Wang Xing lay in bed, listening to the relentless banging on his door, and grinned with excitement.
Unlike the pale, miserable players in the corridor, his face was flushed, his eyes gleaming with exhilaration. Whenever he heard the other players cursing outside, his blood positively boiled with excitement.
Hahahaha! He laughed silently into the air.
Leaving the dining room early had paid off. He had painstakingly scraped the liquid off the portraits with a dinner knife, then carefully smeared it onto everyone else's door handles.
Those eight doors had kept him busy all afternoon!
So what if they were veteran players? Hadn't he screwed them all over anyway?
So what if they were furious? They couldn't get into his room. There was nothing they could do to him!
Just imagining those players who had coldly stood by and watched him suffer now seething with helpless rage made Wang Xing tremble with excitement.
If a monster had its sights on him, they weren't getting off easy either!
Let's all go to hell together!
Filled with malicious anticipation, he drifted off to sleep.
"Scrrrape-"
"Scrrrape-"
Half asleep, Wang Xing vaguely heard a sound.
It sounded like someone dragging their nails across a wall, stroke after stroke, as though struggling or pleading for help. Faint sobs could occasionally be heard amid the scratching.
Wang Xing groggily opened his eyes.
Everything was pitch-black. The candle beside his bed had gone out at some point. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling for a while before he realized what the sound was-
A ghost must have come for the player next door!
Wang Xing grinned.
Those players never would've thought they'd encounter a ghost before he did, even though he was the one it had targeted! Haha!
Served them right for leaving him to die!
Wang Xing closed his eyes again and rolled over without a trace of guilt, ready to go back to sleep.
"Scrrrape-"
"Scrrrape-"
His brow slowly furrowed.
He wasn't sure whether he was imagining it, but the scratching seemed louder than before.
"Scrrrape-"
"Scrrrape-"
No, that's not right... Huddled beneath the covers, Wang Xing suddenly shivered. He realized that the sound hadn't grown louder-
It had grown closer.
The unsettling sound traveled through his pillow, softly scraping against his eardrums. It was so close that it seemed-
To be coming from beneath his bed.
Wang Xing's drowsiness vanished instantly, replaced by a terror that pierced straight into his heart. At that terribly inappropriate moment, he suddenly remembered that the doll that morning seemed to have been found beneath the bed in the dead female player's room.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hide beneath the covers. But the sound only grew clearer beside his ears.
Something beneath his bed was inching closer to him.
The realization made Wang Xing's heart clench, and horrific images flooded his mind uncontrollably. Instinctively, he quieted his breathing and huddled beneath the covers, not daring to move. Although the room wasn't warm, sweat gradually soaked his clothes.
How could this be happening?!
Wang Xing clutched the covers and bit down hard on his lip.
He'd made sure everyone else got the liquid from the portraits on them! Why weren't these ghosts going after them?!
The grating sound continued to torment his nerves, stroke after stroke. As time passed, it grew shriller and more frequent, and his heartbeat quickened along with it.
Aaaaaah!
Wang Xing curled up, clutching his chest in agony, his mouth open in a silent scream.
His heart was going to explode!
Just as he thought he might die like this, the sound abruptly stopped.
Dead silence returned to the room.
Wang Xing lay sprawled on the bed like a dead fish.
Was... was it over?
Had that thing beneath his bed... left?
He lay motionless for a long time, eyes wide, waiting in silence. Once he was finally certain the sound wouldn't return, he let out a laugh. "Ha..."
"Hahahaha..." His grin widened, his laughter growing louder. "Hahahahaha..."
He'd survived!
He'd survived a ghost!
He threw off the covers, sat up, and carefully felt around for the candle.
"Scritch-"
A flame flickered to life, and the candlelight drove away the darkness. Only when Wang Xing saw the room brighten again did he finally relax completely.
Ha! Death conditions, my ass! This damned game was a joke! Surviving was this easy!
Those veteran players had made the game sound so terrifying. They'd probably just been trying to scare the newcomers into obeying them...
Convinced he had uncovered the veteran players' scheme, Wang Xing was beside himself with excitement.
First thing tomorrow morning, he'd go out and expose them for what they really were!
A faint breeze brushed the back of his neck, leaving a cold, tingling sensation.
"What was that?!"
Wang Xing whipped his head around. Clearly, he was no longer afraid of the game at all.
But there was nothing behind him except two shadows on the wall. Wang Xing rubbed his neck, curled his lip, and turned back.
Just as he was about to lower his hand, however, his body went rigid.
A chill rose from the back of his neck-
There was nothing behind him, so why were there two shadows on the wall?!
The faint breeze came again. This time, Wang Xing distinctly felt an icy presence drawing closer, little by little.
Run!
Run now!
Alarm bells screamed inside his head. Terror had soaked into his very bones, yet he remained frozen in that stiff posture, sitting motionless on the bed.
Sweat rolled down his forehead, but Wang Xing still couldn't move.
He had suddenly lost control of his body.
The next second, a pair of icy hands pressed against his back.
Before Wang Xing could even tremble, a tremendous force struck him from behind-
He was violently shoved off the bed.
Bang!
His body slammed into the floor with a tremendous crash. Instantly, pain flooded through him like a surging tide.
"Aaaaaah-" Wang Xing let out a piercing scream.
The bed wasn't particularly high, yet he felt as though he had fallen from a tall building. Every bone felt shattered by the impact, every nerve screaming with pain.
He lay on the floor, barely able to move, the searing agony turning his vision black.
At that moment, even breathing became a painful burden.
But even now, the other "person" in the room had no intention of letting him go-
He saw a pale hand slowly reach out from beneath the bed, then seize his ankle with lightning speed. Those pale fingers dug deep into his skin, clamping around his ankle like iron pincers, and began slowly dragging him under the bed.
A terror unlike anything he had ever known engulfed Wang Xing's heart.
"No-"
"Don't-"
"Help! Help-"
"Someone save me! Please, save me! I don't want to die-"
The bedsheet slowly fell back into place, and his cries for help abruptly stopped.
With a soft whoosh, the candle flame flickered, and the room went dark again.