No Longer Human

Chapter 1: First day of not being human

The morning dew bathed the gra.s.s, the sun dazzled atop the trees, and the little sparrows perched on the branches trembled in gleefully chirps.

“Brother, when are you going to come see us again?” The little girl holding the little bear doll carefully raised her head, her dark eyes glimmering hope. The children were fond of this young man and circled him asking him all sorts of questions.

Gu Huai smiled. “Next week. I will bring you a gift as well.”

This was a children"s welfare home on the outskirts of City A. With Gu Huai"s support, the place had just been refurbished, lending a certain air of warmth and comfort. There was no special reason for Gu Huai to patronize this welfare home. He only wished to repay kindness to the very home that had adopted him, an orphan, now that he was capable.

It would be winter soon in City A. Gu Huai intended to bring new winter clothes for the children on his next visit. This was the gift that he had promised. Gu Huai returned home and sat down in front of the computer desk to do his work.

Gu Huai had a flourishing career as a screenwriter. Although young, he was a well-known name in the industry. The golden awards and accolades he won, big and small, could line up on a table in his house

No matter how accomplished a scriptwriter was, they sometimes still couldn"t get rid of a habit of procrastination and dragging drafts. Gu Huai looked at the 90% completed script on his hand and felt a headache coming on.

Did the end seem to be close?

Yes, indeed!

But what if the deadline was tomorrow?

Gu Huai sighed. "…" It was really sad.

Fortunately, it wasn"t a tough work as the script was an adaptation. Gu Huai thought he could get it through the night. Truthfully, this script reminded him of a Jin Jiang novel adaptation he had worked on before becoming famous. He had also desperately rushed that draft to meet the deadline.

Clack-clack-clack, the crisp sounds of the keyboard continued to ring inside the room. Gu Huai had started work at 9:00 in the morning. Night came and went; the sun rose again, but he was still going strong. Too engrossed in work, he had only eaten breakfast, neglecting the other two meals.

Although he was late, he also disliked delaying drafts. Thus, he was usually pumped up with energy a day before the deadline. This kind of incessant high-intensity work that lasted more than 20 hours was quite arduous on the body. Just as he finished the ma.n.u.script, Gu Huai heard the neighbor"s rooster crowing.

Looking at the finished script, Gu Huai relaxed his taut nerves. The very moment he"d relaxed, his vision turned black. It was as if a string that had been tightened for too long broke, unable to stand the pull.

When people face death, they will have a premonition. It is obvious that the body can"t move and gradually turns cold, but the consciousness still remains clear for a short while. In this very short time, before his loss of consciousness, Gu Huai thought about many things.

His first thought was that he had fortunately written his will a long time ago. In the event of his death, all the money he had earned would go to the child welfare home he had grown up in.

He then mused about today"s Weibo trending search. What would the t.i.tle be should the impatient director decide to knock on the writer"s door for the script? "Genius scriptwriter x.x.x suddenly dies at home."

In the end, the modest Gu Huai wondered if calling himself a genius was a bit shameless?

Forget it, I am dead!

By now, Gu Huai"s consciousness had completely disappeared. He thought he would never wake up again. However, in only a matter of closing his eyes and he found himself alive. However, rather than feeling fortunate, Gu Huai"s quick wits helped him realize that he was in an unusual situation.

He opened his eyes, but the darkness didn"t disappear. His first reaction to it was that he was blind. But just by reaching out, he hit something, making him realize that he was lying in a narrow confined s.p.a.ce.

Firstly, it could not be a hospital.

Hey… coffin?

Gu Huai immediately discarded the idea as soon as it had come to mind. It couldn"t be a coffin. He had never heard of anyone burying their dead undressed. He was not only stark naked but his skin was also covered in an unknown sticky liquid.

It was an unusual situation; Gu Huai didn"t dare to move carelessly. He first reaffirmed his physical health, and only then did he try to explore the s.p.a.ce. It was a completely closed s.p.a.ce. Unlike his previous thoughts, this place was not square but seemed round. If one took a look from the outside, it might seem like an egg…

As a screenwriter, Gu Huai possessed a rich and an ill-timed imagination. Even then, he could imagine himself being inside an egg. This explained why he was naked and covered in sticky liquid. It was a well-founded and convincing conjecture.

In order to prevent death from suffocation, he had to rescue himself from this predicament immediately.

Gu Huai was a self-reliant person, a result of his upbringing. Even in this abnormal situation, his first reaction wasn"t to call for help, but thinking about resolving it by himself. Still maintaining the lying position, Gu Huai reached out and knocked on the top of the s.p.a.ce.

Tap-tap!

With his gentle taps, he discovered that the "barrier" enclosing the s.p.a.ce wasn"t very hard. A few more knocks and the barrier would break.

Tap-tap-tap—

The knocks resonated in a dark hidden cave. When it first sounded, dozens of scarlet eyes appeared in the darkness. They instantly located the source of the sound and stared at it. These scarlet eyes looked more intimidating in the darkness. They were cold, fierce, and devoid of any human feelings.

Those eyes obviously did not belong to a human. Their owners were huge non-human creatures hidden in the darkness; every part of their body looked tailor-made for battle-

On close observation, one would find their icy and shiny body made up for a strong defense, their forearms had spikes for attacks, and sharp teeth looked strong enough to bite something to death. Each of them was several times larger than an average adult. There was no doubt that these horrific creatures had the power to pierce and tear their prey easily.

These terrible creatures belonged to the Zerg race and were their most brutal and horrific group, the Tak worms.

As if guarding something important, these Tak zergs had encircled a large white egg, forming a protective ring around it. They were currently quietly standing guard, motionless.

The percussive knocking came from inside of the large white egg. As the knocks continued, the Tak Zergs" bodies started to tighten and their pupils shrunk into a needle-like thin line.

Even with a perfunctory glance, one could tell that these huge and dangerous creatures had entered a state of high alert or combat. Any creature that dared to enter the cave would have to bear the brunt of their fury and the next second be torn into pieces.

Perhaps Gu Huai was tired, the knocking from inside the eggsh.e.l.l stopped. At the ensuing silence around the big white egg, the Tak worms grew agitated.

Their guarding instincts warned them of any possible danger around them, but they were still reluctant to keep their eyes off the egg. For in this egg, was a treasure very important and precious.

Gu Huai was really tired after all the knocking. This crisp sh.e.l.l had surprisingly strong rigidity. After the short break, Gu Huai continued. Every time he tapped, a crack surfaced on the spot. Finally, these cracks resulted in a tangible change.

“Click-“

A crisp cracking resounded. The top of the closed s.p.a.ce had been punctured, and a fist-size hole appeared. But the amount of light pa.s.sing through the hole was very low. Gu Huai, on the inside, realized that it was dim outside. But Gu Huai didn"t stop and continued working on the hole. When the hole became large enough for him to pa.s.s through, he peeked his head out. But as his sight took in his surroundings, he became dumbfounded.

Dozens of scarlet eyes had locked on him the moment he had poked his head out. These eyes were atop huge and intimidating bodies. As the recipient of these glares, Gu Huai held his breath instinctively. The Tak worms sensed Gu Huai"s horror and became restless. Some of them even started screaming.

If the youth being guarded showed any negative emotions, be it fear or sorrow, it"d enrage these Tak worms.

Such anger was unreasonable.

However, their most important existence had conveyed this uneasiness. To give the youth a sense of peace, the Tak worms reduced their protective circle by a layer. Yet, no enemy could pa.s.s through them.

Gu Huai didn"t know that he was being protected. The behavior of these unknown and dangerous creatures only increased his fear.

Now what…

Could he still hide?

In this moment of life and death, his heartbeat accelerated, but his mind was forced to remain calm. Gu Huai knew these creatures were clearly not a part of the earth and realized he might have crossed over. But the timing and the location of where he was sent was very dangerous.

His eyes searched for a possible escape route, and within two seconds, he found his only way to live. Because of the huge size of these organisms, fortunately, there was an opening in the encirclement that he could escape from.

But there was another problem, not serious yet pitiful. He was naked. Gu Huai hadn"t expected to encounter this situation in his life again, that too after over 20 years.

If he were a protagonist, then he sure was the most miserable one in history. He wanted to ask, which protagonist would face this situation after crossing over to another world on dying?

Streak or await death?

Gu Huai pulled the corner of his mouth.