Chapter 2 - Strange world

Chu Siyan woke up in a daze. His blurry eyes looked around, hoping to see the familiar white walls and the sterilized smell of the hospital, but to his surprise, he smelled a weird smell. It smelled really funky. He couldn't explain where this smell came from.

'Did Mrs. Pen forget to disinfect my things… what is that smell?'

He fully opened his eyes. Bright green color was very close to his eyeball. He subtly moved back. 'Grass…. it's the smell of fresh grass. I never thought I could smell it again.' He sniffed it again. The smell was nostalgic.

"Is that creepy-looking guy sniffing the grass," a man's whisper came from behind him.

Chu Siyan tiredly sat up and peered behind him. There was a handsome young man who was talking to two panicked young women.

"Why are we here?" one of the girls with short black hair and blond bangs framing her face grabbed his sleeves sobbing. "I was playing a game, and I woke up here… what is going on?"

Chu Siyan's ears perked up. He keenly listened to her words. He too was playing a game, and now he was here, sitting on the dirty ground with grass all around him.

"Both of you don't panic. We are currently in the novice world of the Dead Man's Wonderland. It's a game," he let the words sink in.

"G-game?... h-how is that possible? Why are we in a game? This is not real… this is all just a nightmare, right?" the short bob girl mumbled, stepping back from them. Her back hit the creepy wall, and she let out a loud screech. "It's not real..... it's not real!" she squatted down, hugging herself.

Chu Siyan watched her peculiarly. His eyes also focused on the dirty wall. It's been so long since he had seen a wall this dirty. It was quite fascinating. It reminded him so much of his middle school compound.

"Mi-ah, don't cry," the girl with long black hair ran to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm here. It's going to be okay… we can get out of here… let's call the cops,"

"Calling the cops is useless. You both are probably dead in the real world. This place only exists for the dead." The handsome man softly whispered as he squatted down in front of them.

"D-dead? we are not dead. we both were meeting up with our seniors and had a barbecue…." the long-haired girl exclaimed. Then her face paled. "There was a fire alarm… you were unconscious... I was trying to wake you up, and… I don't remember anything after that… I don't remember anything..." she gripped the short-haired girl's hand.

"We… we are dead? No… no… it's not possible. Our seniors would have saved us. They would have saved us…. Right?"

"The sooner you guys accept your reality, the better. We are all dead. This game will only allow dead players in." the man sighed, placing a hand on her shoulders. "Don't worry, though, I will help you out. We can get out of this place together,"

The girls sobbed loudly and hugged each other.

Chu Siyan tilted his head at this view. The man still had that kind look on his face, but his instincts were telling him that this man was not a good person. 'Should I warn them both? I should warn them,'

He stood up and patted his back. The black sand stuck to his fingertips. He sniffed that too. It smelled earthy… and woody. It was kind of good.

He subtly plucked out a strand of grass and sniffed it again. 'If this place really is a game, why am I able to smell things? Is it a world of its own...'

The three had finished their emotional scene and were softly whispering to each other.

Two young men who had been watching them also joined them inquiring about the present predicament. The handsome man calmly answered all their questions with a kind smile.

"He is not a good man," Chu Siyan said loudly.

The two girls and two men froze, looking his way.

"He is not a good man," he repeated.

All his life, he had been a fish in an aquarium, but that doesn't mean he was alien to human emotions.

Weirdly so, he was perceptive of people's emotions ever since he was young. From the time his mother looked at him with subtle disgust as she said she loved him to the time his brother looked at him with a sad smile when he knew he will not live more than twenty years old… he looked through their lies.

The handsome man simply showed him a cordial smile. "I have experienced two worlds, young lady. It's not a joke. I'm not lying. I'm only trying to help you guys out,"

As soon as he said that, the four around him glared at him. "Why are you throwing mud at this brother? He has been nothing but kind. If you don't appreciate his kindness, then shut up," the long-haired girl said with a scoff.

"Yeah right. Shut up," the other two men chimed in.

Chu Siyan once again glanced at the handsome man. His smile was slightly twisted.

He did not bother warning them again. It was their fault for trusting a man like that.

Slowly he walked around. They were on the old dusty road beside a huge compound wall. There was only one single streetlight there that was blinking intermittently.

Chu placed a hand on the wall and sniffed it. There was a distinct smell of iron…

As he walked further, he noticed someone standing about close to the wall. His face hidden in the dark and only their body was visible.

One person was wearing a red shirt with distressed jeans. His white Nike's were stained with mud, but he didn't seem to bother with it as he fiddled with his phone.

A little further from him, he spotted another person.

The other man was wearing a white button-up, black pants and a long black trench coat. The first thing Chu Siyan noticed about him was his shoes. The place he was standing was muddy, but his shoes were super clean. It was odd. He squinted his eyes trying to get a look at his face.

A blaring alarm rang at that time.

Startled, he glanced back.

The gate had opened up, letting out a loud blaring alarm.

A weird trepidation arose in his heart as he watched the trench coat man and that red shirt walk in without a care in the world.

'If this is really a game world, what kind of game is this?'