Chapter 2:Rebet System

Jiang Chen sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his phone's screen, dimly lit by the cold, artificial glow.

The world outside his window was shrouded in an unnatural red mist, thick and impenetrable, like a scar that stretched across the sky. The once-bustling Fortune Center Community now felt like a ghost town.

The sound of distant screams echoed faintly through the air, but it was more the silence that unnerved him—the quiet before the storm.

His fingers hovered above the screen, hesitating before he typed a message into the [Fortune Center Community] group. His thumb hesitated for a moment, before he finally sent.

[@everyone. Shelter. Food. Protection. Women only. Send unedited full-body photos first.]

The screen erupted.

Block A #1201 Jun Ge from afar: [Bro, have you lost your mind?]

Block B #809 Handsome Guy since childhood: [Is this some kind of joke? The bait's way too salty—I'm not biting.]

Block B #1808 Sun Jianmin, Director of the Subdistrict Office: [Listen, kid, this is a natural disaster, not a market to trade in. You should distribute the food equally. Trying to use food to barter for women—this is illegal! But if you want, you can hand the supplies to me, and I'll manage the distribution. You won't get in trouble that way.]

Block A #303 Tutu: [Disgusting! You better hope I never find out who you are!]

Block A #705 Aunt Zheng: [Who does this scum think he is? Doesn't even bother to change his group name. I'll track him down! Somebody call the police!]

Block B #1802 is in a good mood every day: [Where's the group leader? This creep needs to be kicked out immediately!]

Jiang Chen smirked. Let them rage. His thumb hovered over the "delete" button—but why bother? He was the group admin, a title earned delivering instant noodles and condoms to these same neighbors pre-mist.

He worked at a 24-hour convenience store on the outskirts of the community. The residents often asked him to deliver food to their doors, which led to him creating this group to help with the deliveries. At first, it was just a small network. But as the world changed, the group grew, its purpose shifting from convenience to survival.

Jiang Chen's goal wasn't to make foolish deals or seek affection from the women in the community. His mind was occupied with something far more important—The system he'd encountered before had awaken.

[Rebate System Activated.]

[Number of Women: 1]

[Return Rate: 10 times the materials consumed by the host woman.]

[inventory: Unlimited capacity, time freezes within it.]

[Inventory: 30 cans, 25 instant noodles, 40 Snickers…]

Jiang Chen's thoughts drifted to his ex-girlfriend, Song Shiyin. They hadn't spoken in weeks, but her name still appeared in the system's logs. There was something eerie about the way the system counted her, as though she were still there.

He wasn't desperate for the next woman. Not yet. There was more pressing danger to think about—things were changing rapidly in the world.

Jiang Chen glanced out the window. The entire skyline of Cloud City was submerged in the suffocating red mist. Only the highest towers stuck out, their roofs jutting from the ocean of crimson like jagged teeth.

His apartment was on the 32nd floor, just below the top floor. Anything below the 20th floor had been engulfed, lost to the mist. It was hard to imagine the devastation below.

It wasn't just buildings that were being consumed by the mist. Pine trees—tall, thick, and unnatural—reached upward from within it, their tops piercing the red fog like monstrous creatures. Jiang Chen couldn't shake the feeling that something far worse was lurking beneath.

The mist appeared and Plants grew unnaturally fast. Animals mutated, and the horrors of nature that followed had taken many by surprise. Jiang Fan had seen a cockroach large enough to be mistaken for a rat—its body was grotesque, and its movements were unnerving.

He turned away from the window, his stomach turning. He opened the refrigerator, only to be greeted by a nauseating sight: a loaf of bread, opened just that morning, was now coated in gray-green mold. The rancid stench filled the room, suffocating him. He grimaced and tossed the bread out of the balcony, watching as it fell through the mist, the ripples of red fog reacting like water disturbed by a stone.

Jiang Chen sighed deeply. The world was falling apart, and even food was rapidly decaying. Every unsealed package of food was spoiling within hours. The apocalypse wasn't just altering the landscape—it was altering everything.

Not only animals and plants are evolving, but microorganisms are also evolving.

Jiang Chen couldn't see the situation below the 20th floor and didn't dare to go down.

When the red mist came on the first day, Jiang Chen tried to go down to the 19th floor and walked into the red mist.

The red mist severely blocked the light, and the line of sight was limited to about 5 or 6 meters. Even the flashlight light could not penetrate, and the surrounding area was filled with a permeating red dimness.

After Jiang Chen walked for a while, he heard human screams coming from the depths of the red mist. He quickly ran away and never left the room again.

He pulled a fresh loaf of bread from the cupboard, but before taking a bite, his phone buzzed. Social media was exploding.

[Dragon TV News: Red Mist spreads worldwide. Animal and plant life evolving rapidly. Authorities are taking action to protect citizens.]

[Public Security Department: Survivors should stay indoors and avoid venturing into the wild. Dangerous creatures roam.]

[Help! A mosquito the size of my hand Had bitten me, and now my Hand is swollen!]

[I saw a sparrow so big that it took down a helicopter!]

[I can shoot lightning! Call me The Thor! New powers, anyone else feel it?]

[I have superpowers too! Message me if you want to team up!]

Jiang Chen scrolled through the posts, irritated by the flood of meaningless chatter. Some people were posting about superpowers they'd acquired, others were begging for food, while others were completely unhinged.

He couldn't help but wonder how these people had obtained their powers. Was it random? Or did it have something to do with the red mist?

He was about to put his phone down when he heard a chime—a system notification.

[Ding! Song Shiyin consumed a Snickers bar. 10 times will be returned to the host!]