Doomsday Wonderland

Ever since she entered the Reverie Libretto, Lin Sanjiu retained a certain degree of command over her own actions but for one thing—the environment. She couldn’t make the weather warmer, she couldn’t turn herself into a titan, and she couldn’t even activate her abilities. Posthumans were restricted by their dreams, so that’s why most of them regarded this pocket dimension as a “semi-lucid dream”.

She couldn’t comprehend why Mayor Orlean was an exception.

“You’re leaving now?”

Mayor Orlean’s voice came sliding into her ears and snapped her out of her thoughts. She raised her head and saw Mayor Orlean’s large face pressing against hers. There was a smirk playing on his fleshy lips as he said, “Before you went, can you show me the phrase on your wrist first?”

He had made himself pretty clear: if he found something wrong with her phrase, he wouldn’t let her go easily.

Lin Sanjiu heaved out a long sigh and forwent her attempt to alter the environment again.

She had been trying her best to change the environment, yet aside from bringing pain to herself, she couldn’t alter anything. The sunlight continued its journey and speared through the window relentlessly, illuminating the dust motes that spiraled through the air.

In contrast, Mayor Orlean was able to change the direction of the town hall with a mere swipe of his hand.

‘Is the black mountain giving him that much power?’ Lin Sanjiu wondered

“Hurry up, let me see your phrase,” he urged Lin Sanjiu again and pointed at the tattooed man. “Don’t waste my time. I still have a lot of questions for him.”

‘I guess it’s the only choice I have…’

Lin Sanjiu exchanged glances with the tattooed man and slowly raised her arm.

Craning his head forward, Mayor Orlean narrowed his eyes and studied her wrist meticulously. When his two fleshy lips parted asunder, her heart somersaulted. Then, she heard him mumble, “Good night?”

He smacked his lips and retracted his neck.

“What does that mean?” He turned to the tattooed man, asking, “Why are all your phrase options so weird? Good night, white gloves… What do they all mean?”

For a moment, Lin Sanjiu was too stunned to speak. She withdrew her hand quickly and hid it behind her back. She looked at the tattooed man, bewilderment written all over her face.

‘Can he give two different phrases to one person?’

“She is a girl, and I thought this kind of mildly-toned phrase better fit the vibe she exuded.” The tattooed man stepped two paces back and sat lackadaisical on the window sill. “Haven’t you heard about “Good Night”? It’s a famous poem, and because of one particular line in the poem, I decided to pick the phrase for her.”

“Uh-uh. What was it?”

“‘Walk gentle into that good night’,” he raised his head and began chanting the poem, “‘Look, look at the dying light’… It’s written by Dylan Thomas.”

Mayor Orlean compressed his mouth, looking unconvinced. After that, he looked at Lin Sanjiu again.

“I don’t care what you think,” she took the chance and chimed in, “I’m leaving anyway. I need to go out and search for clues about the storyline in my libretto.”

Even though she looked calm on the surface, only she knew how nervous she was deep under. If Mayor Orlean refused to let her go, she didn’t know how she was going to escape. However, after a moment of hesitation, he nudged his chin and said, “Alright, then.”

It appeared to Lin Sanjiu that he did not want anyone to get into his way either. To prevent him from changing his mind, Lin Sanjiu took one last glance at the tattooed man and then stormed down the staircase.

The poem felt familiar, yet strange at the same time. Lin Sanjiu was torn between two feelings until the tattooed man mentioned the name of the writer of the poem.

She had heard the poem before.

The sunlight cast a halo of light around her the moment she stepped out of the town hall. She realized she was now facing the street she escaped from. Turning her head, the town hall had returned to its original direction. Initially, she thought she would come out of the back of the town hall. Little did she expect that she would run straight into the group of townsfolk and police officers.

“Act normal. They don’t seem to recognize you,” Mrs. Manas whispered, “But there are several police officers watching you.”

Lin Sanjiu quickly calmed herself down after she heard what Mrs. Manas said. She glanced around the town; she didn’t know why, but she felt the town had changed again. The number of police officers had doubled to the point that she thought there was a sea before her eyes. They barricaded all the exits and entrances, and aside from several buildings, the townspeople couldn’t go anywhere.

Mrs. Manas was right. None of the police officers could recognize her, and she felt that a long time had passed after she went into the town hall.

One of the most striking changes was the size of the black mountain. It had become a lot bigger than the last time she saw it. It had moved from the corner of the town to the center, and she could see some remnants of the crushed houses under its base.

Nevertheless, nobody was looking at the black mountain; it was as if they did not care what was going on behind them.

Standing stock-still, she looked at each person that stomped past her, but she didn’t see anyone she knew. The air percolated with their heavy breathing. They were all as massive as walruses, and their vibrant shirts had become so thin as if they would burst at any time. Glancing across the street, all the adults and children looked the same and it was hard to tell apart their genders.

Then, as she surveyed down the town, a pair of massive, swollen feet, which did not go very well with their flip-flops, appeared in Lin Sanjiu’s sight.

“Oh my god, you look just like a stick!”

‘Woman?’ It was only now that Lin Sanjiu realized the person was a lady. She angled her head towards the direction of the voice and met the lady in her eyes. Lin Sanjiu noticed that years had left some marks on the woman’s face, and there were locks of premature grey hairs dangling in front of her forehead. Her eyes, which deeply sunk in her jowly face, were gleaming with suspicion. “Why are your hands empty?”

“I’ve already finished them,” Lin Sanjiu said as she measured the older woman up and down. She did not know why, but she felt as if she had seen the woman before.

“You’ve finished all your food? Why didn’t you stuff more food in your pockets if you knew you were going to finish it fast? You see, there is still a lot of space here, here, here and here. I don’t understand why you are so stupid and careless,” the fat lady chided as she licked her lips. “This is Peanut Town, and you are as thin as a rake. Mayor Orlean has prepared so many resources and made our lives blissful, yet here you are, behaving like a poor, malnourished girl with a pathetic body, who is willing to wear more clothes than bring more food. You are such a disappointment. I despise you.”

Lin Sanjiu frowned.

Even though the fat lady criticized her, she kept her voice extremely low.

“What do you have in mind?” Lin Sanjiu continued to stare at the fat lady’s face as she inwardly tried to match her face with the list of people she previously met.

The fat woman licked her lips again.

The angry light on her face ebbed away like melting ice. She glanced at the police officers and then around her. After she found that nobody was looking at them, she giggled. “I didn’t bring much either, but I can’t bear to look at your heart-rending body anymore.”

Before she finished her sentence, she extended her hand and hurled a hefty bag into Lin Sanjiu’s embrace. “Here, take this. If you don’t like it, just throw it away.” After that, without waiting for Lin Sanjiu to say something, she turned around and deftly squeezed herself into the crowd of people despite her large body size.

Suddenly, an image clicked in her brain when the fat woman turned her back on her. It was only now that Lin Sanjiu realized that she was the high school girl who reported her.

For Lin Sanjiu, merely a few hours had passed, but for the high school girl, she had spent most of her life.

Feeling that this might be her only chance to know more about this town, Lin Sanjiu took a few quick steps and followed after the girl. When she was within her reach, she stretched out her arm to reach for the high school girl and tapped on her shoulder. “Hey!”

The girl jumped out of shock. She turned her head around, and when she saw Lin Sanjiu, her brows raised up. As the angry look on her face intensified, Lin Sanjiu hastily said, “I know you!”

“So?” The high school girl sneered coldly.

Lin Sanjiu took a glance at the few bags of food in her arms and talked to her in a hushed voice, “If you can talk to me and answer a few questions of mine, I will take all of these.”

Perhaps the townspeople of Peanut Town felt it was a burden for them as well to consume such large amounts of food daily. With that thought in mind, she thought her plan was going to work and the girl was definitely going to take up her offer. However, little did she expect that the high school girl’s face suddenly went white as she snapped nervously, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you tired of eating the food?”

“What? Do you hear yourself?” It seemed like the girl had gotten really mad this time. “Isn’t it normal to be tired when eating? We just need to take a small break and then we can eat again! Don’t think you can speak nonsense just because I showed you some kindness. Mayor Orlean has worked very hard for our town, and I am more than willing to eat as much as I can for him even if it will cost my life!”

After she finished speaking, she stretched her arm forward and tried to snatch the bag away from Lin Sanjiu. It was at this moment that the police officers finally noticed them. They yelled at them, “Hey! What are you guys doing? Disperse! You can’t walk together!”

As if she was struck by lightning, the high school girl retracted her arm. After giving Lin Sanjiu a menacing glare, she scurried away.

Standing still like a ramrod with a bag of food in her hand, Lin Sanjiu’s eyes darted from one person to the next. The smell of the smoked ribs, fried chicken, and spices that lingered in the air assaulted her nostrils. However, instead of working up her appetite, it nauseated her.

The scene when the tattooed man made up the poem once again surfaced in her brain.

‘Do not go gentle into that good night,

‘Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

‘Do not go gentle into that good night,

‘Rage, rage against the dying of the light.’

As the correct version flitted across her mind, she raised her wrist and looked. The royal blue tattoo ink reflected the sunlight and emitted a strange light. It seeped into the lines of her skin as if she had been born with it.

Freedom. 

This was her true phrase.