Moreover, looking at the chat, the other person’s avatar was the default one.
Clicking on the profile photo, Tobe couldn’t see any information about them — they weren’t even friends.
Tobe was about to block them when his phone vibrated, interrupting his action.
“Guess where I am?”
Tobe stared at this new message, his hand holding the phone beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
Suddenly, he looked up, staring at the window.
The gauze curtain hung quietly, a corner lifted by the wind.
Outside was a small pathway.
For some reason, the streetlights hadn’t been working for a long time, and the street was now empty.
Tobe kept telling himself not to be scared, that it was just an ordinary prank.
He wanted to ignore it and continue watching the show, but his eyes kept darting to the gauze curtain, to the window, and scenes from horror movies and games kept flashing through his mind.
Tobe didn’t block them.
Instead, he decided to reply first.
“Who is this?” Cut it out, this isn’t funny.
As soon as Tobe hit send, the message changed to “Read.”
The other side didn’t reply immediately.
Those few seconds felt especially long: the commercial became piercing, the computer screen flickered across his face, and Tobe felt a chill run down his spine, as if someone was staring at the back of his head.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated again, but this time Tobe didn’t check it.
Instead, he decided to call the police directly.
He really couldn’t stand the feeling of being relentlessly stalked.
Standing in the corner of the apartment, Renji could clearly see Tobe’s movements inside the room through his aura.
At this moment, he saw Tobe making a phone call.
At the same time, seeing that Endgame Tactics had already activated, Renji sighed.
He hadn’t even fully enjoyed the “Ghostface” game yet — mainly because Tobe’s bachelor apartment was too small.
If it were a large two-story apartment, it would be very useful.
With that in mind, Renji pulled out a small device he had prepared in advance, which could automatically trigger a circuit breaker every three minutes.
At this moment, Tobe was making a distress call inside the room, but his terrified state made the phone seem to have lost signal — he was calling, and the computer had completely shut off.
At this moment, Tobe’s heart was pounding wildly, as if it could leap out of his throat at any second.
Suddenly, a cold wind swept through from behind, and Tobe spun around like a startled bird, staring at the open window.
In a nearly frantic manner, Tobe threw his phone onto the bed, rushed to the window, and firmly latched it shut, terrified that something might crawl inside.
He immediately ran to the door, intending to lock it.
At that moment, the room suddenly lost power and plunged into darkness.
Tobe froze instantly, and the sudden darkness made him feel that he shouldn’t act rashly.
In the pitch-black room, only Tobe’s heavy breathing echoed.
At that moment, he suddenly heard the door close.
“BANG!”
With that sound, Tobe felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, goosebumps spreading all over his body.
He clearly remembered that the door was closed, so why had it slammed shut?
There was only one possibility: someone had slipped in through the darkness.
Just the thought of that possibility made Tobe feel his limbs go rigid.
Trembling, he reached for the phone he had thrown onto the bed, biting his lip hard, feeling like he was about to burst into tears.
As Tobe reached for his phone under immense psychological pressure, the screen illuminated the dark room, and he saw a black figure standing just half a step away.
The sudden appearance of the white Ghostface mask before his eyes nearly made Tobe stop breathing.
“Ah…”
Just as Tobe was about to scream, a black fist slammed into his mouth, instantly cutting off the cry.
The immense force sent Tobe staggering backward, his vision swimming.
The phone slipped from his hands and fell onto the bed, its screen facing the ceiling, briefly illuminating the room.
Tobe covered his mouth, and before he could react, he felt a sharp pain in his arm.
A sharp blade had slashed his arm, followed by a second strike.
Unable to turn back, Tobe felt a stabbing pain in his chest.
The blade pierced his chest, and then a black fist struck his left eye, pinning him against the wall.
“Thud. Thud.”
Renji’s attacks showed neither hesitation nor pause.
The sharp blade continued to plunge into Tobe’s chest.
Tobe instinctively raised his arm, only managing to leave a few more wounds on it.
“THUD!”
Tobe collapsed heavily to the ground, barely managing a breath in and out.
Renji looked down at Tobe, who was nearly dead, and shook his head slightly.
He then crouched down and struck him several more times in the back.
At that moment, the power in the room was restored after the three-minute interval.
The floor lamp, which had been switched off, turned back on after the breaker reset.
Now, in this bachelor apartment, only one floor lamp illuminated the living room, casting dim shadows across the walls.
The computer on the desk was still playing the comedy show, and laughter echoed through the empty, silent apartment, filling it with an indescribable sense of dread and unease.
On the floor behind Renji lay the occupant of this bachelor apartment, Shō Tobe, in a pool of blood.
The carpet beneath Tobe was already soaked in blood, dark red spreading across the living room floor, leaving a shocking, massive stain.
The air was thick with the heavy smell of blood, mixed with the lingering scent of snacks in the room.
Renji slowly raised his black-gloved hand and wiped the blade clean of blood.
His hand was steady, just as it had been minutes ago when he had plunged the knife into his victim.
“You’re the first.”
Renji spoke slowly, but it wasn’t his usual tone — it was a hoarse, raspy voice, distorted by a voice changer.
Having said that, Renji pushed open the apartment door and stepped out.
As the door closed behind him, the living room fell silent once more.
The dim floor lamp still burned, illuminating the motionless body lying on the ground, as well as Tobe’s face, filled with despair and terror.
The comedy show on the computer continued playing, laughter coming and going, but no one was laughing anymore.