Doomsday Wonderland

"The security measures on this floor of the experience center are actually quite strict..."

The 8th staff member named Gisa walked cautiously through the lobby, which was littered with broken glass, duoluozhong corpses, and shattered bricks, leading the two of them. It seemed even he hadn't expected that his plea had genuinely spared him from Lin Sanjiu's wrath. His expression still seemed a bit dazed as if he couldn't wait to prove to Lin Sanjiu that her decision was correct and that he was indeed useful.

The simplest way to leave this floor was, of course, to jump out of a window. However, after jumping out, they wouldn't be able to choose their direction and might be spotted by someone. According to Gisa's explanation, the best way was for him to secretly guide them through an internal secure passage, allowing them to leave unnoticed.

"And this is considered strict?" the tour guide said with a touch of disbelief. "The corners of the exhibition center have been torn apart, and several people have died..."

"I know, I know. However, when we enter the duoluozhong, many of the security measures are deactivated..." Gisa said, his voice growing quieter. "For example, under normal operating conditions, the windows cannot be opened. And during non-experience times, if a door under a display case is opened, an alarm would immediately sound..."

"That means at least some of the security measures were deactivated by that R Chen before you entered the duoluozhong experience," Lin Sanjiu reminded him.

Perhaps overwhelmed by the successive tragedies and shocks he had experienced, Gisa took a moment to process this and then exclaimed, "Ah, right!"

Although he was a posthuman, when it came to courage and intellect, he wasn't particularly remarkable. His survival in the Twelve Worlds Centrum was likely due to luck and perhaps also because he tended to involuntarily be convinced by more assertive individuals. After all, most people wouldn't bother with someone who agreed with them at every turn.

Lin Sanjiu naturally didn't completely let her guard down; what if this person was exceptionally good at acting?

Thinking about acting, she couldn't help but recall Bee Sting Venom's experience with a black duoluozhong, and she sighed. "That black duoluozhong, how can it be so skilled at acting?"

Gisa turned his head, looking as if he hadn't quite understood. After the reminder, he said, "Oh, that one! It's indeed quite good at acting, but... it's not quite as extreme as you described."

Lin Sanjiu was taken aback. "If there hadn't been a reminder, I would never have believed that Yao Han was a duoluozhong. It looked like an actual posthuman."

"That's because... Yao Han was originally an actual posthuman," Gisa stammered, "People who are devoured by that duoluozhong become its... well, you could say they become props or costumes. The person's appearance and expressions before they died can all be reused."

No wonder. Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but feel a bit dazed. She hadn't expected that she would glimpse a deceased posthuman from the vast world of doomsday through the duoluozhong as a medium.

Bee Sting Venom let out a sigh, and the group fell into a momentary silence.

As they passed through the floors, every glass display case they went by contained a duoluozhong that was excited by their presence. Some constantly bumped against the glass, some struck various poses, and some opened and closed their mouths repeatedly. After walking for a while, the tour guide couldn't help but ask in a hushed voice, "What... what are they saying?"

Gisa thought for a moment, first sought Lin Sanjiu's consent, then reached out and fumbled around the glass display case. He pressed something, and suddenly the voice of the internal duoluozhong came from the cylindrical platform.

"Where are you going?" The duoluozhong pressed against the glass panted. "I saw everything, I know what you've done. You've destroyed so many things. If you don't take me with you, I'll report this to the exhibition organizers."

With a snap, Gisa quickly turned off the amplification device. He seemed a bit out of breath, looking at Lin Sanjiu and the tour guide, seeking reassurance. "No one would believe what the duoluozhong said... right?"

"Of course not."

If it were the flattened rat that had been present and witnessed the events from start to finish, it might have been able to cast doubt through clever words. However, these duoluozhong that had been confined in glass displays all along couldn't even put together a coherent sentence. No one would consider them credible witnesses. ℝáŊȱ฿Ěs

As for the flattened rat, it had long since taken the opportunity to flee when Lin Sanjiu and the fleshbound started fighting. The window they fell through had sealed again once Gisa woke up and reactivated the security system. Before that, the flattened rat had countless chances to escape. Naturally, it wouldn't willingly return to the glass tube. All it needed to do was jump through that window... But then what?

Once it escaped, being such a large and conspicuous duoluozhong, it would face endless pursuit no matter where it went. Despite its quick mind, the flattened rat had merely escaped one trap only to fall into another dead end.

"We're here."

Gisa's soft call brought Lin Sanjiu's attention back. She looked around and was momentarily stunned.

She hadn't expected the employees' safety passage to be anything other than a door leading to a staircase. Instead, it was a thick white pillar, awkwardly standing between the ceiling and the floor. There were no display stands nearby, and it didn't look like an exit to the outside world.

"The doors are for guests. During non-exhibition hours, they're locked by the security system, just like the windows," Gisa said. "This pillar used to be the building's elevator shaft... Look."

He pulled a small keypad from his collar and pressed a few buttons. A soft whir of machinery came from within the pillar. Soon, a thin crack appeared on the white surface. The crack widened quickly as a section of the pillar sank and slid aside, revealing a dark, straight tunnel.

"Once you jump into this shaft, it works like a slide. It'll spiral you downward, and you can choose your direction at the forks. Oh, and whatever you do, don't go to the Secret Garden," Gisa warned nervously. "That's where the organization behind the experience exhibition is based. Only employees can enter. If you show up there..."

"I got it," Lin Sanjiu said, waving him off. She glanced at the tunnel and then back at Gisa, still feeling uneasy. After a moment's thought, she pulled out the [Tape Recorder] from her card inventory and asked, "Do you recognize this? It's a tape recorder."

Gisa seemed unfamiliar with the old-fashioned device, looking puzzled.

"I've recorded our entire conversation. If you report to your organization according to what we agreed, then we'll both be safe. But if you try to pin this on me, I'll send this recording to the Secret Garden. Do you understand?"

Gisa's face went pale, and he nodded hastily.

Lin Sanjiu didn't forget to add a bit of reason to the threat. "After all, this was originally R-Chen's responsibility. If your organization investigates, they'll find the traces he left behind, like how he disabled part of the security system. You can just tell them that. His body was absorbed by the fleshbound; just say he escaped... Think about it. Isn't it safer to let a dead man take the blame than to provoke someone alive?"

"I-I'll explain everything properly," Gisa said, terrified that she might change her mind and deal with him on the spot. "Besides, it's not really lying..."

Lin Sanjiu suddenly raised her hand, signaling him to stop talking. Perhaps something in her expression made the others fall silent and hold their breath. The tour guide glanced at her anxiously, but Lin Sanjiu didn't respond. She listened to the deathly stillness in the hall, then slowly took two steps back.

"Come out," she said calmly.

Her voice stirred the silence in the hall before dissolving back into it. The other two exchanged confused looks.

"Don't bother hoping for luck," Lin Sanjiu said, sighing. "I really didn't expect this."

The tour guide opened her mouth but closed it again, glancing at Lin Sanjiu in confusion. Then, catching a faint footstep, she turned toward the sound and let out a startled scream.

From the corridor ahead emerged the young man Lin Sanjiu had first discovered under the platform—the one whose consciousness had perished with the duoluozhong, leaving behind a vegetative body.

But the man walking out now was clearly no longer a vegetable.

"Your consciousness... returned?" Gisa exclaimed in surprise after a brief pause. "I thought your consciousness died with the duoluozhong. You're quick!"

The young man opened his mouth, seemingly ready to agree, but his eyes flicked toward Lin Sanjiu.

She regarded him coldly and asked, "Where is your body?"

The other two froze in shock. The man chuckled bitterly.

"W-what do you mean?" Gisa's eyes widened, darting between Lin Sanjiu and the man.

"His consciousness was gone. Why waste a perfectly healthy human body?" the man said, his eyes fixed on Lin Sanjiu. "As for my own body... If a duoluozhong's body without consciousness was left in the exhibition hall, wouldn't the organizers suspect that one of the survivors was a duoluozhong? So, I killed myself."

In this human form, his mannerisms were no longer exaggerated. He sounded surprisingly sincere. "Won't you give me this chance to start over as a human?"

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