Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 12: New Game Launch [Complete]

1521: Faint Sounds

If one were to ignore the internal structure of the room and only mark the positions of the three parties, they would find themselves at the ends and corner of an "L" shape.

At this moment, Lin Sanjiu was hidden at the corner of the "L", able to take in the other two parties within her sight. Master Zhang stood at the end of the wall to her right, with only half of his face visible. Behind him, the two enormous characters "威" ("Power") and "權" ("Authority") were still standing quietly beneath the ceiling. Even without seeing the full picture, their influence was still present.

Edgar Allan Poe and Yu Yuan were slowly entering the hall, still hesitant to proceed further. Their eyes swept across the office desk as they searched for Master Zhang's shadow. Poe called out, "Where are you? Why don't you come out?"

After seeing that Master Zhang had indeed removed the protective characters, Poe began to believe him to some extent but still did not simply take off his own protective characters. Presumably, Master Zhang was also filled with apprehension, wiping his face as he said, "I'm injured... Don't come over. I'll lie down for a while, and I'll be fine."

The more Master Zhang told Poe not to come over, the more he wanted to. "You were injured by that woman?" he said, his voice rising. "Don't be shy; I have a way to heal you. Where are you hurt?"

"No, I'm not seriously injured; don't bother." Master Zhang seemed to understand the art of playing hard to get. As he spoke with a trembling voice, he still hid behind the corner, standing tall with a thin layer of sweat shining on his face. His eye would occasionally sweep over the desk behind which Lin Sanjiu was hiding.

Every time he looked her way, Lin Sanjiu had to suppress a shiver that welled up from deep within her.

As Poe's voice drew nearer, Master Zhang retreated further behind the wall, pulling the two giant characters along, making them partially hidden. The smaller they appeared, the more Lin Sanjiu could faintly feel their control. It was as if a high wall had been erected in her mind, with Master Zhang's commands resonating, growing stronger with each echo, becoming undeniable. Her personality, experience, and thoughts were smothered outside the wall, drowned out by the powerful and uplifting sound. She had to strain to hear the faint, discordant sounds beyond, like distant whispers.

As Poe's feet drew closer to the desk, he finally turned towards the hallway where Master Zhang's voice was coming from. Almost simultaneously, the phone in the hall rang, causing Lin Sanjiu to twist her body, alert to Master Zhang's command. She immediately sprang up from behind the desk, supporting herself with her hands as she flipped through the air, landing almost silently behind Poe and Yu Yuan.

"She's here!" Master Zhang screamed. "Run!"

The wind she whipped up brushed against their backs, providing the perfect emphasis to his warning. Poe quickly turned around, and as his eyes met Lin Sanjiu's, Master Zhang shouted from the depths of the other room, "Quickly remove the characters; she'll crush you to death!"

In a panic, people often subconsciously obey an authoritative command from outside themselves—a common human reaction, yet not without exceptions.

Poe's face was twisted in shock, but he still didn't dare remove the characters. The protective characters flickered with phosphorescence at his collar; just as Lin Sanjiu's shadow loomed over him, he grabbed Yu Yuan beside him and flung the female corpse forward.

Yu Yuan, burdened with the task of directing a corpse, stumbled and fell to the ground. Lin Sanjiu sidestepped and instinctively reached out to catch him.

If anyone saw her being so tender-hearted towards an enemy—

This thought was only half complete when her halted hand missed Yu Yuan's arm. He rolled onto the ground, hitting the desk with a "bang." Edgar Allan Poe quickly turned to run—Lin Sanjiu barred him from leaving the room, so he had to run towards the inner depths of the master's bedroom. Lin Sanjiu pushed off the ground and pounced.