Chapter 4 — My Online Boyfriend is a Skin-Peeling Demon

The birthday party dissolved into discord, vanishing like smoke. Naturally, I never managed to retrieve the underwear. That night, I sent a message to Ha Tinh.

"Did you make a mistake somewhere? I used the soul-revealing mirror, and he didn't react at all. I only ended up suffering a pointless humiliation."

The moment the message went through, Ha Tinh called. Her voice was laced with panic. "Even under the soul-revealing mirror, it didn't manifest? That is a thousand-year-old Demon King!"

I was stunned into silence. "What do you mean, a thousand-year-old Demon King?"

Ha Tinh replied, "I originally thought it was just an ordinary skin-peeling demon. Now, it seems I underestimated the situation entirely. This entity has a deep grasp of illusion. If it continues like this, it won’t take seven days. Your roommates will meet their end tonight, especially Kieu San San."

My heart skipped a beat. "What should I do? Will I be implicated?"

Ha Tinh answered, "Yes, the Demon King has set its sights on you. Once Kieu San San dies, you are the next target." I stood there, speechless.

"At midnight tonight, that dress will surely peel the skin from Kieu San San. Once she is dead, the dress will automatically move onto you. There is nowhere to hide."

A bone-chilling cold gripped me. I gripped my phone tightly. "What can I do? Is there no way to avoid this?" I asked, my voice trembling with terror. Ha Tinh said, "I will come to find you tonight. But this thing is far too powerful; I must return home to retrieve the artifact left by my ancestor." I knew of her ancestor; in our region, they were a legendary figure, a high-level practitioner who walked between the realms of the living and the dead. Ha Tinh warned me, "Your job is to keep Kieu San San occupied. As long as she stays alive, your life is not in immediate danger."

I asked anxiously, "How do I do that?"

Ha Tinh replied, "Before midnight, by any means necessary, you must force her to take off that dress."

I checked the clock; it was nearly eleven. Dormitory curfew had long passed, and they still hadn't returned. Ever since she met that man named Trach, Kieu San San had been coming back late frequently, having already bribed the dormitory manager. I felt like an ant on a hot pan, watching the minutes tick away. Every movement of the clock hand brought death one step closer. I messaged Mieu Mieu, but she didn't respond. I paced the room, frantic. If I couldn't get that dress off Kieu San San before midnight, I was as good as dead.

At half-past eleven, noise and laughter finally echoed down the hallway. I opened the door, and the heavy stench of alcohol hit me. Diep Phi, Giang Nhien, Tran Mach Mach, and Mieu Mieu stumbled in, supporting each other. Kieu San San was not with them.

"Where is San San?" I grabbed Diep Phi by the wrist, demanding an answer. She glanced at me as if I were something filthy and shoved me away.

"Feeling guilty now, are you? Why didn't you think of that when you stole her boyfriend's underwear?"

Giang Nhien leaned against the doorframe, mocking me with a wine-soaked breath. "Look how scared you are. Terrified that San San is coming back to settle the score, right?"

Tran Mach Mach carried a washbasin and muttered, "Forget it, don't waste your breath on this freak. Let’s go wash up; we still need to apply our face masks."

Mieu Mieu pulled me aside and whispered, "San San is downstairs talking to Trach. She’ll be up in a moment. Don’t worry, she’s in a great mood today; I doubt she’ll come after you."

The group left for the bathroom, each carrying their face masks. I rushed to the balcony and looked down. Kieu San San was flirting with Trach, still wearing that dress. I checked the clock; it was 11:50 PM. If they kept up the flirting, it would be too late. I gritted my teeth, filled a basin with water, and dumped it hard over the ledge.

"Ah!"

Kieu San San was drenched, the dress soaked through. She looked up, and the moment she saw me, her face exploded with rage. She shrieked, "Lac Uong, you are dead today!"

I stared at the clock, time slipping away, praying for Kieu San San to run upstairs faster. Sure enough, heavy footsteps pounded in the hallway. Then, with a loud crash, Kieu San San kicked the door open. My heart leapt; I lunged at her and grabbed her, trying to tear the dress off.

"There’s no time to explain! Just listen to me, take this dress off now!"

My actions were desperate and forceful, which completely enraged Kieu San San. "Lac Uong, you lowly wretch, I’m going to kill you today!"

She clawed at my hair, but I didn't let go. I held her waist tightly and pulled at the zipper on her back. "Stop struggling! It’s too late! Take it off, hurry!"

She kicked and thrashed, and the zipper became hopelessly jammed. I panicked, pulling at it wildly. The minute hand reached twelve. I made up my mind, gripped the hem of the dress with both hands, and yanked with every ounce of strength I had!

*Rrrrrip!*

"AAAHHH!"

With my desperate tug, Kieu San San let out a blood-curdling scream. I froze, paralyzed by terror. The sound wasn't of fabric tearing; it sounded like skin being ripped away. A patch of skin from her thigh was stuck to the fabric, being pulled up along with the dress. Bright, crimson blood poured down her leg—a horrific mess of flesh and gore.

"Help me!"

Kieu San San collapsed to the floor, wailing in agony. I watched in horror as the dress twisted and deformed, as if it had come alive. The loose fabric tightened, clinging to her skin. It constricted continuously, as if it were grafting itself onto her body. She writhed, struggling like a snake shedding its skin.

Suddenly, Diep Phi and the others returned, wearing their face masks. Seeing Kieu San San on the ground, they screamed in terror. "What happened? What’s going on?"

I backed away, stumbling. "I didn't do anything!"

"Stop standing there! Call the police!" one of them shouted. They scrambled for their phones.

"What is this? My phone won't connect! Try yours!" Giang Nhien screamed.

"Mine won't work either!"

The room dissolved into panic. Mieu Mieu grabbed the doorknob and twisted, but it wouldn't budge. I realized then that despite the commotion Kieu San San and I had made earlier, no one had come to check. It was as if this room were severed from the outside world.

"It’s Lac Uong! She did this to hurt San San!" Diep Phi shrieked. The others glared at me with pure hatred.

"Lac Uong, how could you be so wicked?"

I laughed bitterly at their stupidity. "Worry about yourselves! Can you even take your face masks off?"

The realization hit them. They scrambled to pull at the masks on their faces. "Ah! Why won't it come off? Mine is stuck!"

"My face is itching so badly! What is happening?"

"It’s glued to my skin!"

Screams filled the room. The masks seemed fused to their skin; pulling them caused their flesh to tear.

"It’s the skin-peeling demon! Trach is the skin-peeling demon! The masks are cursed! Everything Lac Uong said was true!" Mieu Mieu wailed.

Diep Phi lunged at me. "It’s all your fault! You lured him here!"

This ignited their frenzy. "Lac Uong, you are so evil!"

Tran Mach Mach clawed at her own face until it bled, desperately rubbing against the wall, but the mask remained fixed. Finally, she gripped the edge and pulled with a sickening tear. "AAHH!" She looked in the mirror and saw her own skull and raw muscle. She collapsed, terrified to death by her own reflection.

Others fell to their knees. "Lac Uong, please save us! You know how, don't you? I'll give you all my money!"

As they knelt and begged, a heart-wrenching scream erupted from the balcony. I looked out and saw Kieu San San’s body twisted into an impossible shape. Her skin was peeling back from front to back, like a tight garment being inverted. The clock struck twelve. It was over. Within seconds, Kieu San San was nothing more than a lifeless, skinless corpse. Diep Phi and Giang Nhien suffered the same fate as Tran Mach Mach, their faces peeling away with the masks.

Suddenly, the dress rose into the air, fluttering like a living, predatory creature. It drifted toward me. I screamed and tried to retreat, but it wrapped itself tightly around me, covering my face and suffocating me. I thought I was done for.

Then—*crash!* The balcony glass shattered. Ha Tinh lunged through the window. "Lac Uong, don't be afraid!"

She shoved her palm forward, and a burst of fire erupted, striking the dress. It let out a screeching, inhuman sound—the sound of thousands of trapped, screaming souls. It ignited, burning fiercely until it became a giant net of human skin, covered in thousands of faces. Right in the center, I saw Kieu San San.

When I regained consciousness, I was in the hospital. Ha Tinh hugged me. "I was so scared. If I had been one step later, you would have been gone."

"Am I going to die?" I asked, still shaking.

"Rest easy," she said, patting my back. "That thing is finished."

The school reported a massive fire in our dormitory, though the cause remained under investigation. Two died and four were severely injured. Kieu San San and Tran Mach Mach were burned to death. Diep Phi and Giang Nhien were left permanently disfigured. Mieu Mieu and I were the lucky ones, though Mieu Mieu suffered facial burns that would leave scars. I was the luckiest of all, having sustained only minor burns.