[Real World, Station 13(China forum)]
Looking at the clearly suspicious dark alley manhole cover in the image, and recalling Tendo's recent words, many dimensional viewers immediately understood.
If they weren't mistaken, the timeline for this side story was the 'Beast Tide'—the event that changed the lives of the siblings Chen Xing and Chen Kong.
After providing this visual hint, the show's scene cut to the cram school classroom where Tendo was.
"...So, that's the answer to this problem. Does everyone understand?"
The teacher at the podium was tapping the blackboard with chalk, his gaze habitually drifting toward the silver-haired child sitting by the window in the back row.
But Tendo was acting strangely today. Usually, even if he found the lesson boring, he would at least pretend to pay attention.
Today, however, for some reason, Tendo had been staring out the window since he entered the classroom. Not even the teacher's deliberate increase in volume managed to pull back his attention.
"Alright, that's all for today's lesson. Be careful on your way home, everyone."
The cram school teacher smiled and announced the end of class. After the other students left noisily, he walked over to Tendo and looked out the window curiously.
It was currently eight o'clock at night. Outside the window, the city was brightly lit, a typical scene of traffic and bustle.
The scene was no different from usual, and the teacher couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.
"Tendo, is something bothering you today? You seem very preoccupied."
Faced with the teacher's concern, Tendo snapped out of his thoughts.
He looked at the teacher standing beside him, thought for a moment, and asked, "Teacher, what kind of creature do you think would release its scent without any restraint?"
"Hmm?"
The teacher was startled, then instinctively answered.
"It's one of two things. Either it's marking its territory to warn off other predators from approaching its land."
"Or it simply doesn't care if the prey discovers it."
"What is it, Tendo? Why the sudden question?"
Before Tendo could answer, a piercing, urgent siren suddenly blared across the city's night sky without warning, instantly plunging the entire city into chaos.
This abrupt change immediately caused the teacher's face to pale.
The teacher's expression changed drastically. He frantically pulled out his phone.
"Tendo! Go home now! Lock all the doors and windows and don't come out!"
As he spoke, he fumbled with his phone to dial his family, his hands trembling, and simultaneously bolted out of the cram school.
Watching the teacher rush out of the classroom, Tendo calmly packed his schoolbag and looked out the window again.
The camera zoomed in following his gaze. The formerly star-studded night sky was now—at some unknown point—covered by heavy black clouds. A subtle, metallic, sweet odor permeated the air.
Tendo stared at the ominous clouds as if he could see something through them.
After a moment, the young Tendo whispered, "Doesn't care if the prey discovers it, huh..."
With that, Tendo turned and left the classroom, flicking off the light switch as he went.
The classroom plunged into darkness instantly. Only the green light of the hallway's emergency lamp reflected off his small, retreating figure.
"Help!!!"
A desperate scream came from the park next to the cram school. The blond-haired boy who had blocked Tendo that evening was now scrambling to run.
Behind him, a moss-green creature that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere was chasing him with a ferocious look.
The green monster's skin looked like decaying moss. Its exposed fangs were dripping with viscous saliva, and the wooden club in its hand was smeared with dark red shredded flesh.
As the camera pulled back, a chilling scene appeared.
Near a slide, two mutilated bodies lay in pools of blood. Several smaller green monsters were hunched over them, frantically gnawing, the crisp sound of bone shattering and the sickening sound of flesh being chewed constantly emanating from the screen.
These two were none other than the blond boy's companions who had cornered Tendo that evening.
Even though the production team had minimized the gore and violence for censorship, the terrified pupils of the two boys in their final moments conveyed a more suffocating horror than any direct depiction.
They, who had treated Tendo as 'prey' just that evening, had now become the 'prey' of the green monsters.
Thud!
Fleeing in panic, the blond boy tripped over a discarded can on the ground and crashed heavily onto the grass.
He tried multiple times to get up, but his terror made his limbs uncoordinated. After several failed attempts to stand, he resorted to crawling on the lawn, desperate only to move as far away as possible from the monster behind him.
Seeing this, the green monster stopped, letting out a rattling, strange laugh from its throat. It tilted its head, observing him, seemingly savoring the prey's final struggle.
The blond boy glanced sideways at the monster's exposed fangs and the blood- and flesh-streaked club in its hand.
A sudden warmth spread beneath him.
"Are you scared?"
The blond boy stiffly raised his head. The silver-haired elementary school student who had been beaten black and blue that evening was standing there. He had placed his schoolbag on the edge of the grass.
However, the blond boy, still reeling from the shock and with his mind completely blank, couldn't think of how to answer Tendo's question.
Fortunately, Tendo didn't seem to expect an answer. He walked directly toward the green monster nearby.
Before long, angry roars, the whooshing sound of a wooden club swinging, the sharp crack of bones breaking, and the sound of some kind of liquid splashing all came from off-screen.
Though there was no direct visual depiction, the stunned pupils of the blond boy and the sounds occasionally heard off-screen made it clear to the dimensional viewers what happened after Tendo walked toward the monsters.
When the screams and roars faded, the formerly noisy park fell completely silent.
The blond boy tremblingly stood up. The camera cut back to Tendo during this process.
Under the moonlight, five corpses of green monsters lay scattered across the lawn. Dark green, foul-smelling blood soaked the surrounding grass.
Tendo stood in the center of the corpses. His school uniform was stained with the green, pungent blood. His shoulder and arm were marked with deep, bone-visible claw marks, and the wounds were slowly seeping blood.
Yet, his face showed no sign of pain. He nonchalantly pulled out a squashed piece of chocolate from his pocket, peeled off the wrapper, and popped it into his mouth.
The moment the rich sweetness melted on his tongue, the wounds on Tendo's arm and shoulder began to heal, scab over, and the swelling rapidly faded—all visible to the naked eye.
Crunch, crunch...
After finishing the chocolate, Tendo walked over to the still-dazed blond boy, picked up his schoolbag, put it on, and patted the boy's shoulder.
"See, there's nothing to be afraid of."
Tendo paused, then looked emotionlessly at the monster corpses sprawled on the lawn.
"...Because they are the prey."
Having said this, he turned and walked out of the park. His small figure walked steadily toward his home, moving against the backdrop of flames soaring in the distance, as if he were just walking down a perfectly ordinary road home from school.
After all, to Tendo, those bizarre monsters were merely troublesome prey.
There was nothing to fear about them at all.
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An Important Announcement: Time to Write Our Own Novel!
Hello everyone!
Thank you all so much for your support; it truly helps me keep going!
I have some exciting news: after translating many fanfics, I've decided it's time to start writing my own Novels! I plan to begin with a new fanfic—I'm currently thinking of either the Avatar: The Last Airbender or Douluo Dalu universe, featuring a Neutral protagonist.That is exactly what I meant by Neutral Protagonist (This refers to the character's Alignment. A Neutral Protagonist is not strictly bound by concepts of absolute good or evil, nor are they necessarily tied to Law or Chaos. Their actions are generally motivated by their own survival, personal goals, or a desire for balance, operating in a morally gray area.)
Once I've written a few fanfics and gained more experience, I can then move on to developing my own original novel soon after.
If you want a direct hand in shaping the main character's destiny and giving input, be sure to join the poll!
I've launched a poll on my P@t reon page!
HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE:
1. Head over to our P@t reon page and become a member. (Don't worry, even those with a free membership can join the poll and share their input!)
2. Select any option you desire in the poll
3. Leave a comment on the poll post or send me a DM if you have any specific thoughts or ideas!
p@treon HongMengZi