Doomsday Wonderland

The moment she kicked the thing, she felt something touch her shoulders.

It was impossible to see beyond the billowing wall of smoke, so Lin Sanjiu came to an abrupt stop and recoiled two steps to the side. She jerked her head around but there was nothing on her shoulder.

She had her hypersensory activated, so by right, she should be able to notice if a duoluozhong came near her.

Tears were flowing profusely out of her eyes. She covered her nose with her hand and attempted to round the thing that she kicked just now when she heard the sound of glass shattering against the floor.

Judging from the intensity of the sound, she reckoned that Bliss had unlocked at least three to four window displays ahead of her.

‘This is bad…’ Lin Sanjiu thought inwardly.

After sizing up her surroundings, she realized she was now in a situation that could be called ‘trapped between a rock and a hard place’. There were a lot more display windows behind her, but her sight was limited. She didn’t know how many monsters were on the loose and she couldn’t be sure how many of them were coming at her right now.

All of a sudden, the air began swirling energetically as a buzzing sound came to life. She was dazed for a few seconds before she finally realized it was the air ventilation system that had been turned on. Fresh air was being pumped in, and the smoke was dissipating away from the corridor, though the process was horrendously slow as the smoke continued to hang low and heavy in the air. Lin Sanjiu held her breath, her hearing sharpened, focused.

There were other things lurking around as well.

Aside from the constant buzz, the air was also filled with a cacophony of clattering, bestial cackling, and panting. She squinted her eyes, trying to see past the thick blanket of greyness but to no avail. She couldn’t make out anything more than shadows that flitted here and there in the distance.

It now occurred to her that it was no longer realistic to get around the thing on the floor ahead of her.

Lin Sanjiu pressed her back tightly against the wall; the pointer elongated and slid between her fingers. Tears raged out of her eyes uncontrollably, which only added to the dread of the situation. Her visibility was already greatly restricted by the smoke, and right now, she couldn’t even see more than six inches ahead. Left with no other choice, she could only rely on her “hypersensory” to gauge her surroundings.

However, looking on the bright side, since she couldn’t see anything, she was certain that the situation was the same for Bliss as well. That’s if she was a human being.

Suddenly, she captured some movements from the air. She snapped herself out of the train of thought and concentrated on her ears once more.

Then, she heard a sound of distant movement—clothing rustling, the body of a human dragging against the floor. Before she could respond, another series of clip-clops rang out from behind. She jerked her head back and took a peek, but the dense smoke had rendered her unable to see through anything. In front of her, she could feel a cold shadow hovering not far away. The shadow looked strange. Sometimes it was big while other times it was small. For a second she could differentiate the shoulder from the head, but in the next, she felt that it looked just like chewed bubblegum.

Lin Sanjiu couldn’t tell how many monsters were hiding in the smoke, but one thing was certain. All of them were coming for her, eager to tear her into pieces.

She snapped her eyes closed. Brine was playing a wild game on her face, and she found it harder and harder for her to breathe. Every breath she took in was half-filled with smoke. It made her cough. She tried to suppress the urge, as she feared making any sound at all, for the slightest sound would expose her location, and Bliss would react by releasing more monsters upon her. That was something she did not want to happen.

Her lungs and cells were screaming for oxygen, and blood was shooting up to her brain. It dampened the accuracy of her “hypersensory”, and she couldn’t detect the location of the creature in the smoke very well. Suddenly, she felt something was on her feet. She instinctively jumped backward and brandished her pointer in a downward swipe.

By the time she felt a stinging sensation on her arm, the pointer’s assessment had arrived as well. “Target has developed card and explosion related abilities, as well as heightened reflexes and enhanced physical strength. It is advised not to engage the target in close-quarters combat, please proceed with a long-range attack…”

Even though her vision was blurry, [Tailor Learning] was still able to project its assessment directly into her eyes.

She had no idea why, but she found the description a little familiar.

But she knew it was not the right time to dwell on such trivial stuff. Ignoring the complaint from her eyes, she wiped the tear off her face and forced her eyes open. She looked around and saw a familiar face amidst the smoke.

It was her own face.

There were two harsh lines running down on each side of the face. The person had the same messy hairstyle as her and the same pair of amber-colored eyes. The only thing different was that the “Lin Sanjiu” was lying on the floor, clothed in ragged garments as she dragged herself forward.

It was only now that Lin Sanjiu realized the rustling noise was coming from the “Lin Sanjiu” on the ground.

Through the rolling smoke, she could vaguely see that the “Lin Sanjiu” on the ground was acting a little weird. Her countenance was unwholesomely white and her eyes were hollow. She did not have any jaw and her mouth was a big hole, resembling a black tunnel that had no end. Her amber eyes were protruded and she looked just like a reanimated corpse that had its brain extracted.

Nobody would stay calm seeing themselves in such a state. Lin Sanjiu blenched and called out a [White Towel] that she used to store [Divine Power] when she was in Salvation of God. However, before she could throw out the [White Towel], something else happened.

Her heart leaped into her throat when she heard a hasty series of clip-clops from behind. Putting the “Lin Sanjiu” on the ground to the side, she turned around to see a dark figure dash out of the smoke, soon to pounce on her. To retaliate, just as the long face with black and white stripes pattern split into half, she swung the [White Towel] in a half circle and plunged it into the zebra’s mouth, sending it flying away.

After receiving the hit head-on, the zebra’s mouth cracked even further down. Its neck, chest, and body split asunder like a piece of paper being torn, revealing the black emptiness inside. The zebra was apparently the fastest amongst its group, as Lin Sanjiu could see around three or four of them still running towards her at top speed. Lin Sanjiu knew it would be unwise to deal with all of them in her current condition, so she decided to run. Nevertheless, just when she turned around, she felt a thug on her feet. She lowered her head and saw that the “Lin Sanjiu” was holding her.

The “Lin Sanjiu” opened her mouth, and it seemed as if she was on the verge of talking, but all that escaped her throat was a hiss and an intermittent guttural growl. Lin Sanjiu could even see something whitish bubbling inside her throat.

With a mental tug, Lin Sanjiu summoned another [White Towel] into her hand. Then, just as she was about to ram the towel into the mouth, the two window panes behind her suddenly shattered. The smoke saw its momentarily endowed chance and rushed into the window displays, masking the two monsters that were walking out in a cloak of grey.

“Damn it!” Lin Sanjiu finally couldn’t hold it anymore and cursed aloud. She accidentally drew in some fumes when she opened her mouth and choked; she was overtaken by a fit of rough coughing that tore at her throat.

The zebra had obviously exposed her location. That’s why Bliss could open up the window displays around her so precisely. Once Bliss knew her exact location, things would go terribly wrong.

Lin Sanjiu chided herself inwardly and dusted the shards of glass off her body. Then, she froze.

She clearly felt a stinging sensation when the glass shattered. However, only when she looked down did she remember she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

So, why would it hurt?

As confusion ran amuck in her brain, she caught something glittering with the corner of her eyes. She turned to the shining spot, and the “Lin Sanjiu” on the ground rammed into her line of sight. Understanding dawned upon her.

After imitating its target, the creature on the ground could transfer all the damage it received to its target!

The clip-clop erupted again. This time, she turned her head and saw that there was more than one zebra coming straight at her. Even the zebra that she sent flying just now had stood up. Right now, after knowing that the “Lin Sanjiu” on the ground could transfer all the damage she received to her, she daren’t do anything to her anymore. She carefully avoided her and dashed towards the other side of the corridor.

“You are just causing your own misery,” Bliss sighed. Her voice was loud enough to pierce through the animalistic shout of the monsters, “I didn’t know your location and since I cannot let you through, I have opened up all the display windows and released all my collections in front of you. I didn’t expect you to still be here…”

‘She has released all the monsters in front?’

Lin Sanjiu felt her blood turn cold, but there was nothing she could do right now. She continued to rush forward. The [Defense Forcefield] glowed up again to enhance her defense. Gnashing her teeth, she exchanged the [Tailored Learning] with her [Tornado Whip] and lashed it out ferociously.

Long afterward, she hardly remembered how she survived

All of the window displays were opened up. The smoke had already gotten very thin, but her situation did not get any better. It now appeared to her that the monsters that had not left their cages for an unknown time. They were growling, hissing, and snaring, eager to launch at her and tear her down.

She couldn’t remember how many times she had guarded against an attack. Her mind felt weary and her body was marred with wounds. Her [Defense Forcefield] scintillated again and again, and she wondered how long it would last before it finally gave way to the relentless bout of assaults. Luckily, she still had Mrs. Manas to help her manage her Higher Consciousness, which left her with one less thing to worry about. Be that as it may, her condition did not get any better and she was still very far away from the staircase. The clatter of the zebra’s hooves haunted her. No matter how many times she foiled their attacks, they were able to pinpoint her location.

However, what made these zebras so deadly was that their attacks were often soundless. By the time Lin Sanjiu realized that shadow that loomed over her, she was stuck in a pile of bugs. She jerked her head and saw a zebra with its mouth opened wide.

Lin Sanjiu tore a page out of the [Penguin Publishing’s Pop-up Storybook] and hurled it into the zebra’s mouth. A girl wearing a blouse materialized in midair before her head was grabbed by the zebra’s mouth.

The black and white stripes on the zebra’s body came to life. They slid forward and moved from the zebra to the little girl’s body. In the blink of an eye, the zebra became skinless and only a humanoid glob of flesh was left on the ground. The little girl struggled for all her worth, but it was to no avail. The black and white stripes coiled even tighter, and soon a zebra shape was formed.

No sooner had she called out another card than she was hit in her midriff. The impact sent her flying all the way to the front and she smashed on the wall with a meaty smack. Then, she slid down the wall like a lifeless body.

“Hold!” Bliss shouted.

The monsters then unwillingly came to a stop.

Lin Sanjiu’s body was snapped into half. One part of her spine obviously looked taller than the other, and she looked like a broken chopstick.

No human could survive such an injury.