Doomsday Wonderland

When Lin Sanjiu looked at the two rows of words on the menu, her eyebrows furrowed deeply.

As she had been deprived of oxygen for quite some time, her face was already red. The veins on her neck were slowly appearing. She had to try her best to suppress her survival instincts which urged her to breathe and disregard everything. Meanwhile, she also had to use her remaining rationality to considering the obvious problem.

“What should we do?” Lin Sanjiu wrote and flashed the paper to the people around her, “Can any of you think of a good idea?”

Ji Shanqing stood beside Lin Sanjiu and lowered his head to look at the menu. His hair flowed gently past his shoulders and blocked his expression. Additionally, Irezumi carried his communicator and walked over to Lin Sanjiu. In the low-res screen, Number 46 seemed to be thinking hard as he bit a straw in his mouth.

“The consequences are all the same,” the grand prize said. He looked up, “They don’t specify if the effect only affects one person or an entire group. In other words, when the old lady made us change forms, she didn’t use a unique consequence that affected a group… So, she definitely did something different from us when she chose her target.”

Indeed, the consequences were described very briefly and did not specify the number of targets. For example, consequences such as “Vision loss”, “Primary Active Skill Disabled”, seemed to apply to any number of people.

Lin Sanjiu frowned without saying a word. She sighed inwardly.

“Sis, how did you target me just now?” Ji Shanqing asked as he gathered his long hair.

Lin Sanjiu was just about to get her pen when the menu suddenly flashed and the content was updated. For a second, that caught everyone’s attention. They quickly looked at the consequences on the semi-transparent menu. This time, there were also some options with harmless consequences.

When Ji Shanqing withdrew his gaze, Lin Sanjiu had already written something new on the paper.

“I mentioned that I could only save three people become of the selection process.”

The others hesitated and watched silently as she continued writing.

“I need to breathe. I need to breathe. I need to breathe…”

Lin Sanjiu felt that her head was being roasted at that moment. For an instant, she could even hear her blood rushing through her blood vessels. She had no choice but to stop and gather her thoughts before she started writing again.

“At first, I tapped it a few times but it was no use. [Concept Mishmash] activated only after I locked-on to Ji Shanqing with my mind.”

As Lin Sanjiu didn’t have much time, her handwriting was shoddy and was almost going out of the paper. Number 46 mumbled something while Ji Shanqing turned his head away as he thought deeply about the situation.

Both of them were shrewd and quick-witted so there might be an alternative solution if they could mull over it for some time.

“Hey!” Irezumi suddenly yelled at Lin Sanjiu. “Stop wasting time, you idiots,” he said in a muffled voice, “Look at that card!”

Lin Sanjiu looked at the card instinctively but her oxygen-deprived brain couldn’t react immediately.

Somehow, the battery icon on her [Nostradamus’s Card] was already down to 9%…

“Huh?” Ji Shanqing was shocked. The bit of anger he felt toward Irezumi calling them idiots vanished in an instant, “When did—”

Shortly after, both Number 46 and he understood what had happened, “Each time the menu refreshed, it would eat up 7%.”

“What?” Qing Jiuliu looked up a little anxiously. He might be lazy but that didn’t mean he enjoyed his current helpless state. “It has been quite a few seconds since the menu refreshed. You have to try that old lady’s method! Quick!”

“Old lady’s method? ” Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a moment. Then, she remembered that she had previously asked Qing Jiuliu about his conversation with the old lady.

She gestured to Irezumi and pushed the python tail sightly away from her. Next, she tapped the menu a few times while she imitated the old lady’s words. She opened her mouth and said, “When you shake someone’s hand, both of you will giggle.”

Using every bit of self-control, she forced herself not to breathe while she opened her mouth to speak. Unfortunately, doing that was harder and more painful than Lin Sanjiu expected. When she stopped and the python tail wrapped her face again, she could even feel her chest pulsating from the pain.

“Quick! Hold my hand!” Qing Jiuliu immediately shouted at Ji Shanqing once Lin Sanjiu ended her sentence.

JI Shanqing jogged over and picked up Qing Jiuliu’s limp hand. He held it and shook it a few times. Qing Jiuliu sat up in split second. He started giggling uncontrollably like a girl as if someone was tickling him.

“Good, it worked!”

Lin Sanjiu felt her heart racing as she quickly reached out to Irezumi. Irezumi tsked a few times and stuck his hand out to shake Lin Sanjiu’s hand. Disappointingly, Lin Sanjiu did not feel any urge to laugh even after a few seconds.

“Why…”

Qing Jiuliu had just stopped laughing. After laughing, there were tears at the corner of his sparkling eyes. When he noticed that Lin Sanjiu did not respond, his expression turned grim, “Why didn’t that work for you?”

Lin Sanjiu wanted to console the people around her with a smile but her face was squished too tightly by the python so she couldn’t even curl her lips.

“Deactivate the menu, quick!” Number 46 shouted out from the communicator. He shocked everyone as he yelled. “Don’t let it refresh!”

Perhaps, Lin Sanjiu was close to asphyxia so her chest was sinking and her mind became slower and slower. She heard what Number 46 said but she took a few seconds to process. When she wanted to deactivate the menu, it was already too late…

The floating menu flickered abruptly and was refreshed once again.

The number on her [Nostradamus’s Card] fell to 2%.

This was her last chance.

For a split second, Lin Sanjiu had an intense urge to pull the python away from her face and inhale the large mouths of oxygen she needed. Unfortunately, the menu had been updated three times so she only had one minute left. She had no time to take a breath before trying again. She tried her best to suppress her exploding anxiety as she turned her head to face the pool.

Magus was floating silently beneath the surface of the water. She looked lifeless.

“Air, air, air… ” Lin Sanjiu turned her head around. She couldn’t help digging her nail into the carpet. Number 46 and Ji Shanqing was discussing quietly behind her. However, the only word that occupied Lin Sanjiu’s mind was “air” so she couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Lin Sanjiu suddenly snapped back to focus only after Qing Jiuliu called her several times with a serious look on his face. She realized that she was nearly delirious.

“Can you hear what we said?” This was the first time Lin Sanjiu saw that expression on Qing Jiuliu’s perpetually indolent face.

Even though Lin Sanjiu didn’t hear what they said, she could make a close guess.

“We were discussing the mastermind behind the apocalypse, the old lady and you,” Number 46’s voice came from the communicator. His words confirmed her guess, “Even though all three of you can use that ability, whether there are any limitations or not and the extent of the limitations are completely different. After you captured that old lady, the [Concept Mishmash], you could only use a weaker version of that ability. However, I don’t have much time to explain now. You would just have to make a choice. It’s either you or her.”

Lin Sanjiu dug her fingers deep into the carpet. Her fingers turned white.

“Me or Magus? If I take another breath, will I kill myself from depression?” she thought drowsily to herself.

Looking up, the neat words on the menu suddenly became distorted with her slipping consciousness. The words assaulted her vision. Ji Shanqing, who was standing behind her, said something. He seemed to be persuading her but Lin Sanjiu couldn’t hear what he said clearly through her ears which didn’t seem to be working well anymore. She raised her hand almost in a trance-like state.

As she moved, the voices behind her suddenly quietened down. Once again, there was silence.

She touched the option, “When indoors” and the consequence “Extreme thirst”.

This time, after Lin Sanjiu chose the two options, the menu disappeared with a blink of an eye. She felt the bashful python loosening its grip around her face. Finally, she felt air entering her nose.

Lin Sanjiu inhaled a large mouthful of air. The sudden gush of air caused her to cough uncontrollably as she lay on the floor. Meanwhile, behind her, Magus was still floating in the pool unconscious just as before.

“Who did she choose? Is the consequence in effect?” Irezumi looked around but no one answered him. Even Lin Sanjiu’s grand prize did not know what her choice was. He could only wait nervously.

“She’s coughing too long,” Qing Jiuliu suddenly said to Ji Shanqing after some time. “Go check on her.”

Startled, Ji Shanqing rushed over and crouched beside Lin Sanjiu. When he placed his hand on Lin Sanjiu’s back, she finally stopped coughing. She turned her face away from him as if she was unwilling to look at him. There was a small wet patch on the carpet due to her coughs.

“Sis?” Ji Shanqing was a little worried.

After some time, Lin Sanjiu spoke.

“I’m very thirsty,” she said nasally. “Do you have water?”

Ji Shanqing was slightly taken aback. He couldn’t help heaving a sigh of relief along with the others.

“Yes, yes,” he replied hurriedly as he got Qing Jiuliu to look for some water from the fridge of the nearest guest room. Lin Sanjiu looked away as she waited quietly for the latter to go into the guest room. Then, she suddenly stood up and walked to the pool.

Magus’ eyes were closed. Her hair and dress floated in the water.

Ji Shanqing stood behind Lin Sanjiu. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.

“You choose the right choice. Don’t think too much about it,” Number 46 complimented Lin Sanjiu from the communicator. “At least you didn’t let your hero syndrome go to your head and do something stupid. Under these circumstances, no matter how you see it—”

He had not finished his sentence when he heard a loud splash. Water splashed in all directions. Lin Sanjiu had jumped into the swimming pool and created a small wave. As she was bad at swimming, she waddled, rather than swam, toward Magus, getting there after quite some time. After she reached Magus, she held her and doggy-paddled to the edge and pulled the woman out of the water.

Magus lay limply on the floor. The consequence that the old lady inflicted on her was “you will never escape from your current condition”. Magus wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon even after she was pulled out from the water. She probably wouldn’t even wake up if someone stabbed her.

“What are you planning to do?” Number 46 asked, a little stunned by Lin Sanjiu’s action.

Lin Sanjiu wiped off the water droplet from her face. She sniffled a little. Her eyes and nose were a little red, perhaps from entering the pool, “There was a reason why I chose myself.”

Not far from her, Qing Jiuliu stood at the entrance of a guest room, leaning against a door while he held a mineral water bottle and listened.

“I know. That woman isn’t altruistic. If you chose her, she might not save you after she woke up,” Number 46 answered immediately. “That is why your choice is right.”

“No. Maybe, part of the reason was because of my selfishness. But, that isn’t the main reason,” Lin Sanjiu shook her head stubbornly. She crouched down and carried Magus on her shoulder. “If I chose Magus, no one could help me with my depression. However, if I chose myself, I have a possible way of helping Magus.”

“What way?” Number 46 asked curiously.

“The place where Magus is right now is called Astral Plane,” Lin Sanjiu said softly as she lowered her eyes, “I can go there too.”

That wasn’t the only reason. Somehow, the words from the old lady lingered in her mind—”she is currently in Astral Plane investigating about something she shouldn’t…”

Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help feeling that there was something more to what that woman said. Lin Sanjiu sighed thinking of this matter. With her eyes still lowered, she explained, “I will keep Magus safe for the time being. I will also try to find out about the origins of that old lady… the mastermind behind this world’s apocalypse.”

Ji Shanqing and Qing Jiuliu exchanged glances. Both of them didn’t see any hint of surprise from each other’s face.

“Origins… Forget it. Putting aside all the other complications, how are you going to protect her?” Number 46 asked with slight disdain, “Are you going to carry her around everywhere you go? Are you going to give her a visa and carry her all the way to the next world?”

Lin Sanjiu nodded without any hesitation.

Number 46 was dumbfounded. For a few seconds, he couldn’t find the right words. Pausing for a moment, he suddenly laughed dryly, “Regarding that… Do you know why Irezumi came here today?”

“We’re finally dealing with proper business,” Irezumi grumbled. He placed the communicator on the floor with a heavy thud. “I’m so bored after listening to all of you blabbering for such a long time. We came here today to inform all of you about something.”

“What?” Ji Shanqing asked as he tied her hair into a ponytail.

“While you guys were staying in the hotel, doing whatever stupid things you do,” Irezumi stared at the people around him with his yellow serpentine eyes. Irezumi started explaining patiently as if he was afraid that his candidates didn’t understand, “We found another four consular officers dead. Those four unfortunate chaps weren’t sent from our organization. We just happened to come across those people while we are searching for our consular officer. Quite obviously, there is someone in this world trying to hunt down consular officers.”