Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1237: Lin Sanjiu's Fear and Primitive Animation

Where was Bohemia? Where was Puppeteer?

Why had they ceased to exist in this space?

Had they already seen the elevator... and left her behind?

In that instant when a thousand thoughts raced through her mind, Lin Sanjiu suddenly saw herself, alone in this dark, endless staircase, climbing up and down for the rest of her life, never seeing another living soul except herself.

She would rather die immediately, even become a duoluozhong, and spend the rest of her life with the former security guard than never see people ever again.

Fortunately, her instinctual fear from that moment was forcefully dispelled by her will. She took a deep breath, focused on Puppeteer's motionless black figure ahead, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Wait for me!"

In front of her, a few meters away on the stairs, the silhouettes of three people showed no response. Only the Glowfish continued to swim back and forth above their heads.

Lin Sanjiu suppressed her body's trembling, let out a low roar, and with a burst of force, she pounced towards the top of the stairs. She had almost convinced herself that the figures ahead were not real; the real Bohemia and Puppeteer had long since separated from her, she believed. She just needed to charge through those illusions—

She never expected that, with a dull thud, she would collide with something soft but firm. The force of her charge was too strong, and she was instantly pushed back. Her feet slipped from the edge of the narrow steps, and she tumbled down into the endless darkness of the stairs.

As she rolled down the stairs, the three figures ahead remained silent, their backs still turned to her. Each of them had one foot on the next step ahead and one foot planted in place. Not a single one turned around, not a word was spoken. Their silhouettes grew smaller as she got farther away as if they were patiently waiting for her to fall into the unreachable darkness below so they could continue on.

While tumbling and falling, dazed and confused, Lin Sanjiu managed to grab onto the handrail on the wall. It took considerable effort, but she finally stabilized herself on the step. Breathing heavily, she raised her head for a quick glance and noticed that in the distance, where a few small figures were standing, there seemed to be a faint silver line between the ceiling and the wall, outlining an edge as if it were sketched.

If it hadn't been for the change in angle after her fall, she might not have noticed it. Realizing what was wrong gave her some confidence back. She yelled to her distant companions, "I've been separated! Wait for me!" while trying to lift herself up to charge forward again.

Among the countless posthumans in the doomsday, nearly everyone had psychological issues, and she had long known she was one of them. This realization became even clearer and crueler as she attempted to climb up again: she was not injured, not under attack, and she was still as strong as ever. Yet, she had never felt so weak. She rushed too quickly and tripped over herself again, even resorting to crawling up the stairs on all fours due to their steepness.

How long had it been since the former security guard saw the elevator? Please, please, please, please, please...

The incessant, subconscious pleas directed at an unknown entity abruptly ceased in her mind. Lin Sanjiu was now only a few steps away from Puppeteer's silhouette ahead. Because the steps were too steep, she had unknowingly been crawling on both hands and feet, as it was more energy-efficient and convenient this way, for her... and for the corpse.

She slowly turned her head.

Because blood had once pooled in his face, his facial skin was a patchwork of dark red and purple, making it impossible to discern his features. However, his eyes were unaffected. Amidst widely opened eyelids, two swollen grayish-white eyeballs remained motionless, fixed on her. The corpse was on all fours, but its neck had twisted within the collar of its clothes, still facing upward as it did when it lay on the steps, gazing at Lin Sanjiu.

This couldn't be.

She heard herself scream, and when she threw a burst of Higher Consciousness toward the corpse, she already had a vague idea of what would happen next. In the next moment, she indeed felt her Higher Consciousness, which she had thrown out, rebounding back. Just as it was about to hit her, she hurriedly retracted it.

It was something similar to the fake silhouette!

This thought entered her mind, and the irrational fear she had just experienced was instantly diluted by logic. The staircase was very narrow, and given the size of the corpse, there was no reason they wouldn't collide if it were trying to crawl alongside her. However, she never felt anything bumping into her. Lin Sanjiu lowered her head and quickly realized what was wrong. The corpse's torso and shoulder edges were bent over like a photograph, and there was a familiar silver line along the edge.

Someone has infiltrated, someone used these photographic-like illusions to separate them.

But when did they enter?

In an instant, many pieces came together in Lin Sanjiu's mind, forming a picture that made her suddenly realize what was going on, although it left her with many questions. She knew it wasn't the time to investigate further, so she immediately used [Planar World] to throw a piece of clothing onto the corpse. When it landed on the corpse, the shaky image was captured into the clothing's card. She didn't have time to see what was written on the card now. Instead, she quickly got up, summoned a few towels into her hands, and swept them toward Puppeteer's motionless back.

Puppeteer, the former security guard, Bohemia, and the Glowfish all behaved like three-dimensional photographs, attaching to the towels that had become cards. Suddenly, the staircase went dark.

Her true companions were just ahead of her.

Someone had slipped in between her and Puppeteer, causing her to lag behind alone. That person had taken her place and likely walked with them to the elevator. She now had to rush to catch up before it was too late!

She only hoped that Puppeteer or Bohemia in front had heard the few words she shouted loudly. These images couldn't block sound; otherwise, she wouldn't have heard the former security guard's voice earlier.

In the pitch-black staircase, Lin Sanjiu placed one hand on the handrail and ran continuously. She shouted as she ran, but all that echoed back to her was the empty and desolate staircase. In the darkness, she stumbled and couldn't tell how many steps she had climbed, as if she were a hamster endlessly running on a wheel, going back and forth without realizing she was only spinning in place.

As her heart sank deeper into the darkness, a glimmer suddenly broke through the gloom ahead, rapidly brightening a small portion of her view. Lin Sanjiu's spirit surged, and at that moment, she recognized that the source of the light was a shape of a swimming fish.

"Bohemia!" she cried urgently.

But no one appeared along with the swimming fish. In fact, the Glowfish wasn't there to light the way for Lin Sanjiu because, as soon as it flicked its tail, it passed over her head and swam down the staircase beneath her, disappearing into the darkness in an instant.

Where was it going?

Although she was more puzzled now, one thing was clear. Bohemia and the others should be just ahead. Lin Sanjiu felt more energized and increased her pace. It didn't take long for her to reach the end of the staircase. Finally, there was a row of lights on the ceiling, and the ground beneath her feet suddenly widened, turning into a platform resembling a lobby.

She quickly glanced around and saw several people standing on the right side of the lobby. Bohemia had her back to her, gesturing in the air as if she were talking to Puppeteer and the former security guard. At the moment, no one had noticed her arrival. The building's construction here was the same as in the staircase, absorbing all sound. Even though they were all within each other's line of sight, without looking up, it was impossible to tell if anyone had arrived. Lin Sanjiu looked past their shoulders and immediately spotted an elevator with an open door on the wall, but for the time being, they hadn't entered.

"Bohemia," she called out, hurriedly approaching. "Puppeteer! It's me!"

Just at that moment, she saw a flash of light from behind her. She turned her head and saw the fish returning from the staircase, swiftly passing by her and heading towards the left side of the lobby. It slowed down in an empty corner of the wall and then suddenly disappeared.

Lin Sanjiu suddenly understood.

This was a clever setup.

The only person speaking had her back turned to her, making it impossible for her to see if Bohemia's mouth was moving when she spoke. As for the people she could see, they all stood there in complete silence. Since Bohemia was shorter, their gaze was directed downward, so it wouldn't be surprising if they hadn't noticed someone rushing out of the stairs immediately.

In other words, at first glance, this was a scene that was very difficult to determine as real or a "photograph."

Just as she was thinking about this, she saw Bohemia's hand make the same gesture again, identical in terms of angle, speed, and posture to the one she had just seen.

Was this the most basic form of animation? Drawing two continuous actions in a picture, so it appeared as if the character was moving when you flipped it over. It almost wasted her precious time.

Lin Sanjiu swallowed something burning in her throat, turned around, and rushed out to the left side of the empty hall. This time, she had a new towel in her left hand, but her right hand was swiftly encased in a metal gauntlet with a clattering sound. "Bohemia!"

Sure enough, from a corner of the wall where there was nothing, came Bohemia's indistinct voice, "How... did... It sound like it came from..."

Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth, reached out, and flung the towel over the spot where the Glowfish had disappeared. As the towel swept over the empty space, it was as if a curtain on the wall had been lifted, and when it abruptly fell and disappeared, it revealed several people behind it—Bohemia, the former guard, Puppeteer, and of course, herself.

The few people were standing inside the elevator, and Bohemia had just withdrawn her hand from the buttons. The elevator door was gradually closing. At the sight of Lin Sanjiu at the entrance, everyone froze.