No strange things are allowed to evolve!

No strange things are allowed to evolve!

Author: Shi Ma Ling Mu Gen

Jiang Shu is sick, very sick.

His brain's reward system suddenly broke down one day, and the threshold could not be lowered no matter what he did.

In order to continuously gain pleasure, he began to try various challenges that could bring him excitement and a sense of accomplishment. Unknowingly, he grew into an ultimate human being who was proficient in professional knowledge and skills in various fields and whose body was developed to the limit.

Just when he felt he had hit a wall, and nothing could stir his emotions except seeing ghosts, he actually saw a ghost…

[May all creatures strive to survive to the end in this game of evolution, and evolve into a form that will surprise the gods!]

Jiang Shu didn't hear what was going on; he was so engrossed in his life as a mission master that he was oblivious to the world around him.

Then, devastating news arrived from the evolutionary circle: the urban legend had been updated—

1. If you encounter a male human whose behavior is illogical and who does not actively attack the evolved human, don't worry. He won't show his health bar, and you won't be harmed as long as you keep your distance.

Second: If your matched partner suddenly complains about how boring it is, try to leave the hatchery as soon as possible, because they may be doing something that makes the hatchery more difficult and impossible to pass.

Third: If you unfortunately get involved with the man described above, then you are indeed very unfortunate.

After listening to his new companion recount the three strange tales about the rules that had recently been circulating, Jiang Shu looked at the indescribable creatures in the hatchery:

"Hi, I've been feeling a bit depressed lately, so could you help me relax?"

Chapter 1 The Collapsed Brain Reward System

"You mean, you've agreed to be my girlfriend?"

"That's right. Although we only met last night, I feel that your personality and interests are very compatible with mine, and your looks really appeal to me. Most importantly, you're in great shape, so I've decided to say yes. You have to cherish me, after all, I'm a top-tier actress, and I have tons of fans who dream of being my boyfriend! By the way, what are we going to do later?"

"Oh, we'll break up in a bit."

......

"You mean, I passed the interview?"

"That's right, congratulations! You've successfully beaten all the competitors and been named our company's most promising new employee this year. From today onwards, you are an employee of a proud Fortune 500 company ranked number one! Feel free to ask me any questions now."

"Um, where do I process my resignation?"

......

"You mean, I'm the group admin now?"

"That's right. In the past year, you forwarded a total of 36,500 chat logs, sent 365,000 emojis, and made a number of idiotic remarks. On average, you forwarded 100 chat logs and 1,000 emojis every day, successfully disgusting thousands of group members. You were named the King of Shit-Moving of the Year. The previous group owner voluntarily abdicated and stepped down. Now you are the new group owner."

“That’s great, this is the happiest thing that has happened to me recently.”

"So, is there anything you'd like to say?"

"I want to leave the group."

......

That night, in the outskirts of Tancheng.

In a quiet bar late at night, two young people are chatting idly to the accompaniment of soothing music.

"Shuzi, it's only been a few years since we last met, how did you become like this? You can't go on like this. A person always needs to have something to strive for in life. How can you not be interested in anything?"

One of them was talking to his friend across the table while glancing at the female college students playing games directly behind his friend.

"Could you please stop calling me that? I always feel like you're insulting me." Jiang Shu sighed and downed the special cocktail in his glass in one gulp, but apart from a slightly burning sensation in his throat, he felt no excitement whatsoever.

"I didn't insult you. I just told you to read less mindless online novels. You're always using vulgar language and have no culture at all."

Turning his gaze away from the female college student, his friend noticed the wine glass in Jiang Shu's hand and was immediately shocked:

"Dude, is that Trinity Force?!"

He watched as Jiang Shu refilled the glasses with vodka, whiskey, and baijiu.

There's no other way.

Jiang Shu burped and tapped his head:

"That's how it is now. It's not that I'm not interested in anything, it's just that the things that make me happy and excited are one-off events, which raise my threshold. The next time I experience a similar situation, I don't feel anything."

"But at least you'll get drunk, right?" his friend asked.

Jiang Shu shook his head: "Ever since I got drunk last time and dreamed of conquering the world, and felt incredibly good, it's like my brain discovered this bug, and I haven't gotten drunk since."

"This..." His friend was speechless.

Then, Jiang Shu rolled up his sleeves, revealing large and small scars on his arms: "Later I heard that pain can bring pleasure, and guess what, I'm now just short of stabbing myself to death."

His friend was terrified, but thankfully Jiang Shu quickly put his sleeve back.

"Hiss... Is this all over my body?"

Jiang Shu nodded calmly.

"How could this happen?" The friend finally realized the seriousness of the problem: "You need to see a doctor, right?"

"Looked."

"What did the doctor say?"

"Doctor".

"...Can you please stop using such terribly stale jokes?"

"The doctor said...it's because my brain's reward system is broken."

Jiang Shu thought for a moment and explained, "Normally, the reward and punishment loop model should be like a spring. Whether it is compressed or stretched, although there will be slight deformation, it will eventually return to its original state, and the deformation will disappear over time."

But the doctor said my reward and punishment loop model is like a cement pillar; you can't push it back down, you can only pour it upwards, and it will only grow to that length—there's no room for it to spring back.

"How could it have gone bad out of nowhere?" The friend was puzzled at first, then, as if remembering something, she asked tentatively with concern, "I mean, did you eat something... bad?"

"No, I always abide by the law."

Jiang Shu shook his head: "It probably started after I graduated from university. At first, I just felt less comfortable when I rewarded myself, and I suspected that my body was failing me. But after taking supplements for a while, it still didn't work."

Then, eating delicious food no longer brought me joy, and winning games, even reaching the highest rank, brought me no sense of accomplishment.

I was terrified at the time, thinking I had become depressed.

But I later discovered that it wasn't like that at all, because I found that I could still gain happiness and a sense of accomplishment when I succeeded in areas I had never tried before.

So I started trying all sorts of things I'd never tried before and constantly pushing my limits. For example, I went from being too afraid to approach girls to becoming a player, or from knowing nothing to quickly passing the Level 1 professional assessment. Besides these ordinary things, there were also some more exciting ones, like going from being afraid of heights to being able to parachute from extreme heights, or going from being afraid of the dark, afraid of water, and unable to swim to being able to do deep-sea diving without any lighting equipment.

So far, aside from some things that are not permitted by law or where my abilities and talents are limited, I have almost reached the limit of what an ordinary person can do.

Next, it'll probably involve landing on Mars or encountering ghosts.

"Hmm..." The friend pondered for a long time: "So, excessively rewarding yourself is a dead end, right?"

"That's not the point, is it?" Jiang Shu said speechlessly. "Besides, would you over-reward me?"

His friend glanced at the female college student again and asked furtively, "Tonight?"

"..."

"Anyway, at least from now on, I'm going to quit." My friend looked very conflicted.

Jiang Shu shrugged: "No need, being comfortable is innocent."

"I'm afraid I'll end up like you. My brain wasn't as sharp as yours when I was in school, and I can't be as ruthless to myself as you are now. If I really fail, I'll probably become depressed."

My friend shook his head and changed the subject: "No wonder we haven't heard from you in years. All our old classmates thought you weren't doing well and that's why you stopped contacting us."

Jiang Shu stroked his chin: "Am I doing really well?"

Ignoring Jiang Shu's self-deprecating humor, his friend sighed and said, "Anyway, I feel like science can't save you anymore. How about we try metaphysics? Maybe you have some kind of evil spirit on you. Maybe if we go to a temple and pray, you'll be fine after a good night's sleep?"

Jiang Shu thought about it seriously: "Hmm... I haven't tried it before, but I can give it a try."

"Okay, then give it a try when you have time."

My friend said, glancing at the time:

"That's about enough. I should go home. I have to go to work tomorrow. It's my first job after moving here, so I can't be late."

"Okay." Jiang Shu got up and went with her friend to the street outside the bar.

The late autumn night was a bit chilly, and the two of them unconsciously tightened their clothes.

"Alright, let's get together again next time." The friend stomped her feet twice, feeling much warmer, and nodded at Jiang Shu with her chin: "Be careful on your way back, it's dark, remember to take the main road."

"Do not worry."

"I'm just worried about you." His friend gave a helpless, bitter smile, then patted Jiang Shu's shoulder seriously: "Tell me if you can't hold on anymore, I'll be there whenever you call."

"Ah."

Watching his friend leave, Jiang Shu couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

Even though we haven't seen each other for years, I should be very happy, but I feel no emotion at all. As a result, the other person isn't very interested either. If this continues, I'm afraid we'll lose even our friendship.

I thought I could relax and be myself when facing my friends without having to fake a smile, but it turns out I still can't.

Feeling inexplicably disappointed, Jiang Shu took out her phone to hail a taxi.

But when he opened the map to locate the spot, he discovered that there was a popular temple, Yunfu Temple, just two kilometers away from the bar his friend had chosen.

The temple's name seemed familiar. After a moment's thought, Jiang Shu remembered that people had been disappearing in this area for a long time, never to be seen alive or dead, and no suspects had ever been caught.

The identity of the first missing person is unknown, but over the decades, there have been at least a dozen missing persons. For a long time, the streets in this area were deserted after 8 p.m.

Until more than a decade ago, a wandering monk settled here and built a temple, and since then there have been no more similar disappearances.

Although superstition is not encouraged, many people believe that what caused the disappearance was probably not a person, otherwise it would have been impossible to have no clues for so many years. They believe that the temple suppressed the evil spirits, which is why similar things have not happened again.

At that time, the whole city was abuzz with discussion, and Jiang Shu, who was still in elementary school, even saw various experts discussing and analyzing the situation on television.

In short, from then on, Yunfu Temple became very popular and was said to be very efficacious.

My friend's words suddenly echoed in my mind.

Or... how about trying metaphysics?

When Jiang Shu came to her senses, she had already walked quite a distance following the navigation.

Only then did he belatedly realize that it was so late, was the temple still open?

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Shu patted his pocket and then breathed a sigh of relief.

At least bring your own cigarettes. If that doesn't work, light a couple at the door. Even Buddha smokes incense, so there's no reason he wouldn't smoke some cigarettes.

Although nicotine could no longer bring Jiang Shu happiness, he still habitually carried it with him so that he could offer cigarettes to others. He never expected it would come in handy now.

"Please turn right in 30 meters, and continue straight for 1.5 kilometers to reach your destination!"

A cold, mechanical voice came from the phone. Jiang Shu first looked at the main road on his left, then at the muddy path hidden behind a stinking ditch on his right.

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Shu jumped over the stinking ditch.

As we all know, a certain map can record every footprint. Since it says to go this way, it means that this road is definitely passable, and it is a shortcut.

There must be a reason for guiding it this way.

Jiang Shu firmly believed this.

Then he came to a cemetery.

Or rather than a cemetery, it's more like a desolate graveyard, a mass burial ground, where no one has come to pay their respects for who knows how many years.

"Destination reached, navigation complete!"

Looking around, Jiang Shu lowered his head and gave the software a bad review.

But since he was already there, Jiang Shu still took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

"Well, the fact that we brothers are buried in a place like this means we were all penniless in life and probably never smoked any good cigarettes. Consider this cigarette a tribute to you guys. If there really are ghosts in the world, then I've bought out your right to possess my body. When you have time, remember to check if there's anything unclean on me. If there is, remember to chase it away. Thank you."

Jiang Shu stuck three cigarettes in the ground, bowed again, and then prepared to return the way he came.

But just then, a weasel appeared out of nowhere and blocked Jiang Shu's path.