Undead

Chapter 39

"No one will help you, no one will save you, the world despises you."

"You're a natural monster."

...

Rotten flesh, venomous insects, swinging dead branches, menacing fangs... the living dead are everywhere, obscuring an endless nightmare. Young Si Nan looked back in panic, and in the distance of his dream, there stood a towering crucifix. The church silently collapsed in the dark fire, and the voice of the priest echoed through the heavens:

"Eternal undead warriors, the future of the dark age..."

"Rise from the grave and obtain eternal life."

With amber-colored pupils, the child instinctively squinted. He wanted to run but had nowhere to hide, and all his consciousness was overlaid with the familiar yet icy voice:

"Virtual Scenario E7364.1.0, establish a stress mechanism, kill speed less than 2/1s, confirming failure, receive an electric shock."

"Countdown begins."

Yan Hao shouted in desperation: "Si Nan!"

Before he could finish, Si Nan delivered a powerful kick to his chest, sending him flying, and his spine hit the wall heavily!

The violent impact caused Yan Hao's body to rebound, and he suddenly spat out blood. The next moment, his throat was locked by fingers, and he was forcefully pressed back against the wall, then lifted uncontrollably.

"..." Yan Hao's eyes widened, struggling with all his might, but in the rapidly depleting oxygen situation, all his struggles became futile, and he couldn't even make Si Nan's fingers slacken by a fraction.

... Why... he thought in agony.

Wake up... please, Si Nan, wake up...

His inner plea was destined to be in vain.

Yan Hao heard his own throat making an unbearable creaking sound, his vision blurred and darkened, and he couldn't even feel the excruciating pain from his dislocated wrist anymore. In the last second before falling into the abyss, he saw Si Nan raise his hand, his fingers as sharp as the tip of a knife, coming to gouge his eyeball.

....

Who am I?

How was I born?

Countless living creatures, born, aging, sick, and dying, experiencing joys and sorrows. Time accumulates to wash every rock on Earth. How did one single "me" emerge?

"What have you turned me into? What have you turned him into?!"

A sixteen-year-old boy stood in a grassy field, pointing at a moss-covered, gray tombstone behind him, roaring loudly in the cemetery: "Have you asked us for our thoughts? Do you know this is not what he wanted at all? Why force someone who has already left to stay? Let him go! Let the departed go—!"

A woman in an expensive black dress spread out on the muddy ground, crying without a voice.

"You've turned all of us into monsters, without time and without life, you've turned the person you love into a monster..."

The boy staggered back, looking at the woman, tears finally falling from his pale cheeks.

"Dad isn't sick, he... he's already gone..."

"... He's gone."

The first lightning flashed across the sky over the manor, followed by rolling thunder.