Chapter 1080: Stare into the Abyss
Neighborhood near the Fifteen Highschool, Li City.
A highschool girl dressed in a youthful blue and white uniform with twin tails emerged from a boutique shop, a packaged gift box in hand and a skip in her steps. A boy followed close behind.
“Xinxin, I really think I should get Brother Yang a gift—”
Gao Xinxin interrupted Guang Huan, “Told you not to! You aren’t that close to my brother. Your gift will only be a burden to him.”
“True, true.” Guang Huan nodded. “Then I’ll do it in the future.”
“Right,” Gao Xinxin said carelessly.
Guang Huan blinked at her back, cracking a lopsided smile.
She didn’t turn me down!
Great, that means she thinks I will be closer to Brother Yang!
She thinks I’ll be in her future! Guang Huan, you have a good chance!
Gao Xinxin paid no attention to Guang Huan's daydreaming. She walked to the curb, still pleased with her well-chosen gift.
She called Wang Zikai, but he didn't pick up.
What the hell? It’s time already. Why haven’t you come pick me up?
Gao Xinxin didn’t think too much of it. She looked down at the gift box and grinned. Wang Zikai, you’re gonna lose! I’m gonna pick the most expensive cake for you to pay for!
When she remembered she had company, she turned around and said, “Thanks for coming with me, Guang Huan. I’ll buy you a meal someday.”
“Geez, this is nothing.” Guang Huan attempted politeness, but then he added because he didn’t want Gao Xinxin to take the offer back, “There’s a good barbecue place. Let’s go there next Sunday and invite Brother Yang, too.”
“Okay.” Gao Xinxin waved him away with a smile. “See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, tomorrow—”
Suddenly, an oppressive horn sounded from the sky, seemingly darkening the setting sun, which cast the whole street block crimson red. It felt like they were submerged in an intoxicating yet suffocating wine.
The pedestrians and the cars halted, looking up at the sky. Guang Huan was no exception.
It took some time for him to recover. He gasped and hissed, “Where did the air raid alert come from? It’s uncomfortable—”
He turned around and realized something was wrong with Gao Xinxin.
Both the gift and her phone lay on the ground. She stood rooted to the spot, eyes closed.
Under the beautiful sunlight and the pleasant breeze that seemed to herald misfortune, the girl's skirt and hair rustled gently, her reddened face serene and devout.
“Gao Xinxin?” Guang Huan called out.
Gao Xinxin quickly opened her eyes. They were dark like ink.
She smiled. It was innocent, yet eerie in its lack of morality. She bent down to pick up the gift gingerly, uttering a word.
…
Clearing around the dried well, suburban Li City.
“Wang Zikai!” Gao Yang teleported to Wang Zikai immediately when he blacked out, helping him up. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
A few seconds later, Wang Zikai slowly opened his eyes, getting a clear look at the one holding him. “Gao Yang?”
“It’s me.”
“My head, it hurts…” Wang Zikai’s blond fringe covered one of his eyes. His pale face appeared fragile and lost. He frowned slightly. “I feel…wrong.”
Gao Yang’s heart raced. “How so? Are you physically unwell? Hurt somewhere?”
“No, no. Not that…” Wang Zikai shook his head. His earnest gaze at Gao Yang cooled little by little, like the moon’s reflection in a lake.
“It’s just, I suddenly…” A drop of tear fell from his eye. “Really want to kill you.”
…
[Warning! You are staring into the abyss.]
[Luck points acquisition rate increases to 50000 times.]
Gao Yang’s heart clenched. His rational mind screamed: Wang Zikai’s monsterhood has awakened! Leave him now! Use Absolute Defense! Protect everyone! Now, Gao Yang! You’re running out of time!
The rational voice was terrified. It whined, it begged for him to act.
Go! Go now!
Or you’ll die! You’ll die for sure!
But Gao Yang didn’t leave. He grasped Wang Zikai’s hand and tightened his grip.
No.
No, no.
It can’t be.
It must be something else.
It must be another false alert, just like before.
Or maybe he’s joking.
You’re incorrigible, Wang Zikai, working with the system to fool me.
Do I look like an idiot? Do you think I’ll be so easily—
Wang Zikai crushed Gao Yang's right hand as easily as crushing an orange. Blood splattered across both their faces. Gao Yang's vision turned red.
Gao Yang heard a ring in his head. It felt like his soul was detaching from his body. He saw Wang Zikai open his mouth.
He couldn’t hear anything, but he could read his lips.
At that moment, six other monsters had uttered a word—a brand deep in their hearts, the switch of their monsterhood.
Zhou Jing said, “Lust.”
Liu Tao, “Gluttony.”
Mark, “Wrath.”
Wang Shu, “Sloth.”
Surnamed Li, “Greed.”
Gao Xinxin, “Envy.”
Wang Zikai, “Pride.”
When the Divine Scion descended into the world, the summoner prime was to sound the horn that would herald the conclusion of the Mist World.
The seven death monsters woke.
Their mission was to kill all awakeners.
…
Gao Yang didn’t know what had happened. Between one blink and the next, he was moved fifty meters from Wang Zikai.
The others gathered around him, face ashen.
They didn’t know what the horn was, but they knew it was wrong. Still, it stunned everyone when Wang Zikai regained consciousness and suddenly turned hostile to Gao Yang, crushing his hand.
It was absurd.
Wang Zikai hurting Gao Yang?
It was as incredulous as saying the ocean was filled with sand, and fish swam in the desert.
War Tiger was the first to react. He didn’t immediately go to Gao Yang’s rescue, but stopped Qing Ling from rushing over with her blade.
And he was right to do so. The next second, Gao Yang had suddenly vanished and reappeared in a safe spot.
They all gathered around Gao Yang. None of them wanted to move against Wang Zikai before figuring out what was happening.
Wang Zikai slowly rose to his feet, brushing his fringe from his eye with a bloodied hand, leaving a stark red stain on his forehead.
He grinned at Gao Yang and said lightly, “Sorry, Bro. I didn’t honor my promise. I can’t save the world with you anymore.”
Gao Yang blanched, eyes filled with despair. He couldn't say a word.
Wang Zikai aimed at his forehead with a finger gun. “Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.”
Ring.
Suddenly, an energy rippled out, and Wang Zikai stopped moving.
Then his figure wobbled and flattened into a two-dimensional image—both him and the sunset behind him, to be exact.
It reminded Gao Yang of the 3D album he had bought when he was a child. The picture looked flat from the front, but from an angle, it looked three-dimensional.
That was the strange state Wang Zikai was in, somewhere between two and three-dimensional.
Gao Yang felt something warm pressed to his chest. That was the source of the energy. He looked down and realized: the diary!
A white light flashed out of Gao Yang’s chest, taking the form of a man.
Everyone gaped at the strange phenomenon.
The mysterious man dressed in a long white coat turned around. He was in his thirties, tall. Below his slight curls were pronounced facial features, his eyes rimmed by black frame glasses. Under the coat, he wore a dark gray preppy cardigan, khaki pants, and brown Oxfords. A retro quartz watch adorned his wrist. His long slim ring finger bore a simple silver band.
He looked no different from the last time Gao Yang met him.
“We meet again, Gao Yang.”
He smiled, looking melancholy and mysterious. “Allow me to reintroduce myself. Name’s Baili Yi, with level 8 Red Eyes, Painter, and Flake Out. The sole survivor of the previous rounds.”
“I can only delay the death monster for a little longer, so let’s be brief.”
“You…are the last hope of this world.”
[End of Act V]
Houseau3's ThoughtsUgh were the many false alarms happening in the past for this moment?
Yeah, I guess this is where we're going...yep...here's the teaser for the next act...
The terrifyingly powerful seven death monsters awakened. The awakeners were in dire danger. Facing his once friend and family, how would Gao Yang act as the leader of humans?
Would the mysterious and resourceful Baili Yi bring them the hope to turn things around?
Did the Gates of Closure exist?
What was the truth of the Mist World?
Look forward to Creatures that We Are Act VI: Gates of Closure.
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