Infinite Nightmares

"I killed them," the rabbit said calmly, as if it were a mundane statement.

His words stopped Zhang Wenda in his tracks. He stared at the rabbit in shock. The rabbit didn’t explain further, but Wenda knew he was telling the truth.

"But believe me, that outcome isn’t a good one. It doesn’t solve anything. It just puts new shackles on you."

Zhang Wenda stood in silence for a long time before looking up. His eyes, now filled with pity as he looked at the rabbit, said, "They must have tortured you horribly before you did it, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been pushed that far."

Zhang Wenda suddenly understood why the rabbit had been looking out for him. In him, the rabbit saw its own past.

The rabbit opened its arms to hug Zhang Wenda but was pushed away. "Thanks, but I don’t need that. I’m sorry, but I still have to go."

"Since you’ve been through it, you should know how much I’m suffering right now."

2826, who had been observing from the side, finally spoke up. "Although it’s none of my business, as a friend, I’m advising you not to do this. If you go through with it, you won’t pass Bureau 507’s identity verification. This is the wrong move."

Hearing this, Zhang Wenda looked at him in disbelief. "Isn’t Bureau 507 trying to create a logical world? Does your ’logic’ only apply to the outside? You don’t give a damn about the monstrosities within, do you? If that’s what Bureau 507 is, I’d rather not join!"

He pointed to the surrounding market, built amidst dog fur. "This place is bizarre, I’ll admit! But it’s not as bizarre as you people! I’m starting to think there’s something wrong with your logic! When a problem arises, why do you blame the victim for fighting back instead of blaming the abuser? Just because they’re in a position of power? Just because they’re strong? Or is there something wrong with *my* logic?"

"Someone tortures me every day. I feel like my body is about to be torn in half. I just want to escape this punishment from the rules. Is there something wrong with that? Answer me!"

His voice grew louder. "It doesn’t matter who it is! Using violence and status to prey on the weak is bullying, plain and simple! I’m a person! When I get hit, I hit back! I don’t turn the other cheek after getting slapped! That’s what a fucking slave does! That’s what a fucking dog does!"

"I know they want a dog! A dog that’s been beaten into submission, one that trembles at the mere sight of them. But I refuse to be that dog!"

The rabbit took a step forward, a new tremor in its calm voice. "It doesn’t matter if you destroy them, but you can’t destroy yourself. You still have a long road ahead of you!"

The rabbit took a step forward, but Zhang Wenda took one back. "If I had the power to match them right now and they still treated me with the same attitude, then they’d be the fools, not me! Compared to a one-sided victory where they just bully me, I’d much rather we both lose!"

He took another step back. "I’ve said my piece. I’m done talking. Don’t try to stop me. Anyone who gets in my way now is my enemy! Jianguo! Stop them!"

With a look of utter exasperation, Song Jianguo led a pack of cats to form a wall, blocking the way between them. "Don’t drag me into your fights. I’m so tired, I just want to go home and sleep."

By the time the giant wall of black cats dispersed, Zhang Wenda was gone.

"Sigh, finally off the clock. Time to go home," Song Jianguo said, rubbing her sore neck and preparing to leave.

glanced at her. "Do me a favor and tell him, regretfully, that he failed his identity verification."

"Not doing it. I’m tired. I’m going home to sleep," Song Jianguo said, turning to leave with an annoyed look on her face.

"Aren’t you going to look for him? What if something happens to him?"

Hearing this, Song Jianguo’s face lit up with glee. "Something could happen to him? You mean there’s a chance of that?"

Just a moment ago, she had been spacing out, not caring in the slightest what Zhang Wenda was screaming about, nor did she know what had happened.

But as soon as she heard 2826’s words, her inner gossip was piqued, and she curiously followed the scent of Zhang Wenda.

Just as she was about to leave the flea market, she heard a cat hissing again.

"What’s wrong?" Song Jianguo turned to look back at the bustling market but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Is it the rabbit?" she asked, stroking the cat’s head.

"Forget about any hostility. Let’s hurry. We might get to see a good show. Maybe that damned Haozi will finally have some bad luck."

Not long after Song Jianguo left, a burly man with a bayonet for a head pushed through the crowd with several others.

They were the very same enemies of Zhang Wenda and 2826 from the past world. It seemed they had survived the rainbow’s attack.

The one with a chainsaw head spoke up. "Boss, they’re the ones who ruined our plans. They split up. Should we go after the Bureau 507 agent, or the kid?"

The bayonet-headed man stroked his chin and opened a mouth full of iron teeth. "Let’s not tip our hand. First, we find a chance to ambush the kid. We’ll get the details on that agent from him."

On a street at dusk, Zhang Wenda stood before his tenement building, looking up at the lit window of his home. A blurry figure flashed past the glass; they had seen him too.

He had come to the old spot, but instead of going in, he stood there, silently waiting for something.

As 6:00 arrived, bloody gashes began to spread across Zhang Wenda’s body. He had candy in his hand but didn’t eat it. Instead, he gritted his teeth and endured, feeling the torment the rules inflicted upon him.

As his body was reduced to a bloody mess, Zhang Wenda pulled out the user guide for the Blue Core he’d gotten from the black market. He stared at the Spells and rituals on it—instructions that explained the process, but not the principles.

Through the pain, he burned them into his memory—the three rituals that could activate the Blue Core. They were his only guarantee of making it back.

An eternity and an instant passed. The rule’s punishment on Zhang Wenda gradually subsided. For once, he hadn’t passed out from the pain.

Although the pain in his body was fading, the hatred in his heart surged. As his emotions roiled, the Red Core on his arm began to glow faintly, its power slowly recovering.

With a violent tremor, he crumpled the paper into a ball. Clenching his jaw so hard it hurt, Zhang Wenda strode toward the dim stairwell.

"Wenda, you’re back? Have you eaten?" a neighbor called out from the stairwell. But Zhang Wenda paid them no mind, single-mindedly heading for his home on the 4th floor.

A dozen or so seconds later, he threw open the wooden door to his home. The small, 20-square-meter room was brightly lit by a single bulb. A soap opera, something about pig lungs, droned from the TV. The folding table was laden with all kinds of delicious food, creating a scene of unusual warmth.

Zhang Wenda sat down on a plastic stool and looked at the bowl of noodles placed before him. "I don’t like noodles," he said in a low voice.