Night fell.
Heavy rain poured down once again in Beiling City.
The Fishman, clad in a raincoat, walked through the rain, weaving through the bustling streets. "It's raining... I used to hate rainy days, but now it's the opposite..."
Wang Haonan walked beside him, holding an umbrella. "002, who were you before?"
The Fishman glanced at Wang Haonan. "What do you mean by 'before'?"
"Before you became the Fishman."
"Before I became the Fishman, I was just an ordinary college student. I never did well in school, and getting into that third-rate university was already a struggle for me."
"Since elementary school, no one—teachers, parents, or classmates—ever thought much of me."
"But it didn't matter. I was used to it. Life had been tough ever since my parents divorced."
"Later, my father remarried and had another child. My younger brother was good at everything—academics, sports, you name it."
"Compared to him, I was nothing."
"But at least I had Da Huang, a dog I adopted when I was eleven. He stayed with me for eight years."
"Like me, he didn't have a great life because my brother hated dogs."
"Looking at Da Huang, I often felt like we were the same—two outcasts, comforting each other, licking our wounds, and sticking together through it all."
"Life wasn't great, but it was bearable."
"Until one day, when I was drying my blanket at school, it ended up next to a girl's bedsheet."
"She threw my blanket away and then publicly shamed me on the school's confession wall. It was a public drying rack, and I couldn't take it anymore, so I confronted her. But she wouldn't listen to reason."
"She said my blanket being next to her bedsheet disgusted her."
"I was furious. Without thinking, I slapped her."
"After that, she exaggerated the story and posted it online. I was cyberbullied."
"I tried to explain myself, but no one listened. Everyone blamed me, and the voices of condemnation were everywhere."
"Eventually, the school, under pressure, called me in. They wanted me to apologize and pay compensation."
"I didn't think I was wrong, so I refused. As a result, I was expelled."
"When I got home, my parents blamed me too. The whole world seemed to be against me. I could barely breathe, so I took Da Huang out for a walk."
"It started to rain, and I decided to head back. But before I could get home, a group of people blocked my way."
"They were sent by the girl's boyfriend. They beat me up... but that wasn't the worst part. They killed my dog."
"I fought back, but I was beaten to a pulp. I lay there in the rain, torn between wanting to die and not wanting to die, in agony and despair."
"That's when someone walked up to me and said..."
"Kid, do you want to live?"
"You can probably guess who that person was."
"Later, I killed every single one of those who killed Da Huang. I didn't leave a single one alive."
Wang Haonan stopped walking. "You... killed them?"
The Fishman turned to him. "Yes. I cried as I dismembered them, but I felt no disgust or regret."
"I wasn't even sure why I was crying. I just couldn't stop the tears."
"The memory of that day is a bit hazy now. I remember apologizing over and over, but I think... I wasn't apologizing to them."
Wang Haonan fell silent.
"Maybe... you were right."
"If I had your courage back then... hah."
"Do you know why, when Lord Os asked me to think of a color, the first one that came to mind was green?"
"Because my wife cheated on me."
"That day, I came home and saw my cousin and my wife naked in bed together. No wonder he always visited so often..."
"Out of all my cousins, he was the closest to me. People called me 'Honest Wang,' and not many were close to me."
"He was the only one who visited often, and I was grateful for that."
"But even before that, I had a vague suspicion. I just... didn't want to face it. I was scared, so I kept avoiding it."
"Until I saw it with my own eyes. I couldn't lie to myself anymore..."
"But in the end, I still chose to run away. I didn't dare hit him, and I didn't dare confront my wife."
"She didn't bring up divorce, and neither did I. We just... silently continued like that."
"My silence only made them bolder. Sometimes they didn't even bother to hide it from me. That was the first time..."
"I wanted to kill someone."
"I went to the kitchen and picked up a knife, but I put it down. I was scared. I didn't dare. Because I'm a coward."
"I wanted a divorce, but I didn't know what I'd have left. The down payment for the house was paid by my father-in-law, and it's in my wife's name."
"I've saved up my whole life—half went to the wedding dowry, and the other half to the mortgage."
"If I divorced, I'd be left with nothing."
"I'm already in my forties. I've been fixing air conditioners my whole life, and my health isn't great. I don't have many years left..."
"At that moment, I thought, this is just how my life is going to be..."
At this point, both men fell silent.
"The first time someone bullies you, it's a test. The second time is their choice. The third time is your fault." The Raven sneered.
"Isn't that what you humans always say? Either you explode in silence, or you perish in silence."
"The rules of the world have never changed. When you're weak, even breathing is a mistake."
"So, by that logic, the two of you are now incredibly strong."
"Isn't the answer obvious?"
Hearing the Raven's words, Wang Haonan and the Fishman's eyes suddenly sharpened.
"Yeah..."
"Now, we've been reborn."
"The first thing we'll do in this new life is settle some scores."
...
In an apartment.
A man and a woman were entangled in bed. "Honest Wang has been pretty obedient lately. He hasn't even come home, giving us all the space we need."
"You devil, it's not like it matters whether he's here or not, huh~"
Click.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened.
"Huh?"
The man turned around, but there was no one behind him.
"Who's there? Wang Haonan?"
No response. The door closed again.
The man frowned. "If it's not Wang, then who?"
"Don't worry about it, let's keep going," the woman said seductively.
But at that moment, a kitchen knife suddenly floated into the air!
Thud!
"Ahh!!"
The man's eyes widened as the knife slashed across his neck!
"Ah... ahh..."
Splat!
Blood gushed out like a fountain, splattering the woman's face. The man quickly collapsed from blood loss.
The woman sat frozen on the bed. In the spray of blood, a faint outline began to take shape in the air.
"Who... who's there?!"
"A ghost!!"
The knife floated again, then swung straight toward the woman's forehead!
...
Boom!
In a university.
The rain outside the girls' dormitory continued to pour, with occasional flashes of lightning.
Tap. Tap.
A strange, wet sound echoed down the hallway, like the footsteps of some sea creature.
"Woo... woo... ahh..."
A eerie, hoarse cry echoed through the corridor.
"What... is that noise?"
A girl rubbed her eyes as she sat up. "Who the hell is crying like a banshee in the middle of the night?"
"Woo... ahh!"
"You heard it, didn't you?"
Boom!
A flash of lightning illuminated the room, and suddenly, a Fishman appeared on the ceiling of the girls' dormitory!
That night, a female student mysteriously died in her dorm room.
...