NOVPUBQingming holiday — I made plans to go shopping with Lan Hua and Leon.
But honestly, shopping was just an excuse. The real reason was to cheer up Lan Hua and help her shake off all those messy, lingering thoughts.
But today’s main character, Lan Hua, was acting completely out of it.
In the past, she used to love shopping, always buying the latest trendy clothes. She was sensitive to fashion, so she always dressed stylishly.
But today, she just wandered around absentmindedly, only responding with a blank look whenever I called her name.
What’s going on?
She’s been like this since Friday. Is it because her confession failed? Is that why she’s so down?
Hmm... How can I cheer her up? Maybe I should just call that jerk Ethan An over?
“Ugh, ugh, you guys are walking too fast... I can’t keep up...”
“Oh, come on! We’ve barely walked anywhere and you’re already out of breath? You really are as weak as a dried-up twig!”
I was trying to figure out how to cheer up Lan Hua, and here comes Leon butting in.
“It was you, you tomboy, who dragged me out here in the first place! And seriously, no guy in his right mind would enjoy shopping with girls!”
“Hmph! What’s so bad about accompanying two gorgeous beauties? You should be grateful!”
“You only brought me along to carry your bags!”
“Pfft, look at your scrawny little frame. You’re so skinny from staying cooped up at home that you’re practically just skin and bones! Carrying our bags is the perfect workout for you!”
“I’d rather stay home and play video games...”
“And that’s exactly why you don’t have a girlfriend!”
“Mind your own business, you nosy witch!”
“What did you just say?!”
I lost my temper and grabbed Leon by the collar, shaking him back and forth like a ragdoll.
He clutched his glasses and yelped, his mouth hanging open as he screamed.
“Waaahhhh! Let go of me, you crazy woman! Violent witch! Dino girl! Waaahhhh! Stop shaking me! I-I’m gonna puke... ugh...”
“Puke, my ass!”
Without thinking, I reached into my bag, grabbed the first thing I touched, and shoved it into his mouth.
“Let’s see you try to puke now!”
Leon’s eyes went wide, and he pointed at his mouth, making muffled noises with tears in his eyes.
What a pathetic sight — he looked like a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) mute.
“Mmm! Mmmmmm!”
Huh? Why is he looking at me like that? What is he pointing at?
I followed his gaze back to my bag... and saw a neatly packed roll of tissues, completely untouched.
Wait... then what did I just stuff into his mouth...?
A sanitary pad?!
Aaaahhhh!
“Hurry up and spit it out, you pervert!”
I delivered a sharp karate chop to his neck, and with a violent retch, the sanitary pad popped out of his mouth.
“Cough! Cough, cough, cough! Ugh... bleh...”
Leon coughed violently, tears streaming down his face as he clutched his throat.
Those weren’t real tears — just the result of dry heaving.
“Ah! This is so unfair! You’re the one who stuffed it in my mouth! Wait... this wasn’t... used, was it?”
“Of course not! Why the hell would I keep a used pad in my bag, you idiot?! Use your brain for once! And why would you even want it to be used?! Pervert! Pervert! Total pervert!”
“Ughhh... I’m... gonna... die...”
God, he was so infuriating! This shut-in loser! It’s all his fault!
All he ever does is stay at home playing games, babbling about how he wants to be the ‘God of Conquest’ and clear every dating sim heroine in existence... What an idiot!
I’m a living, breathing girl right next to him, and he’d rather chase after some virtual girl?!
Even that so-called ‘God of Conquest’ he worships had experience with real girls, right? Why can’t he learn a thing or two from that?
Why can’t he put even a little effort into me? This clueless idiot!
He’s so sensitive about other people’s love lives, playing matchmaker and setting up couples left and right. But why can’t he think about his own situation first?!
And he keeps saying he’s a proud member of the FFF Brigade and that he’d never betray his fellow virgins... What an idiot!
What does he even think is in his head? Does he seriously believe he’ll learn magic by staying a virgin until he’s thirty? Newsflash! That’s never gonna happen!
If he really wants to learn magic, he should just go hang out with Meng Fa, that brain-dead fool. Though, if he did, he’d probably end up as stupid as Meng Fa too...
I could never say these things to him.
So, all I could do was scream silently in my heart.
“Hey, Cherry... I think Leon is about to pass out...”
“Huh?”
I snapped back to reality and realized that Leon was slumped over like a dead fish, eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth.
I quickly slapped his cheeks twice, dragging him back from the brink of death.
Moments later, after catching his breath, Leon rubbed his neck and glared at me with a look of utter horror.
“One day... you’re going to kill me with your violent ways...”
“Hmph! Consider it a privilege!”
Sigh... Why do I always end up losing control and snapping at him like this?
In terms of love, Lan Hua and I are equally hopeless...
“Haha... You two are so close,” Lan Hua said with a weak smile as she watched us bickering.
It was the first time she’d smiled all day.
“No, no, no. I’m only close with you, Lan Hua. As for this dino-witch here — our relationship isn’t close at all. It’s downright terrible! You saw it, right? I almost died just now!”
“Hehe... I’m actually a bit envious of you two. Even when you’re fighting... no one else can come between you,” Lan Hua said with a lonely smile.
Leon pushed his glasses up, his expression darkening, and fell silent. The atmosphere was turning heavy, so I quickly changed the subject and said to Leon:
“You should feel lucky to have two gorgeous childhood friends by your side! You must have saved the universe in your past life!”
“Yeah, yeah...”
Ugh, such a half-hearted response. He really needs a good punch in the face.
But at least Lan Hua seemed to be in a better mood now.
Alright, now’s the perfect time to lighten the atmosphere even more.
I grabbed both of them and dragged them into a nearby café. After ordering a pot of fruit tea, I adopted my best storyteller pose, ready to share some of the ‘interesting stories’ I’d overheard recently.
Storytelling sessions like this one were something the three of us had been doing since we were kids. I’d play the storyteller, and they’d play the audience.
There were so many stories, never repeated. If I compiled them all, they could probably fill several books. And as time went on, my storytelling skills only got sharper.
Honestly, I bet I could stand up in front of a crowd and do a whole stand-up comedy routine and keep everyone captivated, hehe~
I pulled off my headphones and let them hang around my neck, clearing my throat and starting with my usual opening line.
“Before we begin, a quick disclaimer: these are all just stories I heard from other people — rumors and urban legends. While some might have a shred of truth, don’t take them too seriously, okay?”
“Ahh, every time you put on that mysterious act... Stop keeping us in suspense and just get on with it!”
“Don’t interrupt! I was just about to start!”
After smacking Leon on the back of the head, I cleared my throat again and began today’s story.
“Today’s theme is... urban legends!”
Lan Hua perked up slightly, leaning forward to ask:
“Urban legends?”
“Yup! Urban legends!”
I spoke confidently, my voice bright and animated.
“Did you know? Our city is full of all sorts of urban legends!”
“Like what? A headless biker in a black jacket riding a black motorcycle with cat ears on the helmet, roaming the streets at night?”
“I said, don’t interrupt! Stop bringing anime nonsense into real life!”
“Whatever... They’re all just made-up stories anyway...”
“Hmph! Well, the urban legends I’m going to tell you today actually have documented records of real encounters!”
“Oh?”
Hehe. These are all stories I pieced together from eavesdropping on conversations in class. They’re real enough that there’s a high chance they’re true.
“Ahem. Today’s urban legends are numerous and varied, so I’m going to break them down by category and tell them one by one. This might end up being a long series.”
The sheer amount of information I gathered from those overheard conversations was no joke. It took me forever to sort out the causes and effects, piece them together, and organize them.
Thanks to that, my nearly empty bag of stories was now overflowing again.
Alright then, let’s start with ‘locations’ today.
“Today’s story is about mysterious places hidden in our city!”
“Mysterious places?”
“Mm-hmm. Have you two ever heard of ‘Black Street’?”
“Black Street? You mean those lawless areas? SAVAGE STREET, right? That’s how it’s translated — areas where the law can’t reach, filled with violence and gangs.”
Leon pushed up his glasses confidently, looking all smug.
Oh? The shut-in nerd wants to flaunt his useless trivia knowledge now? Hah! Too bad — wrong answer!
“Sorry to disappoint, but no~”
“Huh?”
“The real name of that street is ‘BLACK TECH STREET,’ meaning ‘Black Technology Street.’ It’s simply called ‘Black Street’ for short.”
“What the heck?! That’s so dumb!”
Leon’s jaw dropped, while Lan Hua just calmly asked the next question.
“So, what’s the difference between that street and a normal one?”
Nice. I got Lan Hua’s interest hooked. Time to reel her in.
“The most incredible thing about Black Street is... it connects every corner of the city!”
“That’s just Doraemon’s Anywhere Door...”
“It’s not the same! The Anywhere Door can be used anytime, but Black Street... you can only enter it by chance. Because... you have no idea where it actually is!”
After I finished explaining, Leon rolled his eyes dramatically.
“Oh, come on! So it’s just some imaginary street that doesn’t actually exist!”
“Nope. Black Street could very well be real! And plenty of people have already gone inside!”
“Huh? That doesn’t make sense, Cherry. If people really went inside, then why doesn’t anyone know its exact location?”
“Well... that brings us to a certain group of people.”
I paused, taking a slow, dramatic sip of my fruit tea before continuing.
“According to legend, there’s a group of people in the city who will play any role for a price. And they play their roles so convincingly that the average person wouldn’t even know they were acting!”
“What kind of legend is that? Aren’t they just background actors?”
“No, no. These actors aren’t shooting a movie. They’re just acting.”
“What’s the difference?”
“The difference is... ‘who they’re acting for.’”
“Huh...?”
“Now we’re getting to the good part. They say that all the pedestrians you see in Black Street are played by those people.”
“What?!”
“Hehe. Surprised? That’s why people who accidentally wander into Black Street don’t feel anything out of the ordinary. Because they don’t even realize they’ve entered ‘Black Street.’ They just think it’s a normal street. It’s only when they walk out of it and find themselves on the other side of the city that they realize — ah, so I must’ve passed through Black Street just now!”
“Wow, that’s...”
“So, nobody knows where Black Street really is... Pretty interesting, huh?”
“Hmm... It’s pretty boring.”
“What?! How dare you call my story boring!”
“No, I mean the people behind this so-called Black Street are the boring ones! Like, what’s the point? Hiring a bunch of actors to pretend to be pedestrians? What a waste of effort!”
“Well... um, I guess... they must have their reasons. ‘If it exists, then it’s justified,’ right?”
As for what Black Street is actually used for... Don’t ask me. I never heard any clear explanation of its purpose.
Anyway, that’s the end of today’s story.
