Chapter Two: The Killer's Emoji
No way, right? Qin Changsheng rubbed his eyes and looked again, making sure he wasn’t seeing things—the stranger’s face was indeed an emoji, the classic yellow bean smile from chat apps.
Normally, this emoji carried a hint of mockery or provocation, but now it gave Qin Changsheng a very different feeling.
A silent person with a yellow bean smile for a face—it was utterly chilling.
No, no, you can’t judge a person by their appearance!
Qin Changsheng told himself inwardly: in this situation, it’s already rare to find someone to ask what’s going on. Never mind what they look like, it’s best to be polite and greet them first!
With this thought, Qin Changsheng flashed a toothy smile at the stranger, raised his hand, and waved, trying to show some friendliness: “Hello?”
But when he looked more closely, he found the mysterious figure with the emoji face was no longer where he’d been.
Where did he go?
Seeing the stranger suddenly vanish from his line of sight, Qin Changsheng was seized by a violent sense of unease.
“Boom!”
A thunderous explosion echoed from above, and a life-threatening alarm blared at full volume inside Qin Changsheng’s mind.
He instinctively looked up, only to see the eerie emoji hurtling straight toward him!
The stranger was diving down, raising a hand toward Qin Changsheng, palm open.
He had no idea what the stranger intended, but survival instincts kicked in—run!
He was on the second floor, and there was no staircase in sight, but Qin Changsheng, without a second thought, leapt from the edge—his own courage surprising him.
Below was a heap of rubble and broken bricks; as he landed, he protected his head, but his chest, back, and tailbone slammed hard against protruding stones, nearly knocking the breath from him.
He rolled down the debris and finally stopped, struggling to glance back at where he’d just stood.
He’d only just dodged, and the mysterious stranger with the emoji face arrived right after, a brilliant light flaring from his palm, and then—
“Boom!”
A massive fireball exploded outside the bathroom door, and the blast sent the unsteady Qin Changsheng flying, landing out on the asphalt. Instantly, blood welled from fresh scrapes on his arms and cheeks.
The sting made him gasp, but more than pain, he felt shock.
Chunks of brick thrown by the explosion landed nearby, trailing smoky tails. Fine shards struck his face—numbing, aching, reminding him this was all real.
Did the mysterious stranger really cause that explosion? How could any human possess such power?
The attack was aimed directly at him; judging by the blast, the stranger meant to kill him!
Qin Changsheng still didn’t know what was happening, but the stranger’s murderous intent was unmistakable.
If he hadn’t taken the risk and jumped from the second floor, he’d have ended up scattered in the explosion.
Damn it, he had to run!
Ignoring the pain from his fall, Qin Changsheng scrambled up and staggered, just about to flee when another gust swept past—the emoji-faced stranger was already swooping behind him, moving so fast a shadow trailed in the air.
Qin Changsheng tried to escape, but there was nowhere to go. The stranger’s palm was aimed at his neck, the pre-explosion light beginning to flicker.
He was going to die!
To be blown to pieces by an emoji? Qin Changsheng had never imagined his death would be so absurd and humiliating.
From failing college entrance exams to imminent death, his life seemed to have hit the accelerator, careening toward chaos.
Was this really the end?
Despairing, Qin Changsheng squeezed his eyes shut—he didn’t want to die!
Just as his eyes closed, he caught a glimpse of a girl’s silhouette.
Why would he see a girl right before dying?
Could it be he was still a virgin at the end, so his mind conjured an illusion?
“Boom!”
The explosion sounded from right behind him, dangerously close.
By rights, he should be dead now.
But Qin Changsheng felt no blast, no torn limbs, not even a hint of pain.
Was it so sudden he hadn’t had time to react?
No.
He shook his head inside.
He wasn’t a believer in the supernatural; he didn’t buy into ghosts after death.
If he was still able to think, there was only one explanation—
He wasn’t dead!
Qin Changsheng snapped his eyes open, realizing he was now sprawled prone on the ground.
His arms and legs could move—he hadn’t been blown apart, though fresh scrapes burned across his body.
But pain was better than death.
Why was he still alive?
Qin Changsheng forced himself to roll over and look behind.
He froze.
A girl was standing with her back to him—the same figure he’d glimpsed before closing his eyes.
The blast wave stirred her hair and sleeves, haloing her silhouette with light.
In that moment, to Qin Changsheng, she was like a divine savior descending from heaven.
But that wasn’t what stunned him.
What left him speechless was the presence before the girl—a far larger creature.
It was a giant elephant.
But it looked nothing like any elephant Qin Changsheng knew.
Its colossal form cast a sprawling shadow over them both.
Six twisted tusks extended from its mouth, its eyes burned red, and sharp claws grew from the tip of its muscular trunk.
Was this really an elephant?
Qin Changsheng began to doubt his sanity—was the shock of failing his exams too much?
At that moment, the girl suddenly shouted:
“All Life, All Spirits—Sugar Thousand Elephant!”
As if answering her call, the bizarre giant elephant let out an earth-shaking roar. At once, the mysterious stranger, blocked by the beast, leapt atop its head.
The emoji face on the stranger slowly reddened in Qin Changsheng’s eyes, its eyes twisted, mouth drooping—a furious expression.
The emoji seemed alive!
The elephant’s trunk claws swiped at the stranger’s chest, and he raised his hand—another flash of light, another explosion, a fireball erupting.
“Haha... haha...”
Watching all this, Qin Changsheng finally couldn’t help but laugh.
No, he was sure of it.
It wasn’t his problem—the world itself had gone mad.