The office building had three basement levels, but only the first basement level was accessible. The stairs leading to the second basement level were securely locked behind an old wooden door.
Staff who passed by here would sometimes hear faint noises from behind the door, accompanied by a foul stench.
Consequently, what lay within the building's basement became a chilling legend.
However, most people dismissed the basement as a mere joke. Today, whatever was in the basement had emerged!
A grotesque monster squeezed through the narrow wooden door. Those working on the first floor became its immediate victims. They turned to flee, only to be torn to shreds by the swarming monsters.
Ma Songran had no idea what was happening. Upon hearing the screams from downstairs, he knew something was terribly wrong and immediately began dialing the emergency number.
But the phone line only produced a busy signal. Even if the city-wide lockdown had severed external communications, internal communication should have remained functional.
The fact that the phone was unusable now could only mean one thing: too many people were trying to call emergency services.
He exchanged glances with his three colleagues inside the office. They immediately locked the office door and barricaded it with two desks, believing this would hold off any intruders for a while.
Their office was small, with only four workstations. The side facing the corridor had no windows, only a solid wooden door.
They then discussed using curtains to fashion a rope and climb down from the fourth floor. But as Ma Songran peered out the window, he immediately abandoned the idea.
Outside, two cars had crashed, spewing thick black smoke. Their company's boss was downstairs, being pounced upon and bitten by a colossal spider. Su Dan Novel Network.
"Is... is this the end of the world?" one of his colleagues, who had a long, narrow face, muttered in despair, clutching his head.
"Let's climb up to the roof. There might be a way out!" suggested a colleague with a round face.
The monsters had come from below. Reaching the roof might buy them some time. But soon, screams erupted from other parts of the same floor.
The three of them realized that running out now would likely result in them being caught and killed by the monsters.
So, Ma Songran and the round-faced colleague hid in a filing cabinet, while the long-faced colleague hid under a desk. The three of them held their breath, daring not to make a sound.
Gradually, the screams died down. The entire floor fell into an eerie silence. For a long time, no more screams were heard, as if the monsters had left.
"Should we go out and take a look?" the long-faced colleague whispered.
Ma Songran responded in an even quieter voice, "Don't go out, and don't make a sound. Only by staying silent can we remain safe."
After a short while, the long-faced colleague grew increasingly anxious. He wanted to ascertain the situation outside. He climbed onto the desk they had placed in front of the door, intending to peer out through the peephole.
Looking through the peephole, his line of sight seemed blocked. It appeared to be a thick, black metal barrel.
The long-faced colleague relaxed slightly. As long as it wasn't a monster, anything else was manageable.
But just then, the barrel rotated. Two round holes, the size of duck eggs, were visible. In each hole, a pair of malevolent eyes gleamed!
A piercing chainsaw sound erupted. The long-faced colleague scrambled to get down from the desk, but it was too late.
A massive chainsaw, twenty centimeters wide, pierced the solid wooden door and plunged into the colleague's chest from behind. The chainsaw thrashed within his body, and the long-faced colleague instantly fell silent.
The thing outside slowly withdrew the chainsaw. Ma Songran and his other colleague, watching through the ventilation holes of the filing cabinet, were terrified but tried their best to cover their mouths to stifle any sound.
Whatever was outside seemed to have lost interest in the office after killing the long-faced colleague. Heavy footsteps gradually receded.
Ma Songran and his companion breathed a sigh of relief. The slightly overweight, round-faced colleague shifted his position subtly. But with this minor movement, a bottle of ink placed on top of the filing cabinet fell to the floor, making a crisp sound.
Their hearts leaped into their throats. The consequence of making a sound at a time like this seemed predetermined.
However, the corridor remained quiet. The monster seemed to have moved on and hadn't heard the noise.
But soon, rapid, heavy footsteps were heard. Before the two could even tense up, the solid wooden door was smashed to splinters by immense force. One of the desks used to block the door was flung against the wall and disintegrated, while the other crashed through the window and flew out.
Then, a figure nearly two meters tall entered the office from the window.
Through the narrow ventilation holes, Ma Songran could only see the creature's upper body.
Its arms were thick and muscular, but its belly was as large as if it were pregnant. Its shoulders were covered by armor resembling a small vest, and its abdomen had sparse brown fur. Its back was covered with what appeared to be tough, brown long hair.
On its head, the creature wore a black iron bucket. This bucket looked very thick, as evidenced by countless deep finger scratches that had failed to break it.
The monster held a massive chainsaw and turned its head, searching for any living person in the room.
However, because the iron bucket on its head only had two circular holes, its vision was poor. It could only see fragments of things. After searching for a while, it still hadn't found Ma Songran and his colleague.
Just as they began to relax, the monster suddenly went berserk. A muffled roar emanated from within the bucket. Then, wielding the chainsaw, it began destroying everything in the office.
The office wasn't large. With this destructive method, it would soon reach the filing cabinet, and that thin metal cabinet wouldn't withstand such a monster!
Ma Songran's heart was pounding in his throat. But just then, a somewhat flippant voice caught the monster's attention.
"Hmm, with such a big belly, it must be a female monster. Causing destruction while pregnant, how pathetic. Don't you monsters know pregnant women need good care?"
A figure in a black trench coat, leaning by the doorway with a sly grin, chewed gum and taunted the monster.
Ma Songran felt a wave of relief. Since this person had issued a challenge, regardless of whether he could defeat the monster, he could at least draw its attention away, allowing Ma Songran to escape from the filing cabinet.
But the bucket-headed monster paid no heed to the newcomer's prattling. It swung its chainsaw directly, and the man standing at the doorway's head flew off, his face etched with confusion.
Ma Songran's heart turned cold. Hoping for a superhuman to save them was indeed wishful thinking. This was a real world, and humans were no match for monsters!
But as Ma Songran despaired, the beheaded man in the black coat calmly bent down and picked up his own head!