Qiqi was a kindergarten student in Yuehe Town. At noon that day, strange images suddenly appeared in the sky. She couldn’t really understand what they meant, but then the teacher suddenly announced they were dismissing school early, and both her parents came together to pick her up.
At the time, her parents’ expressions were strange, looking somewhat nervous. On the way home, they stopped at the supermarket and bought an enormous amount of supplies.
So many people were scrambling to buy things—even during Chinese New Year, the supermarket had never been this crowded.
After returning home, Dad used quick-drying cement to patch every corner of the house. He layered thick oilcloths over the roof, several sheets stacked together, then added what he said were acid-resistant boards on top.
He also used these boards to seal the windows on the sides and back of the house.
Mom gathered all the clothes and dried vegetables from the courtyard. In their small garden plot, she harvested everything that could be picked, placing it all in baskets in the kitchen corner.
At first, Grandma scolded Mom and Dad for making a fuss over nothing, saying they were panicking over rumors. But when the neighboring grandparents, uncles, and aunts began working frantically like Mom and Dad, Grandma panicked too and started helping.
She cleaned all the water buckets and basins in the house, filled them with water, then took out all the dirty clothes to wash, saying they should take advantage of the strong afternoon sun to dry them, or they’d have nothing clean to wear for days.
Then she began making flatbread—the kind that’s fragrant and crispy. Grandma said these could keep for several days without spoiling.
She also cooked the perishable ingredients from the refrigerator and steamed a large pot of rice and many eggs.
The neighbor uncle returned on his three-wheeled motorcycle, saying he wanted to build a small shelter for their vegetable garden. Dad said if it really rained, that wouldn’t help much, but uncle enthusiastically built a small shelter for their family anyway.
There was also Old Zhang from the village entrance, who had lots of medicinal herbs. He brought down many herbs from the mountain and distributed them house by house, saying if anyone accidentally got caught in the rain, they should crush these herbs and apply them to wounds—they’d be quite effective.
Qiqi found it strange—every household was so busy.
The village chief uncle also went around checking, telling everyone not to slack off. These were orders from above—preparing for a few hours now might save their lives.
“Grandma, Dad, Mom, what are you all doing? What is everyone doing?”
Dad stopped his work, thought for a moment, and said to Qiqi, “Tonight it might rain here, but this rain will make your skin hurt. Dad, Mom, and Grandma are working now to prevent the rain from flowing into the house, otherwise everyone will be in pain.”
Qiqi nodded with partial understanding, then was pulled aside by Grandma, who scrubbed her from head to toe and changed her into clean clothes.
Grandma said it wouldn’t matter if they couldn’t bathe for several days after this—at least they’d start off clean.
*
At Song’an County Middle School, most students had left, but some whose homes were far away or had inconvenient transportation remained at school.
After all, in this situation, it was safer for them to stay at school than to go home.
The school was also reportedly going to serve as a temporary shelter for nearby residents whose housing structures weren’t up to standard.
In one classroom, the remaining students gathered for self-study while their teacher sat behind the podium, frowning as he scrolled through his phone.
A student couldn’t help asking, “Teacher, will it really rain acid rain?”
The young teacher looked up and adjusted his glasses. “Scientifically speaking, at least our county doesn’t have the conditions for acid rain formation.”
The students all looked over. “Then from an unscientific perspective?”
“From an unscientific perspective, that Sky Screen at noon was very unscientific.”
A student asked, “So if acid rain falls tonight, will the apocalypse really come? Will we head toward destruction like in the Sky Screen?”
The teacher reassured them. “Now the entire country and the whole world know about this. The government will find a solution—we must trust our country.”
Another student asked, “Even if acid rain falls tonight, could it be that someone created this acid rain and used the prediction of it to gain people’s trust and throw the whole world into chaos?”
The teacher thought for a while, then said seriously, “If someone could create acid rain covering an entire city while we remain completely unable to detect them, that would be nearly as terrifying as the end of the world.”
*
At a highway entrance in A City, under the blazing sun, Traffic Officer A watched vehicles leaving the city and asked his partner, “Do you think only our city is taking such precautions? Other cities aren’t doing anything? That Sky Screen said besides A City, dozens of other cities domestically and internationally would have acid rain too.”
Traffic Officer B replied, “With so many cities, if they all acted like ours, imagine the losses. Besides, whether acid rain will really come is still uncertain. Haven’t you seen online? People from other places are all laughing at us, waiting to see how we’ll handle this.”
Traffic Officer A checked the time. “Almost 3 PM—the highway’s about to close.”
“After it closes, we can head back early too.”
“Don’t expect to get off work today, but being in the city is more reassuring than being stuck out here in the middle of nowhere.”
*
Yun Eryao was a minor internet celebrity with 500,000 followers, famous for his sharp tongue. He particularly enjoyed commenting on social news and was exceptionally skilled at stirring up conflicts—his fans especially loved hearing him hold forth on current affairs.
Today he happened to be visiting a friend in A City. When the Sky Screen appeared, he was having dinner with his friend and immediately started livestreaming, with over 100,000 viewers flooding into his stream.
This was the first time Yun Eryao had encountered this scale of audience, and he was thrilled.
To maintain the momentum, even after the Sky Screen disappeared, he continued holding up his phone, livestreaming A City’s various reactions.
“Everyone can see—there are fewer and fewer people on the streets, the supermarkets are packed with panic buyers, and the municipal government, county government, town governments, village committees, fire departments, public security bureaus—they’ve all sent out warning messages.”
“Isn’t this unbelievable? Hahaha, they actually believe this Sky Screen so much—isn’t A City’s government just hilarious?”
Seeing the comment stream filled with mockery, Yun Eryao joined in. He knew exactly how to please his audience—only by letting them hear what they wanted to hear would they give gifts readily.
Yun Eryao pointed the camera at his friend. “Has your city always been this ridiculous?”
But his friend didn’t laugh. “Although I think the city-wide preparations are a bit extreme, I don’t find it funny when you talk about my city like this.”
He took a phone call, then said to Yun Eryao, “My mom wants me to come home. I suggest you show some respect too—find somewhere to shelter from the rain tonight.”
With that, he left. Yun Eryao’s expression darkened briefly, then he sighed to his livestream. “See? Another one brainwashed.”
[Host, your friend doesn’t seem very smart either]
[Host feels helpless, host sighs]
Yun Eryao livened up the atmosphere. “I think something big might have happened, and the government is using this to divert everyone’s attention. Maybe it’s some kind of military drill.”
“Haven’t you seen the international comments? They’re all treating this as a joke. A City’s overreaction is embarrassing us internationally—some people are even asking if we’re about to go to war.”
“I’m staying outdoors tonight to see if there’ll be acid rain. I won’t move until dawn—if acid rain really falls, I’ll drink it!”
This declaration caused gifts to flood his livestream, all supporting the host drinking acid rain.
#YunEryaoExposesFakeAcidRain climbed the trending searches among numerous acid rain topics, and his stream’s popularity skyrocketed.
*
The sun gradually set westward.
Night arrived punctually. A City slowly sank into darkness. Except for isolated areas where some people remained outside, refusing to go home, most places found people obediently hiding indoors.
The entire city seemed to have hit the pause button.
Yun Eryao mixed with a crowd of people refusing to go home. This was A City’s famous city park, with the lawn now full of people while security officers tried to persuade them to leave.
“You manage this and that—can’t you let me watch the stars here?”
“My factory was forcibly shut down—will the government compensate my losses?”
“Come on, I’m just selling barbecue—is that illegal? I have elderly parents and children to support!”
Yun Eryao cheerfully filmed these disputes—what great livestream material.
His viewers watched with great interest.
Shi Feizhai was also in the crowd, his eyes fixed on the girls.
“System, what’s really going on with that Sky Screen?”
Pickup System: “Don’t know, but don’t worry about it. Please focus on completing tasks, host.”
Shi Feizhai: “You don’t even know—how do you know not to worry? What if something more powerful than you discovers my cheat ability? Will I be arrested?”
The Pickup System grew impatient with this person—what kind of person was this, so timid and hesitant?
Pickup System: “If the host is afraid, you can apply to unbind.”
Shi Feizhai immediately became reluctant—this was the system that could make him king of the apocalypse.
He gritted his teeth. “I’ll do the task.”
He targeted a pretty girl and quietly approached, preparing to activate his “devoted love” skill.
However, his hunched, fawning, and obese figure was too conspicuous and too creepy.
A female security officer noticed this scene and frowned as she approached. Just as Shi Feizhai was about to put his hand on a beautiful girl’s shoulder, the female officer grabbed his wandering hand. “What are you doing?”
Shi Feizhai, despite his substantial weight, had an unsteady foundation and was immediately spun around, looking at the female officer in panic.
The moment the female officer looked into Shi Feizhai’s eyes, she felt her whole body tremble, as if electricity had passed through her mind, making her dizzy.
Looking at him again, she suddenly felt he was so handsome, so appealing—just one command from him and she would kneel in submission…
No good! She’d been affected!
What kind of new drug was this?!
She shook her head vigorously but felt no improvement. She twisted his arm hard, throwing him to the ground and pressing down heavily while shouting for backup. “Come quickly! I’ve caught a human trafficker!”
With a whoosh, the surrounding people immediately scattered, and other officers rushed over.
The officers restrained Shi Feizhai with many hands. Shi Feizhai loudly protested that he wasn’t a trafficker, but the female officer shook her head again and again, her cheeks flushed, looking at Shi Feizhai with especially dazed eyes before closing them and collapsing.
The other officers were shocked.
“Jiang Ying!”
This wasn’t just any trafficker—they’d probably caught a kidnapper! One with drugs!
Immediately, they restrained Shi Feizhai even more forcefully, making him howl as they handcuffed him and stuffed him into a police car. Jiang Ying was also carried into the car, and the police car sped away with sirens wailing.
Yun Eryao filmed the entire scene, extremely excited, smacking his lips. “See? This is what happens when city order breaks down—all sorts of demons and monsters come out to muddy the waters.”
The comment stream exploded.
[A City’s police quality is lacking—how could they be compromised so easily?]
[This is just what we can see—who knows how many people are taking advantage of the chaos in places we can’t see. A City is asking for trouble with this panic.]
[Are A City’s traffickers this brazen? Doing this in front of so many people—and they call this a civilized city?]
Yun Eryao delighted in reading these comments—the more discussion, the higher people’s engagement, the more willing they were to give gifts.
Yun Eryao: “Tonight has just begun—let’s see how many more stories unfold.”
Suddenly, something cold touched his nose. He wiped it. “Hey, friends, it’s actually raining, but this is just ordinary rain.”
He licked the drop. “See? ..Nothing wrong at all—I told you it was fake, right?”
He even tilted his head back and opened his mouth to catch rainwater. The rain poured down heavily, and the intensity increased rapidly.
Suddenly, Yun Eryao shuddered all over and bent down covering his mouth. “Ah, how could… it hurts so much!”
He frantically searched for water.
[Stop acting, haha]
[The performance seems quite real]
[Host really knows sarcasm]
But at this moment, Yun Eryao felt his tongue was about to rot, couldn’t say a word, and his throat and esophagus were burning.
“Ugh… wu, wuwu”
He opened his mouth and spat out bloody foam, while the areas of his face touched by rainwater began to blister.
Livestream viewers: !!!
At the same time, people on the lawn began screaming and running frantically for shelter.
“Acid rain! It’s acid rain!”
“It hurts so much!”
“My eyes! Rain got in my eyes!”
“Open the umbrellas!”
“Don’t step on me! Help!”
The livestream viewers were stunned, staring blankly at the scene where people under the rain’s assault quickly developed large blisters on exposed skin, even becoming bloody and raw.
This had to be staged, right? How could this be real?
But they soon couldn’t see the footage anymore, because Yun Eryao’s phone stand was knocked over during his escape, and then the camera was damaged by the acid rain.
The last image was of the pitch-black sky with rain falling like deadly spikes, while the entire sky resembled the maw of a flesh-eating demon.
In other parts of A City, all the people hiding in their houses fell silent, as if their throats had been gripped tightly.
Outside came the sound of pouring rain and faint screams and wails, as if they could even hear their houses being corroded with sizzling sounds by the rainwater.
They listened with tingling scalps and chills throughout their bodies.
Acid rain! Acid rain was really falling!
The apocalyptic prophecy was actually true!
Had this world gone mad?
*
Wei Yuexin woke up in the morning with dry, gritty eyes. After posting the first video last night, she had worked on the script for the second video.
This required her to read through the novel first and extract usable content—pure mental pollution. She had worked until 2 AM to organize the second video’s script.
The consequence was that her eyes hurt terribly.
She opened DouDou to check the first video’s performance.
Although she knew that after just one night, the data might not be impressive yet, checking backend data was an occupational hazard for anyone in creative work.
She had mentally prepared for the devastating blow of single-digit views, but the next moment she was stunned.
Views: 6.02M+!
Likes: 110K+!
Dislikes: 1.74M+!
Flowers: 50K+!
This data was terrifying!
Corresponding to this terrifying data were the extremely sparse comments.
[What kind of weird video is this?]
[Is this a new disaster movie?]
[The filming is too scary—my scalp is tingling]
[This data must be fake, right?]
[Fake data, bloody content—reported and reported]
Wei Yuexin was in a daze. She felt guilty too—were these statistics all contributed by those game participants? Did HR boost the numbers for her?
She contacted HR on WeChat, and they calmly said the data was genuine and normal, telling her not to worry.
Since she didn’t need to worry, she felt genuinely happy.
Such amazing data meant money!
The revenue calculation was complex—the main component was views, likes and flowers also counted as income, but dislikes seemed to deduct money.
After final calculations, this video brought her, after platform commissions, about… three thousand yuan!
Wei Yuexin, whose monthly salary was only over seven thousand: !!!
This income was shocking—almost half a month’s salary at once! Earning 100,000 yuan monthly suddenly wasn’t just a dream!
She quickly edited, voiced, and sent the second video to HR for review, then hurried to the hospital to visit her grandmother.