After Koki finished saying this, he found that nothing significant happened.
Haruko’s smile remained, and everyone was chatting and laughing with him, their relationships seeming even closer.
But that sound... was it an auditory hallucination?
It felt like something had died, giving Koki a sense of inexplicable worry...
But since he didn’t know what exactly it was, he couldn’t pin it down to anything specific, so this worry quickly faded.
Not long after, Koki suddenly discovered a number on his palm.
Number 1.
Very small, this 1 was between the creases of his palm, looking like a dot.
But he was certain that his palm definitely didn’t have this before.
After class, Koki ran to the restroom to wash his hands and scrubbed hard, but no matter how much he scrubbed, it wouldn’t come off.
That 1 seemed like a brand, imprinted on Koki’s body.
...
...
At nightfall.
Koki lay in bed, sleeping next to his grandfather.
In the middle of the night, Koki felt the urge to pee, he woke up and groggily walked towards the restroom, suddenly feeling a bit dazed.
It seemed like something was missing.
"Nightmares. It seems like I haven’t had any nightmares."
After peeing, Koki shuddered, feeling inexplicably lost. It was really strange, when the nightmares were there, he wished not to have them, but after the dreams disappeared...
He felt somewhat lost again.
His grandfather, at some point, appeared behind Koki, looking gloomy, his face indiscernible in the dark.
Koki, turning abruptly, found that his grandfather had stood up without making any sound.
"Ah!" Koki exclaimed in fright.
After this shout, the ominous aura around his grandfather immediately disappeared.
"Koki, come on, be good, go back to bed."
"Oh okay, sure."
Grandfather and grandson quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, Koki got used to a few things.
He got used to the energetic feeling of not having nightmares and got used to the unique number on his palm. Anyway, if he didn’t tell, others wouldn’t notice it without scrutinizing.
But on his way to school, Koki suddenly encountered a masked man.
"Wen Xishu!"
Suddenly a voice rang out, surprising Koki.
Wen Xishu...
It didn’t sound like a name from the Island Country, but why did it feel so familiar to me?
The masked man looked at Koki, and everyone around also looked at Koki, but soon, everyone’s gaze shifted uniformly to the masked man.
The man started to flee frantically.
Koki watched this scene in astonishment, finding it difficult to comprehend.
Because although teachers educate everyone to act bravely for a just cause, to prevent harm to others...
In reality, shouldn’t everyone try to avoid it as much as possible?
But what’s going on now?
The masked man started to sprint, and around Koki... everyone began to chase the masked man.
Even—
Koki saw Haruko.
Haruko, with a ferocious expression, was also chasing the masked man.
But what did that man do? Why did so many people chase after him?
He only called out a name, didn’t he?
The masked man was still sprinting, and he seemed extremely skilled... no, his parkour skills could be considered master-level.
Everyone around him chased like zombies smelling meat, but his movements were agile, always evading them. Even though Hujiang’s buildings weren’t tall due to frequent earthquakes, the whole terrain became three-dimensional under the man’s agility.
While Koki was puzzled, a woman appeared beside him:
"Koki, you should head to school now."
The woman looked so familiar.
Koki looked at this woman... feeling he had seen her somewhere before.
She was a very beautiful woman, with a figure that was sexy and enticing. As this term floated through Koki’s mind, he found it odd... how did he know such terms?
Wasn’t he still a child?
The woman watched Koki’s pondering:
"What a troublesome guy. Clearly, he had been killed... how is there still a ’sense of dissonance’."
Koki didn’t understand.
But the woman spoke forcefully:
"Be good, go to school."
Her tone carried an undeniable authority, and Koki felt that if he didn’t go to school... something bad would happen.
He began walking towards school but couldn’t help looking back at the man.
The man had already disappeared from his sight.
Koki hadn’t walked far when everything around him returned to normal.
Soon he even encountered Haruko jogging up to him, calling for him to slow down.
Koki looked at Haruko:
"Haruko... aren’t you tired?"
Haruko was puzzled:
"Why would I be tired?"
Koki said:
"But just now... you were sprinting after that man!"
Haruko’s expression stiffened for a moment, but just for a moment, she quickly changed the subject:
"Koki, I didn’t finish yesterday’s homework, can I have a look at yours?"
Koki was silent for a few seconds, then said:
"Sure, you can look at mine."
He turned back, the man was gone, the crowd chasing the man was gone, as if nothing had happened.
But he didn’t know that, high above where he couldn’t see, the woman he described as "sexy and enticing" was watching him.
Beside the woman was an existence that anyone would be terrified of, for this being had two heads.
One male, one female, like a pair of spouses.