Translator: Cinder Translations
--------
The woman in the Cheongsam couldn't sit still any longer. She stood up and walked towards the door.
"Cheongsam sister," the woman in pajamas looked terrified. There was no way she would dare to stay in the room alone. "Where are you going?"
She immediately jumped out of bed, not even putting on shoes, standing barefoot on the cold, icy cement floor, looking at her with pitiful eyes.
"I'm just going to ask if anyone else noticed anything unusual," the Cheongsam woman pretended to comfort her. "Don't worry, I'll be right back."
The Pajama girl seemed afraid of the quiet and dim hallway. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Then, sister, please hurry back. I'm scared by myself."
"Alright, I promise."
After taking a deep breath, the Cheongsam woman slowly opened the door, but only by a tiny crack.
The hallway was eerily quiet. If she didn't know people were staying in the nearby rooms, she would have thought only she and the Pajama girl were here.
Not noticing anything strange, she stepped out of the room, quickly closing the door behind her.
Indeed, she had no intention of coming back.
Not only that, she deliberately left the door of Room 407 slightly ajar.
Firstly, if something dangerous occurred, she could immediately retreat.
Secondly, if she managed to secure safety in another room, the unlocked Room 407 would become the perfect target for the ghost.
She had made up her mind: her destination was Room 404.
The people in Room 405 had already heard strange scraping noises. Whatever those noises signified, she wasn't willing to take the risk.
Especially since the two men inside didn't seem trustworthy.
The Cheongsam woman had seen her share of things and was past the age of judging people by appearances, so the fake niceties of the man in the suit didn't fool her.
In nightmares, it wasn't that there were no good people—just that they died faster and more miserably.
She also avoided Room 406 because there were too many newcomers.
Too many newcomers meant too many unpredictable factors, and one mistake could spell disaster for her.
She didn't like newcomers, just like most seasoned players.
However, she had a better opinion of Jiang Cheng and the fat guy, especially Jiang Cheng.
He seemed a bit slow and dazed.
To be honest, she couldn't quite figure him out.
She had seen fools and clueless people in nightmares before, but it was rare to see someone like Jiang Cheng thrive, especially since he wasn't a novice.
The repeated nightmare tasks had taught her one thing: this place was full of hidden talents, and there were plenty of people pretending to be weak while actually being very dangerous.
The distance between the rooms wasn't far, but she walked cautiously, afraid that any noise she made might disturb something lurking in the dark.
She stayed alert the entire time, her peripheral vision never relaxing.
Closer.
Closer.
She stared quietly at the door ahead, thinking about what excuse she could use to get them to open the door and let her stay the night.
The people inside weren't stupid, so she couldn't tell them that someone in her room heard scraping noises. Otherwise, who would let her in?
She stopped, thinking nervously.
Hmm? Suddenly, she froze. It was already late at night, and the hallway lights had long since gone out. How was she seeing anything?
She looked around, quickly finding the source of the light.
It was coming from a slightly ajar door up ahead, where a faint glow was seeping through the crack.
Her pupils trembled, and her gaze slowly rose until she saw the room number above.
407.
407!!
She shivered violently, as if an icy bomb had exploded in her chest.
How could it be 407?
Her own room?
She had just left 407, and when she turned her head, everything behind her was shrouded in darkness, as if veiled in an impenetrable mist.
The 407 room she had just left had disappeared.
Indeed!
The ones who don't hear the scraping are the ghost's targets!
The ghost was coming for her.
The overwhelming fear triggered an intense survival instinct within her. She knew that it wasn't over yet, and she still had a chance.
If she played her cards right, she could survive.
Her top priority was determining if this was really the original 407 room, or more specifically, whether the person waiting inside was the Pajama girl or the ghost.
The ghost's abilities couldn't be explained by science or basic logic.
So, this might truly be the real Room 407.
It might be her only way out.
She decided to take the gamble.
Perhaps the ghost wanted her to think it wasn't the real Room 407, making her miss her chance at survival.
Having thought it through, she immediately dashed towards 407. As she moved, the areas behind her that had been illuminated were quickly swallowed by darkness.
As if they had never existed.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
She knocked on the door of Room 407 but didn't immediately push it open.
"Who?" a terrified female voice called out. "Who's knocking?"
It was the Pajama girl's voice. It sounded real.
It was full of fear, anxiety, as if she might die of fright at any moment.
"It's me!" the Cheongsam woman responded quickly. "Open the door!"
After saying that, she glanced back again. The darkness behind her was creeping closer, and it wouldn't take long to reach her.
She gritted her teeth, knowing there might not be any "later."
If she was lucky, by tomorrow, they would find her relatively intact corpse.
Hers.
"Hurry!" She started banging on the door. "Let me in!"
Inside, the Pajama girl seemed even more terrified by her frantic tone, and started crying, mumbling, "Who are you? The door's not locked, why can't you come in? Are you the ghost?" She was begging not to be killed.
Her sobbing was as pitiful as it could get.
The Cheongsam woman could even hear the bed creaking under the Pajama girl's trembling.
The Cheongsam woman said, "It's really me. I'm the sister who just left. Please believe me." She paused. "I'm coming in."
"Sniff, sniff..."
The crying inside continued, a sobbing so restrained that she could imagine the Pajama girl's helpless expression.
It was so real, it didn't seem fake at all.
As the Cheongsam woman spoke, she slowly backed away, then turned and ran.
Oddly, the moment she ran, the crying inside suddenly stopped.
The sliver of light coming from the slightly open door vanished as well.
Instead, she heard a "thump, thump, thump," like something crawling on all fours out of the door disguised as 407.
It definitely wasn't the Pajama girl.
The act had been convincing, but the Cheongsam woman had spotted the flaw. The ghost, pretending to be the Pajama girl, had said, "The door's not locked, why can't you come in? Are you the ghost?"
She had closed the door herself—how could the Pajama girl have known?
(End of the Chapter)
---
Want More of (NS)?
Read ahead on [Pa.treon](pa treon . com / CinderTL) – up to Chapter 92.
Early access starts at $5. Your support keeps this going!
Translated 1100+ Chapters and 1.3M+ Words.
💌 3/3 reviews left (WN & SH Combined) for mass release.