《No Face, No Life》020
Advertisement


“I’ll help you, officer!” a larger man exclaimed as he lifted his own briefcase, mirroring my actions minutes past. It was clear he intended to use it as a bludgeon rather than a shield! He was another common salary-man like myself. Normal or not, he possessed a muscularity that told me he could hit pretty hard. As before, I saw this new attack coming. The officer renewed his assault. I had to fend off two attacks at once despite having only one briefcase! I slipped backwards, continuing to block the officer’s attacks, but my window of opportunity was closing and I knew it! I still don’t know how I managed to hold them off. I ducked, backpedaling rapidly. The man’s briefcase sailed through the air where my head was but a moment ago.
*WHOOSH*
The police officer dipped and evaded the swinging briefcase attack. I leaned back as it whizzed past my face. The eyes of the policeman were determined and flinty.
“There’s nowhere to go. Stand down!” he urged me as he straightened.
I couldn’t do that. It was a habit to run, but more than that, I was traumatized; something told me if I surrendered, my whole life would end! My heart pounded while time stretched out, slowing. It seemed as though I was moving in slow motion.
I had to act before I was trapped again. My motion was sudden and explosive as I leapt through the opening sideways which was sped up by swinging my briefcase to start me in that direction. Using that momentum, I was able to shoot through just in time.
*ZOOM*
My eyes closed, and I expected those doors to close on me, but they did not. Even having tightly closed my eyes, or at least I felt as though I had, I could still see everything clearly. The moment I passed from the inside of the car to the open platform, I’d somehow twisted through the opening in an amazing feat of physical ability or flexibility. There was perhaps a tugging sensation on my left hand for a moment, but I was safe, so to speak.
Advertisement
Everyone on the platform drew back as the jingles continued to play. They’d witnessed my escape. The recorded voice announced the next destination of the train. Another train pulled into the station heading in the opposite direction across the platform. I looked backwards and saw the officer hammering at the door for a moment, frustration painted all over his face like a mural, that burly salary-man by his side. I turned away from them, feeling safer. Everyone on the platform wore a terrified expression. It was the same situation. At least I wasn’t trapped. The train pulled away slowly, speeding up gradually.
I blinked, sighing. No lids closed when I did. I turned my head left and right, scanning my surroundings. I considered boarding the other train, but I knew I’d just be trapped inside it. If another hero of justice appeared, things could get even more desperate. I didn’t really want to board another train. I’d also just been traumatized by that noh-face. Would it appear again?
“Yokai!!!” another person screamed. Someone else echoed it and then the whole crowd started shouting it. This time two officers charged down the stairs nearby from where the police box was.
“What if it’s a costume?” a woman suggested. I glanced gratefully in her direction, but I saw her contempt plain on her face.
“It isn’t! Didn’t you see how he twisted his body like that?! That was impossible!” another younger woman accused.
“It’s a real yokai!” a nerdy looking otaku chimed in. “It’s the noh-face! You heard the rumors, right? It was true! This line is its hunting grounds! What can we do?!”
Meanwhile, the officers pushed through the barrier of the crowd of onlookers. I glanced towards the tunnel the train passed through. The idea of leaping down onto those tracks to run along the dark tunnel when I knew what was probably still lurking there... well that was not something I wanted to do.


Advertisement
- In Serial106 Chapters
Charlotte Powers: Diary of a Would-Be Superhero
The journal of a girl who thinks she knows. (Spoiler: She does not know.) "...an odd combination of stream-of-conscious anxieties and high-flying save-the-world goals written by an overzealous, naïve teenaged girl in her wristwatch computer diary."-readers are better at describing stories than the writers who wrote them "When it's over you look up: the world looks the same, but you are somehow different and that feeling lingers for days."-bit OTT but I'll take it "...everything cannot just be good and then be even more good, in this story, right?"-100% accurate assessment "...the plot was bland and the character uninteresting. It was just a very dull read. I cannot recommend this book to anyone."-oh well can't win them all Discord for discussion. Complain about Charlotte's nonsense! Ship the characters! Do a thing! Now entering the second arc, Power Play. Things are getting serious. We're heading towards something important. Charlotte is still largely clueless. But she is trying so hard.
8 104 - In Serial36 Chapters
Ars Magica
Our vision comes back into focus. Our eyes, while being able to perceive the immediate surroundings, still leave us with our minds uncomprehending towards what is actually occurring. Sure, there are definitive things that we can focus on, like the fact that we're either out upon the open sea or the open ocean, there not being much of a difference with no land in sight, as well as the fact that we appear to be upon a haphazardly constructed metal boat, whose seams are barely able to keep a hold of themselves in the crashing waves. However, that does not let us understand what exactly is causing the waves in the first place. If we were to rewind time, we'd find ourselves upon a calm sea under a peaceful sky with the only difference, being a small whirlpool that would be the precursor towards this uproar around the boat. Lightning flashes in the sky, with no clouds being near, and anyone actually manning the boat has either died towards the cause of the smashing tides in the first place, or are fighting amongst the flashes of lightning, all while trying not to become devoured, demolished, and utterly decimated by the beast roiling in the whirling waves. To better understand exactly what is happening here, there is one singular event that needs to be understood, that needs to be explained, and that is the arrival of a creature named Dave. Stepping back from current events and going towards this creature's first appearance in the world, we begin to hear the sound of water slowly dripping across rocky ground. The cavern is utterly silent except for this one constant, its cause feeding channels downwards, sloping towards cracks in the rubble along the floor from broken stalagmites and stalactites. And there, lying on top of something which had fallen over recently, judging from its cracks, is a person, the creature named Dave. His form is fast asleep, either from the impact or from an intoxication, judging from the smell upon its breath. A bright light suffuses into it for a second, giving life towards the pale skin, before it slowly dies down back to the comfortable black of the cave that it's within. Before this moment in time, Dave did not exist in the physical world. At least, not in the reality that he finds himself born into. We do not know whether or not his existence is simply a cosmic joke, or something that is being played out on purpose. All that we do know, is that one moment, the body was not in the cave, and simply formed in the next. The actual earliest time that we know Dave exists, is the interpolation of the memories of J-209, which we'll begin looking into shortly to gain context towards the coming narrative that is being written and hastily trying to keep itself written. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Warning: This story has several things which might turn its readers away. The first is that this story has shifting points of perspective. Don't worry about that previous sentence too much though, as the main character will always have a first person perspective associated with them. However, any other character from which we're viewing the story from will either be in third-person, as we are not necessarily in their shoes at the moment, or in first person, given that the narrator is an actual physical presence within the story. For the most part, chapters will be self-contained with their perspectives, so there will not be an abundance of switching perspectives within the same chapter. The most that an average reader would have to worry about is the fact that perspectives can switch between chapters. The second thing is that the main character is a bit on the 'special' side of things. He's not exactly mentally there most of the time, so there will be some times that his personality or his thoughts do not actively align with his actions. The third, and final thing of importance, is the fact that past the first couple of chapters, nothing has been planned in advance. There are arcs and plots that I want to do, want to implement, or have already been set into motion from our main character's introduction to the world, but the method that I use for my story writing and generating leads towards a bit more random chance being enabled. Basically...there's a lot of dice rolling behind the scenes. To not complicate the story further than its regular LitRPG elements, the rolls will not be publicly available. However, there will be knowledge within the author's notes on whether or not there were positive or negative critical rolls that had occurred within the chapter. You have been warned. Updates: Mondays & Fridays (Schedule permitting) Typical Chapter Length: (2,000-3,000)
8 108 - In Serial12 Chapters
Wishing You A Lousy B-Day
Being abandoned at birth and suffered a life of hardship, the MC has long since developed a twisted and ruthless personality. Upon meeting his birth father by accident, MC decides to take revenge by seducing his father’s partner, a mysterious and affluent young man. Turns out, things are not what they seemed, and bleeding hearts all shattered. A fun exercise in dog blood and heart poison.It hurt so bad, but it feels so good!Let's all suffer together lalala~
8 63 - In Serial76 Chapters
how the words come
"this is the poetrythat has come fromfinally realizing it is okayto be okaybut also not okayat the same time."~'how the words come' tells the story of overcoming the aftermath of an emotionally abusive relationship. the book is separated into two parts. the first part, titled 'the broken and the bruised' delves into the pain and heartbreak one feels while dealing with the trauma an abuser leaves in their wake. the second part, titled ' the happy and the healed' is filled with lighter, positive, and empowering poetry, embodying the strength and joy one finds in new love and in healing. there are also pieces covering topics like feminism, gun control, the act of writing itself, and self-love throughout the entire collection. for more of catarine hancock's poetry, check out her instagram: @catarinehancock
8 130 - In Serial7 Chapters
GULAKU | Yoongi X BTS | Namgi | JinGa | Sope | Minyoon | Taegi | KookGa
Berisi Oneshoot Yoongi dengan pairnya GAK JAMIN MANIS KEK GULAKU Namjoon x YoongiSeokjin x YoongiHoseok x YoongiJimin x YoongiTaehyung x YoongiJungkook x YoongiButtom YoongSeme BTS other
8 64 - In Serial19 Chapters
not my stories, just enjoy having them all in one place!! xx
8 225

