Chapter 56: Elevator
When she drank almost half of her drink, Bai Yan and Luo Xing went down from their dorm and hurried over to the shop.
Seeing that she was thinly dressed and was slightly shivering inside the warm store, Luo Xing couldn’t help but offer his coat to her, handing it over to Ye Shangyu, “Sister Ye, put this on, so you won’t catch a cold on this snowy day.”
Ye Shangyu was startled by the gesture but still took the coat and thanked him softly.
Although their souls were the ones in the game and their bodies were left in the real world, catching a cold or getting a fever here would make them feel unwell in the real world for quite some time, so avoiding it would be best.
Luo Xing’s kind gesture was so natural, making Bai Yan’s eyes flash since he didn’t expect him to do that.
He and Ye Shangyu were digging a pit for him this morning, but come afternoon, Luo Xing wasn’t bothered by it anymore?
“Also, the solution written on the archive was fake!”
Ye Shangyu went over what happened in the bathroom, and upon hearing the disaster that struck the female students, Luo Xing’s eyes clearly showed intolerance.
“What about the surviving girls?” He couldn’t help but ask.
“They’re still in the bathroom and ought to still be alive.” Ye Shangyu indifferently said, “Many people died. If only the president could alter people’s memories, then this matter wouldn’t be so quickly revealed. But in any case, we should speed it up, so we won’t stay in this school for too long.”
Ye Shangyu added, “The drains are hiding away the girls’ tangled up corpses. You better not go to the bathroom and wash up these next few days. Even if they died in the women’s bath, the men and women’s baths are only separated by a wall, but it’s possible that they could go through the sewers.”
“Are all of the ghosts beneath the bathroom? It seems that we also shouldn’t go to the Fourth Building.”
Recalling the several levels he went through, Bai Yan muttered to himself, “The ghost story inside the forum had already come true, so will the victims from before also turn into ghosts? If this happens, the school will become more dangerous, so we shouldn’t drag this out.”
The game gave them seven days, but the campus was getting full of ghosts, and it was inevitable to increase the number of deaths the longer they stayed.
To prevent situations where they’ll be surrounded by and chased by ghosts, Bai Yan also didn’t hesitate.
In the beverage shop, he opened the forum, and inside the ‘Nightly Ghost Stories’ topic, he found the real ghost stories post.
“When did this post appear?” Ye Shangyu asked.
“Before you called us.” Bai Yan gazed at the screen, saying, “When the ghost story finishes, the post would reappear.”
Answering Ye Shangyu’s question, Bai Yan immediately opened the ‘Real Ghost Stories’ post.
He quickly browsed through the first three tales and focused on the fourth one.
The fourth story had something to do with an elevator.
Like the other three, this story’s environment also took place in the school, and the main character was a college student.
The story went on like this.
One day, a guy went to an Internet cafe and stayed up all night playing games, forgetting what time it was.
By the time he realized it, it was already midnight.
He wanted to spend the night in the Internet cafe, but he didn’t have any money left, so he snuck into the school to sleep in school for the night.
Blue Sky College’s dormitory entrance was guarded. As a result, when the boy was sneaking back in, the main gate was already locked up.
At that time, the boy fished out his phone to call his roommates for help. However, before he could dial the number, he saw his roommate through the glass door, standing there and using the key to open it.
Seeing this scene, the guy didn’t give it too much thought and just believed that his friend got his back, so he and his friend rode the elevator together.
Halfway through the ride, he saw his roommate turn his head, and so, he also carelessly looked back——
He then found out that the mirror inside the elevator located behind them didn’t show his roommate’s reflection…
The ghost story’s mood was told just right. Adding in the backstory of them living in the school, it could make anyone feel immersed in the tale.
If the students of this school were replaced, they would definitely be intimidated.
However, Bai Yan has seen a real ghost, so naturally, he wouldn’t be scared of a mere ghost story that hadn’t occurred yet.
He closed the forum and said to the two, “The new ghost story has something to do with an elevator.”
“Elevator… Found it.” Luo Xing handed over the archive.
Bai Yan already knew the archive like the back of his hand since early on, but he still took it, reviewing it again from start to finish.
In the archive, the president investigated a rumored haunted building. Nothing particular happened along the way, leading him to think that this rumor wasn’t true.
But, when he was riding the elevator, he heard a woman outside say, “How could there be so many people in the elevator? I’ll just wait for the next one.”
Upon hearing these words, the president immediately sensed that something was amiss.
At this moment, the elevator was about to close, but he still risked being wedged between the elevator doors and immediately escaped.
“A stereotypical elevator ghost story.” Bai Yan looked at the notes and said, “Yet, the way to survive in the archive is a lie, so this document must have been tampered with.”
“But eliminating a dead end isn’t bad.”
Bai Yan put the archive down and got up, preparing to go back to the dormitory and ride the elevator.
Before he went through the door, Ye Shangyu suddenly asked, “Do you want 2 NPCs to accompany you?”
“NPCs?” Bai Yan considered it for a few seconds but ultimately shook his head, “Forget it. The roommate inside the story turned into a ghost. I’ve already triggered the ghost story, so contacting NPCs now would be risky.”
He waved his hand goodbye as he pulled open the beverage shop’s door, heading to the dorm.
The snow outside was still falling, and the ground displayed a generous layer of snowflakes.
Bai Yan casually stepped on the pure white ground, his mood was unexpectedly good.
He was fond of the gloomy weather, and this made his entire body feel relaxed. Even if he was about to stare at a ghost in the elevator later, he didn’t let it affect his spirit. Instead, it even made him more cheerful.
He entered the male dormitory while brisk walking. Bai Yan then approached the elevator, preparing to ride it.
Since a lot of people went home, the line to the elevator was non-existent, and there was no other person in sight.
There was no one using the three lifts, so Bai Yan stood in place and pondered, simply pressing the up button and waiting for the elevator to come down before landing on a decision.
Soon, the lift went down to the first floor. The middle one was the one that opened, and there was no one inside.
Accompanied by ding sound, the other two elevators also went down soon after.
Bai Yan peered inside, the three lifts interior designs were exactly the same.
They all contained a bulletin board, a mirror on one side, and were all empty. There was no one inside.
But, no one being there didn’t mean that there weren’t any ghosts.
Even if there were none right now, when he’ll enter in a moment, they would definitely appear.
Bai Yan released a deep sigh, it was a bit difficult to choose.
If the three elevators had some small differences, it would’ve been better for him as he could judge them based on their differences and make a choice.
But now, three identical objects were presented in front of him without any hints or clues. He could only count on his luck.
His luck was only so-so.
The three empty elevators were simultaneously open, which looked downright horrifying.
Bai Yan waited and watched for a while. He finally decided once the elevator doors were about to close.
“In any case, all of them had ghosts upon entering, so it’s all the same.”
He paused then strode down to the middle one.
The middle one was just about to close, but since it sensed a person, it immediately opened up its doors.
The elevators in school were the latest models, so if it sensed a person’s body part, it would instantly open again, greatly decreasing the number of accidents.
Bai Yan entered the elevator, and the doors slowly closed.
Bai Yan pushed the seventh-floor button in front of him.
No matter what, his dorm was on the seventh floor, so when he leaves, he could go to his room and take a rest.
After pressing the button, the elevator slowly began to ascend, a weightless feeling coming through the soles of his feet.
Before Bai Yan could get used to this feeling, the elevator suddenly stopped.
Bai Yan immediately saw the door slide open and saw a guy standing outside the opened elevator doors.
The boy sported a nearly shaved head while there was a damp towel draping over his neck.
He saw the elevator doors about to open, and so he stepped forward to get in, but when he saw Bai Yan in his line of sight, he suddenly muttered to himself, “Isn’t it a holiday? Why are there so many people inside the elevator? Forget it, I’ll wait for the next one.”
He then withdrew his foot.
Ah, don’t even think about deceiving me.
Upon hearing the guy’s words, Bai Yan couldn’t help but smile coldly.
The extra actor the president found wasn’t convincing.
Yes, the second floor had the hairdryers, but there was nothing wrong for a guy, who had just washed his hair, to want to go to the second floor to dry it.
However, you’re a ban cun(1). Your hair’s so short that you’re basically the same as a bald person. Wasn’t it unreasonable to still blow dry your hair?
- Ban cun means board hair or one-inch hair. Basically, the guy’s hair was super short.
Were you going to blow dry your scalp?
There was only one answer. This guy was simply not a person, but a ghost in disguise!
Other than blow-drying his hair, when Bai Yan boarded the elevator just now, all of the elevators weren’t in use.
If the guy truly wanted to ride the elevator, he could simply choose another one.
There were so many holes in this situation that Bai Yan didn’t even bother picking them one by one.
He originally assumed that the archive still had its use, at the very least it could eliminate one of the dead ends. But looking at it now, it seemed that fully casting aside the archive was possible.
The elevator slowly closed again, and the guy, who stood outside the elevator, didn’t change his facial expression.
He walked to the side as if he was going to use the other elevators to go up.
Bai Yan remembered this and left the guy alone for the time being.
He stood in the middle of the elevator, recalling that there was a mirror behind him. Generally speaking, the risks carried by a mirror inside the elevator were extremely high.
As he took precautions, Bai Yan turned sideways, turning his head around to look at the mirror’s reflection.
The mirror showed a particularly pale person, and under the light, he looked a bit unusual.
Bai Yan didn’t care about his skin color since he was still pale even after applying foundation on his skin.
He smiled at the mirror, and the person in the mirror also smiled back.
Everything was normal.
Seeing that the movements of the person on the mirror were identical to his, Bai Yan slightly lowered his guard. It seemed that the mirror wasn’t going to make any errors.
He blinked and wanted to turn back, but after he opened his eyes, he saw an exceedingly terrifying sight——
The him in the mirror was still maintaining a smile, but his surroundings were full of miserable-looking people. They fully occupied every nook and cranny of the area, the elevator becoming completely packed.
Their necks turned in all sorts of directions, and their facial expressions were all the same. They all fixed their gazes at him, their eyes full of bitterness.
At this time, the elevator suddenly violently trembled.
The lights inside went out.
And, the elevator immediately plunged into darkness.