The interior of the house was dark, the faint moonlight seeping through the cracked window was the only source of light in the broken house.
"Haa..."
A suppressed groan echoed through the cold room. Xie Fang lay on the bed, his knuckles white as he clutched the worn, threadbare sheet. Another hoarse cry tore from his throat as he fought the surging agony.
No matter how many times it happened, he could never get used to this torture.
Xie Fang's forehead was covered in sweat, tears hanging in his blood-red eyes.
"Fuck…" he rasped, the curse barely louder than a breath. He felt as if thousands of ants were crawling all over his body, but he knew better.
This wasn't an illness. It was that thing.
Xie Fang stared in the darkness, eyes blurry.
Some abnormal "thing" was draining the energy from his body. He felt both numbness and excruciating pain all over his body, as if he were going to die, yet he knew he wouldn't.
He knew this abnormal "thing" wanted to torture him physically and mentally, to crush him, make him feel like he was going to die, before letting go with satisfaction.
He felt like prey who knows that the hunter is right behind him, but can't run away. And even if he ran away, he knows it will chase him till the end of the world.
Running away like a coward would only make the hunter more excited.
Long ago, he had tried to get rid of this "thing," but he couldn't. He had prayed to God; begged for salvation. He had asked for help from others, but the god didn't listen, and other people treated him like he was some lunatic.
At some point, he had also asked himself, if he was really a lunatic...
But the pain was real. Too real and painful to be his hallucination.
I'm not a lunatic.
Xie Fang's thoughts wandered, trying to escape reality, but the excruciating pain all over his body wouldn't let him.
Xie Fang curled in the bed, waiting for the pain to disappear on its own as always, but today, for some reasons, it seemed to never fade.
While Xie Fang was desperately trying to find relief, his gaze drifted to the knife lying on the bedside table.
The faint glint of metal cut through the darkness.
The light in his eyes slowly dimmed as exhaustion and despair piled onto his chest, heavy and suffocating. His thoughts spiraled, dark and chaotic, until only one remained.
It would be better to die than live such a fucked up life.
The idea surfaced quietly, without drama—yet it terrified him more than the pain itself.
His fingers trembled as he reached toward the edge of the bed.
Then—
Slash.
The pain surged violently, swallowing everything.
A tiny, carefree smile touched his lips as he bid farewell to his miserable fate. His vision went black.
As his consciousness finally slipped away, the room fell into a heavy silence, broken only by the whistling of the cold wind.
[Ding! Scanning...]
[Scanning... completed. ]
[Target located. Target located.]
[Teleportation activated!]
A mechanical voice cut through the silence as a blue light appeared in the centre of the room out of nowhere.
The whole room was brightened by the sudden light, clearly showing the state inside the room.
The walls looked moldy; the paint was peeling off. The whole house was empty with no basic facilities like a table or even the carpet on the floor. It didn't look like a place for people to stay at all.
A single old bed sat in the corner, accompanied by a small closet filled with torn and worn-out clothes, indicating someone was living here.
The blue ball of light looked around with its tiny, robotic eyes curiously, but when it saw this disappointing scene, its 'expression' shifted to one of disappointment.
After losing interest, its attention was finally drawn toward the only human present in this room, 'I finally found you...'
But looking at Xie Fang's bloody state, its small head 'frowned.'
[Ha, guess I was late.]
It sighed in disappointment.
Then—
[○■°¤◇▪○□•°◇]
It began to chant a incantation in an unknown language.
As the incantation reached its peak, the room entered an unusual state. The window slammed open and shut violently, things you only see in supernatural show.
Xie Fang's body levitated in the air, his body surrounded by a gentle, yellow glow. He gruesome scar on his wrist disappeared in a fast speed, until not even a scar remained.
Everything looked so magical.
When the blue ball of light stopped chanting incantation and opened its eyes, the wound on Xie Fang's hand had completely healed.
The floating orb revolved around Xie Fang a few times, soft light was falling from it, disappearing when it met with Xie Fang's body.
"Wake up." The blue ball of light commanded, staring at Xie Fang intently with its tiny robotic eyes. And somehow, the not-so-long-ago dead Xie Fang's forehead frowned. He hummed a few times before slowly opening his eyes.
Xie Fang looked around, expecting to see the gates of hell or the void of the afterlife, or maybe something else— but he was staring at his own moldy ceiling!
Xie Fang's eyes widened in shock, he bolted upright, his heart hammering against his ribs.
No, no, no!
He checked his wrist, the dried blood mark was still there, but there was no wound on it.
Slap.
Xie Fang slapped himself hard on the face, his cheek had turned red due to the force.
It's not a hallucination.
He thought while covering his cheek.
Why am I alive?
Why had the cut disappeared?
"Awake?" An arrogant voice came from above, snapping the dazed Xie Fang out of the sorrow.
Xie Fang's attention was drawn by the voice, when he looked up, he saw a small, spherical blue light levitating in the air.
When the entity saw the human looking at him with a dumb expression—Tsk.
The entity let out another long, weary sigh as it examined the human.
While it was examining the human, the weak human was also looking at it, trying to figure out what it was.
Is it a drone?
No...
He shook his head.
It feels to... alive.
Maybe... new robot introduced by Fang Corporation?
He couldn't fathom why such a thing would be here, or why he was still breathing.
Author:
I didn't go into much detail about the bloody scene because I didn't want to scare readers away in the first chapter, and I also want my book to be promoted. ><