Doomsday Wonderland

At that moment, Lin Sanjiu felt a tingling numbness throughout her body.

Lin Sanjiu had no idea what Lucy saw, whatever it was that stood behind them. To be precise, the highest god was not behind them. She turned her head around abruptly. Her neck made a cracking noise. However, she couldn’t see anything in the dark. Without even a glimmer of starlight, Lin Sanjiu’s field of view was swallowed by the pitch-black surroundings to the extent that she couldn’t even see the silhouettes of the things nearby.

‘What did that girl see?’

When Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes trying to see further, Lucy’s overwrought voice pierced through the night.

“B-Big Bro, you and I are complete strangers.” Anxiety dripped from her brittle voice while she spoke so quickly that she sounded as if she might bite her tongue the very next second. “Whatever happened between both of you has nothing to do with me, and I really don’t want to be involved. May I leave right now?”

The highest god stood several meters away from the carpet as before. His sculpted body created a beautiful silhouette in the dark. He did not make a single sound. Amidst the sound of the sea breeze in the onyx-black night, it was almost as if the whole world had gone silent along with him. Lin Sanjiu could only hear the laboured breathing sounds from the few people around her. However, she suddenly felt a strange sense of uneasiness. She felt as if she had forgotten something important.

She silently summoned the [Ability Polishing Agent] and held the card with its hard edge pressed against her palm.

“W-what’s going on?” Polva whispered, his voice thick with fear. However, nobody answered him.

“So…it’s a no?” Lucy’s voice quaked, sounding even more frightened than before. She was so nervous that she even started hiccuping.

“Of course,” the highest god replied slowly, a hint of cruel mockery in his voice, “You may leave.”

The sound of a hiccup came from the other end of the carpet. Then silence returned. Lucy’s vague silhouette remained in the same spot as she turned her gaze to Lin Sanjiu’s group.

“Erm…hic,” Lucy spoke hesitatingly, “F-first… you’ll have to—”

“Oh, you only have one chance to leave, and it’s right now,” the highest god interjected. At that moment, he was stifling a laugh.

Just as he said those words, Lucy immediately sprung up and disappeared into the darkness. At that same moment, Lin Sanjiu activated her [Ability Polishing Agent]. Silver light poured down her raised arm. She gave her surroundings a sweeping gaze and immediately realized what was amiss.

The sea breeze, Lucy’s hiccups and the squishy sounds as Soulsqn wriggled… She heard all sorts of noises in the silent darkness. However, all these sounds momentarily distracted her from one thing. The one sound she should hear was absent—sea waves.

Lin Sanjiu quickly held the [Ability Polishing Agent] in front of herself. The silver light from the bottle flooded forward and illuminated Lucy’s skinny body. Lucy reacted deftly like an anxious mouse in the dark. The second the light hit her back, Lucy changed her direction decisively and jumped off the carpet. With a few quick steps, she ran straight back into the darkness.

There wasn’t any waves around the carpet now.

“W-where is the sea?” Polva mumbled, stupefied. The silver light caused him to squint, but he didn’t dare to turn his eyes away from the highest god. “Where is the sea? What did he do?”

“You are all quite lucky,” the highest god exercised his neck lazily while rolling his shoulders. “Who would have thought that this carpet would return… I gave it some thought. Previously, I couldn’t kill all of you in the sea. Let’s change a location. Why don’t we do it on land?”

Lin Sanjiu shifted her feet and realized that there was still droplets of sea water on the carpet. Nevertheless, it was now clear that the sea had turned into cement even without them noticing. The cement floor was ashen gray under the silver light. Lin Sanjiu wasn’t even a tad bit surprised by this when she considered the possibility that the entire world was truly ‘coded’ by the highest god.

“Run!”Maxin shouted suddenly.

Startled, the silver light in her hand quivered. Without turning her head, she grabbed Polva and sprinted. Half-stumbling, they ran down the carpet. The sound of a loud explosion quickly rang out from the spot they previously stood. Pieces of unknown matter fell down violently from the sky. After a series of tremors, the cement floor shattered. Following which, the highest god suddenly appeared behind the dust and concrete pieces.

Apparently, he traversed several meters with a single jump and broke the cement floor with his bare feet.

“You’re quick.” The highest god revealed a smile that danced between the light and shadows. “Why don’t we try one more time?”

“Let’s escape!” Polva and Soulsqn yelled in unison. They couldn’t care less about the sudden changes in their surroundings as they dashed out, fats and all wobbling. Lin Sanjiu failed to catch them in time so she stomped her feet agitatedly. “Get back here!” She raised her [Ability Polishing Agent], and the silver light flooded forward. The light fell not only on the human and grub in front of her but also the darkness ahead.

Once they saw what was in front of them, they were all stunned.

“Oh, you just found out?” The highest god chuckled heartily behind them. With each chuckle, he grew closer. “That girl asked for my permission to leave because she saw this.”

Lin Sanjiu gulped.

The cement floor was covered with the silhouettes of items of all strange shapes, big and small, tall and short. They seemed to be placed haphazardly as if they were goods that were casually placed in a cargo hold. A rectangular clothing wardrobe stood on top of a metal bed frame. A few round-backed armchairs were stacked together. There was a tall cupboard standing closely behind the chairs. A few rolls of carpets leaned against a chest of drawers. There was a slanted bed peeping out from behind the chest of drawers… The only obvious abnormality of this furniture was that they were one size larger.

It was like a forest of furniture. It was almost as if the furniture, with its vague outlines in the dark, was waiting for Lin Sanjiu and her party.

“How’s this?”

When Lin Sanjiu heard those two words closely behind her, she felt goosebumps all over her skin. Without turning around, she flung a tornado behind her and rolled to one side while holding onto Maxin’s arm. She thought she heard a clunk. She didn’t take the time to look down and check but instead shouted at the human and grub running ahead of her. “Come here!” When she had the time to look behind her, she realized that the highest god had nimbly dodged the wind attack and was now crouching.

He was crouching like he was readying himself to sprint in a race.

“This is Plan B of the God’s Ordeal.” Under the darkness, an unpredictable smile crept across the highest god’s face. “Why didn’t I think of this earlier? If I face all of you alone, it will take too much of my time to deal with your bothersome attacks. However, my second arena is different. It is specifically prepared for a group of people like you all.”

Lin Sanjiu looked at him. She couldn’t spit a single word from her dry mouth.

Lin Sanjiu’s [Ability Polishing Agent] was now on the floor where she previously stood. As it rocked from left to right, the wavering light from the bottle seemed to make the furniture look alive.

Even though it was a short distraction, the group had inadvertently rushed into the forest of furniture when they tried to evade the highest god. However, this wasn’t due to Lin Sanjiu’s negligence. The fact was that there was too much furniture around them. It filled their fields of vision and every corner they could see. At first glance, one would even suspect that this ‘forest’ was expanding.

“Oh dear, you’ve dropped your flashlight.” The highest god shot a glance at the little bottle on the floor. His smile grew wider. As the light wavered unsteadily, his eyes seemed like two cavernous holes in his skull. “I’m going to enter and play with you guys, one…”

A few drops of sweat appeared on Lin Sanjiu’s forehead.

That was her only item that could produce light. As it was too convenient, Lin Sanjiu had forgotten to collect flashlights and candles over time.

She was just about to open her mouth to say something when they all heard a piercing laugh. “Three!” Shocked, all of them looked up. In the dim light, they saw a figure above them.

“Come over to my side!” Lin Sanjiu shouted with frustration. However, she was too late. Their group had scattered apart like a nest of ants scurrying apart to avoid a falling pebble. Worried, she ran in the same direction as the fair-skinned fatty. She watched as the fat figure rushed toward a closet and bellowed, “I’m here! Come to me! We have to stay together!”

When her voice reached the furniture around them, it was as if the furniture was sound-absorbent. Her voice could not travel very far.

She went over to the wardrobe in a rush and almost rammed herself into a coffee table. Then she suddenly froze in her tracks.

She could not see Polva anymore, as his figure had disappeared into the shadow of the furniture ahead. The footfalls were gone as well, and for a moment, she could only hear her own labored breathing.

She no longer got any response from them.

In the distance, the silver beam from the [Ability Polishing Agent] finally stopped wavering. Its silvery beam lit up the spot. She had merely walked a few steps away, yet countless of furniture had appeared and blocked her path to the [Ability Polishing Agent]. There were TV cabinets, wardrobes, chests of drawers, shoe cabinets, couches… It was as if this place was a cemetery for furniture, and every piece of paraphernalia that was buried here was staring at her from the dark.

‘Why furniture?’

Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath to calm herself down and pricked up her ears. At the same time, she slowly and cautiously took her first step towards the silver light in the distance.

The highest god might appear at any place and at any seconds. If she wanted to get to her friends in this labyrinthine furniture maze, she needed her [Ability Polishing Agent]. Besides, there might be a chance that they were walking towards the light as well.

The sloshing of her blood became the only noise in her ears. The area was filled with different kind of furniture to the brim, leaving her very little space to navigate herself. After she went around a coffee table, her back bumped into the side of a wardrobe. Her clothes rustled as it grated against the rough surface of the wardrobe. After she got past the wardrobe, she found herself blocked by a bed. She had never seen this bed before.

“Where are you? Where are you?” The highest god’s voice slashed across the night sky, making Lin Sanjiu’s heart do somersaults. His voice spread out in all directions, so nobody could tell where was he right now. “Every posthuman that I sent here would go into hiding the second they stepped into this arena. Why do you guys have to be so afraid of me? I just want to play a game with you all, is that so hard?”

Though the highest god seemed to be ranting, he sounded rather happy.

Lin Sanjiu held her breath as she looked to her left and right. A high stack of tables blocked her on the left while her right was filled with a row of cupboards. She found that she had no other way to get around the bed other than stepping over it.

The highest god’s melodic hum filled the air. He seemed to be enjoying this game of chase very much. Suddenly, he stopped humming and began speaking. “I hope you guys did not lose yourself in this furniture cemetery while finding a place to hide. If I recall correctly, the previous batch of posthumans that came in last year still haven’t found their way even until now.”

‘All of them died here?’

Lin Sanjiu shooed the thought away as she jerked her head up. She had no idea when, but the silver beam from the [Ability Polishing Agent] had gotten even further away from her. She shuddered instinctively and raised her leg. Just as her feet almost landed on the bed, she froze.

It was an old-school wooden bed. Even without any help from the light, she could see the slits between each plank.

The bed would surely release a loud squeal if she were to step on it. Polva and others might not hear the noise, but she was not so sure about the highest god. There was a high possibility that he was slaloming among the furniture while waiting for them to show themselves.

After weighing the pros and cons, Lin Sanjiu decided not to take the risk. She lowered her body as quiet as possible. Using her elbows to support herself, she inched under the bed.