C1 Rebirth!

Mom! Dad!

Shen Faang sprinted down the once-familiar street, his eyes darting around in a desperate search for his parents.

The sun hung high, yet an eerie silence blanketed the street. Storefronts stood wide open, with only a few shuttered closed. It was as if the people had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind. A strange melody reached Shen Faang's ears, mirroring the frantic beat of his own heart.

He had no idea where the music was coming from or why it was reaching him.

All he knew was that he had to find his parents quickly, or the unthinkable might happen.

Shen Faang raced on, covering every inch of the district, but his parents were nowhere to be found. Then, a deep, guttural growl faintly reached his ears. He pinpointed the direction and made a beeline towards the sound. But the distance and the softness of the growl made it difficult to locate precisely.

Where could it be?

Overwhelmed with anxiety, Shen Faang stood at a crossroads, uncertain of which way to turn.

Then, a second growl echoed through the air. This time, Shen Faang realized he had been heading in the wrong direction. He quickly pivoted and dashed down an alley off the main street. By the time the third growl sounded, he felt he was just a corner away from the source, almost within reach.

Suddenly, a grotesque, decaying face loomed before him, nearly colliding with him at the corner.

Shen Faang recoiled in horror, his heart threatening to burst from his chest.

He gazed numbly around the corner. On the grimy concrete lay two blood-soaked bodies. Four humanoid creatures, drenched in gore, crouched beside them, emitting a nauseating stench. They ripped the flesh from the bodies and shoved it into their mouths, making a sound that sent shivers down Shen Faang's spine.

The corpses' clothes, once vibrant red, were now indistinguishable under the dark stains of blood. Following the line of the bodies, he saw their chests were torn open, revealing a cavity nearly half the size of their torsos. Their intestines, smeared with red, had been brutally yanked out, and amidst the tugging, feces had slipped from the severed ends, spilling onto the ground.

The humanoid creatures appeared insensible as they stuffed intestines into their mouths. While chewing, a yellowish substance oozed from the corners of their mouths. The faces of the two corpses had been grotesquely disfigured by these beings, who seemed to have an insatiable hunger. They resembled machines programmed only to consume, their stomachs never satisfied.

At the moment Shen Faang rounded the corner, they simultaneously turned their heads, their cloudy eyes brimming with a ravenous desire for food as they stared at him. One even drooled a foul-smelling liquid while snapping off its own finger with a crunch, savoring it as though it were a delicacy.

Tears streamed down Shen Faang's face as he observed the two bodies, indifferent to the grotesque excitement on his decaying visage. The humanoid creature, as if taunting him, let out a guttural growl and lunged at Shen Faang's shoulder, ripping away a chunk of flesh with brute force.

At that moment, Shen Faang was numb to the world, his gaze fixed ahead as he plummeted into a chasm of despair.

Could my parents really be... No, that must be a wild guess; they have to be alive!

Shen Faang snapped back to reality, his body surging with newfound strength that propelled him off the dark, icy ground. Clutching a bottle in one hand and rubbing his throbbing head with the other, it was clear he hadn't fully shaken off the nightmare.

Deep into the night, the pulsating music continued to resonate in his ears, finally leading him to its source.

Hmm?

Curiously inspecting the green bottle in his hand, Shen Faang noted the crisp 'XX Beer' label and the fresh packaging. The glass bottle still contained nearly half of its contents, seemingly just opened.

Shen Faang gazed at it with the wide-eyed wonder of someone unacquainted with urban culture, disbelief etched across his face. As the music's tempo climbed to a crescendo and the crowd's shouts intensified, he felt surrounded by madness, an urgency to escape this chaos welling up inside him.

In his mind, loud noises were synonymous with death!

Shen Faang took a swig of the potent liquid, the rich malt flavor and the burn of alcohol lingering in his memory. Reluctantly, he tossed the bottle aside and rose to his feet, reaching for his waist.

My knife, where is it?

He froze, frantically searching himself. His clothes were ragged but strangely clean. The tears were irregular, clearly the work of human hands, and not at all as Shen Faang remembered.

But Shen Faang's focus wasn't on his clothes. The knife that was always at his waist, the one he never removed, not even to sleep, was missing, and panic set in.

A whooshing sound cut through the music and reached his ears, followed by a series of deep roars, provoking screams from the crowd. Shen Faang felt disoriented, searching for a weapon, but beneath his feet was only a massive water tower, lacking even a safety railing.

His heart raced, threatening to leap from his throat. Looking down, the drop was over forty meters. A fall would mean certain death. His only chance for survival was to leap from the water tower to the adjacent rooftop... But how did he know the layout? This... This was the rooftop of the tallest library at the school!

Shen Faang was stunned once more. How had he ended up here? He had been in a relatively intact car just before lying down!

What was happening?

As he pondered, a red and flesh-toned hand clutched the edge of the water tower, intent on climbing up, followed by a second and a third... Shen Faang's heart sank. What was he to do? Die before finding his parents? Unacceptable!

Without hesitation, Shen Faang whipped off his belt to use as a makeshift weapon and positioned himself in the center of the water tower, ready for the impending threat.

Roar! Roar!

The familiar growls filled Shen Faang's ears, putting him on high alert. As the creatures climbed up, their appearance was just as he had imagined: faces smeared with blood and decaying flesh, revolting to behold, yet instilling an eerie sense of danger.

There were three in total!