Doomsday Wonderland

Maybe it was just a stroke of luck.

There was a voice ringing in Lin Sanjiu’s head as she hauled herself up from the ground.

Her understanding of Ji Shanqing at this point was barely enough for her to maintain the minimum effect of the [Consciousness Mimicry].

Her analysis of her grand prize was based on the days she had spent with him. However, with the grand prize’s reluctance to show his true self, she barely knew much about him. Even after she had learned something about him through some speculation, the [Consciousness Mimicry] was not stable and would be deactivated so long as she had the slightest bit of doubt.

Therefore, to prolong the effect, she must avoid all distractions to prevent herself from having any suspicions about the grand prize.

In other words—

Lin Sanjiu raised her eyes and looked directly at the communication device on the ground not far away. Without wasting any time, she zipped towards it.

Sensing her movement, the corpse jerked its body around and a pop filled the air. Then, with its head held low, it swung its four limbs and hightailed towards the communication device as well.

The corpse seemed to have become sentient and was able to discover the relationship between Lin Sanjiu and the communication device. Therefore, it knew it just needed to stay close to the communication device to, wait for its chance to launch at Lin Sanjiu, and finally get its revenge.

The corpse was much closer to the communication device than Lin Sanjiu. She cursed inwardly and stopped. Sucking air through her teeth to ease the pain spreading from her chest, she recoiled a few steps back and stared as the corpse approached the communication device.

The distorted and crippled corpse turned around in the dark, seeming to wait for her to come close to the communication device. The blue blinking light from the communication device had turned the corpse’s feet a dull blue.

“First step: retrieve the communication device,” Lin Sanjiu spoke under her breath. Her brain was now working in the same calm and phlegmatic way as the grand prize. “Second step: look for the final piece of the puzzle and clear the locked-room pocket dimension.”

“The final piece?” Mrs. Manas asked. She was apparently startled by her sudden change of behavior. “How about the other parts?”

“They have all been solved.”

“Huh? Solved? What are you talking about? When did that happen?”

After she activated the [Consciousness Mimicry], her mode of thinking would change into that of another person, and Mrs. Manas would not be able to sense what she was conceiving throughout the entire duration.

“Just a short while ago.” Lin Sanjiu shrugged. “To put it bluntly, this so-called “locked room” was just a plan a commoner came up with to evade detection. However, not every proprietor is a criminal genius, so this plan is crude and simple. All we have to do is think from a different perspective, and voila, mystery solved.”

However, now was not the right time to go into detail.

The situation that she was in right now was almost identical to the last time. She must get her hand on that communication device, but the corpse was blocking her path to it.

As if it sensed her gaze, the corpse circled around the communication device wobbly. It tilted its head slightly and turned its face halfway round, releasing a rustle into the air. It seemed like it was peering at her from below, but Lin Sanjiu could not be sure. After all, all she saw right now was the back of its head which was caked with blood.

Soon after that, the corpse left the communication device and began walking towards her.

“It’s your chance!” Mrs. Manas shouted silently. At the same time, Ryuji, who had been observing the situation inside the pocket dimension the whole time, straightened his back.

“Not yet.”

Every time the corpse walked a meter forward, Lin Sanjiu would retreat by exactly a meter to the back with nothing more and nothing less. Had the grand prize lived like this the whole time? All she needed was just a single glance, and everything in the dark would reveal themselves.

“This is a trap. It intentionally walks away from the communication device so that when I dash towards it…” She paused for a second and smiled just like how there was always a smirk tugging at the grand prize’s lips when he saw through something. “Did you see it turn its head just now? It hasn’t turned back yet, but I’m confident that the second I get close to the communication device, it will welcome me with a bout of decaying breath.”

“You are right. It’s head is pointing straight at the communication device…” Mrs. Manas mumbled, “So, how are we supposed to get the device back?”

“Easy.”

Besides, not only was the idea devised using Ji Shanqing’s mind straightforward, but it also would not put her in a dangerous position.

Nobody knew what she was going to do when the [Penguin’s Publishing’s Pop-up Storybook] appeared on her palm. The moment a massive axe, which possibly weighed a hundred tons, flew across the sky, Lin Sanjiu heard a gasp from Ryuji. The axe passed the corpse and smashed into the communication device, sending it flying straight into the wall in the distance before shattering into a million pieces.

At that moment, everyone was stunned, including the corpse.

“W-why?” Just as Lin Sanjiu was sprinting towards the depths of the warehouse, Mrs. Manas finally found her voice and stammered her question, “Why? W-why would you do that?”

“The reason I want to retrieve the communication device is that I want to turn it back into a card. Even though the price of this plan is a little high, under the circumstances whereby my safety is the top priority, destroying it is our best shot.”

“Hold on. Destroy it? You lost me.”

“I told you before, haven’t I? I can’t have any doubts or hesitation about my understanding of Ji Shanqing, not even in the slightest bit. Otherwise, the [Consciousness Mimicry] will fail. Basically, I mustn’t be distracted.” Lin Sanjiu’s voice was clear and light, and if it were not for both of them having different voice qualities, one might have thought that it was the grand prize talking. “I can’t leave the communication device outside. What if he tries to call me again? This is the biggest distraction for me. Do you understand?”

Mrs. Manas did not make any comment as she did not know what to say. The silence stretched on, and it was only when Lin Sanjiu squatted down to check on something that she began speaking again, “So, you aren’t worried about the grand prize anymore? If he can’t reach you, I’m afraid he…”

“He can wait. It is only ten minutes or so, and I’m certain that he will understand. After all, he is the grand prize,” Lin Sanjiu remarked as she pushed the mess of garbage away. She did not forget about the corpse that was hot on her heels, so she looked back from time to time as she continued, “I’ll apologize to him after I get out of this pocket dimension.”

Mrs. Manas fell silent again. Then, she sighed. “I understand now.” There was a tinge of sadness in her voice as she said, “I almost forgot. Your train of thought now is working the same way as the grand prize’s.”

For the grand prize, the last thing he wanted was for something bad to happen to his sister. Therefore, Lin Sanjiu was just following the rules of protecting herself.

Ironically, exactly because the grand prize valued everything about Lin Sanjiu above all else, it caused his sister not to take his concern into account at this moment.

Just as Mrs. Manas was zoning out, she heard Lin Sanjiu yell, “Found it!” After that, she pulled a block of wire out from under a rack.

“Found it,” said Lin Sanjiu as a smile danced on her lips, “This is part of the main door of the warehouse.”