CH 744

“Delivery? But I didn’t order anything.” Shen Luo turned to the living room door. Then, he realized something. Earlier, he purposely left the door unlocked because he was afraid of ghosts. The people outside could easily open the door. Shen Luo broke out in cold sweat. He grabbed the nearest chair and looked at the door that was slowly opening. The door opened, but there was no one outside. The voice appeared to be part of his imagination too. Shen Luo held the chair and slowly moved to the door. He looked down, and there was a heavy delivery box outside. “Someone was here and left this for me?”

With anxiety and curiosity, Shen Luo opened the lid of the delivery box. Butterflies and moths flew out. There were some young worms, animal meats, and cocoons inside. “What is this?!” Shen Luo was angry and afraid. He had no idea why he had been targeted. There was an invisible web around him, trapping him inside. “These crazy people are watching me!”

Shen Luo was under great pressure since he crawled out of the gaming hub. At this moment, he finally exploded. “Prank me, is it?” He walked to the kitchen, grabbed the lighter, and burned the box. “Die! Disgusting bugs…” Then, the sensor in the corridor sensed the flame. Water jets shot at Shen Luo. “Ah, Fuck!”

Shen Luo stomped angrily. His neighbors opened their doors again. But this time, no one came to help. They looked at Shen Luo with pity and alertness.

“I’m not crazy. My brain is fine. Don’t look at me like that!” Shen Luo knew it was pointless. He went back to grab the cleaner robot and started to clean up the water stains. “I’ll deal with this myself.” He resisted his discomfort and picked up the box, and headed to the elevator. When he moved the box, Shen Luo noticed there was a hidden compartment at the bottom of the box. To discover this compartment, one had to move the worms and cocoons. Shen Luo only discovered this because the box was wet.

“If I really look through this, doesn’t it mean that I’m really a psycho?” That was what he said, but Shen Luo couldn’t control his eyes from moving to the hidden compartment. There was a hairy scalp inside. Yes, it was a whole scalp, but it had rotten from time.

“A killer? But I’m just playing a game! Why would I be targeted by a killer? What kind of game is Perfect Life?” Shen Luo pressed the elevator button madly. He wanted to call the police.

Shen Luo entered the elevator. When the doors closed, Shen Luo had this suffocating feeling like the oxygen had been trapped outside. Shen Luo saw the changing numbers on the elevator panel. The image of the butterfly appeared in his mind again. Holding the box with one hand, Shen Luo smacked his head with the other. The sound of the butterfly became louder, and something strange was happening with the delivery box too!

The lid was pushed open from inside. Among the butterflies, a human face stared at him. “Welcome back...” The human face with butterflies slowly rose from the box. It approached Shen Luo as if it wanted to take over Shen Luo’s face.

“You got the wrong person!” Shen Luo was so startled that he tossed the box aside and curled in the corner. However, the elevator was only so big. The face was slowly approaching him.

“Congratulation for completing another revival from the nightmare.”

“You really got the wrong person!”

“Your memories are not yet recovered? It is indeed earlier than predicted. But unfortunately, many supercriminals can’t wait anymore!” The face stopped. Then it started to laugh like it had found some amusing toys. The number on the panel started to change madly. Black blood leaked on the walls. Bloody butterflies flew out of the corners. Shen Luo fell into a hell of butterflies.

“What are you doing? I’m warning you. I’m very unlucky! If I die, I’ll haunt you forever!” Shen Luo shouted. Suddenly, there was a sense of vertigo. The floor fell away, and all the butterflies disappeared. The box fell to the ground. All the bugs died, covering the human face. The elevator door opened. An old lady holding chicken soup appeared at the door. When she saw Shen Luo, she wanted to help. But then, she saw the dead bodies of bugs. “I’m sorry. I forgot something.” The old lady turned and ran.

“The illusion is getting worse.” Shen Luo didn’t dare to use the elevator anymore. He held the delivery box and ran into the corridor. He left his home. Shen Luo looked at the clean street. He had this inexplicable feeling of loneliness and despair.

“Maybe I should call the police.” Shen Luo took out his phone and then saw the email from the doctor. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to go to see the doctor.

Shen Luo hailed a cab. His inconsistent state of mind frightened the taxi driver too. After they were there, the driver left immediately.

“Is he afraid that I’d die in his car?” Shen Luo walked towards the aged building. “This is the address on the email, but how come it feels like there’s no one here. This place is eerie and abandoned.”

Shen Luo took the steps and tried the door. The door opened. It wasn’t locked. “Is anyone home?”

Shen Luo felt nervous. He poked his head in. The building was an old residence. But the people had already moved away. The owner rented the whole building out. The first floor was a small BBQ shop and convenience store, the second floor was a tuition center and dance studio, and the third floor was the clinic. Beyond that, the floors were unrented.

“Will people live so far away from Xin Lu City?” Shen Luo’s mind was assaulted with illusions when he was at home. But when he was here, the butterfly in his mind calmed down. “Doctor Bai?” There were flyers everywhere. At first, Shen Luo thought they were normal flyers, but then he noticed something strange about them. The flyers promoted extreme thoughts like anti-science and anti-human. They believed that immortality was a lie. They hated all the technology related to immortality, including Perfect Life and consciousness transfer. The flyers resonated with people who lost their work due to technology. The flyers were incendiary. If this happened inside the intelligence city, the person who posted them would be captured by the photon computer.

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“Have I gone to the wrong place? Or is this the culture here?” Shen Luo thought about leaving. He didn’t want more trouble. Shen Luo had just turned when footsteps came from downstairs. Before he could decide what to do, a pair of middle-aged couples appeared in the corridor. Not everyone was as sharp as Han Fei. Shen Luo was still dazed when the couple stood before him. “Are you here for the class too?” The middle-aged couples looked kind and honest.

“I’m here for consultation with the doctor.” Shen Luo answered softly.

“But it’s Sunday. Doctor Bai never works on Sunday.” The couple was very kind. They bookended Shen Luo and chatted with him and they led him upstairs.

“I think I should leave. I believe I’ve let my gas open at home.” After the couple approached, Shen Luo smelled a horrible stench from them. They had clean clothes but the stench was soaked into their pores and hair.

“You’ve come from so far away. You should go up to take a look.” The middle-aged woman grabbed Shen Luo’s arm to stop him from leaving. “How did you know that I came from far away?” Before he got an answer, he was basically dragged to the second floor. The door to the tuition center opened from inside. Shen Luo was pulled into the room. A lamp was placed on a podium. Doctor Bai was on the podium, patiently teaching the adult students about mental issues. The atmosphere was nice until Shen Luo entered.

“Shen Luo? This is perfect. We’re having a discussion. Why don’t you join us?” Doctor Bai looked very young. Shen Luo didn’t believe this 18 year old looking man could be a real psychiatrist.

“Er…” Shen Luo hesitated. Everyone looked at him. They didn’t look at him like he was a human but fresh prey.

“Okay.” Shen Luo sat at the last row.

Doctor Bai smiled at him. Then, he continued, “Do you know why there are seven days in a week?”

“In the ancient times, humans discovered that it would take seven days for half moon to go to full moon and another seven day for full moon to go to half moon. Then, from half moon to no moon, it would also take seven days.” A bespectacled woman who sat near the door answered. She had on a very bright lipstick.

“Then do you know why we have holidays on Sunday?” Doctor Bai tapped on the blackboard and looked at Shen Luo.

“In Babylonian history, every month’s 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th days are bad days. Bad things happen on these specific days. So everyone takes holidays on these days to stay at home.” The woman answered and then turned to look at Shen Luo. “What a coincidence. Today is Sunday too.”

Then, all the students turned to look at Shen Luo again. Their expressions started to change.

“A week is a cycle. Sunday represents endings and new beginnings…”

…

Inside No. 0’s Theme Park, Han Fei stood before the Monday door. He knocked but there was no answer from Ghost.

He tried to open the doorn but it wouldn’t budge. With no other option, he had to try the other doors to find Ghost.

All the doors were locked until Han Fei pulled on the Sunday door. It opened.