Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The person behind it is either pursuing an impossible dream like Akasaka, or perhaps it really is a ghost causing trouble. She has always told herself that there are no ghosts in this world, yet no one can explain some strange and even eerie occurrences. However, she would rather believe that human hearts are more frightening than ghosts.
"Hey, Jin'er, I'm participating in the second round of the competition tomorrow. You'll continue to support me, right?" Ruan Hongmei said anxiously, looking down.
"Fool, of course I will! Don't worry! I didn't take what happened this morning to heart," Su Jin'er replied with a smile.
Ruan Hongmei seemed to have more to say but hesitated, her fingers twisting together in a nervous manner.
"What's wrong?"
"I—I know you don't believe in demons, but I'm really scared about that Paper Man. Can I sleep with you tonight?"
Su Jin'er was taken aback. Ever since she could remember, she had always slept alone. Later, after meeting Linyuan, she often liked to squeeze into the same bed for no particular reason.
"Sure!"
"Yay! That's great."
"But where did that Paper Man go? And I'm curious about what scared Wang Xiangxiang to death."
"You're still thinking about those things? Since that's the case, why don't we investigate secretly?"
"Aren't you scared? Why would you want to investigate?"
"I am scared, but I'm also very curious. I've been influenced by my grandfather since I was little and have always been curious about ghosts and gods! But I've never seen one."
"Alright, we're getting off now; we've arrived at school." Su Jin'er stood up to get off the bus.
The discovery of a body at the construction site seemed to have attracted little attention from the students. They continued to live and study in this school with youthful smiles on their faces, appearing carefree as if they would never have worries. But what about her? Shouldn't she be like them?
The moment she opened the dormitory door, for some reason, Su Jin'er felt a chill run through her. She couldn't help but shiver as she slowly pushed the door open. What terrified her was that the Paper Man, who had disappeared, was now quietly lying on the floor.
"How—how could this be—" Ruan Hongmei said with a trembling voice.
Su Jin'er stepped inside slowly. The Paper Man lay quietly on the ground, his eyes wide open. As Su Jin'er looked into his eyes, she felt as if those eyes were staring back at her, sending chills down her spine.
"How did it get here?" Ruan Hongmei's teeth chattered as her body pressed tightly against Su Jin'er.
"I don't know." Su Jin'er's voice trembled as well. Earlier that morning, she had checked every corner of the dormitory and found no sign of the Paper Man. How could it suddenly appear now? There was no one else in the dormitory, just her and Hongmei. She had come back in between, and at that time, the Paper Man had not appeared. The Paper Man definitely couldn't walk on its own, which meant someone could freely enter and exit their dormitory.
Thinking of this made her feel a wave of dread. The thought that someone could come and go freely from their dormitory was terrifying. If that person wanted to kill them, they could easily come in at night and do so. Who could that person be?
"Jin'er, what are you thinking?"
"Someone can freely enter our dormitory. I think we need to ask the school to change our locks." Her eyes were fixed on the Paper Man, which seemed to be staring back at her; that feeling of being watched was unmistakable.
"The Paper Man seems to be looking at me," Su Jin'er said, causing Ruan Hongmei to tremble even more.
"Hongmei, I'll stay here. You go find the administrator." Su Jin'er continued to stare at the Paper Man. Although being watched felt very uncomfortable—and it wasn't a person but the Paper Man—the feeling of being stared at by the Paper Man was purely one thing: fear.
Ruan Hongmei quickly ran downstairs after hearing Su Jin'er's words. Alone in the dormitory, Su Jin'er suddenly saw the Paper Man's eyes move. It slowly turned its gaze toward the ceiling and then back again, continuing to look at Su Jin'er. However, its expression had changed from confusion to malice. What happened next was something Su Jin'er would never forget because the Paper Man stood up.
The Paper Man stiffly rose from the ground without bending its legs. She didn't even know how it stood up; rather than standing, it seemed to jump up like a zombie from a movie. Su Jin'er stepped back in shock, her eyes wide as she watched the Paper Man slowly approach her—not jumping like a zombie but walking slowly with stiff movements, its legs not bending at all.
As Su Jin'er stared at it in disbelief, she realized that this Paper Man was not the one she had brought back but rather the one she had seen that night at the construction site.
It revealed a strange smile towards her and slowly moved closer until it cornered her against the wall. Su Jin'er's back pressed tightly against the wall as the Paper Man looked at her with an eerie grin. Its previously closed mouth suddenly opened wide, and blood began to pour out in large amounts. Soon enough, blood stained its originally white body red. It reached out its bloodied hand and fiercely grasped Su Jin'er's throat. She could even hear its laughter and its repeated words: "I'll choke you to death."
Su Jin'er could feel its "hand" touching her neck. What should have been a soft hand surprisingly had incredible strength. In an instant, her world spun wildly; her throat felt as if it were tightly gripped by a pair of pliers. Blood surged up, and she gasped for breath, as if millions of needles were stabbing her lungs. The air inside her was dwindling, and waves of dizziness nearly made her lose consciousness. She reached out with all her strength to grab the face of the Paper Man, her nails tearing through the layer of thick blood-soaked paper. However, her fingers felt as if they were grasping cotton, soft and powerless. The torn area bled profusely, making the already hideous Paper Man appear even more terrifying.
Finally, her consciousness began to fade. In the last moment before losing awareness, she saw Ruan Hongmei running back from outside, and she could only weakly offer her a pale smile.
Before her was a blinding white, and her mind was blank. It felt as though her world had become a blank sheet of paper, devoid of anything—just empty air and more empty air.
Her body seemed no longer hers; her brain had lost control over it. She wanted to scream but found that even her voice had vanished.
The emptiness made her feel like she had become a corpse.
A corpse?
Was it true that she was really dead?
That Paper Man had choked her, and then she had torn its face, causing it to bleed profusely while she lost consciousness. Had she truly died?
So now, was she in heaven?
Did heaven really look white as people said?
Hah!
At 20 years old, how could she still believe in the existence of heaven like a child?
Her eyes slowly turned a few times before gradually opening. It was still a sea of white—a comforting white. Thank goodness she hadn’t entered hell.
Thinking of this, she smiled lightly.
"Jin'er, are you awake?"
A voice?
Is it a human voice? It sounds quite familiar.
She turned her head and looked at the girl beside her. Her eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.
"Paper Man?"
She suddenly sat up, her forehead bumping against Ruan Hongmei's.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"What about the Paper Man? Where is that Paper Man?"
"I was about to ask you! I called the administrator, and all I saw was you tightly gripping your own neck, your face red, slowly collapsing to the ground."
"You mean I was choking myself?"
"Yeah! You scared me to death, and your strength was incredible. The administrator and I almost couldn't get your hands off! What on earth happened?"
After hearing Ruan Hongmei's words, Su Jin'er fell into deep thought. She clearly remembered being choked by the Paper Man, but how did it end up with her choking herself?
"Is there blood in our dormitory?"
"There isn't any blood in our dormitory, but there is on you."
She raised her left hand, which was resting on the bed, and clearly saw a deep scratch on the back of her hand. The sight of it nearly made her faint again.
How is this possible?
She looked at the scratch in disbelief, then glanced at her right hand's fingernails, where some skin was still stained with blood.
She remembered that the scratch was from clawing at the Paper Man; how could it have ended up on her own hand? And why hadn't she felt any pain at that moment? Instead, she had felt a strange happiness from scratching the Paper Man. What exactly had happened?
"Jin'er, what on earth happened? Why is the Paper Man gone, and why are you choking yourself?"
"I don't know. After you left, the Paper Man suddenly moved. At first, it just blinked its eyes, but then it jumped up and started to choke me. I scratched its face, but somehow I ended up with the scratch on my own hand. What is going on?"
She seemed to be speaking to Ruan Hongmei but also to herself; everything felt so bizarre.
"You mean the Paper Man stood up and choked you?" Ruan Hongmei looked at her in disbelief, then touched her forehead and said, "You're not running a fever. What are you talking about? You could ask the manager!"
"Even if I'm lying, you saw the Paper Man when we entered the room!"
Ruan Hongmei was momentarily speechless. She had indeed seen that disappearing and reappearing Paper Man, but she also clearly saw Jin'er choking herself, and now the Paper Man was gone!
Comment 0 Comment Count