The night was silent and still.
Fang Chen opened the door. The hallway, which should have been brightly lit, was instead engulfed in darkness, save for a solitary light flickering at the far end, casting an interplay between darkness and light.
He shouldn’t venture out.
Yet, even with that thought in mind, Fang Chen closed the door behind him and proceeded forward.
All the hotel rooms looked the same, and only by following the doors numbered with a starting “6” could Fang Chen confirm where he had walked to. He pressed on until he reached room 601, where he halted beneath the same flickering light.
The flickering glow stretched his shadow, projecting it onto the opposite glass panel, similarly casting the silhouette of another person across from him.
“Ding-ling.”
A soft bell echoed through the air.
He saw a person, and alongside them, a malevolence.
The frail monster fought hopelessly against the youth’s grasp, its claws pounding against the glass panel with futile force. Fang Chen watched as Qiao Ran subdued the writhing malevolence. In a swift motion, he thrust his hand into its darkened chest, a squelch echoing as he penetrated through its core.
Qiao Ran turned his head, his gaze meeting Fang Chen’s pallid face. With two quick blinks, he quickly broke into a smile. “Fang Chen-ge,” he greeted cheerfully. The malevolence dissipated from his hand, leaving behind a trail of thick black substance that dripped steadily from his fingertips to the floor below. This new demeanour starkly contrasted the timid youth he had been moments before.
With deliberate steps, he walked towards Fang Chen.
In response, Fang Chen took a step back, his mind a blank slate.
Qiao Ran cocked his head, then… began to rot gradually. Fang Chen watched as he underwent a grotesque transformation, beginning with his face, then his neck, and finally his entire body crumbling into decay.
He was just like Nie Shi.
Fang Chen was aghast. His legs refused to bulge as he stood frozen in place.
Detecting the terror in Fang Chen’s eyes, Qiao Ran partially parted his lips before biting down on them. “Oh, right, you don’t remember me anymore…” He continued forward, halting beneath the flickering light, its intermittent glow casting shadows upon him. Qiao Ran straightened his back—he was indeed taller than Fang Chen—imposing a great sense of oppression.
“You ought to remember,” Qiao Ran said, his mouth drooping. His once-cheerful expression now faded, as he asserted stubbornly, “We’ve met before.”
Fang Chen’s heart pounded violently like thunder, while his body leaned halfway against the wall. Stepping backward, he unexpectedly found nothingness, prompting him to turn and see the doorplate—601.
Fang Chen froze.
Qiao Ran’s expression darkened slightly. “You haven’t remembered me.”
Sixth floor.
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.
Back when they were still in the residential building complex, Fang Chen had ridden the elevator with Qiao Ran once. That person, who appeared to be a university student, was Qiao Ran! Fang Chen even asked him which floor he lived on, and Qiao Ran’s answer was—“Sixth floor.”
Fang Chen’s gaze shot upward abruptly, eliciting a joyful exclamation from Qiao Ran. “You remembered?”
A surge of fear twisted his heart into a knot, and Fang Chen slid down along the door.
Qiao Ran’s grin disappeared once more, replaced by a downturned mouth and a heavy gaze. Bits of flesh peeled away from his body in fragments, leaving behind ghastly bones that protruded from half of his face. Yet, his voice still retained the innocence of a child. He swayed his head and approached Fang Chen, murmuring, “You still haven’t remembered.”
“But that’s okay.” Qiao Ran beamed widely. “You’ll remember sooner or later.”
Something lurked behind them. Another malevolence appeared in the stairwell, hunched over with a half-bald head, silently staring at them.
Qiao Ran made a “shh” gesture to Fang Chen, like a mischievous imp, then turned and quickly walked over, forcefully seizing the malevolence‘s head. Despite its piercing screams, he seemed deaf to them, eagerly thrusting his hand into its darkened chest, repeating the previous motion and puncturing it. His pale, slender fingers, coated with black threads, clenched into a fist as he pulled them out. The malevolence vanished, leaving Qiao Ran surrounded by black ashes, as if it had plunged him into a deep abyss.
Unnoticed by them, a black-and-white cat stood on the staircase, its eyes glowing in the darkness, silently observing everything.
“What exactly… are you guys?” Everything was in upheaval. Fang Chen had believed Nie Shi was the only special case—the only one among them. He had always considered Nie Shi to be on their side, but was that truly the case?! Nie Shi… Why exactly did he appear among them?
“What are we?” Qiao Ran repeated, his flesh falling off his face as he tilted his head. “Hmm—what are we indeed? Let me think~” He also used “we.”
Qiao Ran took another step forward, making it increasingly difficult for Fang Chen to catch his breath as he continued to advance step by step.
Although Qiao Ran was rotting like Nie Shi, Nie Shi at least wouldn’t harm him, but the same couldn’t be said for Qiao Ran. This inexplicable trust Fang Chen had in Nie Shi was glaringly evident at this moment.
Qiao Ran was all smiles. “Fang Chen-ge has been shaking since just now. Surely you aren’t being afraid of me, are you?”
The youth in front of him, like Nie Shi, was not human.
Once this fact was acknowledged, they would begin to rot if one stopped regarding them as humans. The more one feared them, the quicker their rate of decay.
How come, though?
“This won’t do.” Qiao Ran approached closer and closer, while Fang Chen grew increasingly desperate, his hand reaching for the dagger at his waist. The youth looked at him as if seeing a human for the first time, curiously sizing him up with a glint of interest in his eyes. He didn’t seem to find himself frightening at all, even saying, “What do you see? Is it the way I looked when I died?”
He said “when I died,” which meant… he wasn’t alive.
Trembling, Fang Chen droved the dagger into the youth’s body. The sharp blade pierced through his flesh, the warmth of blood seeping against his skin.
Caught off guard by the sudden assault, the youth twisted his expression and instantly crumpled to the ground.
As Fang Chen saw the dark red blood on his hands, a fog descended over his mind, prompting him to mechanically ponder: Why could a dead person bleed… why could they feel pain?
Didn’t this dead person seem to have it way too rough?
Qiao Ran groaned in pain, writhing on the ground with his hands clutched to his stomach. Then he abruptly stopped and muttered, “It hurts so much…”
What?
The youth lifted his head, showing no signs of pain, fixing Fang Chen with a gaze. “Fang Chen-ge, I’m in so much pain.”
Oh, how Fang Chen wished he himself could just drop dead immediately instead.
Qiao Ran once again buried his head in his arms, a gesture he often made out of fear. But now? He was laughing. Soft laughter intermittently escaped his lips. After he had laughed enough, he lifted his head to look at Fang Chen.
Ah, burying his face in the crook of his arms earlier was to hide his laughter, wasn’t it?
After all, his laughter was so creepy in a way that made one uncomfortable.
“What are you up to?” Fang Chen’s mind went blank as he lowered the dagger. The crimson blood on it no longer concerned him because he noticed that the wound on Qiao Ran’s stomach was gradually closing up.
“What am I up to?” A glint shimmered in the youth’s eyes, excitement coursing through him like a surge of electricity. He crawled over on all fours, drawing close to Fang Chen in an instant, nearly face to face, with just a sliver of space between the tip of their noses. Fang Chen felt as if the rotting flesh on the youth’s face might soon meld with his own.
Qiao Ran chuckled with extreme glee. “I’m leading you guys to your death.”
As the words left his lips, he was abruptly pulled back. Within Fang Chen’s sight, another figure emerged, seizing Qiao Ran by the collar and hurling him onto the ground with a resounding thud.
It was Nie Shi.
The person on the ground tried to get up, but Nie Shi brought his foot down hard on his head, and Fang Chen faintly discerned a cracking sound.
Qiao Ran, however, cackled with laughter.
With an expressionless face, Nie Shi pressed down even harder. Only then did Qiao Ran finally shriek in pain.
Nie Shi frowned, coldly telling Qiao Ran, “Watch your mouth.”
Qiao Ran giggled, “Hehe, you can’t bear to see him suffer, but if he doesn’t suffer, he’ll never remember. You can’t protect him forever!”
A splatter of blood erupted into Fang Chen’s sight as Nie Shi tore off Qiao Ran’s arm. Qiao Ran wailed in torment; Fang Chen felt as though that arm… had already been ripped off since a long time ago. Blood quickly seeped out, yet Qiao Ran only suffered for a few seconds before starting to shout uncontrollably again.
Fang Chen was on the brink of losing composure. “What place is this exactly?” His gaze darted around, asking hopelessly.
Qiao Ran spat out blood and turned his head, his posture extremely twisted. A trace of a smile flickered in his eyes, as if he had been waiting for Fang Chen to ask this exact question.
“This is ‘Human Realm’,” he tilted his head and continued with a soft voice, “Welcome.”
The night was pitch black.
Fang Chen couldn’t recall how Nie Shi had dealt with Qiao Ran; it seemed as though he had simply flung him out of the window, suppressing his anger and commanding, “Piss off.”
Wouldn’t he die from the fall?
He probably wouldn’t, right?
Nie Shi wanted to approach Fang Chen, but Fang Chen was afraid of him, and that exact fear transformed Nie Shi’s appearance in his eyes.
Fang Chen seemed like he had many things he wanted to say, yet he struggled to find the right words; saying “you’re dead” didn’t seem polite either.
Why have you died?
Fang Chen’s heart seemed to split open, continuing to tear apart. The blood on the dagger had disappeared, much like those malevolences, leaving nothing in its wake.
Fang Chen held on the door handle and leaned against it, retching. His throat throbbed with pain, and his joints ached, tears pooling in his eyes from the sheer agony.
Nie Shi took a small step back, for once not clinging stubbornly. He watched Fang Chen intently for an extended duration, until the hallway lights flickered back to life, casting an illuminating glow upon their surroundings. It was only then that he turned and left.
Fang Chen sat there until dawn. Throughout the entire night, not a single malevolence appeared, despite there being constant faint sounds of commotion coming from upstairs and downstairs. The daylight arrived quickly, as if orchestrated by some unseen hand, tilting all odds in their favour.
The sky was again azure, with wisps of clouds drifting by.
Xie Ying appeared in the hallway, her gaze falling upon Fang Chen, who was seated outside. She didn’t immediately approach, drawing in a deep breath before running over and squatting in front of Fang Chen. Her hands trembled as she shoved something into his hands.
“Fang Chen, listen to me.”
Fang Chen’s eyes flickered.
“Fan Yingying… she… drugged her roommate with abortion pills!” Xie Ying’s eyes held a shattered expression. “She did something wrong! She killed someone! That’s why she died that way…”
—“I’m leading you guys to your death.”
Qiao Ran’s words echoed in Fang Chen’s ears.
Xie Ying said, “We all harboured sins, we must all face death as punishment because of the mistakes we made…” She choked up, her scarlet nails nearly piercing into Fang Chen’s shoulder. “Run away. Hurry up and escape… as far as you can if possible!”
Fang Chen was about to speak when the door at the opposite end suddenly flung opened, Gao Cheng shouted from within, “Holy crap, brother! I woke up, and there was no one in the room… Scared the hell out of me!”
Xie Ying looked at him, her eyes reflecting a myriad of emotions. Then, without waiting for Gao Cheng to come over, she released Fang Chen, rose to her feet, and ran downstairs.
“Xie Ying? Xie Ying!” Fang Chen tried to stand up, but his feet went numb, forcing him to slump back down. He stared at the car key Xie Ying had shoved into his hand, trembling uncontrollably.
Just like what Xie Ying had said, everyone here harboured sins, but what was his own sin?
He couldn’t remember.
Oh, more zombie buddies
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