Since The Red Moon Appeared

Even during the day, the office was lit by the dim white light.

One isolated from another, most of the office was split into small boxes.
There was a desktop without internet and a telephone inside the center of each box.
Everyone was occupied and moving about.
Some were typing, some were talking on the phone, some were exchanging documents.
Lu Xin’s position was located right in the middle with his “Best Employee” pennant hung right by him. 

After finishing his busy morning work, Lu Xin stood up and pinched his temples.

It was unavoidable that one would feel depressed and cornered working in such an environment, not to mention the monotonous things that need to be dealt with.

“Is brother Lu busy right now?”

A voice reached Lu Xin’s side.
Lu Xin raised his head, it was the new guy in the office, Lu Cheng.
He was well-dressed, his short hair which hints at a sense of vitality gives off a sunny aura.
However, his face was stained with a bitter expression.

“The director told me to sort out these documents, I attempted the task but I can’t seem to sort them out correctly.
The time is running out, brother Lu can you… can you teach me?”

“Of course!”

Lu Xin answered with a smile, “I just happened to have nothing to do!”

“Thanks, brother Lu, you’re such a kind guy!”

With a look of gratitude, the sunny guy hurriedly came by Lu Xin’s desk.
One taught while the other learned.

Many scornful looks were cast from the surroundings, there were also whispers. 

“His own work is tiring enough, yet he’s teaching others!”

“Everyone has the same job, is he not afraid that he’ll be kicked out after teaching others?”

“…”

Under the dissatisfied gaze of many people, Lu Xin helped Cheng sort out his files, and waved in his words of gratitude.

Although everyone is anxious under this oppressive atmosphere of the office, Lu Xin has his own principles in doing things.
He will help others if he can.
The world was altered due to the event of the Red Moon, but values must still be present.

“Lu Xin, come over for a bit, the director is calling for you!”

Someone shouted from a distance.

“Coming!”

Lu Xin put down his work, got up, and walked towards the director’s room.
Here, he saw the director who was so fat that his cheeks were hanging down.
A woman with short hair dressed in a formal suit wearing a pair of sunglasses was sitting on the opposite sofa.

“Young Lu, there’s a document right here, deliver it to the corner café in Qingjiang Road!”

Without any nonsense, the director pointed at the document bag on the desk.

Delivering documents should’ve been the job for the administrative or chores team, it wasn’t something for Lu Xin to do.

But Lu Xin didn’t refuse, he nodded and said, “yes sir!”

He picked up the document, nodded at the director and the short-haired woman and left.

Once he left the room, the director immediately swapped his expression to a happy one, politely said to the woman,

“Group leader Chen, I’ve done what you’ve told me to.
Please be at ease, I won’t ask or think about it excessively, but about that project you were talking about…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t give you this project!”

The short-haired woman stood up, pulled down her sunglasses gently, and said in a tender tone,

The director was stunned for a moment, he thought he had heard it wrong but at that moment, he saw the woman’s pupils.

Her pupils seemed to be spinning, glowing in red faintly as if they had turned into two red moons.

“Forget that I came here, and forget the things you commanded him to do!”

The woman said gently with her tender voice.
She wore her sunglasses and left.

The director fell into a moment of confusion but woke up after a few seconds, as if nothing had happened he continued working.

…

…

Lu Xin was in a carriage of a high-speed rail.
He was feeling sleepy while holding onto the handle.
He originally boarded on the train which was quite near the starting station and there was an unoccupied sit, but he gave it to a pregnant woman and he himself stood for almost half an hour.

The lights in the carriage were flickering slightly.
The little sister with her scrambled teddy bear climbed over towards him along the roof.

She was right in front of Lu Xin, dangling herself upside down and swinging from side to side like a playground swing.

Lu Xin fixed his eyes while pretending to stare at the beautiful legs of the girl who was in sweat pants.

The little sister was getting even more excited playing by herself.
Her motion was getting more momentum and the roof of the carriage was making small distorted noises.

Fortunately, the noises were covered by the train which was moving very fast.

“Big brother, Big brother, look, that fat guy looks very stupid…”

The little sister who was playing by herself suddenly pointed at a fat man who was sleeping while drooling and standing.
She was smiling at Lu Xin.

“Don’t talk to me…”

Lu Xin was still forcing himself to stare at those legs wholeheartedly while making noises from squeezing his teeth.

“I can’t look at you or talk to you outside, I’ll be seen as a psycho…”

“Tch, that’s no fun!”

Provoking Lu Xin on purpose and not seeing any reaction, the little sister felt a sense of boredom.

“Be careful then, the place you’re currently heading… it’s quite weird!”

Without waiting for an answer, she rushed towards the front of the carriage, poked the fat man’s face when she was passing by him, then disappeared from the scene.

“Who touched me?” The fat man screamed awoken from the contact.

Everyone gazed at the fat man weirdly as there was no one beside him in the one-meter radius.

Lu Xin joined in and gave the fat man a look of contempt.

…

…

Leaving the carriage, Lu Xin realized he had reached the outer walls.

The buildings around here are battered, though one could clearly see the 10 meters wall leaving a  clear shadow on the buildings.
Although thirty years had passed and the lunatics outside the city have been mostly eliminated, the people inside the city were still cautious as fixing the walls is one of the main focal points when it comes to municipal work annually.

Coming by the corner café, he found that the place was dim.

The aged buildings and bungalow are seemingly empty, he also didn’t see anyone around here.

There was trash right in front of the door as if the wind brought them there, he doubted if anyone had bothered to clean this. 

After reaching here, for some reason, he felt a sense of desolation.

Lu Xin didn’t like here subconsciously, but he promised his director so he walked inside anyway with his documents.

…

…

“The observed 13th subject just entered the target area.”

Not far from there was a building, there were more than 10 observers with their apparatus.
Around the building, there were agents with loaded guns and armor hidden in the dark looking at the situation closely.

The short-haired woman from earlier was also one of the working members, in her hand was a document with black pencil marks:

“Target codename – corner café!”

“Objective – To test the potential of the 13th subject of becoming a Psyche ruler!”

“Risks – The café had been confirmed to be a Level 1 Psyche contaminated zone.”

Overall behavior:

Anyone that is close to the café will be attracted to it involuntarily.

Anyone that enters that café will die within 3 to 5 days, mostly due to suicide.

According to the investigation, anyone who entered the café will be contaminated, therefore producing strong negative emotions.

“…”

She puts down the documents in her hands, asked the people surrounding her,

“Are the backups ready?”

The staff nodded, pointed at the room near her.

Through the glass over 2 rooms, a delicate girl in western clothes like a doll can be seen sitting there.

…

…

As Lu Xin entered the café, he felt a sense of warmth and liveliness.

It was empty both inside and outside the houses.
Cold and lifeless.

However, the café was stuffed with people, maybe even overcrowding.

Smiles could be seen on everyone’s faces.
Some were chatting intimately, some were sitting alone by the window while enjoying a cup of coffee and reading, some were absorbed in the delicious sandwich.
A soothing old song was playing in the store, the sun shimmered through the window, it was almost as if the red moon event had never occurred.

Lu Xin passed through the crowd and reached the counter, nodded at the waiter who was in a delicate apron.

“Someone told me to send you this document!”

The director didn’t specify who to send the document to, but it should ok if he just hand it to the counter.

“Thanks!”

The waiter didn’t seem to mind.
He expressed his gratitude with a smile and a coffee, which he presented to Lu Xin.

“This is…”

Lu Xin wanted to say he wasn’t planning on staying and drinking the coffee.

But the coffee smelled very nice, unlike the cheap coffee that he used to drink back in the office.

“You should be tired after doing this running chore, this is my thanks to you!”

The waiter smiled, the nice smile gave people a comfortable impression.

Lu Xin was hesitating in his mind but he couldn’t refuse the offer.

A gigantic hideous tentacle suddenly appeared behind the delicate apron, it slowly traveled and eventually reached Lu Xin.
At the top of the tentacle, the flesh slowly opens, a black object almost the size of a coin slid inside the coffee.
Lu Xin looked down, the black object looked like an egg, also like an eye, the black pupil was seemingly staring at himself.

The coffee suddenly became even more scented, and the wisp in the coffee was apparently seducing him.

The waiter’s smile became even more gracious and pushed the coffee towards Lu Xin lightly, suggesting he should drink it.

“I’m good, thanks!”

Lu Xin refused politely.
Just like nothing had happened, he turned and went on his way.

When he reached the door, he turned around and looked.

The people in the store had stopped what they were doing and were looking at him with blank expressions.

He quickly turned, his body stiff, and walked even faster.