I'm Not a Flame-Chaser - Chapter 374

Chrono seemed tired from working non-stop all night and facing numerous non-human monsters. He placed two large bags of ingredients next to the vegetable garden and wiped his mask.

"The last one?"

With his mind already somewhat muddled Kosma didn't dwell on which six of the Seven Wonders he had already accomplished. All he wanted to do now was quickly finish the last one, then go back to his dorm, turn on all the desk lamps and chandeliers, hide under the covers, and listen to the Great Compassion Mantra.

"Human Head Radish ...sounds like the same type as the Eye in the Tree." Lin rummaged through his backpack again. This time, Kevin and Kosma stayed far away, afraid that he would pull out some bloodthirsty weapon again.

"Let me think... I remember it was..."

"There's no need to talk about those rumors that have no accuracy whatsoever." Lin stopped Chrono from continuing. "In the end, our world is just this one 'extraordinary' thing."

"Hey, hey, hey, we've already encountered ghosts and artificial creatures, isn't that 'extraordinary' enough?"

Lin sighed and shook his head, "Ghosts? There have been descriptions of them since ancient times. Whether they exist or not is not entirely unexpected. As for artificial creatures, it goes without saying that their appearance is only a matter of time. Do you want me to tell you about Dolly the cloned sheep?"

"The truly extraordinary should be a disaster that occurs without warning and is never seen before, and is beyond human resistance. It is something that resembles a natural disaster but is far more terrifying than a natural disaster, just like the situation in novels where a mysterious force sweeps across the world."

"Lin, you really are... a qualified second-year high school student." Kevin didn't know what to say.

"This isn't being childish, I'm just stating the facts." Lin brushed a strand of hair from his forehead. "Our world is just that ordinary, but there's nothing wrong with that."

"An extraordinary world has extraordinary people. Perhaps in another world, I would be a hero who saves the world, or I might be a monster that destroys humanity. But they would all envy the ordinary me who is free and unrestrained."

"Let's finish this last job as soon as possible and then go home."

Lin stretched, but this time, in their eyes, Lin's back seemed to have a different meaning.

Sure enough, the last Human Head Radish was actually just a radish with a human head that someone came up with. Its biggest purpose was probably to save people the trouble of carving a scary radish shape for Halloween.

"Heave-ho."

Lin pulled out a Human Head Radish, and then, under the horrified gazes of the others, he pulled off the nose of the Human Head Radish. Bloody liquid flowed out from it, and he dipped his finger in it and put it in his mouth.

"Hmm, it tastes similar to regular radishes, only the color is different. Let's make radish stir-fry with meat."

Lin and Chrono casually put the Human Head Radish and the human-eye tree flesh together, preparing to take them back to stir-fry.

"Wait a minute, isn't one missing?"

At this moment, Kosma, who had been tormented all night, finally remembered something in the cold morning as the sunrise was about to arrive.

"The Midnight Mirror in the old girls' dormitory, the Cries for Help in the Toilet, the Non-existent Eighth Floor, the Extra Person, and the Eye in the Tree and the Human Head Radish that we just dealt with—that makes a total of six. Is there still one Raincoat Murderer left?"

The Raincoat Murderer is the most real and likely of these rumors. After a night of exploration, Kosma became even more convinced that the Raincoat Murderer must exist. Even more bizarre things happened, so the last rumor, that it was just a simple human, must be true.

However... the Raincoat Murderer might actually be the most terrifying one. The ghosts and artificial creatures they encountered weren't actually that much of a threat to humans. The most terrifying one was actually the ghost in the toilet, which killed a whole dormitory.

And the serial killer was a genuine serial killer.

"Oh, that one, it doesn't actually exist."

Lin casually uttered something unexpected.

"... Really? How are you so sure?" Kevin was also puzzled. Lin was skeptical of other rumors, but he was certain that the Raincoat Murderer did not exist.

"If it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist. Do you really believe there's a serial killer lurking around the school?" Lin said calmly. "That's a serial killer. If someone in the school had discovered it, the police would have surrounded the area long ago, and we would have taken a short holiday."

That makes sense. Lin's greatest strength is that he uses logic to explain everything, which explains many inconsistencies and events, unless a completely illogical "disaster" occurs, as he himself puts it.

Without logic or warning, there is only the "fact" that happened. This kind of thing is similar to someone suddenly having the idea to carry out a street massacre, and then buying a machine gun and starting to fire at the street.

Were there any reasons why those who were shot dead died? No, it was all just a sudden, insane act that led to a massacre.

Yes, so... logic isn't always a panacea.

Lin expressionlessly zipped up his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and the group walked towards their dormitory.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a black raincoat's cuff was peeking out from the gap in the zipper of Lin's backpack...

National Day Special: Spider Silk (Part 1)

Hey, you sinners! This spider silk belongs to me! Who gave you permission to climb up here? Get down! Get down here!

Stepping on rickety iron chains, with scorching lava and roaring demons from hell below, I numbly walked barefoot in the reddish scorching heat, not knowing which way was right, not knowing when I had fallen, and just kept walking.

Will we see hope if we keep moving forward?

Will walking forward take us back to the past?

"Clang."

The chains are clanging again; when will they melt and plunge this weary soul into hell?

The hot wind whipped up the hem of her clothes, and the sparks ignited the ends of her hair. She looked up and realized that she had stopped walking.

A straight, thin silver line quietly landed in front of Him.

The cemetery was as desolate as another world, with only the wailing of the heavens heard.

Mobius lowered his hand from the dark clouds, the damp smell of earth wafting into his nostrils, and cold raindrops pounding into his snake-like eyes.

The wind howled through the sky and blew into her collar. She exhaled a puff of thin white mist and took something out of the pocket of her white coat.

A gilded Mobius Ring.

This was something Mobius's mother gave her on the day she was born, and it was the only identical thing Mobius took from that house.

These earrings are a keepsake from her mother, and also the direction she is heading.

"That person is here too. Doesn't she and he not get along?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't let her hear... How would I know what she's thinking..."

Mobius was the only person who attended the funeral. The people who whispered and talked about her there were just porters who were burying her belongings in this ordinary cemetery at Kevin's request.

Yes, only one person attended the funeral. Even the deceased himself was not there. He left nothing behind; all that remained in the coffin were some personal belongings.

Those belongings weren't actually his own; they were collected from the belongings of the people who had sacrificed their lives, filling his coffin.

Mobius found it somewhat amusing that he had left nothing for others to commemorate in his entire life; in his eyes, his life, and even his death, were all for the sake of others.

The Mobius Ring was gradually soaked by the heavy rain, and Mobius's eyelashes were also wet with raindrops. She stood in the light rain of this season, indifferent and calm.

"Snap..."

The coffin, containing that person's thoughts, was placed in the pit, and they began to cover it with soil. Mobius slightly raised his head, his serpentine eyes as pale as rain, watching the coffin gradually disappear into the soil.

Only when she could no longer see the dark brown coffin did she throw the Mobius Ring in her hand into the pit.

"Huh?" A worker who was filling in the soil saw this and hesitated, looking at the earrings that looked very expensive. He didn't know if Mobius had just lost his grip or if he was planning to...

"Fill it with soil. I was planning to give that thing to him anyway."

Mobius's cold voice made him shudder, and he hurriedly began to stuff the soil into the hole. The pressure around Mobius was immense; he just wanted to finish quickly and go home.

As if she had done what she was supposed to do, she turned and left without looking back, her green hair the most vibrant color in the cemetery.

"Splash."

The clinking of beer cans made her already aching hangover brain feel like it was about to split in two. She opened her eyes, which reeked of alcohol, and did nothing, letting her mind go blank, quietly leaning against the wall in the dark room filled with an unpleasant smell.

The snake's eyes emitted a ghostly green glow in the darkness.

She had almost forgotten when she last left her room. Since returning from the funeral, she had been drinking constantly, going back and forth between blacking out and waking up every day.

She felt like she wasn't herself anymore.

Mobius laughed at the thought of those words. He felt like he wasn't himself... What was that all about?

That person should have died long ago. When the Third Honkai War came to her, she had already determined that this person wouldn't live much longer. It was already beyond her expectations that he had lived this long.

Besides, even in peacetime, that kind of person wouldn't live long. This rotten world wouldn't allow such a person to exist.

Having witnessed the fragility of humanity, she should strive even harder to achieve her goals.

So what's the big deal about this kind of depression...?

"..."

Mobius staggered to her feet, supporting herself on her knees. The room reeked of vomit and alcohol. She scrambled into the bathroom, slammed the door shut, pressed her forehead against the glass, and stared silently at her reflection in the mirror.

Who is this haggard, unkempt woman reeking of alcohol? Is it herself?

It made her feel disgusted.

"Swish..."

The icy water spraying from the tap made her feel a little better. After washing her face and rinsing her mouth, she walked out of the bathroom, indifferently avoiding the bottles, jars, and vomit, and left her private office.

"Click".

The sound of the door opening caught the attention of the three people in the lab. Danzhu and Cangxuan, unusually, didn't take the opportunity to slack off and remained silent, like air. Klein, upon seeing Mobius, quickly stood up. "Doctor, let me tidy up your room..."

"No need." Her voice was so cold it was trembling. "I can clean up myself."

After that, Mobius arrived at her private laboratory in a daze. Her heart cooled during the process, and it wasn't until she picked up the glassware that she finally realized what she was about to do.

She calmly checked the materials on the table, then adjusted the experimental equipment, inputting data into the computer to make the machine run stably.

The entire process was flawless; she was more precise, efficient, and...icy than she had ever performed a surgery before.

Her face was indifferent, yet there seemed to be a faint smile, as if she were not conducting an experiment, but rather performing some kind of ritual in a stark white laboratory.

Soon.

How fast? I don't know, and I don't want to know. I don't want to think about those meaningless things anymore.

Do what Mobius would do, the same things as before, and it doesn't matter if you're called a devil.

Once this experiment is completed...

That idiot with a goofy look will come back here, and this time she'll chain up this disobedient pet so it won't...

No way...

Won't...

"Bang!"

She slammed her hands on the table, furiously overturning the utensils and equipment, the crackling sound echoing in the empty laboratory. She grabbed everything in sight and smashed it against the wall!

She stood panting heavily in the now-empty laboratory, weakly covering her face, and knelt on the ground.

But that person wouldn't want her to do that.

He will encourage her to keep going; that's the kind of person he is.

Make her suffer, make her angry, make her greedy, make her suffocate...

Just once...

Just once, tell me "you are wrong".

Why throw spider silk into the people of hell...?

Why break the spider silk the moment it grasps it...?

National Day Special: Spider Silk (Part Two)

Kevin was wearing gloves and maintaining the mottled pistol in his hand, which was covered with a thin layer of frost. It had been in its owner's hands for nearly ten years without any damage, but in his hands, it rusted in less than a week.

May joked that this was because Kevin would cause frost to form on the surrounding things, which was why the pistol rusted so quickly.

But Kevin didn't laugh.

These words seemed to imply something, and the moment he heard them, he felt suffocated.

He can make things around him frost, get cold, and freeze.

Regardless of whether it's a gun.

They are still human.

A fleeting pain flashed through his mind, causing him to stop applying gun oil.

The communicator on the table beeped.

"The funeral is over, aren't you going to go and see it?"