Vol 8: Chapter 1-2.
Xiaohao was an otaku, meaning his daily lives involved watching T.V. and going online at home. He wouldn’t leave his house unless it was absolutely necessary. Due to this reason, he never had a girlfriend. Furthermore, being a NEET reduced his chance of obtaining one even further.
Although he was extremely tired after a day of running around, but sex was more enticing compared to the fatigue. He turned on the tub spout then leaned against the wall to hear the moans from across the wall as his saliva dripped. Just leaning there for over five minutes until he fell asleep due to the fatigue.
He was asleep but bathtub was still filling. The water overflowed to his room after ten minutes. Unfortunately, the drain seemed clogged so the water could only flow from the bathroom to his room, passing by the furnitures, table, bed, and a floor standing A.C. unit.
Sizzz. The air conditioner short circuited and began to smoke. The water then slowly flowed toward Xiaohao with electricity.
Suddenly, a loud bang from the next door woke him up. The sex was over long ago but the man and woman seemed to be in an argument over the payment. Their voice soon escalated. Xiaohao could hear them without putting his ears against the wall.
He suddenly lost all interest then planned to take his bath. However, he was shocked as he turned around and saw the room filled with smoke. A pool of water was flowing toward him. Because the floor was covered with carpet, this water caused some sparks on the carpet. Xiaohao was dumbfounded.
He had many more chances to watch horror movies because he was an otaku. Naturally, he had seen all three Final Destination movies. He realized Death had targeted him. This water was certain to be conducting electricity. His only choice was to run.
Xiaohao immediately ran to the door and pulled the handle. Yet, that stupid lock got stuck at this crucial moment. The lock wouldn’t budge no matter how hard he turned it. Furthermore, the argument from next door was getting so loud that his screamed couldn’t reach the other side of the hall, where Zheng and the other’s was residing. He was the only one who chose a room far from them.
Nervousness was over taking him. He banged at the door with all his strength to no avail. That water was moving closer and closer. He had no choice but to run over to the window. To his surprise, the window was also locked and couldn’t be opened like the door was.
“F*ck!”
He got angry then picked up a chair and smashed the window. He was finally able to break the glass with a few smashes. He jumped onto the window before the water reached him.
Outside the window was a street with a few cars driving on the road, mostly trucks. He swallowed hard with nervousness. This was the second floor. Several meters high was not enough to kill someone but that water couldn’t reach the height of the window either. So he hesitated. It took just a moment of his hesitation before the air conditioner smoked worse than before. The smoke became darker and thicker and sparks were appearing like it was going to explode.
Xiaohao clenched his teeth and finally decided to jump. But the air conditioner exploded just as he made up his mind. The blast of air pushed him out of the window onto the street. But he didn’t die to this little height after all. He let out a sigh of relief at last.
“This damn…”
A truck ran straight into him before he finished his sentence. Pah! He disappeared under the truck tires.
“This is too terrible. He was pressed into a meat paste. We won’t be able to identify him like this. But how did he jump over him from ten meters far?”
A Caucasian cop said to his coworker.
The other cop was curious too. “From what the hotel owner said, he seemed like an illegal immigrant. He was staying in the room where the air conditioner exploded. But how did he jump so far from second floor? Not even an Olympics gold medalist can do this. Unless he had enough distance to accelerate.”
The Caucasian cop stood up. “Anything else? Did he call any woman?”
“No. The hotel owner said he only provides the rooms. Though the man and woman on the next room gave some clues. They said they heard the shattering of glass when they were arguing. But they didn’t pay much attention to it. After they were done, they heard an explosion, probably the one from the air conditioner.”
The Caucasian cop sighed. “I received information that an out of city mafias was searching for arms dealers. The mafias seemed to have some relationship with Asians. Hope this guy isn’t one of them. Though it’s create if the mafias covered up a death from gun fights like this. Tell everyone to stay cautious for the time being. Gather all possible clues. Tell the informants to provide us with information of the mafias. I want to talk with them!”
At the same time. Zheng’s group was eating lunch in a French restaurant not far off. They were forced to leave the hotel although it was only eleven in the morning.
In fact, no one had a good night of sleep. They left the hotel as soon as Xiaohao’s death and found an open space outside to rest. Everyone felt disgusted after seeing Xiaohao’s remains. Furthermore, the feeling of death was becoming more and more clear. It was like a heavy weight on their hearts. Anyone who could still sleep under this condition was to be admired.
The group solved their hungers first. Fortunately, Zheng had obtained a few grands of cash from the bar owner. So they didn’t have to worry about money. They decided on this restaurant for two reasons. One, they weren’t interested in fast food. Two, they could observe the cops across the street from the restaurant.
“He just died like this. How did Death do it?” Laoshi muttered with a terrified expression.
Although they were still waiting for the food to be served, no one was in the mood to start a conversation until Laoshi spoke.
Zheng sighed. “Probably coincidences, a series of coincidences. This is only the second damn day and we are already down by three people. The attack on me would’ve killed any normal person also. Can Death distinguish us from normal people? Why is it clinging to us so hard?”
WangXia muttered. “I took a look at his room before we left. No signs of tempering by a human. The floor had a lot of water but nothing was wrong with the bathroom. I couldn’t see any clogging on the drains. Where did that water come from?”
Lilin shook her head and said. “That’s the scary part about this series. A little detail can leader to death. And you can’t even figure out how he died afterward. I don’t want to become a meat paste like him. I’d rather just kill myself instead of becoming that!”
Zheng said. “Maybe you don’t even have the right to your own life. Death wouldn’t let you kill yourself. If the plot wasn’t changed, we just had to kill someone who was supposed to die. I wouldn’t believe Death can stop me from killing! But now that the plot changed from ordered to unordered deaths. I don’t know which of us is going to be next.”
Just then, they saw over a dozen motorbikes came over. These were the gang leaders Zheng saw last night. They walked into the bar ignoring the police. The police seemed interested in them and went up to them. Zheng also stood up then walked toward the exit.
“I am going to see them. They should have brought what I want. I hope they don’t disappoint me. Those damn American cops. Hope they don’t target us.”