Aoba Office

The black beam didn't touch my hand. It disappeared about ten centimeters in front of my palm.

Disappear naturally rather than suddenly interrupt.

It's like a ray of light coming from a distance, reaching the farthest distance visible to the naked eye, and blending into the environment.

I stared blankly at the black line in front of me. After taking a step forward, I found that the black line gradually faded and completely disappeared.

The sound of heavy breathing brought my attention back.

I looked back and saw the young man who had been following me covering his mouth in panic and leaning against the wall. His whole body looked limp.

I stared at him for a while and then said, "Did you hear what I just said?"

The young man's eyes widened and he was even more frightened.

"They," I pointed to the extinguished fire and the empty shell of the TV, "are from another world."

The young man was still frightened, and his look told me that he was not thinking about what I said.

I looked at the TV. Inside that empty shell, there was still a ball of ashes.

The Ghost King is a soul and does not have a body. I can't tell whether the ashes are some circuit boards inside the TV or a remnant of the ghost king's soul.

In the field of vision, there is no black or white anymore, the whole world is gray.

I had another headache.

The severe pain made my eyes go black.

The world of black and white and gray disappeared, and the world turned into color again.

But I have to work hard to see the color.

I took a few breaths and waited for the pain to pass.

When I lifted my feet to take steps, my body was still a little wobbly, but I was finally able to walk.

The young man seemed to scream, maybe trying to stop me, but finally gave up.

I walked to the gate of the hospital and saw no one in the guard room.

There were no pedestrians on the road.

I walked to the intersection and saw the car speeding away.

This was the first time I saw a car driving so fast in the city or near a residential area.

I walked a little further and found a shared bicycle on the side of the road.

I didn't bring my phone, but I don't have to worry about that now.

He pressed his hand on the metal of the car lock. As his head stung, the cold touch on his hand disappeared.

I got directly into the car and waited for another burst of pain to pass before I slowly stepped on the pedal.

The car started to move forward crookedly.

I exhaled white mist from my mouth. On this quiet road, there are only the sounds of the bicycle squeaking forward and my breathing, and there is no third sound.

After turning another corner, I heard crying.

Cries came from the convenience store on the roadside.

The convenience store's automatic door opens and closes, making beeps constantly. The lights in the store are all on, and you can see that the products on the shelves are in good condition. On the long table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, there are lunch boxes, plastic bags, and drink cups thrown by customers...

There is just no one.

Only crying could be heard.

I didn't stop and continued on my bike.

The traffic lights at the intersection ahead are flashing and the signals are confusing. Several cars were piled up in the middle of the road, smoking and with damaged bodies. In the driver's seat and the passenger's seat lay motionless people, life or death unknown.

Different from ordinary car accidents, there were no onlookers here, and there were no ambulances or police cars on standby.

I bypassed the pile of cars and passed by the outer wall of a certain community.

I felt the gaze on me.

There are people in the residential building next to it.

Even the crying I heard just now may not be from ghosts.

It's just that I don't have the intention to distinguish or investigate right now, and I don't care at all about these.

I rode along without giving a second glance to any oddity on the road. I also heard shouts and cries for help, but I didn't stop.

I felt vaguely that I was not in the real world, but in the future world.

I have experienced this kind of deathly silence and weirdness in several dreams related to the future world.

Finally, I came to the neighborhood of my home.

I saw the small hotel where I checked in before.

A little further on, when I turned a corner, I saw burned-out cars and small shop fronts.

The bike came to a slow stop.

I abandoned the car, walked to the wreckage, stepped on the gravel, and entered the store.

All I could see was a patch of scorched earth, and I could vaguely make out the outline of a counter.

The body in the driver's seat had been burned out of shape. It was not normal to begin with. It was not a complete human form, but had animal characteristics. The same is true at this moment.

There is only this body.

The front end of the car was the most severely burned.

If someone gets stuck between the front of the car and the counter...

I silently looked at the gap that fit tightly together.

After a long while, I withdrew my gaze and stepped out on the gravel.

I almost fell, but I managed to steady myself by holding on to the rear of the car.

I stood up straight and staggered towards the community.

Within two steps, I saw the collapsed residential buildings, the wreckage of the plane, and the burnt-out potholes.

There are no bodies here either.

"Lin...Xiao Lin?"

I heard a hesitant cry.

Turning around, someone poked his head out of the window in the relatively intact residential building next to him.

That was the aunt who was chatting and gossiping with my parents when Xu Tiancheng’s house was on fire.

She looked at me, looked at the pit, and then looked behind me with an expression on her face that she was hesitant to speak.

Behind me is my building.

I had seen before that a huge aircraft engine was embedded in the building, and that location happened to be my house.

I felt like a nerve in my brain was snapped because of that look.

The aunt seemed a little panicked, so she quickly closed the curtains and retreated into the house.

I didn't care about her, I just squatted down facing the pothole and put my hand on it.

My soul was in pain like it was being torn apart, but there was indeed a wave of power flowing through my body.

Under the palm, there is a weak power transmitted.

The charred land is slowly being repaired.

If I could reverse the entire world... If I had such ability, why should I stick to the entrances and exits of different spaces? I should be able to do this anywhere.

Reversing time, returning the whole world to the correct node, and making everything clear again.

Make...them come alive.

I just felt as if my soul was being forcibly extracted. The soul was pulled into thin threads and pulled out of the body through the palm of the hand.

The ground began to repair, the scorch marks disappeared, and the debris turned into airplanes.

I saw the body.

Not my sister’s…

The green belt has been restored, and even though it is winter, there are still green leafy plants.

I even heard a cat meow.

The orange kitten made a faint meow.

No sister...

Why……

The thread of the soul seems to be broken.

I saw the down jacket appearing on the green belt next to the kitten.

Clothes that belong to my sister...

"Ah? What's going on?"

"I-I'm not dead?"

"Plane! This plane—"

Chaotic shouts rang out.

Such sounds soon disappeared.

Those who were resurrected began to look younger.

The kittens turned into kittens and were the first to disappear.

My sister's clothes also started to disintegrate.

My ability was out of control, and I pulled away from my body like crazy.

When I heard the ear-piercing scream, the thread of my soul was completely severed.

I knelt on the ground, which was neither charred earth nor cement, but mud.