Subverting The World [Cyber] - Chapter 13

How do earthworms navigate underground?

Shi Xu crouched behind a short wall, recalling whatever knowledge she could about how these creatures sense their environment.

Could it really be detecting her the way a normal earthworm would—by sensing soil temperature and moisture? But this thing wasn’t even underground right now.

Taking a chance, Shi Xu picked up a brick from the ground, drew in a breath, and hurled it away.

The creature’s head instantly turned toward the sound.

So—it’s attracted to noise.

It probably has some form of sight too, though limited. Likely extremely nearsighted.

When Shi Xu remembered how close the creature had come to the car earlier, she realized it must need proximity to see clearly.

She glanced around and immediately understood her situation had worsened.

She wasn’t the only thing hiding here. If she accidentally drew attention to herself, she might trigger another nightmare being to come after her.

Distorted figures hovered at the edge of visibility. Spiders jerked unnaturally beneath the dirt. A scattering of red glass beads littered the surface like traps.

Those beads were the biggest threat.

Shi Xu watched a misshapen shadow step on one. In a flash, it vanished—only for a large dark mass to come crashing down from above.

Teleportation—but upward, just to fall.

She focused her mind and activated her ability. It registered the strange object’s name and info like a cursed inventory entry.

[Glass Bead… Red Glass Bead… A trap that ensures fall damage after contact. Stepping on it will guarantee you’re teleported above and dropped. Very frustrating.]

Shi Xu blinked. As the surrounding environment grew more dangerous, she could suddenly perceive more hidden entities.

Plans began to form in her mind.

Then, she noticed the “earthworm” man in the distance. His clothes were in tatters. His limbs were vanishing into his torso, morphing into a grotesque adult-sized worm.

[Subterranean Drillworm]

Her power dutifully supplied a name and information.

[Can liquefy surrounding soil to instantly burrow. Has a bite strong enough to shred steel.]

Shi Xu rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Her psychological stability had clearly taken a hit.

The worm creature began tunneling wildly across the construction site. Shi Xu could feel vibrations spreading from its movement—it was attacking the building’s foundation.

Only then did she realize: she was inside a structure.

Once this place collapsed, she’d be forced out into the open, with nowhere left to hide.

She also noticed that whenever the worm burrowed, the muddy soil rippled outward. Any abnormal beings nearby reacted—and the worm immediately rushed toward them and attacked.

Some escaped. Others were devoured.

It was the apex predator of this soil depth. Nothing could match its dominance underground.

Across the site, she spotted a cement mixer.

She knew it was now or never—if everything turned to sludge, there’d be no escape.

Wrapping herself in a sheet of black oilcloth—filthy, but necessary—Shi Xu moved carefully toward the mixer.

The cloth wasn’t to hide from enemies. It was to blind herself from seeing more anomalies that might provoke her into reacting.

The short distance felt endless. Five minutes to walk just a few dozen meters.

She didn’t lift the cloth. But then she felt her foot sink.

She’d stepped in mud. Only half her foot was in, but she could hear something chewing close behind her.

She didn’t move. Instead, she used her minimal energy to track the worm’s identifier.

When she noticed it drifting away, she burst forward, throwing off the oilcloth and sprinting for the cement mixer.

In just a few leaps, she climbed onto the control platform and turned the output chute. A loud grinding noise followed.

The worm paused, then swerved toward the sound.

It rammed the mixer platform hard. Shi Xu stumbled and fell.

She was going to land in the mud.

She reached out desperately—hoping to grab something, anything.

And a hand reached back.

She grasped it without thinking.

But what she saw next made her freeze.

It was a faceless humanoid figure. From their joined hands, threads spread, its skin rippling and scaling up to mirror hers.

It was replicating her.

From a distance, it looked like one Shi Xu holding another Shi Xu.

[Replicator]

Her vision registered the creature’s name.

[Can perfectly copy anything it touches and replace the original.]

It grinned. A long, sinister smile stretching ear to ear.

It yanked at her arm, aiming to pull her off balance.

But instead of being dragged, Shi Xu countered and hauled it up onto the platform.

Did it really think copying her would give it an advantage?

She was just a regular student. Becoming her was practically a downgrade.

The mixer roared behind them. The replicator screamed—a hideous sound that drowned out the machinery.

Shi Xu clutched her ears, turning to the chaos below. The worm was stuck in thickening cement, flailing wildly.

But the replicator wasn’t letting go. It clung to her as tightly as she’d grabbed it earlier.

They struggled. Twisting, turning.

The worm’s mouth opened—gaping, ringed with sharp teeth.

Shi Xu stepped back. But the replicator wouldn’t release her.

At her feet, a red glass bead rolled.

Without hesitation, she stopped resisting—and the replicator, caught off guard, tumbled forward toward the worm’s mouth.

Just before she followed, Shi Xu kicked the glass bead.

Not stepped on. Kicked.

Teleportation triggered.

She vanished before the replicator’s eyes.

And reappeared—above the worm.

The world spun. Her head throbbed from the abrupt transport.

Below her: a dangerous mess of mud and drying cement.

She couldn’t stay here.

Then she saw it—another red bead, rolling nearby.

A flash of an idea.

She grabbed the bead and rubbed it.

In the replicator’s last glimpse, she vanished again.

The worm chomped through the air, missing her.

Back at the mixer, the cement hardened.

Shi Xu was bruised and dizzy, but alive.

She clambered back up to the platform. Picked up two red beads.

She hurled one into the worm’s mouth—still marked with bl00d. The other she tossed into the spinning mixer.

The chaos fell silent.

Aside from half-buried worm remains locked in solid concrete, the area was calm.

Shi Xu stood up and caught her breath.

She never returned the bead she kept.

Instead, she pocketed it—and walked away.

Behind her, a string of red glass beads followed, rolling ominously, each pulsing with silent fury.

But Shi Xu had other problems now.

She needed to resurface.

And fast.

Opening her phone, she checked the latest alerts.

Baita had issued a ban.

[“Nightmare Attack” is now classified as illegal software. All content related to it will be strictly monitored and removed. Anyone caught playing or sharing it is encouraged to self-report.]

After Shi Xu’s departure, the morning workers returned—and called the police in confusion.