Chapter Text
-𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱….. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱!
The room got silent. Women, men and older people stood with gloomy faces. Scared kids looking for their parents. The number of people was about a hundred, but the huge room accommodated everyone without exception still leaving some space.
Hearing the old man's screams, a vein bulged on the forehead of the man in military uniform. In an attempt to vent his rage and fear of the unknown, the soldier struck the old man on the head with brutal force. But he, without moving, continued to frantically repeat the words about death. The soldier became even more enraged and screamed:
-What type of nonsense are you talking about?! Dead? Dead my ass!
A loud scream made the old man burst into tears. The chaos grew bigger and bigger.
«𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗺!»-A small candy wrapped in a blue wrapper was thrown at the screaming man.
The man was unable to dodge the precise shot and the candy hit his forehead with a loud crack, before collapsing onto the porcelain floor. A melodic voice hidden behind the crowd sounded clear and firm:
-Shut your mouth
Stunned glances turned to the center of the hall.
There, in the very heart of the place a giant staircase rose up, leading upward to several half-story balconies that encircled the hall and could fit a couple of dozen people. Graceful statues of gods stood frozen in the corners of the first floor. One held an ever-burning flame in his hand, another's back was covered in a tangle of vines strewn with exotic flowers, a third's hair continuously cascaded with water disintegrating into spray before it reached the ground and the last held a miniature hurricane in his palms obediently swirling around his hands. There was an inexplicable, primal horror in all this. Fear gripped the hearts of the people: no one dared approach the statues. Everyone huddled at the foot of the stairs which took up almost half the hall.
A young man of about twenty sat on the top step. His black shirt unbuttoned at the collar, perfectly matched his elegant trousers. His dark raven-black hair softly framed his graceful face with unruly strands playfully tickling his cheekbones. His pale skin set off his scarlet lips and violet eyes like violets frozen in the gloom. One long leg was casually crossed over the other.
The chill of his aura was repulsive, and despite his charming appearance he seemed unattainable. Only two people casually hanging around, apparently unafraid of freezing.
Frozen with shock, the soldier screamed with new force
-Who do you think you are bastard?! Come here you little piece of shit, I’ll teach you some manners!
The patience of «a little shit» named Xiao Yun came to an end. But before he could move he felt someone else’s arm on his shoulder.
Young man with circle glasses looked at him with a gentle smile, but even that smile couldn’t hide his concern.
-Yun Ge, don’t break his bones,- Mei Fuhua said with a worried tone in his voice
At that very moment a female voice rang out, hurting the ears with its insensitive mechanism
[ʟᴏᴀᴅɪɴɢ…]
[ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴇʟᴇsᴛɪᴀʟ sʏsᴛᴇᴍ ʜᴀs ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴀᴛᴇᴅ]
A gigantic blue screen appeared right out of thin air on the wall looking like a solid-sized TV. In the right corner, a microphone icon flickered and large luminous words ran along the smooth surface repeating the female voice that had just sounded. White seemingly large letters replaced each other depending on the content of the speech.
[ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀʙʏʀɪɴᴛʜs ᴏꜰ
ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴜʀᴏʙᴏᴜs.]
A wave of icy horror was able to free the chained hearts. The piercing squeal of the girls which was absurdly joined by the cry of a bearded man broke the silence.
In the hall, without windows or doors as if in the mouth of a stone house, chaos reigned. An elderly man who fainted at the sight of a huge screen could not come to his senses for a long time.
But among the maddened crowd there were also those who managed to maintain composure without succumbing to the general panic.
The military man, pale as a sheet gathered the last of his courage and trying to speak firmly shouted:
-Where are we?! What do you want from us?!
In human nature there’s a desire to be a leader or follow the one in lead. As soon as one showed himself the rest followed the brave leader.
And now with a leader among them people calmed down a little. Some even dared to come forward, supporting him with an anger murmur
-Yea! He’s right!
-What the hell is going on there?!
-This is illegal! Do you know who my father is?!
[ʟᴀʙʏʀɪɴᴛʜs ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴜʀᴏʙᴏᴜs- ᴀ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ, ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ sɪɴꜰᴜʟ sᴏᴜʟs ɢᴇᴛ ᴀ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀᴛ ʀᴇᴅᴇᴍᴘᴛɪᴏɴ] - a fearless voice sounded like an echo from the underworld, completely lacking even the slightest hint of sympathy
[ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛᴇᴇɴ ɪɴsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ᴡᴀɪᴛɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ.
ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴛᴀsᴋ ɪs ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀss ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴ ᴀʟɪᴠᴇ]
[ꜰɪʀsᴛ ɪɴsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ sᴛᴀʀᴛ ɪɴ ᴛᴇɴ ᴍɪɴᴜᴛᴇs.
ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛᴅᴏᴡɴ ʜᴀs sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ]
With the clock ticking alarmingly in the background Xiao Yun quietly walked down the majestic staircase and headed deeper into the hall. Mei Fuhua and his one year younger sister Mei Yonghua silently followed him.
Even though Xiao Yun was just a business partner of the Mei family the three of them were inseparable in childhood.
A rare occasion when they broke away from the hustle and bustle of business turned into a tragedy.
On the way to the airport in anticipation of a long-awaited vacation, Xiao Yong's car brakes failed. The car as if gone mad rushed towards its inevitable death. At the wheel was Mei Fuhua who retained his mind to the last, unlike his sister and Xiao Yung who lost consciousness. The final blow hit a tree on the side of the road and everything was plunged into pitch darkness. And then they ended up here.
It would be ridiculous to trust a mechanical voice and a giant screen, but alas, it seems they are all truly dead.
The system's voice still monotonously beat out the seconds, but Xiao Yun, completely oblivious to this, caught his eye on the slight movement on the mezzanine.
There leaning towards the railing stood a tall brown-haired. Brown eyes met Xiao Yun piercingly without a trace of fear or aggression with a light, almost cheeky smile. Crowds of cute girls hovered around the guy, but his gaze despite everything was focused only on Xiao Yun.
Not wanting to give each other a win, they froze in a silent duel of glances like children playing staring contest. Only Mei Yunhua’s voice broke this tense silence:
-Do you know him?
Xiao Yun shook his head to deny, although his eyes involuntarily glanced to where the stranger stood a moment ago. However there was no one there anymore - only the emptiness teased the escaped secret.
The air in the hall became thicker as if someone had added ash to it. The echoes of the system's voice faded and silence came.
Xiao Yun stopped at the foot of the stairs and glanced at the crowd. No one noticed the disappearance of that guy on the balcony except him.
[6 ᴍɪɴᴜᴛᴇs ᴀɴᴅ 28 sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅs. “ᴛɪᴄᴋ ᴛᴏᴄᴋ”]
The system never forgot to remind us that something unknown, perhaps the last was approaching.
The first signs of panic began to appear again. People huddled in groups, whispered, accused each other of sins that no one asked about. Someone even tried to find a secret exit but his attempts were unsuccessful
Xiao Yun approached the nearest statue, the one offering heavenly fire on her open palms. He silently touched the flame with his fingertip expecting a burning pain, but the fire remained cold.
The touch sent a hot whirlwind through the hall like the breath of a dragon and a screen appeared right in front of Xiao Yun’s face blocking the way.
[ᴡᴇ ᴀsᴋ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄɪᴘᴀɴᴛ #047 ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜ ᴄᴇʟᴇsᴛɪᴀʟ ᴍᴀᴛᴇʀɪᴀʟ]- Young man with violet eyes snorted removing his arm
Several people in the crowd involuntarily recoiled when the system spoke again. But not everyone drew conclusions.
A rough laugh was heard. The same military man, clearly trying to regain his lost sense of power, decided to take a desperate step.
Approaching another statue behind which vines were sprouting - he extended his hand. Fingers closed on a flexible stem cold as steel. He pulled - once, twice. Liana did not give in.
The crowd held its breath. Mei Fuhua tried to stop the distraught man, but Mei Yunhua's warning glance made him freeze in place.
-Shit..- he muttered and clenching his teeth pulled harder.
The vine came off with a loud crunch. As soon as the plant broke away from its own kind a strange sound rushed through the hall - not loud, but deeply vibrating, like a hum underground.
The man trembled, and his eyes widened - they read misunderstanding which quickly gave way to horror.
The headache made him scream inexorably. Blood came out of the ears, eye sockets and nose, as if someone inside the skull was mercilessly expanding the space sparing no effort. The whole body arched, as if about to break into two parts and then the officer fell soullessly to the floor.
Someone screamed heartrendingly, someone vomited to the point of dizziness and someone closed their eyes in hysterics sobbing uncontrollably.
The man’s head completely dissipated and the dead body, completely unbleeded remained lying on the porcelain floor.
[ᴠɪᴏʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜʟᴇs ʀᴇᴄᴏʀᴅᴇᴅ]
[ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄɪᴘᴀɴᴛ #079 ɪs ᴇʟɪᴍɪɴᴀᴛᴇᴅ]
And as if nothing had happened, the system spoke again, counting down the last seconds of freedom.
[3…..2……1 sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ʟᴇꜰᴛ]
Panic entangled everyone in a web of the unknown. People run in search of salvation, resembling rats driven into a corner. Every look showed animal fear of an inevitable fate.
[ᴛɪᴍᴇs ᴏᴜᴛ.]
The deafening wail of sirens broke the silence echoing in frightened hearts. With a thunderous roar the walls of the hall shot up in the form of giant curtains, opening before the amazed eyes of the participants an intricate web of corridors beckoning into their unknown depths.
[ᴛʜᴇ ꜰɪʀsᴛ ɪɴsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ ʟᴀʙʏʀɪɴᴛʜs ᴏꜰ ᴏᴜʀᴏʙᴏʀᴏs ɪs ᴏꜰꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟʟʏ ᴏᴘᴇɴ. ᴡᴇ ᴡɪsʜ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ʟᴜᴄᴋ]