I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

……

……

After an unknown amount of time, Ding Feifan heard the footsteps of the toilet ghost outside again.

From the start of the mission, he kept his head down, his eyes fixed on the ground, trying not to look anywhere else.

He deliberately left the cubicle door unlocked.

He didn't know Luo Yiming or Fang Wei at all.

He didn't know if things would really return to normal after Zhou Shengsheng left, just as he had said.

Ding Feifan couldn't quite explain what he was thinking.

The latch on the last cubicle door was rusted, making it difficult to close.

As he locked the door, for some reason, the gruesome sight of the two corpses flashed through his mind, and he loosened his grip slightly.

Time slowly passed.

With his phone out of power, Ding Feifan couldn't determine the exact time and could only vaguely guess based on his intuition.

Around three o'clock, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.

Ding Feifan subconsciously reached out and touched it, only to find a drop of liquid on the back of his neck.

It's cool and slightly sticky.

water leakage?

It's normal for old houses to leak.

That was his first reaction.

Then he subconsciously tried to look up.

With his neck halfway up, Ding Feifan suddenly stopped abruptly.

You can't look up.

Looking up will kill you.

So, is what's dripping down... water or blood?

Ding Feifan put his hand under his nose, and his breathing stopped instantly.

is blood.

Blood is dripping from the ceiling.

Something was lying on the partition above his head, and blood dripped onto his neck.

Perhaps it's a toilet ghost, or perhaps it's the skin that was peeled off Chow Sang Sang.

The thought popped into his head, and the hairs on his body stood on end instantly. A chill ran down his spine, shooting straight to the top of his head.

It was watching him from above.

Ding Feifan gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and slapped himself hard across the face.

Just keep enduring it like this.

After an unknown amount of time, Ding Feifan answered several rounds of questions from the toilet ghost. In his dazed state, he seemed to hear someone calling him from outside.

The voice sounded somewhat familiar even through the door.

It was Zhao Weilai's voice.

The girl's voice, filled with surprise and a hint of tears, came through clearly:

"Instructor Ding! Ziwen! It's dawn!"

"We made it! Mission accomplished!"

"You can go home now!"

Is it dawn? Ding Feifan rummaged through the clutter under the toilet stall and, sure enough, saw light coming in from outside. He was immediately overjoyed.

But as soon as his hand touched the latch, the smile on his face suddenly froze.

What's the system notification?

Why didn't I hear the system notification sound when the task was completed?

Ding Feifan's heart skipped a beat.

fake.

It's a trap.

The voice of "Zhao Weilai" outside the door was still calling, growing closer and more anxious.

"Instructor Ding? What's wrong? Open the door!"

"It's really dawn! The system just notified me! Come out quickly, let's go together!"

"Deng Ziwen has already come out, why aren't you coming out yet?"

The sound stopped at the door of his cubicle.

Ding Feifan crouched down, held his breath, and slowly peered into the gap beneath the door panel.

He wanted to see what was outside.

The line of sight gradually lowered.

The first thing you see is a cement floor covered in water, gleaming with a dark red light.

Then, there was a face.

A face that has been skinned.

The left side of his face is still intact, resembling Chow Sang Sang's features, but the right side is missing, revealing dark red muscles and white bones.

One eye bulged out, staring intently into the gap.

It was lying on the ground, its face pressed against the ground, looking inside as well.

Their eyes met directly, separated by a slit.

It saw him.

Ding Feifan felt a sharp pain in his left eye.

……

……

Zhao Weilai huddled in the corner, closed his eyes, and counted his breaths.

1341, 1342, 1343... The shirt costs 15 pence... abandon, abandon...

After counting to who knows how many thousands or tens of thousands, a cold system notification suddenly sounded in her mind:

[Check-in task completed.]

[Zhao Weilai, Deng Ziwen, and Ding Feifan have successfully checked in.]

Players Zhao Weilai, Deng Ziwen, and Ding Feifan have left the instance.

Why is it an electronic sound?

Shouldn't it be ink wash calligraphy?

Zhao Weilai vaguely remembered that the last thing he saw was half a human skin hanging on a toilet stall.

It looks familiar.

Before her consciousness faded into darkness, she had only one thought:

Finally, I can leave this damned place.

……

……

When Zhao Weilai opened his eyes again, he saw the familiar camphor tree, the familiar wall, and the sound of police sirens approaching from afar.

The sunlight pierced through the thin mist and fell on my face; it wasn't warm, and was even a little dazzling.

"Found them! There's someone here!"

The shouts of police officers came from not far away, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.

People in police uniforms gathered around, while medical personnel carrying a stretcher ran ahead, their eyes above their masks filled with concern.

"Excuse me, are you alright? Can you speak?"

Perhaps she had been in the dungeon for too long, because she didn't feel any warmth at all.

A warm hand held her arm; it was the warmth of a living person.

Zhao Weilai opened his mouth, and the emotions he had been holding back for three days burst forth instantly.

It's really out.

She really did get out of that awful place.

……

The chaos that day was like a movie on fast-forward.

The ambulance sped the three people into the hospital, police took turns taking statements, and reporters blocked the hospital entrance, flashing their cameras everywhere.

The news of "three students trapped for 72 hours due to gas leak" from Jiangcheng University was published in the newspaper for two days, and the comments below were heated.

Some believed it, some questioned it, but eventually, the public opinion gradually subsided.

Zhao Weilai stayed in the hospital for a week.

Stress disorder, mild malnutrition, multiple soft tissue contusions... the diagnosis book filled a whole page.

Deng Ziwen was in a better condition than her; he was just frightened and had mild gastrointestinal upset, so he was discharged after three days in the hospital.

Ding Feifan's condition is the most serious. He has extensive subconjunctival hemorrhage in his right eye, and his vision has decreased by 0.3. The doctor said that he needs to recover slowly, otherwise he will easily tear up when exposed to wind in the future.

Even though I saw a ghost, life goes on after I get out.

Graduation, job hunting, renting an apartment, starting work.

Zhao Weilai got his wish and joined a law firm in Jiangcheng, starting as a legal assistant.

As if trying to fill the void in her heart with busyness, she worked overtime until one or two in the morning every day, and her days were full of challenges.

Deng Ziwen accompanied her and took the civil service exam in Jiangcheng, living the nine-to-five life he wanted.

The two got married in their second year after graduation.

The wedding was a small affair, with relatives, friends, and classmates invited. Ding Feifan served as the officiant.

He was wearing black-rimmed glasses, and it looked like his right eye was still not very good.

After getting married, Zhao Weilai bought a small two-bedroom apartment with his salary. It was located in the old city, far away from Jiangcheng University, and even had a small balcony.

She also raised a golden retriever named Mantou, which was a yellowish lump.

Every day when I get home from get off work, Mantou wags its tail and pounces on me, placing its paws on my knees.

Zhao Weilai gradually stopped thinking about the events in the dungeon.

The skinned corpses, the dripping blood on the ceiling, the venomous wails—it was like a distant nightmare.

She goes to work, comes home, and walks her dog every day.

I went to the supermarket with Deng Ziwen on the weekend and bought a bunch of snacks to fill the refrigerator. The days were warm and fulfilling.

Occasionally, I wake up in the middle of the night and dream of eyes peeking out from the cracks in the toilet.

Deng Ziwen would hug her and then gently comfort her:

"It's alright now, it's all over."

Yes, it's all in the past.

She always told herself that.

It was a Wednesday in the autumn of our third year of marriage.

After finishing a new case, Zhao Weilai ran into Deng Ziwen on his way home from get off work.

He was carrying a large bag of groceries in his left hand and a watermelon in his right, looking somewhat comical. "Wife, please open the door for me. The key is in my pocket. The watermelon is especially sweet today."

"it is good."

Zhao Weilai, completely unsuspecting, inserted the key and gently opened the door.

and many more.

Are security doors latch-type?

The thought crossed Zhao Weilai's mind, and the next second, as the door opened, a familiar stench wafted out.

The stench of blood mixed with urine from the old school building's toilet hit her in the face.

The warm yellow lights in the house suddenly disappeared, the white tiles quickly faded, and in their place were mottled, blackened cement walls covered with green spots.

Zhao Weilai's smile froze.

She slowly raised her head.

She's still in that toilet stall.

Above the squat toilet, on the half-open toilet door, hung half a human skin.

It's from Chow Sang Sang.

His only remaining eye was fixed on Zhao Weilai, filled with resentment and unwillingness:

Come down and stay with me. Come down and stay with me.

[Why did they stand by and watch someone die? Why? Why? Why?]

The human skin twitched, making a sound like a balloon deflating:

Come down and keep me company.

Come down and keep me company.

……

……

The human skin repeated the two sentences over and over again, and half of the skin, like an unfolded bundle, came straight at Zhao Weilai.

A tremendous force grabbed Zhao Weilai's arm, and the cold human skin pressed against his skin, like countless tiny knives slowly cutting.

She could even clearly feel the skin on her arm being peeled off little by little.

pain.

She opened her mouth, but extreme fear prevented her from uttering a single word.

A sharp pain spread from my shoulder, and the sensation of my skin separating from my muscle was terrifyingly clear.

Zhao Weilai's vision went black, and despair washed over him like a tidal wave.

The very next second after the skin and flesh separated, layers of dirt-like debris began to fall from her body—

But what fell off wasn't skin, it was handfuls of dried mud!

The ugly clay figurine that Liu Guilan had given her in her pocket shattered instantly.

Zhao Weilai seized the opportunity, retreated sharply, and slammed the toilet stall door shut!

Zhou Shengsheng's human skin crawled in through the gap, revealing a sinister smile. In her vision, two faint green lights lit up on the floating red human skin.

[Weakness identified successfully!]

There is a green spot the size of a fingernail behind my left ear.

found it!

Zhao Weilai raised the wooden stick in his hand and smashed it hard against the weak spot behind the human skin's ear!

"Bang!"

[ah--!]

The wooden stick struck precisely, and the human skin let out an extremely shrill scream before deflating and shriveling up.

Zhao Weilai pressed his advantage, inserting the human skin and pressing it down forcefully, shoving it straight into the sewer opening!

[Aww—!]

The human skin writhed wildly in pain, its limp skin rolling on the ground and splashing up large amounts of dirty water.

But Zhao Weilai held it down tightly, and it couldn't break free at all.

Zhao Weilai gritted his teeth and pressed down with all his might.

Come down and keep me company.

Come down and keep me company!

The human skin cursed and struggled wildly, splashing Zhao Weilai's face and body with foul-smelling black water. But she gritted her teeth and didn't loosen her grip in the slightest.

Inch by inch.

The human-skinned head was pressed into the sewer opening.

Come down and keep me company!

With a final, unwilling scream, Zhao Weilai exerted all his strength, pressed down hard on the wooden stick with both hands!

"Pfft."

The human skin was forcibly pressed into the narrow sewer opening.

The limp flesh squeezed against the ceramic edge, making a sticky sound. Dark red blood splattered out, spraying onto the edge of the squat toilet, its stench so strong it was nauseating.

Zhao Weilai gripped the wooden stick tightly, pressing it down hard, not daring to let go.

She could feel the human skin in the sewer still struggling, hitting the bottom of the wooden stick again and again.

She just squatted there, maintaining the same posture, her arms aching and her hands trembling, but she didn't dare to relax.

Time passed by, second by second.

The sky outside was slowly brightening.

A sliver of light shone through the cracks in the window into the cubicle, illuminating the dirty water and bloodstains scattered on the floor.

The struggles in the sewers grew weaker and weaker.

In the end, there was absolutely no further activity.

……

……

[Congratulations to player Zhao Weilai for defeating "Ghost Skin"!]

[First kill reward: Five slots in your personal backpack (already bound)]

Zhao Weilai still hasn't let up.

Until the familiar ink-wash characters finally appeared in the center of my vision.

[Toilet Ghost Stories Check-in Task Completed.]

Players Zhao Weilai, Deng Ziwen, and Ding Feifan have successfully checked in.

Players Zhao Weilai, Deng Ziwen, and Ding Feifan have left the instance "High School Ghost Stories".

[Rewards being distributed...]

The white light shone again.

This time, the feeling of weightlessness felt exceptionally real.

Zhao Weilai staggered to the ground, and even after someone rushed over and hugged her, she remained in a state of shock, kicking and punching.

"Comrade, comrade! You're alright, you're safe now!"

"Medical team! Medical team! Administer sedatives!"

"Quick! The three missing people have been found!"

The medication in the syringe was slowly injected, and Zhao Weilai only felt a chill.

It wasn't until she was lifted onto the stretcher that she saw the condition of Deng Ziwen and Ding Feifan:

Deng Ziwen's lips were pale and his face was haggard, but he did not appear to have any external injuries.

Ding Feifan covered his eyes, dark red blood seeping from under his palms.

But when they saw her looking over, the two haggard-looking people simultaneously straightened up and gave her a thumbs up.

Zhao Weilai burst into laughter.

They all survived.

This time, it's for real.