Kira Star's Kiss of Death, Ruined World

Li Mo: "..."

To this, Li Mo remained unmoved. He dared not move. On his left was a rule, on his right was his fiancée. To abandon either one meant death. But it seemed that dying like this wasn't so bad. If he could fade away in this kind of life, he probably wouldn't be too unwilling.

But...

Li Mo thought of MEI, thought of his comrades who were still fighting in the native world. If he died just like that, MEI would definitely not deal with the Bizarre anymore. She was the kind of person who did what she said. The deadly oath she made was not just to warn him to be careful. She was rational enough to not care about the life and death of outsiders.

Elysia might not let the Bizarre spread, but her strength alone was ultimately limited. Without MEI's command and guidance, she would only be like a headless fly, wasting her own strength without any restraint. In the end, she would die in some paranormal incident...

Not to mention Pardofelis, a ticking time bomb that could explode at any time.

Hua was very obedient and would basically not disobey MEI's orders, and she also had Fenghuang Down to protect her life.

It seemed that the most perfect one was actually Mei. The Bizarre Mei was unwilling to come out, and even if it wasn't suppressed, it could be classified as a perfect containment stage.

"..."

Even if he wanted to go back, he couldn't. It was meaningless to think about these things.

Li Mo felt a little tired. He closed his eyes and drifted into dreamland in the warmth.

The room soon quieted down. The chandelier on the ceiling was always bright, illuminating the three sleeping faces, peaceful and serene.

Happiness unknowingly ran into every ray of warm light, faint and渺渺.

Li Mo's bedroom had become an absolutely safe sanctuary.

Such a peaceful life lasted for a full two years. At night, Seele would come to his room to sleep together, and Shigure Kira would stay by Li Mo's side to take care of him.

At twenty-two, Li Mo couldn't even lift his hand. His body was getting stiffer, like a deflated balloon, his life force constantly dissipating. No matter what method was used, it couldn't be stopped...

Shigure Kira was very anxious. Several times, she begged Cecilia to repeatedly release the zeroth-rated power of the Abyss Flower—the Century Orchid of the Holy Lance. But no matter which time, the result did not change. The Century Orchid only showed a state of being lost on Li Mo. The Key of Creation could not save Li Mo.

Shigure Kira entrusted Schicksal to bring various cutting-edge drugs, but they could only alleviate the symptoms and could not prevent the arrival of death.

Li Mo knew very well that his life was probably coming to an end. Except for thinking, he had to rely on Shigure Kira for everything an ordinary person could do.

Paralyzed, he had lost all ability to move. The only thing he could do every day was to stare at the window in a daze. No one knew what he was thinking.

Even Li Mo himself didn't know. His memory had become very bad. He would forget what he had thought of in the next second. Despite this, he had not forgotten the rule of staying with Seele at night.

He didn't know what would happen after he died, destruction, or peace... It didn't matter. He didn't have the ability to save, and it was meaningless to think too much.

Li Mo wanted to live, but he hadn't grasped the end of the cliff and had already fallen. He was just waiting for the moment he hit the ground and turned into a pile of rotten meat.

In the last year, the children in the orphanage had grown up. School was very busy, but there were not a few people who came to see Li Mo every day.

On the contrary, Cocolia from Anti-Entropy complained that the children didn't go to see her. What a bunch of bad children... there were only five days of school a week. Taking two or three days off, could they keep up with their studies? Did they make any close friends at school? Was the food in the cafeteria good? Was there someone in their hearts?

University admission notice? A prestigious university. From abroad? There should still be money in the card Cecilia gave, enough to support these children to go higher and further... but after I die, Kira will have to bear these debts alone.

Wasn't this... too unfair to Kira? Although it didn't matter if she didn't pay it back, Cecilia wouldn't care. But... a hot-blooded idiot wouldn't want to owe anyone anything.

Seele had also come. She and Bronya were about to graduate from high school and would have a coming-of-age ceremony in the orphanage.

I heard that Seele's grades were pretty good. It should be said that every child in the orphanage had good grades. Why? I don't know... I can't think...

Li Mo's eyes were hazy. His view of the surrounding environment and people was blurry. His eyesight had declined severely, and he had lost most of his ability to focus. Even so, he still tried very hard to see the faces of the people who came to see him. But he still couldn't see clearly, couldn't remember.

In his field of vision, there were only the twinkling stars in the distance, responding to him with the same gaze in the lonely night sky. This was probably the feeling of death, calm, cold, a void.

The color of the world was fading from brilliant to gray. No matter how beautiful a person was, no matter how beautiful a thing was, it would become pale and lifeless in the face of death.

So sleepy... I just slept a while ago... a while ago... how long was a while ago... I forgot. Was it an hour... or ten hours... my memory is so bad...sigh... did someone just come to see me... who?

The light above was on. Was it day, or night?

The door opened, someone came in. Was it Kira?

I don't know... I'll sleep. Maybe it's the last night...

Li Mo lowered his head in a daze, like a candle whose wick had burned out, only a withered corpse remaining in the world.

In the last moment of his passing, Li Mo seemed to hear... someone's cry... it was a cry... are you crying? Kira?

"Clang—!"

The cup of warm water fell to the ground, making a crisp sound. The pills were soaked by the warm water, but no one cared.

"Li Mo! Li Mo!"

Shigure Kira rushed forward and gently shook Li Mo's body. Li Mo did not react, not like he was asleep. His eyes were not completely closed. From the crack, you could see a turbid glass crystal and unfocused eyes that had completely lost their focus.

"..."

"..."

The room seemed very noisy, very boisterous. But it also seemed very quiet, with not a single sound reaching him.

Something cold flowed down his face, like tears.

"Don't die! Don't die! Don't go... don't leave me alone..."

The heart-wrenching cry finally became very weak, extremely hoarse, and even the cry became as pale as the life that was fading before her eyes.

Although this ending was destined, Shigure Kira had practiced it countless times in her heart, but when this day really came, she found that all the preparations were in vain.

Sadness is sadness. It will not disappear just because people deceive themselves. Her heart was as fragile as a cicada's wing. No matter how much she expressed her longing for the deceased, only dim, meaningless words remained.

Shigure Kira leaned down, her dry lips touching Li Mo's lips, once again offering the kiss of death.

To feed a ghost with one's body, to travel thousands of miles to the haunted house world to find her beloved. Just as Shigure Kira had promised Li Mo, she was willing to die for him.

Her almost broken voice whispered, "I love you."

This was the final farewell.

————

————

The gray sky was now extremely desolate. Smoke filled the air, the streets were deserted, and human limbs were scattered in the streets and alleys. Dense dust and a thick stench filled the air.

Under the dim sky, a strong smell of blood filled the air. A scarlet mist rose, and dense blood foam gathered, dyeing the smog red. From the dazzling sun in the sky, it could be seen that it was now daytime.

In the garbage heap, hyenas fought for some edible leftovers; in the abandoned buildings, black rats killed each other for shelter.

Flames still burned among the stones, as well as the flesh of the people who were still being burned.

Despair and ruin. These two words perfectly described this world. Modern buildings had collapsed, and the lost ruins were covered with moss and green plants, seeming to have been desolate for some time.

"..."

"Ngh..."

Li Mo opened his eyes and looked around in astonishment.

"Wasn't I in the orphanage? Where am I? Wait... I'm not in a wheelchair?"

Realizing this, Li Mo jumped on the spot and found that he had really recovered his ability to move. Li Mo clenched his fists and tried to punch the air in front of him. It was strong and powerful.

He had indeed fully recovered. He had the physical fitness of a normal adult, and he was currently in a complete living state. There was still no obvious contamination on his body that he could feel.

But...

"Bizarre Mei Left Hand."

Li Mo looked at his left hand. His skin was like condensed fat, with the texture and appearance of a girl's, which shocked Li Mo even more. Logically speaking, he should have lost his Bizarre Mei Left Hand. After all, he had abandoned that original body... and he was not in a state of first death... why?

"Is it a dream?... Obviously not."

The Bizarre Mei Left Hand was here. Li Mo could vaguely feel a weak Bizarre aura from it.

"Then where is this? It's like the end of the world. Wait, the end of the world?"

Li Mo suddenly woke up and immediately ran towards the orphanage.

His body was very agile. Even though Li Mo hadn't run for more than a decade, he only felt a little awkward. After running for a while, he completely adapted to his body.

He didn't know if it was good luck, but he was in Japan, not far from the orphanage.

Not long after, Li Mo arrived at the orphanage, but what he saw was a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life—

Rusty iron gates, spiderwebs covering the walls, and a blood-red mist. Some willow trees were planted on both sides of the gate, seemingly just planted, still small saplings.

At the entrance of the manor, Li Mo stood motionless, looked up at the blurry red mist, and the rusty air that filled the surroundings. The color of the red mist gradually changed to black mist as time went on. The blood foam in the air corrupted and turned into something with polluting properties.

"Ghost... house!"

Li Mo gritted his teeth and said this name.

What did the revival of the haunted house mean? No one inside survived. Then all the children...

Li Mo clenched his fists, his nails digging into the flesh of his palms. Bright red blood dripped from between his fingers to the ground. The moment it landed, it quickly disappeared, seeping into the soil, and the willow trees changed because of it, growing a little taller and lusher.

Unfortunately, Li Mo was so consumed by anger that he didn't notice the change beside him.

"Calm down... calm down..."

Li Mo tried his best to suppress his impulse. If he entered the haunted house now, he still couldn't break the fourth floor's level, nor could he save... the children.

The most important thing to do now was to find out why he had come here after he died, and the reason for the ruin of this world. As long as he figured out these two things, Li Mo would know why the orphanage had turned into a haunted house.

Li Mo walked away from the manor, but just as he was about to leave, he turned back and took a hard look at the haunted house. The lights on the fifth floor were still bright.

"I'll... be back!" Li Mo swore.

After leaving, Li Mo once again came to the city streets. The sight was desolate. There were traces of people, but no people could be seen.

Li Mo walked for a long time without finding a living person. Under the rubble, only a few rotten and gnawed-beyond-recognition arms proved that there were indeed living people.

"The signs of decay on the arms should be three days old. This person died three days ago."

"In other words, there were still living people in this world three days ago."

"But he couldn't have been the last living person in this world. I didn't find them just because they were all hiding. Why?"

Reason and emotion could not be completely separated. The moment Li Mo came to the inner world, reason began to return continuously. Until he made a choice, he would completely return.

Li Mo looked up at the dark sky, a thought came to his mind, and he wandered around. Finally, he saw the specific time in a school.

"8:57 PM, less than three minutes to nine o'clock."

Seeing this time, Li Mo could probably guess what was going on. The black mist would spread at eight o'clock, and the ghosts inside would become active. For living people, there was no way to deal with this kind of ghost that killed on sight. Although he hadn't seen a single ghost now, it didn't mean they didn't exist.

Or... Li Mo suspected that it was because of his special existence in both worlds that he couldn't see the ghosts, and the ghosts couldn't touch him. This was very likely the inner world. Only in this way could it explain why there was a world with the same fate but a different fate as the outer world.

"Just find a living person and ask. This is the fastest way."

Li Mo didn't hesitate and immediately set off to find a living person, because ghosts would appear in the black mist after nine o'clock. Li Mo wasn't sure if he could be attacked by ghosts in his current state, but compared to putting himself in danger, it was obviously more cost-effective to ask the locals.

Li Mo ran for a minute and found that there was not a single light in the city.

"That's right. If the people in this world have experienced the paranormal world, they would know that turning on the lights at night is like putting up a lighthouse in the vast sea. Ghosts and dirty things will come looking for you from the darkness."

"So if there are still living people in this world, they must have seen ghosts before."

In an instant, Li Mo turned back uncontrollably. His gaze converged on a junior high school a thousand meters away.

Li Mo: "..."

The return of the Bizarre Mei Left Hand had already proved that this body was his original body. And on Mount Taixuan, Li Mo had briefly obtained Bizarre power using "Usurp." But at the same time, he had also paid an irreversible price, permanently acquiring the original rule of the Bizarre.

He would be attracted by the sudden light in the darkness. And the deeper the contamination on his body, the more serious this situation would be. A light a thousand meters away could not be seen with the naked eye, because there were still layers of buildings blocking the view.

But ghosts were different. Unless you hid in a place like a room or a bed with the ability to separate space, otherwise the ghosts could see you at a glance.

What was blocked by walls or other things was only the human's line of sight, and could not block the "eyes" of the ghosts.

"Run over," Li Mo frowned.

Since he could notice it, it meant that the impending ghost had also noticed it. That position had already been exposed. If the people inside couldn't move in time, when the ghost appeared in the black mist at nine o'clock sharp, they would have no chance to escape.

"One minute, one thousand meters..."

Li Mo was silent for a while, touched a few familiar spaces on his body. The Bizarre handgun and notebook were still there. Using the Bizarre handgun was too wasteful, but now he had no choice but to save people.

"Bang!"

A loud gunshot echoed through the black mist. The spreading black mist suddenly began to retreat, the time rewinding to 8:57. Li Mo stood under the school clock.

First death—his physical fitness increased dramatically, Li Mo's eyes became cold, and his pupils began to contract.

He rushed out in a single bound, running towards the place where the light had appeared in his memory. One thousand meters, three minutes. Even a normal person could do it, but what Li Mo had to do was not to run to the destination in exactly three minutes, but to run there within three minutes and take the people away from the original place as much as possible.

Explaining and transferring all took time, so the time left for Li Mo to run over was actually not much. The faster the better.

The first death could reach the limit of a human, but with the support of the Bizarre Mei Left Hand, Li Mo could still exceed this limit.

Li Mo ran all the way and arrived at the junior high school where the light had appeared in his memory, but it was not the junior high school where the children were, but the school next door. Li Mo wasn't sure how much time he had spent, but it shouldn't be too long, because he hadn't seen the light flash this time.

Suddenly, a faint candlelight lit up on the top floor of the dormitory building, and then quickly went out. Li Mo's eyes narrowed. It was too slow to climb the stairs at this height. By the time he got up, it would be almost nine o'clock.

He could only be a little extreme.

He stepped on the protrusions and pipes on the wall, like a flexible squirrel. Li Mo quickly jumped to the window on the top floor.

His eyes after the first death could see things in the darkness. The people inside were motionless. Perhaps they thought he was a ghost and dared not make a sound.

A four-person room, three students, not very reasonable. There was not much time left for Li Mo to judge whether the three people were living people. Perhaps there was a ghost among them.

But the ghosts in the haunted house world were relatively weak before they ate people. Even if there was a ghost among the three, it didn't matter. The Bizarre handgun could suppress it.

"Crack—!"

The glass shards fell from the high altitude. Li Mo smashed the locked window with one punch and then entered. After a glance, he said coldly, "Leave this place. It's already exposed."

As his voice fell, he saw no movement from the three people for a long time.

Hmm, very cautious. They didn't trust anyone who suddenly appeared, because the other party's appearance was very likely a ghost luring living people into a trap.

But Li Mo didn't have the patience to wait for them to come around. He decisively took out his gun and fired a shot at the window outside.

"I can see you. I don't know if the ghosts will kill you, but if you don't come with me, I will kill you."

Sure enough, after seeing Li Mo shoot, the three people finally walked out cautiously from the dark corner, looking at Li Mo in fear.

"Go to the rooftop."

Li Mo commanded, not taking the main door. He kicked down the wall next to him and walked out from the defect. The three people behind him were baffled and silently followed Li Mo.

The group came to the rooftop. Li Mo didn't have a phone with him. He didn't know where it had fallen, but it wasn't important. Now what he needed to do most was to ask these three what had happened in this world.

It was night, the evening wind was chilling, like a bone-scraping knife cutting the skin and bones, cold and biting.

Li Mo walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked down. The black mist was gathering purposefully downstairs, and then gradually spread into the room where the three people had been.

The three people who had been saved also walked to Li Mo's side.

When they saw the flickering human figures in the black mist inexplicably floating up, their bodies went limp and they took several steps back in fear.

"Ghosts, ghosts are here! We clearly didn't trigger the rule, how could it be, it can't be... it can't be!"

"Look clearly! We're fine. The ghost went into our dormitory just now. It should have been attracted by the light source."

One of the three broke down, while another comforted her teammate with reason.

There was still one person who said nothing and walked to Li Mo and bowed respectfully to thank him.

"Thank you for saving us."

After listening to the conversation of the three, Li Mo roughly sorted out his thoughts. They did know about ghosts and rules, but it was difficult for ordinary people to survive if they were involved in a paranormal incident, let alone survive with a burden.

Li Mo held up three fingers, "I have three questions for you. You need to answer them truthfully."

"First, how did you know that triggering a ghost's rule would lead to being killed by a ghost, for example, suddenly turning on the lights would attract a ghost."

The junior high school student looked at Li Mo in confusion, seeming to be very puzzled as to why Li Mo would ask this well-known rule. After all, there were countless bloody facts before them. Turning on the lights in the dark would lead to being killed.

But out of respect for her savior, she still answered truthfully.

"Because there are too many things like this. It happens in reality and on the internet."

"It all started on October 18th of last year... that day, many people all over the world died. The internet was full of information about dead people. Later, people all over the world deduced that 'being alone' would lead to death."

"But before we knew this rule, many people had already died. It's not clear how many, but everyone in the school was fine. No one was alone, so many people survived."

"After that day, ghosts would appear at night, and people who got close to them would be killed. People who made faces or played pranks on others would be killed no matter where they were. And the range was very large. It seemed that anyone who had done this within a year would be targeted by a ghost."

"The ghost has another killing rule, which is a game. What I said before was not accurate. I said that if a ghost gets close to a person, it will kill them. There is actually another precondition."

"That is the game of red light, green light. As long as you escape their sight when the ghost is not moving, you will be fine. If you fail in this game, you will be tortured to death, which is more painful than being killed directly..."

"Being killed by turning on the lights is because we saw someone turn on the lights in a residential building not far away, and then a ghost went there and killed the whole family... if you open your phone now, you should be able to see similar cases."

"But what we didn't know was that the ghost would only go to the place where the light was on. Thank you."

The girl bowed again to express her gratitude.

Li Mo lowered one finger and asked the second question, "Second, why did you turn on the lights? Don't tell me it was an accident. Since you know the ghost's killing rule, then turning on the lights in the dark means you are looking for death."

Behavior needs a reason. From the reason, you can deduce many conclusions, for example... whether the person in front of you has a living person's thinking. Although nine o'clock had already passed and the three of them did not show any signs of turning into ghosts, Li Mo still had to verify it.

The girl hesitated for a moment, and glanced at her classmate who was sitting on the ground, holding her head in her hands.

"Actually, we didn't want to light the candle..."

Li Mo interrupted her, "I understand. Now I want to ask you the third question."

The reason they lit the candle was also very simple. It was because someone couldn't stand the despair and oppressive atmosphere and did something crazy. Pressure can bring motivation, and it can also crush the last psychological defense of a human.

So there were still survivors in this world, but they were all hiding. This was a—world-scale "hide-and-seek." Through the internet, everyone exchanged information and quickly understood many rules. There were ghosts in the black mist, and after nine o'clock, you would surely die in the black mist.

Being alone meant death.

Pretending to be a ghost, playing pranks meant death.

"Third, do you know a girl named Seele Vollerei? She is seventeen now, very tall, with long blue-black hair, very beautiful and gentle."

Li Mo briefly described Seele's appearance, but the girl shook her head, saying she didn't know. Of course, Li Mo didn't have much hope. He was just asking casually.

After all... the witch in the fairy tale was only exposed on the last day, but by then, only the prince and princess were left.

"Being alone," "pretending to be a ghost and playing pranks," "hide-and-seek and red light, green light"... then this world should now be in the third day stage. There wasn't much time left for Li Mo.

The reason for the ruin of the world was almost found. Then what was left was the confusion of why he had come here.

Li Mo closed his eyes and thought.

He had died at the age of twenty-two, but because his consciousness was blurry, he couldn't tell whether it was day or night.

Wait... Li Mo suddenly opened his eyes and said to himself, "I can tell. The light on the roof is on. Kira won't turn on the lights during the day." He had privately told Kira everything, including not turning off the lights at night and not letting Seele leave. So once the light was on, it was night, definitely not day.

Since it was night, the problem was with the latter point.

Was Seele in that room? Li Mo tried hard to recall... in his mind, he could only recall a hoarse voice...

"Don't die! Don't die!"

"Don't go... don't leave me alone..."

"I love you."

"..."

"Hey, big brother, why are you blushing?" the girl suddenly asked.

"You're mistaken," Li Mo coughed lightly and pulled his thoughts back.

There was only Shigure Kira's voice in the room. Seele was not there. Seele was seventeen this year, and her coming-of-age ceremony would be held soon on October 18th.