"Have you ever heard of this song… Devil May Cry?" Shen Ran asked lazily, pressing the barrel of his gun harder against the president's head.
President Jin looked nothing like the powerful man the world saw on television. His face was swollen, lips split, eyes red and watery as he trembled beneath the cold metal.
Pathetic.
For a brief second, Shen Ran almost felt bad. Almost.
"Please…" the man choked out. "I beg you… I'll give you anything. Money. Power. Just name it. Please don't kill me."
Shen Ran sighed softly. If this had been a year ago, maybe he would have asked for something.
Now? He didn't want anything.
After this, he was done being a hitman. He'd leave the country, disappear somewhere quiet. Maybe buy a small island. Build a library. Sleep for a week straight.
Maybe even reread that BL novel he finished last night.
"…Sorry," Shen Ran muttered. His finger tightened on the trigger. "But you have to go."
Bang.
The gunshot rang out and the door behind him slammed open.
"DROP YOUR WEAPON!"
A dozen armed men flooded into the room, black suits, guns raised, eyes locked onto him.
Shen Ran stiffened. "Shit."
"Hands on your head!"
"Get down!"
Their voices overlapped, sharp and urgent.
Then another figure walked in with his gun already raised, pointed directly at him. His pleasant boss, Yichen.
Shen Ran exhaled slowly, something cold settling in his chest.
"So that's how it is," he scoffed. "You were never planning to let me walk away, huh?"
No reply. Just the steady aim of a gun.
Figures.
Shen Ran didn't hesitate. He fired again at president Jin just to make sure the job was done.
Bang.
At the same instant.
Bang.
A bullet tore straight through his head and everything went black.
~°~
He had expected death to be cold and quiet, the slow transition of his soul leaving his body.
So....why did he feel hot?
Was the abyss always this noisy?
Bang!
Bang!
Was he really dead?!
"Get out of my way!"
"It's getting bigger!"
"Run—!"
"Wenzhi!"
Shen Ran was already running.
He didn't remember deciding to.
His legs just moved.
Fast.
People rushed past him on all sides, some even faster than he was. Every single face looked like they were about to die.
…Okay.
He distinctly remembered getting shot in the head.
So why was he alive?
Why the hell was he running?
And more importantly, what the hell was chasing them?
Shen Ran stopped and froze, realizing he was surrounded by rubble and bodies. The thick, suffocating stench of blood and decay filled the air.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The sky… The sky was torn open.
A massive tear in reality stretched across it, dark and unnatural, like something had ripped the world apart.
And from it, monsters poured out. Creatures that only belonged in horror sci-fi movies, with too many limbs and far too many teeth.
They snarled, growled, and charged straight toward him with terrifying speed.
Cold fear shot through Shen Ran's entire body. "…Am I in hell?"
Wait. That voice... That doesn't sound like his voice.
"Wenzhi! What are you doing?!" A woman ahead suddenly stopped and turned back to him. She had pink hair and wide, panicked green eyes.
Shen Ran stared at her. Did she just call me Wenzhi?
The monsters were getting closer.
One lunged. Its claws came straight for him and before he could think, Shen Ran's leg snapped up in a clean, practiced motion.
Bang!
The kick connected hard with its head, sending the creature crashing to the side.
"Oh hell no." He turned and ran again, quickly catching up to the woman.
"Are you insane?!" she snapped. "Why did you stop? That's the largest rift any of us have ever seen!"
Rift? Shen Ran stared at her, still trying to catch up mentally.
She frowned harder. "Lin Wenzhi! Focus!"
Shen Ran blinked and pointed at himself. "…Are you talking to me?"
The woman's expression shifted to pure disbelief. "…Did you hit your head?"
Shen Ran blinked at her. Lin Wenzhi.
He knew that name. But that was impossible.…Right?
"Look out!" The woman suddenly grabbed him, yanking him hard to the side.
They hit the ground just as a blazing beam of energy tore through the space where they had been standing.
Boom.
The earth split open, heat bursting upward as flames licked through the cracks.
Shen Ran's heart slammed violently against his ribs. "What the—"
Pain flared in his palm. He looked down. His skin had scraped against the ground, torn open, blood seeping out.
"Fuck that hurts!" And felt real. Too real.
"Hey… hey…!" He turned quickly, tapping the woman beside him.
No response. His chest tightened.
"…Hey." He grabbed her shoulder and shook her.
Nothing.
Her head had struck a piece of broken concrete. Blood trickled down the side of her face, soaking into her hair.
"No, no, no… wake up," Shen Ran said, his voice rising. "Hey….!"
She didn't move.
"Fuck!" He looked around desperately.
Ahead and behind them, people were dragged down.
Monsters pounced and tore into bodies like they were nothing. Screams echoed. Bones cracked. Growls filled the air.
Some of the larger creatures opened their jaws and fired burning blasts.
Shen Ran's breath hitched. "…You've got to be kidding me."
Carefully but quickly, he lifted the woman into his arms.
"She needs a hospital…" he muttered, glancing around wildly.
But all he saw was ruin and death. The sky still torn open and a dozen monsters charging towards him.
"...Shit." Shen Ran ran. Faster than he thought he could, even with the weight in his arms.
"This can't be happening... wake up, wake up—" he muttered under his breath, panic bleeding through.
The ground shook beneath pounding footsteps.
Closer. Closer....
They lunged. One slammed into him.
Shen Ran hit the ground hard, the air knocked from his lungs but his arms tightened instinctively around the girl, shielding her.
A massive maw opened above him. Too many teeth. Too close...
He was going to die again!
BOOM.
The monsters were ripped away. An invisible force crushed them into the ground, the earth cracking beneath the impact.
"We're saved!"
"It's an Esper!"
"Oh no… it's Shao Xinyuan."
Shen Ran's breath came out shaky. "…Esper?" he rasped.
That name.. He knew that name.
His eyes widened slowly. "…Shao Xinyuan?"
Cold realization crawled up his spine. "…You've got to be kidding me."
His grip tightened around the unconscious girl. "I'm in the goddamn novel I read last night?"