It's Me, It's Me

An hour earlier.

In virtual streamer Li Bai Tu's group chat, the forwarded video sat alone at the end of the conversation, unanswered.

That was perfectly normal. Streamers were all night owls. Even though the prime streaming hours were from eight to midnight, these people would secretly keep gaming after their streams, hogging the fun until three or four in the morning before going to sleep.

Sleeping late meant waking late. It wasn't until after eleven that someone in the group finally woke up.

Her name was Qin Tiantian, and she was also a virtual streamer. Her avatar was a girl with dog ears, short gray hair, and a red scarf around her neck. Her name was Wang Chuan, and her character design had been created by Li Bai Tu, so she called herself Li Bai Tu's "daughter" during streams as well.

Although Qin Tiantian had ended her stream at eight last night, she had still secretly played games until after midnight. When she dragged herself out of bed at eleven that morning, half asleep, she grabbed her phone and saw the video Li Bai Tu had posted in the group.

Not watching it was one thing.

Watching it was another.

Qin Tiantian was completely wrecked.

She had never been particularly brave to begin with, and she was playing it on her phone, where the effect was strongest. When the scratching sounds came from the speaker, her scalp went numb. She instinctively threw her phone away, and it landed beside the bed. When she reached down to pick it up, she happened to look under the bed.

Then the bright smile of the spokesperson printed on a box she had shoved there long ago scared her so badly that she twitched.

Oh my god, that had scared the life out of her.

More importantly, Qin Tiantian realized that the room in the video was exactly the same as the house she rented.

It was definitely in her residential complex. Qin Tiantian was certain of it. There couldn't be another one-bedroom, one-living-room layout this bizarre anywhere else in Jiangcheng!

That thought only made Qin Tiantian more afraid.

Folklore, legends, scary stories—they were all just entertainment when you heard about them.

But once those things became tied to somewhere near you, somewhere you lived, or even your own home, they became terrifying.

Who didn't have space under their bed?

In that dark, filthy, dust-covered space beneath the bed, something was always watching you. And that thing might not even be human.

Whenever night fell, that twisted, indescribable presence would come to your side, gently stroke your body, and leave its mark behind.

Just thinking about it made Qin Tiantian feel empty and chilly both behind and in front of her.

So, thoroughly spooked, Qin Tiantian no longer wanted to play on her computer. She hurried out, intending to find someone she knew and get something to ward off evil.

She changed into a slightly oversized pink printed T-shirt and denim shorts. The moment the middle-schooler-built Qin Tiantian stepped outside, she got hungry and chose to enter the braised chicken rice shop by the entrance to the complex.

As she calmed herself down and waited to enjoy a good meal, Qin Tiantian suddenly realized that the handsome guy sitting across from her seemed to be the man from the video!

Not merely similar—he was exactly the same!

Oh my god, had she really run into a ghost???

".Are you alive?"

Qin Tiantian blurted it out.

".Thanks to you, I'm very healthy."

Lu Ban had no idea what kind of braised chicken this girl had eaten to make her open with a question like that, but he was a very polite person.

".That was you in this video, right?"

Qin Tiantian also realized how strange her question had been and hurriedly pulled out her phone, finding the video from earlier.

The moment he saw it, Lu Ban immediately understood what had happened.

She had probably been scared by the video, then lost her mind when she saw him.

Thankfully, her symptoms weren't too severe.

"Yes, it was me."

Lu Ban admitted it openly.

"Gasp, you really aren't afraid of dying, are you? What exactly happened to that doll at the end?"

Qin Tiantian could not help being curious.

The final shot of the video, where the camera pulled back and revealed the doll on Lu Ban's shoulder, had been deeply memorable.

At first, the shot focused on Lu Ban's face. Together with the buildup beforehand, it naturally made viewers focus on what was under the bed. By the time the camera fully pulled back, they suddenly noticed the doll on Lu Ban's shoulder. It created a different kind of scare, bringing the whole video to an abrupt end and leaving people with lingering dread the more they thought about it.

"I threw it in the trash."

Lu Ban told the truth.

His most precious quality was honesty. He never lied.

"?"

Qin Tiantian froze.

Wasn't that thing some evil monster from beneath the bed?

The trash?

Why did this feel like a chainsaw-wielding killer slipping on a banana peel while walking down the street, hitting his head and being sent to the emergency room, only to die because the surgeon was distracted after getting caught cheating the night before and forgot a scalpel inside his head?

For a moment, Qin Tiantian had no idea how to respond.

".Do you specialize in... that sort of thing? An exorcist? A Taoist priest?"

After a long while, when Qin Tiantian's small braised chicken rice and Lu Ban's medium braised chicken rice were served, the two ate in silence for a bit before Qin Tiantian finally found an opening to ask.

"No, I work in film and television."

Lu Ban continued telling the truth.

"So all of that... was special effects?"

Qin Tiantian seemed to relax.

Thinking about it carefully, that made perfect sense!~

There couldn't possibly be ghosts in this world. It was all computer effects. No matter how realistic it looked, it was still special effects!

"Not really. It actually happened."

Lu Ban still told the truth, without adding the slightest embellishment.

"??"

Qin Tiantian's eyes turned into question marks.

"Oh, right. You absolutely must not copy what they did in the video. Something might really happen. Well, I deliberately blurred out how the game was played, so you probably wouldn't be able to copy it anyway."

Lu Ban told the truth in all seriousness.

He definitely would not try that game again. Lu Ban wasn't sure whether the problem lay with the game or his system, but there was nothing wrong with being cautious.

"???"

Qin Tiantian was already a complete mess.

Wasn't this just a scary entertainment video?

Why was he talking as if it had all been real?

Which one am I supposed to believe?

A shiver crept up from her smooth back. Though it was broad daylight inside the restaurant, Qin Tiantian found it hard to breathe, and her body went cold.

She felt a slight weight settle onto her shoulder, as though something were crouching there. Qin Tiantian did not dare turn around. She only felt the weight on her shoulder growing heavier and heavier.

"How about this? Let's add each other on WeChat. If you run into any trouble afterward, you can contact me directly."

Seeing Qin Tiantian's pale green face, Lu Ban took out his phone and showed her his QR code.

Only after hearing Lu Ban's words did Qin Tiantian feel as if a burden had been lifted. The pressure on her shoulder seemed to vanish as well, as though everything earlier had only been an illusion.

Qin Tiantian obediently added him on WeChat. Looking at it, she saw that Lu Ban's WeChat name was "Still," while his profile picture showed an endlessly stretching road photographed somewhere, along with a small white flower. It actually gave off a somewhat fresh and artsy feeling.

Did I just get tricked into giving him my WeChat?

Only then did Qin Tiantian realize it.

She saw Lu Ban finish his meal, put down his chopsticks, and prepare to leave.

When Lu Ban reached the entrance, he seemed to remember something. He turned back and looked at Qin Tiantian.

"What?"

Qin Tiantian held her chopsticks, utterly confused.

"You'd better not wander around today. Stay home and behave."

Lu Ban said that, then turned away.

Qin Tiantian nodded blankly, but she quickly realized something.

—Just now, Lu Ban had not been looking at her. He had been looking somewhere on her shoulder when he said that.

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