A World Full of Monsters

"Huh? Let you go? What are you talking about, we're all friends…"

In the narrow alleyway, some voices sounded desperate, while others sounded cheerful.

The girls' voices were all pleasant, but sometimes, pleasant voices could weave an extraordinary nightmare.

"What makes you think you can cry? If you weren't so shameless trying to seduce Senior Lin, why would we beat you?"

"It wasn't me..."

"It's not my fault he keeps texting me, I already blocked him..."

"Still talking back, smack her mouth..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao stood on the second-floor platform, not deliberately watching, but he could still hear their chattering laughter, hear the girls getting more and more excited, erupting into laughter from time to time.

Below, seven or eight bobbing heads of various colors surrounded the small white dress, kicking and hitting, a kind of joyful atmosphere blooming around them.

And at the center of this joy, was a pistil of despair, breeding endless pain and fear.

On the other side, in the coffee shop, the woman wearing sunglasses seemed to be reminded of past events by the scene she had just witnessed, staring blankly at the blurred street scene outside the window, lost in thought.

"You are..."

A hesitant voice broke the silence. She turned her head and saw a woman wearing a coffee shop employee uniform.

The other woman was staring at her, scrutinizing her carefully. After a long time, she finally confirmed it and exclaimed in surprise:

"Wow, it really is you, Zhang Xiao?"

The woman wearing sunglasses held her coffee, staring at her without moving.

"You're wearing sunglasses, I didn't even recognize you..."

The coffee shop employee waved her hands exaggeratedly, smiling, "It's me, I'm Zhao Qian, don't you recognize me?"

"We used to hang out together a lot in high school..."

"..."

Her face was filled with sincere joy as she spoke and moved closer, but then suddenly stopped.

Getting closer, she realized that the woman in sunglasses wasn't holding the coffee still. Her arm was trembling slightly, and the coffee in the cup was rippling.

"This..."

The employee's smile became somewhat awkward, and she rubbed her hands, saying, "Um, sorry about that..."

In the narrow, dark alley, Xiao Xiao stood on the second-floor platform, looking down at the group of girls below, as if looking at this twisted world.

Everything happening below even made him feel a chill.

He never thought that he had already accepted the fact that this world was full of monsters, but sometimes he would still be frightened.

Young people had so many ideas, they had plenty of energy to think about useless but interesting things, such as how to make people more painful, or more desperate.

"Get away, get away..."

Nuo Nuo's cries were so weak amidst the excited voices.

Xiao Xiao could hear her despair, and even feel something slowly growing out of this despair: "Why, why are you doing this to me..."

"Why do you have to bully me..."

"I'll hit you, I'll hit you, I'll let my dogs bite you to death..."

"..."

Listening to her painful cries, Xiao Xiao suddenly understood why this girl who liked to wear white dresses raised three such ferocious hounds.

To adults, it might just be a small matter, but to the girl, it was the collapse of her entire world...

He squatted on the second-floor platform, watching the girls dragging the disheveled Nuo Nuo towards a pile of dog poop, laughing and giggling. Some people were laughing beside them, while others were holding up their phones, trying to take close-up shots.

Nuo Nuo's strong struggles only made them more excited, probably because they also had a kind of heroic fantasy in their hearts, feeling that they were more accomplished when bullying someone who would resist and struggle.

He silently closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and imagined the feeling of summoning the three ferocious dogs to his side when dealing with the Choking Nest.

His eyes suddenly opened: "Summon!"

The girl in the white dress was being dragged towards the dog poop, and people around her kept taking the opportunity to kick her.

The person kicking her was a chubby girl. Nuo Nuo remembered that she used to be a victim of bullying, once having blue ink poured all over her, squatting in the corner of the toilet crying.

But later, she gradually became familiar with these people, especially the girl with the ponytail, so she joined them.

She seemed to be enjoying being part of the beating, excited and afraid of not getting a hit in.

She struggled desperately, but a rain of fists and feet landed on her.

They were all young girls, but their fists could be quite hard.

At this moment, despair filled her heart, and she couldn't even hear her own cries. Countless inexplicable thoughts kept popping into her head.

If only I could have those three dogs with me; I could let them out to bite people.

They look so fierce. I bought them precisely because I was scared, hoping to find a sense of security in them.

But this was just wishful thinking. She did have three very fierce dogs, but how could she possibly bring them with her all the time?

She raised three such vicious dogs, yet now she was being dragged like a dog and shoved in front of dog feces.

Behind the phone lens were excited faces.

They were really going to post what she looked like now. What would she do in the future?

Perhaps…

…death?

Such a thought flashed through her mind, like lightning striking the darkest corner of her spirit.

It turned out that the first time she thought of death, she didn't feel panic, but relief.

"Woof…"

But at that moment, Nuo Nuo, whose body and mind were completely plunged into despair, suddenly heard a fierce and bloodthirsty growl.

At first, she thought she was hallucinating, but then everyone around her clearly heard it too. The hands dragging her loosened slightly, and they turned their heads, feeling a chill run down their spines.

They saw three tall, strong, ferocious dogs appearing at the entrance of the alley at some unknown time.

Their eyes were faintly red, their bodies were lowered, their fangs were bared, and turbid drool dripped from the corners of their mouths as they slowly approached, as if bringing a heavy darkness into the alley.

"Is this my dream?"

Through the shadowy figures, Nuo Nuo saw the three hounds she had once placed so much hope in.

As if seeing light in the most desperate darkness, she mustered all her strength and shouted, "Ghost, Earl, haha… bite them…"

"Woof…"

Before she could finish speaking, the three ferocious dogs had already pounced into the alley.

Just as her voice landed, the three ferocious dogs, from who knows where, suddenly pounced ferociously.

The girls surrounding her panicked. Before they could react, they saw a face pouncing towards them, with a pair of dark red, nightmarish, and ferocious eyes.

At this moment, Xiao Xiao stood quietly on the second-floor platform, watching this scene intently.

He was the one who summoned the dogs, and he was the one who gave the order.

The order he gave was: "Bite them hard…"

These brave, even imposing girls were instantly terrified and screamed, scrambling to run to the other end of the alley, dropping their phones and fashionable sandals all over the ground.

But the three ferocious dogs pounced on them from behind without hesitation, their sharp fangs tearing into their delicate flesh.

At this moment, they revealed the most terrifying appearance that Xiao Xiao had seen when he was in a panic.

Their strong and muscular bodies, sharp and ferocious fangs, and a substantial aura of terror that was almost visible to the naked eye, made the surrounding air seem to distort.

Like a nightmare.

For a long time, they were one of the most terrifying monsters in Xiao Xiao's nightmares.

But after he bought them, they became docile, cute, and even very simple-minded, leading Xiao Xiao to forget the nightmarish image.

But their terrifying side was completely revealed at this moment.

They bit and tore wildly and recklessly, like crazy monsters that had completely lost their minds, with glaring blood and flesh flying around the alley.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Xiao Xiao even felt that the terrifying aura on their bodies was still increasing, becoming more distorted, and the surrounding air seemed to become viscous.

"Buzz…"

Just when Xiao Xiao didn't know if it was an illusion, he unexpectedly felt a slight vibration.

It was the card in his jacket pocket. As if affected by something, it transmitted some mysterious information directly to his phone.

He took out his phone and saw a message with no sender, no beginning, and no end:

[Item Name: Three Adorable Hounds]

[Pain Substance detected increasing. Strengthen? Yes/No]

[Strengthen Cost: 90 Points]

[Strengthen Cost: 80 Points]

[...]

"The Points required for strengthening are constantly decreasing?"

"Why is that?"

"The Pain Substance is increasing... Pain Substance, does it refer to some kind of element within those Aberrant Creatures? Why is it increasing at this time?"

"..."

This was the first time Xiao Xiao had encountered such a situation, and he was momentarily surprised.

"What a pity..."

At that very moment, a voice suddenly rang out from behind him, "This was originally an excellent opportunity to harvest Pain Substance..."