A light breeze blew, bringing very little relief to the hot, stuffy humidity of the Xi'an summer. People were moving about, looking extremely harried in the sweaty, uncomfortable weather. Even so, all Luo Jingya felt was a chill as the wind lightly brushed over her t-shirt soaked in cold sweat.
She moved the paper bag carrying her still-hot breakfast to her other hand, feeling the warm sensation comfortable against her cold fingers.
The world seemed busy. Moving fast without stopping. And now that she literally didn't have anything to busy herself with, Luo Jingya suddenly started to feel a little lost. A little too uncomfortable. And also, a little… close to crying.
"That stingy old guy!" She kicked off a shiny, perfectly round pebble on her path that appeared quite offensive. "He could have at least given me a heads up."
This was the second time in a row in a single day that she had had the urge to cry. Luo Jingya felt a little unsure. The last time she actually cried had been in her first visit to sweep her grandma's grave. Which had been years ago!
And then she had stopped crying altogether…
'...'
'That– was that really only a- a nightmare?' She finally asked herself the question that she had been trying to ignore since early morning. Or was she really and truly well on her way to losing her mind? Did she really have a mental illness of some sort?
Feeling a little discouraged by this particular prospect, Luo Jingya then tried to recall the… 'nightmare'. Maybe things would start to make sense if she analysed what happened, including this... dream?
Actually, it wasn't that hard to recall this particularly disturbing nightmare, since the details had been quite clear when she dreamt it. Disturbingly so, such that the effort to remember it left her back soaked in a new layer of cold sweat.
'...'
It had been a long… dream, there was no doubt of it. Quite long in fact, to be packed within a single night's dreamscape.
And in it, she dreamt that she lived her life, every single day-by-day. Boring and endlessly full of all sorts of usual itty-bitty daily troubles. That was until the day she… 'died'.
'...'
In her memories, within that dream, she woke up just like how she did today, sans dreaming the nightmare, of course. Then her boss -her now ex-boss- called her to inform her that she had lost the job at his shop.
'...'
That's right. She dreamt about losing her job and then actually ended up losing it for real.
'If this is not creepy…', then she didn't know what could really be!
Luo Jingya hunched in on herself as she shakily sat down on a dry spot on the kerb edge. Last night it had rained. Yet, this spot wasn't under the shade, and the morning sun was now beating down particularly fiercely.
But, even this scalding heat couldn't dispel the chill which seemed to have taken over her very core.
What was real? What was fake?
Was she- was she even awake in the first place?
'...'
Or maybe it was just one very weird and uncanny coincidence? She was no stranger to strange coincidences. But then again, something like this…
Also, what about that voice? The one that called itself a 'system'?
'...' Another frightening oddity to add to the list.
Luo Jingya stared in a daze at the crowd milling busily about the main street, many looking as if they were bogged down with a million burdens. Just like how she had been feeling until last night, the day before and even years before this moment.
But, when an occasional passerby cast a disinterested glance her way, Luo Jingya would quickly look down, heart palpitating with unease.
Everybody suddenly appeared like monsters– monsters that were wearing human skin, ready to pounce on her at the slightest sign of a slip. heck! Even the whole world felt hostile, the familiar vibrant colours suddenly looking eerie and surreal.
Breathing noisily, Luo Jingya quickly put her head between her knees.
What actually happened? Did she really d- No! M-maybe she was going crazy for real?
'...'
Suddenly, at the moment, it felt like the better alternative as Luo Jingya sensed her mind spinning, gradually filling with chaos and blood-curdling… memories.
There had been a cold– a bone-piercing cold, followed by what could only be described as unbearable pain. Waves of them, as jarring and as scarring as it could get. Then there had also been a… bloody mist.
Helish ruins that appeared like the yawning mouth of some devilish creature from hell. Dark clouds rolling menacingly in her direction. And an eerie song– which had actually felt quite nice to listen to when she heard it in the 'nightmare'. Now though…
And through it all, Luo Jingya had been nothing but a helpless spectator. Not understanding anything until the end, immobile and full of pain, until it wasn't anymore. Until it all was no more!
Even the beads of the broken Buddha beads bracelet hadn't been as haples-
"Wait!" Luo Jingya jumped up with a shout, her eyes widening as she stared down at her wrist.