Famine 209: Essence
by Cristae[B-Class Facility – Sorry, Wrong Number]
Jingle jingle jingle—
Jingle jingle jingle—
Lately, your phone always rang at midnight. The callers were invariably a bizarre lot:
“My cat’s gone missing, how unfair! Right at the Broom Company’s cat parking spot! I’m absolutely furious. With such poor cat parking management, how do they justify charging so much?”
“It’s all the fault of Peter Pan Toy Company—ruined my child, sob sob… Of all the businesses to run, why manufacture such heartless toys? Doesn’t everyone have children? Can’t they spare a thought for others?”
“Ah, my son’s only three hundred and twenty-three—what could he possibly understand, he’s still just a child… These days you can’t say a word to children; getting off Peterpanal is nearly impossible…”
“I never want to interface with those Technological Boom Era civilizations again. Bunch of bodiless wraiths, chatting away in the irradiated heap like it’s nothing, but at 2 a.m. they’re sending transmissions to confirm nodes—don’t they ever rest?? And who says ‘Even slimes need sleep?’… Argh! What are they thinking, if you won’t sleep you can’t clock off? Try being human for once…!”
“……”
After some investigation, you finally discovered—in a fit of anger—that one night, a late talk radio host had read out your number with a digit wrong, and posted your phone on the air.
Ever since, night after night at midnight, you’d receive these confessional calls from strangers.
And when you entered a new location, there was a chance you’d receive confession calls unique to that locale.
Source unknown, motives unknown, but whatever suffering reached out, always wanted to say something to you.
As the operator of a hollow tree, I strongly advise against engaging with any of these callers in any way; consequences are your own responsibility.
You may use the dial-back feature, but the results are unpredictable.
…………
……
Si Zhiyan pulled the receiver from his ear, covering the mic as he whispered quietly to Yan Xu.
Yan Xu blinked and mouthed silently: [Lucky!]
Even among anomalies, there was hunting and jostling for dominance.
For an entity to enter Hunt State yet not target its foremost priority—the [player]—there could be only one reason: something else was already contending with them.
And that contention was not necessarily bloody combat, but rather a war of cognition—a pollution that stripped away rational thought, forcibly diverting attention.
These anomalies were being lured by a higher-level entity—forced to queue up obediently, buy a hot dog, with an unseen hand pressing them down.
……
Yan Xu glanced down at the carnage below, a cold sweat beading at his brow.
How many anomalies were here? Eight thousand? Ten thousand? More?
There were certainly high-class ones among them; the “false-human” who’d just shuffled away, for example, was at least an A-rank.
If this was the effect of some contamination ability…
Then the local anomaly of this theme park had to be at least in the ultra-S class!
What kind of existence would want to accomplish this, and possess the means to do so?
Yan Xu was keenly perceptive. Along their walk, he hadn’t come across a single park employee or proprietor.
Even the busy hot dog stand had no one manning it.
If such a powerful anomaly did exist here, how could he not have sensed it?
Given Yan Xu’s abilities, it was next to impossible.
But to this question, there could be only one answer.
Si Zhiyan raised his head, gazing out over the dark expanse of theme park at his feet, and said slowly, “We’ve seen it all along. We just kept overlooking it.”
“—It’s the [Theme Park] itself.”
The night breeze was cool as the ruined fairytale park sprawled before him, broad as far as the eye could see. Just beyond the central castle, black-and-white waves rippled across the lake.
It was old, decrepit, every plant withered. Yet every inch was spotless, even the coins in the wishing pool gleamed as though freshly polished.
Because—this theme park was alive.
It was breathing.
Just as Gu Ying had once attacked Si Zhiyan only because she “wanted to help him survive”… The [Theme Park], in attacking the other anomalies, likely harbored no malice of its own, either.
The [Theme Park] forcibly contaminated countless anomalous beings, causing them to wander the realm of the dead, and pressed them in front of the food stall with its invisible hand, cheerfully thinking: These are my guests!
…………And then it watched in confusion as visitor satisfaction dropped further by the day, hitting ever-new lows…
Yan Xu squinted. “That really comes as no surprise.”
On the other end of the line, the [Theme Park] was still crying.
Its voice was like a tape recording—neither masculine nor feminine, neither human nor wholly machine, tinged with a childlike note yet icily mechanical, and the crying, so eerily out of place, sent a chill down one’s spine.
[…zzzz…why…why…even though I try so hard…ah ah…zzzz…]
[…I’ve already…erased…three groups…ahh…]
Si Zhiyan: …
How ruthless.
He took a deep breath and, with the receiver pressed tightly in one hand, said, “Stop crying.”
Hum.
In an instant, the breeze within the amusement park ceased.
The lake went still, the night wind died, and even on the small street below, with its jostling crowd of anomalies—
The next second—!
In the dark, countless pairs of vacant eyes ringed the artificial hill, staring straight at Si Zhiyan from every direction.
Pale, bloated eyeballs, all with gaping black pupils.
—[As the operator of a hollow tree, I strongly advise against any form of communication. Consequences are your own responsibility.]
……
Si Zhiyan’s expression did not waver. One hand in his pocket, the other holding the receiver, he looked out over the sea of anomalies, his voice calm: “I can help you improve your satisfaction rating.”
@ Infinite Good Stories, exclusively on Jinjiang Literature City
【…sst sst…】
Staticky noise sounded through the receiver.
Si Zhiyan held his breath, waiting for the reply.
After a long moment, at last a mechanical voice emerged:
【…zzzz…Liar.】
The word froze the air.
All the anomalies advanced a single step.
“Sir?!” Yan Xu’s appendages unfurled at once, blocking the path between Si Zhiyan and the horde.
But it was as futile as an ant stopping a landslide.
Surrounded by this tidal wave of entities, Si Zhiyan and Yan Xu were like plankton adrift in the sea. Any thought of fighting was meaningless.
Yet even in such peril, Si Zhiyan only smiled slightly, pinching the bridge of his nose. He even seemed relieved.
“It communicates.” He said to Yan Xu.
Yan Xu quickly understood what Si Zhiyan meant.
If it can communicate—good!
He couldn’t forget—the two of them had come seeking the [Famine Seed] of the amusement park.
Only by finding the local anomaly, earning its recognition and achieving resonance, could they trigger Harmony.
@ Infinite Good Stories, exclusively on Jinjiang Literature City
Yet ordinary players never attracted the [Theme Park]’s attention.
He and Yan Xu had walked and talked here without triggering any anomalous events.
That meant ordinary players probably weren’t even on the park’s client list. Completely ignored, of course nothing would ever be said to them.
At first, Si Zhiyan had worried. He’d never seen an anomaly like [Theme Park]. An entire world fragment with just one anomaly, bound so thoroughly to the world itself. If it could communicate and he gained its acceptance, perhaps he could directly activate Harmony and take the world with him.
If not, there would be no way forward but withdrawal.
And if Si Zhiyan wanted to talk to the [Theme Park], he had to do it now.
Still, the hollow tree operator’s discovery meant initial goodwill was bound to be low… caution was required.
Silently, Si Zhiyan calculated and said, “I’m not a liar. I can prove it.”
“Where are you? I’d like to speak with you face-to-face.”
【……】
【…zzzzz…I’m…zz…I…am…】
After a long silence, suddenly the line filled with roaring static—like a radio losing its signal. Amid the white noise, Si Zhiyan strained to catch any coherent word, splicing together one phrase—
【I am behind you.】
The air chilled.
Something pressed against the back of Si Zhiyan and Yan Xu’s skulls.
A wave of cold swept over them. Just as Si Zhiyan began to turn, Yan Xu grabbed him: “Don’t move—don’t look back! Look ahead!”
The air!
Now, atop the artificial hill before them, stand upon stand of anomalies had appeared.
They stood silently, locking Si Zhiyan and Yan Xu in a dense ring of black, vacant eyes—completely surrounded.
In every direction. Not a gap remained.
At their head stood the same faux-human from before. His neck, so grotesquely extended it made him tower above the rest, his torso upright but his neck stretched low like a giraffe, wrapping downward in a chilling arc.
That expressionless face, uncanny and inhuman, drew in so close it was nearly nose to nose with Si Zhiyan.
@ Infinite Good Stories, exclusively on Jinjiang Literature City
Crick… crick crick…
His head, like a broken doll’s, slowly tilted left until it was ninety degrees askew.
The movement stiff and warped, like a mantis under the control of a wireworm parasite.
And from the jaw of that parasite-ridden mantis, a voice came—entirely unlike that before:
【Liar】
Yan Xu’s hair stood on end—just about to attack, but this time Si Zhiyan stopped him: “Don’t.”
At the same time, Si Zhiyan rummaged through the Frosthorn Rabbit’s pack.
He had something for every situation.
The anomalies pressed closer. Now, they had no space left at all.
The pair were packed in the core of the faux-human cluster.
Malicious eyes bored into them, bodies crowding close, an icy tide of resentment and anger choking the air.
It was suffocating, nauseating, impossible to keep from shivering.
But Yan Xu shielded Si Zhiyan, weathering the worst of it.
“Sir, hurry!” Yan Xu cried.
Click… click…
Snick… snick… snick snick…
A cacophony of noises rose from the horde.
The faux-human before them opened his mouth, millimeter by millimeter.
Under the dim lights, Yan Xu saw it clearly.
Inside that mouth was a dense, uneven forest of blades and shards of glass, fresh with blood, jammed deep into the flesh of the throat, dripping crimson.
Ah. That’s why his neck was so long.
“Found it.”
The next instant, Si Zhiyan drew out an object and thrust it directly into the gaping mouth of the faux-human!
It was—
A hot dog.
The faux-human froze.
Yan Xu froze.
Every vestige of menace from the hunting crowd fell silent, all staring in amazement; a thick, uneasy quiet settled over the scene.
Only Si Zhiyan remained composed. After a pause, he carefully raised a hand and gently helped the faux-human’s jaw shut.
Snap.
A bite was taken.