Crawling City

The subway station was only about a kilometer away from Xiao Xiao's neighborhood, but it required crossing a bustling plaza. It was already late, but a smattering of six or seven middle school students sat on the plaza's edge railings. They had their school uniforms tied around their waists, some with dazzling white hair, others with large silver earrings, and some with their pants legs rolled up high, revealing dense tattoos.

They shared cigarettes and passed around a bottle of alcohol. When they saw Xiao Xiao and Yang Jia approaching, they all stopped their joking around in unison and turned to look at them with blank expressions.

Xiao Xiao and Yang Jia avoided looking them in the eye, slowly walking past them.

The teenagers in this city were full of anger, and even adults couldn't casually look them in the eye, or it would easily trigger unnecessary conflict.

After they walked a short distance away, a chorus of jeers and whistles rang out from behind them, as if those people were declaring their victory.

Yang Jia accompanied Xiao Xiao, who seemed somewhat lost, as they walked out of the subway station. She remained quietly by his side, not trying to interrupt the surging fear and twisted feelings within him.

It wasn't until they were far away from those angry and belligerent young people that she slowly took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked at Xiao Xiao gently.

Xiao Xiao, who didn't smoke, instinctively reached out when he saw the cigarette, but Yang Jia, after lighting it, directly handed it over and put it in his mouth.

The minty cigarette made Xiao Xiao cough for a while, but his numb brain seemed to start working again as a result.

"What exactly is this?"

"..."

His voice was hoarse as he asked a question that wasn't very specific.

"It's just as you see it."

Yang Jia said softly, "We live in a living city, and its will is watching us at all times!"

"Some say that we were pulled into this false and crazy world by a powerful, indescribable life form. It has everything familiar from our memories, but its essence is alive."

"Others say that our world has been invaded by this unknown life form, and it has devoured our city."

"There are people who believe in both theories, and they have all found their own evidence, but we believe in the former, so we call ourselves Outsiders."

"At least, if we understand it this way, our hometown still exists, but we just can't go back."

"..."

Xiao Xiao didn't understand why Yang Jia was pointing out these two theories. In his opinion, no matter the reason, it changed the crazy and terrifying reality.

This city is alive...

How could there be a life form that exists in the form of a living city?

"For some high-level life forms, it's possible to exist in any form, it's just that we can't understand it."

Yang Jia seemed to guess what he was thinking and said softly, "Of course, our current goal is just to learn how to survive in this kind of city."

"Survive?"

Xiao Xiao was somewhat stimulated by these three words, and he only felt it was absurd.

"How do we survive?"

He even felt it was ridiculous, "We are in a world full of monsters, and even the city we are in is just a monster..."

"Of course, suicide is also an option."

Yang Jia smiled and said softly, "The gun is still in your hand. Whether you want to kill yourself or keep it for self-defense, that's a path you can freely choose."

This answer surprised Xiao Xiao a little, and it seemed to have been carefully considered.

Yang Jia seemed to wait patiently for a while, and when she saw that Xiao Xiao didn't try to put a bullet in his head, a smile gradually appeared on her face, and she nodded lightly, "Looks like you've chosen to live."

"Yes, to live."

"Even if there's no reason to live, wanting to continue living is our most precious quality!"

"After all, as long as you're alive, you can always find a reason slowly."

"..."

"I really don't want to die..."

Xiao Xiao answered this question frankly, looking at Yang Jia's eyes, but also a little low, "But how should I live?"

He looked back at the group of truant middle school students, only to see that they seemed to have surrounded a homeless man, and were circling around him, mockingly beating him, kicking his snakeskin bag containing his belongings all over the place.

"This city is full of monsters, how do we live?"

He raised the pistol that Yang Jia gave him, "Rely on this? Can it work?"

"That's another question."

Yang Jia smiled and said, "As long as you've decided to live, then of course you have to work hard for that goal."

As she spoke, she had already turned slightly and came to an old ATM on the side of the street, looking at Xiao Xiao and smiling, "What's more, we can also find a way to please 'him', right?"

"Please?"

Xiao Xiao looked in disbelief at the city's tall, uneven buildings and the sea-like lights.

"Yes."

Yang Jia said, "As a life form, everything we usually see, including the people who play various roles, are all part of this city."

"This city sometimes gets sick, breeding some distorted creatures that are prone to causing disasters, or being affected by other mysterious wills, which affects the city, and also the 'people' in the city."

"And 'he' needs us to help him solve these problems."

"As long as we are willing to do his will and help him heal, we can gain his goodwill."

"His malice will make it impossible for us to move an inch in this city, with monsters everywhere, but his goodwill can allow us to have everything."

Xiao Xiao followed her, looking at the ATM in front of him.

The old ATM had many traces of being hit, as well as exaggerated graffiti, and the camera on it scanned him like an eye.

He waited for two seconds, and suddenly saw the screen on the ATM flicker rapidly, as if the power was unstable. Soon, dark red shadows and chaotic lines intertwined and reorganized, forming a line of text.

[Name: Xiao Xiao]
[Age: 21 years old]
[Pact: Low Level]
[Points: 30]
[……]

Xiao Xiao was a little surprised and suddenly raised his head, "What is this?"

"It's the city's goodwill towards you."

Yang Jia smiled softly and said, "Malice cannot be measured, but goodwill can be calculated."

"Just now you solved a Rat-Man for the city... well, you fired the final shot, so I guess you solved it."

"...So you gained his goodwill, and this goodwill is usually manifested in the form of Points."

"Before these Points are used up, you usually won't feel the city's hostility anymore. In that case, everyone you meet will continue to play their roles..."

"...You can even pretend that your life hasn't changed."

"..."

Xiao Xiao felt a little absurd for a moment, and wanted to ask how to pretend that nothing had happened while living among beings who were all monsters under the guise of humans.

But the words came to his lips, and he suddenly closed his mouth again: Did he know what they were under their appearance before?

"You'll get used to it."

Faced with his hesitation, Yang Jia seemed very relaxed, and tapped the ATM for Xiao Xiao, saying, "Go home and get a good night's sleep."

"Remember these Points, they are our most important thing."

"Tomorrow, I will arrange for more professional people to teach you how to use these Points to strengthen yourself."

"But I hope you are well prepared."

"..."

She turned her head and looked at Xiao Xiao seriously, "In this city, the only way we can survive is to solve problems for him and heal the city."

"But I have to say, some things are really scary. Neither you nor I can guarantee that we will survive in front of these nightmarish monsters in the future."

"That's also why I wouldn't have stopped you if you had chosen to shoot yourself in the head just now."

"For us, living is no easier than shooting ourselves."

"..."

The ATM spat out a dark red card with flesh-like textures and tactile sensations on it.

Xiao Xiao took it in his hand, stood at the entrance of the subway station, watched Yang Jia's figure slowly disappear into the hazy light of the street lamps, and after a long time, slowly turned around and walked home.

Arriving in front of that dark and deep alley, he looked up.

When he walked out of the alley with Yang Jia just now, he didn't have any special feeling.

But now that he's back, it feels like he's walking into a huge mouth.

The three vicious dogs in the neighbor's yard, their eyes seemed to flicker with ghost fire, looking at him gloomily.

The old record player behind the white curtains on the second floor was making a hoarse cry, like a tormented soul struggling in hell.

At the end of the alley, the butcher wearing an apron splattered with blood, who was as tall as three meters, was holding a chainsaw covered with flesh and blood scraps, staring at the prey on the meat rack.

Xiao Xiao stood in the middle of the alley, letting the countless cold gazes and strangeness intertwine on his body, feeling the substantial fear drill into his heart, but he didn't speak for a long time.

He just stood silently in the darkness, not saying a word, just stubbornly existing.

He had been struggling in fear and pain for four years, eking out a living in a small bedroom.

He endured countless torments, survived countless nightmares, trained his focus, and forced himself to adapt to thinking normally under this tremendous pressure.

All this was just to return to this world.

But now, he had finally done it, and could finally step out of his house and walk normally on the streets.

But the world, had been stolen?

At this moment, a flame of annoyance suddenly rose in Xiao Xiao's heart. Facing this huge and wriggling city, he had an impulse to make it return his world...

...But after a long time, he just lowered his head and slowly walked towards his bedroom.

Haha, I saw the comments before. Many readers think it's a bit like the setting of "Kaiju No. 8", but it's not. Lao Gui has been preparing this book for a long time, just wanting to bring you a little freshness and play something different.

...After saying so much, can you give me a Gold Alliance? If not, monthly tickets and recommendation tickets will also work.