Where should I start?
Li Chengyi turned to glance back.The point where he'd entered was part of the topmost floor of the Gelius Parking Structure.
Below him, layer after layer descended into darkness.Each level a potential piece of the Dead Zone puzzle.
According to company records and analyst suggestions... I should first locate the staff's emergency exit. The main entrance has long since been sealed.
He turned toward the sloped ramp—the original entrance.
Sure enough, it was blocked off by a solid concrete wall, smeared with black-gray stains, like someone had thrown paint over it.
Emergency exit first.
He moved forward slowly, but his gaze kept drifting toward the nearest red maintenance door.
In the Dead Zone, those red doors had always been where the faceless creatures appeared.
But this is reality… right?
Summoning his courage, he walked toward the nearest red door.
Reality has never reproduced the Dead Zone's horrors before. I should be safe... should be.
He gripped the cold metal handle, even through his gloves he could feel its chill and grit.
Click.The handle turned.
Whoosh!
He yanked it open.
Darkness. Then—One of the spider drones crawled up the wall and lit the space inside.
A face.
A pale face, smiling—staring directly at him.
Li Chengyi stumbled back in shock, nearly falling.
Only after catching his breath did he realize—Inside the small chamber, a severed head hung from a rope.
Smiling.Eyes wide open.Hair matted and tied up as if the head had been deliberately displayed.
"What the hell!?"
He panted, nearly summoning the Flower-Scale Armor by instinct.
"Something wrong?" came Ding Chongyi's voice over the comms.
"Corpse," he replied briefly, forcing himself to calm down.
"Keep moving."
"Roger."
Li Chengyi stepped around the hanging head and entered the room.
Inside, cleaning tools were scattered on the floor.Among them—bits of bone, shredded clothes.
No time to gag. He pushed forward.
But then—his entire scalp tingled.
From his angle inside the maintenance room, he saw it:
A hand, just barely sticking out from beside the doorway.
Someone was standing outside—hiding.
No way. I'm the only one down here...
Before he could process, the hand slipped out of view.
A low hiss.
His right arm slowly became covered in the translucent glimmer of the Flower-Scale Armor.
Li stepped forward silently.
At the threshold—he lunged out.
BAM!
He dashed forward a few steps, pivoted, and looked back.
Nothing.
Just rows of gray, cracked pillars and the silent dark.
Not right...
He moved closer to where the hand had been and saw—a carving on the wall.
He made a snapping gesture—his AR captured the image and transmitted it.
"Ding, what's this?"
"A symbol? Looks like... a crawling figure? Or a drawing?" Her voice broke up with static.
"Continuing the search."
Li took a breath.
That earlier vision… it wasn't hallucination.
According to classified reports, some people—even before reentry into the Dead Zone—could experience precursor manifestations.
These weren't dreams. They were real.
Troublesome.
He kept the Armor on, arms shimmering as he moved across the underground lot.
If I were staff, where would I put an emergency exit?
Someplace hidden, but still allowing oversight of the area…
Likely…
He remembered the analyst's suggestions and targeted a few zones.
Following his instincts, he jogged—his footsteps echoing off the empty walls.
Finally, he reached the area where he had once seen the crack in the Dead Zone.
His hands searched the walls—
"Found it!"
A natural fissure, not man-made.Cracked open from years of pressure.
Beyond, only darkness.
He checked his surroundings—silence. The drones' light couldn't reach far.He sent one spider into the crack.Its light illuminated the passage within.
"I found the crevice. Entering now."
Static.No reply.
Comms had failed.
He braced himself, twisted his body, and squeezed inside.
About ten meters in—
Carvings.
He stopped. The spider moved up the wall and lit it.
Childlike handwriting.Carved with something sharp.
"Mom said, when I feel hopeless, I should sing that song... it'll bring hope. A way to survive.""It's noisy outside again. The sick people are screaming. But Dad doesn't scream. He just smiles.""Why don't we ever call Dad to eat?""The meat today was tasty. Why didn't Dad come?""It's been so long since I saw Dad…""Mom's not coming either. Is it just me now?""They're starting again outside. If I close my eyes and hum, it'll all go away.""I've hummed so many times… Why hasn't Mom come back?""Hungry…"
The words ended.
Li touched the wall gently, frowning.
Suddenly—
Crack.A sound behind him.
Outside the fissure, the other spider's light flickered—Then vanished.
Only one spider remained.
Li turned.
He was alone down here—right?
Tense, he crouched.Right then, his foot brushed something metal.
He glanced down—
A V-shaped metal tag.
Carefully, he picked it up.
Ornate, decorated with vine patterns.On the back—engraved text.
Dongdi Jajil
A name!
Li's heart pounded.
Could it be…?
He took a photo and uploaded it.
But just then—
Tap.
A faint sound.
Footsteps.
He froze.
With practiced motion, he slid the tag into his jacket.
And then—charged out.
Armor fully deployed.
BAM!
His fist slammed into the wall—Nothing.
No one there.
The broken drone—gone.
"Got it!" Ding's voice came through. "The name—Dongdi Jajil—he was the only survivor from Gelius Parking! Lived to be 98!"
[📘 Chapter End – Suspense Tone]What secret did Dongdi Jajil leave behind?
Why is someone—or something—still guarding this place?
📌 Drop a comment with your theories!🔔 Don't forget to follow—Chapter 33 coming soon with the next layer of truth.