"Sorry, the curry fried noodle bread is sold out."
The young man behind the counter scratched his head guiltily, always finding the customer's brooding gaze somewhat intimidating, "We still have pineapple pies and cream cakes..."
It was now 22:57 at night, and the bakery was about to close.
"Buckwheat bread."
After a long silence, Duan Mingyuan finally spoke.
One of the principles in his life was to not eat sweets at night.
According to his original plan, he would have made it to the bakery just two streets away from the company before the fried noodle bread sold out, but just as he was about to punch out and leave, he received a text message from his section chief.
"A few details in the report need to be revised, need it done tonight"
This forced him to return to his desk, and by the time he finished revising the report, the numbers on his phone screen had moved to 22:41.
Unsurprisingly, the curry fried noodle bread he had planned for his late-night snack was gone, and aside from the leftover sweet treats in the bread cabinet, there was only the dry, tough buckwheat bread.
Duan Mingyuan took the wrapped bread and had hardly walked a few steps when a bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky.
The weather forecast hadn't mentioned rain today.
As he thought this, a downpour descended almost blinding him and forcing him to seek shelter nearby; the street was empty, not even a shadow of a taxi to be seen.
He took out his phone, and a red exclamation mark popped up.
"Brother Duan, I completed my resignation procedures today. Thanks for everything up to now; I'm leaving the cartoon cat calendar for you, you'll find it on my computer desk when you come in to work tomorrow~"
"Duan Ming, today Xiaotang resigned. She was interned under you, so you must be quite familiar with her. After you come in tomorrow, please take over the work she's leaving behind."
One message was from a junior he had personally mentored since their internship, the other from the section chief.
But what was more critical was the battery icon in the upper right corner of the screen, flashing with only half a charge left, completely extinguishing the thought of watching a few videos from Duan Mingyuan's mind.
Wordlessly, he opened the wrapper, the dry bread mixed with a bitter taste.
This sudden rainstorm lasted for more than an hour, and the battery of the phone was drained of its last charge. As midnight approached and the screen went dark, it meant the last train had left.
Before setting off again, Duan Mingyuan walked to the garbage can by the roadside and threw in the crumpled wrapper.
Guess it's time to walk home.
Everyone has their unlucky moments, and for adults, the most important thing is excellent emotional management.
He reminded himself internally.
He hadn't managed to have the dinner he wanted, his clothes were soaked by the unexpected downpour, his phone battery had run out, and he had missed the last train, but everything has two sides—it meant there could hardly be any more misfortune to come.
Besides, the air was much fresher after the rain, almost not a single person was seen on the streets, allowing him to momentarily put the tedious work out of his mind and thoroughly enjoy the solitude.
Walking home took about 40 minutes. He could reach home before 1 a.m., toss his clothes into the washing machine, take a shower, and still get to bed by 1 o'clock, ensuring at least five hours of full sleep.
As Duan Mingyuan had thought, the streets were clear and unobstructed in the early morning, and the journey had been smooth.
Until, an uninvited guest blocked his way.
This was the last and most secluded alley before he arrived home, where the streetlight had been broken for two years without anyone fixing it.
The light flickered on and off, reminiscent of a scene from a horror movie, continually flashing. At some point, the night sky overhead had been dyed red, with the moon behind the clouds turning into a wide-open eye.
The monster crawled out from a pile of garbage.
It had a human body, but its limbs and head were swollen into tumorous growths. At the forefront of its head, a mouth gaped open to reveal a row of sharp, pointed teeth, snapping as though chewing on something.
The creature noticed Duan Mingyuan's arrival. It twisted its body and fixed its featureless "face" on him.
Amid the low growling were incomprehensible whispers. It crouched, and its bloated, fleshy hands touched the wall, from which flesh buds sprouted like entangled tree roots, extending towards him.
Duan Mingyuan had to stop in his tracks.
As it turns out, a person's luck can continue to sink, much like an investment fund or stocks that never seem to stop losing money, with any thoughts of a rebound merely a beautiful illusion.
So, what could be worse than encountering a monster on the way home at night?
That would probably be the appearance of a suspicious-looking girl at the same time as the monster.
The girl stood on the street corner, her amber eyes fixed on him, "In every thousand people, there emerges one like you."
Her cryptic opening line was like a lure, enticing those in dire straits to make a deal with the devil.
Atop the girl's head were a pair of pointed ears, and she had a bushy tail. Her attire resembled that of a Cultivator from a Taoist temple, and together with her delicate features, she would have stirred entirely different emotions under other circumstances.
She held a red umbrella, shielding herself from the red moonlight. Her eyes carried a smiling expression with a hint of ripples. She slowly extended her left hand towards Duan Mingyuan, inviting, "You can sense their presence. I have come for this reason, to guide you to the Strength to contend with them."
The sound of crawling drew closer.
White tumorous growths on the wall wove into a web, enveloping the entire alley, and the monster on the ground moved toward him on all fours.
Its movement was not fast but intensely oppressive. The snapping mouth seemed ready to swallow him whole.
Suddenly, Duan Mingyuan's face broke into a relieved smile.
This was the final challenge before getting home.
To the girl's astonishment, he did not retreat but advanced. Stepping forward, he directly faced the advancing monster.
The moment they collided, his raised right foot kicked towards the monster's chin. Something flew off, vanishing into the night sky with astonishing speed.
The "web" on the walls receded like the tide, and the alley quickly returned to its original state.
The silvery moonlight illuminated his path, and beside his foot lay a corpse missing half its body, with green, sticky liquid flowing all around.
Duan Mingyuan didn't halt. He ignored the Fox Lady on the street corner and walked straight past the mutilated body, his pent-up bad mood released.
From this perspective, the encounter with the monster could be seen as the beginning of his turn of fortune.
What a terrible day.
His gaze lingered on the remains for a moment, his furrowed brows relaxing.
"Thank you."
Duan Mingyuan didn't know where Mr. Monster had come from or why it appeared there, but it was Mr. Monster's appearance that had saved him.
It had prevented him from taking all the accumulated stress and bad mood back home.