Chương 3: Chapter 3:
"Ah!"
Once they fully realized what was happening, the group began screaming frantically.
"A zombie! Run, the corpse has come to life!"
They scrambled to flee, but the entrance to the burial chamber was narrow, allowing only two people to exit at a time. Yet, none of them showed any courtesy; they shoved and trampled each other in their desperate rush to escape.
"Ah!" Elina's leg was suddenly ensnared by something and yanked backward, causing her to fall flat on the ground.
"Help me, help me! Choco!"
In her panic, Elina clung to someone's leg, looking up with eyes filled with desperation and pleading. But without saying a word, the person kicked her hand off and ran away.
Even Choco had abandoned her. The group escaped from the ancient tomb, leaving Elina behind.
Terrified to the point of tears, Elina felt the thing wrapped around her leg tighten. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free. At that moment, her mind was already forming a terrifying conclusion about what was holding her, but she didn't dare look back. All she could do was cry, her heart filled with fear, and pray.
"I was wrong, I was wrong. I shouldn't have come here to steal from you. Please, forgive me!"
Elina pleaded, but then her whole body was suddenly lifted off the ground. Her face turned deathly pale, and she couldn't stop trembling. She couldn't help but look back now. And the moment she did, she was so frightened she almost fainted.
Behind her was a person—no, a corpse. The corpse wore an old-fashioned robe, its hair tied in a high bun, indicating that it was male. Its features were dark and hollow, and its entire body was shriveled, with no flesh or skin left, just bones. It raised its bony hand, on which a ring still clung to the ring finger. After being dead for so long, it should have been just a bare skeleton, yet the corpse was still relatively intact.
But Elina had no capacity to think about such details. What was wrapped around her leg was a vine, and that vine was gradually extending, winding its way up her body. Seeing this, Elina wanted to struggle, but it was as if her body no longer obeyed her. No matter how hard she tried, she remained immobile.
And it was all because of that ghoul.
The ghoul's skeletal hand clenched into a fist, and Elina felt the vines tightening around her as if they intended to slice her into pieces. Tears streamed down her face as she thought this must be it—she wasn't going to survive. Was this her punishment for desecrating the tomb?
And what about the others?
Just then, a vine coiled around Elina's neck and began to constrict. She immediately found it hard to breathe. Her breathing became labored and rapid, and the lack of air made her feel as though her life was being siphoned away bit by bit. Her vision blurred, and memories from her past flashed before her eyes—from childhood to adulthood. In the end, she saw her parents, smiling at her.
Then, her entire body went limp as all her strength drained away.
She was dead.
A death so unjust.
Elina's spirit lingered, staring at her own body—twisted, purple, and with eyes wide open.
Yes, she had died with her eyes wide open.
The vines around her loosened, and her body fell to the ground. The ghoul then slowly turned and left the ancient tomb.
Where was it going? Was it going to hunt down the others?
But Elina no longer had the will to care where her murderer was heading. As for turning itself in, that was laughable. In the end, it was only Elina who had met such a tragic fate.
Elina's soul drifted over to her own corpse, and she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Why? Why is it always me?"
The creature hadn't targeted anyone else, only her. No one else had died—only she had been killed. Why was the world so unfair?
While the others had escaped with so many valuables, she, who had taken the least, ended up being left behind.
Was it really fate?
Was her fate so wretched?
Elina was only twenty years old. She was still in college and had so many dreams left to fulfill. She hadn't even touched the city lights, hadn't escaped the slums, hadn't tasted fine foods or bought luxurious items.
Was fate really this cruel?
Elina cried out loud. She flew outside, looking up at the sky and shouting:
"Where is justice? Where is fairness? What crime did I commit in my past life?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she lowered her head to wipe away her tears, when suddenly, the clear sky, the calm night, without a single cloud, lit up with a flash of lightning. A deafening roar followed, and a bolt of lightning struck Elina squarely on the head.
She blacked out.
________
Elina didn't know how much time had passed before she regained consciousness.
Suddenly, the world seemed vast and towering around her. She looked up and saw that the trees now seemed like massive poles reaching the sky, each tree trunk as thick as several house columns combined.
Elina looked around and saw countless "stone mountains" rising up. Her gaze shifted to the entrance of the ancient tomb, and her pupils widened—why was the entrance so enormous now?
Had she turned into a tiny person?
Was that lightning bolt the cause of her current predicament?
Elina panicked, wanting to scream, but only a series of "meows" came out of her mouth.
Meow?
Elina then realized she was standing on four legs.
She slowly raised her hand, only to see… no hand at all, just a… paw.
She glanced back and saw that she had grown a tail.
This time, Elina didn't have the strength to scream. She sat down on the ground, like a soulless creature. No, now it was more accurate to call her a soulless cat.
She couldn't accept this reality.
Could this be just a nightmare?
Elina couldn't comprehend it. And then, she cried again—a cat that could cry.
Why was heaven mocking her like this? Why didn't that lightning bolt just destroy her soul entirely? Why turn her into a cat instead? Had she committed such heinous sins in her past life? Why was this life so cruel?
Heaven must have heard her pleas, but instead of delivering her justice, it inflicted even more suffering on her.
Elina couldn't accept it.
If only she hadn't complained. She should have just gone to the afterlife, instead of ending up as a cat.
Living in the slums had been miserable enough, and now she was forced to become a stray cat—digging through garbage, with no decent place to sleep. Why did her fate have to be so miserable?
She wanted an escape.
While Elina was wailing, a sound of footsteps came from behind. With a cat's keen senses, she instantly noticed it. She turned around—was it a security guard?
A man was approaching. He was very tall, wearing a black suit, looking sophisticated. His hair was blond, his face handsome yet strange: pale white skin, bright red lips, and deep black eyes. He also wore a shiny pair of glasses.
The man was holding an umbrella in his hand. How peculiar—why was he carrying an umbrella when it was neither raining nor sunny, and in the middle of the night?
But before Elina could think any further, the man had already brushed past her and headed into the ancient tomb.
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