“Don’t think you can lie to me! What do you mean, ‘the world inside the door’?! Is this part of some sort of sick show you guys are filming, or are you just trying to cheat me out of my cash?!” The seething man was middle-aged, around forty to fifty years old. He was richly dressed, and an eye-catching Patek Philippe luxury watch hung from his wrist. Just from appearance alone, anyone could tell this man was considerably wealthy. But perhaps it was because this man was born with a silver spoon in his mouth that he momentarily couldn’t accept something so inconceivable, such as this world that was simply beyond one’s comprehension.
“I refuse to believe any of this! I’m leaving this place right now!” hollered the man, “And don’t even think about stopping me!”
Seemingly frightened by this entire scene, a thin, feeble girl standing beside the man wept miserably. As for the remaining people in the group, some stared blankly, at an utter loss, while others just remained in place, completely indifferent. A young man curled his lip into a sneer and disdainfully hissed, “If you want to leave, then go. As if anyone here will try to stop you.”
The middle-aged man glowered, then he actually turned on his heels and left the building.
Apart from this lonely building right here, all of the other buildings were obscured by the darkness; it was as if a thick, murky fog shrouded the entire world. The middle-aged man’s courage was also quite large. He surprisingly didn’t cower away and return from the pitch-black fog. Lin Qiushi just wanted to let out a sigh of remorse at this man’s guts, but in the end, not even a minute passed before the middle-aged man’s mournful shrieks echoed from inside the dark fog.
It wasn’t long before a figure frantically staggered out of the blanket of fog. The figure was covered in blood from head to toe, to the point that Lin Qiushi couldn’t even make out the other’s original appearance. But, judging from the height and build, the figure was precisely the man who ran straight into the black fog.
“Oh, seems like his luck’s also pretty good.” A tall, stunning women standing in the crowd indifferently remarked. “He actually didn’t die.”
Lin Qiushi swept a glance at this strikingly impressive and elegant older sister. She was very tall and had beautiful, silky long black hair that slightly curled at its ends; her facial features were delicate and refined, but her expression was cold and apathetic. Because she was standing within the crowd, Lin Qiushi couldn’t see her too clearly. It was only after she walked two steps outside that Lin Qiushi noticed what she was wearing—the same exact clothes that Ruan Nanzhu wore before entering the door.
God dammit—Lin Qiushi instantly understood what was going on. He cursed like hell in his heart several times, and his face carried a mix of helplessness, dismay, and detachment.
“Just where is this place?” The timid young woman who’d never stopped wailing since the very beginning began to cry harder after witnessing this sight. “I’m so scared…”
“The world of the door,” answered the disguised Ruan Nanzhu. “My name is Zhu Meng, this is my second time here, and you all?”
“I’m Yu Linlin.” Lin Qiushi casually thought of a name on the spot. “This is also my second time here.”
“Oh.” Ruan Nanzhu nodded. With an extremely gentle tone, he comforted, “Don’t cry. Although this place is very scary, it’s still possible to escape here alive. What’s your name?”
Between her heavy sobs, the girl choked out, “My name is Xu Xiaocheng.” She probably started crying the moment she entered the door; her eyes were already beyond red and swollen. “This place is so scary.”
The others also began introducing themselves one after another. Including the middle-aged man outside, there were a total of seven people, and amongst those seven were three newcomers. Xu Xiaocheng and another young male had also entered this world for the first time. Xu Xiaocheng was bawling constantly and the other young man was looking wan, his complexion was green; the two looked as if they would faint at any second now.
Ruan Nanzhu naturally played the role of the leader in the team. Just like how Xiong Qi acted in the previous door world, Ruan Nanzhu merely offered a simple explanation on what was going on and what everyone needed to do, then proposed that they all check out the situation inside the building first.
“What about him?” Apart from the others, there was also another man and a woman. The young woman was someone with rather ordinary features, and she was called Tang Yaoyao. When she introduced herself, she had stated this was her third time entering the door world. She pointed at the middle-aged man who currently cut a sorry figure after his attempted escape plan went awry, ending with him pathetically returning, completely covered in blood. “Just ignore him?”
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at the middle-aged man. His attitude was downright cold. “I don’t want to look after him. You’ll have to take care of him.”
“Well, I guess there’s no need to bother with him then.” Tang Yaoyao nodded.
The middle-aged man was gasping for air, panting wildly. Seeing that everyone was about to leave, he hurriedly followed after them. Sheer terror shone in his wide eyes; no one knew exactly what dreadful things he’d witnessed in that thick, dark fog.
This building was a very outmoded residential building, with a crumbling elevator that looked as if it was on the verge of collapse. This shabby, unstable elevator could only a maximum of five people at a time, so they had no choice but to be divided into two groups. Everyone wanted to ride the elevator with the experienced Ruan Nanzhu; they pushed and shoved, trying to get in, only to get stuck at the elevator door.
Upon seeing this, Ruan Nanzhu warmly suggested, “How’s this sound, I’ll take the others who are also experienced up with me to check out the situation, and you guys just stay here and wait. Then later, I’ll take the elevator again to pick you guys up.”
“Okay.” Xu Xiaocheng, who was constantly bawling, finally stopped sobbing loudly and tearfully gazed at Ruan Nanzhu. “Big sister, you have to come back down, okay? I’m so scared.”
“Yes, I will.” Ruan Nanzhu gave his word.
And so, a total of four people—Lin Qiushi, Ruan Nanzhu, and the other two experienced participants—stepped onto the elevator.
This elevator was obviously ruined from years of overuse; the entire elevator was sabotaged by messy graffiti, illegible scribbles, sketchy advertisements, vulgar words and profanity, and even some strange, indecipherable drawings and patterns.
The buttons on the elevators ranged from one to fourteen. Ruan Nanzhu naturally pressed the buttons in order, one by one, but he soon found that the first thirteen floors couldn’t be pressed. In fact, the only button that lit up after being pressed was the fourteenth floor.
“Seems like we can only go to the fourteenth floor.” Ruan Nanzhu remarked. “Let’s go.”
Lin Qiushi gave a nod.
According to Ruan Nanzhu, the level of difficulty for this door world wouldn’t be too high. Not to mention, he even said that he took a job; though, he never really explained what that job was in the end.
The elevator rattled and creaked as it slowly rose.
None of the four breathed a word; the expression on everyone’s face was grave. When the elevator doors opened, Lin Qiushi instinctively drew back a step, fearing that something would pop out at the door. But nothing appeared. Before Lin Qiushi’s eyes was an endless, old-fashioned corridor, and at the very end of this long hallway was an ajar door. Sounds from the television were coming from the door; supposedly, the residents inside the room were watching some TV program or so.
Looking as calm and dignified as ever, Ruan Nanzhu strode directly to the door and knocked on it.
“You’ve come.” A middle-aged woman appeared from behind the door. She was wearing an apron, and she seemed to be in the middle of cooking. Seeing the four people standing outside, she let out a smile. “Come in.”
Ruan Nanzhu stepped forward and entered the residence.
Lin Qiushi and Tang Yaoyao immediately followed him inside. The building was very, very old, in rather poor condition; three bedrooms and two somewhat wide living rooms made up the residence. Although the place looked quite worn-out, after some meticulous, painstaking cleaning, even the most hard-to-reach spots didn’t contain a trace of dust.
Lin Qiushi walked to the center of the living room and saw the old television that was emitting those sounds. An animation was being played on the TV, and it was a bit noisy and eye-catching.
However, it wasn’t the television or the program that was currently playing that attracted Lin Qiushi’s attention; rather, what caught Lin Qiushi’s attention were the three little girls sitting on the sofa in front of the TV.
These little girls were carbon copies of each other; they looked exactly the same. Forget about their looks, the way they dressed and even their hairstyles were no different from each other’s. When they noticed the four strangers, they merely moved their gaze, seemingly completely uninterested in these visitors who’d just arrived.
“These are my daughters.” The middle-aged woman introduced. “Thank you all for deciding to participate in their birthday party that takes place seven days from now.”
Because of his last experience, Lin Qiushi quickly grasped the key point in the woman’s dialogue. They had to participate in a birthday party that would be hosted in seven days; this seemed to be the main reason for them coming to this door.
Now knowing their purpose for coming here, Lin Qiushi became relieved. At least attending a birthday party was several times better than building a damned coffin.
When the woman finished speaking, she said that she would go back to preparing the meals; she then handed them a few keys and stated that they could live in the rooms nearby.
Ruan Nanzhu took the keys and put them into his breast pocket. Thereafter, he told them to wait upstairs, while he went back downstairs to fetch the rest of the rookies and bring them up.
Lin Qiushi and Tang Yaoyao nodded and watched on as Ruan Nanzhu stepped inside the elevator again.
“Is this your second time entering the door?” Tang Yaoyao asked.
Lin Qiushi nodded his head yes. He observed the triplets in the room for a while, and then he suddenly recalled the sisters in that fairy tale, Fitcher’s Bird.
Tang Yaoyao saw that Lin Qiushi was currently spaced out, completely preoccupied with his own thoughts, so she soon stopped talking and, instead, silently began watching the program that was playing on the television.
A few minutes later, Ruan Nanzhu arrived back with the rest of the newcomers; no one expected the middle-aged man covered in blood to be among those who came up.
He seemed to have received such a great fright after running into the dark fog. The middle-aged man now looked very distraught and panicked. The blood coating his face had already dried up, turning into a thick black smudge, an unpleasant sight that made people’s stomach churn.
“The conditions have already appeared.” Ruan Nanzhu declared. “We have to stay here for seven days and attend the triplets’ birthday party.” He opened his palm, showing everyone the keys the middle-aged woman gave to him. “There are four keys right here, and there are four rooms. Anyway, you guys pick whichever you want.”
“Can’t we all live together?” The newcomer, Xu Xiaocheng, no longer wept, but she still cowered and shivered in fear. She lowly whispered, “If there are a lot of people, then we won’t be afraid.”
Ruan Nanzhu merely swept her a side glance. Without uttering a word, he picked up a key, headed to the nearest room, and inserted the key into the keyhole.
The door let out a soft click, then creaked open.
“Why is the room like this?” Xu Xiaocheng was shocked upon seeing what lay behind the door. The room certainly wasn’t an ‘ordinary’ room as she’d expected. No, it was just an extremely small space meant for one person. There was but one door, one window, and one wooden bed arranged smack down in the center of the room; at first glance, it practically resembled a neat and tidy little coffin.
“The room is too small for all of us to be living together.” Ruan Nanzhu stated. “Decide for yourselves.”
“I want to be with you.” Xu Xiaocheng immediately raised her hand. “Big sister, how about you and I stay together, yes? Let me stay with you. I’m so scared.”
She tried her best to convince the other to be with her, but Ruan Nanzhu wasn’t moved; he couldn’t care any less for her. Instead, he cast a glance at Lin Qiushi, then raised a finger and pointed at him. “You and I will be living together.”
Lin Qiushi “M-Me?”
Ruan Nanzhu: “Yeah, you.”
The moment everyone heard these words, they all glared at him enviously…
Lin Qiushi “…” Don’t glare at me! This isn’t even something worthy of your jealousy!!!
Author’s Comment:
Others: Lin Qiushi, your luck with women is just too good.
The people who know the truth outside the door: Ruan Nanzhu, your luck with women [and men] is just too good.
Lin Qiushi sheds tears of sorrow.