Chapter 74 Shadow Town 3: Four College Students, One Show
“These are spores,” you repeated, your heart skipping a beat as you looked at the thick, black mist.
There were clumps of these things everywhere in the station; you could just assume they were the ashes from burning the monster that had been lurking in the bakery.
Even if these college students hadn't pointed out that it was spores, you wouldn't have gone further in after seeing such a black mist.
The question is, are spores visible to the naked eye? No, no, even "shadow flowers" and zombie-like monsters exist, so the appearance of spores isn't hard to understand. But if these are "spores," it means that they have always existed here.
Since it's an object that's part of the scene, it's hard not to associate it with the black ash that turned into those passengers who jumped off the platform one after another at the departure station.
Maybe I'm overthinking it... but there aren't that many coincidences here.
If you're right, then why is this grayish substance appearing at both the departure station and here?
The spores also invaded the departure station?
More likely, you were already in this scene when you were on that platform.
The terrifying idea of "species invasion" churns in your mind. Could this be hinting at an impending catastrophe unfolding across the entire instance?
Who has ever seen something like this happen? Can this still be called a strange tale about Ruko's rules? This has completely gone off-topic.
Less than a second had passed, and your guesses had already gone way off, even starting to complain about "dungeon awareness".
The fear that naturally showed on their faces was genuine. However, compared to encountering one supernatural event after another, anyone would definitely be more afraid of this kind of "doomsday survival"!
Hayakawa Hana looked at you hesitantly: "Yes, that's spores, isn't it scary? You...you shouldn't have come into contact with these things, right?" The iron rod in her hand was never idle, striking the hands of the monsters that had reached into the shed.
“I don’t have any,” you said, moving a little further away from the black mist. “Thanks to you guys, otherwise I really wouldn’t have known that these were spores. I might have just thought the air quality here was bad.”
"After all, in my common sense, spores shouldn't look like this," you cautiously probed.
The brief period of madness caused by the uncertainty of the current situation has passed, the necessary emotional release has ended, and you have other guesses.
“Generally speaking, even the spores produced by large fungi are invisible to the naked eye. However, the fact that such a magical plant as the Shadow Flower can be nurtured here suggests that there may be some ancient or even advanced versions of organisms here.” When discussing these issues, Akira Morita spoke eloquently, “This is probably a miracle of the Creator.”
"If you call it a miracle, I can't argue with that, but did you record anything like this? I'm not questioning your professionalism, but I just think that maybe later, even just the photos could shock the academic world?" You had already noticed that these college students who said they were there to collect samples, conduct research, and write reports only had a broken camera hanging around Hayakawa Hana's neck.
Where are their phones? You tucked your own phone even deeper into your pocket.
And then there's Shiraishi Mizuki. No matter how artsy she is, at a time like this, isn't it inconvenient for her to still be reading a physical book?
Even though the locals in the instance always have some eccentricities and strange ways of thinking, they still follow objective laws or certain behavioral standards in most cases. But if you think about it carefully, there's something really wrong with these people.
"As you can see, the camera is broken." Morita Akira's tone was full of regret. The next second, he snatched Shiraishi Mizuki's backpack without saying a word and took out a picture book from it. "But Shiraishi drew all of these."
You look at Shiraishi Mizuki; she seems quite patient with Morita Akira. She's always seemed detached from everyone else, yet her gaze occasionally falls on you. She nods slightly at you, her eyes, with their beauty mark, curving into a smile.
You shivered.
You looked down at the hand-drawn spore illustrations in the picture book and secretly bit your lip.
This is indeed different from what you saw.
In your eyes, it really is just black and gray smoke, but in the picture, the black and white objects drawn with a pencil are just twisted little tumors, huddled together sadly, floating heavily in the air.
Why.
At least, you're certain that only by following these people can you find out the truth. They are definitely not ordinary "locals".
"Wow, that's amazing." You sincerely praised her and closed the picture book. Shiraishi Mizuki seemed quite pleased, gave a soft hum, and then took her own picture book and backpack away.
"However, wouldn't it be best if we left here first?" you earnestly suggested, pointing to Hayakawa Hana, who was on the verge of collapse.
No sooner had you finished speaking than Hayakawa Hana gasped, "I can't hold on any longer! Let's go!"
Her voice carried an almost relaxed tone; in fact, no matter what topic she was discussing, her tone was always very excited and exaggerated.
"Let's go!" Morita Akira didn't care whether he stayed or left.
The women seemed to have already planned where to go and what to do next, and with his command, they immediately began to act in an orderly manner.
You followed them, and the five of them ran as fast as they could, ignoring the muddy, broken ground beneath their feet, hastily fleeing the shack.
Among them, Shiraishi Mizuki walked leisurely and did not stray from the group at all. Ishikawa Makoto was still crying out "I'm going to die" and "curse" while complaining, "Why did we have to go into town? It's already dangerous enough here!", but he ran the fastest, even the rabbit would admit defeat.
Akira Morita brought up the rear, reminding everyone of the direction from time to time.
You control your pace, maintaining a distance that is neither too far nor too close, just enough to observe.
interesting.
They rushed out of the shack and soon plunged into the town bathed in the midday sun.
The silence here was unnatural; the streets were covered in damp moss, and the walls were covered in dark brown mold, resembling rotting bloodstains.
There was black fog everywhere, but it was easy to avoid.
“The Shadow Flower plantation should be located in the town,” Morita Akira’s voice came from behind. “We originally had more time to plan our entry into the town, but now that we’re here, let’s start the investigation right away.”
"Huh? Is this the time to study the Shadow Flower?!" Ishikawa shouted as he ran. "We should find somewhere to hide, or we'll die! Why are we still so obsessed with these things? Or are you, Morita, also under the control of the curse?"
Hayakawa Hana, panting, glared at him with a pale face: "Say less. Besides, we can't leave here until we figure out what happened with Kagehana."
"Idiot, haven't you always wanted to die? Then go ahead and do it," Shiraishi Mizuki added sarcastically.
Watching these people chatter back and forth in a back-and-forth manner is amusing, but you're more concerned about your own safety.
The streets, which should have been teeming with infected people, were devoid of monsters, except for the faint, shadowy figures in the distance.
Instead, all sorts of random mushrooms grow on the walls and at street corners. You're not a mushroom expert, so you're not sure when mushrooms breed, but you can roughly guess that their caps are slightly open, probably releasing invisible spore gases into the air.
Whether these mushrooms are related to the fungi on the monster is unknown, but they look creepy enough.
“The spores over there seem to be sparser. Is it possible that the rosehip planting field is over there?” you interrupted them.
Whether it's a publicity stunt or not, you're just looking for an excuse to shut these people up and get them back to their plans. You don't know how much they know about this town, and at times, you can't help but wonder if it would be better to just observe from the sidelines rather than travel with them.
“No need,” Morita Akira said. “We have a map of the town. Finding the Shadow Flower plantation is our ultimate goal, but for now, we just need to go to the pharmaceutical factory.”
The road to the pharmaceutical factory, however, is where the spores are most concentrated.
We proceeded cautiously along the deserted streets of the small town, avoiding wisps of smoke floating in the air. They hovered there like restless ghosts. Whenever a gust of wind blew by, these dark, indistinct things seemed to be summoned by some unseen force, slightly contracting and expanding, like breathing.
And more and more mushrooms are squeezing out from the cracks in the cement floor and stone bricks.
It's just a small town, and a pharmaceutical factory will soon appear before your eyes.
Generally speaking, industrial zones are located on the outskirts of towns for reasons such as environmental protection or protecting trade secrets. However, this small town does the opposite. Perhaps the pharmaceutical factory is the mainstay of the town's economy, as it is built openly in the center of the town, about the same height as other buildings.
The factory's exterior walls weren't naturally weathered and mottled; some areas were quite smooth, while most were covered in rust, as if corroded by some highly corrosive substance. A few places were barely recognizable as "Yinghua" markings.
Most of the glass windows in the building inside were broken, with cracks crisscrossing like a spider web. Through the windows, one could only see darkness inside, as if even light was unwilling to enter.
A huge plaque hangs at the main entrance, reading "Yinghua Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.", but the lettering has faded and become illegible, revealing the metal frame beneath. Broken promotional posters are scattered on the ground near the entrance, the blurry text still faintly visible.
"Shadow Flower - Saving the Future".
Beneath this deathly silence, the air was filled with an indescribable stench, a mixture of medicine, soil, and decay, the good thing being that every few seconds you would instinctively realize you had to hold your breath.
But you couldn't get into the building right away because at that moment, Ishikawa Makoto had an accident.
This man had been running the fastest, almost desperately trying to reach the safest area possible under Morita Akira's plan. But just as he approached the gate, he stepped on a clump of mushrooms hidden in the shadows, and the next second, he was pulled down hard to the ground as if he had been pulled away.
"Ah—xx!" Ishikawa cursed, mud splattering all over his face and body. He struggled on the ground for a few moments, as if the sewage was very slippery, and it took him a lot of effort to get up in a disheveled state.
He knelt on the ground, his back to you, rubbing his face with both hands and muttering something as if talking to himself.
This person has been muttering incessantly since he appeared, but you raised an eyebrow and took a few steps back.
Hahahaha—
A burst of undisguised, even arrogant laughter shattered the eerie silence.
Shiraishi Mizuki was holding her book in one arm and almost pressing her other hand to her stomach, laughing so hard she couldn't straighten up. Her voice was clear and crisp, like shattered glass in the night, utterly contemptuous.
She stood there, laughing exaggeratedly, tears even welling in her eyes. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, her lips curled up, and her eyes were filled with a kind of pure malice.
"Haha... How ridiculous, Ishikawa." She deliberately dragged out the sound, her soft tone carrying a mocking tone, as if savoring some kind of sweet mischievousness. "Look at you now... You look like a worm that has fallen into a mud pit and is rolling around. Hmm? Oh no, at least a worm can struggle."
She raised her hand to cover her mouth, as if to feign modesty, but the next second, she continued to laugh unrestrainedly.
"Oh dear, you're so useless... You've been yelling 'Run! Run!' since the beginning, but you're the first one to fall. So pathetic, huh? As expected, you had no chance of surviving, hahaha..."
Her tone was gentle, and she was all smiles, as if she were coaxing a child. Only Hayakawa Hana frowned and righteously stopped her: "Mizuki, no matter what, that's too much." After saying that, she took a step forward nervously, "Ishikawa, are you alright?" Hayakawa Hana hesitated for a moment, but still reached out to help him up.
But Ishikawa didn't answer; only a low sob came from his throat.
The sound was extremely strange; it didn't sound like a human crying, but rather like an indescribable groan of pain.
To put it bluntly, it's like something is growing, tearing apart, and reshaping inside him.
You stare intently at him, and suddenly realize that his shoulders... are trembling slightly.
"This is bad." You were about to warn Hayakawa Hana, but Shiraishi Mizuki patted you on the shoulder instead.
You turn your head, and the girl puts her finger to her lips, her dark pupils full of mischief. She affectionately pulls you a few steps back.
Morita Akira also retreated with you, but Hayakawa Hana was completely unaware of the danger, focused solely on rescuing her companion. But just as her hand was about to touch Ishikawa Makoto—
Ishikawa Makoto suddenly turned his head!
"Aaaaaah—!" Hayakawa Hana was so frightened that she stumbled to the side, barely managing to stand, and a sharp scream escaped her throat.
Ishikawa Makoto's face is no longer a "human" face.
His skin was deathly pale, the kind that comes with suffocation, and his cheeks were covered with dense, swarming fungal hyphae. These hyphae, like parasites, clung to his skin, twisting and wriggling, spreading from the corners of his mouth, his eye sockets, and even his ears, as if trying to completely cover his features.
His mouth was slightly open, revealing teeth covered in mycelium, and an indescribable gurgling sound came from his throat.
You've seen time-lapse videos that record the sounds of plant growth, and only now do you realize how realistic those sound effects are.
The "person" kneeling on the ground no longer had eyeballs in its eye sockets; only frenulum, like a monster, was vying to reach out and dance.
Hayakawa Hana was more shocked than anyone else. Fear made her unable to think. Instinctively, she screamed and shook off his hand, stumbling backward and shaking her head desperately: "No... Ishikawa, how could this be! No, I... I..."
Akira Morita reacted faster than anyone else.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward and kicked Ishikawa Makoto hard, the force of which sent him crashing to the ground and rolling further away from the crowd.
"Go." He uttered a single word coldly, pushed open the pharmaceutical factory door without looking back, and walked straight in.
You were stunned, Hayakawa Hana was stunned, but Shiraishi Mizuki hadn't finished laughing yet, and followed them inside, her shoulders shaking.
Ishikawa's body was writhing on the ground, the mycelium still spreading inside him, even beginning to slowly erode his arms. His mouth was open, as if he wanted to say something, but he was completely unable to utter normal words.
You glanced one last time at Ishikawa Makoto on the ground. His gaze had become hazy, and mycelium slowly extended from the corner of his mouth, confirming the “curse” and “we will all die” that he kept repeating.
You went into the pharmaceutical factory too, as did Hayakawa Hana.
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Author's note: Chinese New Year is so much fun! Hehehe
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