“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it, I’m so, so sorry!”
Lan Yu was lying on the lower bunk in the dormitory. Standing beside him was the waiter who had accidentally knocked him over, Lin Zixi, four years older than Lan Yu.
At the moment, they were both staying in the dorms. During the time they had lived here, they had occasionally chatted a few times and their relationship was fairly decent.
“I know, it’s fine. Really, it’s fine,” Lan Yu reassured him. He didn’t feel that a bone fracture was anything catastrophic. He was healthy now, only nineteen years old and as long as he didn’t do anything reckless, the small injury would heal perfectly.
“If there’s anything you can’t do, just tell me. I’ll help you. Brother Duan also told me to look after you more,” Lin Zixi said earnestly.
“Mm, I will,” Lan Yu replied. He didn’t refuse, he even held a little hope that he might use the opportunity to interact with people more.
“Do you have anything you need from home? Clothes or whatever? I can go to your place and bring them for you,” Lin Zixi asked, sitting down on the bunk opposite him.
Ever since Lan Yu moved into the dorms, he had already brought a few sets of clothes. He wore the same uniform at work every day and he didn’t have high standards for clothing. Basically, everything he needed for daily life here was already prepared. There wasn’t anything particularly necessary.
If he had to name something, then it would be the altar table in the rented apartment… but he certainly couldn’t let Lin Zixi go back and burn incense to the original owner whose portrait looked exactly like him. Just imagining that from Lin Zixi’s perspective would be bizarre beyond belief.
“No need, I don’t need anything for now,” Lan Yu replied. He still wanted to appear like a completely normal person in other people’s eyes.
“Then… how about I boil some water and wash your feet for you?”
The moment Lin Zixi’s words landed, both men fell silent. They stared at each other for a long moment before Lin Zixi suddenly burst out laughing.
“Sorry, I was just saying nonsense,” he chuckled, standing up. “I’m going outside for a smoke.”
Lan Yu nodded. Watching him leave, he rubbed his cheek awkwardly. Did he make things awkward somehow?
Lan Yu replayed their conversation in his mind but genuinely couldn’t figure out what exactly he said that embarrassed Lin Zixi.
Lin Zixi didn’t return until thirty minutes later but surprisingly, there was no smell of smoke on him. Instead, he came back carrying a huge bag of snacks and drinks, which he hung at the side of Lan Yu’s bed.
“Thank you,” Lan Yu said softly, blinking at the pile of snacks.
“Eat if you’re hungry. There’s water too. Just call me if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
Lan Yu watched Lin Zixi lie down, then turned his gaze toward the bag of snacks.
Such a big bag. He instantly felt overjoyed.
Lan Yu loved snacks. In his previous life he had been sick and poor, snacks were a luxury he never had the chance to enjoy. Even though he could now buy them with his own money, he wasn’t planning on wasting anything until his finances were more stable.
And now he had received an entire big bag of snacks for free.
Lan Yu reached out happily.
Snacks tasted wonderful, completely different from the cafeteria food. Eating them while scrolling through his phone was a simple but extraordinary enjoyment.
Lan Yu was dreaming.
He was keenly aware that he was dreaming, yet unable to think. His eyes could open but what filled his vision was an oppressive mass of incredibly heavy clouds pressing down on him, submerging him in a pitch-black ocean.
His entire body was wrapped in a sticky, unknown liquid. This wasn’t seawater, more like melted asphalt, inky black, swallowing every glimmer of light along with him.
There was no horizon, no line between sea and sky. Only darkness blending into deeper darkness. He tried to move his arms but his brain couldn’t command his body; the suffocating black liquid wrapped around him seemed to strip him of control over his limbs.
His bodily sensations were painfully vivid, yet there was none of the helpless hopelessness of floating in water without a surface to stand on. On the contrary, a primal instinct told him that this pitch-black environment was not necessarily dangerous.
The bone fracture that should have been painful felt strangely comfortable. The thick, tar-like “sea” enveloped his whole body but on his injured leg, the sensation was clearer, almost like a pair of massive, careful hands was lifting his leg gently, examining the wound while avoiding touching the injured spot.
Lan Yu lowered his gaze to his legs. The endless expanse of black that wrapped around him looked less like water and more like an enormous hand raising his legs to inspect the injury.
Injured.
A voice echoed beside his ear, yet at the same time, he couldn’t tell if it was beside him, or if it rose directly from the darkness and seeped into his body.
Come Home…….
Come home? Lan Yu struggled to think. If I go home… will I not be injured anymore?
Come Home……
The voice sounded again, almost urging.
In front of his eyes, lines of black text suddenly materialized, far away at first, then multiplying rapidly. Countless dark characters spelling “Come Home” appeared one after another, stamping themselves across every inch of Lan Yu’s field of vision. In the end, even the last traces of light were devoured by the words.
Lan Yu didn’t feel suffocated but the anxiety seeped straight into his bones, spreading like a fever, irritating, insistent, impossible to ignore.
“Lan Yu… Lan Yu… Lan Yu!!”
Lan Yu jolted awake.
It was still a world of darkness but weak light filtered in through the not very opaque curtains, allowing the shapes inside the dormitory to be faintly visible despite the near pitch black environment.
Lan Yu pushed himself upright. The strange heaviness that had wrapped around his body in the dream, his limbs bound as if by thick tar, seemed to peel away from his skin little by little, as though the sticky, suffocating asphalt-like substance was dissolving. Mobility returned to him, light and free.
“What’s wrong?” Lan Yu turned his head and at that exact moment the lights suddenly burst on. He instinctively lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the harsh glare.
“Damn! Who the hell turns the lights up that bright in the middle of the night? You guys sick or something?” grumbled one of the other roommates from another bunk, his voice thick with nasal irritation and unfiltered annoyance.
Once Lan Yu’s eyes adjusted, he saw that not far away, Lin Zixi was leaning together with another roommate, both of them staring in his direction.
There were four people living in the dorm tonight. Lan Yu and Lin Zixi were on the early shift, while the other two had clearly come back later after their night shift.
“It’s just, just now, the two of us seemed to see something. Right over where Lan Yu is.. ” Lin Zixi stammered out. His voice trembled, still shaken.
“At this hour you two are staring around like lunatics instead of sleeping? You’re awake, fine! but you don’t have to wake the rest of us!” the roommate snapped, clearly angry from being startled awake by the sudden light.
“No… no, forget it. Maybe it was nothing… ” Lin Zixi muttered. He exchanged a glance with the other roommate, then decided not to pursue it. The light clicked off and the two quietly climbed back onto their beds.
Lan Yu lay down again, feeling that he had just woken from a truly bizarre dream.
Because of the brief commotion, his attention had been diverted long enough that he had forgotten the entire dream completely, every detail wiped clean but some inexplicable instinct whispered that the dream had something to do with going home.
Did he want to go home? That doesn’t make sense.
Could it be the original owner instead?
Lan Yu lay there, a faint unease brewing in his chest.
This situation felt strangely familiar.
Earlier today, when he rode back with Brother Duan, hadn’t Brother Duan said something oddly similar to what Lin Zixi and his roommate just said? As if there really was something around him that only others could sense.
…Surely not.
Lan Yu tightened his hold around his blanket, wrapping himself up completely. Even though he had just woken from a dream, he couldn’t fall asleep again. Could there really be something near him that others could see but he couldn’t? Something like… the original owner’s ghost?
He was absolutely certain he had transmigrated into a modern romance novel, wasn’t he?
Lan Yu really wanted to open his mouth and ask Lin Zixi what exactly they had seen but after remembering the irritated, sleep-deprived tone of the roommate on the upper bunk, he pressed his lips together and swallowed the question back down.
Even with four people sharing a dorm room, which theoretically should’ve made anything ghostly less frightening, he didn’t feel reassured at all. If anything, the psychological comfort was paper-thin. The nervousness still lingered heavily in his chest.
Lan Yu had always been a light sleeper. Once awake, it was nearly impossible for him to fall asleep again. He lay on his back, blinking up at the dim ceiling.
He turned his head, glancing at Lin Zixi on the neighboring bunk. Lin Zixi was still on his phone but Lan Yu couldn’t tell whether he was playing a game or doing something else.
After a moment of hesitation, Lan Yu added Lin Zixi as a contact through the hotel’s staff group.
He felt a bit anxious. The original owner had had many acquaintances; Lan Yu’s account still received occasional messages, though Lan Yu never replied to them because they were not his friends. Eventually, everything went quiet. Aside from Zhou Hesheng, he scarcely had any other contacts now.
While Lan Yu waited nervously, the friend request was suddenly accepted. Immediately, a message popped up.
Lin Zixi: What’s wrong? Your leg hurting?
Lan Yu lifted his gaze toward the opposite bunk. Lin Zixi was propping up his phone, looking in his direction.
A flicker of unease tightened in Lan Yu’s chest. He lowered his head and typed.
Lan Yu: It doesn’t hurt. I just wanted to ask what you guys were talking about earlier. What did you see?
Lin Zixi: I don’t know either.
Lin Zixi: Just felt like there was something over by you.
Lin Zixi: You were talking in your sleep. Sounded like you were saying something about going home. I thought maybe your leg was hurting too much and made you homesick, so I wanted to check on you but when I looked, it felt like there wasn’t even a bit of light over where you were. Just pitch black.
Lan Yu blinked, puzzled. He had dreamed something… maybe about going home but,
Lan Yu: Isn’t it always dark at night?
Lin Zixi: No. It was only dark where you were. Everywhere else could still be seen clearly. Your side looked like… like a black hole or something.
Lan Yu’s heart lurched sharply.
Lan Yu: What was that?
Lin Zixi: It’s just a way of describing it. I just thought it was weird and since Zhao He came back late, I told him to check too and he also said your side looked, “Completely pitch black.”
Lan Yu put his phone down and let his eyes adjust to the surrounding darkness. After a moment, he slowly looked around the dorm, scanning every corner.
Lan Yu: Is it still there now? I don’t see anything at all.
Lin Zixi: It’s gone. Everything looks normal now.
A strange chill crawled up Lan Yu’s spine. Could it be… that something had latched onto him? Something he couldn’t see but other people could?
Lan Yu: Could it be… a ghost?
The other side of the chat went quiet for quite a while before a message finally came through.
Lin Zixi: It… shouldn’t be.
Lin Zixi: Don’t scare me like that.
Lin Zixi: We’re a bunch of grown men with strong yang energy. How could we possibly attract ghosts?
Lan Yu paused, sensing that Lin Zixi seemed even more nervous than he was.
Lan Yu: I was just saying.
Lin Zixi: Were you having sleep paralysis just now?
Lan Yu searched “sleep paralysis” and compared it to what he experienced. When he woke up from the dream, although his body had felt heavy and weighed down, he hadn’t been completely unable to move. The symptoms didn’t quite match.
Lan Yu: No.
Lin Zixi: Then it is strange.
Lin Zixi: Don’t tell me our eyes are messed up from looking at our phones in the dark? Maybe I said it looked pitch black and then Zhao He got influenced by me and also thought it looked black? Or maybe he was just going along with what I said?
Lan Yu: That’s possible.
Lin Zixi: Forget it. I’m going to sleep. You okay? Need me to help you to the bathroom or anything?
Lan Yu: No need. I can go by myself.
Lin Zixi: Alright then. Sleep.
The glow from the opposite bunk’s phone disappeared at last and silence settled over the dormitory. Lan Yu lay flat on his back, staring up into the dimness, unable to find a reasonable explanation for what had happened tonight.
But he also wasn’t naïve enough to pretend that nothing was wrong after so many strange events piling up.
The novel he had transmigrated into… felt like it was running off its intended tracks.
Something about this world, about this story, seemed increasingly wrong.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
This translator has been caught working for free again. Scandalous.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Who wants to go back to be a minor plot device?Chapter 2 · StartChapter 3 · I’m terrified of ghostsChapter 4 · Do ghosts exist in this world?Chapter 5 · ShadowChapter 6 · There’s something wrong with how this book is dressedChapter 7 · The ghost drew a heart for himChapter 8 · Make troubleChapter 9 · Don’t scare me!Chapter 10 · I’d rather be scared to death than go backChapter 11 · Want to eat together?Chapter 12 · A cleaning ghostChapter 13 · Regret it now?Chapter 14 · ParentsChapter 15 · Find FaultChapter 16 · Ghostly photos?Chapter 17 · Nickname: White ShadowChapter 18 · A haunted taxi?Chapter 19 · Extreme fear turns to angerChapter 20 · I used to be a messChapter 21 · Best friendChapter 22 · Turning pointChapter 23 · The threat of ghostsChapter 24 · It’s not a ghost, it’s eerinessChapter 25 Part 1 · First time entering the eerie houseChapter 25 Part 2 · First time entering the eerie houseChapter 26 · Borrow moneyChapter 27 · He’s jealousChapter 28 · RetributionChapter 29 · Revenge from a Strange SourceChapter 30 Part 1 · How could you be so carelessChapter 30 Part 2 · How could you be so carelessChapter 31 Part 1 · What would happen if I ran away from home again?Chapter 31 Part 2 · What would happen if I ran away from home again?Chapter 32 Part 1 · Firmly uphold the right to privacyChapter 32 Part 2 · Firmly uphold the right to privacyChapter 33 Part 1 · The brother who brought down death to protect his belovedChapter 33 Part 2 · The brother who brought down death to protect his belovedChapter 34 Part 1 · Being secretly massaged by a shadowy figure in publicChapter 34 Part 2 · Being secretly massaged by a shadowy figure in publicChapter 35 Part 1 · Go to my dear older brother and sister’s bedroomChapter 35 Part 2 · Go to my dear older brother and sister’s bedroomChapter 36 Part 1 · Being favored by everyone in the eerie houseChapter 36 Part 2 · Being favored by everyone in the eerie houseChapter 37 · We must protect our precious childChapter 38 · It’s too tragic, I can’t bear to watch anymoreChapter 39 · Because of the unique companionshipChapter 40 · The first meeting with the admirer of the protagonistChapter 41 · It’s eerie, but they’re all real family members!Chapter 42 · Using the eerie house to get a cheat codeChapter 43 · The baby’s crying after getting drunk is so cute!Chapter 44 · A traitorChapter 45 · All family members can help the baby.Chapter 46 · When the family is happy, they will hug their waistChapter 47 · Ear piercings were adornedChapter 48 · Treasure are the most precious itemsChapter 49 · Revenge is not an easy thing to doChapter 50 · Because I couldn’t see his faceChapter 51 · One of his brothers is a continuous mountain rangeChapter 52 · How could we possibly run into characters from the original storyChapter 53 · The gems my brother gave me piled up into a small mountainChapter 54 · One can feel an overwhelming sense of superiority.Chapter 55 · Sleeping with a shadowy figure means you won’t be afraid of ghosts at allChapter 56 · The fireworks display to celebrate my baby was absolutely devastating!Chapter 57 · It wasn’t this restaurant that treated us; it was another oneChapter 58 · His super-rich older sister paid for his treat!Chapter 59 · He’s different from beforeChapter 60 · It’s all so weird, isn’t it normal for people to want to disappear?Chapter 61 · Wen JieChapter 62 · Has the identity of this strange child been discovered?Chapter 63 · Those who make their child angry are unforgivableChapter 64 · Being too inquisitive about other people’s private affairs will bring you troubleChapter 65 · A person not to be covetedChapter 66 · Can you bridge the racial divide by staying close to your family?Chapter 67 · What to do if my child doesn’t want to celebrate their birthday?Chapter 68 · The baby is also a second-generation, a bizarre second-generation!Chapter 69 · We are clearly each other’s only friendsChapter 70 · The House of Eeries really did throw a ridiculously huge birthday partyChapter 71 · Why would he feel competitive towards his friend?Chapter 72 · Try to appease the jealous shadow.Chapter 73 · If you’re going to take revenge, you should do it in front of him!Chapter 74 · Now that things have come to thisChapter 75 · My baby’s travel is strange and worryingChapter 76 · One of the older brothers who crawled into the suitcase and followedChapter 77 · He resolutely refused to leave his abandoned brotherChapter 78 · I don’t want my baby to see my terrifying true formChapter 79 · I love hugging you like this.Chapter 80 · It’s a good thing to know you.Chapter 81 · Does my brother also want to go out and have some fun?Chapter 82 · His Older brother?Chapter 83 · Xiao Ming!Chapter 84 · I’m doing great as long as the original text doesn’t go crazyChapter 85 · What’s there to be afraid of when everything’s shrouded in eeriness?Chapter 86 · Let’s have a fight for the sake of the original ownerChapter 87 · How did they know he wasn’t the original owner?Chapter 88 Part 1 · Was the shadowy figure injured?Chapter 88 Part 2 · Was the shadowy figure injured?Chapter 88 Part 3 · Was the shadowy figure injured?Chapter 89 Part 1 · To inflict countless severe emotional blows on someoneChapter 89 Part 2 · To inflict countless severe emotional blows on someoneChapter 91 Part 1 · He was like a human in a supernatural taleChapter 91 Part 2 · He was like a human in a supernatural taleChapter 92 · Someone is secretly using underhanded tacticsChapter 93 · The right people I once followedChapter 94 · Let go of your prejudices against the protagonist.Okay! How come on one complain that we can’t right click the link and open a it in a new webapge??Chapter 95 · Favoritism from his current friendsChapter 96 · The baby is going to marry into our familyChapter 97 · The idea of falling in loveChapter 98 · Want to replace your baby?Chapter 99 · What’s wrong with double happiness?!Chapter 100 · It’s just a matter of raceChapter 101 · I need to balance dating and studying!Chapter 102 · After the shadowy figure gained a physical bodyChapter 103 · Confess your love to the eerie house!Chapter 104 · Even with such pampering, your baby still lacks a sense of security.Chapter 105 · How much help did he receive that he didn’t know about?Chapter 106 · You are not worthy to be the middlemanChapter 107 · Is there anything wrong with me being petty?Chapter 108 · You can have both love and studies!Chapter 109 · Suppressed and restrained desiresChapter 110 · What does an unforgettable yet ordinary date need?