Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  She only needed to stay here for the next six hours. With that thought in mind, Lin Sanjiu leaned against a broken wall and stared into the distance.

  She must return to Mid Mountsburg in the afternoon. After all, amongst the twelve personalities, Bliss was the only one whose location she was certain of. Other than that, she had to go back to check on Yu Yuan, and she also decided to get Bliss to share Luther's location.

  The ruin was quiet.

  Maybe it was because of the sun, maybe it was because her crisis was almost over, or maybe it was because she finally solved a small part of the mystery that had been bugging her the whole time. Regardless of the reason, Lin Sanjiu's eyelids began to droop.

  "How long have I been staying awake? Two or three days?" She could not remember it very clearly. "Talking to Septimus is far more exhausting than everything I've done in the past."

  She swore she just slipped into slumber for a second.

  When she forced her heavy eyelids open, the sun was still high in the sky. The grass continued to sway in a wavy motion along with the wind.

  Something was breathing on top of her. That was the first thought that came into her mind. Whatever the creature was, he, she or it was pulling her hair.

  Then, a hissing rang out overhead. It sounded just like a monstrous python was hissing next to her.

  Chapter 831 - Who Is The Assailant?

  It appeared to Lin Sanjiu that the thing on top of her had not realized that she had woken up already.

  Her brain was working rapidly to come up with a way to free herself, but the iron grip on her hair and the heavy and shallow breath accompanied by a low, hissing noise denied her an easy escape. The thing swirled on top of her for a few seconds, then she heard it open its mouth. The sloshing of its saliva stirring in its jaw was loud in her ears. Then, before she could do anything, it began singing.

  It would too far-fetched to call it a song. It was totally out of tune, and it did not have fixed lyrics or melody. It sounded like a mishmash of all discordant tunes and was harsh to the ears. "La la la…scalp and hair…piece after piece…More and more…I need scalp and hair…"

  As soon as the last word spewed out of the thing's mouth, Lin Sanjiu yanked her arm upward and hurled a towel with [Level 6 Divine Power] at it. She did not store much [Divine Power] and this was the last and strongest sliver she had stocked up. The ground began shaking violently while the air was filled with smoke and rubbles, and the rumbling was deafening.

  As soon as she felt the grip on her hair loosen, she sprang up from the ground. The towel fell back on the broken wall. The power of a Level 6 Divine Power was something not to be taken lightly. It pulverized the ground behind the wall and a massive crack had appeared in its place. All the trees and grass fell into the crack and vanished into the empty darkness below.

  However, the thing that grabbed her hair was nowhere to be seen.

  Divine Power was formless and colorless. It would not leave anything behind other than destruction. She scanned the empty ruins warily, yet nothing came in sight. She was certain that she had missed her target as she could not even see a single drop of blood in the crack.

  "Who is that?" Lin Sanjiu shouted even though she knew there was no use.

  An eddy of wind came and swayed the grass. When she felt the breeze stroking her cheeks, the hoarse and raspy voice rang out once again. This time, it came from the wind. "La la la, scalp and hair...la la la, will you spare me some?"

  A chill crept down her spine and prompted her to take a few steps back. Before she could pinpoint the location of the speaker, the wind then dissipated into the horizon along with the voice.

  She took out [The Phoenix] and grabbed it tightly in her palm. She shouted, "Do you want my scalp and my hair? Well, come out now and get it yourself!"

  The only answer was the hollow wind from the empty ruin.

  "Are you one of the personalities?" Lin Sanjiu sneered coldly. She needed her opponent to speak again to locate its position, so she kept firing more questions into the air, "Are you finally ready to step out from the dark and confront me? Was it Septimus that exposed my location? Since you're here, why don't you just show yourself?"

  "Twenty times twenty…Slice them up, slice them up…Put them together and make a square…"

  Only when both her hands made contact with the shadow did Lin Sanjiu realize it was merely a rock that looked like a human, but it was already too late.

  Splinters of shattered rock exploded in the air and rained down on her. She curled up like a cocoon to protect her head, leaving her arms and her body to bear the brunt force of the hailing stones that were sharp as knives. Before she could figure out what happened, her c.h.e.s.t tightened and she felt a strong tug from her head.

  "Scalp and hair…" The same voice came again and slid into her ears. It caused her skin to burst into gooseflesh and the hair on her nape to stand up. She had never heard this kind of voice. If she were to give it a description, it sounded like the shuffling feet of a centipede or the rustling of the body of a snake when it slithered across the ground. "More and more…I still need another half…"

  With her [Mosaic Censorship] still activated, her hands shot up to the back of her head. Her hands landed on empty air and did not touch a thing.

  "There's no one behind you!" Mrs. Manas shouted.

  "What?" The word spilled out her mouth before she could even realize it. Be that as it may, she was clear that Mrs. Manas was right. She could feel her hair had stood up straight as if somebody was grabbing it. However, she had been flailing her arm about, yet she could not touch anything.

  It was as if the air was holding her hair.

  "What the hell is this?!" she shouted, "Let's try with Higher Consciousness!"

  Without waiting for Mrs. Manas, she circulated a large amount of Higher Consciousness and pushed it towards her back. She could clearly hear the grass rustling and the wall crumbling as her Higher Consciousness blasted through them, but the grip on her hair remained and was getting stronger and stronger with every passing second.

  "Hair…and scalp…A little more…just a little more…"

  She had thought of cutting her hair to free herself, but she soon denied the thought. After all, the thing still wanted her scalp.

  Lin Sanjiu could feel her scalp being peeled away from her head. The process was exceedingly arduous and painful. She hastily deactivated her ability and held on to her hair as she shouted, "What are you? Why do you want my hair and scalp?"

  Lin Sanjiu was merely trying to buy herself some time. She never thought the thing would actually stop pulling her hair after hearing what she said.

  "Because you have…what…I don't…have…" In such close proximity, the voice sounded very robotic. It did not sound like it was coming out from a human's vocal cords but rather a timbre when two stones were struck together. "I…I need…"

  The thing had no body, so no matter how many Special Items or Evolving Abilities she had, it was useless since all of them could not land a hit on it.

  'If the thing doesn't have a corporeal body, then how could it have grabbed my hair?

  'Could it be really the air all along…?'

  If her opponent was the air, then she had something that was effective against it. Still, she had to distract its attention first.

  "Oh? Why do you need my scalp and my hair?" Lin Sanjiu gasped.

  "I…I want to…be…" Before the thing could finish its sentence, Lin Sanjiu whipped up a strong cyclone with the [Tornado Whip] and sent it upward. She could feel the thing's fingers tightening and a sudden burst of pain caused her eyes to water. Then, she felt the grip relax and she was free.

  Since the [Tornado Whip] was very close to her, she almost got tangled up by the strong wind as well. It took her several minutes to stand up and regain her balance.

  "Like a human…and go to...go to other places…"

  She could still vaguely hear the voice amidst the gale. "So…give me your scalp!"

 
; Lin Sanjiu covered her head with one of her hands and began looking around for the voice. She felt that the thing was not one of the twelve personalities, but she could not think of any better candidates other than them.

  "I want golden, auburn, or black hair and a healthy scalp…"

  The voice continued to haunt her even though the gale had dissipated. Like the air particles that filled the air, it was everywhere. No matter how many times she turned around, she could not locate the source of the voice.

  "If you don't give it to me, then I can only go the old way. Ah, the old way…Here it comes..."

  'What the hell is it talking about?'

  Before she got the chance to ask anything, the voice disappeared suddenly. It was as if nothing had happened before. The wind stopped blowing and silence returned to reign over the ruin.

  Lin Sanjiu went into her hypersensory state, but this time she could not feel anything. She allowed her gaze to travel out far and she could still see several hot air balloons and other oddly-shaped aircraft rising into the air from the Mokugyo Forum. However, there was no wind and the air became stagnant. All the birds were gone and even the clouds had stopped moving. It was as if a force field had descended from the sky and separated her from the rest of the world.

  "Where is that thing?" she pitched her voice low to ask. She took two cautious steps forward, but nothing happened. She was washed by a wave of relief, but she did not allow herself to revel in the feeling for long.

  She had used the [Higher Consciousness Scan], the hypersensory, and her eyes to check her surroundings, but there was nothing other than silence.

  "Since it has already run away, I guess I don't have to stay here anymore," Lin Sanjiu spoke to herself as she glanced at the grass. Crouching low, she pressed her head and began to skirt out cautiously.

  One step, two steps…She felt more and more restless as she continued to move forward. She could not believe that the thing was really letting her go so easily. She had walked a few hundred meters away, yet nothing happened.

  "What's happening?"

  Just as the thought flitted across Lin Sanjiu's mind, the ground underneath her feet began to shake. Just like a dog that was trying to get rid of fleas on its body, the ground quaked and all the plants and grass tumbled down to reveal the cement beneath.

  Several steel bars jutted up high into the sky, and the half-broken wall riddled with holes and slits told her of the signs of human activity here. The upper region of the building and most of the wall had eroded by the doomsday, leaving only the cement beneath Lin Sanjiu's feet and several broken walls to stay until now.

  "What's this?"

  The voice then returned. It still sounded robotic, but now it had become more fluent. Before this, it sounded like a madman talking, but now it sounded like an advertis.e.m.e.nt broadcast. "Welcome to the locked room escape!"

  Stunned, Lin Sanjiu did not know how to respond.

  "Locked room? Escape?"

  She had a clear view here as all the walls were only as tall as her shins. Even the cement appeared as gray patches amongst the grass and soil.

  Nonetheless, those were not important.

  The most important thing right now was...

  "Are you a pocket dimension?" Lin Sanjiu asked, disbelief accenting her tone.

  Chapter 832 - The Way To Cultivate Good Psychological Quality

  "How's that even possible?"

  There was no one around, and Lin Sanjiu had no idea who she was talking to. "There's no pocket dimension around here, and I have never heard of—No, this isn't possible. Someone must have trapped me inside their Special Item."

  With that thought in mind, Lin Sanjiu raised her voice and shouted, "Come out now! I know you're there! Just come out now and fight me!"

  The area rebuilt by the posthumans was not even half the size of the past human society. There were a lot more undiscovered pocket dimensions on the planet. They might be hiding in one of the many remote areas, waiting for people to reveal them, but never here. After all, it took only half an hour to walk from the rebuilt area to her current location. It should have been thoroughly explored by the posthumans, but she had never heard of this pocket dimension before.

  However, what she heard next denied her speculation.

  "There is no winning or losing in this pocket dimension. It's only for entertainment purposes, so enjoy yourself to the fullest." Apparently, the sentence was set to play automatically whenever a posthuman stepped into this pocket dimension.

  Lin Sanjiu blinked her eyes several times before she finally accepted reality.

  The Mokugyo Forum had high traffic of visitors and could even be considered as one of the busiest spots in the Heaven Underworld, yet nobody had ever found out that there was a pocket dimension not far away?

  "If you need more information and rules, please say yes."

  It was the same robotic voice albeit less ear grating. Compared to just now, the articulation was much clearer and…Lin Sanjiu shook her thoughts away and replied, "Yes!"

  "Rule No.1: The locked room pocket dimension is immune to all physical damage. The only way to leave this pocket dimension is by solving all the mysteries and finding the correct way out."

  Lin Sanjiu then began to walk around. She could barely make out a rectangular concrete slab that was a thousand square meters wide amongst the tall grass. There were two broken walls on both sides of the slab. The walls stood about the height of her calves while rusty steel bars could be seen jutting out from the walls.

  "A locked room, huh?"

  She stretched her arm forward. She thought she would bump into something, but surprisingly, her arm could go through the air above the broken wall without any obstruction.

  "Rule No. 2: The player cannot leave the locked room pocket dimension until a correct way out is found."

  Lin Sanjiu looked around, but she still could not find the source of the sound. She thought for a moment and decided to do an experiment. She walked down from the concrete slab and strode towards the rebuilt area. The long grass rustled under her feet. There was nothing stopping her until she stepped on another concrete slab.

  She stopped and turned to look behind. She thought she would see the ruins, but there was nothing behind her. She spun back and looked forward. The distance between her and the rebuilt zone did not shorten even by the slightest bit. Her surroundings remained the same, and it was as if she had never moved before.

  "So, this is how it is," Lin Sanjiu let out a heavy sigh and took a seat. She rubbed her temples to ease away the throbbing pain in her brain. She had stayed awake for too long and was exhausted. Her body condition at this moment was not fit for another pocket dimension.

  "Rule No. 3: As a relaxing game, the locked room pocket dimension has no time limit."

  "It is impossible that I can relax in a pocket…" Lin Sanjiu paused midway through her sentence. Her face turned grim as she suddenly realized something. "There is no time limit for this pocket dimension?"

  "Yes."

  "So, that means I can take my time to solve the mysteries and find the correct way out?"

  "Yes."

  "So, unless I clear the game, I can't get out from here?"

  "Yes."

  Lin Sanjiu jerked up. If this pocket dimension were human, she wanted to punch his face right then.

  "You have another five and a half hours to check-in," Mrs. Manas said with haste, "The nearest checkpoint from here will take you about half an hour, so in other words, you have to clear this pocket dimension within 5 hours! If you miss another check-in, the chances of you meeting a calamity will increase!"

  Lin Sanjiu clenched her fists as realization dawned upon her.

  Considering her current battle capabilities, there were not many people or things that could kill her within 24 hours, unless it was an inevitable calamity such as a planetary catastrophe or all the strongest people on this planet ganging up on her. Otherwise, getting hunted by several posthumans was a far cry from a life-endan
gering crisis.

  "The crisis isn't that serious yet since this is the first time I didn't check-in. After all, Lollipop survived her first crisis as well," Lin Sanjiu sneered as she kicked the broken wall. The wall remained unmoving even though she was strong enough to shatter a metal plate. "The effect is c.u.mulative. It will keep on piling up until the so-called calamity is dangerous enough to kill you."

  "So, after Lollipop missed her first check-in, she went back to the canyon to look for the Special Item. It was just that she didn't expect to be caught by you and that caused her to miss her second check-in. The first incident caused the second incident to happen…" Mrs. Manas said with a slight hesitation in her voice. They had too few examples, so they could only make their speculation by referring to Lollipop's incident. However, what made them even more confused was that all the speculation made sense.

  "If this is a normal pocket dimension…"

  Lin Sanjiu played the grass that jutted out from the slit in the concrete slab with her feet. She found several things such as broken bricks, gravels, screws, and rotten planks from the tall grass.

  "But this pocket dimension isn't normal," Mrs. Manas added.

  Taking a deep breath, Lin Sanjiu shouted, "Hey, you have told us many things about the rules, then how about the tips? Won't all the locked rooms provide some clues?"

  The irritation in her voice was evident. However, her reaction was considered calm. She was certain that nobody would stay as calm as she was if they were thrown into her situation. After all, becoming a posthuman could only heighten one's physical attributes and abilities. As for one's spirit, mind, and will, they would still need to be polished just like a normal human being.

  "Tips: When you find the correct key, you can use the key to open the door and go out."

  Rather than describing the voice of the pocket dimension as calm and clear, it was better to say it was as emotionless as a GPS navigation system.