Ren's black eyes glowed mischievously in the dim red light as he followed the passengers who were walking forward. They passed through the black gate in slow steps.
The black gate creaked close before suddenly vanishing behind them, swallowed by the thick fog from earlier.
Ren's eyebrows automatically raised as he watched it happen. It was just like in those horror films. 'Cute,' he thought with a small smile on his lips.
He then looked forward, his eyes focusing on the beautiful Paifang, which stood proud as ever. He fastened his pace until he was at the center of the group. Not too far back and not too forward. Just enough to get a clearer glimpse of the archway.
There were Chinese characters at the very center and top of the paifang. The calligraphy was emboldened with bright golden colors. Ren couldn't figure out its meaning, so he could only shift his gaze to the animals beyond the archway. He can hear the others gasping and choking for air.
To be fair, the walking animals looked so weird and eerie that their hairs on their skins automatically stood up. Like an uncanny valley.
"Ugh, my stomach feels like it's twisting already. I want to vomit."
"Fuck, I can't believe I'm seeing a goat walking on hind legs. Damn, it's even carrying a paper bag."
"It's so weird. So scary. Let's get out of here, please."
"How? We can't turn back now."
The whispers died down as the office worker from before stepped a few more steps forward so that almost everyone could see him.
"Everyone, attention here," he said in a loud voice, but not loud enough for the animals to hear him. He raised his hand to point at himself. "My name's Jun, and I worked as a director of an advertising company. I'm 35 years old," Jun introduced himself in a firm voice. "I hope you don't mind me stepping up in this kind of situation."
"No, brother! It's even better. Thank you so much."
"Right, we should unite as one. Let's survive together!"
"We support you, Mr. Jun!"
Jun's lips stretched into a wide grin. "Thank you. It's my pleasure to be of use to this group." He paused to look at each and every one of them. "I have a proposal to make."
The passengers stared at him in confusion.
This prompted him to continue what he was saying. "If it's fine with you, I think it's better if we would pair ourselves into two. This way, the danger of being alone can be addressed. Also, if we stay in bigger groups, the possibility of being discovered by the beasts might increase significantly."
Ren nodded his head in agreement. Jun's proposal wasn't bad at all. 'However...'
"But we're all 27, right? How about the remaining one?"
Everyone chattered at that. Some immediately tagged the closest person to them to make sure that they wouldn't venture into China Town alone.
Of course, Ren wasn't an exception. There's no fun in touring alone!
And so, he scanned the people around him. His dark eyes landed on a teenage boy who was quietly standing at the far end of the group, wearing a white hoodie and sucking on a lollipop with a nonchalant expression in his face. Ren's interest was piqued.
Striding through the small crowd, he swung his arm over the young man's shoulder, pulling him closer to himself. "Hey, let's be partners!" Ren took the initiative to talk first.
"Don't wanna," the boy replied, swatting Ren's arm away from his shoulder. "You look sick."
Ren tilted his head at the remark. He pointed to himself. "Me?"
"Yes. You look sick in the head," the boy mercilessly answered back, inserting both of his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. "Stay away from me. I don't like hanging out with salarymen like you." Then he started walking away.
Ren couldn't help but look down on himself. Seeing his body wearing the typical tucked-in white shirt, black pants, and black shoes, he instinctively grimaced. Perhaps the body he transmigrated into was also a salaryman. Jun's kin.
"Why? What's with salarymen?" Ren asked in confusion, walking along with the teenager. 'Were they really 'that' bad? Like, badder than me?' he added in his mind out of wonder.
The young boy turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. "Stop following me," he warned with sharp eyes.
'Heh, as if that would scare me, kid,' Ren taunted in his head.
A sly smirk appeared on his face. "You're acting like an emo boy right now."
It seemed as though what he said flicked on the wrong switch in the teenager's temper. Ren was so surprised when he was suddenly kicked in the balls.
"Fuck!" Ren cursed in horror as he dodged the shameless foot of the youngster. He glared at the culprit. "Hey! I'm trying to be friendly here!" 'Even though I'm not really into friendships! Just appreciate my efforts, okay?!' He wanted to add that too, but he knew he shouldn't. It would only be the cause of another problem, for sure.
The teenager sneered at him. "See? All salarymen are like this! They would persistently follow you until they got what they wanted! You're going to use me as a meat shield, don't you?" He then pointed at Ren accusingly.
"What? No," Ren responded while shaking his head. "I'm not in my villain era anymore. I just want to play around and find companions along the way," he added with a shrug.
The young man squinted his eyes at Ren first before he huffed in defeat. He could only pray that this man in front of him wouldn't put him in danger. "Fine. Just don't think that I'll use myself as a sacrifice to save you, okay? If anything happens, know that I will save myself first!"
"Okay." Ren nodded with a thumbs up.
Heh, what 'not in my villain era anymore'? He will forever be a villain, through and through! Ren was sincerely amused at the high school student's bull's-eye guess about Ren using him as a meat shield. There was really a possibility of him doing that. Maybe about fifty percent.
Hey, at least he gave the kid fifty percent leeway for survival!
"I'm Jiro," the teenager introduced himself casually, nibbling on his lollipop with a blank expression. "What's yours?" His eyes flicked back to Ren.
Ren reached out his hand for a simple handshake. "I'm Ren."
"I don't do handshakes," Jiro refused, turning his back on Ren.
Ren's lips and eyebrows twitched. 'Just you wait, kid. I'm going to throw you to the beasts later,' his mind churned with dark thoughts as he faked a smile. He moved his hand back to his pocket as if nothing embarrassing had happened.
He only picked up this Jiro as his partner because he's not really that dumb based on Ren's radar—who was prone to dumb people like the hero in his past life. Ren was also sure that despite this Jiro being insanely intuitive, he's not really capable of outsmarting Ren just yet.
Ren was confident that he could use Jiro as not just a companion in touring China Town but also someone he could utilize in surviving through the instance.
"Do all of you have a partner now?" Jun asked in the midst of the chaos happening at the moment. At the sudden announcement, everyone scrambled and begged for someone to take them.
For Ren, it was so fascinating that a small smile formed in his lips, paired with his glinting black eyes. 'So it's true, huh? "Humans are social animals by nature" and would always crave company rather than isolation, especially when their survival is at stake.' He assessed the situation in his head with a hint of astonishment at his realizations, as if he wasn't a human himself.
Perhaps he considers himself an alien. Who knows what a villain thinks?
After taking his precious time to watch desperate people do their thing in order to survive, Ren finally decided to shift his gaze to his partner. His eyebrows automatically raised in surprise as his eyes were met with Jiro's suspicious stare.
"Why are you smiling?" Jiro asked with squinted eyes, his lips pursing in alertness. "You're really sick in the head, aren't you?"
Ren's eyes curled into crescents as he burst out laughing at the teenager's sudden question. He placed his arm around Jiro's neck, hooking him closer to his body so that no one would hear what he was going to say next.
"Jiro, Jiro, Jiro... You already knew I was sick, but you still took the risk in keeping me by your side, yeah? Sigh... You're very contradictory." Ren dramatically shook his head as he dragged Jiro along with him to the center of the group, back in his position before he found the young man. "Don't worry, though. As of now, I don't have any plans to do bad things to you. Calm down."
"As of now..." Jiro echoed in a daze. His face paled at the hint that Ren dropped for him. "You..." His mouth opened and closed alternately, but no words came out of it. His complicated look and expression towards Ren brought great amusement to the former antagonist.
Ren laughed. "Don't overthink it. Just be obedient to me and I'll spare you. Come, come, we're going inside the town now."
Jiro could only helplessly let the salaryman drag him along. He wanted to grab the nearest person to him and tell them to exchange partners with him, but everyone ignored him. Probably because they thought he already had his own pair who were latching onto him at the moment.
"Do all of you have a partner now?" Jun repeated his question earlier.
"Me! I don't have a pair, sir!" A teenage girl raised her hand. They could clearly see how the raised hand trembled so much from nervousness.
Jun glanced at the high school student before he pointed at himself. "Then you'll come with me. A group of three wouldn't be bad enough," he said, prompting the girl to shakily run towards him.
Everyone grumbled in their thoughts. The girl actually got lucky and became a teammate with that cool salaryman! If only they did not find their partners quick...
Alas, they couldn't turn back the time. It was also Jun's fault for not saying what would happen to the remaining person who did not get a partner!
Ren only whistled in delight as he put all of his weight on the slender shoulder beside him. Jiro grunted for a moment before he became silent again. The 'uncool' salaryman was satisfied with Jiro's submission.
"Now that the matter's been settled, let's proceed. The moment we enter the archway, I'm pretty sure the three-minute timer will automatically start. In those three minutes, immediately run and find a good place to hide! Think of your own strategy, understood?" Jun stated with hands on his waist.
"We got it, sir!"
'That was very 'director' of you, sir,' Ren praised with a clap in his head. He then tilted his head to look at the young man standing next to him like a stiff tree. "Hey, did you hear him?"
"Yes!" The brat still had the guts to answer him with a glare. Seeing that Ren was staring at him intently, his scowling face softened before he repeated, "Yes..."
Ren raised an eyebrow first before nodding his head. "Good. Then I'll be the one in charge of our strategy. Just follow me. No questions asked."
"Okay." Jiro's short answer almost came out as a whisper, but a hint of grievance could be heard from it if you listen closely. He was feeling indignant, after all. Imagine yourself becoming the lackey of a psycho! It doesn't feel good at all!
Ren and Jiro looked up at the paifang as they slowly strutted forward. When they finally stepped beyond the archway, Jiro suddenly felt a strong tug at his neck, followed by a swift motion of being dragged away along the stone pavements. His legs almost couldn't keep up with the unbelievable speed of the salaryman who was holding him.
'Shouldn't a salaryman like you be slow and unhealthy, ah?!'