DIM Chapter 1

4 AM, Binxi Road.

The dim, warm glow of streetlights illuminated small patches of the asphalt, standing like silent sentinels along the deserted road, stretching into the distance.

Suddenly, the farthest light flickered rapidly before extinguishing completely.

An invisible hand seemed to sweep through the air, snuffing out one light after another, drawing closer.

The darkness advanced, and only then did the sound of bulbs shattering reach the ears.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The streetlights elongated the shadow of a figure.

“He” was covered in a layer of sturdy scales, two slender, jointed limbs moving rapidly. Fine, dense hairs covered his body, and two antennae beside his mouthparts trembled with each breath, dripping thick, red liquid that pooled into a bottomless black puddle on the ground.

He bent slightly, glancing behind him.

The wail of sirens grew louder, rapidly approaching.

“Attention, individual ahead! You have been targeted. Cease resistance immediately! Failure to comply will result in severe consequences!”

“Attention, individual ahead…”

The loudspeaker on the lead vehicle blared on repeat. From the car, a dark gun barrel emerged, its hollow muzzle pointed directly at him.

Rat-tat-tat! The gunfire echoed across the sky.

Shell casings clattered to the ground, only to be mercilessly crushed under the wheels of the following vehicles.

The humanoid creature’s face twisted into something resembling a sneer.

Instead of fleeing, he turned and stood boldly in the middle of the road.

Boom!

A massive missile struck him head-on, and his figure vanished into the cloud of dust. A towering flame erupted into the sky.

The siren stopped, and three vans screeched to a halt, tires grinding against the asphalt. Over a dozen fully armed black-clad officers poured out, forming a tactical formation, their eyes wary as they stared in the direction of the monster.

Before they could act, a young officer’s body suddenly convulsed. His pupils dilated, and he collapsed to the ground, blood splattering in twisted arcs across the road.

The monster stood behind him, grinning, his crimson eyes darting around.

It was the gaze of a predator.

Many of the officers froze, unable to react.

The gruesome sight of their fallen comrade stirred unease among the ranks.

Rat-tat-tat! Gunfire erupted sporadically, met with screams of agony.

One by one, bodies fell. Some dropped their weapons and scrambled away, but escape was impossible.

This monster was far more dangerous than they had anticipated!

After the final scream, Chen Yi tossed aside the human in his grasp, his bloodshot eyes rapidly darting in all directions. The two dark holes where his nose should be exhaled hot air.

He was far from satisfied.

Since gaining his supernatural abilities, Chen Yi could leap hundreds of meters, his senses heightened to an extreme, and bullets could no longer catch him. But his craving for flesh had also reached its peak.

He straightened up, his gaze locking onto a slender figure in the distance.

The young man’s silhouette was thin, carrying an oversized plastic bag as if he had just returned from shopping.

Him!

The final prey of the night!

Chen Yi let out an excited screech, leaping from the streetlight and hurtling toward the young man.

The wind whistled past his ears, blood pumping from his heart to his legs. Within seconds, he was less than ten meters away.

He could even smell the young man’s faint scent, and the aroma of food wafting from the bag—soft bread, fresh vegetables, fruit, and a hint of fish.

He wondered, What store is open at this hour?

Curiosity compelled him to look at the logo on the plastic bag.

But the characters were foreign to him.

What language is this?

Chen Yi’s gaze was drawn uncontrollably.

The unfamiliar symbols and the incomprehensible knowledge reflected in his irises like a steel stamp.

The characters twisted and distorted in his vision, transforming into countless tiny worms that wriggled along his eyeballs, burrowing into his brain.

The worms writhed and screamed, drilling into the crevices of his mind, carving deeper grooves, threatening to shatter his consciousness.

Chen Yi’s eyes bulged, blood streaming from his ears.

All of a sudden, he was in excruciating pain, his body bound by an invisible force, limbs immobile, unable to flee.

As the slender figure approached, Chen Yi gasped for air, his eyes wide with terror.

“He” emanated a thick black mist that twisted and coiled in the air, forming countless tendrils that intertwined and descended, enveloping Chen Yi’s soul.

They seeped through the cracks, tearing him apart piece by piece.

Primal fear assaulted Chen Yi’s will, battering his body, making his soul tremble.

No escape! Can’t escape! Won’t escape!

Shock, fear, regret, resentment, and unwillingness intertwined, contorting Chen Yi’s face. His teeth chattered uncontrollably, tears and snot mixing with blood as they dripped down his dark, hardened skin.

No, I want to live! I don’t want to die!

Chen Yi’s silent scream went unheard.

But “He” didn’t stop, his footsteps steady and unhurried.

The surrounding silence only amplified the deafening beat of Chen Yi’s heart.

“@!!%￥#*……”

“He” uttered a string of sounds that resembled no known language.

In an instant, Chen Yi’s body began to melt—first his skin, then his muscles, tendons, and finally his bones. Drip by drip, like a candle wax melting into blood, his towering 1.8-meter frame dissolved into a small puddle of viscous, tar-like pool of flesh. The putrid mass reeked of decay, a grotesque affront to the senses, like a dumpster’s foul contents spilled onto the asphalt. 

A foolish thought lingered as he stared blankly at the black mist.

As his consciousness faded, he caught a glimpse of the truth beneath the mist.

It was a strikingly handsome young man.

Ruan Zhou blinked, confirming that the figure before him had vanished.

Strange, where did that person go?

As a 007 office worker, Ruan Zhou couldn’t help but wonder if the stress had finally gotten to him, causing hallucinations.

After a rare shopping trip, he had left the supermarket to find the streets nearly empty. The few people he did see hurried past, their faces tense, no conversations to be heard.

The once-bustling commercial district was eerily quiet, shops closed with “CLOSE” signs hanging in unison.

Not a single car was in sight, leaving him alone to navigate the streets from memory.

When he reached what should have been the subway station, he was met with a massive “Under Construction” sign.

The area had turned into a construction site.

Ruan Zhou assumed he had taken a wrong turn and pulled out his phone to check the map, only to find the network signal weak.

His phone had run out of credit, cutting off his internet access.

To make matters worse, the clock on his watch inched closer to 2 AM.

He had been out too long, and tomorrow was still a workday.

The area was so remote that not even a taxi was in sight.

Ruan Zhou began to panic.

Just then, a figure materialized in the distance, its presence a lifeline in the desolate landscape. Ruan Zhou’s heart leapt with hope as he hurried forward, a friendly smile plastered on his face.

Maybe I can ask for directions. If they’re friendly, they might even lend their phone so I can top up my credit. I’ll just ransfer them the money.

“Excuse me, could you tell me where this is? Do you know…”

Before he could finish, the figure vanished into thin air, not even a sound left behind.

Ruan Zhou wondered if he had imagined it.

Is this a hallucination from overworking?

He set the plastic bag down and rubbed his eyes.

The carp he had bought from the supermarket was still alive, thrashing inside the bag, the sound of plastic rustling eerily in the empty street.

The bag toppled over from the fish’s struggle, and as Ruan Zhou reached to pick it up, he noticed something strange where the man had disappeared.

Was that there before?

A dark, squishy mass, about knee-high, glistened faintly under the moonlight, its surface reflecting a soft glow. It seemed to writhe slightly, like a living mound of earth.

It looked like a pulsating grave.

A chill ran down Ruan Zhou’s spine.