Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 13: Sleepwalking in Dreamland

1622: Narrow Path

When Xie Feng looked back at herself from a year and a half ago, it was like she was seeing a completely different person. Only a year and a half had passed, but the girl from back then seemed ten years younger than she did now.

Before that time, Xie Feng had been preoccupied with things like high school finals, which college to apply to, the stubborn pimple on her right cheek that refused to go away, and whether she could get her hands on the limited edition figure from the anniversary collection. Tear City was small—just one city in the whole country—but it felt huge to her, filled with eighteen years of her life, along with her hopes, family, and future.

Tear City got its name because its shape resembled a teardrop, as if it had just fallen from the continent and was about to slip into the ocean. Despite its small size, Xie Feng had never felt uneasy about it; after all, beyond Tear City's borders was the vast ocean and the rest of the world.

When the news about "Neighbor Star being destroyed by posthumans" first broke and became the biggest global headline, neither she nor her classmates had any idea that their fates were about to change completely. They continued with their usual routine—going to school, hanging out, playing sports—while, in the background, the world was quietly being reshaped by that single piece of news.

On that day a year and a half ago, although the news had just come out, the situation had already deteriorated rapidly. To be honest, no one had even seen a trace of the posthumans that were supposedly going to bring about the world's destruction. Yet the chaos was undeniable: newspapers, TV, streets, and classrooms were filled with endless arguments and protests, to the point where it felt like society had already started to collapse. Xie Feng was caught up in the chaos herself, often getting into heated debates with others—"Even though Tear City is small, it's still our country!" "Do you think this is some kind of business merger?" "Of all places, we can't submit to the Eirenarch Empire! I mean, you wouldn't apply for a job without checking out the company first, right?"

Once, a relative of hers overheard one of these debates and immediately retorted, "What do you know, kid? Tell me this: Tear City's army is weak, and we're under-armed. How are we supposed to deal with posthumans and the end of the world? Other countries can suppress posthumans, but we can't—we'd be the first to get wiped out!"

She was left speechless at the time, and her uncle smiled triumphantly, as if he had won. Later, she thought of many things she could've said in response, but the moment had long passed.

Xie Feng didn't know what people outside of her school thought, but at least within school, most of the students shared her views, especially the girls—they had all heard plenty about the behavior of the empire's people. That day, just before they were supposed to meet at City Hall for the protest, Xie Feng had gym class. She changed out of her school uniform and into sneakers and shorts, stuffing the uniform into her bag, planning not to change back before heading straight to the protest after class.

If it hadn't been for that decision, Xie Feng had no idea where she would've ended up that day. Thankfully, she was wearing clothes she could move easily in, unlike her friends...

"Come to think of it, the people who got arrested that day still haven't been released, right?" The overweight man next to her opened his mouth, and a heavy, greasy smell hit her. His tone had long since implied certainty, though he pretended he'd just thought of it—as if he'd enjoy seeing any hope Xie Feng had dashed.

Too bad for him, he'd be disappointed.

Xie Feng shoved his phone aside with the edge of her palm, watching him scramble to catch it before it hit the ground. Only then did she coldly say, "If you have bad eyesight, go get it treated. Don't talk to me."