Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The road was packed with cars, almost at a standstill. You grabbed a shared bike and successfully navigated through the congested traffic, turning onto West Ring Road.

This was the outskirts, where the land was vast and the people were few.

You stopped in front of the Gymnasium and noticed a girl in a white dress standing under a tree in the distance.

You recognized her-Xiaowen, your girlfriend.

She saw you at the same time, her face lighting up with a happy smile. “Over here…”

You got off the bike and climbed the steps two at a time. “Why did you want to meet here today?”

She approached, chewing gum with a loud, crunching sound. “Because there are fewer people here…”

You understood the implication in her words and cleared your throat. “By the way, I have a love letter I want to read to you.”

Xiaowen blushed and nodded.

At the end of the letter, there was a passage written in an extremely mushy tone.

You endured the goosebumps and read it aloud. At the very end, you added: “Love, Chen He.”

As the words left your lips, you froze.

Was your name Chen He?

No, your name was Chen Jiang.

“Wait, that’s wrong. I’m sorry, Xiaowen, I-”

The words caught in your throat. A surge of absolute terror peaked the moment you looked at the woman in front of you.

It was as if a filter had been stripped from the scene. The azure sky turned hazy and gray, and the surrounding light grew dim.

In the darkness, the woman’s neck was bent at a grotesque angle. Two glowing red eyes stared at you, her face twisted into an eerie smile.

That crunching sound-it wasn’t the sound of chewing gum at all. It was clearly the crisp sound of someone gnawing on human flesh and bone.

“Holy sh-”

In an instant, an arm reached in from the side, hooking around your neck and pulling you back with immense force.

Then, a calm voice rang out: “Zhang Wenjie, do it.”

Bang!

Something struck the woman’s head. Brilliant brain matter splattered in the twilight, bursting with dazzling colors.

Clang!

The Gymnasium doors slammed shut. You fell to the ground, braced for death.

“A newcomer?”

Then, you heard that same voice say, “Survivor No. 26. When we found him, he was confessing his love to that thing, even getting ready to kiss it.”

You opened your eyes. As they adjusted to the darkness, you saw a man, also young, reaching a hand out to you. “Let’s get acquainted. Helan Shan, Survivor No. 1. Welcome to the Survivors Alliance.”

You remained wary.

Your fingers silently tightened around a wooden stick nearby. The visual shock from moments ago had completely triggered your adrenaline; if there was any suspicious movement, you would bash him without hesitation.

Helan Shan stood in the shadows, his hand extended, unmoving.

“When you first wake up, it’s normal to be unable to distinguish between the Illusion Realm and reality. Being cautious is a good thing.”

You quietly scanned your surroundings. There were five people in total.

Helan Shan looked to be in his early twenties, tall and lean. However, judging by the explosive power he used to pull you away, he was a formidable fighter.

Zhang Wenjie, who had helped, was chubby with a slingshot tucked into his waistband. He had a simple, honest look about him and seemed easy to get along with.

There were also three unfamiliar faces: two girls who appeared to be Twin Sisters, and a fair-skinned young man wearing glasses who looked quite refined.

When they met your gaze, they nodded but didn’t introduce themselves.

Half an hour passed. You leaned in a corner, still holding the wooden stick, as your heartbeat gradually returned to normal.

Since you first encountered this environment, the things around you had been characterized by fast-paced attacks and deception. If the people across from you were monsters, you would have died ten thousand times by now.

You spoke up, throwing out your first question: “What are they?”

Night fell. The Gymnasium windows were tightly sealed with various fabrics and curtains. You could only make out people’s positions by the faint glow of a mobile phone.

After a long silence, Helan Shan’s voice drifted over. “Assimilated people. At 3:00 AM on July 28th, everyone who looked at the moon fell into an Illusion Realm. Some lucky ones, like us, discovered a paradox early on, broke through a layer of the Illusion Realm, and managed to survive. The rest… they became those things.”

“In other words, if more people wake up, our team will keep growing.”

Helan Shan paused. “In principle… yes. But over the last few days, the number of survivors we’ve been able to contact has been dwindling.”

He turned on his phone screen, his cold face appearing in the darkness. “The signs of total assimilation are blood-red eyes and the chewing. When you were found, one of your eyes had already turned red. At first, I was going to kill you.”

You realized it was that reflexive curse word that had saved your life.

Ding-

Everyone’s phone chimed simultaneously.

You looked down to see a text message from an anonymous number: “To our dear Survivors: The Moon Party will begin in 1 hour. Location: City No. 1 Middle School. Immunity Mode will be activated for Survivors for 20 minutes before the party begins. We look forward to your presence.”

A deathly silence followed. The Twin Sisters were the first to stand, silently strapping long blades to their waists.

The sound of rustling filled the room.

You heard Zhang Wenjie’s voice: “Number 26, get up, it’s time to work. We have to reach City No. 1 Middle School within 20 minutes. It’ll be a bit tight if we’re going by bike.”

At the same time, your phone received another text: “Do not look up at the moon.”

However, at this moment, everyone seemed indifferent to the second message.

Zhang Wenjie seemed to see through your confusion and said, “For the past ten days, the authorities have sent the same reminder every night. We suspect they’ve already been wiped out. In these ten days, we’ve lost nearly eighty percent of our survivors just to scout the path ahead. If we don’t arrive at the party location on time, the only outcome is death.”

As the Twin Sisters passed by, one added coldly, “It’s not assimilation. You go mad and literally feed yourself into a conveyor belt to be crushed…”

You thought of the girl under the tree whose head had been blown apart, and a faint sense of nausea rose in your chest.

“What does Immunity Mode mean?”

Zhang Wenjie smiled and said, “It means that tonight, you have twenty minutes to enjoy the moonlight.”