The moment those words left the stranger’s lips, their eyes locked in a cold stare down.
He Zhihan’s dark eyes held a quiet, dangerous challenge. Every raw instinct in his body screamed at him to do the exact opposite of what the stranger had just ordered.
Hissssss.
A deep, guttural sound suddenly rasped from beyond the wardrobe.
Zhihan’s focus snapped toward the closed doors. Something was moving inside the room.
Slow, heavy footsteps scraped against the floorboards, followed by another low, wet hiss that vibrated through the wood.
He Zhihan swallowed against the stranger’s cool palm, locking eyes with him again in the suffocating dark.
Neither dared to breathe. For several long seconds, they remained frozen, staring at each other while the creature paced just inches away.
Until... Complete, suffocating quiet settled back over the room.
The stranger finally slid his hand off He Zhihan’s mouth.
He Zhihan glared at him instantly. The stranger, however, kept his gaze locked on the wardrobe doors, as if his mismatched eyes could pierce straight through the wood.
"What is out there?" Zhihan rasped under his breath.
"I don’t know," the stranger whispered back, his voice smooth and untroubled. "I only saw a shadow looming over your body when I woke up."
He Zhihan’s brows pulled together into a sharp scowl. There was something infuriatingly familiar about that voice, but he couldn’t quite pin it down.
He scoffed softly. "What the hell do you mean, a shadow looming over me?"
Without waiting for a reply, he shoved the wardrobe doors open.
"Are you my roommate?"
He stepped out into the bedroom, drawing a deep breath of fresh air as he uncoiled his cramped frame. He rolled his shoulders back, his neck popping with a sharp crack.
Damn it. How could he have slept so deeply that someone dragged him into a closet without him waking up?
He Zhihan glanced back. The stranger stepped out smoothly after him, immaculate from head to toe.
His attire was an unusual fusion of a sharply tailored suit and traditional, high collared formalwear. The dark, heavy fabric framed broad shoulders, while ornate gold earrings embedded with rich gemstones dangled near his jaw, catching the silvery moonlight.
He Zhihan tilted his head, assessing him with razor-sharp scrutiny. The man’s whole aesthetic was absurdly polished, looking less like a Player and more like he’d stepped directly out of a high art oil painting.
"Who are you?"
Zhihan tilted his head. "I asked you first."
The stranger walked toward the bed, his polished black shoes making no sound against the rug. He sat down near the edge, long, ring adorned fingers resting casually against the mattress. His posture was relaxed, his expression completely unreadable.
He Zhihan turned away, striding toward the heavy wooden bedroom door to inspect it.
There were no cracks. No scratches. No signs of forced entry.....
His gaze darkened. Then what the fuck had been hissing in here?
He turned his head, casting a sideways glance back at the velvet voiced stranger on the bed.
"System," He Zhihan questioned silently. "Is he human?"
A translucent panel flashed before his eyes. [Affirmative.]
He Zhihan didn’t react to the confirmation.
Instead, he strode over to the bed, dropped heavily onto the mattress, and spread his limbs wide. He yanked the tie from his bun, letting long, dark hair spill around his shoulders with a lazy sigh.
The stranger watched him with a faint trace of sharp, unspoken curiosity. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I’m doing?" He Zhihan retorted.
"I told you there was a..."
"I heard you." Zhihan rolled onto his side with effortless ease. Propping his chin in his hand, he fixed the man with the cold, empty stare of a predator. "Go on, please."
The stranger didn’t flinch. He simply held He Zhihan’s gaze, calm as deep water.
"I entered the room about twenty minutes ago," he explained smoothly. "I was about to sleep when I saw a shadow looming over the bed."
He Zhihan’s dark eyes squinted. "Did it have a shape?"
"Not that I could discern."
"Are you sure about that?"
The stranger met his gaze dead on. "Why wouldn’t I be?"
He Zhihan studied the immaculate cut of the man’s tailored collar, the subtle glimmer of his gemmed earrings, and the unyielding stillness in his posture.
"Because I know your type," He Zhihan murmured softly.
The stranger’s refined brows lifted.
"You guys are assholes with spines. The type who knows more than they should but pretends they don’t." Zhihan’s gaze traveled slowly over him. "People like you don’t survive ninety-six Scenarios by accident. Not when you’ve already carved out your own territory in this hell." Read this novel at novelping . com for the best experience.
"This isn’t hell." The stranger’s face remained a flawless, unreadable slate.
He Zhihan blinked once. Then a faint, ruthless smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he nodded.
"You’re right," he said, pushing himself upright slightly, his dragon tattoo flexing against his throat. "But you’re also not as slick as you think you are."
The stranger remained silent, watching him with those glowing, mismatched eyes.
"You know exactly who I am," Zhihan crooned. "My face was broadcasted in the lobby. They splashed my profile across every screen in the fucking system. There’s zero chance you didn’t recognize me the second you dragged me into that closet."
The silver moonlight caught the sharp edge of the stranger’s jaw as his expression hardened into an impenetrable mask.
Then, slowly, he tilted his head.
"Hello, He Zhihan," he murmured, his velvet voice dipping into a smooth and lingering drawl. "My name is Ji Changsheng."
A faint smile touched his lips. "Your roommate."
He Zhihan opened his mouth to reply, but the words died in his throat as his dark gaze moved past Ji Changsheng’s shoulder, fixing on the wall behind the bed.
Hundreds of human eyes were bulging through the surface, pushing out from the wood as though they were sprouting directly from the foundation of the motel itself.
Some were tiny, pinprick pupils embedded in rotting flesh; others were unnaturally large, their swollen, bloodshot veins sprawling across pale, sickly whites.
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
Every single eye was alive, wetly shifting in unison under the cold moonlight.
He Zhihan’s breathing slowed. "The walls has eyes."
Ji Changsheng turned his head and for the first time since He Zhihan had met him, the unshakeable composure on his face cracked. His mismatched amber and jade eyes narrowed as he locked onto the grotesque wall of flesh.
The eyes continued their sickening rhythm, rolling in their sockets until a massive, yellowed eye near the center fixed its dilated pupil directly on Ji Changsheng.
The moment their gazes met, the massive eye snapped shut with a wet, squelching slap.
Shhhhhk.
A sharp rustling tore through the room’s silence as thin, green-brown vines burst through the seams of Ji Changsheng’s body, sprouting out from beneath his clothes like writhing parasites.
They coiled viciously around his wrists, pinned his arms to his chest, and slammed against his throat.
Within seconds, gnarled shrubs and thorny, twisted branches erupted over his entire body, creeping across his pale skin and swallowing his frame whole.