue Du: “And you think I’d believe you?”
Who are you kidding? The moment your head hits the pillow, you’ll be fast asleep!
Qi Jiu replied without a hint of sincerity, “Ah, you saw right through me.”
Yue Du: “…I knew it.”
Of course, it was impossible to make Qi Jiu stand by the window forever. She was the type who would never stand if she could sit, and never sit if she could lie down. Standing around blankly at home? What a joke.
Since she couldn’t lie down completely, she settled for reclining.
Qi Jiu relocated to the floor-to-ceiling window by the living room balcony, where a beanbag chair was placed.
Reclining on the soft, comfortable beanbag, her bare feet resting on the deep blue velvet carpet, Qi Jiu lazily narrowed her eyes, nestled like a large cat enjoying a comfortable nap.
Fortunately, she wasn’t actually planning to nap. She managed to reopen her eyes and stared blankly at the ever-thickening mist outside.
Seeing her this lazy, Yue Du had no fight left in her. She could only remind her, “Barring any surprises, you should feel the shock of your Esper Ability awakening within five minutes. Please take this seriously.”
Qi Jiu said, “Mhm, I’ll be sure to take it seriously.”
Then what’s with that perfunctory tone!
Meanwhile, comments began to appear on major social media platforms around the globe, some joking, others filled with nervous suspicion.
“So strange. Why did fog suddenly roll in at noon…”
—Location: Washington D.C., USA.
“What’s going on? I went out for a late-night snack, and the fog is so thick I can’t see a person in front of me. Did we get hit by a surprise smog attack?”
—Location: London, UK.
“The fog is so thick this morning. I was going to go for a morning workout… oh well. Let’s do it another time, muah!”
—Location: S City, China.
At 5:02 a.m. capital time, Qi Jiu was hit by the shock of the awakening.
The shock was intense. There was a reason fifty percent of people didn’t survive it—it was more than just physical pain.
From within the mental space, Yue Du looked around. This once-tranquil world was now stirring with agitation.
A great wind rose, sending the blades of grass swaying wildly in one direction. The lake, once as smooth as a mirror, was now roiling with waves… Only the temple complex behind her stood silent, the clear, crisp sound of an ancient wooden bell drifting from an unknown source.
“Qi Jiu? Qi Jiu? Are you all right?” Yue Du couldn’t help but worry.
After waiting for five or six seconds, she heard her host’s intrigued reply.
“Quite interesting,” Qi Jiu said.
There was a strange, suppressed quality to her voice. A sense of urgency gripped Yue Du, and she switched to a direct visual feed to check on her host, only to be met by Qi Jiu’s wide-open eyes and the smirk on her lips.
For a split second, Yue Du almost thought her host was about to unleash some ultimate power.
It was just like in the movies, when a protagonist awakens their superpowers and their eyes turn some strange color—gold, blood-red, or heterochromatic—to signify how special they are.
But hers didn’t. Her eyes remained an opaque, inky black, as if they would drag anyone who stared into them down into an abyss.
Yue Du: “…”
Who was it just a moment ago who said this was boring? Well, it doesn’t look boring now, does it.
She even looked excited—don’t tell me it’s because of the pain from the awakening. That would make me think my host is a masochist!
The shock of the awakening would last for a while. By now, many people must have realized something was wrong.
Governments around the world scrambled to make emergency deployments and issue public notices:
“Please proceed to the nearest indoor location immediately. Close all doors and windows. Avoid contact with the mist of unknown composition. Await further instructions. I repeat, please proceed to the nearest indoor location…”
China issued its notice at 5:10 a.m. The message was urgently disseminated through news broadcasts, text messages, and various social media platforms.
Even before that, people had already collapsed to the ground in agony. Others were violently woken from their sleep by the shock, tormented by unbearable pain and psychological terror.
The government suspected something was wrong with the mist but had no way to stop events from unfolding.
In truth, staying indoors was useless. Windowpanes, concrete walls, the dense canopy of a forest, or even thousands of meters of seawater—none of it could stop the “mist” from seeping through.
Because it wasn’t mist. It was an existence beyond scientific explanation, a product of the supernatural, the rebirth of another worldline.
Qi Jiu’s state of excitement lasted only a few minutes before she reverted to her usual languor, her eyes half-closed in utter boredom. Looking at her, one could never imagine the pain she was enduring.
Yue Du sat in the temple, watching the wind whip the grass and the waves churn the water. The turmoil in the mental space continued.
“Why are you so down again?” Yue Du asked her host.
Qi Jiu replied lazily, “It’s just more of the same. It was a little interesting at first, but now it just hurts so much I can’t sleep, and yet nothing’s changing. It’s gotten very dull.”
Yue Du: “…Oh. I see.”
The shock of the awakening would last for about half an hour. Since Qi Jiu couldn’t sleep and couldn’t even properly zone out, she picked up her phone and started scrolling through Weibo.
The number one trending topic was #GlobalStrangeMist#.
The second was #EmergencyAlert#.
Qi Jiu clicked on the first topic.
The sudden, abnormal event had woken most people up. Since they couldn’t go outside, they were all discussing it heatedly online.
Users posted photos of the mist in their areas. It was the same everywhere: a dense yet weightless fog, like gaseous silk, swirling and dancing.
Some were deeply worried, while others made light of it. One popular influencer joked that it might be the end of the world, while a Cthulhu Mythos blogger swore it was the Nameless Mist descending upon the earth.
Scrolling down, she saw a post with several hundred comments.
ShaoNianXiHuan: So much pain I dont know why my whole body hurts, I already called for help but is it any use now, hope they come quick, but i dont think i can hold on, sorry i love you @NianShaoHuanXi
Judging by the content, the user was suffering from the shock of the awakening and had tagged their lover in the middle of it. The words looked like they had been typed in a panic—illogical, with three typos.
Yue Du felt a pang of distress. It was the human instinct for empathy at work.
Qi Jiu, on the other hand, seemed completely unaffected. She kept scrolling without a pause, not even bothering to click on the comments.
Yue Du sighed and secretly connected to the network to view the post herself. She saw the top comment.
NianShaoHuanXi: Answer your phone!!! Please, just answer your phone!
Yue Du felt her heart clench. Of course, she didn’t actually have a heart, so a more apt description would be her data flow stuttering.
…Hopefully, the person hadn’t answered simply because the pain had made them lose consciousness. Perhaps there was still a chance they could pull through.
Qi Jiu was probably the most relaxed of everyone currently undergoing the awakening, at least on the surface. She finished the entire process while scrolling through Weibo.
The data had actually mentioned that during the mass outbreak, the earlier a person began the awakening process, the greater their potential, the stronger the shock they would endure, and the higher their risk of death.
Qi Jiu had started awakening at 5:02 a.m. and finished at 5:33 a.m. Her expression remained unchanged throughout, and she even had the leisure to watch netizens make wild guesses online.
Yue Du was more nervous than Qi Jiu herself. “Do you feel anything? What’s your ability?”
Qi Jiu raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you already know it’s the Word Spirit ability?”
That was for the poor, pitiful version of Qi Jiu! Who knows what a sleeping-beauty-koala-hybrid like you will get!
Qi Jiu fell silent for a moment, then raised her eyes and declared solemnly, “I say, let there be light.”
Yue Du held her breath, but after a second, then two, nothing had changed.
Could it really not be the Word Spirit ability?
“Maybe you’re using it wrong. Abilities like this usually have limitations, right? Perhaps you could try being more specific and detailed,” Yue Du suggested.
So, Qi Jiu held out her palm and said earnestly, “I want a piece of candy.”
No candy appeared—not in her fair, open palm, nor on the floor beside her.
“Please give me a piece of candy.”
Nothing.
“Make a piece of candy appear in my palm.”
Nothing.
“I want a Dove chocolate.”
Nothing.
Yue Du covered her face. “…”
This was too great a deviation from the original worldline. Was she really not a Word Spirit user?!
Qi Jiu, however, looked thoughtful. She glanced at the tissue box beside her and suddenly said:
“Tear these tissues to shreds.”
The sentence was like a directive, an order issued to some unseen force in the air.
An invisible force lifted all the tissues from the box. They were twisted and ripped apart in midair, finally becoming tiny, almost perfectly uniform pieces that fluttered down and scattered across the floor.
The word was spoken, and the deed was done.
Her words became reality; every syllable held power.
This was the Word Spirit ability.
Yue Du’s eyes widened slightly. After a moment of surprise, she began to analyze the reason: why had the previous commands failed, while this one worked so quickly?
As she was pondering this, Qi Jiu looked at the scraps on the carpet and said calmly, “These paper scraps—”
Yue Du was suddenly startled.
Had her host figured something out?
“—are going to be very hard to clean up from here,” Qi Jiu finished.
Yue Du took a deep breath. “…Host.”
“Yes?”
“Your focus is, as always, uniquely peculiar.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
That wasn’t a compliment, thank you very much!
Author's Notes
When Qi Jiu first started receiving the Esper Ability shock.
Qi Jiu (opens eyes, smirks): Quite interesting.
Yue Du (shocked): She’s smiling, she’s laughing maniacally!
Qi Jiu: …No, I’m not.
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