The day was now over.
The once bustling streets were now quiet, and the summer heat was gone.
What remained was the cold, low glow of the moon.
I sat on the curb, waiting for Grandma Guanhuai. After all, she was the one who had the key to her house.
...Where is she? This place...seriously gives me the creeps at night.
I thought about my encounter with those thieves, which had felt so long ago, but was actually just yesterday.
I slowly packed up the foldable shelf, picking up Grandma Guanhuai's poorly made sign along with it, and leaned everything against the side of the front door.
I'd rather wait in the small alleyway than out on the streets again.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood as the wind started to pick up.
My hair lightly flowed along the breeze, and I touched the rim of my nose.
It was an unfamiliar feeling.
Uncomfortable, even.
Because it wasn't my nose.
I wasn't Yinuo anymore, I was Hanzhi.
Perhaps it was because of all the life and death situations I had been through, but I was just now given the time to process what was happening.
That I would never see my parents again.
That I would never feel my old face again.
That no one would call me Meng Yinuo again.
Wow...I'm...so fucking stupid...
I was dropped into a world, a world where all the odds were stacked against me.
Maybe it was because I knew the game, so I was excited when I first came here, but is my life any better?
"..."
But I guess thinking about the past won't help either.
I needed to plan.
A way to survive.
I have to get my act together before the main game starts.
And that first step is to find out what the hell's going on here.
I had decided to try to organize my thoughts on Hanzhi's phone.
[Notes App]
[Grandma Guanhuai- what's up with her???]
[How does that Granny gather her ingredients? Suspicious. Why was it never mentioned in-game?]
[Weird table shaking, then stopping. Fog coming out of nowhere. Actual witch??!]
[Waitress - what's her name? Why did she cry? - Don't think I ever saw her in game]
[How did I get here? Why? What happened to my old body?]
[Where is the original Hanzhi?]
[Why was there an unmapped corridor in the Wen's household? Definitely wasn't in the game before]
There were so many questions, yet so few answers.
Organizing everything is the first step to finding the answers...I should stay positive.
Before I knew it, I had already made a plan as to what I would do tomorrow.
First, I need to get to the pawn shop and sell off all my goods. I'll get there early in the morning, and I'll be back at eight, which still gives me a lot of time to sell all of Grandma Guanhuai's potions.
I'll make sure to close up shop quickly, and I'll head to that restaurant, where the waitress is...I'll find out her name then.
Geez, it's sure been a while since I planned out my schedule for the day. How long has it been? Since high school, maybe?
I patted myself on the back, shamelessly proud of something that many probably saw as insignificant.
The light breeze had started to turn into a chilly one, as I held my knees to my chest for warmth.
Ugh, where is that damn Granny? I'm freezing out here!... I should've brought a jacket or something.
"...She's taking too long...should I go and see what's happening?"
I decided to get up and check around the block.
Just as I thought that, an ear-piercing scream was heard ringing throughout the block.
"AhHgHGHAHghHHHHH"
What the hell?
Stuffing my phone into my pocket, I immediately ran over to where the sound was coming from.
The sound seemed to be coming from just at the end of the block.
I quickly slowed down my pace and leaned my back against the wall just outside the alleyway, trying to make as little sound as possible.
I couldn't see anything, but there were obvious sounds of struggling, except it now sounded super muffled. Like multiple people trying to fight with a gag in their mouth.
"Ya boys really thought ya could take me on, just cause I'm a granny, eh? WELL, YA SURE ARE WRONG. REAL WRONG."
...Grandma Guanhuai?
"HmmhmmHmm!"
Muffled sounds were heard, then suddenly, something was violently thrown against the concrete walls.
The sound of shattering bones rang like a siren into my ears.
"No, no, no, ye don't get ta speak no more, because of ye, half of my ingredients are gone. How are ya'll going to pay me back, BECAUSE YOU SURE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY IF YER STEALING FROM AN OLD GRANDMA."
My hand was tightly covering my mouth, with my heart beating so loud that I was scared she could hear it.
Throughout my gameplay and even with my actual time with her, I had never seen Grandma Guanhuai like this.
Every word she spoke felt like it was being engraved into my bones.
It was petrifying.
Should I leave? No, I need to leave. Right now. I...I have to pretend I didn't see anything. Right. I didn't see a single thing. Nothing at all.
I quietly turned around, using the walls as a support, and just as I was out of hearing distance, I sprinted, running as fast as I could.
But I must have run too fast, too much for Hanzhi's body to handle, as my legs suddenly hit the ground at the wrong angle, ending with my body scraping across the sidewalk.
"Aghh, shit-"
I hastily covered my mouth, but it was already too late.
It was like I was right next to the sun.
Everything burned, as sweat came down from every pore in my body, and my mind went blank.
I slowly turned around.
There, just barely illuminated by the moonlight, stood Grandma Guanhuai's shadowed figure.
"...G-Grandma-"
I could feel the wind get knocked out of me as something was tightly wrapped around my ankle, pulling me straight towards Grandma Guanhuai.
I tried grabbing onto anything, the walls, pavement, edges-
Anything.
But everything was in vain, as whatever grabbed me threw my entire body right at the feet of Grandma Guanhuai.
"G-Grandma-I...I-"
I'm going to die...
I'M GOING TO DIE.
I'M GOING TO DIE.
I'M GOING TO DIE.
I could feel the sensation of vomit about to come out of my esophagus.
"YOU....oh, oh my lords! What are ya doing here, boy?!"
I hazily looked up, just to be met with Grandma Guanhuai's confused face.
"Oh, oh my god, please, p-please don't kill-"
I barely huffed out those words before I puked all over the ground, arms shaking as I tried to carry my weight.
I could feel a pair of arms pat my shoulders as I was violently shaking on the ground.
"...Ya alright now? Y'know, I ain't gonna hurt ya, if that's what yer scared of."
"...hah...ha...ah..."
Every breath I took felt sharp and cold.
What's happening? Is she not going to…
I turned my head around, now being able to see the alleyway.
A group of men were sitting there, tied up and gagged with what seemed to be like crackling purple flames.
Magic? No, it was definitely magic.
I looked back at Grandma Guanhuai.
Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her nose was slightly scrunched up.
"Hey, kiddo, I…"
She paused for a moment, looking at my face, seemingly to see how I was taking things, before she then continued on.
"…I didn't mean to hurt ya. It was dark, didn't realize it was ya, and thought ye were a no good thief too."
"…"
She hesitantly looked back at the thieves before looking back at me.
"Ya should head inside, ya need any help? I'll bring ya some-"
"Do…do you know magic?"
Before I could even think about it, I just blurted it out.