Chapter 30: Don’t Tell Anyone

A little after 3:00 AM, Lin Xia was jolted awake from her sleep.

It was an emergency GMRA mission notification.

The system used a specially designed high-volume alert linked directly to the apartment’s speakers.

The entire purpose was to make absolutely sure people woke up.

Lin Xia struggled to open her eyes.

Squinting, she looked at the text displayed on the screen:

[Emergency abnormal meme fluctuation detected at [LOCATION]. Estimated threat level: Class B or above. All nearby standby personnel assemble immediately.]

She stared at the notification.

The last traces of sleep vanished instantly.

Lin Xia threw back the blanket and quietly got dressed.

The room was silent.

Silent enough that she could hear the occasional vehicle crossing a distant overpass.

As soon as she stepped out of her bedroom, she saw Yin Qi sitting on the couch.

A blanket covered her legs.

She looked as though she had already been awake for some time.

“You’re heading out on a mission, aren’t you?”

Yin Qi said.

“…Yeah.”

“Emergency deployment.”

Yin Qi watched her quietly without speaking.

As Lin Xia checked her equipment, she said,

“…It shouldn’t be too serious.”

“There wasn’t any Class A or higher alert.”

“It’s probably just a Class B mission.”

“I’ve handled those before.”

“You stay home.”

“Remember to lock the door.”

“Mhm. Got it.”

Yin Qi sounded exactly the same as usual.

Lin Xia felt that today she was… unusually calm.

***

…And why are you sitting here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?

“You didn’t sleep tonight?”

“I did.”

“But I was awakened not long ago.”

Lin Xia froze.

“…By the noise you mentioned?”

“Mhm.”

“Is it… really that loud?”

“Mhm.”

“So this mission of yours might be a little dangerous.”

“If even you’re calling it dangerous…”

Lin Xia packed away the last pieces of equipment and looked up.

“Then I have even more reason to go.”

Yin Qi glanced at her.

“…Sometimes you’re really stubborn.”

“It’s my responsibility.”

“Sure, sure.”

“Your responsibility.”

When Lin Xia reached the door to put on her shoes, she heard a voice behind her.

“Lin Xia.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t die.”

Lin Xia stopped.

Because Su Xin’s tone…

It didn’t sound like a joke at all.

She turned around.

Yin Qi was still sitting on the couch.

The light fell across the side of her face.

Her expression was calm.

As though she had casually said something completely ordinary.

“Can’t you wish me better luck than that?”

“I’m not some rookie going on a mission for the first time.”

“What else are you if not a rookie?”

“…Haven’t I been living with you all this time?”

“Heh…”

“It’s fine.”

“Go.”

***

Incident Site.

Restricted Zone.

4:07 AM.

More than a dozen black GMRA special-operation vehicles were parked beneath the overpass.

The perimeter had already been sealed.

All nearby civilians had been evacuated.

Lin Xia quickly realized there were far more personnel present than she had expected.

Two elite tactical squads had even been deployed.

Units that were rarely used.

The sight gave her a bad feeling.

“What’s going on?”

Someone beside her answered quietly.

“Meme gathering.”

“Large-scale.”

“…Gathering?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve already identified seven unregistered memes from different origins.”

“Threat levels unknown.”

“Categories unknown.”

Lin Xia frowned.

Something was guiding them.

Ahead of them, a middle-aged man was assigning tasks.

“The target is located in the underground parking garage of the shopping center.”

“It has been confirmed to possess meme-attraction capabilities.”

“It actively draws nearby memes toward itself.”

“Proceed cautiously.”

“Do not provoke the target.”

Lin Xia attached the organization’s communication earpiece.

Then suddenly—

She heard a voice.

A faint whisper right beside her ear.

“Don’t go to Basement Level Two.”

The voice sounded familiar.

So familiar that she froze.

She spun around.

There was nobody behind her.

“…Huh?”

“Hm?”

A nearby team member looked at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh…”

“Nothing.”

‘Are you kidding me?’

‘Su Xin is sitting at home.’

‘I must be hallucinating.’

***

Twenty minutes after the operation began, the situation started spiraling out of control.

The meme with attraction abilities was far more dangerous than anyone had predicted.

Its direct offensive capabilities weren’t particularly strong.

The forces GMRA had deployed should have been more than enough to deal with it.

The problem was its ability.

It amplified the emotions of nearby memes.

And then strengthened them.

Deliberately.

It targeted only negative emotions.

Fear.

Hostility.

Anxiety.

As a result, the low-level memes that had merely been drawn there rapidly lost control.

***

Lin Xia followed her squad down the stairwell into Basement Level Two.

Suddenly, she remembered the warning she had heard earlier.

“Don’t go to Basement Level Two.”

But remembering it now was already too late.

Because in the next instant, a violent shockwave erupted ahead.

“GET DOWN—!!”

She was thrown backward.

Lin Xia only had enough time to protect her head.

She slammed into a concrete support pillar.

Everything went dark.

The first thing she felt was a violent ringing in her ears.

Then came the crushing sensation that something was terribly wrong.

Her mind delivered a single unmistakable message:

Death was approaching.

Fragments of her life began flashing through her thoughts.

…So the so-called life review was real after all.

Her brain raced beyond her control.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t find any solution within the memories of her short life.

It gave up.

Instead, it began flooding her system with its final defenses.

Perhaps to make the end less painful.

Around her, chaos echoed through the darkness.

“Someone’s injured over here!”

“Fall back!”

“Right side!”

“There’s still meme activity on the right!”

“Stay alert!”

She tried to push herself up.

But her body refused to respond.

Her vision was becoming increasingly blurred.

Within the fading darkness, she thought she saw a brilliant light.

‘This is bad…’

As her consciousness gradually slipped away, everything suddenly became quiet.

The silence felt strangely familiar.

Like those descriptions she had read as a child.

A near-death experience.

Then suddenly—

Everything stopped.

The entire surrounding space seemed frozen.

The screams.

The alarms.

The collapsing concrete.

Everything became silent in an instant.

Lin Xia forced her eyes open.

And saw a familiar figure.

Long black hair.

That familiar dark-colored coat.

‘Seriously?’

‘Why are you the first person I see before dying?’

‘What about my family and friends?’

‘Shouldn’t I get to see them first?’

Yin Qi stood there.

Looking down at her.

“…Su Xin?”

At that moment, Lin Xia became completely convinced she was dying.

Otherwise, why would Su Xin be here?

Yin Qi didn’t answer.

She slowly crouched down.

Then gently placed one hand against Lin Xia’s chest.

She wasn’t wearing any rings.

Or anything else.

In that instant, everything around Lin Xia became blurry.

The pain disappeared.

Through her fading awareness, she vaguely saw something impossible.

The rampaging memes throughout the area had all fallen silent.

Every single one.

Far away, the instigator—

A shadowy figure that resembled one of those faceless men in a detective anime—

Was cowering in a corner.

Staring at her in terror.

It finally realized it had been deceived.

The voice that had told it,

“Humans will destroy you,”

had failed to mention one thing.

There was another existence in this city.

An existence like this.

It knew that human science books often described gravity as a stretched membrane.

The heavier an object was, the deeper the depression it created.

And a black hole?

A black hole tore straight through the membrane.

The presence before it felt exactly like that.

An endless void.

Devouring the information of itself.

The surrounding memes.

Even the environment itself.

Yet she emitted no information at all.

Like a black hole.

To a meme, that was an absolute impossibility.

An absolute anomaly.

She turned her head slightly.

And looked at it.

One glance.

An eternity.

The creature froze instantly.

Only a single voice remained inside its mind.

“Don’t tell anyone.”

From that moment onward,

it permanently lost the ability to speak.