The sky within the industrial park grew increasingly overcast and dark.
In less than half an hour, the last glimmer of light on the horizon had completely sunk below the earth.
Before the sky turned completely dark, Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing had already found their accommodation for the night.
The dormitory building arranged by Nest Corporation for temporary employees looked brand new from the outside.
It was five stories high, with clean and bright exterior walls, exuding a simple, modern style.
The internal structure of the building was quite similar to the dormitories at E University, and there was even a dormitory management office on the first floor.
However, the curtains of the management office were tightly drawn, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.
A piece of paper was posted outside the dormitory management office, with light blue handwriting that read, “Newly arrived temporary employees can obtain accommodation information by clocking in.”
Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing went over to clock in, and two keys labeled with dormitory numbers were successively dispensed from the machine.
Their assigned room was B-307.
Xu Dengming picked up the key and prepared to head to the third floor.
She had just taken two steps when she paused, turned back, and stared at the notice posted outside the dormitory management office.
After a moment, she said, “Don’t you think this piece of paper seems unusually thick?”
Wang Yanxing hadn’t paid much attention to it before, but after being reminded, she also noticed that the notice outside the dormitory management office wasn’t just a single sheet but rather multiple layers of paper stacked together.
The two exchanged a glance, and Wang Yanxing nodded, taking a couple of steps back to keep watch-though, given the sparse foot traffic in the accommodation area, she felt it wasn’t entirely necessary.
Xu Dengming, still standing in front of the dormitory management office, used her key as a tool and carefully peeled off the topmost notice.
Xu Dengming’s movements were slow and deliberate.
She felt a strange sensation at the tip of the key, as if she were scraping against something more akin to the skin of a living creature than paper.
When the top layer of the notice was peeled off, the layers beneath trembled slightly, and Xu Dengming even worried that blood might seep out from the torn edges.
Xu Dengming lowered her gaze.
Ever since entering the Nest Corporation industrial park, she had started to feel that something was off with her mind.
Beneath the first notice was another one, written in red characters, announcing an adjustment to the accommodation arrangements:
“Due to changing circumstances, dormitory rooms in this building have been changed from four-person to two-person occupancy.”
The layer below that was yet another red notice: “Due to changing circumstances, dormitory rooms in this building have been changed from six-person to four-person occupancy.”
Xu Dengming leaned in closer, carefully examining the notices, but she couldn’t discern any difference in the age or condition of the paper.
She thought that something must have happened in a short period of time, leading to consecutive adjustments in the number of occupants in the dormitory rooms.
After figuring out the situation with the notices, Xu Dengming dampened the torn paper with water and reattached it to the stack.
Once they had finished their brief exploration of the new environment, the two headed straight to the third floor.
While the dormitory building appeared quite deserted from the outside, it was actually home to a significant number of temporary employees.
The building was rectangular in shape, with each floor offering ample space.
The layout resembled a honeycomb, with at least forty independent small rooms on each floor.
The first and second floors had a slightly lower occupancy density, but by the third floor, the number of people increased significantly.
On their way to room B-307, Xu Dengming passed by room B-302.
The door to this room was open, and two girls were sitting by their beds, discussing the current job market situation.
They spoke slowly, their voices slightly muffled, as if they hadn’t fully awakened from their slumber.
Xu Dengming glanced inside upon hearing the voices, and one of the girls happened to turn her head to look toward the door.
Their gazes briefly intersected before each looked away in different directions.
Wang Yanxing arrived at the door of B-307, unlocked it with a key, and Xu Dengming followed her inside.
After setting down their belongings, the two of them, with practiced ease, immediately opened the windows and doors to let the air circulate.
Xu Dengming rested her arm on the windowsill and gazed into the distance.
The wind blew in from outside in gusts, yet she still felt a tightness in her chest.
An intangible stickiness lingered in the air, making each breath require more effort than usual.
Wang Yanxing clearly felt something similar.
She tore open a food and water pack, took out a bottle of water, and gulped down several large mouthfuls.
The earthy smell carried in by the wind made Xu Dengming frown slightly.
She walked into the bathroom and bent her head under the faucet, letting the water run over her for a while.
Coldness always brings clarity.
The light in the bathroom hung overhead, glaringly white and harsh, casting Xu Dengming’s face in a pallid hue.
Xu Dengming turned off the faucet and stared at the person in the mirror.
The reflection’s hair was wet, water droplets trickling down the strands, and her eyes met Xu Dengming’s with a cold indifference.
…Perhaps it was inevitable to be a little biased against oneself, Xu Dengming thought.
She always felt she could detect a hint of mockery in the eyes of the person in the mirror.
Xu Dengming wiped the water off her face and casually opened the cabinet door beneath the sink.
But there was nothing inside.
Xu Dengming bent down and peered inside for a while, then deeply felt that the issues in her mind were trending toward something more serious.
…For no reason at all, why had she opened the bathroom cabinet door?
By the time Xu Dengming walked out of the bathroom, Wang Yanxing had already made the bed.
The bedding had been taken out of the living supplies pack, and the sheets were snow-white, looking spotlessly clean.
Wang Yanxing looked out the window and murmured, “The sky outside…”
Human residential areas always had lights, but in the Nest Park, there was only an undulating darkness.
Xu Dengming said, “Maybe there are too many trees blocking the streetlights.”
“Thud!”
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted-Xu Dengming heard a sickening, muffled sound.
The noise was different from the usual sound of something hitting the ground.
It was as if something containing moisture had been slammed heavily onto the hard pavement.
Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing locked eyes, both noticing the paleness in each other’s faces.
Drawn by an indescribable intuition, Xu Dengming walked step by step to the window.
She looked down and momentarily held her breath.
The light from the first-floor lobby shone through the window, illuminating a small patch of space in front of the building, allowing Xu Dengming to clearly see what had fallen to the ground.
It was a fresh human body.
Blood and fragments of flesh were splattered everywhere, and a thick, crimson pool of blood gurgled as it flowed.
The body’s owner lay there silently, lifeless eyes staring straight at the sky.
Xu Dengming had seen the person on the ground before.
When she first arrived at the dormitory area, she had exchanged a glance with them.
Wang Yanxing jumped down from the bed, rushed to the window in a few steps, then took two steps back and covered her mouth tightly with her hand.
Xu Dengming heard the continuous sound of windows closing people from other dorm rooms, drawn by the noise, had also witnessed the scene before them and reacted accordingly.
As if closing the windows could keep misfortune at bay.
Xu Dengming also reached out and closed the window of B-307.
With the outside noise blocked, the dorm room fell into complete silence, and no sounds could be heard around them.
But Xu Dengming would have preferred a noisier environment.
Even if someone were shouting nearby, it wouldn’t have bothered her.
It would have given her a sense of reassurance that she was still living in a normal world.
Wang Yanxing’s face, which had been pale, now turned almost green.
Her lips twitched twice before she finally spoke in a low voice, “What on earth is going on?”
Xu Dengming: “…”
She couldn’t provide a precise answer.
Xu Dengming checked the time and confirmed that there were still five minutes until five o’clock.
Then she said to her roommate, “Wait a moment, I’ll go downstairs to take a look.”
Although she knew Xu Dengming was brave, her actions still often took Wang Yanxing by surprise.
She clenched her teeth and said, “I’ll go with you.”
To save time, the two of them jogged out the door.
Their footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, but no one peeked out to see what was happening.
The closed doors seemed to have turned into sealed coffin lids.
The first floor looked exactly the same as when they had first arrived.
The cold, pale light illuminated everything, allowing them to see their surroundings clearly.
Xu Dengming didn’t step out into the lobby.
She stood by the first-floor window, silently staring outside.
From the moment they left the room to the time they reached the first floor, only a minute had passed.
Yet, within that minute, the girl’s body had disappeared without a sound.
Along with it, the bloodstains and fragments of flesh on the ground were also gone.
Xu Dengming felt a throbbing in her temples.
Wang Yanxing: “Just now, it was clearly…” She stopped mid-sentence, her voice filled with uncertainty.
“Are we hallucinating?”
Xu Dengming shook her head. “It’s not a hallucination.”
She pointed to the grass nearby and said, “Look at the blades of grass.”
Although it was already winter, the lawn still retained a vibrant green color.
The tips of the grass, as fine as strands of hair, now bore a faint red spot that was easy to overlook.
Wang Yanxing: “…So there really was a body, but it’s been taken away now?”
Xu Dengming lowered her gaze. “Perhaps.”
What she wasn’t sure about wasn’t whether the body had existed, but how it had disappeared.
The first floor was empty, and the surroundings were eerily quiet.
Although they were in the residential area, the darkness outside gave them an ominous feeling.
After confirming that the body was gone, Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing returned to B-307.
The recent incident had left Wang Yanxing feeling uneasy.
After closing the door, she cautiously moved a chair to block it, then finally showed a look of relief. “Just in case.”
Xu Dengming had no objections to her roommate’s precautionary measures but was somewhat curious and said:
“What if the danger comes from inside?”
Wang Yanxing pondered.
Although there was no third person in the dorm room, no one could guarantee that there weren’t any hidden dangers.
Wang Yanxing: “If it comes to that, we can…”
Xu Dengming looked at her attentively.
Wang Yanxing said dryly, “Shout for help.”
Xu Dengming chuckled, “Right, judging by how quickly the park handled the bodies, Nest Corporation must really care about the living experience of the people inside the building.”
Wang Yanxing: “…”
Xu Dengming sometimes used more subtle phrasing to express her thoughts.
When Wang Yanxing first met her, it often took her a moment to realize she was actually making a sarcastic remark.
The familiar way his companion spoke somewhat comforted Wang Yanxing, who was in an unfamiliar environment.
After a quick wash, the two climbed into bed, each pulling out their phones to scroll.
Perhaps because the place was remote, the phone signal was very weak.
Xu Dengming tried several times but couldn’t connect to the internet, so she gave up on searching for information about Nest Park and closed her eyes to sleep.
-She had already rested for a long time during the day, but she still felt an overwhelming drowsiness, as if she had returned to the stressful days of juggling work and study before exams, always feeling sleep-deprived.
She noticed Wang Yanxing on the other bed also starting to yawn repeatedly, mumbling a drowsy “Good night” to her.
Xu Dengming acknowledged it, turned over, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Dreams are always illogical.
After falling asleep, many bizarre images flashed through Xu Dengming’s mind.
She even faintly heard the sound of flowing water.
The water flowed slowly and sluggishly, carrying an indescribable damp, sticky sensation that lingered in her ears.
In the darkness, Xu Dengming sensed some changes around her.
She heard faint footsteps and breathing sounds.
Those sounds gradually approached, and just as Xu Dengming felt a strong sense of alertness, they slowly retreated.
Xu Dengming wanted to react, but she couldn’t even open her eyes.
Her body on the bed felt heavy, as if a huge boulder was pressing on her chest.
That boulder seemed to be deliberately sinking, first cutting through her skin, then inch by inch into her chest, forcefully squeezing her ribs.
Xu Dengming gradually found it hard to breathe, her hands involuntarily clenching tightly, even starting to spasm.
As she moved, she accidentally touched a button on her phone.
The screen lit up in the darkness, showing the time: 2:29 a.m.
A few seconds later, the time changed to 2:30 a.m.
The moment the minute changed, Xu Dengming abruptly opened her eyes.
Her eyes were bloodshot, blue veins protruding from her skin, and her entire body trembled uncontrollably, as if struggling against an invisible restraint.
Xu Dengming’s trembling grew more and more violent until she finally tore open a gap in that pressure.
She suddenly raised her arm and swung a heavy blow into the air at a non-existent target.
“…Huh.”
Xu Dengming abruptly sat up in bed, gasping for breath, and it took her a while to calm down.
She stared at the strange stick that had somehow appeared in her hand, her expression frozen.
…So it wasn’t an illusion.
She really had swung a blow.
But where had the stick come from?
Tftc!