Bizarre Honkai, a Wife-Chasing Crematorium

His Bizarre state was far beyond what the people present understood of the living.

Not eating, not drinking, not sleeping for two hundred and sixteen hours straight—did that make any sense? No. Ghosts existed now. Common sense had collapsed a long time ago.

The survivors could only discuss it in hushed tones. "Is he going to turn into a Ghost? Nine days straight without eating, drinking, or sleeping, just holding the same posture..."

"Maybe he's an esper, like in the novels. In an apocalypse like this, espers are bound to show up. But we should probably keep our distance... With the law gone, you never know what's lurking in someone's heart."

Li Mo showed no reaction. He heard every one of their whispers, but he didn't care. He wasn't concerned.

He didn't even know what he was supposed to do next. It was as if he were a Ghost that had fallen into dormancy, all signs of life extinguished.

Kill all the Ghosts in the world? Impossible. I'd die trying.

Save the people here? Meaningless. They offer no value.

Find my companions? Bizarre Mei is a Ghost; she can't die. And the rest of my family… they're all dead.

What… am I supposed to do?

No... nothing has any meaning anymore, does it...?

Everyone will die, including me. The Corruption in my body is only a step away from turning me into a full-fledged Ghost. Soon, I'll lose my mind completely.

Dying might be easier. No more thinking about the next step, no more feeling lost. Becoming a Ghost, just wandering aimlessly according to a rule... that doesn't sound so bad.

"Hah... hah!"

Li Mo's ears twitched. A frantic panting came from outside the auditorium. It was the man named Zhou Han, running for his life.

Li Mo closed his eyes, perceiving with his Ghost's vision.

Several bouncing heads were following Zhou Han. No, there were some in front of him too. The moment he got close, they would lock onto him.

Head Ghosts... why are they here? Wasn't there only one Head Ghost in the Main world?

"Open the door," Li Mo said to the two men guarding it.

Hearing this, the guards asked nervously, "You're going out too? It's full of Ghosts out there! What are you going out for?"

"Revenge," Li Mo said calmly.

"O-okay... but let's be clear, if you come back with Ghosts behind you, we're not opening the door."

"Fine."

Li Mo agreed without hesitation.

They wouldn't open the door? Was that supposed to matter to him?

The moment the door opened, Li Mo's figure vanished as if into thin air.

"Holy crap, that guy... for real? With an ability like that, what's he afraid of Ghosts for?"

"Damn it, I knew he could save us! We should have gone with him!"

"Go with him? Didn't you see the death spots on his skin? Have you ever seen a normal person act so Bizarre? Besides, even if he was willing to take you, you couldn't keep up."

On the academy's sports field, Zhou Han was running with a large backpack stuffed with snacks and drinks from the campus store. Whether they were expired or not didn't matter; they were the key to his and the others' survival. But now, they had become his death warrant.

The newborn Head Ghosts weren't fast, but they were much faster than a heavily burdened Zhou Han. Drop the food and he'd starve; keep it and the Ghosts would catch him.

"These damn things!"

Zhou Han gritted his teeth and sprinted towards the auditorium. If he could just get inside, the Ghosts couldn't hurt him.

But when he was less than a hundred meters away, a deafening, earth-shaking rumble came from the woods. The Head Ghosts that had been dormant there emerged, as dense as a swarm of locusts, and leaped toward Zhou Han, blocking the path to the auditorium.

Zhou Han's pupils dilated. He clenched his fists and glanced back and forth, finding no escape route.

"Am I going to die here? Eaten bite by bite by these heads, just like the others before me..."

Zhou Han's legs began to tremble uncontrollably. The wishful thinking he'd had before leaving vanished into thin air. The last group of seven who went out for food had also encountered the heads. Only the smallest and skinniest of them had made it back with the food.

Even then, Zhou Han had a faint feeling that the Ghosts had a priority system for killing. He was also small and skinny, weaker than the others who had died. Maybe he could escape the heads' pursuit. But now it seemed that wasn't the case. The heads wouldn't spare him, even if he was small.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The sound of the heads hitting the ground grew closer. Zhou Han closed his eyes in despair, biting his lip in anguish and wrapping his hands around his head. The pain of being eaten alive, bite by bite, felt as if it were already happening.

"Come out to find food before 7 PM or after 7 AM."

Suddenly, a voice appeared by his ear. Zhou Han's eyes snapped open to find Li Mo standing beside him.

Wait, how did he get through that swarm of heads to reach me?

"Your judgment wasn't wrong. The Head Ghosts don't particularly like attacking someone as small as you. But that doesn't mean they won't attack, just that you're a lower priority." Li Mo stated coldly, drawing Akazome Sakura and cutting down the head at the very front.

But Ghosts feel no fear. The Head Ghosts instinctively shifted their target, charging toward Li Mo. His perfect vessel was far too alluring for them; the frail Zhou Han was completely ignored.

"A familiar... scene," Li Mo said softly.

Once upon a time, he had faced the same thing: a sky-blotting horde of Head Ghosts. He had been powerless, only able to use the Bizarre Coin to stall for time while searching for a way to break the stalemate in the auditorium. But this world's auditorium had no black coffin, no spirit tablets, and no incense.

All it had was an extra, unfamiliar door.

"Run back as fast as you can. I won't protect you, and I certainly won't save you. Whether you live or die is up to you."

"What about you?"

"Revenge."

Li Mo raised his cursed blade and, along with Akazome Sakura, became a black and red flash, tearing through the swarm of Head Ghosts. Like a prairie fire, he consumed huge swaths of the Head Ghosts with lightning speed.

Meanwhile, Zhou Han didn't linger. He ran for the auditorium. Upon reaching it, he pounded frantically on the door. "Open up! It's Zhou Han! I brought back food!"

The people inside peered through a crack and, seeing no Ghosts behind him, immediately opened the door, shutting it tight once he was inside.

"Wait, that guy is still outside," Zhou Han said, dropping his backpack.

"We can't worry about that. We can only safely open the door if there are no Ghosts behind him. Besides... he doesn't look like he needs our help."

Just as they finished speaking, a knock came from the door.

"Open it," Zhou Han immediately ordered after peeking through the crack.

The door was opened, and Li Mo walked in, covered in blood and grime. When the survivors' gazes shifted from Li Mo to what was behind him, their pupils contracted to pinpoints. They covered their mouths, staring in disbelief at the empty ground, now stained with nothing but blood and a pile of eyeballs.

Zhou Han was even more shocked. For a moment, he didn't even know what to say.

So, in the time it took for him to run back to the auditorium, this person had killed hundreds of Head Ghosts and then instantly teleported to the door?

Weren't Ghosts supposed to be unkillable? That was public information.

Li Mo saw through their thoughts and stated bluntly, "Take care of that corpse. I will grant the door an additional ability to block Ghosts. Anything that tries to open it will have its head severed and will lose its Bizarre rule and abilities, becoming a dormant Head Ghost. You saw them just now. As for how to deal with them, ask the person who just made it back alive. I've already told him their rule."

"But, what if we need to get out? Will we die if we open the door too?" someone from the crowd asked, confused.

"Not if you open it from the inside," Li Mo answered calmly. "The door I've granted this rule to might not be able to stop all Ghosts, but most won't be able to get in. You'll be safer."

At this, Zhou Han stepped forward, puffed out his chest, and said to Li Mo with the utmost conviction, "Thank you for saving me. Even if I die, I promise... 'she' will be safe!"

Li Mo glanced at him but said nothing more. He had already imbued Shigure Kira's body with a rule of its own; it was more than enough to deal with these living people.

Li Mo walked to the main door and pressed his Bizarre Mei left hand against the cold material. A faint purple light flickered, spreading from his arm.

"「Usurp」, twelve seconds."

Li Mo used 「Usurp」 once again. This time, he was seizing the assimilation ability of the Cat Granny, the "open door and die" Bizarre rule, and the Bizarre Pistol's rule. However, he twisted all three rules slightly.

With the Bizarre Mei left hand, in a state of three or more deaths, he could freely usurp things that existed within his memory. But he had to pay a price equal in value to what he took.

On Mount Taixuan, just usurping ten minutes of the "Sight in the Flames" had permanently given him one of the primordial Bizarre rules: the Ghost's vision, a stain on his soul that even Corruption could not erase.

Usurping a Ghost's ability required a heavy price, but... it didn't matter anymore. He had no other options. He had to take the risk.

"All who open this door from the outside shall be beheaded as a warning."

"All who are beheaded shall fall as Head Ghosts, burned by nether flames until nothing remains."

Compared to other Ghosts, the Head Ghosts were the easiest to deal with in Li Mo's memory. They only posed a threat to ordinary people when there was no escape.

The first sentence granted the "open door and die" rule, affecting both humans and Ghosts. The second sentence granted the Cat Granny's assimilation rule and the suppressive effect of the Bizarre Pistol.

With just two sentences, the temperature in the auditorium plummeted from normal to dozens of degrees below zero. Frost formed on the windows, and the white mist of the survivors' breath became clearly visible.

"So cold... Why is it so cold..."

"Th-that... s-senior... how much longer..."

"K-k-k-k-k..."

The sound of chattering teeth echoed through the auditorium. Everyone huddled together, clinging to each other for warmth.

Only Li Mo felt no chill. He only felt his human consciousness growing more distant. When he looked at humans again, he felt only a profound sense of strangeness.

"This temperature won't last long. It will return to a tolerable level within half an hour. This door will be enough to protect you for a long time. If you're lucky, maybe you can hold out until I come back alive."

Zhou Han mustered his courage, walked up to Li Mo, who didn't look much older than him, and awkwardly posed a question. "Um, senior? It seems you did some... magic? to the door. I was just curious why you did that. Wasn't it already able to block those Head Ghosts outside?"

Li Mo turned his head. After seeing it was Zhou Han, he remained silent for a long time. His throat moved, and he tried to speak several times, only to be suppressed by his Ghost's instincts.

After a long pause, he finally explained slowly: "You were lucky before. No Ghosts appeared that could bypass this door. But as other living people die, more Ghosts will gather here. At that time, this door will no longer be a barrier. The auditorium will lose its safety and become your final tomb."

In the dim auditorium, Li Mo's words were like a chilling wind rising from the abyss, carrying a bone-deep cold.

It was only then that the survivors realized that besides the Head Ghosts, the radio had reported other types of Ghosts as well. Ghosts that killed in dreams, that killed on sight, that burst from inside your head. Ghosts... couldn't be measured by common sense.

"I will... find a way to break this stalemate," Li Mo said, his tone flat and cold, without inflection, like a calm but bottomless river, revealing none of his true emotions. But the pause in the middle of his sentence allowed Zhou Han to keenly sense his lack of confidence.

From the moment they met, the man had been like an emotionless Ghost. Only through his hesitations and specific word choices could one glimpse the turmoil in his mind.

Li Mo walked out the door, just before it closed.

Zhou Han bit his lip, bowed deeply, and looked at Li Mo with reverence. "Senior is a good person... You were willing to answer my questions because I kept the final memento of that Valkyrie for you."

"That's not important."

"It is important. I can feel that you're in a lot of pain right now, senior, even if you haven't said anything."

"You're overthinking it. Say no more. Take care of her. I will come back to save you. If I can make it back alive."

With that, Li Mo leaped into the sky and vanished from their sight.

In the auditorium, Zhou Han's girlfriend touched his shoulder and asked, "Xiao Han, you're so brave. We didn't dare talk to him. We could all tell he's already lost his humanity. You can't talk to him with human logic. How did you dare to go up and thank him...?"

"Lost his humanity? Maybe. But I think seeing the people around him meet a tragic end is probably more painful for him than losing his own humanity. Anyway, let's not think about it. We just need to take care of that Valkyrie. If it weren't for her, when we all rushed into the auditorium, the Head Ghosts would have eaten us all before we even figured out the door could block them."

"She and her companion... they are both people worthy of respect."

Zhou Han's girlfriend nodded, took off her own blanket, and draped it over Shigure Kira's body, even though she had been dead for a long time.

The dead were treated like the living, while the living were as miserable as the dead.

Such was a world torn apart by the Bizarre.