The Creatures that We Are

It was a rune corpse!

To their surprise, there was an injured wanderer lurking in the broadcast room, and it had just transformed.

The now undead adult man was a little overweight, and it lunged at Dark Li and Xiran, catching them off guard.

Dark Li immediately sprang to action, reflexively pulling back to avoid the rune corpse. Xiran, however, wasn’t so lucky. He didn’t have much room for maneuver, and he wasn’t agile enough to dodge away in time.

Survival instincts kicked in, and he grabbed whatever was within reach to defend against the rune corpse. When he realized it was a microphone, the rune corpse had already tackled him to the ground.

One hand pushing against the rune corpse’s chin, Xiran shoved the microphone into its mouth with his other hand to make sure that it wouldn’t bite him.

Growling, the rune corpse shook its chin around in an attempt to make the bite. The repulsive mix of saliva and blood dripped down the microphone.

Nine Frost was the first to react. He grabbed the rune corpse’s shirt from the back and yanked it off, throwing it aside.

Clang! The rune corpse flew into a cabinet, the sound attracting another wave of rune corpses to slam the door.

Hearing the staccato of dull impacts, Gray Bear and Old Joe promptly pushed their backs against the door to keep it shut.

Meanwhile, Nine Frost and Dark Li had pinned the rune corpse to the floor. Black Sparrow then shoved the swiss army knife she got from Dai Xiaojun into the rune corpse’s eye socket, stirring inside to make a mess of its brain, and it stopped struggling after a violent seizure.

Gradually, the rune corpses outside quieted as well.

Gao Yang immediately went to help Xiran up, who was sitting on the floor in shock.

Xiran’s lips trembled, his face pale. “Cap, Captain, I wasn’t bitten. I wasn’t…”

“Calm down,” Gao Yang assured him. “I’ll check for you.”

Xiran grabbed Gao Yang’s wrist forcefully. “I really wasn’t bitten!”

“Xiran,” Gao Yang commanded in a low voice. “Let me check. It’s an order.”

Xiran gulped and slowly let go.

Gao Yang thoroughly checked his face and neck before unbuttoning his shirt to check his chest, shoulders, and back. Following that, he checked Xiran’s fingers. Then he rolled up Xiran’s sleeves to check his arms.

Finally, he checked Xiran’s calves and then made sure there was no bite on his clothed legs.

Xiran hadn’t been bitten.

Gao Yang let out a sigh of relief. “You’re good.”

Xiran opened his eyes wide, staring at Gao Yang in disbelief. “Am I, am I really alright?”

“Yes.” Gao Yang was certain.

“Ah!” Having escaped death, Xiran burst into tears and sobbed, “Thank god. Thank god…”

“You lucky brat!” Gray Bear went up to ruffle Xiran’s hair, overjoyed. “Alright, stop crying. You’re okay!”

“You may be okay, but this thing isn’t,” Old Joe said. He was standing before the working table, pointing at the old black broadcast machine.

Gao Yang looked over and realized it was connected to the microphone, and when Xiran yanked the microphone off, he had pulled the machine along as well. A closer inspection revealed that one of the wires had been torn off. Ɽ₳ŊÓꞖĘꞨ

“Would it still work?” Nine Frost went up to him and asked.

Old Joe leaned down to take a close look, pulling at the wire. “It should work if I reconnect this.”

Can asked, “Whoa, Uncle Joe. Why are you able to do everything?”

“After awakening, he has been working as the owner of a repair shop for electric appliances.” Black Sparrow arched her sharp eyebrow. “That’s not considered your dark past, right, Old Joe?”

“It’s not!” Old Joe rubbed his bald head and chuckled.

“Can you fix it?” asked Gao Yang.

Old Joe said hesitantly, “It’d only take a moment if I had the right tool, but I have nothing. I can’t even unscrew the screws. One can’t cook without a stove, you know.”

Nine Frost ordered, “Find a way.”

“I’ll try.” Old Joe sighed. “Any of you have a lighter? A nail clipper? Oh, isn’t there a swiss army knife? That’ll help.”

Black Sparrow looked down at the rune corpse by her feet. The swiss army knife was buried deep in its eye socket.

She sighed. “Give me a moment. I’ll clean it up for you.”

“Alright!” Old Joe sat down on the chair before the table. “I’ll try to fix it in half an hour.”

Black Sparrow yanked the swiss army knife out and looked for clothes to wipe off the blood and brain matter. Then she handed the knife to Old Joe.

Humming an unfamiliar melody, Old Joe got to work.

The others hadn’t been wasting time. They first threw the rune corpse out of the window before checking each other for injuries, making sure that none of them were hurt.

Ten minutes later, the broadcast room quieted.

There weren’t enough chairs, so most of them were sitting cross-legged on the floor, quietly dwelling on their own thoughts. Gao Yang was thinking about what they should do when a head fell on his shoulder.

It was Can. She was exhausted and closed her eyes.

Gao Yang sighed inwardly. It was best for her to take a break. They had a tough battle ahead of them.

“I wonder how Lithe Snake is doing,” Gray Bear said worriedly. There hadn’t been a moment he wasn’t thinking about their missing teammate.

Xiran adjusted his glasses. “Lithe Snake will be alright. He’s strong.”

“I think so, too,” said Ronnie.

“Yeah, if someone’s gonna die, I’d be the first,” Can opened her eyes and said quietly.

So she was pretending. Of course. How could she possibly fall asleep given the circumstances?

“What’s with the pessimism? We will all get out of here alive.” Gray Bear turned to Gao Yang. “Am I right, Captain?”

“Certainly.” Gao Yang wasn’t confident, but it was important to maintain morale.

“Hey, what are you gonna do once you get out of here?” Can sat back up with renewed vigor and rubbed her nose. “Once I’m out, I’m gonna play games for three days straight! And I’m gonna max out my credit card to buy all the skins for heroes I love!”

“I just want to sleep. I’m gonna sleep for days.” Xiran tugged at his lips tiredly.

“I’m gonna have a barbecue and a pack of cold beer. Even better if there’s a good match to watch.” Gray Bear indulged in the thought with a smile.

“I’m going to the karaoke, and sing, through the night,” said Ronnie.

Gao Yang thought about Ronnie’s Talent, Disorientation. It cost money to go to a concert, but Ronnie’s singing? That would take lives.

Ronnie seemed to have read Gao Yang’s thoughts, and he added petulantly, “I’ve won first place, at a school singing competition.”

Gao Yang smiled. Well, Talents are Talents, while singing is singing. One doesn’t dictate the other, just like there are people who have a nice voice but can’t carry a tune at all.

“What about you, Captain Seven Shadow?” Can turned to him with her large glinting eyes.

“Me?” Gao Yang paused.

He hadn’t thought about it before.

The first one he thought about was his family. He wanted to enjoy a meal with everyone—dad, mom, granny, sister—before the television and have a good time.

Then he thought about Qing Ling and Officer Huang. He missed them a little, and he was reminded of the beef noodles at the noodle shop they had gone to. Had Qing Ling and Officer Huang reached level 4 with their Talents? Would they think about him too every once in a while?

Of course, Wang Zikai and Fat Jun came to his mind as well. If possible, he would like to visit Wang Zikai’s place and hang out through the night, having fried chicken and cola while playing games.

No, I can’t think about this further.

I’ve just gotten myself a mountain full of flags! This is a bad omen.

“Are you alright, Yellow Butterfly?”

Suddenly, Black Sparrow reached out to steady Yellow Butterfly, her sharp eyebrows closely knitted.

Yellow Butterfly was curling into herself by the wall, her legs tucked to her chest.

She trembled all over, her hair drenched by sweat and sticking to her pale face. Holding onto her neck with both hands, she breathed in short, intense bursts, her chest heaving violently.

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