Ch.03

Chapter 3

Shi Yu blinked in confusion. He hadn’t expected that simply sleeping through the night would lead to being tracked down by the novel’s second male lead character.

Now came the question—should he open the door or not?

As just a background character, Shi Yu had no desire whatsoever to get involved with the main cast. But the people outside did seem to have something important to say.

He bit his lip while they waited, then finally pulled his mask back on.

"Sorry, just a moment. I’ll open the door right away."

A minute later, the front door swung open from the inside.

The members of the Ability User Association who had waited all night let out a relieved sigh. They were used to dealing with residents reluctant to interact with strangers. When the person inside stayed silent for so long, Zhao Wen had already prepared to call for official clearance. Fortunately, after Dr. Shen introduced himself, the occupant finally seemed convinced.

Faced with so many important characters from the story at once, Shi Yu felt a little awkward. Thankfully, his mask covered most of his expression.

The young man in the blue hoodie had fair skin, and his eyes like a cat's—slightly red at the corners—made him look like he’d just woken up.

"Sorry, I was sleeping pretty deeply and didn’t hear the doorbell. Please, come in."

Shi Yu moved aside to let them in.

"Ah, no problem."

Zhao Wen and Wang Shan waved their hands dismissively. For them, as long as the resident was safe and no further murders occurred, it was already good news. Waiting one night was nothing.

Shen Yan had been looking around the apartment. When the streamer named Shi Yu spoke, he felt something stir in his chest.

Somehow, he found the young man’s voice… strangely pleasant?

No one knew Shen Yan had insomnia. Between working at the hospital during the day and dealing with Horror cases at night, he hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep in a long time. In the past, it was due to lack of time, but now, even when he had the chance, he simply couldn’t sleep.

At least after fusing with a Horror, his stamina had improved significantly, so going without sleep for several nights didn’t affect his health.

Still, it wasn’t comfortable. The persistent dryness in his eyes made his temples throb slightly. After pulling another all-nighter, even Zhao Wen and the others—who had only been assigned one task—were exhausted, let alone Shen Yan, who had been working nonstop for a week.

Yet, just now, when this small-time streamer spoke, the discomfort in his temples seemed to ease a little?

If he remembered correctly, Shi Yu’s content focused on eating streams, not voice work.

But his voice was soothing.

Lost in thought, Shen Yan lagged half a step behind. As the others turned to enter, he snapped back to attention—only to suddenly notice something on the ground. Frowning, he bent down and discreetly picked up a stray eyeball, slipping it into an evidence bag without making a sound.

His movements were subtle, and Shi Yu didn’t notice. His mind was too busy racing about what was happening.

Once everyone was seated, Shi Yu couldn’t hold back any longer. "Um, gentlemen… can you tell me why you’re here?"

Earlier, they had insisted on speaking inside, so Shi Yu had complied. Now, observing the well-dressed men before him, he came back to his senses.

He was always so careful, leaving the house only once a week, tops.

Had something still gone wrong?!

His restless mood seemed to settle slightly again. Shen Yan quietly pulled his hand back, his gaze lingering on the mask covering Shi Yu’s face. Then, abruptly, he spoke:

"No big deal."

"Mr. Shi, you’ve probably heard about the Orange Blossom Road delivery incident by now."

"We got an alert last night that someone had sent an unidentified package to your account. We were worried you might get scammed, so we came to check."

"They’re handling this delivery case—I’m the team doctor."

Dr. Shen’s face stayed blank as he spoke. "Mr. Shi, hear anything weird last night?"

Wang Shan thought it was weird—he usually gave these spiels. Why had Dr. Shen taken over today?

But since Dr. Shen was dead serious, Wang Shan straightened up immediately.

Weird sounds?

With everyone staring at him, Shi Yu shook his head, confused and a little embarrassed.

"No."

"Slept right through it—only woke up to your knocking."

Dr. Shen nodded. Once Wang Shan finished jotting it down, he asked, "Mind if we check your phone, Mr. Shi?"

"We need to look at the delivery info from your device."

The unstoppable delivery always texts first before striking. Though Shi Yu hadn’t been hurt yet, Dr. Shen wanted to double-check.

After a pause, Shi Yu ducked into his room and grabbed his phone from beside the pillow.

He’d headed straight to the bathroom to wash up earlier and hadn’t noticed, but now he saw two or three missed calls on the screen.

The red numbers glared from the display. He frowned—hadn’t he blocked unknown callers? How’d these creepy calls slip through?

Remembering what the Ability User Association officers had just said about the package…

Shi Yu bit his lip and passed the phone over.

The second Dr. Shen took it, something felt off.

A creepy, icy vibe clung to the phone—unnoticeable to regular folks, but clear as day to an Ability User.

The moment he touched it, his sixth sense picked up a flicker.

Seeing Dr. Shen’s expression, the squad behind him froze.

So the Horror Item had zeroed in here last night?

Then Mr. Shi… Zhao Wen shot Shi Yu a guilty look, remembering how his own mistake had let the "unstoppable delivery" slip out.

Silently, Dr. Shen gloved up and checked the missed calls, then opened the shipping app. Bingo—an extra delivery alert.

It looked like a normal shipping notice, but only those working the case knew the truth—everyone who ignored it ended up dead.

The second he saw the timestamp, last night’s events clicked into place.

The unstoppable delivery had homed in on the guy living alone in Unit 1903. It sent the notification, then followed standard procedure with a call.

But because of the blocked number setting, the first Horror Call failed. After a minute’s pause, it bypassed the block and showed up again. Right as the delivery was about to claim its victim, Zhao Wen and the others arrived upstairs—accidentally saving Shi Yu’s life.

If the timing had been just a little faster, this streamer named Shi Yu would already be dead.

Things still weren’t safe now, though. The “Inevitable Delivery” never missed its target. Since it had failed this time, it would definitely strike again tonight.

Thinking of that, Shen Yan handed the phone back.

“Dr. Shen, is something wrong?”

Seeing the calm look on his face as he returned the phone, Shi Yu thought everything was fine—until the next second, when the doctor nodded and said, “I just checked—there really is an unidentified package alert.”

“The alert is still active.”

“So, according to my deduction, Mr. Shi is now likely being targeted by the culprit sending these deadly deliveries.”

Shi Yu: …Talk about bad luck!

Why me?

While Shen Yan was checking the phone, Shi Yu had been on edge, hoping it was all just a false alarm. But now, despite all precautions, he’d actually gotten hit.

Even though he’d read the source material, not every supernatural incident in the story was described in detail—most were only briefly mentioned as cases the leads cracked.

So Shi Yu had no idea what this Horror linked to the package was. His thoughts short-circuited for a moment.

Any normal person would panic upon learning they were being targeted by a dangerous criminal under investigation, and even the young man across from him—wearing a mask—showed a flicker of tension in his expression.

Perhaps because the streamer’s voice was clear and soothing, easing some of his chronic insomnia stress, Shen Yan paid more attention to Shi Yu than he usually did to others.

The Ability User Association members behind him exchanged worried or sympathetic glances, figuring anyone would freak out hearing this.

At this point, Shi Yu took a deep breath and forced himself to stay calm. “So… what do we do now?”

Across from him sat the story’s male second lead—the one whose abilities ranked second only to Sang Huaiyu, the inhuman eldritch protagonist—and stood equal with Fu Nanyao, the captain of the Ability User Association.

He had to have a plan, right?

Sure enough, Shen Yan nodded. “Mr. Shi, you don’t need to worry. We’ll stick with you till we nail the culprit.”

Zhao Wen and the others jumped in to reassure him. “Dr. Shen may be an outside consultant, but he’s the real deal. You can relax, Mr. Shi.”

Shi Yu: …

Was he that easy to read?

He lowered his gaze briefly, then lifted his head composed once more. Looking at the Ability User Association members who had been comforting him, he suddenly remembered something.

“Oh! I’ve been talking your ears off—we haven’t even had a chance to offer anything.”

“Would you like some water? I’ll go grab some.”

Wang Shan waved a hand quickly. “Don’t bother—”

But before he could finish, Dr. Shen—who was known as a germaphobe who never used others’ stuff—glanced at the young streamer and suddenly said, “Thanks, I’ll take some.”

Wang Shan blinked in confusion.

Was Dr. Shen thirsty?

Still puzzled, he turned around, while Shi Yu didn’t question it and simply went into the kitchen to get water.

He was about to ask when he heard Dr. Shen say with his eyes closed, "Send a message to Captain Fu."

"Han Chuyi's internship points are deducted by one."

Han Chuyi was the team's newly recruited computer genius. The Han family was an undisputed prominent and wealthy family in B City, and Han Chuyi could be considered the scion of such a household. However, instead of focusing on inheriting the family business, he became dead set on joining the Ability User Association after briefly helping them out with an incident alongside Mr. Sang shortly after graduation—all in hopes of winning Mr. Sang’s favor.

Yet this guy had always been disobedient and arrogant. Even during this mission, he half-assed his efforts, getting on the nerves of even the typically unflappable Shen Yan.

Wang Shan and Zhao Wen shared a look.

They couldn’t figure out how the young master had suddenly offended Dr. Shen.

Still, they quickly sent a message to the captain.

As they were talking, Shi Yu came out carrying a tray with teacups.

Uncertain whether the members of the Ability User Association drank tea, he simply poured everyone a cup of simple hot water.

The warm water was placed on the table, and as Shi Yu withdrew his hand, he saw the team member named Wang Shan eagerly grab a cup and take a sip.

After standing guard all night, cold and hungry, everyone jumped at the chance to drink the hot water—except for Shen Yan, who had initially asked for it but didn't touch his cup at all.

Shi Yu: "..."

Of course, the second male lead wouldn’t drink water from outside sources.

The book mentioned that Shen Yan was a germaphobe who never touched outside food or drink—the only exception being a piece of chocolate given to him by the protagonist, Sang Huaiyu, during a mission.

When Shen Yan had earlier asked for hot water, Shi Yu thought it was odd.

Now, everything clicked.

His expression remained unchanged, but he actually looked visibly relaxed.

Shen Yan, watching from the side, caught this detail: despite not drinking the water, Mr. Shi didn’t seem displeased—in fact, he even appeared… relieved?

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