Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
What we didn't expect was that the contents of that diary would turn our world upside down from that moment on.
Preface:
When you open this diary, the world will no longer be the one you know.
Wake up! You are human! Not a monster!
1990.5.3 Today is the 5th day since the Red Mist occurred.
Although I don't want to admit it, there are no Normal Persons left around me.
They are just monsters wearing human skins, and once they spot their prey, they will suddenly open their bloody mouths and swallow it whole.
Do not let anyone discover that you are a "Normal Person."
Even if you see your parents on the ground, alive and tearing apart the dog they raised for ten years with their mouths, do not be surprised.
You just need to act as if you saw nothing and leave quickly!
Therefore, try not to eat the food that people around you offer.
You wouldn't want to accidentally bite into a finger, would you?
1990.5.5 Today is the 7th day since the Red Mist occurred.
I have noticed a strange phenomenon: those monsters wearing human skins seem to no longer recognize our writing.
I found a newspaper to test my "father" who is wearing human skin.
As a result, he read the newspaper upside down for ten minutes.
When asked to help spell a very simple English word, he surprisingly said he couldn't remember it!
But he is an English teacher!
After multiple tests, I confirmed this fact.
The monsters cannot understand our writing.
1990.5.6 Today is the eighth day since the occurrence of Red Mist.
I left distress messages in English and Pinyin in every inconspicuous corner of the city.
I hope to find a "Normal Person."
1990.5.8 Today is the tenth day since the occurrence of Red Mist.
Today marks the day when I truly began to feel despair and thoughts of wanting to die since Red Mist started.
I found myself beginning to be "assimilated."
I started to develop a strong craving for blood.
When I lost control and licked the blood dripping from an injured stray cat on the ground like those Human Skin Monsters,
it was then that I first had thoughts of suicide.
1990.5.9 Today is the eleventh day since the occurrence of Red Mist.
Something even more terrifying has happened.
I began to "accept" this world.
This morning, when I saw "Mother" dismembering the stray cat downstairs, I surprisingly felt it was normal, even hoping she would do it faster.
Moreover, I have already become unclear about some complicated characters.
1990.5.10 Today is the twelfth day after the Red Mist incident.
It is time! It is awareness!
The longer you linger in this bizarre world!
The more you immerse yourself in this world!
You will be assimilated into a monster!!
I don't have much time left.
1990.5.11 Today is the eleventh day after the Red Mist incident.
Remember to live as usual, go to work on time, and return home on time!
Those monsters have a special way of communicating.
Once a monster discovers that you are a "Normal Person,"
you will be hunted down by all the monsters in the city!
1990.5.12 Today is the fourteenth day after the Red Mist incident.
I found it, the Normal Person Organization.
Leaving this diary behind.
I hope it helps you.
This diary ends here.
We finished reading the diary and were lost in thought for a long time.
"Woo woo woo, what should we do? Do we still have hope?" A wave of immense despair engulfed me.
"If it was just 'awareness,' that would be fine. We could remind each other and hold on," I said.
"But... time..."
"How can we resist time..." The more I thought about it, the more hopeless I felt.
Han Tianlin looked at the diary and analyzed, "There is hope. Look at the timeline in the diary; the author only started experiencing cognitive issues on the tenth day."
"As long as we can find a solution within ten days."
"What if we can't find one..." I looked at him.
...
"Hey! Can you two stop being so pessimistic? We still have six days left!"
"What are you afraid of? Are you giving up before it even starts?"
The red-haired boy, Hong Jingtian, suddenly stood up, clenched his fists, and shouted at us.
I lowered my head and remained silent when suddenly a pair of hands appeared in front of me.
"He’s right; we still have six days."
Looking at the broad hand in front of me, I reached out to shake it.
"You are right. I am much luckier than the owner of the diary; at least I have met you all."
After calming down, we exchanged the information we had gathered with Hong Jingtian.
We decided to check out the Red Mist Center that Hong Jingtian had mentioned.
Before leaving, I called home to say I would be spending the night at a friend's house.
Although my mother sounded ominous and unhappy, she didn't say much.
Day Five
The next morning, Han Tianlin drove us back to the office.
I had initially thought about taking a day off, but unexpectedly, the boss disagreed.
To avoid raising suspicion from the fish-loving manager from that day, they had no choice but to return to the office for a while.
Han Tianlin's home was located in a remote area, and we didn't see a single person along the way.
Moreover, the weather was not good today; it was foggy with low visibility, and the surroundings were eerily quiet, as if the world consisted only of our car.
As we reached the highway, another car suddenly approached us from the side.
I glanced over unintentionally.
"Ah—" I covered my mouth to suppress an impending scream.
Han Tianlin looked in the direction I was pointing.
A head was grotesquely twisted at a 90-degree angle, with only a layer of skin connecting it to the neck. The bloody and mangled neck had a long, thin appendage that moved rhythmically with each breath, brushing against the roof of the car.
It seemed to sense our gaze, as the severed head suddenly turned 180 degrees, revealing a strange smile towards us.
In that instant, the mist surrounding us suddenly dispersed, revealing a congested flow of traffic.
Within the wide eight-lane road, the morning rush hour was packed with vehicles, and thousands of "drivers" in their seats turned their severed heads hanging from their necks to show us identical smiles at the same time.
They varied in appearance; some had swollen bodies covered in pus-filled bumps.
Others were covered in red suckers, rhythmically contracting and expelling sticky red clots of blood.
"Don't look at them!" Han Tianlin whispered urgently.
I slowly turned my head back, suppressing my racing heart and inner screams.
This world has truly changed!
Downstairs at the company, the monsters were surprisingly orderly at the elevator entrance during the morning rush.
One by one, they wore suits and ties, lining up neatly at the door.
If it weren't for the writhing tentacles on the ground and the occasional display of sharp fangs stained with fresh blood and flesh.
We stood at the end of the line, unsure whether to move forward or backward.
"Let's go! There are so many people! We're going to be late!" I pulled Han Tianlin's hand and turned towards the stairs.
Fortunately, the company floors weren't high, and at the last second, we stepped into the office just in time.
But unexpectedly, there were noticeably more colleagues at their desks than last time.
I stared intently at the female colleague across from me, trying to see if she was a Normal Person.
After all, she wasn't here a few days ago.
As I focused my attention, her golden wavy hair seemed to move on its own without any wind.
The air in front of me began to twist and change, and the golden curls transformed into small snakes writhing in the air.
Her fiery red lips grew deeper and thicker, gradually spreading across her pale face like red veins coursing through her skin.
Her originally black pupils started to expand until they filled her entire eye sockets.
I lowered my head, my hands trembling uncontrollably on the keyboard.
I slowly turned my head and scanned the office,
Behind me was the Headless Monster, to my left was the Lady in the Cracked Mouth, and to my right was the Serpent-Human Hybrid covered in eyes...
In the entire office, aside from me and Han Tianlin, there wasn't a single Normal Person left...
I nervously held the completed fieldwork application, took a deep breath, and walked to the manager's office door, who loved eating goldfish, and knocked.
"Knock knock knock—"
"Come in." The voice was flat and emotionless.
"Manager, there's a problem at the factory in the south. I'm applying for a few days of fieldwork." I placed the application on his desk.
I kept my head down, not daring to look directly at his head, which had no skin and was covered in maggots, with only a drooling mouth remaining.
"Oh?" The manager behind the desk extended his large claw-like hand, his pitch-black nails pinching the thin paper. Without eyeballs, he leaned closer to the A4 paper and began to sniff it carefully, his tiny nostrils expanding and contracting as transparent, sticky mucus dripped from them.
I looked at that overturned paper, unsure if it was truly incomprehensible as described in the diary or simply because he had no eyeballs.
In short, he agreed.
Han Tianlin also applied using the same method to avoid coming to the company later.
Through this leave of absence, we both discovered that these monsters have very low intelligence; they seem to struggle to distinguish between who is a Normal Person and who is a monster.
It seems they are also not very familiar with the remnants left by us "Normal Persons."
For example, the blonde snake woman sitting across from me is using a finger technique, her sharp nails stabbing the keyboard mercilessly.
But clearly, when she was still a Normal Person, she was known in the company as a famous tentacle monster, typing at lightning speed.
As quitting time approached, I watched the various monsters slowly and lazily emerge from each office door.
I became increasingly anxious.
For the first time, I was terrified of going home after work.
I feared seeing the familiar yet strange "mother" at home, and I was even more afraid of not seeing her at all.
Sitting in Han Tianlin's car, I nervously took deep breaths repeatedly.
"Don't be afraid, I'll go back with you. Just find an excuse to avoid going back for a while," he said.
I nodded, feeling slightly more relaxed knowing there was at least one Normal Person beside me.
When we reached my doorstep, before we even opened the door, we both simultaneously detected a danger signal coming from Cat's Eye.
I cleared my throat and silently pushed Han Tianlin back a bit, then shouted loudly, "Mom! I brought a friend back!"
The moment the door opened, even though I was mentally prepared, I still jumped in shock.
A "Thousand-Handed Guanyin" stood at the entrance.
The nearly two-meter-tall naked body was devoid of any clothing, covered in countless twisting hands.
Over a thousand slender, pale fingers were painted with bright red nail polish, and a familiar ring adorned the ring finger.
Seeing that familiar ring made me almost lose my balance, tears instantly streaming down my face.
I tightly grasped Han Tianlin's hand, staring at the constantly writhing fingers: "The ring! The ring! That's my mom's hand!"
In that moment of realization, the air before me twisted.
The once warm and familiar home turned dark and damp in an instant, the smell of blood in the air making me nauseous.
Blood-stained paw prints on the floor led all the way to the kitchen.
In an instant, I recalled the sound of meat being chopped in the kitchen on the day Red Mist began, along with the fingers and eyeballs in the soup.
That was...
"Mom!!" I rushed into the kitchen in disbelief.
A strong smell of blood hit me as I entered the dimly lit and chaotic kitchen, which was covered in dried, blackened bloodstains.
On the cutting board, a head entangled with gray-white hair lay quietly, while a familiar blood-stained plush slipper was scattered on a nearby cabinet.
I trembled as I stood at the doorway, hesitant to step forward.
"It can't be..."
"It won't be..."
"She was still here cooking for me yesterday..."
Han Tianlin walked into the kitchen, turning his back to me as he reached up to pull back the long hair from his head.
I stared blankly at his actions, his silhouette blocking my view, and I couldn't tell if it was...
It felt like a century had passed, long enough that I seemed to have been reborn as another mother's child.
Han Tianlin slowly took off his coat and wrapped the head on the cutting board with it.
He looked at me without speaking, but the reluctance in his eyes told me the answer.
I shook my head vigorously, "It's impossible. Mom cooked for me yesterday. I promised her I would take her traveling at the end of the year..."
"Woo...," I slowly bent down, hugging my head as I squatted on the ground.
Han Tianlin came over and crouched down, holding me tightly.
He said nothing, just kept stroking my head.
Through my tear-filled eyes, I saw something shiny on the ground and reached out to pick it up.
It was a safety talisman...
The one I had prayed for in front of the Buddha: "I hope Mom stays healthy and safe, and finds happiness..."
I clutched the safety talisman tightly in my hand,
And an overwhelming tide of sadness and despair flooded my mind in an instant.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
I pushed him away and rushed into the kitchen, grabbing the knife from the cutting board. I turned and charged into the living room, swinging the knife forcefully at the murderer in front of me.
The sharp knife sank into flesh, releasing a deep green, foul-smelling blood.
The "Thousand-Handed Guanyin," still dazed in the living room, let out a painful wail after being stabbed.
Han Tianlin reacted quickly; he swiftly grabbed a nearby vase and threw it into its gaping mouth, muffling its nearly escaping roar.
Once the "Thousand-Handed Guanyin" realized we were not normal people after being injured, it let out an excited screech.
Thousands of fingers on its body stretched and darkened, rotting as they waved excitedly in the air.
The bright red nails became incredibly hard, glinting ominously.
The impostor turned its head, its familiar face winding back time, with wrinkles deepening and patches of skin peeling away. The kind eyes rapidly decayed.
With a thud, an eyeball rolled to my feet.
Looking at the "person" before me, I could no longer find a trace of familiarity.
I raised the knife again and swung it at it, but stopped when white strands brushed against my wrist.
I looked at the white strands on my wrist and murmured, "Mom..."
The "Thousand-Handed Guanyin" completed its evolution, waving its poisonous nails excitedly as it aimed to tear me apart.
Its gaping mouth emitted a foul stench as it lunged towards me.
"Wake up! It’s not your mom!
"It’s a murderer!"
Han Tianlin pushed me away to create distance for his attack, cornering me while he drew out a long knife, preparing to strike.
I looked at the monster before me, which had completely lost its human form, and I realized clearly that my mother was truly gone.
Comment 0 Comment Count