What was spilling out of the bathroom wasn’t just water. It was blood, or at least water that had carried a significant amount of blood with it.
In the dim light of her phone, the area around her was awash in a deep, eerie red, the crimson seemingly spreading in the pitch-dark dorm.
Blood had smeared Wen Qiu’s feet, stained her hands, and its metallic scent clung to her nose, impossible to shake off.
Why was there so much blood?
What was Meng Qing doing in the bathroom at such an ungodly hour?
Ding-dong!
A sudden notification tone from her phone cut sharply through the tense silence, jolting Wen Qiu just as she was about to peek through the door gap again.
Hua Haoming: [There’s something wrong in the morgue. Watch out for Meng Qing.]
Wen Qiu had kept her phone’s notifications at max volume in order to catch every message from her class’s group chat. Even if one were showering in the bathroom, they’d still hear it.
As she stared at the message, Wen Qiu crouched by the bathroom door, pressing her hand over her mouth in terror. The blood from her hand smeared over her face and lips, its stench lingering. Her anxiety was palpable; her entire body tensed up.
After two uneventful days, Wen Dong and Meng Tianyou had fallen into a deep sleep, feeling safe. Only Xia Bai remained awake, heavy eyelids barely open, waiting for Song Mingliang.
Near 2 am, the occupant of the third bed finally stirred.
With eyes barely open, Xia Bai watched him intently.
Song Mingliang sat up for a good ten minutes, possibly observing the other three dorm-mates. Only then did he rise from his bed.
That night, instead of crawling around, he left the dormitory.
The dormitory was hauntingly silent in the dead of night, and his footsteps echoed clearly in the corridor.
He meandered without a clear destination.
Springing up, Xia Bai silently approached the dorm door to peek outside. The hallway had no motion-sensor lights, but a window at the end let in faint moonlight, enough to make out his figure.
In the dimly lit, eerily quiet corridor, he hovered by each door, eyes peering through gaps or crouching to peek underneath. His eyes gleamed, like two tiny bulbs in the darkness, and to get a clearer view, he contorted his body in ways humanly impossible.
He ultimately entered one of the rooms. Xia Bai had no idea whether it was unlocked, or whether his twisted fingers had picked the lock.
Xia Bai texted Lin Xiang: [Song Mingliang has left the dorm.]
Lin Xiang replied instantly: [We saw.]
Neither Hua Haoming nor Lin Xiang had slept; they lay in wait. When they heard noises, Hua Haoming, being closer to the door, went to inspect, and Lin Xiang followed.
In the dark corridor, the dark figure peeked in through the cracks of the dormitory doors in various twisted postures like a madman.
During the day, they had heard Xia Bai mention Song Mingliang’s eerie behavior, but after seeing it in the flesh at night, Lin Xiang realized that it was much more bizarre and horrific than he had imagined.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Seeing Song Mingliang’s appearance, Hua Haoming also realized that things weren’t as simple as they seemed.
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Before Wen Qiu could reply to him, Song Mingliang came out of the dormitory.
The dark figure approached. He still retained some distinct characteristics of Song Mingliang; he walked slowly, and his feet dragged along the ground, as if they were glued to the floor. His head hung low and heavy bangs covered his eyes – but not the faint, ghastly yellow glow they emitted.
He continued his torturous, slow approach towards them. Towards room 304.
Realizing he was heading their way, they hurriedly shut their door.
The dormitory in the game was old, relying on a basic bolt lock. As Lin Xiang hurried to slide the bolt into place, two bloody fingers suddenly shot through the door gap, pinning down the bolt.
The gap was sizable, but certainly not large enough to accommodate two fingers.
Of course, it would be a whole different matter if those two blood-drenched fingers were void of any flesh.
Had he ground off the flesh on his fingers when he had forced his way into another dorm earlier? Or did something else happen in that dorm? The two fingers were only left with bloody bone, like that of a ghost’s.
It was as if the owner of the fingers felt no pain, pressing them with force against the door bolt.
Song Mingliang appeared to be under 175 cm. He had a slender build, while Lin Xiang stood at around 187 cm, tall and strong. Yet, at that moment, Lin Xiang struggled to bolt the door. The half-locked bolt even seemed to be inching backwards.
Seeing those blood-covered, abnormally powerful finger bones, Lin Xiang exerted all his strength. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He felt instinctively that it would be perilous if Song Mingliang managed to come in.
However, his efforts seemed in vain. Desperately and helplessly, he watched as the bolt kept sliding back. The door’s gap would soon widen.
Crack!
The bolt clicked into place, tightly ensnared by a soft sword that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Simultaneously, one of the finger bones audibly snapped.
Lin Xiang glanced at the soft sword, reminiscent of silk, then at Hua Haoming. He quickly recalled a conversation in the dining hall. Hua Haoming had introduced him and Xia Bai to game rewards and weapons.
That thought came and went in a split second; Lin Xiang did not have the leisure to ponder more about it as his entire focus remained on the two finger bones.
Even after one bone had snapped, it still clawed and tapped incessantly at the bolt, growing more frantic. Blood dripped steadily, pooling on the floor.
Only after realizing he couldn’t get in did Song Mingliang cease his efforts.
At first, he didn’t leave, merely panting, one resentful eye peering through the gap in the door.
The yellowish glow gleamed even more frenziedly, and the eyes came into contact with the blood. Black pupils, white sclera, a yellow glow, and crimson blood. The amalgamation of these colors sent shivers down the spine with every movement.
Eventually, he left.
While catching his breath, Lin Xiang sent a message to Xia Bai and quietly asked Hua Haoming, “Bro, if Song Mingliang has become this terrifying, what will happen to Xia Bai?”
Hua Haoming replied, “Tell Xia Bai to lie back in bed. No matter what happens, he shouldn’t make a sound. If there’s danger, message us.”
Quickly, Lin Xiang texted Xia Bai as Hua Haoming had instructed.
Hua Haoming kept checking his phone, but there was still no reply from Wen Qiu. Perhaps she had fallen asleep.
After receiving Lin Xiang’s message, Xia Bai immediately jumped into bed, pulled the covers over, and feigned sleep.
When Song Mingliang returned, Xia Bai keenly sensed the smell of blood. Under the blanket, he licked his lips subtly and continued his pretense of a deep slumber.
Song Mingliang watched Xia Bai for a moment, then moved over to Meng Tianyou, lying beside him on his side. The dormitory beds were small, and the two men were nearly plastered together. Meng Tianyou shifted in discomfort but didn’t wake.
That night, Song Mingliang lay beside Meng Tianyou.
That night, Hua Haoming never received a reply from Wen Qiu.
The next morning, the dormitory building was awakened by a shrill scream.
Xia Bai instantly opened his eyes, turning to Meng Tianyou’s bed. Meng Tianyou had sat upright. At some point, Song Mingliang had returned to his own bed.
The scream hadn’t come from their room.
“Ah! Ahhhhh!” Meng Tianyou nearly fell off the bed. “Why is there blood on me? And on the bed? What happened to me?!”
Xia Bai: “…”
Xia Bai put on a mask of bewilderment, trying hard not to glance at Song Mingliang.
In the room, only Wen Dong was in a frenzy. He helped Meng Tianyou check his body. “What happened? Why is there blood?”
A frantic Lin Xiang entered and paused for a few seconds upon seeing the scene. Then he said, “Your situation is similar to a guy from Room 307. He claimed he was molested by a ghost.”
“…?”
Lin Xiang explained, “When he woke up, his clothes were torn, and there was a bloody handprint on his chest. He believes he was violated by a spirit.”
“…”
Meng Tianyou quickly checked himself. He hadn’t changed into pajamas and wore only elastic joggers, which were thankfully still intact.
A moment of silence filled the dormitory. In the quiet, Meng Tianyou cursed, “What the hell!”
He was obviously panicked. Though he hadn’t sustained any injuries, it was evident that something bloody had been in his bed the previous night. It was unnerving in hindsight. Anxious, he quickly made his way to the bathroom.
Outside the dormitory, there was quite a commotion. Seeing Meng Tianyou heading into the bathroom, Wen Dong, curious about the student supposedly molested by a ghost, decided to take a look.
“I’m telling you, it’s that tall, muscular guy.”
Lin Xiang followed suit.
Inside the dormitory, only Xia Bai and Song Mingliang remained. Xia Bai sat on his bed, playing on his phone, and didn’t look at Song Mingliang.
Lin Xiang messaged, “[I just informed Wen Dong and Meng Tianyou. Brother Hua also told Song Qiang.]”
It was high time they were informed, to be honest. They should have been informed of last night’s events much earlier.
Xia Bai gazed innocently at the bathroom door, wondering what Meng Tianyou might be feeling inside. He took a long time in the shower, and when he finally emerged, he kept his head down while towel-drying his hair.
Time was running short. Xia Bai and Wen Dong hurriedly washed up. Xia Bai took up most of the time; Wen Dong simply washed his face, spilling some water on his neck.
At the dormitory entrance, they saw Hua Haoming, Wen Qiu, and Meng Qing.
Meng Qing seemed to be behaving normally, and, as usual, approached her son as soon as she saw him. However, Meng Tianyou stiffly took a step back.
When Meng Qing took out an alcohol wet wipe to clean his hands, he dodged it by lowering his head, “I just finished showering, no need.”
Hua Haoming and Wen Qiu both wore grim expressions, avoiding eye contact with each other, looking like they had just had an argument.
It was during their meal that they learned what had happened.
With her tray in hand, Wen Qiu sat down at their table, the only available space for four.
As soon as the tray landed on the table, she spat out in a low but irritated voice, “Hua Haoming, think about it from my perspective. Our dormitory had only me at the time, and your message notification was so loud. Meng Qing might have heard it. I was alone, confronted with such an eerie situation. What’s wrong with taking cover?”
Xia Bai and Lin Xiang only now realized that Meng Qing had also behaved abnormally last night.
In the middle of the night, Wen Qiu heard the sound of running water from the bathroom. As she approached, she discovered that the water flowing out was tinged with blood. Just as she was overcome with fear, Hua Haoming sent her a message, the notification sound ringing out loud. She hadn’t put her phone on silent.
In that moment, she clapped her hand over her mouth and, before the person inside could emerge, quickly retreated to her bed.
“You can’t imagine how terrifying it was,” Wen Qiu gripped her chopsticks tightly, forcing herself not to glance over at Meng Qing. “She came out.”
Even now, recalling the memory made Wen Qiu’s fingers tremble involuntarily. She had been lying on the bed, wrapped tightly in her blanket, when she heard the bathroom door being opened.
A figure emerged. She was covered from head to toe in blood, staring at her in the darkness of the night.
“In the middle of the night, alone in a dormitory. Her only roommate was doing something creepy in the bathroom, later emerging, covered in blood, to stare at her. Yet, you’re blaming her for not being brave enough, for not checking what her roommate was doing in that bathroom?” Wen Qiu laughed bitterly.
“What right do you have to blame me? Are you faultless? Why didn’t you warn me in advance?”
“Have you shared all your information with us?” Hua Haoming retorted.
“Wen Qiu, you’re not a new player. Don’t you know that the clue could’ve been crucial? Just one more glance wouldn’t hurt. And it could’ve helped us identify the reason behind their bizarre behavior.”
Seeing Wen Qiu’s icy expression and her lips which were on the verge of bleeding from her biting them so hard, Hua Haoming immediately apologized.
“Sorry, I was too hasty. The situation is dire, and we might have more people behaving abnormally with each passing day. We still haven’t found any effective clues, and I’m afraid we’ll become boiling frogs.”
In fact, the situation was even grimmer than they had anticipated.
For the past two days, the counselor had chosen one player each day. However, after their morning classes today, the counselor had chosen two.
Counselor: “[Today, in the afternoon, Meng Qing and Wen Dong will go to the lab to prepare for the anatomy lesson.]”
Yeesh, so Meng Qing was taking a shower with blood? 😭
probably xia bai right now : when will it be ly turn 🥺🥺
lmao but it’s so accurate since Hua Haoming and Lin Xiang wouldn’t let him volunteer for someone else xD
Im so excited, loving this book so far!! Thanks for the chapter 🩷
tbf, I doubt MQ is a player anymore
Thanks for the chapter!!!❤️❤️❤️
thank you for the chapter!~
im thinking maybe their actions have something to do with their wants?? like meng likes to be clean so she was in the shower and song seems lonely so he touches and sleeps with people?? or it might be repressed sexuality cause clothes were ripped