First Entry into the Doomsday Era 1

After finishing the fried rice, Maza rubbed her stomach again.

This time, it probably wasn't hunger anymore. She had already filled her stomach, but she still seemed reluctant to stop, her eyes lingering on her plate. The plate was already so empty that not even a single grain of rice remained.

At first, I'd been looking forward to seeing her make a fuss like some primitive human, but watching her cherish the fried rice I'd made to this extent left me flattered instead. In this life, it was the first time anyone had thought so highly of something I had made with my own hands.

Could it really count as something I'd made with my own hands? I'd merely tossed some finished takeout dishes and rice into a pan, then heated and mixed them together. The portion that involved any actual handiwork on my part probably didn't even amount to ten percent.

"Tonight, I could only put together something this simple. I'll prepare something properly tomorrow." I intended to turn my shame into motivation. "So there's no need to be reluctant. There'll be something tastier next time."

"Really?"

She suddenly raised her head, her eyes shining brightly. Then, realizing that she had reacted too excitedly, she coughed shyly.

"Really." As I spoke, I still revealed my true aim. "If you stay a few more days, you'll get to eat even more different kinds of good food."

At that, her expression darkened.

"...You've been very kind to me. Although I don't know what you really want from me, you did take me in and care about me so much. I have to thank you. Thank you." She spoke slowly. "That's precisely why I have to stay away from you. Otherwise, sooner or later, you'll despise me, curse me, see me as an enemy, and regret ever associating with me."

"I absolutely won't do that." I did my best to make my promise sound sincere.

"If you don't, that only means you'll have died before you had the chance to."

It was as though she had erected thick walls around herself. My voice couldn't reach her closed-off heart.

I only regretted that I wasn't some smooth-talking playboy skilled at coaxing and seducing women. At such a crucial moment, I couldn't use words to open her heart. No matter how unwilling I was to give up, all I could do for now was stop trying to persuade her.

Besides, I didn't have any more time to waste. The sun outside had completely set, and darkness had fallen. From the beginning, the only reason I'd gone home was to report my whereabouts to Maza and ask her about her jinx-like constitution and the manner in which she'd crossed over. I had to complete my investigation of the cave in the Fifteenth Floor room before tomorrow morning.

As I stood up, I said, "I'm going out again. I might not make it back tonight."

"Where are you going?" she asked warily.

"To a bathhouse with some friends. After bathing, we might eat a late-night snack there and spend the night." I began talking nonsense. "If circumstances allowed, I'd actually like to take you with me, but you probably can't go out right now, can you?"

"Yes. I'm wanted by the authorities." She nodded regretfully.

"So rest at home for now. Just like I said before, you can use anything in my house. You can watch TV, use the computer, or look through the novels I've collected."

As I spoke, I walked to the cabinet beside the television, took down a mystery novel, and handed it to her. Tentatively, I asked, "Have you read this kind of book before?"

She looked at the cover, flipped through a few pages, and shook her head. "No. But since you recommend it, I'll give it a try."

After saying that, she got up from the dining table and sat on the nearby sofa. Then she really did lower her head and start reading.

So she could read.

Assuming the doomsday era truly existed, I wondered what the literacy rate of humanity in that era was. Would she understand the many modern concepts mentioned in mystery novels? When she spoke with me, she had never seemed confused by anything. Perhaps she had received a decent education in the doomsday era.

The doomsday era probably had no concept of "calling the police." Yet when she first met me, she had asked me not to call the police. That could be explained by her having encountered police officers before, but there were other details that were harder to explain. Even in a peaceful society, people from different eras would experience communication gaps, let alone people from the civilized era and the doomsday era. Yet when I spoke with her, I rarely sensed any such gap.

That said, she had indeed naturally revealed the traits of a doomsday survivor in certain details...

Once again, I felt that I truly wanted to believe her from the bottom of my heart. That was why I'd unconsciously overlooked many suspicious points earlier. Even now, I was still actively searching for evidence that she was a traveler from the doomsday era. Without realizing it, I had become increasingly fascinated by her—this girl surrounded by countless mysteries.

I picked up my backpack, left the house, and closed the door behind me.

Through the narrowing crack in the door, I quietly watched her petite figure sitting on the sofa with her head lowered as she read, until the gap closed completely.

-

I entered the residential compound where the Fifteenth Floor room was located once more.

At the same time, I controlled Firefly and sent it ahead to reconnoiter the area around the Fifteenth Floor room.

Although I'd heard that the place would be sealed off again as a crime scene, it was obvious that this was merely an excuse made to drive away ordinary citizens like Chang'an and me. There wasn't actually anyone guarding the scene. In Luo Shan's eyes, there seemed to be no clues worth searching for again—only negative remnants that had to be dealt with before tomorrow morning.

I had even used Firefly to conduct advance reconnaissance around the residential compound, but I hadn't seen anyone resembling Luo Shan's people keeping watch nearby. Were they hiding, or was no one really there? If it was the latter, they were being rather careless and negligent. Even I could realize that the Fallen Demon Hunter might still be monitoring the Fifteenth Floor room. Ordinary police officers had even less reason to overlook that possibility.

But Luo Shan wasn't the Public Security Department, and the Demon Hunter woman had admitted that Luo Shan lacked criminal-investigation experience. Setting combat aside, at least in criminal investigations, they were far inferior to the professionals I'd encountered while investigating feudal-superstition groups outside the province.

Then what about Agent Kong, who claimed to be a police officer?

I tried to confirm the movements of Agent Kong and Chang'an.

Agent Kong had introduced himself to the Demon Hunter woman as a "probe." Judging from his words and the literal meaning, his duty within Luo Shan, this supernatural organization, should be to investigate supernatural incidents and report them to the organization, after which the organization would dispatch Demon Hunters to deal with the incidents on the front lines.

"Police officer" was probably only his outward identity—or, to be more precise, most likely his false identity. The information obtained through Firefly's surveillance showed that he wasn't doing anything consistent with a police officer's work.

In the morning, he seemed to have been tracking Maza under the pretext of pursuing a Serial Killer. Now, however, he was wandering all over the urban district, occasionally entering deserted areas to observe them and taking out paper and pen to record something. He might have been carrying out his duties as a "probe."

I couldn't help but consider a possibility: could it be that the ones actively searching for Maza's whereabouts weren't the Public Security Department at all, but the organization known as Luo Shan?

Why? Had Maza unknowingly exposed her identity as a traveler from the doomsday era, and was Luo Shan searching for travelers?

I temporarily suppressed my doubts and turned my attention to Chang'an.

Chang'an was currently at the hospital, visiting his mother with his younger sister. I wouldn't go into the details of his sister and mother for now. In short, I'd noticed several suspicious-looking men near him. Those people weren't watching Chang'an directly, but the area around him. Their movements were covert, but because they lacked any awareness of Firefly, they had still revealed a few flaws.

I figured they were probably Luo Shan's people. As for the Demon Hunter woman's whereabouts, I couldn't find them at all. According to what she'd said to Agent Kong over the phone, she should have arrived by now.

But then again, this situation was perfectly reasonable. Agent Kong had said that she'd once driven back the Fallen Demon Hunter head-on. Perhaps the enemy remembered her appearance, so she was lying low to avoid alerting them.

If the Fallen Demon Hunter (Serial Killer) really was Maza, then their precautions were pointless. Maza wasn't just incapable of fighting right now—even normal movement was difficult for her.

While observing and thinking, I had already arrived at the door of the Fifteenth Floor room.

Since Chang'an already had people protecting him, I'd handle investigating the cave. Chang'an had come into contact with this unexplained strange phenomenon before. I didn't know whether it would cling to those involved in some mysterious way, like the curses in certain supernatural stories, until it dragged them into an abyss without bottom.

So, for my friend, I had to investigate it thoroughly.

No, I still had to be honest with myself. I was doing this for my own desires... I was the one who wanted to explore this thing.

I was a villain who placed his own desires above even his friends.

I gripped the doorknob of the Fifteenth Floor room. The door was locked, and I didn't have the key. But I'd never worried about how I should get inside. Under the effect of my superpower, the lock cylinder quickly melted. I pulled the door open and walked in as if I were entering my own home.

The lights inside were off. Since it was nighttime, the room was naturally pitch-black. I raised a hand, and several Fireflies that had arrived beforehand flew out from the corners. They emitted a bright orange-red glow, illuminating the living room with a mysterious, almost mystical atmosphere like candlelight.

I casually closed the door, then went to the black plush carpet and bent down to lift it.

The black ritual formation still appeared before my eyes exactly as it had before.

The wooden cover that had originally vanished had also reappeared on the floor.