In the city, just before dusk, the glass shop windows on both sides reflected the orange light of the setting sun. In the deep alley, rats scurried by, leaving a trail of wet footprints.
"Caw!" The crow had barely cawed when its neck was snapped. Slender, white fingers brushed against the black feathers and retreated into the scarlet cloak, revealing only a sharp fingernail.
"Thank you for your hospitality." A hoarse voice came from under the cloak, like a rusty iron door being pulled open.
He turned and left, leaving behind the body of a crow and the corpse of a cute little girl with an apple-shaped face.
The illusions on the corpse disappeared, revealing its true form.
This was a skeletal witch with a large nose, straw-like hair, and an old face covered in age spots.
The witch held a heart in her hand, a cheerful smile on her face, her chest empty.
She died, and under the guidance of illusion, she dug out her own heart.
When he emerged from the alley, it was getting darker, and little mice were scurrying about, squeaking all over the place.
His image was reflected in the shop window filled with puppet figures: a witch with long black hair, wearing a red cloak that covered most of her face, revealing only her blood-red lips.
A witch luring passersby to dig out their hearts, grotesque dolls, and talking roadside sculptures. This world seems to be a world of monsters created by humankind.
One of the players is a murderer. Find him, or survive seven days.
[Identity: Player.]
[Character: Scarlet Witch]
[Role-Based Mission: What am I?]
[Keyword: Unknown.]
[12]
He put away his identity card and continued walking in the shadows. Occasionally, the twilight light would reflect off his body in the mirror, causing wisps of smoke to rise from his skin. These anomalies repeatedly reminded him that he was no longer an outsider.
What is the outside world like? What are those humans doing? He suddenly became very curious.
The sun, like an orange egg yolk, hung half on the horizon and sank half into the sea. Mist rose from the sea and began to spread toward the human cities.
"Hurry, it's getting dark." The crowd on the street rushed towards the safe base, closing doors and windows, turning off all the lights, and then entering the underground city.
The human world began to descend into darkness.
Twenty years have passed, and when the first monster appeared, everyone thought they were dreaming.
Later, more and more monsters appeared, all created by humankind's extraordinary imagination, from East and West, ancient and modern times, all included.
Gradually, people grew accustomed to this world, a world ruled by monsters created by humankind. And human civilization entered the Dark Ages.
The people of this city built their homes underground, which they called the Underground City. Humans were like burrowing mice, going out during the day and quickly returning to the Underground City at night.
"I think I see…" the girl pointed to a shadowy spot on the street corner.
The woman pulling her glanced back, then pushed her away, saying, "It's a monster! Miss, let's go quickly."
Orange light flowed slowly across the ground, like the elegant farewell of the goddess of daylight. The sun set, and the world was at peace.
A rustling sound rose and fell from the darkness, indicating that something was emerging.
Suddenly, a magnificent Milky Way appeared in the sky, with yellow, red, purple, blue... all sorts of colored lights twinkling in the black velvet-like sky, also casting a soft glow on the ground.
A distant call came from the sea, startling the creatures lurking in the darkness. Ren Yifei walked out of the alley and followed the sound all the way to the harbor. There stood a restaurant converted from a huge cruise ship, but it was long gone.
He slowly walked over, went to the deck of the ship, and gazed at the sea.
Who is calling him?
There is a bridge spanning the sea, extending from one end into the depths of the thick fog until it disappears from sight.
That thick fog enveloped the sea and also connected it to another world.
"Whoosh—" A long cry came from the sea, and a shadow a hundred meters high passed over the cross-sea bridge. As it strolled, it raised its head and let out a long call.
Closer, closer still, a shadow like a tall building.
It walked to the harbor, its translucent body passing through the restaurant ship.
Like a cold wind passing through, Ren Yifei's red cloak billowed in the wind, his hair flying wildly. He vaguely saw the passage of time within that misty body, his body growing old, weak, and filled with disease and pain.
"Woo—" It walked past the restaurant boat and headed to another place.
The wind stopped, the sound grew fainter and fainter, and the feeling of old age and desolation receded from his body. Ren Yifei opened his eyes, but he could no longer see the tall figure. Instead, he saw a group of mermaids with triangular fangs surrounding him.
The mermaids' eyes are covered with a transparent, waterproof membrane, so even though it's dark, their eyes are still very bright.
The mermaids sat on the deck of the ship eating fish. One fish, swishing its tail, had half its head bitten off, and blood splattered, staining his red cloak red as well.
But they seemed not to see him; their gazes never lingered on him.
Ren Yifei glanced at the group of reveling mermaids, but having no intention of disturbing them, he turned and left the seaside restaurant.
From the seaside restaurant to the city center, there is a straight avenue. All sorts of monsters emerged and roamed the long street, with Ren Yifei walking among them.
He was different from these monsters, but no one paid attention to him, just like the mermaids.
Before long, he encountered a group of reveling... dolls?
It was as if all the dolls in the city had come out, forming a long parade through the streets. Some played musical instruments, some danced, and they even carried a gaudy sedan chair.
"Be the bride!" A rabbit doll with a missing ear blocked a headless puppet's path.
"It's ugly! It's ugly!" The little bear doll behind him exclaimed in disapproval.
Having said goodbye to the puppets that were searching everywhere for their heads, the group of puppets then set off again, banging drums and gongs.
He didn't glance at Ren Yifei once from beginning to end.
Looking at his own hands, then at the other monsters, Ren Yifei was filled with doubt. He wasn't human, but the monsters couldn't see him either. What was he?
He continued walking forward, alongside the monsters, and brushing past them.
The world at night belongs to non-humans; they emerge from all directions and wander through these semi-abandoned human buildings.
The bizarre novels from all over the world have come true, and the movie fantasies from all over the world have become reality. Except for humans and their derivatives, 'ghosts', which did not appear, most of the other familiar monsters have appeared.
This world is a paradise for lovers of horror and the bizarre.
Ren Yifei looked around, as if he couldn't get enough of looking at the scenery.
"Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling." The sound of a copper bell rang out, and an old man radiating light walked out of an alley. He held a copper bell in his hand, and behind him floated a transparent, glowing fish-like object.
"Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling." The clear sound of the copper bell rang far away, and one by one, glowing children emerged from every corner of the building, then ran over, followed the old man, and hugged his legs, laughing and joking.
The group slowly walked past Ren Yifei; they were all radiating light, and their bodies were transparent.
"Whoosh!" Suddenly, an arrow struck the old man, and blue flames ignited at the wound.
"Ah—" the old man wailed, his voice pulling Ren Yifei back to reality from the bizarre and fantastical world of monsters.
Human beings—the word popped into his head, and the metallic taste of war seeped into his throat.
The blue flames burned fiercely. In the blink of an eye, the old man transformed into a light, floating piece of paper with many tiny characters the size of ants on it.
The paper turned to ash in an instant.
Before Ren Yifei could react, another arrow grazed the back of his hand, splattering blood and causing a blue flame to erupt where it touched. For a moment, his skin seemed to develop paper-like textures.
"The Scarlet Witch has been found!"
It was a human voice. Ren Yifei turned his head sharply and saw a group of people who had been lurking in a building running out, each holding a crossbow with the arrows pointed at him.
"Capture them alive."
Another volley of arrows came, seemingly impossible to avoid, but the red cloak blocked them, and they didn't harm him.
He hasn't figured out his public image yet, and it wouldn't be good if he got caught like this.
Unaware of the situation, Ren Yifei turned and ran into a nearby building. It was a large shopping mall, now abandoned, but the remaining artifacts still hinted at its former bustling prosperity.
These armed men pursued him relentlessly, following him into the shopping mall.
The flames on the back of his hand had dissipated, but blood was still flowing, and he had not yet healed.
The blood attracted some uninvited guests. He heard a sound in the darkness, looked around, and saw pairs of red eyes on the ground surrounding him.
Ren Yifei couldn't make out the shapes of these things, only their outlines, which were very small and looked like mice.
The prop card appeared in his hand and then transformed into a nail gun. Without hesitation, Ren Yifei fired several shots, killing a few small monsters in quick succession. He then broke through the monsters' encirclement and ran upstairs.
"Why is there a gunshot?" The hunting party members chased after them.
"Could the Free Hunters have followed us in?" some speculated. None of them suspected the Scarlet Witch.
The Scarlet Witch has a special constitution; the wound on the back of her hand heals very quickly. Ren Yifei instinctively licked it, and it was completely healed in no time. Is this a special ability inherent to the character?
As soon as the wound disappeared, the little monster in the shadows immediately lost interest in it and returned to its initial state of 'ignoring' it.
"Not here."
"Here too." The human carefully searched for him in the stairwell.
In the darkness, Ren Yifei stumbled along. He didn't have night vision and could only judge what was ahead by its outline.
The footsteps drew closer, ever closer.
He shrank back, hiding behind the wide gauze skirt, hugging his knees with both hands, suppressing the panting sounds from his throat after exercise, not daring to breathe too loudly.
"Here?"
A beam of light shone on the face of the mannequins in the shop window and then quickly flashed away. The person holding the flashlight examined them closely and realized they were all costumed mannequins. He shook his head: "I don't have any here either."
"?!" Ren Yifei covered his lips tightly. Right in front of him, a long, dark, giant snake was flicking its tongue. It had only one eye, which looked like a glowing light bulb.
When the long, sticky tongue came out of its mouth, the slimy, foul smell almost hit his face.
Ren Yifei was completely frozen.
In fact, Ren Yifei was the uninvited guest; he had barged into its home.
The giant snake had been staying there, with several white eggs coiled beneath it, so white they could glow in the dark.
The commotion outside seemed to have attracted its attention. The giant snake stretched its head out a little, its long tongue almost brushing against Ren Yifei's hair. He pursed his lips tightly, and a drop of cold sweat fell down his face.
"Something's strange, the little monsters' voices have disappeared."
The human NPCs outside seemed to have noticed something was wrong as they were scanning the area with flashlights.
Tick-tock.
An unknown liquid fell onto this person's arm, and hiss... a piece of flesh on the arm was directly corroded.
"What is that?" He took a few steps back and raised his flashlight. The round light shone on a yellow-green eye with a spindle-shaped vertical pupil in the center.
Its enormous eyes remained unblinking, and its massive black mouth suddenly opened wide.
The human instinctively swallowed, his legs trembled, and he was so frightened that he lost his voice.
The next second, the tail that had been waiting for a long time shot out, wrapped around him, tightened, and strangled him.
"Aaaaaah—it's a one-eyed basilisk!"
Her companion was startled. A flashlight rolled to the ground, its beam sweeping across the semi-transparent dress. The dress swayed slightly and then stopped moving.
A distinct shadow loomed behind the long dress, and his companion instinctively aimed hi
s crossbow at it and pulled the trigger.