Where the Monster Lurked

The week-long island vacation has come to an end.

The group will depart from [Saiwei Resort Island] on a passenger ship at dusk, and they are determined not to waste the remaining half day, even getting up early for the first time.

Luo Di even ordered breakfast to be delivered to the suite, but the delivery person during breakfast time was no longer the Girl, but an ordinary aunt.

The five of them spent the whole day shopping in the mall, buying loads of stuff, and even had seafood for lunch at a restaurant inside the mall that charged extra.

Anyway, whether they are investigators, researchers, or firm elites like Xiao Ying, they all have very good salaries, so these expenses are nothing, and a large part of them can even be reimbursed.

In the afternoon,

Back at the hotel, everyone packed their things, their faces beaming with satisfaction, showing no signs of disappointment at the end of their vacation.

They are used to living in the shadows of the corner, used to fighting with all kinds of Pseudo-Human. If this carefree vacation lasts too long, they will feel anxious. A week is just right.

Gao Yuxuan also put his arm around him, "Luo Di, are you still going for a run tonight?"

"Run, we'll contact you by phone later."

"I want to participate too!" Wu Wen quickly squeezed through and raised her hand as soon as she heard that it was a run that night.

Anna and Xiao Ying, who were nearby, joined in after hearing this, treating the night run as a warm-up exercise before returning to work.

The tour company's bus took everyone to the island's port.

The setting sun cast a layer of yellow scales on the sea surface.

Everyone was dragging suitcases of all sizes toward the passenger ship.

Wu Wen held Luo Di's hand the whole time, tighter than ever before, as if she missed this carefree time together and was looking forward to their life together after returning home, as well as the engagement that they had already discussed.

As they approached the passenger ship,

Luo Di's speed slowed down.

They gradually fell behind the rest of the tour group.

Even Wu Wen's deliberate attempts to pull and tug at him by holding his hand were to no avail.

"What's wrong, Di?"

Luo Di didn't respond immediately, but walked slowly, as if he was thinking about something. When he got close to the junction of the dock and the passenger ship, he stopped completely.

"Wu Wen, you go up first... I think I forgot something important at the hotel, I need to go back and get it."

"Huh? Didn't we take everything with us when we left the hotel? We didn't leave anything behind. Xiao Ying even searched the room with her eyes."

And the passenger ship won't wait for you.

"Anyway, you guys go first. I'll go back to the hotel; I did leave something behind. I can just pay for another night's accommodation. I'll go back on my own tomorrow. I'll just ask the Investigation Bureau for half a day off."

Wu Wen still held tightly to Luo Di's right hand, "Let's go together~ Didn't we agree to go for a run tonight? Look, everyone's waiting for you."

Luo Di looked up at the top of the passenger ship's steps.

Gao Yuxuan, Xiao Ying, and Anna were all watching him and waiting for him.

The memories of these past few days have been wonderful, completely immersing Luo Di in them. He was happy every moment, and all his memories were filled with the word "happiness".

But... Luo Di always felt something was missing.

He likes this kind of life.

But such a life seems to be missing something.

"It's okay to be delayed by a day, we can reschedule for tomorrow night. You guys go ahead, Wu Wen, you should get some rest tonight."

Luo Di withdrew his hand, waved goodbye to everyone, and dragged his suitcase straight back.

When he had walked about three meters away, Wu Wen's voice, tinged with anger and skepticism, came from behind him:

"Did you meet that delivery girl from last time? Are you going back to find her now?"

These words made Luo Di stop, touch the bracelet to bring up the dialing interface, and enter a number.

The number you dialed is not in service. Please check and dial again.

"Wu Wen, I investigated that delivery girl privately, and there's no such person in the entire hotel. I feel something's strange, so I want to go back and investigate further."

And you're acting a bit strange today.

Based on my memory of our relationship, you shouldn't have strong emotional fluctuations because of this.

Anyway, you guys go first~ If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do."

Luo Di didn't turn around and continued dragging his suitcase out of the dock.

Wu Wen's voice came again, and strangely enough, the tourists standing on the deck and her friends waiting on the steps all started talking along.

Everyone's voices were synchronized, becoming calm and natural.

"Luo Di, if you choose to leave by boat now, the rest of your life will follow the path of happiness, and neither you nor your friends and family will be in danger."

Your life will be free of any troubles.

At the same time, as an investigator, you will also have the need to kill in each incident.

These memories, this kind of life, are what I extracted from the needs of your subconscious mind; it is the life you truly desire.

Now, all you need to do is turn around and board the ship to continue this kind of life.

If you choose to stay on the island, your consciousness will be trapped here forever, and your memories will be erased once a day. You've been trapped since you set foot on the island; you're beyond saving. It's better to submit than to struggle.

Upon hearing this reply, Luo Di laughed instead, though he didn't laugh out loud, his facial muscles tensed to some extent.

He didn't turn around, but slowly raised his right arm over his shoulder and made an international friendship gesture towards the back of him.

Hearing the cruise ship set sail, Luo Di boarded a bus and returned to the hotel. Seeing that the driver didn't intend to drive, he took the driver's seat himself.

Humming a little tune, I drove back to the familiar Mercury Hotel.

Since I started interacting with the food delivery girl,

Since receiving that piece of paper with the phone number written on it,

Ever since I glimpsed the unknown meaning of the text.

Although Luo Di was still immersed in his vacation, something kept popping into his mind. He felt that Wu Wen, who lay beside him every night, was becoming more and more unfamiliar, while the food delivery girl in his memory was becoming more and more familiar.

On the road.

Luo Di consciously controlled his tongue, making it flick in his mouth at will! Even though he didn't have a habit of flicking his tongue in his memory, he gradually grew to like this behavior after experiencing it unconsciously a few times.

The clicking of his tongue cleared his mind.

This gradually made his body feel hot.

This reminded him of what he needed to find at the hotel.

"Yes~ It seems my purpose in coming here wasn't for a vacation, but to find something called 'the monster.' That thing is in the hotel, right in my room."

Perhaps if I find him, I will remember everything.

Even if I really can't escape, it doesn't matter..."

Back at the hotel, everything was operating normally as usual.

Luo Di took the elevator quickly to the top-floor suite, where the cleaning lady was working. After receiving a generous tip from Luo Di, she tactfully left.

The suite was locked.

Luo Di began rummaging through the drawers and cabinets, searching everywhere.

But there was no "monster" anywhere, whether it was in the corner of the sofa, at the bottom of the pool, or deep inside the toilet.

but,

He seemed to have no intention of looking for monsters from the beginning, but instead collected various nails and sharp objects from inside the house.

He returned here because this suite was the starting point of everything, and the so-called "monster" was not "hidden inside the room," but "right inside the room."

Luo Di already had the answer in his heart.

But this answer was extremely heavy and cruel to him... Just as the other party said, he would be trapped here forever, unable to leave even if he found the answer.

After receiving this answer, most people will inevitably choose to board the ship that leads to a happy future.

Standing in front of the washbasin,

Luo Di looked at himself in the mirror again.

He looked at the pile of nails and hooks he had found, as well as the Zombie Blade he was holding.

Luo Di eventually threw the Zombie Blade away; this prop could very well be fake and would have a negative effect on the subsequent actions.

He began to insert rusty iron nails into his body.

Strangely, despite having no memory of pain or acupoints in his brain, Luo Di could unconsciously insert iron nails into acupoints that caused exponentially more pain, and even pierce through some crucial meridians.

The accumulation of pain leads to mental clarity.

It also brings physical pleasure.

More and more images, not existing in memory, flashed through my mind.

When his entire body was covered with nails and sharp objects...

Luo Di stared at the mirror again with his Red Vein Through Eye eyes.

He saw something different.

There seemed to be some kind of color flowing inside his eyeballs.

Something seemed to be wriggling beneath my eyelids.

He found... the so-called "monster".

Without hesitation.

Luo Di knew very well that even this level of pain could only bring about a brief period of clarity, and any hesitation would waste the opportunity.

He was terminally ill and had only one path left to take.

Even if death is the end of this road, he will continue on it.

If one cannot even withstand death of this magnitude, how can one talk about going to the depths of the Corner and severing the source of everything?

Luo Di did not use any weapons or props.

It's just my own hands.

Five fingers tucked into the mouth,

Crack! The entire jaw was ripped off with brute force, and blood splattered on the sink and the floor.

The other hand immediately followed.

It reached into the brain through the completely torn mouth, tightly pinching the soft Brain Tissue, his own Brain Tissue, the center of human life activities.

Without hesitation,

He simply uttered four words in a hoarse, parched voice...

Whoosh!

A brain, brimming with color and covered with vibrant tentacles, was ripped out and crushed.

Luo Di's consciousness also dimmed at the same time, and his body fell heavily to the ground.

Endless darkness swallowed the bean-sized consciousness.

But there was also a warm current.

A stream of nutrients generated from killing himself flowed up his spine...