I clutched my chest as I traversed the endless corridors. Up and down stairs, through passages, past occasional forks in the road—not a single room in sight. Half an hour passed like this. Either this place was gargantuan, or I was experiencing the same phenomenon as the day my roommate took me out on business—I was no longer within the boundaries of normal space-time. My only consolation was that China Telecom still reached here. Their rates might be highway robbery, but they really came through in a pinch! Their signal actually radiated into alternate dimensions; everyone should give them a big ol' kiss for that.
I sent a text to that person: "I don't know where I am."
A reply came back almost instantly: "Neither do I."
Me: "..."
Me: "Who are you?"
Mysterious Person: "You'll understand when you see me."
Me: "Can I come see you?"
Mysterious Person: "I hope you do, and soon. My time is running out. They want to kill me; every message I send is being intercepted and altered. Remember to come alone. Almost everyone around you is not human."
He said "they" wanted to kill him.
And he said almost everyone around me wasn't human...
Trembling, I typed out a line: "Are *you* human?"
There was no reply for a long time. Just as I was about to give up, a message arrived:
"For now. But my time is running out."
I decided to trust him for the moment. His situation probably wasn't great—he was likely undergoing some kind of mutation. Otherwise, how could an ordinary person foresee the future? But given how he was risking his life to get these messages to me, he must still have some humanity left.
Just then, a massive crashing sound echoed from the distance, sounding as if it were steadily drawing closer. Don't tell me that Guardian of the Abyss couldn't handle Zhang Litian and Lao Chu at the same time? Honestly, for such a powerful... monster, why was his entire output limited to physical melee? When my roommate fought, he didn't even lift a finger; he just glared, and people went flying.
I was sweating with anxiety. Although I had sprouted a lot of man-eating flowers last time, I had tried since then and couldn't squeeze out a single one. It was the same now; I couldn't control the growth of mushrooms or grass, so I couldn't help him. If he died a hero's death here, I really wouldn't know how to explain it to my roommate—though, of course, I wouldn't need to explain anything, as I'd be dying right alongside the Guardian.
At that moment, I noticed the corridor in front of me flicker. I saw the ghostly image of a massive warehouse.
Were two spaces overlapping?
After a few minutes, the corridor vanished entirely. I found myself standing in a warehouse filled with wooden shelves. Tungsten bulbs hung overhead, and there wasn't a soul in sight. I really wanted to say to the Guardian of the Abyss: *Nice work!*
But where was I?
The items on the wooden shelves were essentially junk. Each level was labeled with numerical codes I didn't understand. The contents were a chaotic mix: everything from biological skeletons to old round fans, jade artifacts, pottery... A jolt went through me, and I pulled out my own phone to check the GPS. Sure enough, I was at the City Museum!
Of course. The City Museum's warehouse—this was where the Crystal Skull was kept. Zhang Litian wanted that thing, and he wanted my heart. To be safe, he had brought me here to perform the extraction. Had he stolen the Crystal Skull yet? Or had our mayor promoted him overnight and given him the authority to dispose of it?
I circled the warehouse and found the Crystal Skull inside a crate. Zhang Litian probably thought that since he was here, everything was fine; instead, he’d handed me a massive bargain. I was only wearing a T-shirt, so I took it off to wrap the skull. I felt a chill; the air conditioning here was set very low.
Having stolen something from the museum, I began to consider how to escape. It was past ten at night, and the museum had long since been locked. I planned to head outside and jump through a window. The warehouse door opened with a push—it wasn't locked—and I stepped out happily. But with my very first step, an alarm blared through the cavernous hall of the museum, and people immediately started running toward me.
I had absolutely zero combat experience. Seeing three security guards charging at me with murderous intent, all I could do was turn and bolt. Then, my fellow humans, performing their duties with utmost dedication, struck me a few times with their batons, knocking me to the ground. I looked as pathetic as could be—shirtless, wearing beach shorts and the disposable slippers from Zhang Litian’s surgery room, clutching a skull to my chest.
"Stealing from here of all places! Take that! And that!" One guard reached out to grab the Crystal Skull.
I refused to let go. "Please take me to the police station! Take this evidence with me! Call 110! Hurry!"
The guard: "..."
"No need to bother the police." Ren Xing's voice suddenly came from the entrance. He pulled a police ID from his pocket. "I am the police."
Lu Daoshi, standing beside him, pushed up his glasses solemnly. "I am Professor [Name] from the Archaeology Department of [Name] University. I was the one previously in charge of researching this Crystal Skull."
The guard: "..."
I remained silent as well. Like the guards, I felt their acting was utterly abysmal.
Ren Xing reached for his gun. "Put the batons down. Stand to the side."
The guard stared at the dark muzzle of the gun and snorted. "You're all in on it together, aren't you?"
Lu Daoshi cursed under his breath. "What do you want?" Ren Xing followed up by raising the muzzle and aiming it directly at him.
The guard said calmly, "Nothing."
Ren Xing stepped forward and smashed all of their walkie-talkies.
Lu Daoshi reached out to pull me off the floor, and we turned to run. Ren Xing covered our retreat with his gun. The three of us made a rather undignified escape.
Me: "Officer Ren, will you even be able to be a cop after this?"
Ren Xing: "The police station is gone."
Only then did I realize how terrifying it could be when humanity lost its footing. It was past ten at night, yet the streets were deserted. The streetlights were all dark, and the giant screens that had been broadcasting television yesterday were now pitch black. Lu Daoshi pushed his glasses up. "An unprecedented state of anarchy. Once people realized communication with the outside world was cut off, everyone went mad."
Only a single day had passed.
"By the way, what happened after I fainted? How did you know to come here?" I tried my best to look them in the eye. Ren Xing and Lu Daoshi were my best friends. If they were also... non-humans harboring ill intent, I didn't know what I would do.
They exchanged a look.
Ren Xing said, "After you fainted, Lao Chu carried you off. Guns were useless against them."
Lu Daoshi added, "It's a good thing they were useless. Officer Ren actually hit them. If that thing had played dead, he'd be heading straight to prison."
In short, they were eventually kicked out by the Principal under the label of terrorists. They had been worried about me for a while, but then they figured that since my roommate was protecting me, I wouldn't die. So, they rushed here to get the Crystal Skull. They had the same thought I did—they couldn't let Zhang Litian get his way.
The three of us sat in Ren Xing's car. I held the Crystal Skull while they both stared at me. "What now? What is this thing even for?"
I shrugged and texted that person: "The Crystal Skull is in hand."
Mysterious Person: "Come to my place. Remember, no matter what I say when the time comes, do not hand it over to me."
Me: "Huh? Then can I just not bring it?"
Mysterious Person: "No."
This person was so strange. The Crystal Skull seemed quite important; he wanted it, yet he told me not to give it to him. What kind of game was this? Even a sissy like me wasn't this dramatic.
Me: "Where are you?"
He sent an address. "Are you coming alone?"
Me: "My friends are dropping me off downstairs."
Mysterious Person: "Tell them to leave immediately once you arrive."
Lu Daoshi had been sitting next to me reading the texts. His expression was grave. "Is this that charlatan? Can he be trusted?"
"I don't know..." My heart was hammering against my ribs. "But right now, I don't have any other choice but to do what he says."
"We're not leaving. We'll wait for you downstairs," Ren Xing said while turning the steering wheel.
I was moved. Whenever I didn't know what to do, they were always the ones by my side—true brothers in arms. But on one hand, I was wary of the mysterious person's warning—that almost everyone around me wasn't human—and on the other, I worried they would be attacked by something dangerous while waiting downstairs. In the end, I told them to go back. "I'll take it one step at a time. My roommate might not be here, but something else is protecting me. Don't worry."
When we reached the apartment building, I took a deep breath.
the mysterious person lived on the top floor. In this entire building, only the top floor had lights on; the rest was shrouded in darkness. I pressed the buzzer, and the security door at the entrance clicked open. Ren Xing rolled down the car window. "This building has an elevator. Don't take it. Use the stairs."
I nodded, clutched the Crystal Skull, and walked into the stairwell. The skull had a fluorescent effect; even covered by my T-shirt, it illuminated a small area. I noticed the walls by the stairs were covered in primitive, savage totems and scripts. Most were bright red, appearing to be blood. I kept my head down, not daring to look.
When I reached the third floor, a dark shadow darted across the handrail, letting out a screech like a bat. I walked even faster.
Reaching the top floor, I saw the security door on the left was slightly ajar, a dim yellow light spilling from within.
I took one more deep breath and pushed the door open.
The interior was a mess—a total disaster. The floor was littered with paintings: some sketches, some oils, all of them eerie. Most were historical in theme: the Siege of Yorktown from the American Revolutionary War; Chichen Itza from the Spanish perspective; the listening gallery of the Medici Palace in Florence; Janissaries walking down a Byzantine street under the moonlight; Crusaders burning Jerusalem; Vikings sailing the English Channel; the baptism of Charlemagne; Nero burning Rome; Cleopatra walking with Caesar under an obelisk; the Battle of Chengpu; Babylonians observing the stars atop the Tower of Babel... There were so many, spanning a vast range of time and events. But the one thing they all had in common was that these paintings contained things that didn't belong to those eras. They didn't even belong to modern civilization. For instance, beside the high, curved hulls of the Viking longships, one could see siren-like creatures acting as an escort. At the top of the Tower of Babel stood a massive non-human entity; judging by the scale of the people in the painting, the creature must have been over ten meters tall.
Furthermore, there were many sculptures here—unfinished limbs scattered about. There were humans, animals, and various indescribable forms... The air was thick with the smell of paint. Moreover, the walls were just like the stairwell—covered in various runes and totems. I saw a few that looked quite familiar; Lao Chu's room had been in a similar state. Lao Chu had likely done it to prevent my roommate from entering his room. So what about this person? Who was he trying to keep out?
The door behind me clicked shut softly.
I turned around and saw a face I never, ever expected to see.
He looked directly at me, his eyes red as if he had just been crying. He wore a painter's beret.
It was actually... Jin Mu!
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 深渊执守者 | Guardian of the Abyss | A powerful entity protecting the MC, distinct from his roommate. |
| 水晶头颅 | Crystal Skull | A mysterious artifact sought by Zhang Litian and the mysterious seer. |
| 靳穆 | Jin Mu | A character previously introduced, now revealed to be the mysterious seer. |
| 110 | 110 | The emergency telephone number in China (equivalent to 911). |
| 么么哒 | memeda | Internet slang for a kiss or showing affection. |
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My Roommate is a Non-Human | Chapter 42 | The Seer’s Identity | Novela.app | Novela.app
