“At last… home sweet home.” Today had easily been the busiest day of Lidi’s life.
He spent the morning working half a day, went to the hospital at noon, dealt with his own mess in the afternoon, then attended an old friend’s memorial at night.
Not to mention the unpleasant “special treatment” from the Black Guard earlier.
The moment Lidi stepped through the door, he collapsed face-first onto the sofa.
He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right there.
But he still couldn’t sleep.
There was one phone call he had to make.
It was already past 10 PM.
He didn’t even know if the other side would answer at this hour.
Still, he decided to try.
Following the silver numbers printed on the black card, he carefully entered them one by one.
Saying he wasn’t nervous would’ve been a lie.
Even normal calls to clients or customer service already made him uncomfortable.
And after entering the final number, his finger hovered above the call button for a long time.
After a fierce internal fight, he closed his eyes and pressed it like a man accepting his fate.
The dialing tone rang.
Time suddenly felt unbearably slow.
Every second dragged on like an entire century.
As someone who hated phone calls to begin with, Lidi secretly prayed that nobody would pick up.
But on the third ring, the call connected.
“Black Forest Card Services, 24-hour hotline.
How may we assist you today?” Hearing a strange woman’s voice—and not at all the kind of conversation he expected—Lidi froze.
Did he dial the wrong number?
He double-checked the black card and the number on his phone.
They matched perfectly.
For a moment, he didn’t even know what to say.
“Hello?
Is anyone there?” Since he stayed silent too long, the woman prompted him again.
Lidi finally forced himself to answer.
“Uh… I wanted to ask something.
I have a black card with this number on it.
A woman gave it to me last night.” “She said if I wanted to join you guys, I should call this number…” The woman on the other end fell silent briefly before replying: “Sir, are you applying to our company?
If so, you should send an email through our official website.
We only handle customer support here.” Hearing that, Lidi immediately wondered if the black-clad woman had given him the wrong card.
This sounded completely like an ordinary membership card company.
“…Right.
Sorry, I must’ve called the wrong number.
Sorry for bothering you.” Just as he was about to hang up, the woman suddenly spoke again.
“Very well.
Please follow the red road signs afterward.” “…Huh?” Before he could ask what she meant, the line disconnected.
When he tried calling again, the number no longer existed.
“The red road signs…” Only then did Lidi realize the conversation itself had been a test.
“So now I’m supposed to find road signs?” He looked helplessly out the window.
Almost every road sign in the city was blue or yellow.
Red signs were nearly nonexistent.
And that wasn’t accidental.
Most beastmen still retained some of their ancestral sensory traits.
They were extremely sensitive to blue and yellow, while red was comparatively difficult for them to distinguish—sometimes nearly invisible under certain lighting.
Because of this, nearly all public systems in the city used high-contrast blue-and-yellow designs: road signs, warning labels, traffic indicators.
Even emergency lights were specially calibrated for maximum visibility from different angles and speeds.
As for red… Lidi carefully scanned the streets below.
He wasn’t colorblind.
He could still recognize red.
But there wasn’t a single red road sign in sight.
“…Maybe they’re somewhere else.” Seeing the moon already high in the sky, he decided to search for these so-called red signs tomorrow instead.
Just as he prepared to close his eyes on the sofa— Knock knock knock.
“Black Guard investigation.
Please open the door and cooperate.” Lidi checked the time, confused.
Why would the Black Guard show up this late?
Still, since it was the Black Guard, he had no choice but to answer.
But just as his hand was about to touch the doorknob— Every hair on his body suddenly stood on end.
“What is this… this awful feeling…” Instinctively, he looked down at his trembling hand.
It felt exactly like last night, when the black-clad woman stared at him with those eyes.
As if opening the door would lead to something terrible.
Instead of opening it immediately, Lidi spoke through the door.
“What are you investigating?
Why come at this hour?” A Black Guard outside answered: “A prisoner transport vehicle nearby was involved in an accident.
A dangerous criminal escaped.
We suspect he may be hiding inside your residence, so please let us in for an inspection.” “An escaped criminal…” Lidi frowned.
If something like that really happened, there should already be news reports.
He quickly checked his phone.
None of the usual news feeds or social platforms mentioned any escaped prisoner.
That only made the Black Guards outside even more suspicious.
“Open the door and cooperate immediately!
If you continue obstructing the investigation, we have the authority to arrest you!” The knocking grew louder and more aggressive.
At that point, even an idiot would realize these Black Guards weren’t here for some criminal.
They were here for him.
“I already told you he’s cautious.
We should’ve used my method from the start.” Another voice outside spoke.
Then came the unmistakable sound of a gun being chambered.
Lidi’s heart sank.
He immediately backed away.
Bang!
Bang!
Two gunshots blasted through the air, blowing apart the door locks.
A heavy kick followed.
The door flew inward and skidded several meters across the floor.
“What the hell are you—PUAGH!!” A group of Black Guards in dark armor stormed into the apartment, instantly filling his tiny living room.
The first one through the door slammed Lidi violently to the ground and pinned his neck under his knee.
The Black Guard was massive.
Though the mask hid his face, the large horn protruding from his helmet revealed he was a bull beastman.
“I…I can’t breathe…” The impact against the floor made Lidi’s vision split into spinning fragments.
Combined with the pressure crushing his throat, he felt like he was suffocating.
“Don’t let the target die.
Move quickly.” Cold metal cuffs snapped around his wrists.
Only then did the knee lift from his neck.
Finally able to breathe again, the redness in his face slowly faded.
Then a hood was violently pulled over his head.
His vision disappeared into darkness.
A sharp sting suddenly pierced his neck.
He didn’t even have time to struggle.
The moment the drug entered his bloodstream, his consciousness was dragged away by an unstoppable force.
Thoughts, sensations, sounds— Everything drifted farther and farther away, though not completely gone.
He could still vaguely feel his body being lifted, limbs dangling like a puppet.
Somewhere in the distance came the metallic sound of armored vehicle doors sliding open.
They were taking him away.
Lidi’s fading consciousness could no longer process what happened afterward.
He only felt his heartbeat accelerating violently.
Then… His body seemed to move on its own.
The last thing he heard was shouting.
As if some kind of beast had attacked them.
And then— Everything went black.