Chapter 1 — The Midnight Message

The female head of the household with princess disease sent a message to the group: "I turned off the door lock to help everyone. I'm alone on the first floor. It's too dark and I'm scared." The management board's urgent announcement about a murderer on the loose is still pinned in the group announcement. In my previous life, despite the objections of the whole building, I resolutely locked the door. Although I was able to stop the murderer, I was beaten up by other householders. When the police came running, I was unconscious. I stared at a series of "ha ha", "that's right", "Ms. Tran is right" expressions in the group. The corner of his mouth curled up into a cold smile.

“The good show is about to start.”

A little after nine o'clock at night, Ms. Tran sent a message to the group: "I turned off the door lock to help everyone. I'm alone on the first floor. It's too dark and I'm scared."

"Oh my god, I'm also on the first floor here, I feel so stuffy if I don't open the door. The management only likes to make big stories out of small things. Who's killing anyone? I've moved here three years ago, and I haven't even seen a tram thief."

The owner of room 101, Tieu Nha, followed Ms. Tran. I sat on the sofa in the living room, the light from the phone screen shining on my face, cold and white. The words "ha ha" and "that's right" in the group were like flies buzzing out, each sound reminded me of the pain when I was hit in the face with a fist in my previous life. No one sees this. Ms. Tran sent another voice message in the group, which opened with her laughing voice: "Oh my god, I was just joking with everyone, who does that announcement from the management board scare? A cowardly person like me isn't even afraid." Below are a series of people following along like "Ms. Tran is so cute", "Ms. Tran is so majestic". I bought all kinds of self-defense items a week ago. I attached a thick anti-theft latch and welded a sliding lock to the window track. By the time I finished checking the protective measures in the house, it was completely dark. The phone vibrated once. Open it, it's Tieu Ly in room 205.

"Do you really not need to worry about that door lock? It said on the notice that the killer is still on the run."

Just three seconds after the message was sent, Ms. Tran replied with a smile covering her mouth: "Is Tieu Ly even more cowardly than me?" Immediately after that, Tieu Nha continued: "That's right, what are you afraid of if you're on the second floor? Surely someone who kills someone can still fly up?" Then the topic quickly slid to joint fruit shopping and weekend barbecues. Tieu Ly said nothing more. Returning to the bedroom, I carefully pulled out the nightstand drawer. Inside was a brand new paper knife and a custom-made baseball bat with sharp spikes on the tip. There is also a spare phone. In my previous life, when they pinned me to the ground and beat me, no one helped me report it to the police. The management said, "They can't manage a dispute between householders." When the police came running, I was unconscious. Now, if they want to unlock the door, just open it. After all, I'm on the tenth floor. Even if that person really gets in, it will take time to go up each floor. I added a lock to the fireproof door on the stairs myself, it only locks on the outside, it can still be pushed out from the inside. I lay down and a new voice message from Ms. Tran was transmitted to the group. I didn't open it, only saw a preview line converted into text: "Oh my god, seriously, our area is very safe, my husband said..." The voice message suddenly stopped. The next second, a new message appeared in the group, coming from Tieu Nha room 101. There was no expression, no lingering mark. There are only six words: “Someone is knocking on my door.” Ms. Tran's voice message was answered almost immediately: "Tieu Nha, don't scare yourself, who is knocking on the door at night? I'm right across from you, why didn't I hear anything?" The group seemed to have been hit with a reset button and immediately came back to life.

"That's right, that's right, Tieu Nha, your liver is not good, learn from Ms. Tran."

“I was on the third floor and there was a noise just now. The result was that the cat was scratching the trash bag.”

"Tieu Nha, don't scare yourself anymore, those who hate people won't pay attention to your first floor, ha ha ha ha."

I looked at each message that appeared, my finger hovering over the screen, the rock in my heart sank another inch. I switched to the private chat box, the cursor in the dialogue box blinked. I typed a line, my finger resting on the send key. Just as I was about to press down, a new message popped up in the group. Tieu Nha sent a shy expression.

"Oh my god, I'm so excited, the noodle soup I ordered has arrived. The delivery guy said he called me but no one answered, so he went straight upstairs and knocked on the door. It scared me to death."

Below immediately exploded.

“See, I told you.”

"Ms. Tran is wise."

“Tieu Nha, your vigilance is good, but you're using it in the wrong place ha ha.”

I stared at that line, slowly erasing each word in the dialogue box. The screen light dimmed, I placed the phone face down on the bedside table, turned around to face the wall. Food delivery person. Delivering food again at this sensitive time. I jumped up and picked up the phone again. In the group, Tieu Nha was telling Ms. Tran what kind of meat to buy when grilling meat tomorrow, her tone was relaxed as if nothing had ever happened. Is it really because I'm too cautious? Incorrect. Unable to sleep, I decided to open the game. As soon as the game reached its third round, the phone's notification bar was filled with messages in the home group. I originally didn't want to manage it, but the banner at the top of the screen kept jumping out one after another, vibrating so much that my finger slipped, the character I was controlling crashed into the wall and died.

“Tsk.”

I angrily exited the game and opened the group chat. Gliding up twice, my finger suddenly stopped. Tieu Nha sent a video, the cover photo is the gray door lock control panel in the hallway. I opened it, the image shook twice, then Tieu Nha stretched out a hand, her nails were still painted the avocado green color she showed off in the group yesterday. She gently pressed the door lock button.

With a "click" sound, the indicator light on the control panel changed from green to red.

The sound of the door locking and closing echoed especially clearly in the empty first floor lobby. The video ends. Below is her text: "I locked the door for everyone. After all, I'm on the first floor. If Ms. Tran is scared, when bad people come, they will find me first, hehe." Two people in the group immediately became excited.

“Tieu Nha is so cool!”

“This is true sisterhood!”

"Miss Tran, look at them, they even locked the door because of you, ha ha ha."

Ms. Tran responded with a series of clapping expressions, followed immediately by a voice message. I opened it, her voice was cooing: "Oh my, my Tieu Nha, tomorrow I will invite you properly. Thank you very much." Compliments and expressions filled the screen, as bustling as Tet. But I was staring at the last frame of the video. The moment the indicator light turned off, outside the glass window at the edge of the screen, a dark shadow seemed to pass by. I pressed pause and watched it again. Finger magnifies the image. The pixels blur into a pile of noise, making it impossible to see anything clearly. But the cold air behind me crawled up each vertebrae. A moment later, the phone rang again. Tieu Nha sent a new message in the group: "Okay, okay, the door lock is closed, everyone can rest assured and sleep. See you tomorrow." Messages in the group gradually became sparse, with a few good night wishes, then quiet. I lay back on the bed and forced myself to close my eyes. When I counted the three hundredth sheep, the phone rang. Incoming call display: Tieu Ly room 205. I stared at the screen for five seconds, not answering the phone. In his previous life, he didn't attack me, but he also didn't help me. He stood at the edge of the crowd, his face turned away, as if he couldn't see me lying on the ground. I don't owe him anything, nor do I want to have anything to do with him. The bell stopped, then rang again a second later. Persevere and don't give up. I turned around and put the phone face down under the pillow. The vibration was suppressed like a fly trapped in a can, buzzing endlessly. The third time it rang, I rang for a second and then answered the phone.

"Hello."

“Hello, I am Tieu Ly, room 205.” His voice was very low, as if he was covering the microphone to talk, "Sorry to bother you this late, but..."

“What?” My voice was calm.

The other end of the line was silent for two seconds, he took a deep breath: "Did you see the video Tieu Nha sent? The video of locking the door."

"See. What's wrong?"

“Don't you find it strange?” His speaking speed suddenly quickened.

"Normally, Tieu Nha doesn't talk like that. She never adds spaces when typing, but in the messages tonight, there are spaces after each sentence. And that word hehe, she has never used this word before."

"Do you remember? Last time in the group buying together, she argued with others because of this."

My finger holding the phone tightened a bit. I had never paid attention to these details, but Tieu Ly remembered them so clearly.

“What do you want to say?” I purposely yawned, "Maybe it's just a change of style, aren't all girls like that?"

"Not." Tieu Ly was impatient.

“And that video, did you pay attention?”

"When she turned the door lock, the phone panned from top to bottom. Tieu Nha was only one meter five eight tall. That angle was like holding the phone over her head to film. Who would turn the door lock that high?"

I said nothing. He's right. That angle is actually a bit high, like a person over one meter tall holding Tieu Nha's phone to film.

“So what?” I tried to make my voice sound sleepy.

"Maybe she did it on purpose. Tieu Ly, what time is it? Your suspicions are too strong. Shouldn't you ask her directly tomorrow?"

“But…”

“Okay okay.” I yawned again.

"I'm sleepy, let's talk more tomorrow. Good night."

Without waiting for him to respond, I hung up the phone and conveniently switched it to silent mode. The room became quiet again, only the sound of my own breathing remained. I placed the phone on the nightstand, screen facing down. Tieu Ly can see these things, proving that he is always reviewing the chat history in the group, always comparing the details. He's more alert than I thought. But what use is vigilance? In his previous life, he couldn't stop anything. I pulled the blanket over my head. What the hell does it have to do with me? This time I won't go anywhere, and I won't care about anything. The message was sent by her, the door was opened by herself. I locked myself on the tenth floor, the doors were reinforced, the phone was silent, no one answered. That's enough. The sound in the dream is very clear. The heavy sound of metal scraping against metal, again and again. It was like someone had a screwdriver and picked the lock on my door. I looked out with my cat's eyes close, the hallway light was broken, it was pitch black, but the shadow was moving. Outlines gradually emerged from the darkness, a dark delivery uniform, cap pulled very low. Three

“Ah!”

I suddenly opened my eyes. My heart was beating in my chest, pounding, pounding, like someone was banging on the door. The blanket was soaked with sweat and stuck to the neck. I threw the blanket off and picked up the phone. The screen lit up, 2:07 am.