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We’ve Moved! If you notice any missing, empty, or incorrect chapters, please leave a comment below, and we’ll fix it as soon as possible. Regular updates will resume on June 10th. Thank you for your patience!

Hidden corner Chapter :- 5

Chapter 5: World 005 Part Three (Thanks to HZ Yuanyou Alliance Leader)

What is this pattern?

What on earth is it?

Clang.

Suddenly, a muffled sound came from behind. It seemed like someone kicked a metal can, making a loud noise. Li Chengyi’s body trembled slightly, and he quickly moved his hand away from the angle that could be reflected by the mirror.

Instinctively, he did not want anyone to discover the pattern on his hand. Being different from others might bring opportunities, but he was more worried about the dangers it could bring. Securing his safety before seeking benefits had always been his way.

He cleared his throat, pretended nothing had happened, lifted his foot, and stepped forward, passing between two cars. The car on the left was black, and the one on the right was white, both were SUVs with Z-type and cross-shaped logos that he did not recognize.

On the back of the white car, a large tire hung with a ring of characters printed on it: Yun Cheng Automobiles. Pausing for a moment, Li Chengyi crossed between the vehicles, glanced at the back of his hand one more time to make sure it was smooth without any patterns, and then he heaved a sigh of relief and continued towards the school gate.

Pat.

Pat.

Pat.

The sound of footsteps on the ground was clear and distinct. It was the sound of the hard leather soles of his shoes colliding with the ground stones. However, something seemed off—’Why does the sound seem so loud?’

Li Chengyi frowned slightly, feeling something was amiss. It was broad daylight, and the school was usually bustling with people. Why was it so quiet that even his footsteps echoed clearly?

He looked around. The surroundings were desolately empty, with a dry fountain not far away. Beyond the fountain, several slightly old multi-story buildings stood within a faint mist. ‘Mist? When did it become foggy??’ Li Chengyi felt even more uneasy.

He clearly remembered seeing many students coming and going when he entered, but now?? Standing still, he scanned the area from right to left. What made him increasingly alarmed was that the campus, bustling just moments ago, was now utterly deserted.

He quickly turned back to look at the office building where his advisor was located. Lights were on in several rooms, casting a quiet and mysterious yellow halo through the mist. No human voices, no footsteps.

Gulping, Li Chengyi’s throat went dry, and he swallowed. ‘Where is everyone?’ He was starting to tense up.

Pat, pat.

He lifted his foot, hesitated for a moment, then abruptly turned around with the friction of his shoes against the ground producing a sharp sound, and he took steps back towards the office building he had just left. Re-entering the space between the two vehicles blocked his entire field of view. The SUV was high enough to completely obstruct his view of the surroundings, leaving only a narrow gap straight ahead and above.

Whoosh! Li Chengyi stepped out from between the cars.

Snap.

Suddenly, a large hand grasped his shoulder.

Li Chengyi’s body trembled, and his black and brown pupils quickly concentrated from dilating to as sharp as a needlepoint. “Little Yi? What are you still doing here?” The voice of his mentor, Chen Shan, sounded as if it was floating from afar, sometimes vague and sometimes clear. “I-” Li Chengyi felt as if he had suddenly broken through the water surface, with his hearing becoming clear all at once.

He looked closely. Mentor Chen Shan was standing in front of him, looking at him worriedly. His dark red tie, stark as a bloodstain, was clear and glaring. At this moment, other sounds around him also quickly filled Li Chengyi’s ears. Car sounds, students talking, footsteps, and the sound of a starting pistol from a far-away sports field rushed into his ears, causing his eardrums to ache slightly.

“I got distracted. Sorry, Mentor Chen.” Li Chengyi finally regained his composure and earnestly lowered his head to respond. He didn’t know what had just happened and even doubted whether he had experienced a hallucination or hysteria. However, before figuring it out, it was best not to mention it.

While lowering his head, he took another look at the back of his hand. There was no black pattern. “That’s good. You don’t seem to be in a good state. It’s best to go back and rest.” Chen Shan frowned.

“Yes, I will now. Thank you.” Li Chengyi earnestly nodded. The episode had frightened him as well. Could his mental state really be problematic? The events of last night, coupled with what had just happened, made him worried.

After saying goodbye to Chen Shan, he quickened his pace and once again passed between the vehicles. This time, there were no more strange occurrences. Looking around, there was nothing abnormal about the school; the sunlight shone through the clouds, casting scattered beams of light on the ground, creating a real and clear Tyndall effect. ‘Wasn’t there no fog just now?’ Suddenly, a mysterious doubt arose in Li Chengyi’s mind. The fog had created such a beautiful scene with beams of light, but he hadn’t seen any fog when entering the school earlier.

With this doubt in mind, Li Chengyi suddenly felt an urgency to leave. He quickened his step towards the school gate. The introductory letter given by his advisor was still in the inner pocket of his clothes, but at this moment, he had no intention of following up on job opportunities.

In the mirror, the black pattern on the back of his hand lingered in his throat, and in his mind, for a long time. Did something grow on his body or was it all an illusion? Crossing through, possibly dreaming of the parking lot, and the weird scene of the school he had just witnessed. All of it seemed like a harbinger—that he might really be hallucinating??

Once he stepped out of the school gate, Li Chengyi looked back at the campus. Many students were getting ready to welcome successful alumni with banners. Several media vehicles also slowly entered the school gate, brushing past him, their bodies printed with local news media logos. Farther away, the main teaching building’s loudspeakers started to play relaxing instrumental music.

Li Chengyi steadied his mind, feeling much more normal as he stood and watched the media vehicles until they all slowly drove into the tree-lined bends out of his sight. He then turned and walked toward the bus stop for his return journey. The trees on both sides of the street, leafless and grey-black, their withered branches reached towards the sky like giant hands.

As Li Chengyi walked along the street, he lifted the back of his hand to examine it closely. The skin on the back of his hand was clean and smooth, without any scars. He crossed two green trash bins and stopped in front of a dessert shop with dim yellow lighting. Facing the shop’s glass display next to the door, he placed the back of his hand against the glass and looked closely again.

Black!

Li Chengyi’s heart tightened once more. This time, he saw very clearly. There was indeed a large black pattern, like a mark, on the back of his hand.

The mark felt somewhat familiar. It was like the black flowers he had seen right before he transferred to this world! “Would you like to come in and have a look? We just took maple croissants out of the oven,” the shop’s older sister, wearing a bear apron and holding a wooden tray, stepped out of the door and casually greeted him when she saw him standing at the entrance.

“Eh, no thank you.” Li Chengyi quickly lowered his hand to avoid being seen. He followed the chrysanthemum-patterned grey bricks on the ground, speeding up his steps as he passed the dessert shop and continued on his way, head down. Various passersby walked by him, but he paid no attention to any of them. All his attention was focused on the pattern on the back of his hand.

‘What is that pattern?’ ‘Were those previous occurrences hallucinations?’ He had a vague feeling that the black pattern might be the culprit that brought him to this world. As for its nature, he might have to find out slowly.

With his head down, he continued rapidly on his way, and before he knew it, he had already passed the bus stop by several hundred meters. He found himself in an unfamiliar street, filled with vehicles transporting fruits and vegetables.

Li Chengyi stopped, looking around. Across the street was a farmers’ market. Near the market entrance, under a leafless tree, a group of modestly dressed middle-aged people gathered, seemingly playing chess or cards. As the light grew brighter and the temperature warmer, Li Chengyi withdrew his gaze from the bustling farmers’ market and entered a nearby café.

He was somewhat hungry, somewhat regretting not buying some maple croissants from the dessert shop earlier. However, the café wasn’t a bad choice either. The one he entered, named Ye Si Li, offered buffet desserts at a reasonable price, making it one of the highest-value places to satiate hunger.

For just thirty yuan, one could fill the stomach of a two-hundred-pound man. The café’s front door was white with a white-background, black-lettered round sign floating to the right, supported below by a large silver-black metal cylinder. ‘The latest in magnetic levitation technology,’ Li Chengyi thought, recalling a common knowledge memory.

Beyond the sign, the entire storefront was made of transparent glass, with a circle of flowers and plants at the foot of the door. The green leaves and pure white flowers were particularly eye-catching. Li Chengyi waited for a couple inside to push the door open, quickly stepped forward, grabbed the automatically retracting glass door, and walked in.

However, he failed to notice that as he passed by the white flowers at the doorway, a faint black pattern on the back of his right hand flickered and vanished. “Welcome, please scan the code to order.”

A sweet-sounding automatic electronic voice greeted him. Inside the café, the floor was pure white, and the ceiling was black, decorated with flowing water patterns. The two-story building had a counter right at the entrance of the first-floor hall, next to which stood a human-height black rabbit plastic model.

The rabbit’s eyes blinked, its large ears flopped down, and its hands pointed to a black round code on its chest. “Please scan here.” The sweet electronic voice sounded. Li Chengyi glanced at the counter’s uninterested staff, took out his phone, scanned the rabbit’s round code, and then found a place to sit. The first-floor hall was sparsely occupied by several customers seated at white tables and chairs. Most of these customers were young people, each with cheap desserts they had picked up themselves.

(End of Chapter)

We’ve Moved! If you notice any missing, empty, or incorrect chapters, please leave a comment below, and we’ll fix it as soon as possible. Regular updates will resume on June 10th. Thank you for your patience!
Hidden Dead Ends

Hidden Dead Ends

Hidden corner, 隐秘死角
Score 10
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: Released: 2023 Native Language: Chinese
Have you heard of it? In the dead of night, if you turn on a music player, put on earphones, hide under the blanket, and listen to a single on loop… After it loops forty-four times, you will fall asleep. If you are unlucky when you open your eyes again, you will no longer be lying on your bed, but you will enter a strange space completely isolated from reality. That space… On the surface, it looks like the places we usually see—your bedroom, living room, underground parking garage, bathroom, basketball court, construction site, and so on. But if you observe carefully, you will discover that they are different… Everything is different. *** This is the experience of an ordinary person who, after acquiring superpowers, transforms and grows step by step in Dead Ends to reach the peak.

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