Volume 2, Chapter 36 (Chapter 74): Trying to Escape? Absolutely Not! (2)

When Zhao Ke sneaked into Room 401, Bright was busy doing homework in her room.

A scream, followed by furniture being moved frantically, interrupted Bright’s thought process.

Bright rolled her eyes and put on the earphones in her drawer. Just as she was about to play some music, she heard a sinister boy’s laugh coming from next door.

‘A boy?’

Curiosity got the best of her, and she found herself too distracted to continue doing her work.

She quietly listened to the movement next door, and in the next ten minutes, she experienced an unprecedented fear washing over her.

Malicious laughter echoed from next door, and the eerie atmosphere leaked through the dormitory walls. The lights in her bedroom flickered intermittently as if a strange force were controlling them.

The girls in Room 401 seemed to curse loudly and yell out Zhao Ke’s name.

She knew very well who Zhao Ke was; some girls would warn her not to get close to him since whoever met him would experience misfortune.

“Because of you, Lin Yiqi hates me! It’s all your fault! All your fault. All of you will pay for it!”

Bright could hear Zhao Ke growling, and soon she could hear girls screaming.

“What the…?”

“N-no! P-please, we’re sorry!”

“…A ghost…”

The screaming faded out into soft pleading, and soon the soft pleadings turned into groans of pain.

Bright shivered; her inquisitive mind couldn’t help but conjure up the worst scenarios in her mind.

She knew that just across this wall was a terrifying demon.

‘N-none of my business. I heard nothing. I heard nothing.’

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Help me! Please open the door!” A hoarse female voice shouted outside Bright’s door. “Please let me in! H-he’s not human! He’s going to kill me!”

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock…

Bright held her breath amidst the endless knocks. The sound of a door opening next door could be heard, and the girl outside screamed, her screams fading away as she ran down the corridor.

However, Bright felt a strange sense of joy.

‘That girl… yes, she’s one of the ones who shunned me.’

A cool wind sneaked in from the windows, and faint whispers seemed to carry themselves in the wind.

Bright knew something sinister continued to lurk next door.

Disturbing, eerie, and not human.

Bright could feel it outside her room; its demonic eyes seemed to stare right into her soul outside the door.

However, after a moment of silence, the oppressive atmosphere disappeared, and all was silent.

It left her alone.

Bright figured that if she were to pretend nothing had happened, all would return to normal.

However…

The next night, at the same time, there was another knock on the door.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock…

In the dark night, there were constant knocks on her door, and a chilling atmosphere filled her room. There seemed to be something standing outside, wanting her to experience the pain it had experienced.

Bright suffered from panic and guilt, and she couldn’t help but yell out,

“What do you want me to do? I wasn’t the one who killed you!”

The knocks continued regardless, and Bright cried out in pain.

Bright thought that joining Lin Yiqi’s plan to kill Zhao Ke would free her of guilt.

However, when she raised the butcher’s knife, she remembered the inhuman existence that had stayed outside her dormitory door that night. Fear brewed in her heart, and she ran.

Since then, she has been on the run, moving out of the dormitory, transferring schools, and even trying to get her parents to move across the country.

During this process, she heard of the many rumours that brewed in Shihekou High School: strange hauntings, a boy going missing, the school shutting down for no apparent reason, etc.

But the knocks remained. No matter where she went, at the exact time of night, the knocks would continue to haunt her.

No one can hear it; the only one who can hear it is herself.

She has been silently thinking of a way to solve this problem that has troubled her for many years and has joined many forums that talk about urban legends.

One day, she saw a user named Pharoah talking about going to Shihekou High School for a trial of guts.

After hesitating for a long time, she sent a friend request to Pharoah.

[Pharoah has accepted your friend request.]

[?]

[That school is dangerous. I suggest you not go there.]

[You know something about it?]

[Troubled by something there.]

[Me too. I’m planning to look for a solution there. Want to come along?

…

[Okay. I’ll come with you.]

When she reached the school, she decided to face her past head-on instead of running away.

She thought that this was the last way to break out of the predicament, but…

Standing on the edge of the roof of the teaching building, she saw the girl who used to live next door to her.

The girl was wearing a wet school uniform; her hair was messy and dripping, and her face was as pale as a corpse.

No malice radiated from her body, but her bloodshot eyes stared daggers into Bright.

Turning to Daydream, Bright let out a dry laugh, saying, “It’s useless. From the moment we stepped onto the campus, he was watching.”

Bright was enlightened. As soon as that incident occurred next door in Room 401, escape was never an option.

Bright took a step forward, and the wind rushed past her face.

She fell off the building, and strangely enough, the weightlessness of it all set her free.

She smiled.