Kisaragi Station || Apocalypse Paradise #3

184: Why You Shouldn't Trespass onto Private Propert

During winter, do you feel scared when putting on a sweater?

Consider the brief instant as the thick sweater engulfs your head, and just before your head pops through the collar, all you see are the dark outlines within. In that moment, you're blind to your surroundings, oblivious to anyone who might be standing nearby.

Lin Sanjiu hadn't thought she'd find such a simple act as donning a sweater to be frightening. Yet, here she was, feeling a surge of fear, just twenty minutes after stepping off the train.

—

From the train station's public square, Lin Sanjiu glimpsed a mountain veiled in white mist in the distance. Its greenish silhouette barely discernible, the mountain seemed far from the station. Bamboo Grove Mountains, a known tourist spot, buoyed numerous small enterprises. Outside, motorbikes lay scattered haphazardly. Nearby, convenience stores and kiosks stood with doors ajar, showing signs of being ransacked, with scant goods remaining. Amidst the older, modest buildings, several new hotels stood out, marking the neighborhood's ordinary yet contrasting landscape in the small city.

The eerie encounter at Mausoleum Elementary School had profoundly affected her. Navigating the square with caution, Lin Sanjiu breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming the absence of others. As her tension eased, the biting cold became more pronounced, painfully seeping into her skin.

"I need to find some clothes fast; this cold is making it hard to think," Lin Sanjiu muttered, rubbing her arms for warmth. The vests she wore, orange-red and made of poor-quality fabric, were thin and did little to shield her from the cold. The material seemed designed to be uncomfortably cool in winter and overly warm in summer.

Seeking shelter, she sprinted into the nearest building, an old red brick structure with a large metal door. To a posthuman, the door might as well have been plastic. After activating her [Mosaic Censorship] ability a few times and blasting through a few doors, she found herself in someone's home.

The place clearly didn't belong to a well-off family, with yellowed floor tiles, cramped rooms, and clotheslines strewn across the living room. There were clean clothes on the clothesline that were already dry. Lin Sanjiu hadn't expected to find suitable attire so soon, but a closer look at the clothes left her disappointed.

"Was this family washing their summer clothes?" Lin Sanjiu pondered, puzzled by the array of singlets and shorts, with not a single piece suitable for warmth. The dirt and disarray around her discouraged further exploration for clothes. She turned and walked to the neighbor's apartment.

With a few targeted moves, she broke the lock on the door. The fragments fell to the ground, their clatter echoing through the building. With the door unlocked, it creaked open.

This apartment was noticeably cleaner and more inviting, with clothes scattered throughout, suggesting a lived-in warmth. Upon entering, Lin Sanjiu made a beeline for the bedroom, where she found two large closets, just as she had anticipated. One was filled with summer attire, and the other with winter garments, all neatly arranged. However, Lin Sanjiu soon sighed.

Surveying the wardrobe, Lin Sanjiu realized she was looking at a collection meant for the elderly, with both men's and women's clothing far too large for her frame. The winter coats, in particular, were adorned with bold red and green peony prints, clearly indicating they belonged to an older couple.

For Lin Sanjiu, who once prided herself on her fashion sense, the prospect of wearing these garments was less than appealing. Yet, with the cold wind biting at her exposed arms, causing them to numb, she was running out of options.

"Forget it; it's okay," she decided, grabbing the vests. "Being warm matters most. I can change later if I find something else." The thought crossed her mind to convert more clothes into cards, but she dismissed it. After searching for some time, she finally found a plain black sweater. Impatiently, she shoved her arms through its sleeves, intending to swiftly pull it over her head.

As she bent to navigate the sweater over her head, a pair of feet in worn cloth shoes appeared before her, just beyond her Timberland boots.

Someone was standing right in front of her.

Trapped in the sweater's sleeves, Lin Sanjiu's upper body was vulnerable. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't make a sound. Frantically, she jerked her arms apart, tearing the black sweater in half. With her vision cleared, she stood frozen, brows furrowed—no one was there. On the floor lay a pair of green cloth shoes—but she didn't remember them being there before she entered the room.

She hated this feeling.

"What the hell is wrong with this world?" She had been here less than a day, yet the number of shocks she received was nearly on par with all her experiences in the previous two worlds combined. "Even though there's no one here, why is it so eerie?"

Her numerous close calls with death had fortified her, but even that hard-earned courage struggled to soothe her nerves now. Seizing the thickest jacket, she wrapped it around herself and, almost reflexively, skirted the pair of old cloth shoes before hurrying towards the main door.

Reaching the main door, she hesitated, reminded that the apartment belonged to an elderly couple, which meant they might have antique items. Among these was a simple Chinese almanac calendar, which hadn't seen people using for a long time. The old couple probably tore off a page of that calendar every day, leaving a thick stack of torn pages.

It was nothing extraordinary, yet Lin Sanjiu found herself drawn to a detail on the calendar. The first visible page read, "30 May, Saturday."

Running her fingers over the paper, she noticed the dust layer was surprisingly thin, suggesting no more than a month had passed since that date.

"It's summer?" The realization struck her as she glanced at the thick, floral-patterned cotton-padded jacket she was wearing.

Climate shifts weren't unheard of in apocalyptic worlds, but apart from the unsettling episode at Mausoleum Elementary School, everything here seemed unsettlingly normal. Such a drastic drop in temperature didn't fit the narrative of an apocalypse-triggering event. Puzzled, Lin Sanjiu couldn't fathom the reason behind this sudden chill.

Lin Sanjiu felt an urgent need to leave the apartment, a flicker of suspicion crossing her mind. She quickly made her way back to the passageway and exited through the metal door. Despite the fog, the gentle sunlight outside offered a measure of comfort.

She spoke to herself encouragingly, "I think I should find a safe shelter to stay in right then. Fourteen months will go by quickly."

Clad in her flowery jacket, Lin Sanjiu paused to think for a moment before heading towards the hotels. Unbeknownst to her, the green cloth shoes back in the room had shifted their position, now pointing towards the door.