"That's right. No matter how strange this world is, this is an apocalyptic world. Thus, it must come with two distinctive things: posthumans and duoluozhong." Lin Sanjiu thought to herself as she looked at the thing in front of her, which was only half her height.
She saw no one on her way here, so she didn't expect to meet a duoluozhong when she walked on the second floor of this bed and breakfast hotel.
The duoluozhongs from every world had a different appearance due to the different apocalyptic events that triggered their mutation. Logically speaking, Lin Sanjiu did not know what caused the apocalypse in this world, so she didn't know what sort of duoluozhong to expect. However, the thing in front of her was clearly a duoluozhong. It couldn't be anything else...
Its body was like a twisted trunk of a tree. Its head was sharp and flat. Its sharp jagged teeth stuck out from its mouth. Lin Sanjiu could see its non-human skeletal frame jutting and bulging under its greenish skin. This was a creature which could be called a 'monster' no matter where.
Lin Sanjiu didn't know why but she let out a sigh of relief after she saw the duoluozhong. When she regained her nerves, she drew out her vibroblade, and her expression even relaxed a little.
"This is how things should be..." Lin Sanjiu held her knife and stepped forward. Seeing this familiar creature, it didn't matter whether it was friend or foe, Kisaragi Station World didn't feel as inexplicable and creepy as before. It was as if she finally gained some confidence.
To her surprise, the duoluozhong let out a sharp shriek when it saw her taking out her knife. It turned and ran toward a room on the corridor and started knocking on the door.
Huh?
Lin Sanjiu stopped and stared at it while she held her knife. The handle of the door moved and the duoluozhong instantly squeezed through the gap in the door. Next, a man's puzzled face peeked out from the door. "Greenie, what's outsid—?"
Before he could finish his sentence, he found himself staring back at Lin Sanjiu. At that moment, both people were shocked.
"Huh, huh?" Suddenly spotting another living person, Lin Sanjiu was overwhelmed with joy. Her eyes brightened as she asked, "Are you a posthuman?"
She could never imagine that seeing another human would make her so happy. The man seemed to feel the same way. He stuttered happily for some time before he finally completed his sentence, "I... I'm not imagining this, right? Are you alive? Oh gosh! I have been here for more than one month..."
While he spoke, he rubbed his short buzzcut and his round face turned red.
"I just arrived! This place gives me the creeps..." That person was just a stranger, but Lin Sanjiu couldn't resist telling him what was on her mind. Remembering something, she quickly asked, "That thing... is a duoluozhong?"
"Quick, come in..." the excited man urged. He wasn't that tall but he was well-built. Suddenly remembering that Lin Sanjiu was a female posthuman all by herself, he guessed that she might be cautious about entering his room, so he laughed hurriedly, "You mean Greenie? It is a duoluozhong. But it is just a... something in this world. I have some methods to tame any duoluozhong in any world so that I can use them."
Even though both of them didn't know each other, they already expressed enough goodwill. Besides, the man even told her about his "method". Lin Sanjiu guessed that he must have been very lonely after being alone for more than a month.
Lin Sanjiu nodded her head and told him her name. After the man recited her name a few times, he replied, "I am Douglas. Did you also board the train from Kisaragi Station?"
Lin Sanjiu had a lot to say on this topic. "Yes, this place is really weird. What sort of apocalyptic world is this? And, why isn't there any people around here?" She hesitated for a moment when she asked him these questions. In the end, she didn't mention the crazy-looking people at Mausoleum Elementary Station and the pair of old cloth shoes. She didn't feel much when she was alone, but now that she was in front of another posthuman she couldn't bring herself to admit that she had been scared by a pair of shoes.
Douglas touched his buzzcut that was so short that he almost looked bald. He threw a glance at her, and a slightly strange expression appeared on his face, "You've never heard of Kisaragi Station?
Lin Sanjiu felt like she heard that name before but she just couldn't recall it. She shook her head.
"I don't know what it is like in your original world. In my hometown, there is a country called Japan. Kisaragi Station is a famous online urban legend. The story goes like this. A young woman took a night train and realized that she boarded the wrong train. She didn't know where the train was heading. When she alighted at Kisaragi Station, she realized that she was in the middle of the wilderness. She had no choice but to walk along the tracks...
"She had been walking for a while when she suddenly saw an elderly man with only one leg. Then, she heard the drums sounds from a ceremony... All this time, she had been chatting with her online friends on the forum and had been reporting what was happening. Everyone told her to leave the place quickly. In the end, the young woman wrote: 'I met a good person, he will drive me to another station.'/ 'He is driving up the mountain, and he is not responding to my questions. I plan to run away.' After this, she never replied again."
Perhaps, Douglas noticed Lin Sanjiu's fearful expression, since he sighed and nodded. "You should have guessed it by now, right? This world is named after a horror story... I think this world is related to urban legends and that sort of thing."
"Huh? But when I was on the train..." Lin Sanjiu didn't really understand, and told Douglas about the article she read, "Actually, I think this world has been invaded by something called 'dark matter'."
Douglas opened his mouth and thought for a moment but gave up, "Cough! Who knows... Anyway, I just want to spend my 14 months here peacefully. I am contented as long as nothing bad happens."
"You have a point. " Lin Sanjiu agreed silently.
After seeing another living person, Lin Sanjiu felt that she had recovered. Her usually cool-headedness and confidence had returned. After talking with Douglas for some time, she even entered the room and took a look at Greenie.
Douglas occupied a room with a large king-sized bed. There were clothes and empty noodle bowls around the bed, showing that man's typical untidiness. When Greenie saw Lin Sanjiu, it quickly hid behind a curtain, failing to notice that its feet could still be seen.
"After I 'capture' them, their intelligence falls significantly..." Douglas explained while he tidied the bed and cleared the items on it. "Its intelligence is only comparable to a five-year-old child now."
With its lowered intelligence, Lin Sanjiu didn't feel as much hatred for the duoluozhong. Douglas led Lin Sanjiu to the reception downstairs to get a key. Then, they returned to the second floor and he opened the door to another room.
"You should rest. It must have been quite an experience out there, right?" Douglas looked gruff but was actually quite caring, "I will wake you up in the afternoon for lunch." After he said that, he closed the door and left.
"How long has it been since I slept on a normal bed?"
Furthermore, this room had been tidied just before the arrival of the apocalyptic event. It was clean, the bed sheets were neat and the blanket was soft... Lin Sanjiu exhaled deeply and jumped into the bed, planting her head on the soft pillow.
Even though she was almost engulfed by her exhaustion, she got up with a hazy struggle and took out her [Teru Teru Bozu Defense System]. She stood on a chair and hung it on the ceiling. Seeing it quietly hanging from the ceiling, Lin Sanjiu finally felt safe. She took off the flowery jacket and kicked off her boots. When she crawled under the blanket, she felt as if all her bones were celebrating. She wrapped herself in that soft blanket and quickly drifted off to sleep.
The curtains were drawn, and she did not switch on the lights, so it was dim even though it was still daytime. But, even if Lin Sanjiu was awake, she wouldn't detect anything. The Teru Teru Bozu hanging from the ceiling slowly turned its body and its marker-drawn eyes suddenly opened. It stared Lin Sanjiu, who was fast asleep, with its void-like eyes.