Almost Caught Up

It was mid-September on the university campus.

Even after nine at night, the central street connecting the dormitories should still have been bustling with people.

But now, a strange smell drifted through the hot, humid air.

The street was deserted.

The streetlamp stretched Lü Yaoyao's shadow, as though it were pulling something out of her body.

"Where... where is everyone?"

Lü Yaoyao snapped to her senses.

She had dressed for the heat today, in a short-sleeved top and denim shorts.

Now a chill crept over her.

Had I drunk too much?

Where were my three roommates?

Something felt off.

But she was only tipsy, so she did not think too much about it.

Had they gone back to the dorm without me?

Hmph.

Lü Yaoyao gave a cold snort.

It had to be Gao Lu. The two of them had been competing openly and in secret, and what Lü Yaoyao had done today must have embarrassed her. So she had dragged Hong Ye and Song Yizhou along to get back at Lü Yaoyao.

Hong Ye did not matter. She was just a girl from some small town who knew how to ace exams.

Song Yizhou, though, had to be won over.

In both looks and family background, Song Yizhou far outshone her.

Someone like that would make the perfect best friend. It would make Lü Yaoyao look good, too.

For nearly a month, Lü Yaoyao had been currying favor with Song Yizhou, both openly and subtly.

But now, frankly, she was angry.

"Forget it. Don't get mad."

"Just think about that fat guy today."

The memory of how ridiculous he had looked made Lü Yaoyao laugh out loud.

Feeling the breeze off the lake beside her, she straightened up and prepared to head back to the dorm.

"What's going on tonight?"

"There's not even anyone on the road."

She could see the dormitories lit up in the distance, which gave her a little courage.

Clutching her bag, she walked briskly forward.

More than anything, she wanted to reach a crowd and feel safe again.

As she walked, Lü Yaoyao shuddered slightly.

Footsteps.

Were those...

Footsteps?

They came from behind her.

Ordinarily, footsteps would not have been strange.

But Lü Yaoyao suddenly realized how faint they were.

Whoever it was seemed to be deliberately matching her pace, using her own footsteps to hide theirs.

Lü Yaoyao looked back.

There was nothing there.

Only...

The dim yellow streetlights.

The trees lining both sides of the road.

And shared bicycles scattered in little clusters, arranged like corpses.

Lü Yaoyao turned around and kept walking.

This time, she picked up her pace a little.

Sweat had formed on her fair feet inside her sandals.

Her breathing quickened slightly.

Lü Yaoyao lowered her head.

The footsteps behind her sounded again!

Just like before, they were barely audible.

Hidden beneath the sound of her own steps.

At the same time, she had the unmistakable feeling that someone was watching her from behind.

It was as if a pair of leering eyes were fixed on her, violating her with their gaze.

Lü Yaoyao whipped around again.

This time, she turned quickly.

Leaves rustled down.

No one.

There was nothing there.

Wait.

Was there something in the shadows beneath those trees?

Lü Yaoyao gently clenched her teeth.

A stalker?

The word sprang into her mind.

Song Yizhou had told them a story about one just that afternoon!

Her cousin had encountered a stalker the previous night, and he had even broken into her home!

Lü Yaoyao had not taken it seriously at the time.

What danger could there be on a university campus?

But now...

Lü Yaoyao's face went pale.

She was terrified.

The certainty that someone was watching her, coupled with not knowing where they were, steadily ate away at her.

"Go... go somewhere with people."

Lü Yaoyao swallowed.

There had to be people somewhere.

This stalker...

Lü Yaoyao forced herself to calm down.

She quickened her pace and took out her phone.

She was going to call the police.

After all, this was a public place.

The stalker would never dare attack her here.

Lü Yaoyao made the call.

"Police... I need to report something!"

"Someone's following me!"

By now, Lü Yaoyao was almost jogging.

The road to the dorm had never felt so long.

"Where are you?"

A strange voice came through the phone.

"Jiangzhou Normal University, on the main road beside Swan Lake..." Lü Yaoyao said urgently.

The voice was hoarse and grating.

"I know."

"I'm about to..."

"Catch up to you."

Lü Yaoyao froze.

In an instant, her pupils widened, and her legs nearly gave out!

Behind her,

about twenty meters away,

stood a man in black whose face she could not make out.

Holding a phone, he gave it a little wave at her.

Then

he started walking.

"I'm..."

"Almost caught up!"

"Heh heh."

The man's voice was thick with leering desire.

He suddenly charged!

Closer and closer!

Larger and larger!

Lü Yaoyao could even see his yellow-brown teeth and his tongue slick with saliva.

She could not move.

Her graceful body seemed to lock up.

Then, in an instant, she collapsed to the ground.

"I won't do it again... I won't!"

Lü Yaoyao cried out, stumbling as she tried to move.

The stalker in black had already lunged at her.

"Aaaaaah!"

The scream pierced the night sky.

Gao Lu and the others were scared stiff.

Quite a few people gathered along both sides of the road because of the scream.

Song Yizhou had no idea what had happened. Lü Yaoyao had been fine a moment ago, then suddenly seemed to suffer some kind of shock and burst into tears.

Song Yizhou noticed that Lü Yaoyao's face was deathly pale, as if she had just seen something terrifying.

"What's wrong, Yaoyao?"

Song Yizhou drew the badly frightened Lü Yaoyao into her arms. She also took off her jacket and wrapped it around her; the fright seemed to have caused Lü Yaoyao to wet herself a little.

"Waaah..."

"Waaah..."

"Waaah..."

"There's a stalker..."

"There's a stalker!"

"He caught up to me!"

Lü Yaoyao burst into loud sobs.

The pretty girl's makeup ran as she cried, her voice trembling.

Song Yizhou patted her back. "It's okay. Don't be scared."

"There's no stalker. There isn't."

"There are lots of people here. You're safe, Yaoyao."

She figured the story she had told that afternoon had frightened Lü Yaoyao into this state, and she felt a little guilty.

But then

her expression shifted slightly.

She glanced toward the back of the crowd nearby.

Then she decided she must have been mistaken.

Fang Xian walked away from the crowd that Lü Yaoyao's battle cry had drawn, a bag on his back and a little tune on his lips.

Urban Legend Compendium: [Stalker—Liu Changgui].

After testing it in practice, Fang Xian had gained a better understanding of how urban legends worked.

First, an urban legend's [Specific Reflection] was a one-time purchase.

That was the [Stalking] skill.

Even without using a ghost story, Fang Xian could follow Lü Yaoyao and the others without being noticed. Stalking them relentlessly had become his specialty.

When he actually used a ghost story, as he had earlier, he could bring it into the real world based on its fundamental trait.

"Fundamental trait: [Illusion]."

From beginning to end, Lü Yaoyao's body had never moved.

It had all been an illusion.

Nothing had happened except a scare.

After a few more times, Lü Yaoyao would realize that when the bald man in the illusion lunged at her, nothing would happen.

It was nothing but an illusion that looked frightening.