A Video That Cannot Be Opened at Night

In the video, Lu Ban inspected beneath the bed, took away the doll there, turned off the lights, and lay down on his bed with his hands at his sides, his expression calm as he slowly closed his eyes.

This had clearly been edited to some extent. After all, quite a while had passed between those two events.

Seeing this, Lu Ban immediately paused the video and searched around from that angle, but found no hidden camera.

"Looks like the system did this."

Lu Ban tapped play again.

The room was dark, yet the video remained relatively clear, though the quality was a little poor. From time to time, it flickered in that distinctive way surveillance cameras did.

In the silent video, the sound of a heartbeat came from the phone.

Thump—

Thump—

Thump—

The heartbeat sounded incredibly real, and for some reason it synchronized with Lu Ban's own heartbeat. It sounded as though it were coming from inside his chest.

As the heartbeat gradually slowed, Lu Ban's expression softened, and his entire body seemed to relax considerably.

At that moment, the wardrobe door beside Lu Ban's bed was slowly pushed open by some force. Amid the soothing heartbeat, an unnatural creak rang out.

But Lu Ban could not see what had appeared inside the wardrobe.

It seemed as though the clothes inside had moved. It seemed as though something had pressed down on the blanket. It seemed as though something had brushed past his clothes.

None of it was clear. It was all vague shadows and wild speculation, enough to make anyone uneasy.

Suddenly, a scratching sound exploded from the phone.

Even though Lu Ban had experienced it firsthand, the sudden scratching still jolted him. He nearly flung his phone away.

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

The scratching sounded even more real than the heartbeat, as though some unknown creature inside the phone were trying to tear through the screen and crawl out. Even the phone case beneath Lu Ban's palm began trembling at high frequency.

The Lu Ban in the video seemed affected as well. His expression turned grave as he tried to sit up.

"This is..."

Lu Ban recalled what had happened then and sucked in a quiet breath.

That was when his mind had been awake, but his body had been unable to move!

Now, he could clearly see his body twitching slightly. Several dark handprints had appeared on the exposed parts of his body—his ankles, wrists, neck, and more!!!

It was as though several invisible things were sprawled across his body, pinning down his hands and feet.

Seeing that scene in the video, Lu Ban hurriedly glanced at his own wrist. There were no bruises or marks, yet it faintly ached at that moment. He did not know whether it was just psychological.

"About time."

Lu Ban figured it was about time for him to wake up. He watched carefully while staying alert, lest some face suddenly popped out to scare him.

In his memory, the next thing Lu Ban should do was climb up, grab the crowbar, and check beneath the bed.

"He's up?"

Lu Ban discovered that the him on the bed had gotten up, but his movements were extremely stiff, like a zombie that had been dead for a long time, its joints sluggish and rigid.

The Lu Ban in the footage held a crowbar and slowly made his way to the bedside.

At that moment, the video switched angles, becoming a shot from behind Lu Ban. The angle made it seem as though the cameraman were hiding inside the wardrobe and filming him in secret.

Lu Ban's head slowly lowered, and the image shifted along with it.

At the same time, the heartbeat in the video continued repeating, though it had become slightly more rapid.

The dark space beneath the bed appeared in the frame, along with the accumulated dust and the doll staring fixedly at Lu Ban!

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

The heartbeat that had served as background music abruptly stopped. In its place, fiercer scratching exploded from the phone. Lu Ban felt as though the phone were vibrating, and he instinctively threw it aside. It landed on the desk, its speaker buzzing as the entire phone shook violently, producing a loud hum against the tabletop.

From the side angle, Lu Ban saw that as the scratching reached its peak, the video also approached its end.

After a brief black screen where only the reflection of his own face could be seen, the image lit up again. Lu Ban jolted awake in bed, as though everything before had been a nightmare and reality was still safe.

The camera followed Lu Ban as he looked around, then checked beneath the bed again.

There was only that boring garlic and those crosses. Other than that, it was completely empty.

The Lu Ban in the video seemed to relax, and the heartbeat that had lingered in his ears disappeared as well. Lu Ban outside the screen gradually calmed down too.

Just then, the camera pulled back, gradually returning to its original angle.

In the slowly widening shot, Lu Ban saw that the ridiculous yet grotesque Lan Lan Lu doll was perched on his shoulder. Its eyes painted with makeup stared at the camera, and its spread grin seemed to be laughing wildly.

Click—

The image abruptly ended.

A cold sweat had already broken out on Lu Ban's body.

He vaguely felt as though something were pressing down on his shoulder. He did not turn around directly, only using the reflection in the computer screen to take a look.

There was nothing there.

".I almost felt like I was going to lose Sanity again."

Lu Ban finally relaxed.

Perhaps because he had experienced it himself, or perhaps because it had been edited and presented well, the video made his heart pound and felt exceptionally horrifying.

"Does this count as one of my rewards for clearing the mission?"

Lu Ban considered it. Paranormal short videos had always been popular. Everyone had a morbid curiosity, and when they saw this kind of video, they could not help clicking in for a thrill.

Lu Ban was not sure whether this video could reach five million views, but there was nothing wrong with the content itself. If he got lucky and rode some trend, it might just take off.

The only problem was that the video was a little too long. Including the buildup at the beginning, it was nearly forty minutes.

In the short-video field, the ideal length was under two minutes, and the best hook—the most eye-catching part—needed to appear within the first fifteen seconds.

After all, short-video users had little patience and wanted quick, intense stimulation. A forty-minute video was simply too long.

Therefore, Lu Ban decided to upload the video to Old Days Video Network.

However, he edited it further, adjusted the colors, cut out the drawn-out portions, and focused on the creepy, horrifying scenes. He also increased the volume for one section, removed the gameplay details of the little game to prevent others from imitating it, and shortened the video to around six minutes.

The account Lu Ban registered on Old Days Video Network was named Motionless. He had previously uploaded several different kinds of videos, and his video edits had the lowest view counts—a perfect example of how making MADs led nowhere.

His most-viewed video had only just broken ten thousand views, and it was simply a casual recording of the cats downstairs.

Lu Ban briefly searched for paranormal videos on Old Days Video Network and found quite a few, though most were old clichés from the previous century. After entering the new century, recording equipment had improved, and even ghosts had been scared into not daring to show themselves.

Lu Ban entered the video title, Never Open It at Night!!!, selected the Daily category under the Lifestyle section, let the site automatically grab a frame as the cover, and clicked upload.

Once it entered the review process, Lu Ban stretched and prepared to take another nap before thinking about how to ride some trends.

Lying on the bed, Lu Ban closed his eyes and tried to drift off when a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind.

Being unable to move in bed, seeing the Lan Lan Lu doll beneath the bed, hearing that scratching sound that shattered one's sanity—those should all have been things from his dream.

Then how had this video been filmed?

A newbie here, please vote and bookmark~