Chapter 03: The Photo

With the Mother from 704 standing outside the door, Xia Mi didn’t dare open it completely.

Yet, with an Intruder potentially hiding inside her home, Xia Mi didn’t dare close it either.

For the first time, Xia Mi understood what it meant to have a wolf at the front and a tiger at the back¹. She could neither advance nor retreat.

She could only turn on the lights and, axe in hand, search the room for Xiao Pi’s whereabouts.

Xiao Pi was a middle school student in the middle of a growth spurt. He was about 165cm tall, roughly seven or eight centimeters shorter than Xia Mi, but he wasn’t small.

Xia Mi’s studio apartment wasn’t large. It was like a standard hotel room, containing only a bed and a desk, with a faucet and a small stove in the corner where she could set up small appliances to cook simple meals.

Xia Mi narrowed her eyes. Holding the axe, she said in a gentle tone, “Xiao Pi, where are you hiding? Come out quickly, and Big Sister will give you some snacks.”

She walked toward the bed with light footsteps. Suddenly, she leaned down and swept the axe under the bed. Only after confirming it hit nothing did she lift the bedsheet. There was nothing under the bed but dust.

There had been cockroaches when Xia Mi first moved in, but after she put out bait, she hadn’t seen them again.

“Not under the bed,” Xia Mi muttered to herself.

Could he be in the bathroom?

Her gaze fell upon the tightly closed bathroom door.

She stood before the door and raised her axe, aiming it at the cheap, flimsy plastic panel. With a beaming smile, she said, “Xiao Pi, are you in the bathroom? You’re a middle schooler now. Isn’t it wrong to just hide in a neighbor’s room like this?”

Should she chop the door open? Even if no one was in the bathroom, it would serve as a deterrent to the Mother from 704 outside.

Xia Mi really wanted to do it, but she was a rational person. She remembered clearly that this was a rental, and she remembered exactly how much her security deposit was.

At the thought of the deposit, she lowered the axe.

If she was going to chop something, she’d chop something outside. She couldn’t go destroying her own home.

Xia Mi said, “Xiao Pi, I have to warn you about something. Breaking into a girl’s room late at night… even if I accidentally hack you to death, it counts as justifiable defense or an emergency necessity². There’s a very high probability I won’t face any legal consequences.

“But if you show yourself voluntarily, considering you’re a minor and smaller than me, the situation changes if I still hurt you.

“Xiao Pi, you’re in middle school. You should be learning about politics and law³. You can’t possibly not understand this logic, right? Or did you just not pay attention in class?”

Perhaps some specific word triggered the boy hiding in the room, because Xia Mi heard a sharp, nervous intake of breath right behind her.

But there was no one behind her!

Was Xiao Pi invisible?

Xia Mi’s first reaction wasn’t terror. The moment she heard the sound, she swung the axe like a badminton racket, sweeping it through the space where the sound had originated.

With a thud, the axe struck a transparent, hard object. A small smear of blood appeared on the blade.

Now Xia Mi was certain. There was indeed an Intruder in her room, and he was invisible.

She couldn’t see him, but he could see her. She was at a disadvantage.

That was fine. As long as he couldn’t see her either, they would be on equal footing.

Taking advantage of the invisible person’s injury, Xia Mi rushed to the light switch and flicked it off.

Darkness enveloped the room, and Xia Mi smiled.

She said, “Xiao Pi, don’t think you can rest easy just because I can’t see you. This is my room. I know exactly what’s in every corner. In total darkness, who do you think has the advantage?”

Heavy, nervous panting echoed in the room. Without a word, Xia Mi grabbed the nearest object and hurled it toward the sound.

The sound of shattering glass followed.

Xia Mi suddenly realized that she had just thrown her essence⁴ – an expensive essence in a glass bottle.

She had saved up and bought it through a personal shopper⁵ during her junior year of college under pressure from her roommates. She had been too stingy to use it, only dabbing on a few milliliters for major events!

In that moment, Xia Mi’s heart bled.

But she had to maintain her tough facade. She acted as if nothing had happened and said, “How was that? I can find anything in this room with my eyes closed. Are you sure you want to keep playing hide-and-seek with me?”

Her heart was trembling, but her voice was remarkably steady and terrifyingly cold.

The invisible person hiding in the room finally surrendered. Xia Mi heard a tiny voice say, “Big Sister Xia, please don’t hand me over to my mother. She’ll kill me.”

The voice sounded weak, pitiful, and helpless, but Xia Mi wasn’t about to be fooled.

In the Hani Apartments game, “Qing” would be killed by the neighbor if she opened the door, and she would also die if she kept it closed.

It was established that the neighbor couldn’t enter her home without permission, so who killed “Qing”? Could it be this Intruder hiding in the room?

Xia Mi said, “First, tell me how you got into my room. I remember hearing your mother scolding you just a moment ago.”

The invisible person whispered, “It was because you opened the door that I could come in.”

Earlier, after receiving the promise of the Special Recruitment Slot from the Unknown Number, Xia Mi had grabbed her axe and intended to head out and clear the floor. Who would have thought she’d be blocked by the Mother from 704 the moment she opened the door? The invisible person must have slipped in then.

Xia Mi had only opened the door a crack, barely enough for a hand to reach through. A middle schooler standing 165cm tall shouldn’t have been able to squeeze in.

But then again, he was invisible now, so physical volume didn’t seem to matter as much.

The most critical factor was Xia Mi’s action of opening the door. It was equivalent to a form of tacit consent. Just as the giant mosquito had flown in after she opened the window, she had given the Intruder an opportunity to enter.

When it came to the Mother from 704, Xia Mi had clearly refused her, which was why the woman couldn’t get in.

Combining this with the message from the Unknown Number, Xia Mi realized that her attitude was vital.

She could not agree to let the invisible person hide in her home.

She said firmly, “It’s your business that you don’t want to be caught by your mother. You can hide anywhere you want, but you can’t hide in my home. I don’t like outsiders.”

“Big Sister Xia, you’re a college student. My mother always tells me to learn from you so I can get into a good university. You’re my role model. Big Sister Xia, I just want to hide in your room for a little while. I’m begging you.” The invisible person’s voice grew more and more pitiful.

Unfortunately for him, Xia Mi was cold-hearted. She swung her axe ruthlessly toward the direction of the voice.

The invisible man dodged just in time. Xia Mi’s swing hit nothing but air, though she felt the blade graze against the person’s clothes.

If the axe could hurt the invisible man, then the glass bottles could too.

As it stood, the invisible man’s only special trait was his transparency; his actual combat strength was mediocre.

Estimating his position, Xia Mi swung her axe left and right, forcing the invisible man toward the doorway.

“Get out!” Xia Mi commanded sternly.

“Sister Xia, save me!” the invisible man wailed.

Xia Mi showed no mercy. She called out to the hallway, “Ma’am, Xiao Pi is right by the door. You can pull him out, but do not enter my home.”

“You found Xiao Pi? Thank you so much, Xiao Xia!” the happy voice of the Mother from 704 echoed from outside.

Immediately after, a tentacle-like object swept in through the crack in the door, coiled around the invisible man, and dragged him out.

Xia Mi followed quickly, thrusting her phone out the door to snap several photos of the hallway in rapid succession.

After taking the photos, she withdrew her hand and slammed the door shut.

Once the door was double-locked, Xia Mi breathed a small sigh of relief.

She opened her phone’s gallery to check the photos she had just taken.

The shots were rushed, and several were blurry. Only one was relatively clear.

The photo revealed a woman of medium build with a stomach so unnaturally large it was absurd. She was currently using a needle and thread to sew her own belly shut.

The thread she used was her own hair. The tentacle-like thing that had snatched the invisible man earlier seemed to be her excessively long hair as well.

The wound on her stomach wasn’t fully closed yet. From the gap, a boy’s head struggled to emerge, revealing a face with no features.

The image was grotesque. The thought that she had just been pitting her wits against these two monsters made Xia Mi shiver.

She sent the photo to the Unknown Number via text and asked: “Can you receive photos? These are the mother and son living next door to me. Are they even human anymore? Are they still within the scope of the ‘residents’ you want to save?”

Xia Mi doubted these two could be brought back.

After a moment, the Unknown Number replied: “It looks like they still retain human consciousness and obsessions. They can be saved.”

Xia Mi: “Are you sure? How do you save someone whose stomach is that huge?”

Unknown Number: “Those aren’t her own organs. It’s ‘Zhuo’ clinging to the outside of her body. The hair, the giant belly, and the boy’s featureless fake face are all manifestations of ‘Zhuo’. Once the ‘Zhuo’ is stripped away, they will return to normal.”

Hearing that they could still be saved, Xia Mi felt a slight sense of relief.

It eased her guilt.

With that confirmed, Xia Mi finally had the energy to ask: “You keep mentioning ‘Zhuo’. What exactly is ‘Zhuo’?”

Unknown Number: “It’s a complicated matter. It took me three months of training to understand the concept of ‘Zhuo’. Are you sure you want to discuss this over text?”

Xia Mi: “Let’s change the subject then. How do I avoid being stuck by ‘Zhuo’? I’ve cleared out the Intruder. Will my room stay safe?”

Unknown Number: “It won’t stay safe forever. The Domain of ‘Zhuo’ will eventually occupy the entire building. Your room will be taken over sooner or later.

This building has been completely cut off from the outside world. I am standing right downstairs, but you can’t see me, and I have no way of getting in. Only you can still contact me through your phone. I suspect you are a very special existence. You have a certain resistance to ‘Zhuo’, so you shouldn’t be stuck by it for the time being.”

Just as Xia Mi began to feel at ease, the Unknown Number sent another message: “But ‘Zhuo’ will eliminate anyone it cannot ‘muddle⁶‘. The Intruder breaking into your room is an example of that.”

Xia Mi: “By eliminate, you mean…”

Unknown Number: “Kill you.”

Xia Mi: “Tell me how to help you.”

Unknown Number: “We’ve detected that the only weak point in the Domain is the Rooftop. Go to the Rooftop and help us establish a corridor to let us in.

We are a department specifically for handling anomalous events. We have the proper weapons and ample experience. We can definitely resolve this ‘Zhuo’ and save you and the people in this building.”

The Rooftop…

Xia Mi remembered that in the game Hani Apartments, “Xiao Mi⁷” received a mission to find a weapon on the Rooftop. However, she never found a weapon there and died on the Rooftop multiple times.

Translator’s Notes