Gazing at his reflection, marred by marks, Yao Ye plunged into an unprecedented panic.
He had confirmed that all of it was real, not a nightmare but a genuine haunting by a vengeful ghost.
The ghost of Blank had left marks on him, perhaps signaling his impending doom.
“Ah… ugh…” Yao Ye’s despair turned to tears, cascading down his soft-jawed face, his beautiful almond-shaped eyes shimmering with tears.
Why him? Why him of all people?
It was just a prank, why such a harsh retaliation?
He hadn’t meant for Blank to die; he was innocent… he didn’t want to die.
The more Yao Ye dwelled on it, the more terrified he became. He attempted futilely to erase the eerie marks on his back with a towel as if that would ward off the ghost.
Crack—
Just then, the bathroom light flickered.
Yao Ye, who had been focused on wiping his back, hadn’t noticed the light above.
But the flicker sent his already unsettled nerves into overdrive.
His pupils dilated in fear as he saw a pale hand caressing the spot he was wiping, its movements tender and slow, as if reluctant to erase the varied marks.
“AHHH—!!!”
Startled, Yao Ye dropped the towel and looked around frantically.
The room was empty.
The pristine tiles reflected the dim light of the bathroom, and Yao Ye was completely panicked now. He looked around frantically, feeling as though the entire bathroom had become sinister as unspeakable fears lurked in every shadow.
Could it be that Blank hadn’t left?
Yao Ye no longer dared to stay. He hastily dried off and left the bathroom, pale-faced.
He walked over the floor, trembling, his gaze shifting uneasily around his home, feeling waves of cold fear.
What if that vengeful ghost was still here? What should he do?
Would Blank come to seek vengeance at night?
Yao Ye couldn’t bear to think further. He changed into a black hoodie and jeans, grabbed his wallet, and rushed out.
His home felt unsafe. Thinking of his life, he decided to seek refuge in a small motel.
Perhaps, if Blank couldn’t find him, he might be spared?
Holding onto a fantasy he didn’t believe, Yao Ye hurried to the elevator, anxiously waiting.
Ding—
The elevator arrived.
Standing before it, Yao Ye felt an unseasonable chill. It was only early summer, yet it felt as cold as midwinter. Clad in only a light hoodie, Yao Ye couldn’t help but shiver.
The doors opened to reveal a young girl with a large Alaskan Malamute about to exit.
The large dog, obstructed by Yao Ye, paused at the doorway.
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.
Vfflcu atf rlaejalbc, Tjb Tf rafqqfv yjmx, wjxlcu gbbw obg atf vbu ab fzla.
“Qbbo, kbbo, kbbo!!!”
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Tjb Tf qjifv jcv gfagfjafv oegatfg.
Lf kjr jogjlv bo vbur.
Pc ojma, tf kjr jogjlv bo fnfgsatlcu.
C ybcjolvf mbkjgv, Tjb Tf’r ofjgr kfgf vffqis lcugjlcfv, atf gfreia bo yflcu yeiilfv ja rmtbbi. Ycis bcilcf mbeiv tf olcv wbwfcajgs rbijmf, j yglfo qfjmf obg tlr rbei.
Yao Ye knew his fears were somewhat pathological, but changing was beyond him; his character was set, his fears etched deep within.
The girl holding the leash, noticing that her dog had scared someone, quickly apologized and tried to leave, but the Alaskan Malamute continued its relentless barking.
Yao Ye was petrified, pressed against the wall, too afraid to enter the elevator, fearing any movement might provoke a bite.
The girl was even more apologetic, unable to understand why her usually docile dog refused to leave, despite her efforts to pull it away.
The ghostly presence around Yao Ye cast a chilling glance at the Alaskan Malamute, its energy terrifying.
“Woof, woof, woof— whimper—”
The previously defiant dog suddenly whined, tail between its legs, silenced.
The girl breathed a sigh of relief. Though she didn’t understand what had happened, she quickly dragged her dog, which seemed to have been frightened to the point of having weak legs, back home.
With the menacing dog gone, Yao Ye maintained his rigid posture against the wall, inching into the elevator.
Fortunately, he had been holding the elevator button, sparing him a wait for the next one.
Inside, Yao Ye hurriedly pressed the close button, eager for the elevator to reach the ground floor.
His nerves were on edge. Yao Ye glanced around the confined space, cautiously positioning himself in a corner to ensure nothing unexpected appeared behind him.
Many horror stories featured such a scene: when the unsuspecting protagonist kept his gaze forward, monsters would suddenly appear behind, gulping down his head.
Yao Ye took these tales as gospel, constantly looking around, finding the elevator descent intolerably slow.
The ghost that tenderly embraced Yao Ye smiled, obsessively kissing his earlobe, finding his fearful demeanor endearing.
Ding—
When the elevator stopped at the second floor, a nerdy young man with glasses, engrossed in his phone, stepped in.
Yao Ye glanced at him with disdain.
Really, taking the elevator just for one floor? How lazy can you get?!
Yao Ye pressed the button for the next floor down.
Ignoring the lazy passenger, Yao Ye focused on leaving the apartment building as quickly as possible.
Biting his fingers nervously, he huddled in the corner, waiting for the elevator to reach the ground floor.
Yao Ye had no idea how his overtly nervous demeanor appeared to others. Right now, he looked like a lunatic freshly released.
The nerdy young man glanced at Yao Ye from the corner of his eye and sneered to himself.
This apartment building seemed to be filled with fools.
Redirecting his attention back to his phone, the young man’s gaze inadvertently swept across the elevator’s mirrored surface. The layout of the elevator allowed him to see both himself and Yao Ye, who was huddled in a corner, clearly reflected in the polished mirror.
As usual, he admired his own handsome reflection, then his eyes drifted to the frantic, black-haired young man beside him.
The young man with dark hair and a doll-like face looked ashen, his fair, slender fingers tightly clenched between his teeth. One could faintly see several deep bite marks on his fingers, oozing with blood.
The stark contrast between the crimson blood vessels and his pallid skin was striking.
The young man reaffirmed his initial judgment—this person must be an idiot, unflinchingly biting himself to the point of bleeding without a change in expression.
Just as he was about to look away, something odd caught his eye.
Wait, was that a hand around the other’s waist?
Rubbing his eyes for a clearer view, he saw a bloodless, grayish arm tightly encircling Yao Ye’s slender waist, leaving no gap.
The young man’s breath hitched. Counting Yao Ye’s hands—one in his mouth, the other clutching his sleeve—he realized the impossible.
Humans only have two hands, so who did this third one belong to?
Frozen in shock, his eyes locked onto the hand that tenderly caressed Yao Ye’s soft waist, then suddenly stopped, as if aware of being watched, halting its movements.
The young man, having witnessed this horror, was shaking uncontrollably, nearly suffocating with fear.
His eyes, bloodshot, saw a ghastly white face emerge over Yao Ye’s shoulder, its dark pupils staring coldly at him, the malice in its gaze chilling him to the bone.
Ding—
The elevator finally reached the ground floor. Yao Ye, chilled to the bone, hurried out, gasping for air, desperate to leave.
He had to leave this place ASAP! As long as he left this apartment building, he would survive!
With this belief in mind, hope flicked in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the bookish young man collapsed to the ground behind him, kneeling in a daze. His face turned ashen white in an instant, his eyes rolling up as he fainted, eliciting gasps from many people in the lobby.
Someone quickly called for an ambulance, but before it arrived, the bookish young man began convulsing violently, his features contorted in a grotesque manner. He kept muttering phrases like “there’s a ghost” or “there’s a ghost in the elevator,” his eerie appearance sending shivers down everyone’s spine.
Yao Ye ignored the chaos behind him, focusing solely on escaping the Rose Apartments, driven by a desperate will to survive.
As the sun set, Yao Ye observed that the pedestrians around him were dressed in light summer clothes, appearing quite normal, which he found peculiar.
After all, his teeth were already chattering from cold.
Desperately needing a place with air conditioning to rest, Yao Ye, both cold and tired, rubbed his eyes wearily.
He remembered there was a small motel nearby with air conditioning and headed straight for it.
Unfortunately, in his rush, he forgot his ID, and the motel, judging him by his disheveled appearance and fearing he might be a troublemaker, refused his request for a room.
Yao Ye pleaded for a while, unwilling to give up, as he didn’t know where else he could stay apart from the motel.
“No ID, no room. You’re wasting my time!”
The desk clerk, annoyed by Yao Ye’s persistence, rolled her eyes and dismissed him with impatience.
Yao Ye seethed with hatred inside, yet maintained a meek demeanor on the surface. He hung his head low and walked away obediently.
Fucking hell. They were all scum who looked down on others!
“Ugh, a pauper! Thank god he didn’t enter. Who knows what trouble he would have brought,” the clerk scoffed as she watched Yao Ye’s departure, especially disdainful of his worn-out sneakers.
The ghost embracing Yao Ye listened to everything, its gaze coldly sweeping over the desk clerk.
“Ugh—”
The clerk shuddered, feeling inexplicably cold despite the air conditioning, a deep chill settling in her bones.
She rubbed her arms, intending to grab a jacket from the back room, but as she stepped away from the desk, she slipped, crashing to the ground and knocking over an antique shelf.
Crash— Clang—!!!
Fragile vases shattered, covering the floor. The clerk scrambled away, but not before slicing her arm on the broken pieces, blood streaming down.
A cry of pain echoed far and wide as she failed to notice a pair of brass scissors falling, slicing her wide open mouth.
“AHHHH!!!”
Screams filled the air.
Folklore holds that a vengeful ghost’s curse can bring misfortune, varying from person to person, diminishing one’s luck. Those with shallow fortunes might even lose their lives, though rectifying one’s ways might spare them.
Stepping out of the motel, Yao Ye heard the screams and looked back to see the scornful clerk in distress, her hands covered in blood.
The sight of the bright red blood scared him at first, but then he couldn’t help feeling schadenfreude.
“Hmph! That’s what you get for being so sharp-tongued! Heh!”
A rare smile crossed Yao Ye’s face, clearly pleased to see someone else in a worse situation than him.
Feeling Yao Ye’s happiness, the ghost affectionately rubbed his cheek, showing off their deep bond.
Turning away, Yao Ye continued aimlessly down the brightly lit streets, worrying about where he would spend the night.
With darkness setting in, returning home was out of the question, and with no motel to stay in, where could he go?
Peoples‘ Internet CafeAs a neon sign for an internet cafe passed before Yao Ye’s eyes, his face lit up with realization. He knew exactly where to go to rest.
He could spend the night at the internet cafe!
An internet cafe was affordable at only about ten plus yuan for the whole night, he could game, there was a chair to sleep in when he got tired, and he could even order instant noodles for a quick meal. It was a truly good deal!
Yao Ye, animated by this plan, stepped into the internet café with renewed energy. However, he failed to notice the café’s sign flickering ominously behind him as he entered.
Crackle—
The buzzing sound of the sign acting up suggested a malfunction, flickering briefly before returning to its bright state. But not all was as before; some parts of the sign ceased to glow.
The dot on the character “户” dimmed, transforming the welcoming glow of the sign into something much more sinister—
Corpses‘ Internet Cafe
Bro is screwed 😭😭