The World Below Surface
Chapter 1: Woman on the billboard

[Attention, the following text is edited MTL that I tossed in Grammarly multiple times and corrected characters' names. I'm posting this to draw attention to this novel, hoping someone else will translate it properly. Plus, I want to see how others view such text. Like and comment on what you think.]

表里世界[无限流] The World Below Surface [Infinite Stream] Author：往生阙

RAW: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=4716194

The text of this article: Lu Yan lives in the most horrific and absurd world.

People here live in harmony and contentment and were oblivious of all paranormal occurrences.

People here were sacrificed to the living, and the children were eaten like lychees—first the skin was peeled off, then the soft flesh was nibbled into.

......

The world had gone mad.

The only individuals who were normal like him come from the outside world and call themselves players.

And in his struggle to live and learn the reality of this world, he can only rely on these people.

......

Player A: In the world I recently visited, I met an NPC. He was completely different from other psychotic NPCs in that he was so innocent and humble.

Player B: Yeah, yeah, me too. He helped me a lot. I feel like he's more intelligent than the captain, but unfortunately, it's an NPC.

Player C, who was screwed by the innocent and humble NPC, died and now came back as a living dead, cast a sympathetic glance: ...... hehe. YOu mean Lu Yan, right? Good luck to you guys.

*Pseudo- infinite stream + horror spooky + trying to burn your brain + chaos unresolved

① Disorderly crazy creepy society; modern overhead; really confusing, don't try to replace logic.

② All villains use each other to backstab each other; male protagonist Lawful Evil, occasionally chaotic.

③ Sub-style horror, traditional flow, ghosts, and monsters are unresolved and invincible, no live room, no psychic powers, no upgrades, card draw, and other elements

④ Involves a trace of the fourth heavenly disaster; Cthulhu elements; SCP Monsters in Containment

The air that the cool air conditioning circulated had a faint odour of disinfectant, blood, and another type of decayed protein cooked previously. All of this combined to provide a sweet, fishy fragrance.

Lu Yan (陆言) had long been familiar with the smell. After saying goodbye to his colleague, he saw his colleague turn his head and smile only with the right side of his face. His colleague watched him walk away while waving at him even after he was far from sight.

Putting on his hood and mask, Lu Yan stepped through the door of the subway carriage and, inside, 'accidentally' stepped on a palm that was a bit soft and rotten in texture. Without stopping, he kicked the object opposite towards the door, right into the rusty billboard outside.

The corners of the billboard's softly smiling actress' lips widened a little, slowly grinning down to the roots of her ears. Her smiling eyes began to move down to stare at the palm that had fallen below her nose.

The mouth opened wide, and a thin, bright red tongue stuck out. The palm twitched to get away, yet the tongue still wrapped around it, sticking out of the enormous lips and pulling in. Her pointed white teeth were hidden behind a closed mouth, and both cheeks puffed out.

The sound of chewing rang out.

Clearly, the hand was soft and boneless, but Lu Yan heard the creaking sound of bones breaking.

After a while, the woman on the billboard revealed an insatiable smile, her lips bright red.

Lu Yan did not meet those eyes. He knew that the woman on the billboard must be staring at him, so he kept his head down and played with his phone.

The doors closed, and the subway car shifted and started to move forward.

The feeling of being watched didn't go away.

At some point, pretty actresses appeared in every subway poster, staring at Lu Yan and smiling.

Lu Yan was concentrating on his mobile phone, not listening to what was happening outside.

The subway lights were dim, tinged with an unsettling red. The phone screen reflected the corners of the starlet's mouth rising higher and higher from the posters, as well as her long tongue slowly extending.

He could hear the hissing sound of a snake crawling, and although she was smiling, her eyes were cold.

The carriage went dark, and then the next moment, the lights came on.

The tip of his nose twitched.

The smell that had been permeating the carriage disappeared, becoming fresh and clean.

When he looked up again, all the rust and blood in the carriage was gone. The windows were clear, and the passengers, though few, were sitting or standing peacefully as the electronic female voice played the arrival station. The air conditioning dispersed the last of the summer night's heat and even cooled it a little.

It was quiet and peaceful, just like the ordinary world Lu Yan would have remembered, and he didn't have to be careful any more.

Yet, Lu Yan knew that this was the beginning of the vigilance he had to exercise.

When the bizarre world begins to masquerade as normal, it must be when it hides its fangs and then sows its malice...... everywhere.

At the next station, a group of people came up.

This group obviously knew each other but seemed to have nothing in common. Men and women, young and old, identity and age varied, got in the car while whispering in low voices. Lu Yan took one look and then withdrew his eyes to continue playing with his phone. At the same time, the other passengers also glanced curiously, so his behaviour was not at all unusual.

But the group was clearly not uninterested in him.

Lu Yan was looking down when a shadow suddenly appeared on his phone screen.

It was a woman from the group. She was probably in her early twenties and had a gentle, affable smile. She seemed a little embarrassed to talk to him: "Sir, do you have a moment? I have something that I would like to talk to you about."

Individual passengers cast envious glances.

What was this? A beautiful woman starting up a conversation with an average guy?

The young woman's face was still a little shy. Her head was lowered while she spoke in a soft and gentle tone. But her words were not as ambiguous as the other passersby might have thought.

Only then did the man shift his gaze from the phone screen to her, almost subconsciously taking a step back, his body language full of caution, "What do you mean?"

"Sir, there is no need to be afraid because we had the same experience." The young woman wore a smile and said, "We met those... too." She moved closer, and her voice lowered even more. Passersby couldn't hear what she was saying, but the man reacted frantically, and his breathing instantly sharpened. The woman could almost hear the other man's heartbeat speed up.

"I, how do I know if what you guys are saying is true or not?" Lu Yan's voice tightened a little. He obviously realized this too and cleared his throat, "I mean, who am I to believe you guys?"

"After all, there's no better option now, so why not try?" The woman smiled at him, "Are you willing to sit around and wait for death?"

Lu Yan subconsciously shook his head, and the woman's smile widened, "Don't be afraid. We'll all help you."

"Help me? You?" Lu Yan's tone was hesitant.

Seeing that her most sociable teammate had managed to strike up a conversation with the NPC on the first try, a slightly chubby man in the crowd gave her a thumbs up and showed his teeth in a smile.

Everyone slowly padded over and gathered around Lu Yan.

"Are you the companions she was referring to?" Lu Yan said, frowning a little in chagrin as he said it, realizing he still didn't know the woman's name.

The woman said, in due course, "Introducing myself; I am Li Fang Yu(黎芳菀)."

The others likewise said their names.

They claimed to be the same as Lu Yan, suffering from "otherworldy hauntings" (诡异) and living in constant fear. Hence, they formed a small group to try to replace a way to save themselves and discover the world's truth.

Lu Yan observed that the group intentionally or unintentionally listened to a young, tall, and thin man named He Lou (贺楼). He introduced himself as an ordinary office worker.

But looking at his cold air and how people were convinced by him, it was obvious that he was not just an office worker.

Lu Yan didn't know if he believed them or not. Still, he had made a preliminary acquaintance and asked with some curiosity, "You guys have formed a group. Do you have any solutions for these... things?"

When he said the word "things," his expression was clearly scornful, and his voice was unconsciously lowered. You can tell that he must have been tortured by certain events.

The crowd exchanged glances, shook their heads and lowered their voices to speak.

"Ghosts, spirits, curses and other ...... things are not humanly possible to eliminate, and we have, up to now, only been able to replace escape routes in the face of these spirits, without any hard-core methods."

"Trying to solve it ourselves is impossible. We can only keep running away. Of course, most events have hints. Survival is still elementary if we replace a way to escape."

"It's no use asking God and worshipping Buddha, church or Buddhist temple. There's no place where you can get away with it once and for all. You can only rely on yourself to replace the pattern."

"It's risky, but as long as you replace the pattern, you can survive."

Hearing their words, the sorrow between Lu Yan's brows deepened.

He was handsome, even with his hat and mask on, and when the somewhat cold eyes he revealed were tinged with sorrow, he could quickly draw the hearts of young girls to him.

"Then would I not ......" The words had just left his mouth when he swallowed them back as if realizing that something was wrong.

"Is it convenient for Mr Lu to tell us what difficult things he has encountered recently? Perhaps we can help you." He Lou asked.

He Lou didn't say much and gave off a cold-faced, warm-hearted feeling.

Lu Yan frowned more tightly, sighed, wanted to say something, opened his mouth, and held back. He was a little suspicious again, glanced at everyone, and slowly began speaking up.

"I recently ...... how to say it, the apartment upstairs, someone bizarre moved in. Since he moved in, strange things are happening more and more ......"

Lu Yan was saying when He Lou suddenly raised his hand and interrupted his narrative: "Wait first."

The latter gazed coldly at the carriage overhead light: "Have you noticed that the light has dimmed a bit?"

He did not use the word "seemed" but was confident that the lights had dimmed and that the change must have been caused by some unusual reason.

The group was immediately alerted.

He Lou's words were soon confirmed as the light dimmed—not wholly, but to more dark red.

It was like a thin veil of blood was covered over them.

Immediately afterwards, they heard a toothsome sound that came from nowhere and was indescribable, thin, and overwhelming. Yet, it was so tiny that they would have thought it was just ringing in their ears if they hadn't listened closely.

What was it exactly..?

"Everyone, be ready to flee." He Lou glanced at Lu Yan and added, "Don't leave the carriage; walk backwards."

The subway station arrived just in time. After a ring, several passengers waiting on the side stood up and prepared to go out.

"Why?" Lu Yan asked.

Li Fang Yu whispered softly, "Look out the window."

Lu Yan glanced out of the window, and his expression changed dramatically.

His face was covered by a mask, but the crowd could still detect the shock in his eyes.

It was no wonder that he was surprised. A layer of blood mist had drifted up outside the window at some point, and it was getting closer and closer, thicker and thicker. Still, in an instant, it had already gathered around the subway.

It looked like it was coming for them.

The lights that had just dimmed, also because of the blood mist, gradually gathered next to the lamps. The light and faint dark red in the air then became denser and denser, to the point where it was no longer visible to the naked eye.

"Ah! What's going on?"

"What the hell is this?!"

The other passengers finally noticed the anomaly and shrieked, one after the other, individuals taking off their jackets, desperately trying to clear a field free of the blood mist the moment the iron doors opened, screaming and running out the door, pushing each other in panic and nearly causing a stampede.

The small group was no exception, "Run!" A voice came from the small group as they watched the bloody fog about to spread over them. They worked their way against the flow through the crowd and towards the back of the carriage.

The slightly chubby man who had previously given a thumbs up to Li Fang Yu's eyes glanced at them and suddenly stared in shock, "Holy shit! This N...... Lu Yan, what the hell is he up to?"

Everyone was supposed to leave together, but Lu Yan returned to stop the passengers about to run outside: "Don't run outside, calm down! It's more dangerous outside!"

Before he could finish his sentence, the passenger he had dragged by the door half a step away suddenly stared wide-eyed and hissed in pain, struggling.

"Help ......"

The words of distress were not finished as the body he had stepped outside melted as quickly as if ice had met the sun. First, there was a layer of skin that faded to reveal the scarlet-white flesh, white bone and still-beating organs inside ......

The living man had only two layers of skin. Still, the blood mist had peeled off an unknown amount downwards, devouring layer after layer.

It all happened so fast, but in an instant, the man Lu Yan was tugging was left with only one intact hand, held in Lu Yan's hand. Like the other passengers who hadn't stepped out of the door, he stood stunned in his place, unable to react until now.

The broken hand snapped to the ground, and Lu Yan took a step back in horror, his eyes wide with fear.

"Ah..."

The broken hand landed at the feet of one of the young passengers. Because there was less blood and mist in the carriage, the hand was consumed much slower. Now the skin had only faded away, and the texture of the mechanism and the gradually visible skeleton could be seen. Apparently, one of the passengers couldn't take the excitement and subconsciously kicked the severed hand out, which happened to land on an advertising wall.

A stunning actress was on the advertising wall, and they weren't sure if it was an illusion. She was watching everyone with a weird and beautiful smile. The hand landed on her lips, and her lips twitched as her long tongue reached out, pulling the wrist into her mouth and hooking it, her fine white pointed teeth slowly chewing.

A pair of beautiful, flirtatious eyes, slowly beginning to focus, turned towards the passenger. Anyone could see the unmistakable mad malice in her eyes.

The group backed away in unison in horror.

The passenger, who knew he was dead even if he was stupid, looked around, and only Lu Yan, who had just helped someone, looked more reliable. He shivered and approached Lu Yan before grabbing his hand: "Help me ...... help me, please help me... ..."

"I ......" Lu Yan was clearly hesitating.

He Lou's face sank: "Go! Bring him over."

The group was too big a target, and another tall, thin, yellow-haired youth trotted back and got into the crowd. He looked at the two people still pulling and tugging. His eyes narrowed slightly before he kicked the man to the ground and dragged Lu Yan out of the crowd with one hand, running desperately and wildly backwards.

The other passengers also reacted and fled after them.

The yellow-haired young man was tempted to curse Lu Yan as a reincarnation of the Virgin Mary or something like that, but in the end, he held back, stifled his head, and charged forward. He was so strong that Lu Yan could not break free, so he ran after him back to the centre of this somewhat odd little group.

Of course, also following him were several other passengers, many of whom were office workers, whose sudden strenuous exercise had left them gasping for breath. They were about to talk when they were met with a cold glare from a highly tall, fierce-looking man in the crowd.

Lu Yan noticed that the same glare swept over him with slight dislike and that others were more or less unkind. Yet, he breathed a sigh of relief and swept his eyes unobtrusively over the few people who had followed him.

There were six.

'Six options, so if something happens later, someone with less skill and less helpful will be chosen to be pushed out instead of me, right?'

Lu Yan was in a happy mood.

His eyes slid over the passengers. Suddenly his gaze stopped, and he immediately averted his eyes, pretending not to see.

That person.... why does that person keep tiptoeing?

——— Translators Notes ———

If you enjoy the Hell App, this is fairly similar; however, the MC is an NPC rather than a player.