The Postman

"Ah!"

A shriek that soared to at least seventy decibels made everyone frown. Zhao Ke also snapped out of his terror at once. As his pupils focused, a blurry figure stood before him.

"Get lost!"

Almost on reflex, he kicked out. Then Zhao Ke heard a dull thud and a scream.

The acrid, choking air around them carried the reeking stench of some unknown beast's droppings, instantly making Zhao Ke want to lose his mind.

His sense of smell was abnormally sharp. It gave him a tremendous advantage in some respects, but in this environment, it also meant enduring at least ten times everyone else's suffering.

Before his eyes could fully make things out, Zhao Ke swiftly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his mouth and nose. At the same time, he gripped the fruit knife he had hidden in his sleeve in reverse.

After a few seconds, Zhao Ke's eyes finally adjusted to the scene before him. He opened them fully, and the view gradually came into focus.

What surprised Zhao Ke was that this was not outside his shop, but in the wilderness.

The sky was dim and lightless. Though it was daytime, the thick smog overhead made every breath feel as though someone had stuffed a handful of sand into his mouth.

The moment someone opened their mouth, they could not help vomiting. Some even felt suffocated and took a long while to recover.

"Wh-where is this?"

Someone finally came to their senses and looked around. The area was shrouded in layer upon layer of smog, and they could only vaguely make out a forested mountain range.

Zhao Ke frowned and quickly put some distance between himself and the others, sweeping a cold gaze across every face.

There were three men and two women. Aside from the middle-aged man lying on the ground, the other two men appeared to be students.

As for the two women, the long-haired woman on the left was probably an office worker. Tall and slender, dressed in a black skirt, and carrying the distinctive charm of a mature woman, she was clearly quite beautiful.

But at that moment, between the sudden change and the acrid environment, no one had the energy to appreciate her beauty.

The younger, short-haired girl on the right was far inferior to the former in both looks and bearing.

Still, although panic filled the girl's eyes, she reacted quickly. She covered her mouth and nose with her clothes and hurriedly pressed close behind the female office worker.

"Fuck your mother! You kicked me!"

The middle-aged man's oversized blue work uniform made him look like a life-sized Mario. He climbed up from the ground, glaring fiercely around him before fixing his gaze on the student behind him.

"N-no, it wasn't me!"

"Not you? Then was it a goddamn ghost?"

The middle-aged man stepped forward angrily, looking as though he intended to teach the college student a lesson. In truth, he knew the student had not kicked him. He merely wanted to vent his anger and save some face.

"It wasn't me, don't... Ah!"

Before the student could finish, the man punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. The man was about to continue.

Just then, he felt his shoulder sink, as though someone had grabbed it. His expression darkened, and he jerked his shoulder, trying to shake the hand off.

To his surprise, not only did the motion fail to dislodge the hand, but a soft crack! rang out, instantly making his face turn ugly.

The hand on his shoulder merely tightened slightly. A piercing pain sent the man dropping to one knee, his face flushed red as he sucked in cold breaths, unable to utter a word.

"Enough. We don't have much time. There's no need to waste it here." A deep, powerful voice suddenly rang out, drawing everyone's attention behind the man, to a young man who had appeared without anyone noticing.

The young man held the man down with one hand and had a cigar clenched between his lips. A diagonal scar nearly ran across his rough face. He did not look outright monstrous, but he was clearly no decent person.

The scar-faced man swept his gaze across everyone's faces. His sharp, venomous-serpent-like eyes made everyone shudder inwardly and feel uncomfortable all over.

The scar-faced man glanced sideways, his peripheral vision falling on Zhao Ke. That indifferent gaze sent a chill through Zhao Ke's heart. Killing intent! Only someone who had killed before could possess that vicious glint in his eyes. Even if the other man was not deliberately displaying it, such eyes could not deceive anyone.

"Hiss!"

The scar-faced man seemed unconcerned by the filthy air. Instead, he took a deep breath, smacked his lips, and said with slight disappointment, "Smog, huh? As expected, the Imperial Capital's is still the purest. This place's... smells terrible."

The others exchanged looks, suspicion written across their faces as they turned their eyes toward the scar-faced man.

At that moment, the other male student said, "Who are you? How did we..."

"Don't talk. Listen to me."

The scar-faced man raised a hand to cut him off, checked the time on his wrist, and said, "I'm not good with words, so when I'm speaking, don't speak."

"But..."

The student could not help wanting to ask something. Yet the instant he opened his mouth, the scar-faced man's gaze turned sinister. No one even saw what happened.

The next moment, the scar-faced man was at his side, one hand clamped around his throat.

"So fast!"

Zhao Ke's pupils contracted. He had been watching the scar-faced man's every movement, yet the other man's attack had been unimaginably quick. Zhao Ke had not even caught its trajectory.

"I said, don't talk while I'm talking!"

His seemingly thin arm possessed astonishing strength. Like lifting a chick, he raised the college student beside him into the air.

The student being lifted was named Qi Liang. He was a sports recruit, one meter eighty tall, a full half-head taller than the scar-faced man. Yet he was hoisted high like a chicken, the scar-faced man's fingers locked around Qi Liang's throat, leaving him without even the strength to resist.

Someone opened their mouth, wanting to stop him, but after seeing that, they sensibly shut it again.

Slap! Slap!

The scar-faced man swung his hand and slapped Qi Liang twice. Qi Liang immediately saw stars, both cheeks swelling until he could not even open his mouth. The scar-faced man casually tossed him aside like garbage.

Zhao Ke watched the scar-faced man coldly.

Especially the scar-faced man's arm. Its lean muscles looked almost no different from an ordinary person's, but that was precisely what alarmed Zhao Ke.

Such an arm had effortlessly lifted another college student who appeared sturdier and stood around one meter eighty tall.

Zhao Ke had also noticed that the muscles in his arm had not tensed in the slightest. It showed that lifting the other man had apparently taken no effort at all.

Seeing the fear on everyone else's faces, the scar-faced man smiled in satisfaction. He cleared his throat, turned serious, and spoke as though reciting a script.

"Ahem. First, on behalf of all my fellow postmen, welcome. From now on, we're colleagues."

"I know you have many questions, but that's fine. In the real world, did you receive a package? It may have been black or white, but in any case, it had a very strange stamp on it. Receiving that package means that from now on, you have another identity: a postman."

The scar-faced man then began explaining everything to them in detail.

This was the horror space.

A world only postmen could enter.

To leave this place, they had to complete its missions.

After becoming a postman, they would receive packages from the Post Office at regular intervals. Whether they accepted or opened them, they would still enter this strange world. Only by completing the mission could they leave.

Of course, completing missions would earn them Post Points as payment and rewards. If they were lucky, they might even obtain a special stamp.

Post Points were the foundation of a postman. As long as they had enough Post Points, they could buy anything they wanted. Remember, anything at all, even great power.

"One last thing: you are currently trainee postmen, so the difficulty will not be very high. As long as you find the mission, leaving will not be a problem."

"Wait! You said Post Points can buy anything we want. Can they be exchanged for money?"

Once the scar-faced man finally finished speaking, the middle-aged man on the ground suddenly asked, as though he had thought of something.

"Money?"

The scar-faced man's lips curled upward. As he looked at the man, unconcealed disdain appeared in his eyes, as though he were looking at a clown.

Though disdainful, the scar-faced man still explained patiently. He held out his hand, somehow producing a gold bar as if by magic, then weighed it in his palm.

"This gold bar weighs about two catties. It's pure gold, worth roughly two or three hundred thousand. You can exchange one Post Point for one of these, and its source is guaranteed to be legal and legitimate, with no trouble whatsoever in the real world."

After hearing the scar-faced man's words, Zhao Ke clearly sensed everyone present beginning to breathe faster.

Sure enough, compared to things they could not see, money was far more tempting. It seemed that as long as they returned alive, they could become rich overnight. Under such temptation, even those who had been doubtful began to waver.

The scar-faced man raised an eyebrow. He had already received the reward for completing the novice guidance mission, and a trace of delight appeared in his eyes.

"Everyone, my mission is complete. From here on, it depends on your luck. If you're lucky, we'll meet again."

As soon as the scar-faced man finished speaking, his figure gradually turned insubstantial, vanishing bit by bit before their eyes.

"He... he disappeared!"

Seeing the scar-faced man disappear, the female office worker's face immediately turned pale. Her eyes widened as she screamed.

"Pah! Fuck, this has to be a scam. Maybe that was some kind of projection. Don't be afraid!"

The one speaking was the student who had taken the blame for Zhao Ke and been beaten to the ground by the man in blue.

He walked to where the scar-faced man had vanished, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and continued, "I think this is definitely some high-tech scam. That man must have been some kind of projection. Listen to me, we... Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?"

He could not continue. Everyone was staring at him blankly, their expressions as though they had seen a ghost.

The female office worker was especially pale. Pointing behind him, she said, "Y-you... behind you."

The student froze, then seemed to understand. His lips curled up, and he smiled confidently. "Is there a ghost behind me? Heh, I told you, it's a projection, it's..."

Drip!

Before he could finish, he felt warmth on top of his head. He reached up to touch it and found something wet and sticky.

A low growl sounded beside his ear, accompanied by a powerful, nauseating stench that made a terrible premonition rise in his heart.

Gulp!

The student swallowed and slowly raised his head. Looking at the gaping, bloodied maw inches from his face, his expression stiffened. "Fuck!"