AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016
Chapter 535 - 240: Someone? No One? _2

Chapter 535: Chapter 240: Someone? No One? _2

"I’ve already pulled my vision back, and still I can see people?"

"Could it be... that those Pseudo-Humans actually exist? But only I can see them?"

"But if only I can see them... then do they really exist in reality, or just in my imagination?"

What is real?

What is fake?

"Or is it..." Lin Yi’s eyes began to show disbelief as he placed his hand on his head, his pupils slowly undulating, "Or is there some unknown entity trying to alter my perception and then anchoring itself over from some strange layer..."

"What should I do?"

Lin Yi’s body gradually became icy cold, despite being in the cafeteria under the light of incandescent bulbs, he felt as though he was in the midst of a snowy day in the Northern Desert.

There was light, hints of warmth, but the careless half-warmth was no match for the deluge of icy coldness!

What’s more terrifying is that the little warmth was also quietly slipping away...

It was as if he saw the colors fading from the world around him, from the soft and somewhat rich hues, gradually turning into a pallid grey.

As the vision changed, he felt the threads of cold creeping out from some kind of void like strands of hair, slowly moving towards him.

These things entangled and wrapped around him like bizarre tentacles, inch by inch encircling Lin Yi...

Lin Yi felt a tingling on his scalp, goosebumps all over his body, and then as if he had a strange induction, he actually heard the sound of candles being whipped by a strong wind.

His body was taut and rigid; he did not look up, but he heard the clinking of metal chains above his head.

The incandescent bulb overhead seemed to have become a chandelier hung by chains, which clanged against each other in the wind, producing an uncomfortable jingling noise.

An unexpected gust of wind came like mist, bringing with it a hoarse, wispy calling sound...

It sounded like some pronunciation of "Xǐ~yá~" "Wa~" as if an old woman who had her vocal cords gouged out was struggling to call out some strange word...

Lin Yi could not understand, but still felt a strong sense of revulsion and discomfort deep inside him, as if being summoned by a perplexing, incomprehensible entity, the voice not frightening but eerily peaceful, like it was endowed with a demonic charm. But his body was already covered with goosebumps. By the time he realized it, he was sweating profusely, his complexion pale, and his lips trembling.

"I am Lin Yi... Boss... Li Huiyuan... Xu Shunkang... Mu Daxian..."

In his mind, Lin Yi repeatedly went through the figures that had made a deep impression on him, recalling images that could bring about a strong fluctuation in his emotions, such as Boss’s explosive and coordinated demeanor, Li Huiyuan’s cute uniform and pink girlish attire, Mu Daxian’s god-descended violent Holy Order scenes, Xu Shunkang’s home run stance under a galaxy of baseball...

Gradually, his thoughts were drawn out from the boundless fear bit by bit in this way, the calling sound by his ear first began to fade, then the feeling of warmth came back to him, and then the colors began to return to his vision.

Only the restored colors always seemed to lack a certain taste, like the feeling of being about to surface whilst underwater but getting stuck just below, only able to reveal a face.

Awkward.

An indescribable awkwardness.

But the only slightly better point was that at least he was back in a relatively normal yet safe layer.

And this drop in layers was all because of a momentary fluctuation in his cognition.

He looked down at his watch.

"7:08"

Considering he was already in line, he appeared to have plenty of time, but... yet there seemed not enough time at all.

"Your breathing was very unstable just now, did you come across something strange, Old Lin?" Next to him, Tian Bufan noticed something amiss and spoke up.

"Young Master Tian, was I spaced out just now?" Lin Yi asked, panting.

"Not at all." Tian Bufan said, "You’ve been walking forward with us the whole time, maybe you just glanced to the side?"

"Just a glance?!" Lin Yi was startled, sensing a glimmer of enlightenment related to "time," yet it was unclear.

Fearing another twist that he couldn’t pull himself back from, he stopped pondering and followed the queue to move forward.

"Wei Sang, you’re behind me, right?" he asked.

"Yes." Wei Sang’s calm voice sounded from behind him.

"I didn’t do anything strange just now, did I?"

"..." Wei Shan fell silent for a moment, "...it’s somewhat like that."

Lin Yi: "..."

"Keep up, don’t fall out of line, we’ll talk later." Wei Shan said.

"Alright." Lin Yi nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and continued walking forward.

7:12.

Wei Liang and Kuai Hongji arrived at the meal order window.

"You first." Kuai Hongji said indifferently, then stepped back behind Wei Liang.

"I don’t mind if you order first..." Wei Liang whispered.

Kuai Hongji didn’t speak, just looked at him coldly.

"Alright, I’ll go first then." Wei Liang shrugged.

"Auntie, can I get two boiled eggs... ah no no no, forget the eggs, just a bowl of porridge, and two fried dough sticks, I’ve been fasting recently, can’t eat any meat or fish, my bad, my bad."

Wei Liang took his meal tray, swiftly pulled out his card like an old hand, and moved aside after swiping it.

Kuai Hongji glanced into the meal order window, narrowed his eyes, and then coldly said, "Make it the same for me."

"I’ll have the same." After Kuai Hongji ordered, Tian Bufan also followed.

While Kuai Hongji was swiping his card, Lin Yi took a glance at the card machine.

["Name: Kuai Hongji"

"Class: Group A Class 1"

"Student ID: X0230506094"]

"So he really is from Group A Class 1..." Lin Yi thought to himself.

When it was his turn to order, the Cafeteria Auntie in the meal order window asked, "Young man, what would you like to eat?"

"I..." Lin Yi glanced into the interior of the meal order window, his pupils slightly constricted, "the same as him, porridge with fried dough sticks is fine, two sticks, thank you."

The Cafeteria Auntie gave him a look, then bowed her head to prepare the meal, muttering under her breath, "The porridge and fried dough sticks are selling really well today..."

"Would you like some pickled vegetables?"

"No need, thank you, Auntie."

Taking his meal tray, Lin Yi also withdrew his gaze.

At that moment, he understood why Wei Liang had quickly changed his order, even bringing up the excuse of "fasting."

Because inside that meal order window... there was no "normal food" other than porridge and fried dough sticks.

The boiled eggs looked just like stones, and the pickled vegetables were nothing but grey-white pebbles.

And what terrified him was that the Cafeteria Auntie seemed to be completely unaware of anything amiss, interacting with them just like a normal person would.

But surely a normal person couldn’t possibly fail to distinguish between rocks and food?

Approaching the card machine, Lin Yi silently pulled his hand out of his pocket.

At that moment, that feeling of being watched was again distinctly "perceived" by him.

He swiped his card quickly, and as his name and student ID appeared on the machine, the corner of his eye swept like lightning over the shadowy area closest to him, only to see that the people there had extended their necks toward him like birds in a nest sensing the smell of worms.

Yet as he put away his Student ID card, their attention also retreated.

However, the truly eerie scene occurred at that moment.

He saw a choppy, frame-skipping effect on their bodies.

To be more precise, from Lin Yi’s perspective, everyone in that line seemed to experience a sort of mosaic-like frame skip at that moment.

And the eeriness continued to unfold...