Eerie

So be it, I'll just deliver food. After all, I've already had a prisoner start, so this kind of start is pretty good in Lu Bai's eyes. At least I have this rented room to stay in.

Lu Bai glanced down at the time displayed on his phone; it was a little past ten o'clock at night.

Having just arrived at this Deathmatch Arena, I'm still in pretty high spirits.

After thinking it over for a while, he decided to go outside and check the situation first.

Lu Bai picked up the key hanging on the wall, put on his shoes, and pushed open the door to go out.

As expected, the rented room he lived in was indeed a converted basement, and to get to the ground floor, one had to climb a few steps.

Based on what he knows so far, this Deathmatch Arena should also be a modern world, slightly more advanced than the previous underworld world, even with food delivery and ride-hailing apps.

But what's strange is that, even in a modern city, 10 p. m. shouldn't be considered late at night.

But the neighborhood where Lu Bai lived had fallen into silence.

Looking up, I saw that only one or two households in the building still had their lights on.

He pressed the unlock button on the keychain and quickly found his electric scooter after hearing two beeps.

After riding my electric scooter around the neighborhood twice, it seemed that some residents in the buildings were starting to look over.

"Such a strong sense of safety awareness?" Lu Bai gripped the handlebars with both hands and blinked.

Instead of continuing to wander around the neighborhood, he turned on the ignition and drove straight along the road.

I must say, it was eerily quiet the whole way.

At first, he thought it was because his place was too remote and there weren't many cars.

But after he had ridden his electric scooter for five or six kilometers, it was still deathly silent, and the number of cars he saw along the way was very limited.

Keep in mind, it's only a little past ten o'clock.

In a big city like this, let alone 10 o'clock, even at 4 a. m., the traffic should not be this ridiculously light.

He happened to pass by a police station that was next to a park. When the police officer on duty saw him, he was so surprised that his eyes widened. If you looked closely, you could even see that the officer unconsciously shrank his neck.

"What's going on in this Deathmatch Arena?"

Lu Bai frowned.

He rode for a while longer, then noticed that the electric scooter had less than half its battery left, so he decided to turn around and go back the way he came.

When he passed by that police station again, he suddenly felt somewhat uncomfortable.

That subtle unease was as if something was watching me.

Lu Bai slowed down and looked in the direction that made him uncomfortable.

This inexplicable gaze seemed to emanate from the park opposite the police station.

The vegetation in the park is indeed lush, but it's not completely dark. Under the illumination of a few streetlights, the visibility is actually quite high.

After hesitating for a moment, Lu Bai parked his electric scooter by the roadside and walked deeper into the park.

It wasn't even eleven o'clock yet, but the surroundings were as quiet as if we were in a silent world.

Lu Bai quickly realized the problem: there were no sounds of insects or birds chirping in this park.

He took a deep breath, and relying on his several abilities, he mustered his courage and continued forward.

As he walked, the strange gaze grew stronger.

If I had to find a metaphor, it would be like an ordinary person walking unprepared into the African savanna, always feeling that some wild beast might suddenly jump out and take his life at any moment.

Tap~ tap~ tap~

Suddenly,

Lu Bai heard a sound that seemed to be approaching from afar.

The rhythm of the noise was irregular; the only certainty was that the entity that created it was gradually approaching.

Lu Bai silently stopped and waited for the other party to appear.

It's getting closer!

Rustling sound~

A slight tremor occurred in the dense woods by the roadside.

Lu Bai held his breath, ready to act at any moment.

However, the next second...

An elderly man with gray hair, leaning on a cane, emerged from the dense forest.

The old man's white beard was over ten centimeters long, and his eyes were somewhat cloudy, suggesting he had presbyopia.

He looked around with his cane in hand, and finally focused his attention on Lu Bai.

"Hey, you, young man, what brings you here all by yourself?"

The old man was quite friendly, and when he saw Lu Bai, he only asked him questions with a sense of confusion.

Lu Bai relaxed his guard slightly, and a kind smile unconsciously appeared on his face, "Can't sleep at home tonight, old man? What about you? Why are you here alone?"

"Hehe, I'm getting old."

The old man, leaning on his cane, sat down on a public bench by the roadside and lightly pounded his knees twice.

Then, gazing at the night sky, he sighed, "The older I get, the more regrets I have. Over the years, I've lost so many people..."

To onlookers, this scene was filled with a sense of melancholy at the approach of old age.

Lu Bai was about to comfort him by saying that conditions like Alzheimer's could be treated or alleviated.

Before he could even gather his thoughts, the old man continued, "... Perhaps being a tour guide isn't a good idea."

Lu Bai: "..."

A blood-red triangular flag appeared out of thin air in the old man's hand. He smiled kindly and said, "Since you're here, come with me. I'll show you around the park."

"I refuse."

Lu Bai shook his head.

It would be strange if he still didn't realize the old man had a problem.

"Young man, don't resist."

The old man, leaning on his cane, stood up from the public bench.

Lu Bai's eyes narrowed slightly. "I hate it when tour guides try to force you to buy things at tourist attractions."

Inside the police station outside the park.

After sneaking back from a cigarette, the police officer on duty at the post panicked upon discovering an electric scooter parked outside the park.

He immediately called out over the walkie-talkie, "Report... report! It seems a citizen has wandered into the park by mistake."

Sizzle~

A burst of static came through the walkie-talkie, followed by the voice of a middle-aged man.

"Don't make it seem like it's a mistake. Have you confirmed that a citizen has accidentally wandered in? Didn't we already send out notices to residents in the vicinity?"

The officer on duty responded somewhat awkwardly, too embarrassed to admit that he had gone to slack off.

"Should..."

He was halfway through his sentence when he noticed the model of the electric scooter and suddenly remembered seeing someone ride it past. He quickly added, "That's right, I'm sure something has wandered into the park, but I'm not sure if it's a new weird thing."

"How long have you been inside? Why didn't you report it beforehand!"

Upon hearing the officer's explanation, the middle-aged man on the other end of the radio spoke with suppressed anger, "Don't you know how dangerous the elderly tour guide in Sequence 183 is? You really are... Never mind, you stay at your post, I'll bring people over right away."