DA chapter 2

 

“Are you here to eat me?”

Lin Jia vaguely heard a reply from outside the door. Suddenly, the cat on his shoulder spoke. “They’re coming in—”

The deep voice was even eerier than the reply from outside.

Lin Jia: “… ”

Tsk.

Misfortunes never come alone.

Fortunately, though, the words that punctured the peaceful coexistence between humans and cats served as a warning, preventing Lin Jia from being attacked from both sides. He shouted his question out the door while grabbing the cat by the scruff of its neck and pulling the dangerous talking cat off his shoulders.

The assistant and the nanny usually took good care of the cat, and since Lin Jia was well-off, the cat was a bit plump.

Using its weight to its advantage, the cat wriggled free from Lin Jia’s grasp and landed nimbly at his feet. Unfazed by Lin Jia’s impolite behavior, the cat returned the favor, continuing to warn, “Be careful! Get away quickly.”

Lin Jia lifted his eyelids, his gaze fixed on the raised fingerprints on the security door, but he didn’t move away from it.

The cat urged him several times, only to be met with the nonchalant retort, “They’re not going to eat me, are they?”

The same question and answer from earlier: “Are you here to eat me?”

Although his attention was largely drawn to the cat, Lin Jia still heard the answer from outside the door: “No.”

Five “living dead” had sabotaged the circuits specifically to find him for food. Lin Jia didn’t think they were looking for ordinary food. Since they weren’t going to eat him, the only one they wanted was the cat.

Sure enough, the cat froze in surprise and angrily accused him: “Are you trying to trade me for your safety?”

Lin Jia didn’t answer, but it knew the answer.

The cat tried to appeal to Lin Jia’s conscience: “I’ve been your cat for three years!”

It felt cold and looked up in disbelief. From the cat’s perspective, it could only see half of Lin Jia’s face, with an expression of extreme indifference.

After spending half a month together, the black cat had come to understand Lin Jia somewhat.

Lin Jia was 23 years old and the city’s youngest entrepreneur. He was a young man with impressive achievements and the shrewdness of a capitalist. His parents were both deceased, and he lived alone with a distant personality. He had a few cousins, but they didn’t interact often and were often ignored by him.

He had few strengths, but if anything, it would be his considerable rationality.

He always used this rationality to weigh the pros and cons, and even his strengths were appalling.

The black cat believed that Lin Jia was truly capable of throwing it out to feed the “living dead.”

By this time, Lin Jia had stopped asking questions, and the “living dead” had resumed pounding on the door.

The black cat’s disbelief gradually gave way to reflection. Just as the “living dead” was about to burst through the door, it shouted with a desperate air, “Welcome to the Underwater Wold. Feed the fish—”

Lin Jia didn’t understand these words, but he sensed they were the black cat’s counterattack.

It didn’t seem like a good thing. Sure enough, after the black cat shouted, a burst of white light suddenly descended. It covered the entire villa with overwhelming force and buried everything inside, including the darkness.

Lin Jia was engulfed, his eyes squeezed shut against the glare.

Then, a voice sounded next to him, sharp with vindication: “You can open your eyes now.”

It was the cat speaking.

Lin Jia opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer in his familiar home but in a three-story building. The walls were covered in dark green ivy. Apart from the building, there were no other structures. In fact, it was the dark fog spreading around it.

Knowing the cat’s intentions were bad, Lin Jia showed no surprise or alarm at the unfamiliar surroundings.

He calmly asked, “Is this the Underwater Wold?”

It was far from what he had imagined.

“If you didn’t want to harm me, I wouldn’t have brought you back.” Lin Jia could tell Cat seemed to be feeling guilty. Crouching at his feet, Cat continued, “Don’t take it lightly. You could easily be killed here.”

Cat looked around, and Lin Jia saw a serious expression on its face.

“The worst,” it said, “is that we’re in the Fish Belly.”

Lin Jia didn’t understand the meaning of “Underwater Wold” or “Fish Belly.” However, the scene before him made him realize that they were metaphors.

Lin Jia had planned to exploit Cat’s guilt to ask more questions, but approaching footsteps interrupted him.

He looked up and saw a high school boy running toward him. Unaware of the situation, he silently took a step back.

Noticing his evasiveness, the boy quickly stopped and hurriedly explained, “I’m human.”

After glancing the boy up and down to confirm his normal human behavior, Lin Jia gave a flat “hmm.”

“You’re human, too, right?” Lin Jia didn’t respond to the boy’s question. Perhaps because Lin Jia was the only “humanoid” there, the boy had no choice but to accept it, even if he wasn’t human.

The boy anxiously asked, “Where am I? What’s going on?”

Lin Jia had no idea what was going on. He glanced at the black cat at his feet. The cat lowered its head to lick its paw, seemingly unwilling to answer.

“I don’t know,” Lin Jia replied. “Then…” the high school boy asked fearfully. “How did you get here?”

Lin Jia countered, “How did you get here?”

The high school boy replied, “I was originally at home. But my brother…my brother suddenly turned into the ‘living dead.’ While I was talking to him, there was a flash of white light, and after that, I ended up here.” How about you?”

Lin Jia: “Almost.”

The two people who knew nothing could talk about anything. Perhaps out of fear, the high school boy tried to find a topic. “My name is Liang Mu. What’s yours?”

Lin Jia: “Lin Jia.”

The high school boy spotted a dark mass at Lin Jia’s feet. “Is that your cat?”

Lin Jia: “No.”

Cat: “… ”

Lin Jia’s gaze drifted to the black cat.

The fact that the cat had brought him here, knew about the “Underwater Wold” and “Fish Belly,” and could speak were enough for Lin Jia to label the cat a hidden danger. No one wants to be associated with a “hidden danger.”

“I heard that a black cat represents uncertainty.” Since the cat was unclaimed, the high school boy spoke frankly, hoping to avoid offending anyone.

Lin Jia: “That’s right.”

Cat: “… ”

“Someone!” The high school boy suddenly pointed forward.

Lin Jia looked up and saw several more people, both men and women, appear out of thin air in the direction the high school boy had pointed. His sharp eyes discerned a more composed expression on their faces than on the high school boy’s.

He immediately understood that these people knew about his suspicions.

The tall man said, “Let’s go take a look.”

Lin Jia didn’t object.

Just as he had rushed toward Lin Jia, the tall man rushed toward the group. As Lin Jia approached the group, the cat suddenly jumped onto his shoulder and said, “In a fish’s belly, sometimes the ‘old man’ is the most dangerous.”

Lin Jia continued to approach the group and didn’t remove the cat. He said calmly, “Aren’t you just pretending to be silent?”

The cat replied, “I’m not pretending. I just can’t be seen.”

It threatened Lin Jia: “If you want to survive, you’d better listen to me. If I’m found, you’ll die here too.”

Lin Jia didn’t respond.

As he approached the group, several more people appeared out of nowhere. He glanced at the number of people. Including him, there were eight of them in total: two women and six men. Of the two women and six men, the oldest was probably around 40 years old, and the youngest was the 16-year-old high school boy.

“Uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters, hello,” said the high school boy. “What’s going on here?”

He was answered by a man named Shi Luo who was wearing a shirt. Shi Luo said, “Those of you who are here for the first time, please raise your hands.”

The high school boy raised his hand immediately. Seeing him, a girl hesitantly raised her hand as well.

Lin Jia remembered the cat’s hint and didn’t intend to raise his hand. However, the high school boy pointed at him in the middle as if sharing something good and said, “Lin Jia, this is his first time here too.”

Lin Jia: “…”

Shi Luo and the others glanced at Lin Jia and noticed the cat on his shoulder, but they didn’t think much of it.

Someone behind Shi Luo said, “Not bad. Three newcomers—not too many, not too few.”

“Put your hands down,” said Shi Luo. “Is there anyone in your world who has become the living dead, able to only say ‘yes’ and ‘no’?”

The high school boy nodded, his voice barely above a whisper.

Shi Luo said, “Before becoming the ‘living dead,’ they’ll be briefly unconscious. They’re not fully unconscious, but come here. If they die here, they’ll become the ‘living dead’ in the real world.”

The high school boy and the little girl’s expressions immediately darkened. Of the three newcomers, only Lin Jia frowned slightly.

Shi Luo glanced at Lin Jia for a moment before continuing his explanation. “This is no longer the world you live in. This is the ‘Underwater Wold.’ You’ll learn about it once you can make it out of the ‘Fish Belly’ alive. I’m talking about the ‘Fish Belly’ now. Do you three play games?”

The new girl said, “Yes… but not much.”

Startled by Shi Luo’s words, the high school boy nodded after a long moment. “Play.”

Shi Luo looked at Lin Jia, Lin Jia: “No.”

“Even if you’ve never played one, you’ve probably heard the term ‘dungeon,’ right?” Shi Luo said. “‘Fish Belly’ is a ‘dungeon’ within ‘Underwater Wold,’ but unfortunately, in ‘Fish Belly,’ you only get one life. Once you die, you’re really dead—there’s no chance to revive and start over.”

The high school boy asked, “Brother Shi Luo, then … then how do we leave ‘Underwater Wold’?”

“Leave ‘Underwater Wold’? Shi Luo glanced at him. “First, think about how to leave ‘Fish Belly’!”

“Then how do we leave ‘Fish Belly’?” the high tenor asked timidly.

“To leave the Fish Belly, you must find the ‘Soup Base’ based on the ‘Soup Surface.’” Shi Luo said. “Don’t ask me what ‘Soup Base’ or ‘Soup Surface’ mean. You’ll know soon. Before we get started, I’m warning you three that newcomers are most likely to die in any number of ways. The worst I’ve seen was someone being chopped into minced meat and fed to the fish.”

The man and the girl paled even more. Shi Luo continued, “If you don’t want to die, just listen to us.”

Taken aback by Shi Luo’s words, the two nodded hurriedly.

“Brother Shi Luo, the ‘fish man’ has appeared. We’re all here.” Someone said to Shi Luo.

Shi Luo nodded. “Then let’s not waste time. Let’s go.”

The group headed into the building. Shi Luo turned back to look at the three newcomers and said fiercely, “Why aren’t you following?”

“Soup Surface,” “Soup Base,” “Fishman”… All these metaphors fed a sense of bewilderment, and the newcomers felt increasingly bewildered and panicked.

Lin Jia looked up and saw a sign hanging on the door of the building—Yile Single Apartments.

Then, he and the other two newcomers walked inside.

As soon as they entered, Lin Jia spotted the “Fishman.”

The “Fishman” wasn’t a fish-shaped figure. Tucked away in a corner of the first-floor lobby, it resembled a lifelike scarecrow dressed in a suit and a gentleman’s hat. However, while a scarecrow is planted in soil, the “Fishman” was planted in concrete.

As Lin Jia entered the building, the last one to arrive, the “Fishman’s” eyes rolled around in their mostly white sockets and his mouth stretched into a grotesque grin.

“Brother Shi Luo, is this the ‘Fishman’?” The tall man was overcome with goosebumps.

“Hm,” said Shi Luo. “Don’t say anything. Listen to the ‘Fishman’ describe the ‘Soup Surface.’”

The tall man didn’t dare say another word. Everyone else fell silent, their eyes fixed on the “Fishman.”

Lin Jia’s gaze was also fixed on the “Fishman.” He watched the “Fishman” open and close his mouth, which was almost hooked behind his ears. His voice was distorted yet excited.

The Fishman said, “A video blogger moved to a single apartment in Yile. One day, he filmed a fleeting white shadow and decided to find out who it was. Gradually, he realized that all his neighbors seemed a little off. Finally, he deleted all the videos he had posted about the ‘white shadow’ and released a new video clarifying that it was all scripted. In this video, he always looked away from the camera in fear…”

A cold breeze blew, and with a click, the apartment door locked.

Someone was there, and he couldn’t help but shudder.

 

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