Doomsday Wonderland

It felt so great to be able to stand with her feet again.

Right now, Lin Sanjiu looked like a psycho who had escaped from an asylum. She jumped and hopped around like a bunny until her calf felt numbing pain and the floor rumbled. She clenched her fist many times, reveling in the sensation of being able to feel the contraction and relaxation of her muscles and tendons once more. She could not help but smile the kind of smile that Puppeteer hated the most.

“Everything will be fine now that I have my body back.”

She let out a contented sigh until she saw the goose. Then, her smile faded.

The goose was still standing woodenly in the same spot. It looked straight into Lin Sanjiu’s eyes. Gone was its liveliness. Behind the goose, a packet of chips was lying quietly on the floor.

‘Has Puppeteer not turned back into a human yet? Is it already too late? Isn’t he coming back?”

Lin Sanjiu walked a few steps forward and crouched down beside the goose. Just when she stretched her arm to reach out to the potato chips, she froze.

‘What am I doing?’ A question popped up in her mind. ‘Am I still gonna take him along with me? Can I still save him? I’ve exhausted all my Higher Consciousness. There’s no way I can help Puppeteer now.’

After a short amount of time tousling within herself, Lin Sanjiu began to slowly and reluctantly realize that these were, in fact, excuses she created to deceive herself.

If Puppeteer died in this Pocket Dimension, then she could save Ji Shanqing, the cat doctor, and Hu Changzai from his clutches.

One was the grand prize that kept calling her “sister” and following her around like a little tail. There was Meowie Hu, whose two emerald eyes would light up if he had something to ask, and Hu Changzai, whose face always turned crimson red whenever he was telling lies.

It was such a tempting option. Lin Sanjiu’s fingers trembled incessantly. Sacrificing one life for the lives of three… Were there any other better options?

As far as Lin Sanjiu knew, Puppeteer was the kind of person who would never appreciate the good things one did to him but would definitely hunt you down for your entire life if you did something terrible to him. If she helped him turn back into a human, as long as he did not reach his objective, he would never give up hounding the grand prize.

However, looking from another angle, only Mrs. Cleveland needed to buy chips. Puppeteer did not have to do anything. The reason he was dragged into this mess was that he realized Lin Sanjiu had turned into a packet of chips and he wanted to offer help.

In that case, the reason Puppeteer did not turn back was probably that he still had not cleared a mission of his own. Perhaps, he could still be saved.

The conjecture crushed down on her heart like the heavy dark clouds in the sky. Lin Sanjiu bit her lower lip so hard that it began to turn white. The fates of four people were now lying in her hands.

Crouching beside the goose, she stared at the potato chips for a moment. Then, she extended her arm and picked up the shopping list on the floor.

While Lin Sanjiu rose to her feet, she never looked away from the bag of chips. She clenched her fists tightly while her entire body was shaking so hard that the note inside her palm screamed and susurrated just like the dead leaves fluttering in the autumn wind.

Maybe the person could still see and hear after they had turned into a bag of chips, but Lin Sanjiu did not say anything. She did not know what to say.

Her heart suddenly fluttered and raced in a gallop. She did not know what she feared. She took a step back, then two, then three, and finally turned into a sprint. She ran and ran until she reached the goose and the shelf disappeared from her vision.

Pressing a nervous palm on the cash register, Lin Sanjiu could not help but take a few long breaths. She knew full well that Puppeteer and the goose could no longer see her, but Lin Sanjiu could not shrug off the feeling that she was being stared at by somebody.

She never expected that one day, she would feel so much guilt about Puppeteer. In addition to that, she was confident that she would forever be living in her sins for the rest of her life.

When the thought flitted across her mind, Lin Sanjiu raised her head abruptly. Her fine hairs on her back bristled up.

It was not the guilt that was playing tricks on her mind. In the air behind the empty cash register, something was looking at her.

Lin Sanjiu took two steps back, but she never tore her gaze away from the space.

‘What he’s gonna do?’

“Mrs. Cleveland.” The same Indian accent rang out, causing Lin Sanjiu to frown. She felt like something was different. “It is good to see you again.”

At this moment, understanding suddenly dawned upon Lin Sanjiu.

This time, the Indian accent did not come from the speaker. As if he were talking to somebody face-to-face, the Indian accent drifted into her ears with sparkling clarity from a distance not far away.

Just when Lin Sanjiu was caught in her hesitation as to whether or not she should reply to the calling, the invisible man continued to talk, “Our time is drawing short.”

‘Is this another clue? But there’s still a long time before the fourth hour arrives.’

“What time?” Lin Sanjiu asked.

“Don’t talk. Just listen to me,” the voice interrupted her, “I’ve been running this convenience store for a long time. I can’t remember my past ever since I came here. Every time I open my eyes, I’d be standing in the same spot, looking at the different people outside the door that walk into this store. My job is to welcome them, assist them in finding the products they want to buy, and maintain the store… But this time, when I opened my eyes, I saw you and Mr. Griffin.”

It seemed like the pocket dimension being had taken on a different persona. Unlike the enthusiastic voice from the announcement, the voice now was flat and devoid of any emotion. It was as if a wizened old man was narrating a story from the past.

‘No, this can’t be right.’ Lin Sanjiu’s face began to turn pale. ‘He shouldn’t be telling me all this.’

“I wish I could continue to work normally, but this time, it’s different. When I opened my eyes, I knew… somebody has done something to this convenience store. And that somebody is observing this store and me from the dark.

“I’ve no idea who they are and what they want, but I can tell you that a moment ago, the gaze vanished. I can feel that it’s not over yet, but this might be the last time I open my eyes. It feels excellent to see you again, Mrs. Cleveland. Be careful. They’ll return soon.”

“Wait, where are you going?”

“I’m not going anywhere.” The voice paused for a moment, then sighed. “I’ll be here forever with my store. What I’m saying is that this store and me… We might not be able to see the future anymore.”

Stunned, Lin Sanjiu’s brain froze. She had no idea what to say.

“Day after day, I sit here and looked at those people who came and went, leaving no trace behind. The only thing I’m familiar with in this world is this store. Hence, I know that both of us are running short of time.”

The Pocket Dimension being’s voice was calm and soothing. It was getting fainter and lower every second. Then, it ceased completely. Silence returned. The air was empty, and the pocket dimension being was gone.

Lin Sanjiu remained silent for a few seconds, and then she jerked up as she remembered Puppeteer. She turned around and darted into the lane. Then, she came to a sudden brake. The bottom of her shoe created an ear-piercing shriek as she skidded across the floor.

The goose was still standing at the same spot. However, the packet of chips below its tail was gone.

“Where is your master?” Lin Sanjiu darted forward and picked the goose up. She looked around clumsily. “Where is he?”

Where was Puppeteer? He was a packet of chips that had zero mobility, so he could not get around by himself. Lin Sanjiu did not want to think in a bad way. Her heart skipped madly below her ribcage as if it was going to burst out at any moment. Hugging the goose, Lin Sanjiu bolted straight for the exit, as the retreat was her last hope.

The Pocket Dimension being was right when he said somebody was looking at this store in the dark. Lin Sanjiu could not think of anybody else aside from the Veda. The thing that had her heart fluttering so madly was that he said he would vanish along with the store. Without the pocket dimension being to maintain the Pocket Dimension, the Pocket Dimension would soon disappear as well.

Lin Sanjiu was fraught with anxiety. Seeing that the door was within her reach, she kicked the floor hard and rammed hard into the glass. She used every bit of strength from her body, and it was not an exaggeration to say it was comparable to the strike of a locomotive. However, the glass seemed to be able to absorb all the impact, so it did nothing.

With such a strong impact, Lin Sanjiu felt her stomach overturn and her brain burst. For a moment, her eyes could only see stars. She could not tell if she was in the air, or if she was standing on the ground. She did not even know if her limbs were still intact.

Her vision went black, white, blue, and red in a phantasmagoric collision. It was a long moment that felt like an eternity. She floated in the rift between reality and illusion for an indefinite amount of time until a loud thud came, snapping her back to reality. She felt like her shoulders, her body, and her legs were stones in a broken bag as each of them collided with the hard surface one after another in a meaty smack.

Lin Sanjiu sucked air in through her teeth, and she could not see anything for a moment. She tried to get back to her feet but to no avail. She was still holding the goose in her embrace. Although the goose was a little unresponsive to the environment, it was obviously shaken. It kept on flapping its wings and hitting Lin Sanjiu.

“Give it back to me.” A husky voice rang out not far away. “That’s my goose.”

As if she had been struck by lightning, Lin Sanjiu’s heart skipped a beat, and her vision returned. She found herself sitting on a yellow grass plain with broken bricks, rubbish, plastic bags, and strips of fabric littered around. Not far away, a man dressed in black leather was glaring menacingly at her.

“You, you’re okay?” Lin Sanjiu jumped up. “I thought… I thought you…”

“Feeling a little disappointed?” Puppeteer’s face scrunched up, revealing half a row of his bright teeth. Lin Sanjiu felt something different. He still had the gloomy mien about him, but it seemed he was enshrouded in thick killing intent. “Your plan to let me die failed. Now, it’s my turn.”

“No. That’s not how you’re thinking. Listen to me.” Lin Sanjiu’s face became red. She wanted to explain herself, but she found no reason to back her actions up.

However, Puppeteer did not move. He did not attack her and just stood in the same spot, staring coldly at her.

Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath.

“I never wanted to let you die.” Her voice was low, and she knew Puppeteer would not accept this reason. Hence, she stopped trying to justify her action and said softly, “I… I just succumbed to my devil.”

“No one cares about your internal struggle.” Puppeteer sneered. “The reason I’m not killing you is that our situation is really weird now. Look.”

Lin Sanjiu hastily looked around and realized that their surroundings had changed. The sky was dark, and the wind was cold. The road was broken and colonized by overturned vehicles that were lined up straight until they reached a grayish wall that looked like a rampart.

“Is this another Pocket DImension?” Lin Sanjiu asked as the Indian from the convenience store appeared in her mind. As he said, both he and the convenience store had vanished. Perhaps they knew that she had cleared the first round, so the Veda wiped out the entire Pocket Dimension.

“No, it isn’t.” Puppeteer turned his back to face her.

There was a moment of silence until he finally spoke. It was as if he was biting his teeth. The veins on his cheeks were all bulging and visible. “This is my homeland.”.