Going Downstairs

Apparently, the open window on the balcony was deliberately left that way by the other party, with the intention of luring Luo Di over, and with its back to it.

Even with the quickest reaction, it was already too late.

"Wu..."

Before he could even utter a single word, cold, soft, and wet hair climbed onto Luo Di's neck, instantly sealing his mouth shut, keeping him quiet, ensuring any noise from inside the room would never exceed the white noise of the downpour.

The black hair wrapped around his face was exceptionally resilient; it was impossible to tear it off with just his fingers.

Luo Di could only turn with all his might.

The moment he finished turning, several more strands of hair rapidly attacked, entangling his limbs and pushing him against the wall behind him.

The hair even possessed a sticky quality, much like spider silk. Luo Di was stuck to the wall in a spread-eagle position, unable to move, while the excess hair retracted.

Luo Di finally got a clear look at the "intruder," seeing the Imposter clinging to the ceiling, hidden in the shadows.

An utterly hideous humanoid spider. Judging by its build and the length of its hair, it should be female.

[Limbs]: Its limbs, which should have belonged to a human, were grotesquely elongated. Its palms could adhere firmly to surfaces, allowing it to crawl in various ways.

[Head]: Ferocious, ugly, and deeply wrinkled, with severe hair loss. Its entire scalp was covered in rotten pits.

[Torso]: This part showed little abnormal change, clad in a black garment soaked by the rain.

[Tail]: At the end of its torso, where a normal person's buttocks would be, grew a special tissue that made even Luo Di feel physically uncomfortable.

The tailbone at the end had mutated and forked, connecting to two young girls' heads as its so-called "spider butt," and also serving as this woman's trophies.

The appearance of one of the girls immediately reminded Luo Di of the portrait of the deceased he had seen in the mourning hall of the residential complex on the first day of the winter break.

Looking back, the chilling cold he felt then was likely the deceased girl issuing a warning.

Both of the girls' heads, fixed to its tail, had beautiful faces and smooth black hair. They even appeared alive, blinking and moving their lips, though their pupils were clouded white.

The girls' heads could be activated, causing their hair to grow rapidly for a short period and granting it a degree of control.

It was their hair that had completely bound Luo Di, preventing him from making any sound.

The communication bracelet was also taken away by the hair immediately.

Luo Di didn't panic; instead, he tried his best to think and analyze.

This must be the lurking Imposter that the Investigators were hunting, the source of the residential complex's lockdown... She's already killed two people. Her monsterization proficiency is very high; her Mind Corner has likely been forming for almost a year.

She's harder to deal with than a jiangshi; she's a truly anomalous existence.

She should have left after the residential complex was sealed off, but just before escaping, she unexpectedly saw the class monitor knocking on her door. In terms of appearance, age, and hair, she was even more outstanding than her previous two targets.

Did the intense temptation make her willing to take the risk and stay behind, waiting for an opportunity in secret?

Even using all his strength, Luo Di couldn't break free. His mouth was completely sealed, and he could only watch as the creature crawled towards the bedroom, towards the sleeping class monitor.

With no way to escape his current predicament, he could only close his eyes and recall the complex Hell symbols.

However, the moment he closed his eyes, a shout reached him.

"Luo Di!"

He snapped his eyes open abruptly. Something flew directly from the bedroom, catching the Imposter off guard and failing to intercept it.

Swish!

The hair binding Luo Di's right hand was precisely cut, and the blade, wrapped in white cloth, was firmly embedded in the wall.

The person who threw the weapon was the class monitor.

She had undergone sleep-related training long ago and would wake up at the slightest disturbance. When Luo Di got out of bed in the middle of the night, she had also opened her eyes and noticed the abnormality outside the room.

However, there was still one problem.

The class monitor was still standing in the bedroom, with the extremely dangerous Imposter between them.

Even if Luo Di got his weapon, it would still take some time to break free from the restraints on his limbs and neck.

Now that the woman on the ceiling had been exposed, she no longer concealed herself and lunged directly towards Wu Wen at the bedroom door.

Her limbs, fully extended, almost completely blocked the escape route.

Whoosh~

The class monitor remained unfazed, as if she had been prepared for this.

Her left hand, held behind her back, suddenly swung out, tossing all the bedding aside, which conveniently blocked the monster's view.

As the bedding obscured the creature's vision, the class monitor's leg muscles bulged, and she instantly exploded with a super-fast dive roll.

With a very low profile, she rolled just out of the monster's attack range, successfully reaching the living room area to reunite with Luo Di.

Drip, drip~

However, as the class monitor rolled to her feet, blood began to flow down her left arm. A clear scratch extended from her elbow to the back of her hand.

Although it was only a superficial wound, it had severed the communication bracelet.

With that, the tools the two had for contacting the outside world were stripped away.

Strands of hair like spider silk lay scattered on the ground. Luo Di had regained his freedom. The two immediately met each other's eyes, no communication needed.

They knew better than anyone that they, as students, couldn't possibly fight an Imposter that had achieved "Phobia-concretization." Especially since the class monitor didn't even have a decent self-defense item.

There was only one thing they could and needed to do now.

[Run]

As long as they could rush out of this building, they could loudly call for help, and residents would surely call emergency services immediately.

Moreover, it was highly likely that simply by breaking through the cordon sealing the apartment building, some sensor would activate, and investigators located not far away would arrive at the first opportunity.

Charge!

Both of them, who excelled in Physical Education, sprinted towards the exit.

They pounded down the stairs at top speed.

Luo Di even used the railing to vault down the stairs, descending rapidly.

Even though they didn't look back the entire time, they knew perfectly well that thing was right behind them. They could even faintly feel damp hair brushing against the back of their heads.

However, this chase didn't last.

[Third Floor]

Luo Di, who was in the lead, suddenly stopped and looked sharply behind him.

Seeing this, the class monitor quickly shouted, "Why are you waiting for me? Run!"

"No... that thing isn't chasing us anymore."

"Huh?"

The class monitor also slowed down, tilting his head to look up the stairwell. Indeed, there was no sign of pursuit.

The class monitor offered a grim theory, "Maybe that thing crawled into someone else's apartment and jumped out the window, planning to climb in from downstairs and chase us from the bottom up."

"Really?"

Luo Di looked down at the very bottom through the gaps between the handrails.

After waiting for a moment, he saw nothing suspicious entering from downstairs.

The class monitor continued, "Or maybe that thing is lurking at the exit of the stairwell, waiting to launch a fatal surprise attack the moment we step out. Since no one is in the stairwell now, we can find residents in this building to help us contact the outside. I remember when we were knocking on doors and going upstairs, a very kind-looking old man lived on the second floor. Let's hurry to his place and call the investigators."

Luo Di nodded.

The two walked back-to-back in the stairwell. Luo Di was responsible for observing the situation below, while the class monitor observed above. If either of them spotted anything unusual, they would flee in the opposite direction.

They descended the stairs, successfully reaching another floor.

Just as they were about to knock on the door of the second-floor resident's home, the class monitor froze, staring incredulously at the somewhat blurry floor marker on the wall.

[3].

They had just been on the third floor, and now, after going down one floor, they were still on the third floor.

The class monitor had a very bad feeling. He pulled Luo Di and continued down another floor.

As expected, the floor marker was still [3]. The structure of the doors and the peeling paint on the handrails were also the same.

"This is bad! This is what the textbook talked about... a 'Corner Space'."