The television screen suddenly cut back to the studio.
The female anchor sat before the camera, her face as pale as paper, her lips trembling slightly.
She had clearly just gagged, but forced herself to swallow it down.
After a few seconds of silence, the anchor took a deep breath and, relying on her professional composure, spoke again:
［The preceding footage was a portion of the scene in Tokyo.
The situation in Tokyo is currently continuing to deteriorate, and relevant departments are closely monitoring the developments.］
［Next, we broadcast a joint announcement from the Ministry of Emergency Management and the National Special Incident Investigation and Disposal Bureau.］
The anchor's tone became exceptionally solemn. She looked down at the script in front of her and read word by word:
［As verified and confirmed by relevant departments, abnormal spatial nodes have recently appeared worldwide. The official designation for these is ‘Instances,’ along with the abnormal supernatural creatures derived from the energy fluctuations of these Instances.
These creatures possess extreme aggressiveness and lethality, and do not fall within the scope of any currently known organisms.］
［The current event in Tokyo, Japan, is a large-scale global outbreak. Whether the relevant abnormal creatures are derived from Instances is currently being verified.］
［The following safety guidelines are hereby announced to all citizens nationwide:
1. All Huaxia citizens currently abroad, please pay close attention to the local situation and arrange travel plans to return home as soon as possible.
In case of an emergency or if personal safety is threatened, please contact the local Huaxia embassy or consulate for assistance immediately. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Global Consular Protection and Services Emergency Hotline, 12308, is open 24 hours a day.
2. All domestic citizens, please reduce non-essential travel at night.
Keep as far away as possible from high-risk areas such as remote waters, abandoned buildings, and suburban wildernesses.
When traveling at night, try to go in groups and avoid going to sparsely populated places alone.
3. If you encounter supernatural phenomena such as abnormal spatial nodes or supernatural creatures, please remain calm, prioritize evacuating to densely populated areas, and immediately call the National Special Incident Investigation Bureau.
The national unified hotline is 12**** for reporting and seeking assistance.
4. The resident safety guidelines previously issued by Jiangcheng and An Province are hereby upgraded to national safety guidelines, effective immediately.
All citizens are requested to strictly abide by the relevant requirements: do not believe or spread rumors, do not share unverified footage of the scenes, and cooperate with the handling efforts of relevant departments.
The authorities will continue to release authoritative information in the future. Please rely on official announcements.］
The announcement concluded.
The television screen cut to a text version of the safety guidelines, black text on a white background, listing each rule clearly.
...
The hair washing area of the hair salon fell into a dead silence.
Zhang-jie kept her mouth wide open, unable to close it for a long time.
The passersby standing at the entrance of the hair salon were also dumbfounded, their expressions a mix of collapse as their worldviews were being shattered and rebuilt.
—Kappa, Tengu, and human-headed carts from folklore actually appearing in reality and eating people on the streets?
This was like listening to Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
Yet, it was being broadcast on the national news.
The special news broadcast lasted only a brief ten minutes.
But those ten minutes were more than enough to trigger an information explosion.
The morning was a peak time for crowds in commercial districts. People eating, shopping, or rushing to work—all stopped beneath the giant screens of the commercial squares.
At first, only a few people looked up. Then, more and more stopped, forming a dense, dark crowd.
When the footage of the human-faced cart running over a car was shown, a wave of gasps erupted from the crowd.
"Holy crap! Is this real? It's not CGI, is it?"
"It's on the national news! How could it be fake?!"
"Kappa? Tengu? Aren't those things from Japanese mythology? How can they actually exist?"
"And what did they just say? Instances? Supernatural creatures? Aren't those game settings?"
"I must be dreaming... Is the end of the world coming?"
"Hurry home and stockpile supplies!"
"What is there to fear? Isn't there still an ocean between us?"
Some pulled out their phones to record frantically, some rushed to call their families, and others turned around and headed straight for the subway station.
The commercial district was in a chaotic frenzy, with discussions, gasps, and phone ringtones blending together.
—Humans seemed to have a gene for seeking excitement wired into their bones. Upon learning that supernatural horrors had descended upon reality, many people's first reaction was not fear, but a faint sense of anticipation.
It was like being suddenly told in high school that the power was out and evening self-study was canceled, or catching someone cheating halfway through the workday, or hearing while drinking water by the road that a human trafficker was getting beaten up by vigilantes ahead.
A peaceful, mundane life had suddenly become much more exciting.
In the downtown office buildings, employees gathered in the breakrooms to chat, their faces filled with excitement.
Even the bosses didn't bother to stop them, gluing their eyes to their phones to watch the news together.
"Something huge happened in Tokyo! It's even on the national news!"
"What is it? An earthquake?"
"It's a haunting! The government said it's some kind of supernatural Instance!"
A group of people crowded around to look at a phone, their faces turning paler the more they watched.
The girl from the planning department was so scared her voice trembled:
"A supernatural Instance? Then the disappearances at Jiangcheng University before... My cousin is at that school. She said the emergency evacuation of tens of thousands of teachers and students overnight was because of ghosts..."
"The news said these are all caused by Instances. So they've existed for a while, and they just didn't tell us ordinary people?"
"Even if they told you, what could you do? The question now is, will those Japanese monsters cross over to our side?"
"Probably not. There are plenty of people on that island. Before they're done eating... probably not."
The office fell into complete disarray.
Absolutely no one wanted to work anymore. Everyone was scrolling through their phones, discussing the news in a frenzy.
...
On the subway, gasps of shock erupted one after another in the quiet carriage.
"My god, this is terrifying. I thought it was some game update."
"My younger sister is studying abroad in Japan! I have to call her right now and tell her to come back!"
"Since the government has made an official statement, it must be true. Do ghosts really exist in this world?"
"Someone posted about a ghost bus in Jiangcheng on the internet before, and the internet police said it was a rumor and deleted it. Turns out it was all true?"
The subway arrived at the station, and as soon as the doors opened, many people immediately changed their travel plans.
Those who were originally going to work or shopping all rushed home without stopping.
The subway exits quickly became congested. Sweat covered everyone's faces, and their expressions carried a suppressed excitement.
...
The most anxious were those with family members abroad.
The phone lines of the embassy in Japan were instantly overwhelmed with calls inquiring about evacuation and asking for help to contact family members.
Parents held their phones, calling their children studying or working in Japan over and over. When they couldn't get through, they paced around in circles with anxiety.
Flight tickets between China and Japan from major airlines were sold out within minutes. Ticket prices multiplied several times over, yet a single ticket remained incredibly hard to find.
Many sat in front of their computers refreshing the booking pages, placing orders immediately as long as a ticket appeared, completely disregarding the price.
Soon, an hour later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the Ministry of Education issued several notices in succession.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded Chinese citizens in Japan to stay safe and return home as soon as possible, releasing the latest consular protection hotline.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism urgently halted all tour groups to Japan and ordered travel agencies to arrange the return of stranded tourists as quickly as possible.
The Ministry of Education issued a notice requiring universities to statistics the situation of overseas students in Japan and assist in arranging their return.
The stream of notices completely confirmed the gravity of the situation.
Those who had still been skeptical were now completely stunned.
...
On the streets of Jiangcheng, the flow of people was noticeably more hurried than usual.
Song Mo walked toward her home along the entrance of the alley, a popsicle in her mouth and two bags of dried noodles in her hand, which had been gifted by a nearby store owner.
—Upon seeing the morning news, the owner had immediately decided to return to his hometown to farm, selling the goods in his store practically at cost or giving them away.
Along the way, everyone Song Mo saw was looking down at their phones.
The entrances of small roadside shops, pharmacies, and vegetable stores were crowded with people rushing inside.
—Even hardware stores had people streaming in and out, carrying flashlights, candles, and even kitchen knives.
On the glass of a pharmacy, the sign reading "Glutinous Rice Sold Out" hung from a few weeks ago had still not been taken down.
...
Song Mo passed by the community square, where the elderly residents of the neighborhood were all gathered, discussing today's events:
"Let me tell you, my granddaughter studies at Jiangcheng University. When that incident happened last month, the school sent out notices telling us to pick up the kids in the middle of the night!"
"Oh dear, that's terrifying. It must be caused by that... that Instance thing!"
"Exactly! Someone took photos of the Route 404 Bus before, and it was deleted as soon as it was posted online. I knew something was up!"
"I saw reports saying America is haunted too!"
"Ah, yes, yes! They say there's some demon eating people, and a female ghost that specifically drowns children!"
"Will we be okay here then? The news says we're safe, but a city as big as Tokyo fell into chaos just like that..."
"You don't know? There were zombies in Hongguang Community before. In any case, let's go to the supermarket first to stockpile goods. Water, instant noodles, candles—buy as much as we can. What if they actually lock down the neighborhood one day!"
"And my grandson, I don't know what's wrong with his head, but he insists that entering an Instance can make him a superhero. We can't even stop him. He keeps trying to run to Jiangcheng University—even though they've set up police tape."
"Oh, young lady, you live alone, so you need to pay even more attention to safety! Just buying two bags of dried noodles won't do!"
Song Mo smiled and thanked the aunties for their concern, then walked back to her rented apartment.
Sure enough, 【Weeping Woman in White】 and 【Jersey Devil】 had also descended upon reality.
...
On WeChat Moments, Weibo, Qzone, and all major social media platforms, fear spread like a plague.
Within just one hour, the cognition of everyone on this planet was completely shattered.
Everyone asked the same question over and over:
What will happen to our world next?
Rate on N.U.
