Autophagy

"It's okay you know? Not everyone is like that here," Damien consoled Song Lei while patting him in the back. They were on the 10th floor at the moment. They had already visited the first ten floors and called the members to the meeting. Song Lei was facepalming hard with creased brows.

'Was this what Old Wolf had mentioned back then?' Song Lei thought. Old Wolf had said that the members of the branch were all freak shows back when they first met.

"I know... It's just... I need to get used to it," Song Lei answered Damien with an awkward smile on his face. In the past one hour they were traveling through the floors, Song Lei met with a lot of branch members in their own habitats. He couldn't count the weird things he had met within this time span. Scary rituals, weird fetishes, and extreme ideas seemed to be the norm in the New World. Just gazing into any of the branch members' houses for some time was enough to make a normal person have nightmares.

After resting for a bit, Song Lei and Damien went to the upper floor. According to the notes given by Old Wolf, this floor was supposed to be where Xu Chang resided. Thinking of the blue-haired overly-excited woman made Song Lei sigh.

Song Lei looked at the paper in his hand and read Xu Chang's room. It was room 1101. As the first room on the floor, it was just next to the staircase. Damien and Old Wolf had decided to let Song Lei handle the things. Hence, Damien was just standing next to him without saying anything all the time.

Song Lei knocked on the door and started waiting. He heard light footsteps approaching the door from the other side.

"Who is it~?" Xu Chang asked playfully while opening the door. A fragrant smell filled Song Lei's nostrils. Seeing Song Lei, Xu Chang jumped at him with her arms wide open. "So you've finally decided to come to me! Come in!" She said.

Song Lei frowned and pushed her lightly. He wasn't much of a tactile person. This much physical contact was making him very uncomfortable. As Xu Chang was the exact opposite to him in this topic, Song Lei didn't want to interact with her too much.

"Well... Not really. I've just come to inform you about a meeting that will happen in two hours from now on. It will be done on floor 7 just like before. Don't forget to come in time," Song Lei said in one breath. He quickly backed off and tried to get away. Unfortunately, he was grabbed in the arm by Xu Chang.

"Don't run away now! At least tell me why we're having a meeting!" Xu Chang said. If this was the 14th floor, they would've already been swallowed by the horde.

Song Lei broke her grip by using his superior strength. Xu Chang's eyes widened for a second when she saw Song Lei pushing her hand away easily.

"It will be explained in the meeting. Well... Anyways. Damien is waiting so I have to go," Song Lei said. He took a short glance inside Xu Chang's room. There were different kinds of torture instruments lined up on the wall. The room was illuminated by dusk blue light. He quickly walked away without letting Xu Chang delay him anymore. Xu Chang sighed and closed the door.

'How do these people even find these?' Song Lei thought about the torture tools while leaving the floor with Damien.

"I know it's hard but you'll have to get used to it with time," Damien said with a bitter smile on his face. "When you are left alone for enough time in this world, any kind of accompaniment becomes acceptable."

"Well... I'm fortunate that I've met you guys," Song Lei said. Although he wasn't much of a social person, being completely left alone wasn't something he could deal with in the long term. He wasn't a hermit after all.

Damien patted Song Lei in the back as they stepped onto the 11th floor. In the list given by Old Wolf, This floor was initially assigned to Tao Cai. But at some point, his name had been crossed out and was replaced by the name Fu Ah. Fu Ah was the brown-haired woman that had asked Song Lei about his ability.

"After you killed Tao Cai, Lu Peng was supposed to be assigned to this floor as he was the most suitable person to take care of it. But after his objections, Fu Ah was assigned to this floor getting red blood beads in return."

Song Lei knocked on the door. The door was quickly opened as Fu Ah showed herself. She was wearing casual pink pajamas and was drinking coffee. It almost made Song Lei feel like it was morning. Unfortunately, there were no mornings in the Heaven and Hell apartment.

"Come in. Don't be loud," Fu Ah said after sizing up Song Lei and Damien. Seeing that Damien was going in, Song Lei followed along.

After closing the door behind them, Song Lei walked to the middle of the room. Fu Ah's room was much more normal compared to the other branch members' rooms. There was a single bed in the right corner and a small desk in the other corner. The sink and the kitchen part of the room were very messy with lots of dirty dishes. The ground was covered with paper pieces. There seemed to be a lot of different mathematical stuff on the papers. Song Lei couldn't identify what they meant as he was a high school dropout.

Song Lei located a chair in the messy room and walked towards it while carefully avoiding the paper pieces. He was afraid of stepping on something important. Seeing Song Lei's careful attitude, Fu Ah nodded in appreciation.

"Sorry for the mess. I don't have the time to clean up," Fu Ah said. Song Lei sat on the chair and looked at Fu Ah.

"No problem. We're just here to inform you of an upcoming meeting," Song Lei said. Fu Ah raised one of her eyebrows.

"Really? So? You cleared the 16th floor then... How was it?" She said while picking up a notebook and a pen from the table.

"It was... Hard. Wait. How did you know?" Song Lei asked.

"It wasn't that hard to guess. Why would another meeting be held just after the last one? It hasn't even been more than a day. Nevermind that. Just tell me about your experience. What happened inside the dream space?" Fu Ah insisted. Song Lei turned his head and looked at Damien.

"You can answer. She's some kind of self-proclaimed scientist with good science ethics. She won't disclose your information," Damien whispered to him.

Song Lei sighed and told a few things about the dream space. He made sure that he wasn't giving away possibly dangerous or important information. He didn't trust Fu Ah enough to talk about everything.

Seeing that Song Lei was giving vague answers to her questions, Fu Ah sighed and noted a few things down.

"That's enough for now. When you feel like you can talk about the dream space more, you can come here. You guys can leave now. Make sure not to make noises as this floor is still not cleared yet," Fu Ah said while pushing Song Lei and Damien out of the room. She quickly closed her door behind them.

Damien shrugged at the confused Song Lei. After leaving the 11th floor, they stopped on the stairs of the 12th floor. This floor was assigned to Lu Peng.

"We both know that Lu Peng doesn't like you. I will take care of it so you can just wait here," Damien said.

Seeing Song Lei nod, Damien entered the floor....

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