Lin Yan Followed the Names That Were Disappearing
Chapter 2
The square emptied faster than Lin Yan thought possible.
People didn't run in crowds anymore. They scattered. Small groups broke apart. Friends left friends. Strangers avoided eye contact. The city that had always been loud fell into sharp, broken noises—footsteps, short screams, metal striking metal, then silence.
The screens kept updating.
Names appeared. Names vanished.
Every time a name vanished, Lin Yan felt his chest tighten. He didn't know those people, but he knew what disappearance meant. Dead. Collected. Cashed in.
He forced himself to move. Standing still felt like waiting to be chosen. He pulled his jacket tighter and walked away from the square, keeping his head down. Every reflection in a window made him tense. Every sound behind him made his spine stiffen.
The city felt wrong. Too open. Too watched.
A man burst out of a nearby shop, eyes wide, clutching a phone. He ran straight into another contestant. They stared at each other for half a second. The second man smiled. A blade slid out of his sleeve. The first man never finished screaming.
Lin Yan turned away before the body hit the ground. His stomach twisted, but he kept walking. If he stopped to react, he would freeze. If he froze, he would die.
He ducked into a narrow street between two apartment blocks. Trash bags lined the walls. Someone had spray-painted prayers over old advertisements. His breath echoed too loudly. He slowed it down, step by step.
A screen flickered on above the alley entrance.
Live Rankings — Day One
Lin Yan glanced up despite himself.
The top ten had already changed. Two names were gone. Replaced by others. Gold moved fast. Death moved faster.
His parents' names were still red. Still alive.
That thought hurt more than fear. Alive meant hunted.
He pulled out his phone. Messages flooded in—warnings, rumors, lies. Some said hiding was best. Some said forming teams was safer. Others said killing early was the smartest move.
Lin Yan deleted them all. None of those people knew what they were doing. No one did.
A sound made him stop. Footsteps. Careful ones.
He pressed himself against the wall, holding his breath. A woman passed the alley entrance, eyes scanning, hand gripping a metal rod. She paused, listening. Lin Yan stayed still, every muscle tight. After a moment, she moved on.
Only then did he breathe again.
He moved deeper into the city, avoiding main roads, slipping through back paths he remembered from childhood. Places where cameras were fewer. Places people forgot.
But the screens never forgot.
Another update flashed. A list of bounties climbed. Numbers jumped as people grew desperate. One billion was no longer shocking. It was normal.
Lin Yan stopped near an abandoned bus terminal. The doors were locked, but the side fence had fallen long ago. He climbed over and crouched behind an old bus, heart racing.
He checked the rankings again.
One name caught his eye. Someone young. Someone from his school. Gold beside it. Top Ten.
Lin Yan felt a sharp twist of disbelief. That person had barely passed physical exams. Had always joked about cultivation being useless.
Now he was winning.
That scared Lin Yan more than the killers.
Something was helping them. Something unseen.
A low hum filled the air. Drones passed overhead, scanning. Lin Yan stayed low until the sound faded. Sweat ran down his back despite the cold.
He thought of his parents again. Of his mother's tight grip. Of his father's straight back. They had walked into this knowing the risks. Knowing they might die.
They had done it for him.
The thought settled heavy in his chest.
Lin Yan clenched his fists. He couldn't stay hidden forever. Hiding meant waiting. Waiting meant losing them without trying.
The phone vibrated. A private message. Unknown sender.
Stay alive until nightfall.
He stared at the words. Another message followed.
The hunters slow down after dark. The weak don't.
Lin Yan didn't reply. He didn't trust it. But the words stayed with him.
As the sun dipped lower, the city grew more dangerous. People stopped pretending. Killing became faster. Quieter. Efficient.
Lin Yan moved again, heading toward an old residential zone near the river. Fewer people lived there now. Too far from the center. Too forgotten.
A scream echoed from a building above him. Then nothing.
He didn't look up.
When night finally fell, the screens dimmed slightly, shifting to darker colors. The rules updated.
Night Phase Activated.
No explanations. No mercy.
Lin Yan reached a small rooftop and crouched behind a broken air unit. From there, he could see parts of the city glowing with screens and movement. Fires burned in the distance. Sirens wailed and then stopped abruptly.
He checked the rankings again.
His parents' names were still there. Still red.
Relief hit him so hard his legs shook. He pressed his forehead against the cold metal and closed his eyes for a second. Just one.
A sound snapped him back. Someone else was on the rooftop.
Lin Yan turned slowly. A boy about his age stood near the stairwell door, breathing hard, eyes wild. Blood stained his sleeve—not his own.
They stared at each other.
Neither moved.
The boy swallowed. "I won't," he said quickly. "I'm not hunting. I swear."
Lin Yan didn't answer. Trust was dangerous. Silence was safer.
Another screen lit up above them. A name vanished. A gold slot shifted.
The boy laughed shakily. "This is crazy, right? We're just kids."
Lin Yan finally spoke. "Kids die faster."
The boy flinched.
Footsteps echoed from below. Heavy. Confident.
The boy's eyes widened. He looked at Lin Yan, panic rising. "Please—"
The stairwell door burst open. A man stepped out, calm, weapon ready. His eyes locked onto the boy first.
Lin Yan didn't think. He moved.
He kicked a loose pipe toward the man and bolted past the boy, diving over the opposite edge of the rooftop onto a lower level. Pain exploded through his shoulder, but he kept rolling, kept moving.
Behind him, the boy screamed. Then stopped.
Lin Yan ran until his lungs burned. He didn't stop until he reached the riverbank, collapsing behind a concrete barrier.
His hands shook. His chest hurt. His eyes burned.
He checked the rankings one more time.
Another name gone.
Lin Yan closed his eyes.
He understood now.
To survive this world, he would have to become someone else.