The Elevator's "Fake Human"

"It smells right, like coming home."

As everyone exchanged bewildered glances, Han Su, standing amidst the crowd, subtly relaxed his tensed nerves, let out a sigh of relief, and then turned his head slightly to observe his surroundings.

While others were fixated on the elevators, their eyes unblinking, Han Su paid more attention to the environment.

It was so similar.

The indefinable tension and malevolence permeating this space, even the air seemed filled with unseen, unknown threads, stitching the entire area together.

Something was lurking in the shadows, watching. The shadows themselves seemed alive, flowing and coalescing in the darkness.

Han Su knew this feeling. He had been to the ancient castle too many times; this sensation was ingrained in his very bones. It was a sign that something twisted was about to appear, a mysterious aura that only monsters not meant to exist in reality possessed.

He had encountered this feeling countless times within the ancient castle, but he never expected to experience such a familiar sensation in a modern building.

It was like a recurring nightmare he had every day had suddenly manifested in reality.

"Careful."

Less than a second passed. The others were still stunned, many even looking at the little fatty, about to ask him something, when the warning came from Han Su.

Simultaneously, he drew his gun.

"Riiip!"

In that fleeting moment, it felt as if something heavy was being torn apart, the rational fabric of reality beginning to fray.

The next moment, the four elevators that had remained silent all night were simultaneously opened. Then, pale, humanoid figures, like cargo piled inside, began to spill out.

The people present couldn't even react in time, being knocked to the ground by these things.

The creatures were sticky and distinctly humanoid, yet far too soft to the touch, lacking the texture of human skin. One person, in his shock, caught a glimpse of one of the things' faces.

His heart nearly leaped out of his chest because the creature had no face at all, just a blank, dough-like expanse that writhed and contorted strangely.

"Ahhh..."

This unimaginable transformation caused several people present to scream at the top of their lungs.

The sense of mystery and the grotesque was one thing when heard about, but upon close contact, even having it pounce on you, one would realize just how fragile their sanity truly was.

"Bang!"

But at that moment, a gunshot rang out. Han Su had already taken a step back before the elevators even opened and fired without hesitation.

When the bullets hit these things, it sounded like something shattering.

On the dough people, wounds appeared as if vibrant skin was being torn, and then crimson blood splattered out. The dough person closest to Han Su staggered back, as if a real person had been shot.

"It's effective..."

"But the accuracy..."

"..."

Han Su thought to himself, his wrist trembling slightly.

The black-hooded man had told him the gun's recoil would be significant and taught him several effective ways to mitigate it, but he hadn't mentioned it would be this much...

It's just a handgun, not a machine gun, why such massive recoil?

What were those researchers thinking?

"Creak!"

In that instant, before anyone could react, the camouflage man suddenly moved, charging into the crowd.

His exceptional reflexes allowed him to dodge as the dough people poured out of the elevators, but he immediately saw the trainees pinned to the ground.

All four elevators had opened simultaneously, and the things inside had emerged so bizarrely. Only Han Su, the camouflage man, the little fatty, and another trainee who had been standing further out had managed to sense the danger and evade. Three trainees were directly crushed underneath.

The camouflage man held a gun in his hand, but he hesitated for a moment and didn't use it.

He instantly tucked the gun into his waist holster, then, facing two pale, doughy faces charging at him, he lunged forward, elbow extended, and slammed his elbow squarely into one of their faces.

The creature's face was soft, as if boneless, which effectively absorbed some of the camouflage man's force.

But his elbow was incredibly hard and carried significant power. And though the creature was soft, it had a waxy texture and still absorbed some of the impact, sending it flying backward.

The next moment, the camouflage man stepped forward again, raising his knee and driving it into another dough person who was halfway to its feet, sending it flying into the air.

Immediately after, he ducked his head, smashing a dough person lunging from above to the side with his forehead.

The space around him cleared. He quickly pulled a trainee up from the ground, flicked them toward the crowd outside without looking, and then used the wall to propel himself into the air.

In that moment, he seemed to possess a wall-crawling ability. Taking several steps, he charged deeper inside, pulling out another trainee who was being swarmed by countless dough people, throwing them far outside the creatures' encirclement.

As he landed, he spun and hooked a kicking leg, catching a dough person that had gotten close and sending it into the air. He followed up with a downward kick, slamming it firmly to the ground.

His movements were swift, like a charging bull, yet possessed a chilling, focused calm.

When the camouflage man wasn't fighting, he seemed dull and cold, but when he moved, there was an unsettling terror to his actions.

Wherever he passed, the scattered dough people were sent flying as if made of paper. A clear circle rapidly formed around him.

The third trainee, who was about to be dragged in by countless hands reaching out from the elevators, was also grabbed by the neck just in time and yanked backward with force, pulling the utterly terrified trainee out.

"This guy's got some serious skills?"

Even Han Su, watching from outside, couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows.

"It's, it's a monster..."

Beside him, a student who had just been rescued by the camouflage man finally managed to cry out, trembling as he raised the gun in his hand and fumbled to disengage the safety.

"It's just a monster, haven't you seen one before?"

Han Su reacted quickly, slapping the gun to the ground and shouting, "There are people inside, don't shoot blindly!"

The student looked like he was about to cry: Who the hell has seen this before?

After knocking the student's gun away, Han Su swept his gaze over the others, afraid they might accidentally shoot and injure the camouflage man who was trapped inside rescuing people. He then loudly called out to the inside:

"Are your fists harder than bullets? Why aren't you shooting?"

"..."

The camouflage man saw Han Su's face and knew he was being reminded, but recalling what the little fatty had just said, he still seemed hesitant.

Just then, the little fatty beside him also seemed to have confirmed something and shouted, "Shoot, shoot! Our mission is to stop them from coming out..."

"No..."

He finished shouting, then quickly added, "Be careful, don't hurt our own people."

"..."

"Bang bang bang!"

Inside the dough people, the camouflage man no longer hesitated. He smashed an elbow into a dough person, knocking it back, and simultaneously drew his gun. This action seemed to flip a switch on a killing machine, and he instantly shot each dough person in the head, taking down several around him.

While firing, he fought his way out.

But at this moment, the elevator door closed and then opened again, and an countless number of people poured out. This time, they were even more bizarre, with almost no human form left.

Dozens of twisted arms, seemingly connected by some grotesque surgery, flailed out and grabbed onto the camouflage man's shoulders, arms, and back, with some trying to snatch the gun from his hand.

The camouflage man twisted his body and swept his elbow, breaking free from most of the grips, and rushed to get out.

But more hands immediately reached out from inside the elevator, grabbing onto him and attempting to pull him in.

At that very moment, Han Su suddenly stepped forward. His right hand still held his gun, but he instinctively reached out his left hand, grabbing the camouflage man's palm from a distance, and pulled hard.

With that pull, he realized how heavy the camouflage man was. He couldn't imagine how strong those arms were. Not only could he not pull the camouflage man out, but he himself felt like he was about to be pulled in.

But even in this tense state, Han Su's attention was focused on his left hand, which was under immense pressure.

Unbeknownst to him, the scar on the back of his left hand suddenly began to ache intensely.

In the dim light, the cross-shaped scar inexplicably flashed with a coppery hue, as if it wasn't formed by flesh and blood but cast from some strange, eerie copper.

Han Su felt the spiritual power he was concentrating on the scar being consumed.

But at the same time, his left hand suddenly became strange, stiff, and incredibly strong, as if it had transformed from flesh and blood into something like cast copper machinery.

He gripped the camouflage man's palm, crushing the bones with a cracking sound. The next moment, he stomped his right foot and gave a mighty tug. The camouflage man, weighing over two hundred pounds, was pulled from the crowd, tossed over Han Su's head, and landed outside the throng.