Tiantian gave this ghost story segment a very serious name – “My Personal Experience: Midnight Horror Story Club.” The rules, just as the name suggests, require participants to share their personal horror stories, with no restrictions on themes, whether it’s ghosts, monsters, demons, or serial killers – as long as it sends shivers down your spine.
Tiantian even came up with a rule for storytelling. Everyone sits in a circle, and starting with her, they take turns sharing their stories clockwise. If someone can’t continue, they’re eliminated. The last person standing gets the privilege of picking the meat first when they eat hot pot later.
As soon as this prize was announced, everyone in the room, except for Xu Yintang, had a noticeable change in their expressions. The playful atmosphere turned a bit tense, with some playful banter and a hint of competition in the air. Each person furrowed their brows, deep in thought, recalling their real-life and in-game horror experiences.
You can lose the game, but the meat in the hot pot must end up in your own bowl.
Huahua complained that Tiantian was ruining their team’s friendship. Tiantian blinked innocently and said, “It’s obviously a friendly competition. Didn’t the guide say we should watch more horror stories when we have time? Compared to the made-up ones, ours are real.”
Tiantian finished her drink, then put on a radio host’s tone and began her opening, “Welcome to Tiantian’s Midnight Horror Story Club. So, first, let me lay the foundation and share a story from my high school days.”
“In that year, I was in my second year of high school, and the school required everyone to stay in dormitories. These were the kind with bunk beds, with 16 people crammed into one room. The beds were tiny and low, and I would often bump my head if I lifted it. In my first year, I slept on the lower bunk, and I had to bump my head about ten times a week. The dormitory called me ‘Iron Head.'”
“While in the second half of my second year, I had a classmate who broke her leg, so I switched to the upper bunk. Sleeping on the top bunk was actually not bad, it was spacious, and I could hang my clothes over my head. The only trouble was that going to the bathroom was inconvenient. Climbing up and down the bed made so much noise that it would wake up the entire dormitory. So, I would quickly go before turning off the lights.”
After giving a brief background, Tiantian transitioned to the main story, “Just a few days after I switched beds, one night, I woke up for no apparent reason. I was groggy and needed to use the bathroom, but I didn’t want to get up. My head felt foggy, like it was filled with glue.”
“Suddenly, I heard some noise from the upper bunk. It was creaking, as if someone was climbing the bed frame. After a while, I saw a figure walking beside me, and I thought it must be my roommate from the upper bunk, also waking up to go to the bathroom. So, I quickly told her that I needed to go too, and I turned over and got off the bed, grabbing her with me. It was pitch dark and freezing outside, and I was disoriented, trying to find the bathroom.”
“My roommate was probably scared too, and she gripped my arm so tightly it hurt. When we returned, she insisted that I should sleep on her upper bunk with her. I was already very sleepy and didn’t want to climb the ladder, so I just held her close and suggested that she should cuddle with me to keep warm.”
“After we fell asleep, I started having continuous nightmares. I dreamt that during the college entrance exam, a girl was riding on top of me, pinching my neck, and despite the bell ringing for the end of the exam, she wouldn’t let me hand in my paper.”
Tiantian lowered her voice, trying to create a terrifying atmosphere that sent shivers down your spine, “The college entrance exam! It was the college entrance exam! I just couldn’t submit my paper! The teachers had even started sealing the papers, but I hadn’t submitted mine!”
At this moment, she seemed to relive the desperation and despair of that time, shivering and taking a deep breath before continuing, “I was so desperate that I screamed at the top of my lungs, trying to shout that I hadn’t submitted my paper. But when I looked up, the invigilating teacher had disappeared.”
“That girl was still by my side, laughing and laughing, and her laughter drove me to madness. I turned my head and started poking her eyes, pulling her hair, slapping her face, and choking her neck, forcing her to take all the papers I hadn’t submitted into her mouth. While I was hitting her, I was crying hysterically, and my cries woke up the entire dormitory.”
“Then, they found me lying unconscious under the bed, with a white dress wrapped around my neck.”
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.
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In reality, the first half of the story set the mood perfectly. Hearing sounds from above while sleeping on the top bunk in a dark, cold dormitory room, with someone walking beside you, was genuinely chilling. However, the second half of the story took a sudden, comical turn, making the atmosphere shift from fear to humor. While Tiantian lamented her storytelling, it seemed like she had veered off course dramatically, and the fear factor was lost in the process.
“Next, it’s my turn,” Huahua sighed, picking from her selection of stories. “This one dates back to my university days when I was working as a bricklayer for the hospital…”
She proceeded to share a terrifying story from her experiences before being pulled into the game, involving midnight cries and contorted, crawling bodies in the hospital morgue. Her vivid description created an intense and suspenseful atmosphere, making it feel as if the one being pursued by those bodies was herself, successfully bringing back the eerie horror of a midnight storytelling session.
Tiantian shivered as she narrated, and goosebumps covered her arms. The room’s temperature seemed to drop by several degrees, prompting her to adjust the air conditioning and wrap herself in a small blanket.
Old Wang chimed in, mentioning that he had encountered a similar zombie siege scene in the game. At that time, he bravely smashed the skulls of countless zombies with an iron hammer. However, when he tried to picture the same scenario in real life, the sense of terror grew exponentially.
Xiao Qing shrugged, “That’s normal. When these things cross into reality, it’s as scary as a home invasion.”
*Ding-dong.*
The doorbell rang, and Xiao Qing swallowed his unfinished sentence, hurrying to the door. “The hotpot is here!”
Even through the door, the aroma of the hotpot was tantalizing. The combination of chili and spices created a rich and stimulating scent. Just smelling it made one’s mouth water, and the thought of diving into the spicy broth, sipping cold drinks, and sweating profusely was irresistible.
Several servers wheeled in the dining cart, clearing the empty plates left from the earlier snacks.
“Please enjoy your meal,” they said with sweet smiles, showing no signs of late-night overtime fatigue or any discontent.
“Thank you, much appreciated,” Xiao Qing waved them off, his full attention on the hotpot. He paid no mind to what the servers said.
The others were equally engrossed in the hotpot. Their eyes lit up, and they looked ready for another battle. As Tiantian put it, “Dessert belongs in the second stomach, and hotpot goes in the third,” so all the fried chicken, grilled skewers, seafood, and sweets they had earlier seemed unrelated to the hotpot.
The overwhelmingly enticing fragrance of the hotpot dispelled the horror atmosphere Huahua had worked so hard to create. It was replaced by a joyous atmosphere of everyone eagerly reaching for their meat, an array of dipping sauces, and debates over the best sauces.
Xiao Qing was a staunch supporter of the oil dipping sauce, Huahua chose a dry sauce, Tiantian passionately claimed that sesame sauce was the best, and Old Wang fell into the category of mixing a bit of everything.
As for Xu Yintang, who didn’t have a particular preference for flavors, he observed his teammates’ diverse dipping sauce concoctions and decided to go with a bit of everything as well.
As expected, the assortment of dipping sauces in front of him didn’t raise any eyebrows. Xiao Qing even recommended a soy sauce dip that was suitable for seafood. Old Wang served tomato soup to everyone and encouraged them to add ingredients to the hotpot. He poured potatoes, which needed longer cooking time to become tender, into the pot.
Everyone shared the same enthusiasm: pick up the meat, dip it into the bubbling spicy hotpot, skillfully turn it until it changed color, rotate it in the dipping sauce, and then put it in their mouths. They all closed their eyes, sighing with contentment and delight as they savored the flavors.
Xu Yintang’s actions were a bit delayed, primarily because the strong scent wafting from the spicy red oil was excessively overwhelming. Even though he had never tried it before, he instinctively realized that this hotpot was a heavy-handed one, the kind of flavor he would never attempt under normal circumstances.
But he was perplexed by his teammates’ synchronized actions. He realized the meat was already cooking in the bubbling red oil. Carefully, he rolled a piece of meat in a random dipping sauce dish in front of him, cautiously taking a sniff and then a taste.
The one he randomly selected was the oil dipping sauce, a mixture of sesame oil, minced garlic, and cilantro, which masked the spiciness of the red broth. There was a slight stinging sensation on his tongue, so he felt a bit relieved and placed the entire piece of meat in his mouth. Following his usual habits, he chewed it slowly and swallowed.
“Um…”
Xu Yintang’s chewing came to a sudden halt, and within a second, his ears turned bright red, extending down to the base of his neck.
First, he felt a tingling, painful sensation, as if an electric current had raced over his tongue. It quickly escalated into a burning, intense pain, akin to mouth burns and blisters. It felt like his mouth was filled with scalds and blisters, so Xu Yintang instinctively opened his mouth, extended his tongue to dissipate heat, and his nasal passages stung, making his eyes water. He almost shed a few involuntary tears.
“Quick, have some milk!” Xiao Qing handed a glass of milk to Xu Yintang. “If you can’t handle the spiciness, don’t force it. We ordered a yin-yang hotpot, and the mushroom and tomato side is also delicious.”
Xu Yintang, still holding his face and neck in pain, slowly uttered, “No…”
His voice was hoarse, and his words were mumbled due to the excessive spiciness. His nose was red, and his eyes were watery, as if he might burst into tears with a blink, yet strangely, there was a gleam of delight in his eyes.
“No, I really like it.”
Xu Yintang touched his swollen and painful lips, swallowing the burning sensation that seemed to reach his stomach like a fiery flame. His brain allowed him to savor this type of pain, as pleasure and excitement spread through his body alongside the pain, dancing in his nerves, igniting brilliant sparks.
It was a pleasurable, joyful kind of pain, entirely different from any pain he had ever experienced. Even a normal person would enjoy this type of pain, giving it the nickname “spiciness.”
He loved it.
“Then… how about you try the clear soup and eat it again?” Huahua scooped a ladle of mushroom soup and let Xu Yintang dip the hotpot meat in it to lessen the spiciness.
While speaking, she kept her gaze on the shrimp paste bubbling in the pot, smiling as though she could see the universe’s truth in the shrimp paste.
You see, in this world, some people are overwhelmed by spiciness, shedding tears with an ugly face, while others, when hit by spiciness, are enchanting, with lips slightly parted and their tongues tempting you to sin. They can’t help but be driven to tears by the spiciness, flowing from the corners of their mouths.
Enough, please, save some dignity for the child.
Huahua looked at Tiantian, who was already spewing out gibberish, and then at Old Wang and Xiao Qing, who were busy scooping meat. She decided to take the lead in saving the situation.
“Whose turn is it to tell a story next?” she asked.
Old Wang raised his hand. “It’s my turn. Um… I’m not a great storyteller, so please bear with me.”
“This story goes back about ten years. At that time, I was working as a night shift security guard in a skyscraper…”
Author’s Note –
Didn’t expect that, did you?
Mother Xu Yingtang can’t handle spice but loves it. Spiciness is a kind of sensory experience, who remembers that Xu Yingtang can sometimes confuse pain and pleasure?
I really want to have hotpot now. But today, my mother used five chickens and traded for half a can of dried chili with the neighbor next door. Tomorrow, there might be spicy chicken for dinner.
I love this happy atmosphere!! 😆
I didn’t expect this I thought it would be xiao Qing who will eat it and the rest wouldn’t touch 😮💨
I hardly remember they’re in a nightmare game. It’s all so happy.
Though I find their giddiness and excessive hunger a bit suspicious
The Author notes are just as bizarre as the story…
Right? Lolol the unhinged-ness comes through perfectly in the author’s notes
I thought for sure the unhappy staff would have sent human body parts… I was expecting an entirely different scene. Hahahahaha! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️
Untolerated tor spice
Thank you for your translation 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜