Monster Paradise

”Where’s this place?”

Lin Huang looked around the vaguely familiar place that he was in. He was shocked when he realized where he was. It was an apartment with a room, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen. The decoration in the apartment looked exactly the same as the one that he used to stay in two years ago before he traveled to another world. To be exact, it was his home before he left.

The hole that he had accidentally burnt with his cigarette after falling asleep was still on the couch in the living room. On the coffee table, there was a crack on the ashtray that had slipped when he was washing it. In the multipurpose cabinets under the television were the novels that he had collected. Lin Huang then rushed into the bedroom. The blanket was folded like he usually did on the bed, covering half of the bed. The pillowcase was the one with the dark blue night sky and stars that matched his quilt cover. His watch and keys were placed on the left side of his bed head beside the lamp. His jeans, t-shirt, underwear, and socks hung on the balcony outside his bedroom.

”I’m… back on Earth?” Lin Huang had a complicated expression as he glanced around. He had thought of many manifestations of his deepest fears that the heart-glimpsing rune would show him after activating it, but he did not expect to be brought back to Earth at all. Just as he was digesting everything, his mobile phone in pocket started vibrating. He had gotten used to the Emperor’s Heart Ring for the past two years and had almost forgotten about the existence of mobile phones.

He took out his Fruit7 phone and realized that it was Xiao Wang who was calling. He did not know what to do. Should he pick up the call? Too much had happened in the past two years, and he could not really remember who this Xiao Wang was. He did not pick up the call as he held his phone in his hand. However, the phone did not stop vibrating. This Xiao Wang guy sure was stubborn. Lin Huang thought about it and decided to pick up anyway.

”Xiao Wang, are you looking for me?” Lin Huang still had no idea who Xiao Wang was.

”Handsome, come drink with me tonight?” Listening to the voice and how he addressed him, Lin Huang recalled who the person was.

Xiao Wang’s real name was Wang Zhi. He was his junior from the same university. He was a smart guy, and they worked together. After he became Lin Huang’s junior at work, he started inviting Lin Huang out for drinks, spa, and massages as well as helping him at work every week. They became close after that, so it was natural that they would drink and eat together occasionally.

”I have something up today. Let’s do that some other day,” Lin Huang declined. After all, he had yet to recover his memory and would be exposed easily if he met someone who knew him.

”Oh, alright then. Go ahead with your stuff.” Xiao Wang then hung up.

Lin Huang walked around the apartment. The kitchen and bathroom were still the same, and the floor mat in the bathroom was still wet. Even the trash in the kitchen was still there. He roughly remembered that it was how his home had looked like the day before he set off. He then looked at the date on his phone. It was 3rd June 2017, Saturday, which was the day he had left.

”So, I’ve gone back to the day I left?” Lin Huang looked at the time. It was 9.41 a.m.

”I remember peeking at the time before I left. It was 9.40 a.m. That means this is when I just left.” Lin Huang could not understand why the heart-glimpsing rune had sent him here. There was nothing that he was terrified of on Earth as he had seen too much on the other side throughout the years. Any transcendent-level monster could kill the entire human race if it was placed on Earth.

Lin Huang then returned to the living room and sat on the couch. He lit up a cigarette without any idea what was going to happen next. The silence only lasted for less than three minutes. The phone in his pocket started vibrating again. He was shocked when he saw who was calling. It was his mother who had passed away in a car accident when he was nine. He hesitated for a long time before finally picking up the call. A familiar voice came from the other side before he started speaking.

”Xiao Mu Tou, it’s the weekend. Will you be home for lunch? I’ve made dumplings for you with chives and egg filling.”

Xiao Mu Tou was Lin Huang’s nickname. Her mother called his father Mu Tou, therefore when he was born, his father was called Da Mu Tou, and Xiao Mu Tou naturally became Lin Huang’s nickname.

He could not move when he heard that voice. He had never imagined that he would hear his mother again. Dumpling with chives and egg filling was his favorite food when he was a kid. His mother would always make him dumplings whenever he got excellent results in his primary school.

”Hello, can you hear me? Why aren’t you speaking?”

Lin Huang’s tears started pouring.

”Mom… I miss you.”

”What’s wrong? Did someone bully you?” Although his mother did not hear him crying, she knew that something was wrong.

”No.” Lin Huang calmed himself down and asked, ”Is dad home?”

”Your dad is here. I’ll get him to speak with you.” His mother had no idea what happened as she passed the phone to his father.

”Son, what’s wrong?” His father’s energetic voice came from the other side. Lin Huang’s tears proceeded to pour, but he managed to calm down.

”I’m alright, Dad… I’ll be home for dumplings later.”

”Oh, be safe on the road.” His father reminded him.

As the phone went dead, Lin Huang started shaking and started crying. When he had been on Earth, his mother had passed away from a car accident when he was nine. His father became depressed since then and died of a heart attack when Lin Huang was 13. His grandmother took care of him until he graduated from high school and got into university. His grandmother passed away when he was halfway through university. He only managed to get through university with loans and by working part-time, which was why he was much more hardworking than others.

The Earth that he was sent to this time was not the Earth that was from, but it was a parallel world where his parents were still around. Speaking to his parents that he had lost when he was young made Lin Huang, who had been suppressing his emotions all along, to lose himself completely…