Chapter 35

Chapter 35

The darkness in front of him suddenly shifted dramatically.

Ye Jishu instinctively closed his eyes to protect them from the sting.

Seconds later, he reopened his eyes.

A dense black mist swirled in the air before him.

But what caught his attention first wasn’t the eerie mist—it was the familiar figure standing right before him.

Yan Mei, standing just an arm’s length away, was quietly staring at him.

And on his body—something horrifying.

When Ye Jishu saw it clearly, his eyes widened, and all chaotic thoughts vanished.

What is this? What the hell is this...??

Even someone as detached as him felt struck, his mind blank, and he could only stare dumbfounded.

What the hell is this—

His mind was flooded with such sentences.

What is this—what the hell is this.

Is my brain messed up? Did I stay up too late? A stroke? Am I hallucinating?

The scene before him defied explanation as "novel plot" or "abnormality."

Yan Mei’s face remained stunningly beautiful.

His mere presence filled the space with infatuation, making one forget to breathe.

But in sharp contrast to his overwhelming beauty,

From behind him loomed a grotesque black shadow, twisting and enveloping his figure, evoking deep fear and disgust.

It was a monster cloaked in human skin.

Meanwhile, a thick black liquid writhed on the floor, rustling like dripping rain.

But countless tentacles, clinging tightly to the floor.

They slid, twisted, and swayed, some vanishing into Ye Jishu’s space.

Something foreign pressed against his lower back.

From their sliding and caressing, it was clearly the tentacles.

Humans don’t grow tentacles.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fool himself.

Even now.

The tentacles didn’t twist with his breathing, as if they were consciously caressing under his shirt.

Maybe it was because he had uncovered its true nature.

Under Ye Jishu's gaze, they grew even more excited, leaning toward wanton cruelty.

Though the tentacles weren’t directly linked to Yan Mei.

They reached out from every corner of the room, but the heart of this bizarre creature was undoubtedly Yan Mei.

Because where the tentacles ended.

Yan Mei was watching him.

His eyes held tenderness, and...

A hint of expectation.

No doubt, right now.

His full attention was on Ye Jishu, and even the tiniest movement wouldn’t escape his notice.

In the past, Ye Jishu would’ve noticed this.

But now, his mind was a jumbled mess, swamped with questions he couldn’t comprehend.

"This is a novel’s world, full of countless absurdities."

He’d always reassured himself of this.

"But—"

"Now, it’s completely shattered his psychological defenses."

To Ye Jishu, this was just a typical campus novel about a beloved character.

It was supposed to be normal, free of anything supernatural.

No matter how many glitches popped up, it couldn’t just shift to a horror setting.

Even in a game with wild twists, it was impossible.

But the truth was—

The tentacles creeping in from his coat’s hem, shirt collar, and even between the buttons left stinging marks on his skin.

Yan Mei had been acting off since earlier.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously took a step back.

Because of the backward movement, his elbow inadvertently touched something blocking his path, and the slippery sensation immediately crawled up his skin.

...He touched that tentacle. It felt like "flesh."

"This is real."

"Because if it were an illusion, it couldn’t be touched." He couldn’t keep lying to himself.

Ye Jishu looked up.

He was trying to grasp the reality he was in.

If he wasn’t seeing things.

From the black mist, countless eyeballs emerged.

Their lids fluttered open and shut, staring directly from every corner of the room.

They were just a step away from clinging to him, intimate and sticky.

They were all fixed on him.

Even as Ye Jishu breathed, they gurgled and turned, never letting him out of their sight.

As for Yan Mei—

Though he didn’t speak, his expression remained as gentle as ever.

But within the black mist and deep within those eyeballs...

Whispers of "Jishu, Jishu" echoed.

It was as if Yan Mei’s inner voice had been amplified endlessly, teetering between illusion and reality.

Their eyes met.

Ye Jishu’s heart stopped for a moment.

The tentacles around his ankles kept him from escaping, but the whispers were even more unnerving.

"Yan Mei... is watching me."

Why was Yan Mei watching him?

Was Yan Mei waiting for him to react? What was he supposed to do?

His thoughts were a jumbled mess.

Then, a voice broke the silence.

"Jishu."

As Yan Mei spoke, the eyeballs and tentacles creaked.

Yan Mei stepped closer.

"Do you see now?"

His voice was deliberately soft, gentler than ever, sending chills down Ye Jishu’s spine. "Jishu, this is the real me."

"The real... him?"

Ye Jishu froze.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away.

At first glance, it resembled the intricate patterns of countless butterfly wings.

But the thought that it was countless eyeballs would send shivers down his spine.

Absolutely horrifying, defying all logic.

Any sane person would definitely feel a nauseating vertigo upon seeing what was before their eyes.

Although Ye Jishu had played many action games with some disgusting scenes, after all, they were just games—no matter how terrifying, they were confined to screens, and could never appear in the real world... so it was irrelevant.

However—

These things.

Now they were actually appearing right beside him.

The visual impact they caused was completely beyond comprehension.

Only by witnessing them firsthand could one realize the eeriness and suffocating feeling.

So horrifying. So terrifying!

The brain really does have defense mechanisms.

Because Ye Jishu himself hadn’t thought that he could remain standing there, unfazed.

"I knew Jishu wouldn’t be like those dull, cowardly humans who would instantly tremble in fear and collapse screaming. Like that Professor Chen, I just appeared in front of him, and he already went crazy... so pathetically dull."

Yan Mei’s eyes gleamed with disdain and mockery.

However, when his gaze fell on Ye Jishu, the negativity on his face vanished instantly, replaced by pure adoration.

If Yan Mei could see his own expression in a mirror...

He would understand.

This was the look he often saw on others' faces, already hopelessly infatuated.

That pure, obsessive devotion was sickening.

But now, Yan Mei didn’t care whether he was the same as those humans.

So deeply in love...

A Jishu like this—he could never let go.

He couldn’t hold back any longer.

He reached out, took Ye Jishu’s hand, which hung limply at his side, and gently clasped it in his own.

As they held hands, the tentacles disappeared from Ye Jishu's body.

But because of this, a hollow emptiness washed over him.

All his focus was on their now-joined hands.

The other seemed to be in a good mood.

Ye Jishu's body still bore the red marks left by the tentacles' torment, and it itched slightly, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He stared blankly at Yan Mei, who appeared utterly content.

Yan Mei cradled each of his fingers in his palm, treating them like precious gems, gently massaging them. Every so often, Yan Mei would bring them to his lips, planting kiss after kiss.

The countless eyes around them continued to stare unblinkingly.

An overwhelming sense of shame washed over him, knowing all those eyes were on him.

"These eyes must be Yan Mei's too."

Ye Jishu's mind was completely filled with such thoughts.

Though his face remained blank, his thoughts were in complete disarray.

When common sense is shattered so abruptly, it's impossible to focus on what's happening right in front of you.

To Ye Jishu, Yan Mei's form was slowly fading into a blur.

"So, those strange things were monsters all along. They've been with me this whole time. I was never living a normal life."

This was the only explanation for the strange things pressing into his body and the sea of eyes floating in the air.

But that also meant—

Ye Jishu's breath quickened all at once.

A lump rose in his throat, his ears rang, and his heartbeat thundered in his chest.

Suddenly, the thought he'd been dodging crashed into his mind.

"Yan Mei is the monster standing right beside him."

The realization hit Ye Jishu like a punch.

More than the pounding in his head or the twitch in his eye, what hit him first was a fear so intense it numbed his fingertips.

Yan Mei was speaking, but the words barely registered.

"Jishu, you've never really known me. You just assumed I'd be loved by everyone because others said so—but you never stopped to ask if I even wanted that kind of love..."

"It doesn't matter how many people like me."

"Because all I want is for you to like me, Jishu."

Still panicking, Ye Jishu saw Yan Mei's hand move toward his cheek. He stumbled back, dodging the touch.

Yan Mei's hand hung frozen in the air.

"...You pulled away."

He stared at his hand, silent and unmoving.

Lost in thought.

His once-bright eyes darkened, turning shadowy as they fixed on Ye Jishu's face.

"Jishu...?"

Yan Mei called his name for the second time.

Ye Jishu's fingers twitched at his side.

He was wrestling with a huge internal struggle and didn’t respond right away.

The man in front of him lowered his gaze and said softly, "Jishu, again... you don’t want me to touch you, do you?"

"..."

"Just like at the aquarium, you avoided me."

His voice carried a hint of hurt.

Ye Jishu snapped out of it and instinctively wanted to explain, like he always did, not wanting to upset him.

"I..."

But his voice trailed off.

Because his eyes caught sight of the eerie eyeballs and black mist surrounding him.

"I didn’t—I didn’t mean it like that."

He only hesitated for a second.

But the person in front of him noticed his hesitation immediately.

When Yan Mei looked up again, the gloom on his face had lifted.

Instead, his dazzling face broke into a smile: "I get it. Of course... I get it. I’ll believe whatever Jishu says. You wouldn’t lie to me, right? You’re not afraid of me, are you? We made a promise, didn’t we? To always be together."

"...We did promise before."

"Then come here." Yan Mei stood still, his eyes locked on him. "Come here. I want Jishu to touch me."

He waited, patiently coaxing.

Because in the past, as long as the request wasn’t too much, Ye Jishu would always give in.

Even though he’d pulled away for now.

But Yan Mei knew he’d come around soon enough.

Because Jishu also liked him.

All he had to do was endure as he had done before—

In his sight, Ye Jishu's eyes seemed to waver, shaken for a moment, and then he suddenly made up his mind.

He raised his head and looked at Yan Mei.

"But we... we’re already broken up, aren’t we?"