INHA Chapter 2

Xu Dongyou was certain that during the few seconds he had his eyes closed, he hadn’t noticed this person passing by him at all.

Except for the sound of footsteps.

Xu Dongyou’s hand gripped the stair railing tightly, his fingertips cold. He took slow breaths to calm himself, cautiously observing the back of this person.

This strange individual emitted an even stronger unsettling aura than before. The neck, faintly visible under the hair, was an abnormal blue-white color.

Additionally, Xu Dongyou noticed—there was no shadow at the person’s feet.

And they remained completely still. Xu Dongyou carefully took a step up the stairs, slightly tilting his head to listen closely.

He was astonished.

Not only was there no sound of breathing from this person, but there was also no heartbeat sound or shadow.

This seemed to confirm a terrifying possibility.

The owner of those footsteps was very likely a ghost!

Xu Dongyou no longer hesitated and quickly took a few steps up the stairs, standing on the same step as Hou Mingjun.

From this angle, Xu Dongyou could clearly see the front of this “ghost.”

It was a ghastly, eerie face, almost pressed against Hou Mingjun’s back, with eyes wide open and bloodshot.

It sent chills down his spine.

Most importantly, even from the front, this “ghost” was still shrouded in a gray mist. The more he tried to see, the less clear it became.

The only thing Xu Dongyou could see clearly was that ghastly face tinged with blue.

He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but the longer he looked at that face, the more it felt like a corpse had come back to life.

The feeling of discomfort grew stronger.

Hou Mingjun noticed Xu Dongyou out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to whisper, “Dongyou, did you see something?”

Immediately, Hou Mingjun noticed that Xu Dongyou was staring fixedly at something as if he had seen something.

Hou Mingjun’s body reacted before his mind, and he quickly turned his head.

But—he still saw nothing.

In the silent hallway, the only sound was Hou Mingjun’s rapid breathing. He couldn’t help but call out again, “Dongyou?!”

Xu Dongyou was startled back to reality. He looked at Hou Mingjun’s slightly anxious and uneasy face and suddenly realized something.

Even now, Hou Mingjun still couldn’t see the entity that seemed to be a “ghost”.

Xu Dongyou pursed his lips slightly, his usually soft face taking on a somewhat serious expression. He gestured for Hou Mingjun to be quiet.

The more rational he was, the more intuitively he could notice more details and clues.

He tried to silently count in his mind, calming his somewhat chaotic thoughts, and carefully examined the “ghost” that hadn’t moved at all.

His heightened alertness was working in his favor at this moment.

Xu Dongyou could feel the uncomfortable sensation in the air growing stronger.

But strangely, Xu Dongyou didn’t feel any sense of danger.

He recalled Hou Mingjun mentioning earlier that the footsteps had stopped on the third floor last time and would stop on the fourth floor this time.

Xu Dongyou could only try his best to find abnormal information on this “ghost” and look for a way to stop it from following Hou Mingjun.

However, after carefully scrutinizing it several times, Xu Dongyou still couldn’t detect any more information from this “ghost”.

Or rather, that gray, unknown substance was actually blocking a lot of information about the “ghost”.

Although Hou Mingjun remained silent beside him, his expression grew increasingly anxious.

He was afraid that once he truly stepped onto the fourth floor, the owner of the footsteps would launch a terrifying attack on him or even his family.

Xu Dongyou realized that since he couldn’t find new information from the stationary “ghost”, he could only quietly say to Hou Mingjun, “Go up a few more steps.”

They were currently on the second floor, so taking a few more steps wasn’t dangerous.

Hou Mingjun immediately complied without a word and slowly walked up a few steps.

In the silent hallway, besides Hou Mingjun’s light footsteps, another set of footsteps could be heard.

Thud—

Thud, thud—

It was coming from the suspected “ghost”

Xu Dongyou stood still, watching the ghost closely following Hou Mingjun like an inescapable shadow.

Most importantly, as the person and the ghost gradually moved upward, the uncomfortable feeling Xu Dongyou had grew stronger.

This didn’t seem to be a good sign.

Halfway up, Hou Mingjun stopped and turned his head. One foot was on the next step, the other slightly lifted. His gaze swept the steps below, but he still saw nothing.

Xu Dongyou’s gaze suddenly fell on the sole of Hou Mingjun’s lifted shoe, a hint of confusion in his bright eyes.

The facilities in the complex were all very new, and the hallway lights could almost be described as daylight. Yet, there was something indistinct under Hou Mingjun’s foot.

Hou Mingjun turned back, ready to continue upward, when Xu Dongyou’s voice suddenly echoed in the silent hallway.

“Mingjun, wait.”

The footsteps stopped abruptly.

Hou Mingjun turned around, looking puzzled.

Xu Dongyou quickly stepped past the stairs, brushing past the “ghost” that had also stopped in its tracks.

At the closest moment, the intense discomfort grew even stronger.

Xu Dongyou pressed his lips together. He endured the discomfort as he came to Hou Mingjun’s side, then bent down and indicated, “Is there something on your shoe sole?”

Hou Mingjun instinctively lifted his foot and glanced at it. The tread was covered with dust, but nothing else.

But Xu Dongyou saw more than that.

Besides the dust, there was a grayish, indistinct mass in the center of the shoe that he couldn’t see through.

The closer he looked, the denser the grayish mass seemed.

This substance felt identical to what was on the “ghost”.

A hypothesis surfaced in Xu Dongyou’s mind.

Could it be that Hou Mingjun was entangled with this suspected “ghost” because he stepped on something related to it?

What exactly did this “ghost” want to do?

Such elaborate efforts; appearing only when Hou Mingjun returned home each time and always stopping on a certain floor, waiting for his next appearance.

Is there a reason it can’t directly follow Hou Mingjun to the fourth floor?

It’s too strange.

None of the clues could be reasonably explained.

To confirm again, Xu Dongyou looked up at Hou Mingjun and asked, “Look carefully again. Is there anything else on your shoe sole?”

Hou Mingjun checked once more. “Besides dust, there’s nothing else.”

Nothing?

Xu Dongyou took out a tissue and wiped the shoe sole. Indeed, there was nothing there.

This likely meant that the thing wasn’t stuck to the shoe sole.

Xu Dongyou said seriously, “Then think back carefully. On the day this started happening, did you step on anything strange? Don’t ignore any details.”

Hou Mingjun cooperated and thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I didn’t step on anything.”

Xu Dongyou’s lips pressed tighter, his confusion deepening.

Really nothing?

There seemed to be two possibilities. One, Hou Mingjun did step on something, but it was very inconspicuous.

That’s why Hou Mingjun said he didn’t step on anything.

As for the second possibility.

It could be that he indeed stepped on nothing because that thing, like the “ghost”, is invisible and undetectable.

But this still doesn’t explain why, after latching onto Hou Mingjun, the “ghost” doesn’t go straight to the fourth floor but instead uses a method that gets closer to the fourth floor each time.

Suddenly, the bright hallway lights flickered.

In the moment of light and dark, Hou Mingjun seemed to see something terrifying. He pointed in the direction of the “ghost”.

“Xu Dongyou!! Did you see that?”

The light immediately came back on.

Hou Mingjun fearfully looked around but seemed even more frightened. “Dongyou, did you just see someone standing there staring at me?”

A ghastly pale face, with wide, bloodshot eyes. It looked like a vengeful spirit from a horror movie, sending chills down the spine and awakening the deepest, most unknown fears in the soul.

Xu Dongyou quickly tried to calm Hou Mingjun, glancing at the “ghost” out of the corner of his eye.

Its hand seemed to move slightly, slowly shifting, and then it lifted a foot to step onto the stairs, its eyes still staring intently at Hou Mingjun.

The light went out again.

Thud—

The sound of footsteps suddenly echoed through the hallway.

In the flickering light, Hou Mingjun saw the pale-faced figure again.

He finally couldn’t help but scream, “There, I saw him!”

The lights flickered faster and faster.

The footsteps also gradually sped up.

The “ghost” was quickly climbing the stairs, one step at a time.

Xu Dongyou sensed an extremely terrifying danger, his expression changing slightly. He hurriedly pulled Hou Mingjun to run upstairs.

The “ghost” had become more aggressive.

With their long legs, they could skip four steps at a time while running, quickly widening the distance between them and the “ghost”.

Seeing Hou Mingjun panicking and about to continue climbing to the fourth floor, Xu Dongyou quickly grabbed him. “We can’t go up anymore. Your parents are still at home.”

Hou Mingjun snapped out of it, quickly looking around and then pointing toward the staircase exit. “Let’s go there.”

They couldn’t go downstairs, nor could they go upstairs and lead the “ghost” there, so they had to find another way.

Even Hou Mingjun, as slow-witted as he might be, realized something was wrong.

Would a normal human cause the lights to malfunction? Moreover, a few days ago, he had only heard footsteps without seeing anyone.

All this was enough to prove one thing.

That person was very likely a “ghost” or some terrifying entity.

They pushed the door open and ran into the hallway. In broad daylight, many residents were at work or school, leaving the corridor empty. It makes it easier for them to run quickly.

Thud, thud, thud.

Their hurried footsteps echoed.

After a few steps, they instinctively turned their heads to look toward the door.

It was still quiet there.

The “ghost” didn’t follow.

Hou Mingjun, as if all his strength had been drained, leaned against the wall, panting heavily. “That’s… that’s good, it didn’t follow us.”

Xu Dongyou nodded. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, his expression suddenly changed.

“Oh no.”

The reason the ghost didn’t follow them was very likely because—it went upstairs!!

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Moonlit: Can I survive translating this novel? ( ╥ ᴗ ╥) You guys might have gotten used to it, especially those who read horror novels like you’re drinking water, but this is my first time reading one ૮₍ ꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ ₎ა. And maybe because it’s my first time, for me, the way the author writes the scene gives me literal chills. I know you might think I’m exaggerating, but like I said, this is the very first horror novel I read. So I can’t really make a comparison with other horror novels like, “This is scarier than that one”, “This is better than this one”, blah blah blah. I don’t have the right to do that. This is just my opinion. For me, this is already scary enough that my sleep has to go on vacation૮₍ ꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ ₎ა.

If you’re scared, then why work on it? I got scammed ૮₍ ꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ ₎ა. I thought it’d be just about raising, fluff, etc. thingy based on the description. I never signed up for a horror one.

Then why continue it? Haven’t you read it first before working on it? I can’t just vanish after uploading Chapter 1. That’ll be so disrespectful and so rude. I can endure it for you guys ૮₍ ꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ ₎ა. And for the issue of not reading first before working on it, I’ll easily lose interest while doing that. I’m also somewhat easily distracted by other novels that when I see an edit of this/that novel, I’ll stop reading what I’m currently reading and then slowly forget about it. So yeah, I now prefer working on it while reading at the same time.

Why rant? We don’t care. Then don’t mind my rant. I just suddenly want to do one. You can ignore it and then proceed to the next chapter.

P.s. The “it went upstairs” really gives me chills especially since my room is near the stairs ૮₍ ꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ ₎ა.