Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Paralyzed with fear, Xu Jiayi even forced herself to look again, to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

After blinking, the face got even clearer—the features were still a blur, but she could see long black hair and a silver earring dangling from one ear.

"Yu Ni." Xu Jiayi stammered out, "There's a face behind your head."

In an instant, a bone-chilling cold washed over them, and the pen they'd both been holding on the table stopped moving.

Xu Jiayi couldn't stop shaking, her ears ringing nonstop, and then her vision warped, and she crumpled to the floor, completely losing consciousness.

"Bang."

"Ah!"

A dull thud and a scream went off at the same time. Someone flipped on the lights, and under the bright illumination, Xu Jiayi lay unconscious on the floor, her face white as a sheet.

Yu Ni sat there frozen, not even reaching for her phone, her lips quivering as she mumbled under her breath: "It's over, it's over. I let go of the pen before we sent it off."

The only one who still had her wits about her was Ruan Lan. She raked a hand through her hair, glanced at the pen on the table, feeling like everything that had just happened was a dream, like it wasn't quite real.

"Xiao Ru, did you hear what Xu Jiayi just said?" Ruan Lan asked without looking up.

She figured Xiao Ru was still watching, but when she got no answer and looked up, she saw Xiao Ru lying face-down on the bed, not moving at all.

Ruan Lan's face went pale. She rushed over, checked her breathing, and let out a sigh of relief when she confirmed she was still alive.

"How did two people black out at the same time?" she muttered helplessly. "Did anyone catch what Xu Jiayi said? I only caught the word 'face.'"

Yu Ni didn't answer, still keeping her head slightly lowered, picking at her thigh with her fingers, muttering the same thing over and over.

"You done yet?" Ruan Lan grew irritated. "You're the one who wanted to play this game, and now that something's happened, you're scared."

Yu Ni suddenly shut up and hung her head.

Under the white light, Ruan Lan stared at Yu Ni and felt her profile was visibly turning strange, like she'd turned into a completely different person.

Figuring she was just too stressed, she rubbed her eyes, but when she looked again, it was still the same.

"Yu Ni." Ruan Lan shouted, "Look up at me."

Yu Ni, sitting in the chair, mechanically raised her head and stared at Ruan Lan.

Her face from the front was still Yu Ni's, though a little twisted from sheer terror.

Ruan Lan took two steps to the side and looked at her profile again—still unfamiliar.

She caught her breath, her body frozen to the spot, completely out of her control. All she could do was stand there, dazed.

"Ugh, how did I pass out?" At the critical moment, Xiao Ru on the bed jolted upright in bed, looking around. "I wanted to talk to you guys, but I blacked out. You guys should stop this game—it's too dangerous. Quit now."

Looking down, she saw they'd already stopped, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you guys okay? Why's Xu Jiayi on the floor?"

Ruan Lan filled her in, and Xiao Ru's jaw dropped. "Really? No way, how'd you get so unlucky on the first try?"

"She shouldn't have asked that." Ruan Lan frowned at Yu Ni. "I don't know what she was thinking—she knew she wasn't supposed to ask, but she did it anyway. Now she's scared out of her mind, probably won't sleep a wink tonight."

"Yu Ni, stop muttering," Xiao Ru said. "If you're really scared, find someone to help send it off and apologize to it. As long as it's not too nasty, you'll be fine."

Yu Ni stared at Xiao Ru without blinking once. "What if it is nasty?"

"Then you'll need something special." Xiao Ru shrugged, looking helpless. "Don't overthink it. Your luck can't be that terrible."

Yu Ni said nothing.

Ruan Lan went to wake Xu Jiayi, while Yu Ni just sat there, ignoring the candles. Ruan Lan ended up cleaning everything up.

Together with Xiao Ru, they moved Xu Jiayi onto the bed. Ruan Lan sighed and glanced at Yu Ni, who was still zoned out. "What are you doing? Not sleeping? And your phone—you still recording?"

"No." At the mention of the phone, Yu Ni snapped to attention like a switch had been flipped. "I still need to post the video."

Since things had already gone this far, she had to hit her original goal of making money.

Otherwise, it'd all be for nothing.

Seeing her excitedly open her phone and then freeze up, Ruan Lan frowned. "What now? It didn't record?"

"No, no." Yu Ni kept refreshing her phone, flustered. "At the critical moment, it was like something covered the lens. It's just black—nothing got recorded."

Yu Ni's mind was a total mess. She stared blankly at her phone, clueless. Then she smacked her forehead and said, all excited, like a maniac, "This'll get even more attention. Those things always mess with electronics. Posting this'll definitely blow up."

Xiao Ru wanted to say something but held back, finally pulling the covers over her head. "I think things are a little crazy right now. You should sleep on it and decide tomorrow."

Yu Ni ignored her, climbed into bed, turned on the lamp, and started editing the video on her phone, occasionally letting out little giggles.

Since everyone knew she wanted to cash in on this video, they didn't think much of it. And since the night passed without a hitch—nothing like the creepy stuff people described online—Ruan Lan and Xiao Ru were totally reassured, writing it all off as overthinking.

But the next morning, when they woke up, Yu Ni was still in the exact same position, lamp on, holding her dead, black-screened phone, chuckling "hehe" to herself.

Xu Jiayi woke up with no idea she'd been out cold all night. She went through her usual routine of washing up and getting ready for class, until she saw Yu Ni acting like a lunatic and remembered everything from the night before. A chill ran down her spine.

"What happened in the end? Nothing went wrong, right? Is that thing gonna get revenge and follow us?" she asked, eyes wide with tension.

"I don't know." Ruan Lan pointed at Yu Ni, her face grim. "But judging by the look of her, this isn't over yet."

"Yu Ni." Xu Jiayi climbed onto the bed and waved a hand in front of Yu Ni's face.

Yu Ni turned her head slightly, head down, with an eerie smile on her lips—so stiff no normal person could make it.

That sight instantly reminded Xu Jiayi of the face she'd seen right before blacking out the night before. She shuddered and nearly fell off the bunk bed ladder.

She grabbed the railing just in time, gulped, and said, "Yu Ni, can you hear me right now?"

"Hehe." The only answer was Yu Ni's same creepy laugh, her tone not changing at all.

"She's like a broken record now," Xiao Ru said, puzzled. "Did she get scared stupid?"

"Probably not," Ruan Lan said. "She's not that much of a coward."

"Then it's what I said—she's definitely got something on her," Xiao Ru said with a snap of her fingers. "Stop dragging your feet. Just find someone to check it out. The longer you wait, the worse it gets."

"No need." Just then, Yu Ni suddenly said those two words in a weird voice.

As if afraid they hadn't heard her, she slowly raised her head, looked at all three of them, and repeated stiffly, "No need."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Xu Jiayi asked, worried.

The face she saw yesterday wasn't her imagination. She figured she needed to find someone to check her out too, just to be safe.

Who knew playing a game would actually summon those things.

"I'm fine." Yu Ni took out her phone, lowered her head to edit the video, her voice floaty, deliberately dragging out the last syllable, "Why would anything be wrong with me?"

Xu Jiayi shuddered, a weird feeling washing over her: "But class is starting soon, aren't you gonna get ready?"

"Nope." Yu Ni kept staring at her phone, ignoring the rest of them.

Xu Jiayi climbed down from the bunk and exchanged looks with the other two.

"What do we do now?"

"I've got class, I gotta go." Xiao Ru said, "Do you guys have her family's contact info? Maybe we should get in touch."

"Nope." Xu Jiayi shook her head. "I've gotta head out too."

"I do." Ruan Lan said, shooting a message to Yu Ni's family right away, telling them Yu Ni had been acting weird since they played that game last night.

The phone rang—it was Yu Ni's parents.

They were super worried about Yu Ni, and after hearing what happened, said they'd come over right away—they'd be there in half an hour.

"You two go to class, I don't have class right now." Ruan Lan put away her phone, glanced at Yu Ni and said, "I'll keep an eye on her till her parents get here."

"Okay." Xu Jiayi nodded, and she and Xiao Ru filed out of the dorm.

Once the door shut, Ruan Lan rubbed her temples, regretting last night.

If only they hadn't played that stupid game. Now Yu Ni was like this—who knew if they'd be next?

Half an hour later, someone knocked, and Ruan Lan opened the door.

Yu Ni's mother smiled apologetically at Ruan Lan: "Sorry to bother you, really."

"It's fine." Ruan Lan said. "But her problem's pretty serious—you should get someone to check her out."

"Ni'er." Yu Ni's dad called out from the floor below the bunk. "You okay? Why are you glued to your phone? Come down, we're taking you to the hospital."

"I'm fine." Yu Ni said, not even looking up.

Yu Ni's home wasn't far, but she hadn't seen her parents in two months. Normally, she'd have hopped off the bed and hugged them the second they walked in.

Her parents immediately sensed something was off, their faces changing.

"Yu Ni." Her mom climbed up the ladder, grabbing her phone with one hand and cupping her face with the other. "Look at me, are you really okay?"

Yu Ni lifted her head, her eyes empty and lifeless, but her mouth stretched into a wide grin, showing a row of white teeth.

She didn't speak or react. Even when her mom pulled her down, she didn't move—her body was like a sponge, all soft and limp, barely able to hold itself up, only staying upright by leaning on someone.

"What the hell did you play?!" Her dad was losing it at the sight. "Look at her now, like a damn zombie. That kind of game isn't something you mess with!"

"What game?" This time Yu Ni reacted. She blinked slowly, her gaze sliding over Ruan Lan, then suddenly perked up as if she'd caught something in the air, pointing at Ruan Lan. "Mom, they're picking on me."

Ruan Lan was dumbfounded: "What are you talking about? Who's picking on you?"

If anyone in the dorm was getting picked on, it'd be Xu Jiayi. Yu Ni, the most outgoing one, was way more likely to be the bully herself.

"It's you three." Yu Ni rolled her eyes, her voice all pitiful. "They ganged up on me, ignored me in the dorm, deliberately left me out. We didn't play any game last night—they almost hit me."

What a load of crap.

Ruan Lan almost laughed out of anger, but then figured Yu Ni was clearly out of her mind, so none of this could be trusted. Just as she was about to warn Yu Ni's parents, she froze at the suspicious, furious looks on their faces.

"You're not actually believing this, are you? She's not in her right mind—you can't trust a word she says."

"Why shouldn't we believe her? Is it because you three were about to beat my daughter, and you made up that game story to cover it up? If she hadn't spoken up today, would you have kept bullying her?" Her dad said, his voice shaking with anger. "I'm calling the cops."

Ruan Lan was about to lose it. She took a deep breath. "Who's bullying her? Who could bully her? We've met a few times—you know what we're like. Who would ever do something like that?"

The more she talked, the angrier she got, until she nearly choked on her own words. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Yu Ni's sly, smug smile, which only made her angrier. She called Xu Jiayi and Xiao Ru, who were in class, and told them to come back.

"Bullying?" Xu Jiayi, who'd rushed back, was stunned. She said awkwardly, "Auntie, does your daughter look like someone who'd get bullied?"

"What do you mean?" Her mom shot her a sideways look. "If you three ganged up on her, my daughter wouldn't stand a chance—she'd definitely get bullied."

"This is insane." Xiao Ru said, annoyed. "Last night we played that game, and it was your daughter's idea. She stayed up all night, just laughing to herself. We called you to come get her checked out, not to talk about bullying. If your daughter really has something on her, of course she'd be spouting nonsense to trick you."

"Exactly." Xu Jiayi nodded. "The most important thing is figuring out if she's got something on her. Yu Ni is clearly not herself right now."

Her parents exchanged a look, this time staying quiet. After a silent conversation with their eyes, they dragged Yu Ni—who clearly didn't want to leave—out of the room.

Before leaving, Yu Ni's dad made sure to warn them: "If my daughter turns out to be fine, we're settling this bullying thing once and for all."

"What a mess." Xiao Ru ran her fingers through her hair. "That game last night was definitely messed up. You two better get checked out too."

Xu Jiayi hesitated. "Do you know someone who can help?"

"I do." Ruan Lan said. "I have a relative who deals with this kind of stuff. I'll hit her up and ask."

Xu Jiayi breathed a sigh of relief, muttering, "We shouldn't have played that game last night. Hope everything's okay."

"Have you guys checked Yu Ni's account?" Xiao Ru asked.

Xu Jiayi shook her head, opened her feed, and saw Yu Ni had posted a new video.

It was just a picture with red text that read: "My roommates are bullying me, I can't go on living."

Author's note:

None