After sitting down, Jiang Ming opened the black notebook and immediately scanned the contents. Thank goodness, it was not some erotic novel; it was a diary:
Day One
Today is the first day since Mother left. Fantastic! Finally, no one is here to boss me around. This is great; I can do whatever I want!
…
There is so much food in the fridge, but I don't know how to cook! What should I do?
Ah, there are so many snacks here too! Perfect, I can eat to my heart's content.
This is wonderful. I can play with my toys for as long as I want now.
Hmm, does Little Black want to play with me too? Great, you can be the thief, and I will be the sheriff. I am coming to catch you!
…
Sigh, I've had enough of toys. I want to watch television, but Mother covered it with a black blanket and told me not to lift it. But I am so incredibly bored!!
…
Eh? How is it already 11:00 PM? I do not want to sleep. Mother is not here anyway, so I will watch a little more television.
…
Finishing the first page, Jiang Ming furrowed his brows. This was somewhat different from what he had expected.
The owner of this diary seemed to be a child, and the room's layout appeared completely different from its current state.
Beyond that, however, the general mechanics of the anomaly remained mostly identical: a room shrouded in darkness, alongside the strict requirement to sleep on time.
But who was Little Black? A dog?
Wasn't that Labrador yellow?
While pondering this, Jiang Ming flipped to the next page:
Day Two
Ah, Mother is not around. It is so nice having no one rush me out of bed. Let me check the time. Is it already 10:00 AM?
How strange. I do not normally sleep this long.
I don't feel like eating a proper meal. Thankfully, there are still snacks. Hmm, Little Black, do you want some too?
Hahaha, no way! Go eat your dog food. That stuff is pretty much the same as snacks anyway.
…
It is so weird. Why do I constantly feel like someone is watching me? It makes me too anxious to even enjoy the television. Luckily, I have Little Black by my side.
Sigh, Little Black went to sleep again. Every time the clock hits this hour, it just goes to sleep instead of playing with me. How infuriating.
…
“Where did you come from?”
I curiously interrogated the little kid in front of me. He said he came from outside.
Outside?
But isn't the front door closed? How did he get in? I found it a bit strange.
Very quickly, however, he said he wanted to play with me and be my good friend.
I was thrilled and introduced myself. “Hello, my name is Xiao Jiang.”
He also gave me his name. “Hello, my name is Xiao Ming!”
…
Finally, someone to play with me! We played with toys and ate snacks together. It was great.
I wanted him to stay, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone. How strange, he walked away so fast.
…
Having finished the second page, Jiang Ming noticed a peculiar discrepancy.
At first glance, these words resembled a diary, but upon closer inspection, they felt distinctly different.
It read more like an omniscient observer continuously documenting Xiao Jiang's every passing thought and feeling. That meant the author of these entries was not Xiao Jiang. Who could it be, then?
Furthermore, the ‘Xiao Ming' mentioned in the text was definitely nothing good. The door was locked tight, and they were in a high-rise apartment building. For him to appear and disappear like a phantom, he had to be some sort of anomaly.
However, was Xiao Ming lured out because Xiao Jiang violated a rule?
If so, which rule could it be?
Or perhaps this was an entity inevitably spawned by the room's mechanics as time elapsed?
Most importantly, the names of these two children were Xiao Jiang and Xiao Ming!
This was literally Jiang Ming's own name split in half.
Therefore, was the contents of this notebook a historical record of past events, or an ominous premonition of Jiang Ming's future?
Riddled with doubts, Jiang Ming continued turning the pages:
Day Three
When I opened the door this morning, my friend was already waiting for me in the living room. Fantastic! He came to find me so early; he truly is a good friend.
I happily brought out snacks and toys to share with him. Right when we were having the time of our lives, he suddenly smashed a toy viciously against my head, splitting my skin open.
Boohoo, it hurts so much. I burst into tears.
He kept beating me with the toy, screaming that this was his home and demanding I get out.
I was terrified. Fortunately, Little Black charged out, tackled my friend to the ground, and bit him several times. My friend cursed and stormed off.
Little Black is so sweet. Seeing my forehead bleeding, it even used its tongue to lick the blood clean for me.
Boohoo, Little Black is the best. It is my real good friend. I took out all my snacks and shared them with Little Black.
…
Sigh, how is it afternoon again so quickly? But all the snacks are gone. What should I do? Never mind, I will just cook some noodles.
To make noodles, you just put them in water, right?
Ah, I think I used too little water. Why is there a burnt smell? This is bad, I need to add water. Ah, oh no, the water is overflowing.
I hurriedly grabbed the pot, trying to take it off the stove, but I was too weak. I lost my grip, and the pot crashed to the floor along with the noodles.
What do I do? Mother will scold me to death if she sees this.
That's it! I can feed it to Little Black. Little Black has such a huge appetite; it will definitely eat it.
…
This canned luncheon meat tastes awful, but I am starving. Whatever, I will just eat it. Haha, this cartoon is really good.
That's not right. Why are the clocks in the bedroom and living room showing different times? Hmm, forget it. It doesn't matter anyway. I'll just keep watching cartoons.
…
Ah, why did the power suddenly go out? It feels like something is dragging me. Boohoo, this is so terrifying, stop hitting me!
…
The electricity is finally back. Why did it feel like there were so many people in the room just now? No, I must have Little Black sleep with me tonight. Eh?
Where is Little Black? Ah, how did you get to the bedroom first? Whatever, I am coming.
…
Seeing that Xiao Jiang had essentially violated every conceivable rule, Jiang Ming could not help but smile bitterly.
Yet, his own current situation was barely any better. He was even saddled with two debt-collecting neighbours. However, Xiao Jiang did not seem to encounter any neighbours; was that because he never left the apartment?
Furthermore, regarding this blackout issue, was his strategy of siphoning his neighbour's electricity truly foolproof? Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
He needed to formulate some backup contingencies just in case.
…
Day Four
I am so exhausted. Didn't I sleep for a long time?
Why am I still so tired? Mother mentioned before that a friend of hers would visit today. She told me to open the door, saying there might even be snacks.
…
Haha, I hear the doorbell! Mother's Friend has arrived. Delighted, I ran over to open the door.
But Little Black pulled me back, telling me the person outside was a bad guy. But the lady said she was Mother's friend!
Yet, Little Black is also my good friend, and it wouldn't lie to me. So I suppose I shouldn't open the door. But now I have no snacks to eat. It feels awful.
Very soon, Little Black seemed to notice my misery and brought me a massive bag of snacks.
Wow, there really is so much! I began munching happily. The taste was a little bizarre, but it didn't matter; this was a gift from my good friend.
…
How strange. Why is Little Black shedding so much fur? Mother told me that if I see Little Black shedding, I must collect the fur and hide it somewhere it can't find. But where could that possibly be? I've got it: on top of the fridge!
Stepping on a chair, I placed the fur up there. Little Black will never find it here. Hehe, I am so smart.
…
It is 5:00 PM again. Little Black went back to sleep. So boring. All I can do is watch television.
Just as I was getting fully engrossed in the show, my friend appeared again. He strangled my neck and ordered me to get out of his house.
Terrified, I kicked him over and tried to flee, but he quickly caught up and choked me again. Boohoo, what do I do? Little Black is still sleeping. Who can save me?
Right then, the pressure around my neck suddenly vanished. Opening my eyes, I saw my friend being hoisted into the air by a glowing white One-Eyed Big Sister! She gave him a vicious beating. Boohoo, Big Sister is such a nice person.
She stroked my head to comfort me and even escorted me back to the bedroom. Although she looks a bit horrifying, she truly is a good person.
…
After reading this, Jiang Ming fell into a stunned silence, a bizarre expression overtaking his face. Did this imply that those two grotesque white one-eyed entities were actually, probably, possibly, seemingly good guys?!
But thinking carefully, it made sense. The first time he encountered one, it was doing the dishes for him…
And that petite one only attacked him because he had crushed its companion flat…
Rationalising it this way, everything clicked into place. Jiang Ming felt like an absolute bastard; others were helping him wash dishes, and he had backhanded them into pancakes in return!
Still, he could not just assume they were benevolent based solely on this diary. What if it was just a facade?
It pays to be cautious. Jiang Ming tried to comfort himself with this logic.
However, glancing over the page's contents once more, Jiang Ming instantly spotted a glaring contradiction. Hadn't Xiao Jiang already eaten all the snacks?
Then where did these new snacks come from? Furthermore, wasn't Little Black a dog?
It actually spoke!!
Connecting the dots, Jiang Ming arrived at a chilling hypothesis. Perhaps Xiao Jiang was not eating snacks at all; he was eating dog food!
The dog consumed human food, and the human consumed dog food. The roles were reversing!
And both Uncle Li and the rules explicitly stated that there was only one dog in this household.
If the dog began eating human meals and speaking human words, mutating away from its canine nature, then who would turn into the dog?
The answer was self-evident.
Jiang Ming could already envision Xiao Jiang's grim fate.
Recalling the Labrador's highly anthropomorphic gaze and the shedding fur scattered about the apartment, it felt as though everything chronicled in this diary was being re-enacted in his present reality!
In other words, am I going to become a dog too?