Cyberpunk, but urban

To be honest, a highly intelligent creature would actually follow an urban citizen without even causing any exaggerated incidents. This is something that Ye Lan still hasn't figured out.

If this black cat-shaped abnormality were to be estimated based on its rating at the Lobotomy Corporation, Ye Lan could clearly judge from its performance that it was only at the Zayin level.

Zayin level, which is the classification of abnormalities that are basically non-aggressive, can only cause minor damage to employees, and can even have a positive impact on others at certain times.

The anomalies at this level are often very mild, but... not all anomalies at this level are weak. Ye Lan can even clearly say that anomalies at this level are the most likely to produce big bosses among the anomalies.

Whether it is [One Sin and a Hundred Virtues], [Don't Touch Me], [Hammer of Light], or [Plague Doctor], these usually quiet and unperturbed anomalies can instantly squeeze into Aleph and even surpass Aleph's level of power the moment they show their true power.

Ye Lan and Luna followed the traces of non-existence and real space left by the abnormality and soon stopped in front of a tall building.

This was a building they were very familiar with - the Alley Hotel.

In fact, it is not surprising if you think about it. How could a poor person be able to place a commission in an agency for a cat? Even if it was placed in a low-level agency like Run Agency, where the representative is only at the eighth level, the price would still be quite high.

Following the trace into the lobby, the manager here came out.

"Welcome back, two guests."

The manager of this back alley hotel was a woman with Asian looks. Although she wore quite mature makeup, Ye Lan could still tell from her facial bone structure that she was actually very young.

If he guessed correctly, the lobby manager might be only twenty years old, the same age as Finn who had just "died" in the library and turned into a book.

But although they are the same age, their lives in this back alley are completely different. As the manager of the back alley hotel, even if a gang of the urban nightmare level enters the hotel, they must show enough respect to the manager.

"I'm going to stay at your place for a few more days. Ask the cleaner to help me clean my room and my girl's room."

"Well, is there anything else you need?" asked the manager.

"After the cleaner has cleaned, don't let anyone enter my room. Remember, no one." Ye Lan said to the manager.

Although he made this request, in reality, it doesn't matter even if someone breaks through the hotel's defenses and wants to enter his room. The [Spider's Nest] and [Land Anglerfish] in his dimensional bag that are ready to move will definitely not let go of those who ignore Ye Lan's warning and invade.

"Anyone, I understand. No one, including me, will be able to enter your room without your permission."

The manager nodded and said that she would quickly write down Ye Lan's request in a notebook she carried with her. Before Ye Lan and Luna checked out, every request written in this notebook would be perfectly completed by the Alley Hotel.

"That's all. Please let me and my girl move freely from now on."

"Ok."

The manager bowed, took the record back to the counter and sat down, no longer paying attention to what was happening on Ye Lan's side. Ye Lan was thus able to continue tracking the abnormality with Luna.

Following the dark blue trace, they entered an elevator, then left on the 21st floor, followed new traces through several corridors, and finally waited for a new elevator at another elevator entrance on the 21st floor.

The new elevator took them all the way to the 45th floor, and Henzhen entered a house on this floor.

I knocked on the door of room 4503 and waited for a while before a female voice came from the door: "Excuse me, what can I do for you? I don't think I know you."

"It's like this, we saw your pet cat on the road, and my daughter seemed to like the cat right away and wanted to play with it for a while. Of course, I know you will definitely not sell this lovely pet, so could you please open the door and let my daughter play with it for a while?"

There was silence on the other side of the door for a while, and then the female voice came out again: "Although I really want to say yes, I'm really sorry... I walked too much today and now I really want to rest. If possible, we can meet in the leisure area of ​​the hotel at noon tomorrow, and your daughter can play with my cat at that time."

"Well, we won't disturb your rest then. It would be presumptuous."

After saying that, Ye Lan took Luna away, as if he really just disturbed a stranger for his daughter. But in the city, how could anyone be willing to do such a thing for their daughter?

The black cat in long boots was frightened by Ye Lan's behavior on the other side of the door. As an abnormal being that has been in the city for a long time, it can be said that it understands the logic of urban people very well.

If he were a normal urban person, the first thing he would say would be to buy it. And when he heard that he couldn't see it today, the man should have firmly demanded that the door be opened.

Chapter 88. Blood Bathtub

The black cat in boots was still in the room worrying about Ye Lan's identity and threat, but its owner had already lay back on the bed, stretched himself and fell asleep.

Upon seeing this scene, the black cat rolled its eyes in a very human way, muttered some glorious deeds of the past, and then accused its current owner of being unreliable.

Being locked in the room by the hostess, it couldn't do anything. Facing Ye Lan, who didn't behave like an urbanite, it could only respond by countering her moves.

Ye Lan, who was about to be missed by the cat in boots all night, received another invitation from Angela. As the books of the people in Run Office were sealed in the library, the power of the library was promoted to a new stage.

As a result, an abnormal being was awakened, and with the key to open the historical layer of the library, it unfolded a space in the library that was not controlled by Angela, completely blocking the way to the next level of the library.

The only thing Angela could confirm was that this Abnormality was a Teth-level blood bathtub, an Abnormality that came from the tragic day that Ayin and other Sephirahs were most reluctant to recall.

Although either Roland or Angelica could easily defeat the Blood Bathtub that had just awakened and was going berserk, Angela finally called Ye Lan back for an emotion she herself was not very clear about.

Ye Lan, who was brought back by Angela with an invitation letter from the library, also brought her two "surprises" - [Spider's Nest] and [Land Anglerfish].

The two Abnormalities that appeared in the library in the form of eggs instead of books were not like those Abnormalities that transformed into books and could only lend their power to the librarians through the pages of the books.

The moment they entered the library, they woke up from their dormant state with their movable bodies. The giant mother spider occupied a room on the general layer in an instant and released her children.

The well-fed little spiders were very curious, and it wasn't long before they occupied most of the gaps in the taxonomic layer.

The terrestrial anglerfish disappeared under the library floor as soon as it woke up, then stuck out its luminous lure in the aisle between two bookshelves, quietly waiting for the daredevil who could become its food to come.

Although they are now in a gentle state due to Ye Lan's presence, Ye Lan's presence in the library is not long. After he leaves temporarily, Angela and the others will probably have to work with these two abnormalities for a while.

Angela sighed and snapped her fingers as she watched the two abnormalities making trouble in the library. In an instant, the terrestrial anglerfish that was forced to expose its upper body and the spider nest hanging upside down on the ceiling looked towards Ye Lan.

Ye Lan, who had already spent a lot of time in their farce and whose transparency was only 90%, looked at them one by one, then pointed at them and said, "Why are you looking at me? Look at this person. This person is the owner of this library. You will live here from now on. If you make her unhappy... the books around you will be your fate."

The two Abnormalities turned their gazes towards Angela in a humane way. Our library director glanced at them indifferently, then said to Ye Lan: "Ye Lan, you make me sound scary."

"No, definitely not." Ye Lan smiled, "By the way, what are you doing by suddenly calling me back with an invitation letter?"

"The books from Run's office awakened Blood Bathtub from its slumber, but the environment of the library also caused it to go berserk... I hope you can help me calm it down."

"Oh, just a beating. I'm familiar with this." Seeing that his transparency had dropped to 80%, Ye Lan said to Angela, "Let's not delay that. Let me deal with that guy first. I'll deal with other things after I'm done."

"Um...can I go play with Sister Angelica now?"

Luna, who had not found a chance to speak since following Ye Lan to the library, finally had a chance to speak. She quickly raised her hand and asked Angela and Ye Lan.

"Ah...I actually forgot about you."

"Ye Lan!"

Ye Lan smiled and said something that made Luna's expression instantly unable to hold back, causing the little girl to immediately pounce on him and leave a series of teeth marks on his wrist.

"Then let's continue our topic later..." Angela said.

She snapped her fingers again, and Ye Lan instantly appeared in the abnormal space formed by the blood bathtub.

It was a room made up of scarred skin and blood clots. Scars of varying lengths of three to five meters were piled up randomly on the skin that made up the walls and the floor. A large number of blood clots formed a considerable number of obstacles in the room.

A pair of tightly closed eyes hung on one wall, with eyelashes almost hanging down to the ground.

[A blade controlled by confusion cannot end a person's life.]

A monologue-like voice echoed in the space, causing the blood clots in the room to tremble.

In the center of the room, a human figure made of blood scabs was slowly moving, from stiff to flexible, and rushing towards Ye Lan's position.

Slowly flowing blood gushed out from the air, engulfing Ye Lan. Teth-level ego equipment appeared on Ye Lan's body, and the short and sharp knife blocked the humanoid's attack.

The ego equipment [Wrist Slasher] extracted from the blood bathtub in front of Ye Lan solidified on his body, forming a leather armor covered with cuts and bloodstains.

However, although the attack of the blood scab humanoid was blocked by Ye Lan's ego weapon, the knife, he still felt dizzy and flustered.

That's an early symptom of blood loss.

In the following fight, even though Ye Lan was not hit by the humanoid with blood scabs, he still quickly developed more symptoms of blood loss such as weakness, thirst, and pale complexion.

His breathing became extremely rapid during the battle, just like that of a person who had lost a lot of blood. His dizziness turned into blacking out and confusion.

It seemed that this blood-scab figure was making him experience the same feeling that Carmen had experienced when she committed suicide by cutting her wrists.

[Come, soak in this pool of blood...let go of everything, close your eyes, and sink into the endless.]

[Your hands, or rather, the hands of those we love, are here.]

More monologue-like voices echoed in the space. At some point, the pair of tightly closed eyes by the wall had opened, revealing pupils that looked like human figures.

Chapter 89. History Layer Opening

Ye Lan, who was forcibly given the feeling of severe blood loss, suffered severe black vision and blurred consciousness. Although his body was actually still healthy, the mental impact of the blood bath was inevitable.

Not long after, Ye Lan fell into a trance after hitting the human-shaped figure made of blood scabs again. It seemed that countless pale and creepy arms stretched out from the human-shaped body, trying to pull Ye Lan into the bathtub that inexplicably appeared under their feet.

The bathtub was filled with a mixture of blood and warm water, and it was impossible to see what was under the water. But in a trance, Ye Lan felt that there seemed to be a corpse under the water, a corpse that Ayin and the other Sephirahs were reluctant to look at.

It's a pity that the hallucination created by this trance was not aimed at Ye Lan, an outsider. He could even continue to fight with the blood-scab humanoid with creepy white arms in this trance.

As the battle progressed, the ring in Ye Lan's hand also flashed brighter and brighter light. Until a point of light like a falling star lit up, whether it was the empty eyes on the wall staring at Ye Lan, the human figure made of blood scabs in front of him, or the space created by the blood bathtub, all dissipated in the light.

In the end, all that was left in the empty space was the arm that had been pierced by a knife and turned into a shower head, and the bathtub filled with blood, like a human head with the skull removed.

The bathtub of human skin with eyes closed like a deceased person was filled with blood. Countless arms, pale due to blood loss, stretched out from the blood, as if trying to grasp something.

Those hands tried to grab something in confusion, but they couldn't do it.

Ye Lan sighed, then stepped forward and approached the bathtub. The arm in the bathtub swayed, as if it sensed Ye Lan approaching.

He reached out his hand and held one of the arms. The cold and stiff feeling penetrated into his arm, as if his arm had become part of the swaying arms, and he abandoned everything and sank into the bathtub.

But, that would never happen to Ye Lan.

He grasped the arm tightly and pulled it out of the blood... along with the owner of the arm.

However... the blood bathtub is just an anomaly. The corpses sunk in it have never appeared in the city, and no one has ever been familiar with these corpses.

They only represented the intentions of the person who committed suicide. The moment Ye Lan pulled them out of the bathtub, they began to dissipate.

And this blood bathtub seemed to have vented all its irritability and returned to a quiet state.

When Ye Lan, whose eyes were only about 50% transparent, opened his eyes again, all that remained in front of him was a fantastical book called "The Book of the Blood Bathtub".

"Thanks for your hard work."

Angela took the book from Ye Lan and put it into a bookshelf specially prepared for abnormalities.

"It's okay, it's just that I seem to have triggered some links in the past that shouldn't have happened under normal circumstances."

Ye Lan said to Angela, and walked with her to where the stairs should be placed on the general floor.

Not long after, the library changed its internal structure amid a roar, and a downward staircase appeared where it should have been on the general classification floor.

"Let's go, it's time to meet our lovely Makuku." Ye Lan had a smile on his face that seemed extremely strange to Angela, and he walked down the stairs before her.

Soon, Angela, who was still on the stairs, heard the sound coming from the historical layer.

"Angela... Eh?! Ye Lan?! Why is it you? Where's Angela?"

"Maybe in the back..."

"Wait a minute! Since you are here... you really know everything that happens in the company!"

"you guess?"

"Ye Lan!"

Then, Angela, who was about to step down the last step, heard the sound of Ye Lan being chased and beaten. It seemed that Malkuth had completely forgotten what he wanted to say to her just now under Ye Lan's teasing. All he could remember was to give Ye Lan a beating.

"It looks like you guys are having a good time."

Angela walked out of the stairwell and interrupted Malkuth and Ye Lan's chase.

"Angela...you should understand that I have never agreed with you..."

"I think we should have ended this topic a long time ago."

"..."

"Isn't this what a 'deal' is all about? Besides, enjoy your hard-earned flesh and blood." Angela didn't care about Malkuth's hostility at all and even smiled at her.

"Eh? Angela?!... Do you think that giving me a human body will please me?! Don't forget that I have never agreed with your idea!"

I'm afraid that no one who is familiar with Angela will not be interrupted by her smile while thinking. Malkuth was also stunned for a moment under the influence of this smile. And this moment of daze can completely change the meaning of the words she said.

"Wow~ Makuku you're like a tsundere now~"

"Ye Lan, what does tsundere mean?"

Unlike Angela, who rarely saw it, Malkuth still knew the meaning of this word. However, in this context, when Angela asked Ye Lan about the meaning of this word at an inappropriate time, Malkuth was completely stunned.

Soon, the sound of "thump thump thump" was heard in the stairwell. Makuku, with a red face, ran upstairs and rushed into the general classification floor.

"What's wrong with her?" Angela looked at the stairwell puzzledly.

"Maybe he just wants to meet his new colleagues as soon as possible..." Ye Lan still had that smile on his face that Angela thought was extremely strange.

"Wow... the atmosphere between you two was really tense just now."

Roland said jokingly when he saw Malkuth rushing upstairs.