Chapter 107: Arrival

The night was like ink, and the town's streets were swallowed by a strange darkness.

The streetlights should have been lit, but the entire street was plunged into a dim gloom, with only a few scattered households showing a faint light from their windows.

The brightness of the entire town was strictly limited, as if even a fraction more light would startle some unspeakable existence.

A military patrol vehicle drove slowly by, its loudspeaker cycling through cold instructions:

"Nighttime lighting must not exceed 15 watts... pull the curtains tight... loitering outdoors is prohibited..."

A distant sound drifted over.

Lu Yue's breathing was rapid, her heart pounding wildly in her chest, yet she seemed to have no intention of calling for help.

Clutching a paper bag, she made a sharp turn and dashed into a narrow alley, hoping to use the intricate clutter and shadows to shake off the thing behind her.

—But that thing was not hindered in the slightest.

"Huff... huff..."

The footsteps behind her followed like a shadow, heavy yet swift; every step felt like it was treading on her nerves.

Lu Yue dared not look back, but in her peripheral vision, she could still glimpse that massive silhouette—its shoulders were nearly the width of the alley, yet it nimbly vaulted over various obstacles:

Trash cans, abandoned bicycles, stacked cardboard boxes... it bypassed them all with ease, without even making a sound of collision.

It was incredibly eerie! Just like a hunter familiar with the terrain and its prey!

A physique like that shouldn't be this agile, let alone move normally in an almost pitch-black environment. Unless... it didn't need to "see" at all.

What kind of monster is this! Lu Yue's throat tightened, and cold sweat soaked her back.

She desperately quickened her pace, but her legs felt like they were filled with lead, growing heavier by the second. Suddenly, her ankle was tripped by something.

"Clatter!"

She fell heavily into a pile of empty cans; the sound of metal colliding exploded in the silent alley, so piercing it made one's scalp tingle.

This fall not only made her knees burn with pain, but it also sent the baseball cap she had kept pulled low flying away—

Swish!

A waterfall of black hair cascaded down instantly, shimmering with a silk-like luster under the moonlight!

The moment her hair spilled out, the half-face that had been hidden by the brim was finally exposed: soft contours, a petite nose tip, and lips trembling slightly from fear.

Lu Yue was a girl!

"Awoo—!"

A low wolf howl exploded right against the back of her neck, the sound waves spraying onto her skin and inciting a shiver.

She looked back in despair, her pupils reflecting the massive black shadow that almost filled the entire alley—

It was too tall, so tall that her line of sight could barely reach its chest. The moonlight outlined its inhuman silhouette:

Excessively broad shoulders, disproportionately long arms, and that pair of scarlet eyes in the darkness.

That was no wolf at all.

It was some kind of monster wearing a wolf's skin!

"Help, help me—!"

The scream she had been suppressing finally broke through her throat, echoing in the empty alley and carrying far away.

This seemed to enrage the creature; the red light in its eyes surged violently, and its sharp claws were raised high, gleaming with a metallic cold light under the moonlight—

Boom!!!

A deafening roar suddenly exploded from the side, and the entire alley trembled. Lu Yue and the monster turned their heads simultaneously to look at the source—

It came from a dilapidated iron door situated between the two of them.

From the crack in the door, a series of footsteps could be faintly heard.

Creak~

"Cough, cough!" The iron door suddenly opened, and amidst a cloud of dust, a young man with slightly messy hair walked out, carrying a black backpack, looking at this scene with some surprise.

Ding Mo was a bit confused.

Where did this land him?

He had encountered some errors while entering this world, causing his "landing" position to deviate.

Originally, he should have landed at the location where he was most active when he was in this world before—because the resonance between the two was the strongest.

But now... damp brick walls, narrow alleyways, the faint sound of sirens in the distance—this was clearly a corner of some unfamiliar city.

And, there seemed to be a monster here and...? Ding Mo turned his head, staring at the familiar wolf shadow not far away, then glanced behind him.

Behind him, under the moonlight, a young girl with messy long hair was sitting slumped beside a pile of trash.

Lu Yue was startled by the sudden appearance of Ding Mo, her eyes widening slightly.

But after she realized what was happening, she immediately shouted: "Run! Go call those people in green on the street!"

The girl's sharp cry rang out, but Ding Mo had already set down his backpack and taken out a machete.

"How nostalgic... old friend!" Ding Mo looked at the red-capped werewolf in front of him and couldn't help but lick the corner of his mouth.

That's right, this was the world of the "Tonghua Juchang" that he and Chu Chenfeng had experienced before.

And as for this one in front of him, he still remembered that the last time they fought, that claw had made Ding Mo suffer for a long time.

The toxins on the wolf's claws must not be touched!

But other than that, there was nothing to fear; the Red-Capped Werewolf was at most upper-middle tier in terms of combat power among this bunch of monsters.

Although he didn't know where this was or why he had encountered it, the current Ding Mo had the confidence to take it down!

"You..."

Lu Yue was somewhat incredulous; she looked at Ding Mo, who stood before her holding a blade, and in a daze, she seemed to see a similarly imposing figure from her memories.

But he was no longer here, and now she only had...

Inside a heavily guarded military facility.

The searchlights and sentry posts covering almost every corner all indicated the high level of secrecy and the special nature of this place.

At this moment, in a room deep within the facility.

A middle-aged woman with a sorrowful face was scribbling something in a notebook.

A while later, there was movement outside.

The middle-aged woman looked up and discovered a cup of coffee had been delivered to the table through the window on the door.

"Thank you..." A trace of surprise appeared in the middle-aged woman's eyes; she picked up the coffee, but then set it back down.

"Officer, what about my daughter? How is she?"

"..." The officer outside seemed to be silent for a moment before saying:

"I'm sorry, we still haven't found her."

"..."

A faint, painful cry of weeping came from inside the room.

Outside, a trace of apology appeared on the officer's chiseled face.

Originally, their deal was that the middle-aged woman would pay with her own life to serve as the "person in charge" of this Ritual, which is to say, the "Director."

And he, in turn, was to protect her only daughter during this period and, after she sacrificed herself, provide her with a bright future—at least ensuring she would have no worries about food or clothing for the rest of her life.

This had been the convention all along; it was like this ten years ago, twenty years ago, and it is like this now...

But that previous attack, those bastards, the Guaishou from the Different Space! They disrupted all his deployments!

She went missing.

If it weren't for the fact that her body could not be found at the scene, the middle-aged woman would likely have already collapsed by now.

Her daughter was the last pillar keeping her alive.

"Please, you must hold on; tomorrow is the 'Final Act.' Once all this is completed, the Guaishou will naturally disappear, and your daughter will no longer be in danger!"

"I understand... I understand..." A trembling voice sounded from within the room.

I hope she is safe and sound... The officer closed his eyes.

This Ritual is very cruel; the selected "Director" and other "Actors" will sacrifice themselves one after another.

Or, they will turn into the vanguard for the Guaishou!

And they, the soldiers, for the sake of everyone's safety and to ensure those Guaishou cannot invade this world, can only do everything in their power to make them choose the former.

Only in this way can the "Leakage Crisis" be prevented time and time again.

But those things are also very cunning; they usually choose people who are disheartened and desperate with this world to participate in the Ritual, and after letting these desperate people experience even more hopeless events,

they then select the final few to give them the opportunity to obtain powerful strength!

For example, that "Prince Mask."

Using this to tempt people, they use them as a medium to obtain permission to enter this world.

Even now, they haven't obtained permission yet, and some Guaishou have already started to become active in this world.

If they truly obtained permission, no one would know what might happen.

Therefore, the Identity of the "Director" is exceptionally critical; they are the guide and also the key to advancing this Ritual known as a "Drama."

The "Director" must monitor the progress of the Ritual in the Hotel at all times and ensure that during the Final Act, the "Substitute Actor" cannot obtain the Identity of the "Prince."

As for the rest, that is not something the "Director" can control...