Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 10: Lava [Complete]

1237: Lin Sanjiu's Fear and Primitive Animation

Where was Bohemia? Where was Puppeteer?

Why had they ceased to exist in this space?

Had they already seen the elevator... and left her behind?

In that instant when a thousand thoughts raced through her mind, Lin Sanjiu suddenly saw herself, alone in this dark, endless staircase, climbing up and down for the rest of her life, never seeing another living soul except herself.

She would rather die immediately, even become a duoluozhong, and spend the rest of her life with the former security guard than never see people ever again.

Fortunately, her instinctual fear from that moment was forcefully dispelled by her will. She took a deep breath, focused on Puppeteer's motionless black figure ahead, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Wait for me!"

In front of her, a few meters away on the stairs, the silhouettes of three people showed no response. Only the Glowfish continued to swim back and forth above their heads.

Lin Sanjiu suppressed her body's trembling, let out a low roar, and with a burst of force, she pounced towards the top of the stairs. She had almost convinced herself that the figures ahead were not real; the real Bohemia and Puppeteer had long since separated from her, she believed. She just needed to charge through those illusions—

She never expected that, with a dull thud, she would collide with something soft but firm. The force of her charge was too strong, and she was instantly pushed back. Her feet slipped from the edge of the narrow steps, and she tumbled down into the endless darkness of the stairs.

As she rolled down the stairs, the three figures ahead remained silent, their backs still turned to her. Each of them had one foot on the next step ahead and one foot planted in place. Not a single one turned around, not a word was spoken. Their silhouettes grew smaller as she got farther away as if they were patiently waiting for her to fall into the unreachable darkness below so they could continue on.

While tumbling and falling, dazed and confused, Lin Sanjiu managed to grab onto the handrail on the wall. It took considerable effort, but she finally stabilized herself on the step. Breathing heavily, she raised her head for a quick glance and noticed that in the distance, where a few small figures were standing, there seemed to be a faint silver line between the ceiling and the wall, outlining an edge as if it were sketched.

If it hadn't been for the change in angle after her fall, she might not have noticed it. Realizing what was wrong gave her some confidence back. She yelled to her distant companions, "I've been separated! Wait for me!" while trying to lift herself up to charge forward again.

Among the countless posthumans in the doomsday, nearly everyone had psychological issues, and she had long known she was one of them. This realization became even clearer and crueler as she attempted to climb up again: she was not injured, not under attack, and she was still as strong as ever. Yet, she had never felt so weak. She rushed too quickly and tripped over herself again, even resorting to crawling up the stairs on all fours due to their steepness.

How long had it been since the former security guard saw the elevator? Please, please, please, please, please...

The incessant, subconscious pleas directed at an unknown entity abruptly ceased in her mind. Lin Sanjiu was now only a few steps away from Puppeteer's silhouette ahead. Because the steps were too steep, she had unknowingly been crawling on both hands and feet, as it was more energy-efficient and convenient this way, for her... and for the corpse.

She slowly turned her head.

Because blood had once pooled in his face, his facial skin was a patchwork of dark red and purple, making it impossible to discern his features. However, his eyes were unaffected. Amidst widely opened eyelids, two swollen grayish-white eyeballs remained motionless, fixed on her. The corpse was on all fours, but its neck had twisted within the collar of its clothes, still facing upward as it did when it lay on the steps, gazing at Lin Sanjiu.