Chapter 2 - Haunted Building?
After Zhao Luo went inside the building there was a little girl outside who lightly tucked her mothers' skirt and said,
"Oka~~a San, that Uncle went in the haunted building. Can we go in there too?"
The girl was pointing at the building that Zhao Luo had just entered.
Her mother trembled after looking at the haunted building. She had heard weird stories about this haunted building and some extreme stories even included people getting heart attacks inside there.
So she said to her daughter,
"Maybe we will go there when your daddy is with us okay boo. But not now."
After making this excuse, she held her daughter's hand and walked away from that place as fast as she could.
***************
Haunted Building, Central ward of Tokyo.
Zhao Luo went inside and his breathing hastened as his excitement increased.
He controlled his feeling.
As he moved ahead, he could see some posters around him which had a spooky house printed on them. So he generally had an idea of what he ignored on the banner which was outside the building.
'Keh. As if I will be scared.'
He thought. After which he said in a loud voice.
"Come at me ghosts. I will face you all ALONE."
Zhao Luo suddenly declared war on the ghosts in the building.
These ghosts were obviously people who would only be pretending to be ghosts or other evil beings, but Zhao Luo felt quite satisfied after his declaration and started moving.
When Zhao Luo reached the stairs which moved to the first floor, he stopped there for a moment thinking about turning back and leaving the building.
Even after his earlier bold announcement, Zhao Luo, in reality, was a very 'Cowardly' man.
He could even win in a competition if the competition was based on, 'who can be the biggest coward'.
Right when he was still deciding whether to move towards the first floor of the haunted building or leave the building,
'Tap, Tap'
A drop fell on his right shoulder, then the next instant another drop fell on his left shoulder right away.
Zhao Luo looked towards his left and saw a mummified ghost trying to grab him.
The sudden appearance of this ghastly mummy shocked Zhao Luo and he screamed,
"Ahhhhhhhh."
Zhao Luo had fear clouding his mind, and in confusion decided to go up towards the first floor.
Walking on all fours like a gorilla, he jumped on the stairs while making his way to the first floor.
After reaching the first floor the stairs ended, even though the building had five floors. The stairs to the second floor were at a different point on the first floor, unlike the usual way where all the floors had their stairs connected.
Zhao Luo looked down towards the descending stairs to see if the ghost was still following him but he couldn't see the ghost. Even though he knew that it was a fake one but he couldn't control himself.
'Huff, Huff, Finally. I can't see that shit of a ghost'
He thought while breathing heavily.
Zhao Luo walked around the first floor. Just when he heard a grumble.
'Grrrrrrr'
It was his stomach. Zhao Luo who was already scared out of his wits before started to look around anxiously.
Right then he heard the same grumble sound again.
'Grrrrr'
"This time it wasn't my stomach"
Zhao Luo said.
Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Ahhhhhhhh"
The hand touched him so suddenly that Zhao Luo didn't even look back. He just ran.
He reached the end of the floor and right there he saw stairs.
Reaching the stairs which were going up, he decided to go up like before. So he started to climb the stairs but this time the stairs never ended. He climbed the stairs. while climbing his breathing was getting heavier and heavier. Each step became a burden.
Just when he was ready to fall on the stairs giving up going up anymore, he saw the last of the stairs.
"Huff, Huff, Finally. Fucking hell. Is this a haunted house or a stair climbing marathon? Huff, Huff."
'Tap, Tap'
He reached the last step.
Zhao Luo saw a small board on the wall in front of him with a digit on it. He freaked out after seeing it. The board had a five on it.
'5. I thought I was supposed to be on the second floor or maybe third but fifth. What a weird building'
He thought.
While Zhao Luo was lost in his thoughts, he heard someone addressing him.
"Mr. Luo Zhao"
A Japanese man wearing sunglasses and a golden long coat over his clothes said.
Zhao Luo laughed after hearing his name backward which meant something else.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...cough, cough"
Zhao Luo looked at the man and said,
"It's Zhao Luo, not Luo Zhao."
Anger could be seen in the eyes of Zhao Luo even though he laughed but this was the only thing he hated the most.
Someone calling his name backward in front of him was a no-no. As his name backward meant 'Nude Photo'.
Zhao Luo closed his hands tightly and moved towards the Japanese man.
Clouded with anger Zhao Luo wanted nothing more than to punch that man.
The only thing Zhao Luo forgot was his condition.
The moment he reached the guy, he fainted.
Running up on stairs for four floors and then getting extremely angry, caused his respiration to increase to the point that his lungs couldn't handle it anymore.
Thus his lungs stopped working. This caused his breathing to stop.
Zhao Luo started falling like a log as he had fainted but just then like a shining knight, the Japanese guy grabbed the falling Zhao Luo and carried him in his arms like a princess.
"I can't let you get hurt."
He said while tightly keeping Zhao Luo in his arms.
Many people would have fainted if they saw this.
The guy walked towards a door. After the door opened a big hall was seen. This hall was really enormous as if the whole fifth floor of this building only had this hall.
Inside the hall, many people were present, who were wearing the same clothes as the guy holding Zhao Luo.
This hall was a laboratory.
Right when the guy entered through the door, all the others looked at him and said in unison
"Welcome Project leader Takuma."
This guy was Takuma.
The man with the most brilliant mind in Japan who was working on human longevity.
He was respected for his researches by many superior researchers.
The project he was leading was supposed to increase the life span of a human and make their bodies way stronger than they could ever be.
Takuma walked towards a bed in the hall, with Zhao Luo being carried by him.
The bed Takuma was walking towards had a big capsule next to it.
It was big enough to easily fit a person in there.
Takuma placed the unconscious Zhao Luo on the bed and stared at his sleeping face.