Die, Replay, Repeat

Chapter 11: The Specter Zone

Wang Ziteng's face showed a bunch of mixed emotions, and the lack of signal on his phone seemed to confirm something for him. He yelled, "Everybody, shut up!"

With him being so important, his yell made everyone stop talking right away. Suddenly, all eyes were on him.

A small light from his phone illuminated Wang Ziteng's face, while shadows covered most of his look. His strange face looked kind of spooky. Swallowing hard, he tried to look cool, saying, "Everyone, be quiet. I'm about to say something extremely important! It could be a matter of life and death!"

Those words landed heavily, hitting everyone's heart like a hammer. 

Li Feifei, standing next to Wang Ziteng, jumped and said, "Mr. Wang, what are you talking about? What do you mean by life and death? You're freaking me out..."

"Shut up!" Wang Ziteng yelled at her, making Li Feifei look like she'd seen a Specter. He took a deep breath, his voice a little shaky. "If I'm right, we might be in the Specter Zone."

"Mr. Wang...Wang Ziteng, what's the Specter Zone?"

"Stop asking! We don't have time for questions. Just do whatever I say. Got it?!"

Wang Ziteng's yell filled the room, making everyone quiet again.

"Because of my money and connections, I know stuff most people don't. There are secrets about this world you wouldn't believe. In simple terms, there are entities called Specters in this world, and the so-called Specter Zone is their home. You can think of the Specter Zone as a different dimensionit's the Specters' turf! What we have to do now is escape from this creepy Specter Zone, or we'll all be done for by the Specters!"

Everyone looked really shocked by his words.

*'Specters?!'*

They all thought Wang Ziteng was just messing around, but the scared look on his face told them otherwise. 

"Mr. Wang, you're not joking, are you? Where on earth are these Specters?"

"Jeez! Didn't I tell you to stop asking questions?! If I didn't need you to stay alive, do you think I'd be telling you all this?!" 

Wang Ziteng grew increasingly unnerved, like he had a knife to his throat.

"Believe me or not, pay attention. We're definitely in the Specter Zone now. No phone signal, dim light; it all adds up. Remember, the only ones who can handle Specters are psychics---people who can use their own spirit power. My cousin is a psychic, and he's the one who told me all this. The only way for regular people to stay alive against Specters is to watch the Specter's killing moves and stay away from them. So, from now on, everyone do as I say. Don't go off by yourself, not even for bathroom breaks. Just deal with it right here if you need to!" 

What Wang Ziteng said left everyone scratching their heads, questioning what they thought they knew about the world. Until they actually saw a Specter, most people would likely have doubts.

Maybe the only one in the room who totally believed Wang Ziteng was Fang Xiu because a Specter was haunting his house, pretending to be his "wife."

But Fang Xiu was curious. While Wang Ziteng knew about Specters, he didn't seem to see them as often as Fang Xiu did. If Wang Ziteng could also see Specters all the time, he wouldn't be freaking out like he was now.

Even though he was acting pretty brave for a normal guy, it wasn't enough. He lacked the composure needed to survive in a world full of Specters. 

But none of that really mattered. What was important was the psychic.

When Fang Xiu heard that only psychics could handle Specters, his anger started to flare up. Perhaps psychics could see Specters everywhere and had the power to fend them off.

"Mr. Wang, what do we do now? Should we run?" Wu Dahai's voice trembled. 

"No running!" Wang Ziteng yelled, sounding agitated. "Everyone, stay put! Running around in the Specter Zone is just asking for trouble. My cousin told me never to run around or touch anything randomly in the Specter Zone so we don't break any rules."

"What do we do now?"

"Look around! Everyone, check out your surroundings carefully. If the Specter hasn't attacked us yet, it means we haven't set off their killing moves."

Following Wang Ziteng's orders, everyone began to look around.

After a while, three minutes passed without anyone finding anything, and nothing bad happened either. 

This made the staff grow antsy and question Wang Ziteng's words even more.

Some folks even started whispering that it might be something like changes in the magnetic field or some weird science stuff causing the dim light, no phone signal, and power going out.

As for the two missing coworkers, they might have accidentally been shocked when the power came back on. 

"Maybe we should go out and check. I gotta use the bathroom."

"Yeah, where on earth are these Specters?"

The whispers reached Wang Ziteng's ears, stressing him out even more. He cursed under his breath but knew he had to keep everyone calm.

He was just a normal guy too. His psychic cousin once said the best way to figure out a Specter's killing moves was to let lives be lost. That was why he'd let everyone in on the secret---to let them know the truth and keep them close. This way, he could better test out the Specter's killing moves and make sure he made it out alive.

"Everyone, stay calm. Like I said, don't move around. If anyone needs to use the bathroom, just---"

Before Wang Ziteng could finish, a calm voice cut him off.

"The Specter is here."

The voice seemed to hold some sort of power, or maybe the news it delivered was just that shocking. The room fell silent right away."