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Chapter 5 - Monster

Ethan hesitated, but then decided to take the risk: He would meet with this "Officer Chen"

In this apocalyptic game, the players had to stick together. This was no battle royale — what use could there be in killing fellow human beings?

He got dressed and prepared to leave his so-called "home" But before he went out, he paused at the window and looked at the world outside. It mirrored his own reality perfectly — an eerie parallel universe where the only difference was that... they existed. Those monsters. Their very presence filled this world with danger.

After a moment, Ethan turned to the mirror. He practiced the unnatural, fixed grin that was the trademark of every creature. That chilling smile was their trademark. If he wanted to move among them, he had to wear it.

After ten minutes of practice, his cheeks were stiff. He rubbed his cheeks, took a deep breath and pushed open the front door while putting on his grotesque smile.

Outside, a few figures strolled through the apartment complex. Ethan watched them closely. They were neighbors — people he could have even named. But the moment he spotted the same unnatural grin on their faces, he turned away abruptly.

Monsters.

He knew appearances could be deceiving; any human survivors here would surely mimic the creatures in order to blend in. But the odds were against him. Trusting anyone felt like playing Russian roulette.

He would not go directly to the police station mentioned in Chief Zhang Qian's death notice. He didn't know what Chen looked like, and he couldn't just walk into the operations center. Civilians were only allowed in the public lobby. So how was he supposed to find "Chen"?

The clock read 10:24. If he showed up here, he had to hurry to buy the fish.

When he left the complex, he found the streets full of grinning figures. As a solitary person, he felt deeply uneasy as he walked among them. It was as if he was entering an earth ruled by an artificial intelligence, where humans were mere puppets.

Time was still on his side. He ducked into a large supermarket. In the midst of the strangely normal atmosphere —the cashiers check out with an expressionless smile — he bought a lighter and a pack of sparklers. As he watched the other "shoppers"," he noticed something fascinating: the creatures were meticulously mimicking human processes. If you leave out the creepy facial expressions, the conversations and actions… seem frighteningly real.

But why? What did the monsters get out of this charade? Was someone pulling the strings? He still had too few pieces of the puzzle to solve the mystery of the apocalypse.

He put the lighter and the sparklers in a black plastic bag and hailed a cab outside.

"Barrier Harbor Factory," Ethan told the driver.

He saw the driver's reflection in the rearview mirror. The man had that same unnerving grin on his face.

Another one.

Ethan was getting used to it. He returned the smile.

"Young man," the driver said, looking at Ethan over the mirror with a gaze devoid of warmth. "Barrier Harbor burned down ten years ago. The place is cursed. Dead silent. Why are you going there?"

The driver's demeanor screamed wrong. Normal cab drivers look up briefly and then concentrate on the road. They don't study their passengers. Ethan's inner alarm bells were ringing. The air was getting thicker.

There was silence for two seconds. Ethan kept his smile, but his voice turned icy cold. "Do you see anything interesting on my face? Why are you staring at me like that?"

The driver's grin didn't flicker. "Sorry. I'm just curious what you're up to." Finally, he averted his eyes.

"None of your business," Ethan replied with a fake smile and a cold tone of voice.

He breathed an inward sigh of relief. His hunch was correct: these monsters operated according to strict rules for human behavior. Any deviation was a test. It would have looked suspicious if the driver had scrutinized him. A normal "human" would have resisted. By resisting, he would have reinforced his disguise as just another disgruntled passenger.

Just like when he tested his "mother" this morning. His real mother was never this gentle. The sugary sweet breakfast call had been a mere pat-down. And because she knew him so well, he'd almost slipped.

Ding!

The cab stopped. The driver turned around, his fixed smile directed at Ethan. "Twelve dollars. Apple Pay?"

Ethan paused. Then, slowly, "The police station is less than two miles away. You're asking twelve?"

Jiangcheng was not expensive. The basic fare was seven dollars. This trip was barely enough.

If this wasn't a scam, it was test number two.

"Ha! Just kidding!" The driver's booming laugh grotesquely mismatched his rigid face. "The base price is fine. Seven dollars."

The dissonance was unbearable. Ethan paid and climbed out to escape the claustrophobic cab. If time wasn't so short, he'd never set foot in one of these things again.

Grimly, he realized that his Apple Pay balance matched his real balance. At least the apocalypse hadn't skimped on his virtual pocket money.

The skeletal remains of the abandoned factory appeared in front of him. He checked his cell phone: 10:52 AM. Ten minutes until he could activate the Boomed's eyes for the third time.

Ethan closed his eyes and thought about how to proceed. How could he contact "Chen" without alerting the monsters? How could he lure him out when he didn't even know his face or his full name?

After a moment's thought, he took out his phone and dialed the police station.

Whoa… Whoa... Whoa...

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