Staff

Wang Xiaogang had barely posted his message before replies started appearing beneath it.

"Another one gone crazy?"

"Can't you believe in science? What do you get out of spreading rumors like this all the time?"

"A lot has happened lately, so it's normal to be a little on edge, but that doesn't mean you should start babbling about the supernatural, right?"

Watching the messages keep popping up in the chat, Wang Xiaogang sent the video he had recorded.

His finger gently touched the "Send" button.

Behind him, masses of black shadow spread like asphalt, silently enveloping him.

Riiip!

Blood stained the phone he had dropped onto the table.

On its screen, a video had been uploaded to the group chat.

Beneath the video was the last message he had left: "Everything I said is true. Why won't you believe me!!!"

After Wang Xiaogang sent his messages, the group fell silent for a while.

About three to five minutes later, someone spoke up.

Money Talks: "No signs of editing whatsoever. Say, that female streamer looks kind of familiar?"

Blow a Smoke Ring and Sleep: "She's my next-door neighbor. Yeah, I've already tapped that."

Money Talks: "Damn, bro, nice. Can you share her contact info?"

Summer Foam: "None of you are going to report this?"

Star: "The stuff toward the end of the video doesn't look edited... I studied this specifically."

"The soundproofing in our building isn't great..." Blow a Smoke Ring and Sleep typed. "That woman lives right next door to me, and I haven't heard a thing. Which means-"

"Blow a Smoke Ring and Sleep" liked to send his messages a few words at a time.

He would type three or four words as one message, then follow up with the next.

But after sending those final words, "Which means," he never continued.

"Fuck? Bro, don't scare me! @Blow a Smoke Ring and Sleep," Money Talks said.

"@Blow a Smoke Ring and Sleep."

"Say something, @Blow a Smoke Ring and Sleep."

Several group members tagged "Blow a Smoke Ring and Sleep," but he never spoke again.

They had all watched the video Wang Xiaogang had posted. Though their first reaction had been to dismiss its contents as edited footage, they all harbored doubts.

Now someone had stepped forward with firsthand testimony, seemingly about to dispel those doubts, only to suddenly fall silent.

That immediately set all sorts of fearful thoughts racing through their minds.

After a brief silence in the group, someone hesitantly sent a message: "Could it actually be true?"

No one answered.

Only a notification appeared in the chat: (Blank) has joined the Peaceful Garden Main Tenant Group Chat.

The user had a blank nickname and a pitch-black profile picture, yet bore an "Officially Verified" badge. As soon as they joined, they sent three messages in succession.

All three messages had the same content: "Attention, residents of all buildings in Peaceful Garden: over the next few days, you must keep your doors and windows firmly shut and cover every light source inside your homes.

Stay quiet and hide at home while you wait for rescue. We are already taking action.

An unidentified substance transmitted through light has now spread throughout Peaceful Garden. Opening your windows to let in light or using any light source will result in certain death at the hands of this substance!

You must cut off every source of light. Life is priceless!"

Beneath these three messages were photographs of bodies with mosaic censoring. Even covered in pixelation, the bodies conveyed a visceral sense of horrific carnage at a glance!

The officially verified "staff member," the video Wang Xiaogang had sent, and Su Wu's initial warning all corroborated one another, establishing an undeniable fact!

"They were telling the truth!"

"What do we do?"

"Group owner, hurry up and add back the guy you kicked out!"

"@Landlord."

"@Landlord."

The landlord was soon summoned by the tags. He sent a voice message, his panic unmistakable: "I'm adding him, I'm adding him. I sent the request, but he isn't responding-"

"It's all your fault, you fucking moron! Why did you kick him out?"

"Fuck you!"

In the unseen darkness, the Shadow Fiend's slaughter continued.

It spread from one place to the next like a virus.

Yet in the "Peaceful Garden Main Tenant Group Chat," though the people's fear was palpable, there was still no visible sign of the Shadow Fiend's looming arrival.

Perhaps the Shadow Fiend was already closing in on them, and they remained completely oblivious even beneath its shadow.

The "staff member" with the blank nickname and black profile picture also noticed that the atmosphere in the group was far from normal. The chat was boiling over.

They tagged the landlord and asked, "What happened?

Did someone warn you before I did?"

9:56 p.m.

Su Wu pushed open his door.

His phone was already switched off, so he could not see any of the messages in the Tenant Group Chat.

Naturally, he also had no idea that the "staff member" with the blank nickname was repeatedly sending him friend requests.

Standing in the doorway, Su Wu took out the remote for the sound-activated lights and switched off the light in the stairwell before heading down.

He had already simulated this very situation many times.

Now that it was truly happening, Su Wu felt much less nervous.

Perhaps the blue "Composure" talent also played a significant role.

Every floor was silent. Su Wu could not tell whether the residents had believed him and actually turned off their lights and devices to hide, whether they were being slaughtered one by one by the Shadow Fiend right now, or whether they had already all been killed.

He had done what he could to warn them.

But whether they listened was ultimately up to them.

When he reached the turn in the stairs on the third floor, Su Wu had just switched off the second-floor sound-activated light when he heard a faint rustling as a door opened on the third floor.

The person's movements were extremely careful, but they still could not avoid making a little noise.

Hearing the door open, Su Wu felt his scalp prickle and looked up toward the third floor-from where he stood, he could see a man bent at the waist, quietly stepping out of his apartment.

The man had a brutish face, and his body beneath his black tracksuit was powerfully built.

The normally loose tracksuit stretched over him, outlining his muscles.

What did this guy do for a living?

A fitness trainer?

The thought flashed through Su Wu's mind.

The man creeping out of his apartment must have received a warning. He knew to keep his movements as quiet as possible, afraid of triggering the sound-activated light in the stairwell.

In the pitch-black surroundings, he could not see Su Wu at the turn in the stairs.

Seeing that the man knew to be cautious rather than blunder around, Su Wu left him alone for the moment and continued downstairs with lighter steps.

He walked without a sound, making it even less likely that the man would notice someone ahead of him.

The man got down on all fours and crawled downstairs.

He must have received professional training. In darkness where he could see nothing, crawling minimized the danger while allowing him to feel out the way ahead with his hands.

One was visible to the other, while the other remained unseen. Without exchanging a word, the two descended the stairs one after the other in remarkable unspoken coordination.

Throughout the descent, Su Wu kept a close watch on the man's movements.

Several times, he even deliberately made his footsteps heavier, but the man seemed not to notice.

Su Wu began to form a judgment.