Is there a very short story with a surprising twist or a surprising ending?

The brother outside the door told me to get out of the room quickly or I would die.

My girlfriend on the phone told me not to go out or I would disappear.

On one side is my best and most trustworthy brother of the past 20 years, and on the other side is my girlfriend who shares the same values ​​as me and is extremely kind.

So who should I choose to believe?

1

It’s now 12 o’clock in the morning, and the sound of that thing scratching the door is getting louder and louder.

I built a fort on my bed with a quilt and blanket, which served as a psychological barrier.

I turned on my phone and there were still three bars of battery left. On nights when there was no electricity, these three bars of battery were my best companions.

Xiaoyun: “Don’t you really want to know what it is?”

A message popped up on WeChat. It was from my girlfriend, but it’s not entirely true to say it was my girlfriend.

Since a week ago, people all over the world have been woken up by the sound of scratching on their doors in the middle of the night, and everyone who opened the door to check what was going on disappeared.

This scenario repeats itself every night. The government has lost its jurisdiction, transportation between cities and villages has been paralyzed and each region has begun to “save itself.”

Yet every night there was crying, because every night someone walked out the door and disappeared.

The scratching at the door will continue until 5 a.m., when everyone will fall asleep at the same time and forget what happened during the night when they wake up.

At 11 o’clock in the evening, everyone will remember the horrific scene of last night and those who disappeared.

At exactly 12 o’clock in the morning, the sound of scratching at the door can be heard again.

The world we live in seems to be divided into two worlds:

During the day, everything is normal, and humans and machines operate according to the established rules of life, as if the chaos and terror of the night had never happened;

The night was extremely eerie, with only the sound of scratching at the door and the dilemma of whether to open it.

After three nights, the self-help organization finally discovered the problem and issued a group announcement in the survivors’ group:

“Dear residents, please do not listen to any noise outside your door at night and do not open the door! Remember, do not open the door!”

People who just walk out the door and disappear won’t come back.

Walk out the door and disappear, so don’t open the door.

Xiaoyun and I met in a small group called “Doomsday Self-Help Guide”.

This small group consists of young people who have received a simple scientific education and have been influenced by materialistic ideas.

Our group leader is a graduate student majoring in nuclear physics at Peking University. He rarely speaks and occasionally says a word or two to comfort us when we are emotionally breaking down.

Most of the people in the group are liberal arts students. Xiaoyun and I are in the same major. The day before yesterday, someone in the group asked, “Could this be some kind of performance art?” I came out and explained what performance art is and how the current situation could not possibly be a prank. Xiaoyun came over to talk to me, and that’s when we became familiar with each other.

Xiaoyun: “I don’t know when I will die, why don’t we have a relationship? I haven’t had one yet.”

I don’t know if it was because the atmosphere in the group was too pessimistic that day, but I hesitated for a moment and then agreed.

Xiaoyun: “There should be a lot of girls who like you, right?”

My answer at the time was ambiguous because I hadn’t talked about it, but I didn’t want to expose that.

Passerby A: “Is it the end of the world, an alien invasion, or the advent of the evil god K?”

Passerby B: “That’s it, just go die now. You’re going to die eventually anyway, and now you can choose how you want to die.”

Passerby C: “Why? Can’t humans resist?”

Passerby B: “…If this is really the evil god from the Cthulhu mythology, no matter how hard humans try to resist, it will end in tragedy.”

Xiaoyun: “What are they discussing?”

She private messaged me.

Me: “I’m talking about a novel setting. The general idea is that the power of the evil god is too strong. No matter how hard humans resist, they will eventually die.”

Xiaoyun: “But in novels, isn’t there always a hero? The hero will overcome many obstacles, and although there will be sacrifices along the way, he will eventually lead human civilization to rebirth.”

Me: “Um… how should I put it? Most novels are like this, but Cthulhu has a tragic ending.” I thought about it and typed seriously, “Or, to put it another way, the hero leads mankind to rebirth. After the rebirth, is the civilization still human civilization?”

Xiaoyun: “Wow, it looks very profound.”

Usually girls will reply to you like this, which means: “I don’t understand what you said at all.”

This is what my unlucky roommate told me. He is an expert in love.

“Did you buy those things?”

I changed the subject.

To be prepared for a rainy day, I suggested that she buy some first aid supplies, such as a flashlight, lithium batteries, a medicine box, disinfectant, etc.

“Of course, I have to listen to what my boyfriend says.”

After that, she took a few photos of the house and sent them to me. “Look, I have a small storage room, and it’s full.”

“So, you’re really not curious about what’s outside the door?” she asked again.

“I’m curious, but I’m afraid of death!”

I think this is the most standard answer.

2

I heard more than just scratching at the door.

“Lin Qiu, come out quickly, or you’ll die!”

I have been hearing this voice for two years. The owner of the voice is the brother who sleeps on the upper bunk, Wang Er, an expert in love.

Wang Er, if you say a few more words, I will talk to you about two dollars.

But for three nights in a row, when there was a scratching at the door, he would open his voice outside the door at 12 o’clock on time and repeat the words that I should get out or I would die.

But tonight seemed a little different, the scratching on the door seemed quieter and more rapid than usual. At the same time, I kept feeling something flashing by the window.

“Lin Qiu, come out quickly, or you’ll die!”

Everyone who went out is gone. This is a consensus and a fact.

“Lin Qiu, come out quickly, it will be too late if you don’t come out now!”

Too late? What will happen?

I don’t know what state Wang Er is in now. Is he a human? Alive? Dead? Or somewhere in between?

Will people who go out call others to leave at the door?

This may sound like a tongue twister, but it is also a “fatal question”.

My door happens to be an old-fashioned iron door with no peephole and no anti-theft chain, so it has to be opened to see outside.

The window faces east, and I carefully approached and opened a crack in the curtain, letting in a little moonlight. The strange thing was that this little bit of moonlight was so weak that I couldn’t see outside clearly.

The screen of the mobile phone on the table lit up, giving me a fright.

She is my online girlfriend.

Xiaoyun: “Lin Qiu, wuwuwuwuwu, my good friend has been captured.”

Although this kind of thing happens every day, if it really happens to me, I can understand her fear and sadness.

Xiaoyun: “Why doesn’t she listen? Why does she want to go out? She will die if she goes out, why should she go out!”

“Lin Qiu, come out quickly, or you’ll die!!”

I didn’t know how to comfort the girl. Wang Er was shouting outside the door again, and I suddenly felt annoyed.

“You keep repeating the same thing over and over again. Who the hell are you? If you really are Wang Er, you should first tell me how to comfort a girl!”

The scratching sound stopped abruptly, and Wang Er also fell silent.

Shit, did I say some key words?

Without caring about my phone, I crawled out from the quilt barrier and carefully moved towards the door.

There was really no sound, and it was as quiet outside the door as every late night before.

Xiaoyun: “Lin Qiu, are you still there? Woohoo, my phone only has one bar of battery left, otherwise I really want to call you.”

I was about to type a reply to her when I heard a creepy voice in my ear.

“Lin Qiu, you are behind the door, right? Listen to me carefully.”

“To coax a girl, you should listen to what she says first, because it is possible that she does not want you to help solve the problem, but just needs someone to listen and vent. Then you can give her a hug… or send her a hug or head-patting emoji.”

What the fuck is this horror plot?

At 1:30 in the morning, my good friend, who I didn’t know whether he was dead or alive, a human or a monster, was outside the door teaching me how to comfort a girl?

Xiaoyun: “Lin Qiu, are you still there?!”

The message on the other end of WeChat seemed eager to confirm whether I was listening.

Me: “I’m here.”

My finger paused for a moment, then slid to the emoticon interface and sent an emoticon of a bear patting a rabbit on the head.

“Lin Qiu, I am Wang Er. I am not dead, but if you don’t come out, I will die.”

“How do you prove that you are Wang Er?”

I calmed myself down. I had already gone through several nights like this, and I was extremely tired both mentally and physically.

Night is supposed to be a time for people to relax and unwind, but it has become the most frustrating time of the week.

“Do you still remember my girlfriend from last semester? She was the most beautiful girl in the music department.”

Everyone in our class knows that Wang Er is dating the most beautiful girl in the school. It’s no secret.

“But at the beginning of this year, she came to our dormitory and wanted to break up with me. She said I cheated on her, and I denied it. At that time, you even advised her to believe me.”

Yes, this is true, but it is not a secret.

“I did cheat.”

Wang Er’s voice was clear and firm, his usual tone.

Fuck you, you scumbag!

“Lin Qiu, you like to snore when you sleep and talk in your sleep. You said you…”

“Ding ding ding ding—”

A voice call came through WeChat and it was from my girlfriend.

Didn’t you say there’s only one bar of power left?

“Lin Qiu!”

“Lin Qiu!”

They said in unison, “This name has been with me for 21 years, but I suddenly feel it is a little unfamiliar.”

“who is he?!”

“who is he?!”

At 3 o’clock in the morning, something happened in my house that was even more terrifying than the scratching on the door that had been going on for a week.

Separated by a door and a phone, the voice outside the door is the one who claims to be my good brother, and the voice on the phone is the voice of my girlfriend whom I have known for three days.

Xiaoyun’s voice sounds like that of a cute girl, soft and gentle, yet with a hint of eagerness and disbelief.

The silence spread from the phone into the room and then to the outside.

A minute later, she hung up the voice call.

Is it because the battery is out? Or is it because you are too scared?

I quickly sent her a message –

Me: “Xiaoyun, are you there?”

No response.

When I tried to speak: “Wang Er?”

There was no sound from the other side of the door.

The scratching sound, which was originally so quiet that I had ignored it, gradually became louder and echoed with the scratching sound from the house next door, just like the previous few nights.

3

At 5 a.m., everything calmed down.

Yet one thing was different: I remembered what had happened the night before.

I was so sleepy that I couldn’t hold on any longer and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was 9 o’clock the next morning.

After a brief moment of confusion, I jumped up as if I had been electrocuted. A few rays of sunlight filtered in through the gaps in the curtains, reminding me that it was daytime.

Oh shit!

Such a horrible thing happened at night!

I pulled the curtains with trembling hands, and the sunlight poured in, making me feel a little bit of reality and courage.

However, I was stunned the next second. There seemed to be some scratches on the edge of the window, like some sharp object or the claws of a wild beast.

“Ding ding ding!”

The sudden knock on the door startled me and I screamed.

Before I even reached the door, my cell phone rang.

“Lin Qiu, open the door quickly!”

The person knocking on the door was my college classmate. Because of skin problems, I did not live on campus and rented a one-bedroom apartment next to the school.

I opened the door and he complained, “What’s wrong with you? You said you would come to the club to help today!”

Then I remembered that today was the meeting between new and old students after the club recruited new members, and I agreed to go and show support.

“Oh, if you don’t show up, Tigress will definitely vent her anger on others, and you know very well that the next round will basically be targeting you!”

He looked like he played games until 12 o’clock at night, then had a good sleep and was full of energy the next day.

Am I the only one who still remembers last night?

I asked tentatively, “How were you last night?”

He looked at me with a strange look in his eyes. “I’m fine. I won ten games in a row.”

“Yesterday…it seems like there was a power outage where I live for a while.”

“Maybe the power went off.”

“Didn’t you hear anything last night?”

“What’s that sound? A loli voice?”

「……」

“Why aren’t you talking? Did you consume too much energy last night?” He twisted his mouth and raised his eyebrows in a smirk, looking extremely obscene.

“I didn’t sleep well.” I said seriously.

“I understand, I understand. Hey, why don’t you find a girlfriend in the next term?”

Ignoring his teasing, I asked one last question: “Did you see Wang Er today?”

“Wang Xuexin? Didn’t he go to Beijing to participate in a competition? You really did it too much. It was you who saw him off when he left.”

You’re talking bullshit! Of course I know he went to the competition.

But how can I tell you that he scratched at my door all night last night?

There is no other way but to go to the club and see what the other people are doing.

He chattered all the way, which prevented me from even looking at my phone. I wanted to know how Xiaoyun was doing.

In the past few days, everyone would forget the horror of the night after waking up and go to work or school.

It may sound impossible, but it is true:

Everything was normal during the day, but it was so terrifying at night.

This was the first time I wanted to contact the girl during the day.

When I arrived at the club, I finally got rid of the noisy classmates, walked to a corner and took out my cell phone.

There is no information.

The WeChat accounts of the “Rescue Guide” group and Xiaoyun are all gone.

I searched the list, a total of 57 contacts and 3 groups, but they were not there.

Others were busy preparing for the meet-and-greet. There were a lot of snacks and latte art on the table. They looked very happy. Looking at their smiling faces, I felt for the first time what it felt like to feel a chill down my spine.

I found a corner, with the curtain covering half of my body, and I found a piece of white paper and a pen.

When my thoughts are confused, I have the habit of writing down to organize my thoughts.

4

It is known that the city is normal during the day, no strange things are reported in the news around the world, and no one remembers the scratching sound at the door at night.

The night broadcasts must have worked. Fewer and fewer people went out, so fewer people disappeared. There are 6 billion people on Earth, and tens of thousands of people go missing every day. Even if they disappear when they go out at night, it will not attract the attention of the government.

The question is, why did all the power come back to normal during the day?

In power systems, electrical energy is not stored.

The production, transmission, distribution and use of electric energy are always in a state of dynamic balance. The same amount of electricity is transmitted as is generated. The powerful national power grid can guarantee the power supply. Even during the peak electricity consumption period in summer in megacities, there will only be local power restrictions.

A situation like this, where the whole world loses power at exactly 12 o’clock, has never happened since Faraday invented the electric motor.

Excluding scientific explanations and logic, we can only think in the direction of metaphysics.

As I wrote the word “metaphysics”, I covered my face and laughed.

Is this even worth analyzing?

Can I expect to use Einstein or Newton to explain what I have encountered?

Why.

I sighed and continued writing.

It is known that there are indeed self-help organizations and Xiaoyun’s WeChat at night.

I paused, and here came the second question:

There is a power outage, so why is there Internet?

If major countries have relevant emergency measures, such as satellite communications, backup power supplies and the like,

But the fact at night is: all of this is ineffective, the government no longer has control, or – simply doesn’t know how to contact the government.

So, are self-help organizations real?

Thinking of this, I was suddenly frightened.

In the past abnormal week, I never seemed to think about contacting people I know in real life.

Once it was midnight, all my attention was focused on that door. My fear came from outside the door, and my hope came from the self-help organization.

I was like a fish between a puddle and land, jumping around with my mouth open in confusion.

It is known that I do not know whether the self-help organization is real or not.

As we all know, I personally sent Wang Er to the car. The robot competition will last for half a month, and it is impossible for him to come back.

It is known that Wang Er was outside my door, scratching it and asking me to go out, saying that I would die if I didn’t go out.

As you know, my girlfriend, whom I had just been dating for three days, has lost contact.

It is known that last night, in addition to the scratching sound at the door, there seemed to be something outside the window. Could this be related to what Wang Er said about “too late”?

……

“Senior Lin, what are you doing?”

There was a heavy pat on my shoulder. It was a classmate from the club.

“Nothing, is there anything I can do for you?”

“You will be speaking on stage later, are you ready?”

Then I remembered that I had agreed to go up and say a few words.

I have to say that this year’s freshmen are very energetic. At 10 a.m. sharp, everyone was present.

“Next, let our club’s senior artist Lin Qiu say a few words to everyone!”

I say, what’s up with this introduction that sounds so official?

I stood up, walked to the podium, looked at the new class who were looking expectant below the stage, and suddenly I became impulsive.

“If you contact me tonight, I will tell you a shocking secret!”

The small club activity room was in an uproar.

“Kachakachaka, no, that senior Lin Qiu was just joking with everyone, hahahahahaha.”

除了团长在尬笑，其他人都面带异色，交头接耳，我甚至听见女生们在议论。

“Isn’t it said that Lin Qiu is very elegant and refined? Isn’t this a bit wrong?”

“What does that look mean? Is he impatient?”

“It’s over. My disillusionment is gone. My artistic boy has turned into a sleazy senior…”

“No, man, what’s wrong with you? What’s irritating you? Are you here to mess things up?”

The team leader hugged me and took me to one side, saying, “If you have any problem, just tell me, I will definitely help you, even if… well, it’s not a big deal, I’ll pay for it!”

I was totally confused and had no idea what he was saying.

“I’m fine. You must contact me tonight. Don’t you like playing games? Stay up late until 12 o’clock, then join me in ranking. I’ll help you rank up.”

He showed a “panicked” expression and patted my back: “What’s wrong with you? Are you possessed by a ghost?”

I haven’t played games for a long time. The last time I opened the software was during the school ranking competition, when I won the title of “The No. 1 Wild King of Ocean University”.

I never play games with others, I just play solo. For me, playing games is just an action with a set goal. I don’t need any emotions brought by social interaction, except for Wang Er.

“Senior Lin Qiu, can I add your WeChat?”

A girl with a ponytail and a rosy face stood up and spoke loudly, and the whole audience fell silent.

“If I want to contact you, I must first have your WeChat.” She shook her phone at me, and the girl next to her tugged at the corner of her clothes.

I turned around, wrote my WeChat ID on the blackboard, and quickly walked out of the activity room.

The moment I left, I saw out of the corner of my eye that she was still standing there looking at me persistently. Her courage as if she was the only one around made me feel a little regretful.

I was really stupid just now, wasn’t I?

But I have no choice. I have to find out as soon as possible whether it is the end of the world and how to solve this problem.

It is known that I did not contact anyone at night, so did others contact each other?

So, tonight I need to reach out to people I know well and have my friends reach out to me.

5

This is the first time in my life that I am looking forward to the coming of night.

Speaking of advent, I remembered Mr. Ke who they mentioned when they were chatting in the group.

Holding the blanket, I began to have wild thoughts.

If it was really Mr. Ke who was scratching the door… No, it must be me, a little brother. How could an evil god of Mr. Ke’s level scratch the door himself?

No matter how many tentacles you have, you can’t scratch every door.

If some people have several houses, like the Guangdong real estate sister, will there be scratching sounds in the unoccupied house?

Or does it have to be occupied?

If it really is President Ke, then there is really no solution.

This is not much different from the level of a two-dimensional foil hitting the earth.

I know I am very nervous, and I admit it, because when I am nervous, I like to mutter to myself like an old man.

I charged my phone early, but I didn’t prepare any lithium battery devices like power banks because I didn’t need them.

我甚至没有打开过电脑。

It goes without saying that selective Internet disconnection has nothing to do with the device.

The hands of the luminous watch pointed to 11 o’clock on time, and my girlfriend came online.

Xiaoyun: “I feel a little uncomfortable today. It may be because the milk I drank last night was expired.”

When I saw this message, my heart twitched as if someone was grabbing it.

It’s not because I feel sorry for my girlfriend, but——

Her WeChat really only appears at night!

The avatar, chat history, and even the circle of friends were all there, exactly the same as what I saw the night before.

Me: “Drink some hot water…”

Halfway through my words, I suddenly remembered that Wang Er once told me in all seriousness that when a girl complains to you that she is not feeling well, the one thing you must not say is to drink more hot water.

At exactly 12 o’clock, the sound outside the door rang on time. I held my cell phone, hugged a blanket and leaned against the door. I knew that Wang Er must still be there tonight.

“Lin Qiu, come out quickly. Only by coming out can you survive.”

Today’s rhetoric has changed a little bit. Before, if you can’t say it, you will die, but now it means if you say it, you can live.

“Lin Qiu, don’t believe him!”

Xiaoyun suddenly sent a message with a terrified emoticon.

“Lin Qiu, I know this seems ridiculous to you, but you have to believe me, I am your best friend, I will not lie to you!”

“Lin Qiu, don’t be bewitched by him. Everyone who walked out disappeared. Don’t open the door!”

What Xiaoyun said makes sense. The only thing I can be sure of is that everyone who went out has disappeared. In any case, it is safe to stay at home for the time being. But I always feel like something is wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it…

“Lin Qiu, how long have we known each other? Now you are not as good as an online girlfriend you have only known for three days?”

Wang Er really understands me. I have never been able to resist playing the emotional card, but the sense of incongruity is getting stronger and stronger. There must be some clues that I have missed.

“Lin Qiu, you have always been like this, cautious and indecisive. Use your brain! If I wanted to harm you, I would have convinced you a thousand times! I only have one question for you. Who told you that you would disappear if you went out at night? Are you sure that the people who disappeared went out at night? Not because they stayed in the house like you?”

“Lin Qiu, don’t listen to his nonsense! I never understood why people would go out late at night when it was such a strange incident. Now I understand. Everyone must have encountered this kind of bewitching!”

“Lin Qiu! Damn it, have I ever lied to you in the past two years?” I could actually hear a hint of sob in Wang Er’s voice. “In your freshman year, when you first arrived, I took you around the school. I told you that I was a local and that you could always stay at our house. I know that you don’t like to wash your hair after taking a shower, and you never wash your socks. You buy seven pairs of socks, but you throw them away after wearing them for a week. The class beauty Lin Na from the next class is your type, and you also like virtual idols. You have never been in a relationship, so I shared 168G of goddesses with you for free. Lin Qiu, who else can understand you better than me, Wang Xuexin?”

For a moment, I was moved.

Although Wang Er said a lot of nonsense, we spent two years together day and night. I have been a loner since I was young, and he is my first friend with whom I can stay up late and eat together. He is my best friend.

I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Will he hurt me?”

No, there’s always a feeling that something is wrong, and this feeling is getting stronger and stronger.

Before I could think about it, Wang Er sneered: “Lin Qiu, I know there is no evidence for what I said, but does this woman have any evidence? Ask yourself, you have only known each other for a few days? Why do you obey her every word? This doesn’t seem to be your style, right?”

I have to say, Wang Er really knows me too well. Every word he says hits me accurately. If they had advised me like this yesterday, I might have been shaken.

手机不停地振动，我低头看了一眼，全是小云发给我的消息，我甚至能从她的文字中看到一丝哀求的意味，「林秋，千万不要出去，相信我好吗？我不会害你的！」

I looked at the WeChat chats on my phone, and gradually the clues I had missed came together.

Won’t hurt me? Haha.

……

Although both Wang Er and Xiao Yun were suspicious, Wang Er was right.

Why had I never doubted the so-called survivors’ organization before today? Is it human nature to stick together for warmth?

No, not really.

Xiaoyun said, it’s the end of the world anyway, and it’s a pity that I have never had a relationship, but there are so many people in the group, why did he choose me?

The sound of scratching the door gradually entered my cochlea and was transmitted to my brain, just like a small knife scratching the brain nerves. I seemed to be able to feel the subtle pain, which I could bear, but every cut magnified my fear.

Finally, the knife cut through a neuron protrusion in the left hemisphere of my brain, leaving a small gap. Blood instantly rushed to my brain and I felt cold all over.

I resisted the urge to scream:

“Let me introduce you,” I took a deep breath, my tone unconsciously filled with sarcasm, “The person outside the door is my roommate, my best friend Wang Er; the person on WeChat is my girlfriend, Xiao Yun.”

They both fell silent at the same time, showing a tacit understanding.

“Now I have a small question that I need both of you to help me solve.” I shook my phone, and the light from the screen shone particularly brightly in the dark room.

“Xiaoyun and I were chatting on WeChat, and Wang Er, you were standing at my door. How did you two manage to have such a seamless conversation?”

“Also, Wang Er, I don’t think I’ve mentioned how long Xiaoyun and I have known each other. Is this some kind of superpower awakened in the apocalypse or…

The Wang Er outside the door is Xiao Yun?”

I tried to control my emotions: fear of the unknown? Anger at being fooled?

But the atmosphere suddenly fell into dead silence. Neither Wang Er nor Xiao Yun continued to “talk”. All that was left was the constant teasing that irritated my nerves. Just when I was about to give up, Wang Er suddenly started talking about a completely unrelated topic.

“Heh,” a sneer came from outside the door. I have never heard such a harsh voice:

“We went to the game two weeks ago together, do you remember?”

6

I don’t know when I fell asleep – or rather, fainted?

The bad news is: I can’t remember what they said or what I said after Wang Er said that.

The good news is: it’s 9am and I still remember what happened last night and the night before.

I got up from the bed, ran to the window and opened the curtains – sure enough, the scratch marks from last night were still there, spreading upwards along the window frame. These marks seemed illogical, but I always had a familiar feeling.

“Ding ding ding!”

There was a rapid knock on the door.

“Who!” I was startled.

I rubbed my face vigorously, walked to the door, and the moment I opened it, the sunlight and my schoolmate shone on me.

“Good morning, Senior Lin Qiu.”

She was wearing a sporty white sweatshirt today, paired with cyan blue shorts, looking very refreshing. The beige hairpin on her head and the airy bangs made her look like a high school student.

“You are…” I remember she was the girl who asked me for my WeChat yesterday.

“My name is Ying Zhuoxuan. We met at the club activity yesterday.”

“Well, how about… coming in and talking?”

The room I rented was not very big, with only a coffee table and two round stools. She looked around my home curiously but restrainedly, as if she found it very novel.

“How did you know I live here?”

“I asked a senior from the club and he gave me the address.”

“You don’t have class today?”

“I ran away and asked a friend to help me answer it.”

She always answers questions.

I poured two glasses of iced cola, sat down, and asked, “So, have you added me on WeChat?”

“Of course, but it never came through.”

I quickly took my phone to check, and saw a small red dot in the contact column, which was her friend request notification.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see that.”

It’s so weird, I waited the whole night and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see any friend request until I passed out.

“No, no, blame me. I saved your QR code, but I didn’t apply to add you until tonight.”

My heart sank, even so, I didn’t hear back from anyone last night, and no one responded to my message.

“Senior, you look so bad. Didn’t you sleep well?” She looked at me with some concern.

“It’s okay. I stayed up late. Thank you for standing up that day. I’m the only one who looks stupid, right? Haha.”

“No way!” she explained eagerly, “You are my idol, I just wanted to be brave and ask you for your WeChat number!”

Her words made me feel embarrassed. Suddenly I thought of Wang Er’s heart-piercing question yesterday, and I blurted out:

“What do I have to be your idol?”

“Senior, are you in Versailles?” She smiled and waved her hand, her tone relaxed, “You must be in Versailles.”

I was a little confused. “I’m just a cow, how can I be so Versailles?”

“Is this the Versailles of the gold medal winner of the Robot Contest? Love it.”

Wait! What?!

I thought I was hallucinating, so I asked again, “What am I?”

“Tsk, Senior, I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person, hahahahaha!”

“No, what did you say I was just now?” I stood up suddenly and accidentally knocked over the Coke on the table, spilling it all over the floor. I hurriedly took paper to wipe it off.

“You are the gold medal winner of this year’s robot competition.”

Robotics competition, gold medal winner? Me?

Could it be that what Wang Er said… is true?

“The competition you’re talking about was held half a month ago? The full name is ‘The 3rd Beijing Robot Competition 2022’.”

“Yes, you are the only one in our school who defeated Lin Qiu, the dark horse contestant from Tsinghua University and Peking University!”

“Only me?”

No, this is different from what Wang Er said last night.

I and other people in the club all thought that it was me who sent Wang Er to participate in this competition.

But Wang Er outside the door said that we were going to participate in this competition together.

「你能跟我说说，我是怎么去参加比赛的吗？」我有些着急，现在的情况完全出乎我的意料，我甚至怀疑，我是不是得了什么绝症，产生的幻觉？

“The robot competition started at the end of last year. Your robot design ranked in the top five in the preliminary round. It was really amazing. Our school only had one spot. The final was held a week ago, and you won the gold medal.”

The information I got from my junior schoolmate was very different from that from everyone else.

Only my junior schoolmate said that I went to the robot competition alone.

Did I have the ability to participate in the competition? I don’t remember, but I certainly did have the ability.

I have also been following the robot competition for a long time, and the design drawings themselves can be entered into the competition.

“Senior?”

I felt like I had caught something, and it flashed by in a flash.

“Senior, are you in trouble?”

“Can you chat with me again tonight? Send me anything you want.”

After I finished speaking, I realized that this statement could be misunderstood. Just as I was about to explain, I heard the junior schoolmate say:

“Senior, I came here today to discuss something with you…

“Senior, do you feel that there is something wrong with this world?

“What’s the meaning?”

My heart started beating wildly again. Could it be that my schoolmate also remembered the scratching at the door at night? Was there someone else outside her door?

“That’s it…” The junior girl was holding the Coke cup in her hand. I observed her stirring the Coke with the straw. Although the words she said seemed dangerous, her actions were nonchalant and she was not nervous at all.

“It’s like something happened, but I don’t remember it. And the amazing thing is that there are things I remember but others don’t, or the same thing in our memory has different results.”

“Do you remember what happened last night? I want you to contact me at night because I noticed something changed at night.”

When she heard me say this, she stopped playing with the straw in her hand, looked up at me seriously, and said in a calm tone:

“I think the night of this world is more normal than the day of this world.”

7

What does this sentence mean?

“Senior, our class has to gather. I have to go back first. Let’s contact each other in the evening.”

Just as I was trying to understand more about what she meant, she suddenly stood up, put down her Coke, and walked to the door. Her movements were so smooth that I couldn’t react.

“Senior, would you like to save my phone number? You can call me directly at night.”

“What if the call doesn’t go through?” I had actually tried, but I just couldn’t make the call.

“Then we’ll talk about it. Let’s give it a try, just in case.”

Her tone was relaxed, even cheerful. Although what she had just said was quite bizarre, it seemed as if something good was about to happen.

I wanted to ask more questions, but I saw her put her index finger to her lips and shook her head gently at me.

Junior, I have to say it, you really scared me.

In order to prepare for the coming of night, I went out in the afternoon.

The sun shines freely on the street. A mother who is getting off work is holding her child’s hand. The child is holding a hydrogen balloon in his hand. From time to time, he looks up and asks his mother if she can make sweet and sour spare ribs, stir-fried pork with spicy sauce, or shredded pork with fish flavor in the evening.

The roadside pancake stall has set up a table, and the steaming oden has attracted a group of elementary school students who are just getting off school.

The delivery man rode his motorcycle through the busy streets. The lights were coming on and a young couple was sitting in the coffee shop on the corner.

All of this is so real, the wind in our ears, the honking cars, the people passing by, this is our world.

Standing at the intersection carrying two large bags, I suddenly thought of a famous prophecy in Norse mythology: Twilight of the Gods.

In a war that engulfed the gods and giants, many important gods died one after another. Their war caused countless natural disasters, and then the whole world sank under the water.

It is almost dusk. Perhaps I am the only one who remembers all the horrible things that happened before. But now, standing at the intersection that I have walked countless times, I can appreciate the fiery clouds and the setting sun in the sky. This peaceful and beautiful feeling before the destruction of the world makes me feel warm in my eyes.

Walking home with my back to the sunset, I suddenly had a tragic feeling of walking towards the end of the world and towards my final fate.

What exactly does Wang Er mean by “too late”?

When I got home, it was already dark.

I looked at my phone. It was 9:30. There were still two and a half hours left, which was enough.

Sitting at my desk, I started to organize my thoughts again:

It is known that Wang Er and his girlfriend each have their own story, but neither is credible.

The reason is that at least one of them wants to harm me, and it is not ruled out that both of them want to harm me.

So the question is: I need to figure out if they are the same person and what do they represent?

It is known that there is nothing abnormal with the other members of the self-help group, and I cannot contact them. They are like a group of codes that only exist in WeChat, but these codes can talk and laugh, and they also know the Cthulhu mythology. Are they “people”?

As you know, my junior and I agreed to talk over the phone tonight.

So I must make this call.

“Ding ding ding ding ding—”

The alarm rang at 12 o’clock. As soon as I closed the alarm page, I heard rustling sounds outside the door, followed by scratching at the door.

I was surprised to find something, stunned for a moment, and then ecstatic.

My schoolmate just posted a new circle of friends!

The content is the ambiguous words she said to me this morning:

The night in this world is more normal than the day in this world.

I quickly clicked on her profile picture and sent a message——

Me: Junior, are you there? I am Lin Qiu.

5 minutes…

10 minutes…

I held the phone in my hand without moving my eyes away, but I still didn’t get a reply from my junior until my eyes were sore.

I sighed, but I didn’t feel surprised. It was just that the little extra hope I had was shattered.

“Wang Er, are you outside?”

“Xiaoyun, you’re here too, right?”

I was talking and typing at the same time. I originally wanted to make a voice call, but couldn’t get through after trying several times. Anyway, I don’t know why the two of them could communicate without any obstacles, so it didn’t affect my plan.

This time, I want to confirm something.

“What I want to tell you is that this is the last time I communicate with you.” I paused and turned on the flashlight on my phone. The faint light was like a spark in the dark night, igniting my fighting spirit.

“This is also your last chance to talk to me. Before 5 o’clock, I will make a choice.”

As soon as I finished speaking, the scratching sound outside the door stopped abruptly. A few seconds later, a sound even more terrifying than the previous week rang out, making my eardrums hurt. The curtains were blown aside by a gust of wind. I looked up suddenly, and there was nothing outside the window.

But my windows are closed.

“Lin Qiu, what do you want to say? As long as it’s something I know, you can ask whatever you want.”

Wang Er’s voice came through clearly, and Xiao Yun also sent an emoticon of him nodding frantically.

I held the blanket tightly in my hand: “Wang Er, why did you say that the robot competition was for the two of us?”

“Because I know that with your personality, you will definitely go to confirm this matter today. There is such a weird thing behind a door. I hope you believe me. As long as you go to confirm this, you will understand that I am Wang Xuexin. Brother, I must save you!”

“But my memory tells me that you went to the competition alone, and I just walked you to the car.”

Wang Er’s decisive tone made me hesitate for a moment. Could it be that there was really something wrong with my memory?

But other people think so too. Is it possible that our memory is collectively biased?

“Do you remember? This competition was shortened due to the pandemic, and it only lasted a week. We were supposed to come back together after it was over, but… the person my friend was cheating on with was studying in Beijing, so I told you to go back first and I’ll stay for another week.”

Damn, you are worthy of it.

“I sent you to the car, and on the night you returned, there was a scratching sound outside the door. I was in the hotel that night, and I thought it was… so I asked her to keep the sound down.”

Damn, scumbag, stop showing off!

“On the second and third nights, there was a continuous scratching sound at the door. Suddenly, a group chat appeared on my phone, which was like a survivors’ self-help organization. I had never joined such a group before. The group announcement said that Beijing was experiencing an abnormal situation and people should not go out at night. That night, my sister was at school and she was very scared. I comforted her that it was okay and told her not to go out if she was really scared. I just wanted to play games.”

Wang Er’s words made me wonder: the timing did match, the scratching sound on the door appeared a week ago and lasted for a week, and I also joined the Doomsday Self-Help Guide group, and our experiences were highly similar.

I believe Wang Er did tell some truths to gain my trust, but they may not be all true.

This kind of half-truth, half-truth confession is the most deadly. In order to get more information, I continued to ask:

“So, what happened between you and the girl? Seriously, I mean, why did you come back from Beijing? How did you get back?”

“I played by myself for two days, and when I wanted to go to school to look for her, I found… found that she was gone.” Wang Er’s tone became sad and panicked. “I asked all her classmates, but because she was the only one living in their dormitory, I went back first. But she really never replied to my messages, calls, WeChat, and Zhihu. The last message she left me was that she was very scared and had been lying on the bed in the dormitory. I happened to be playing a game at the time, so I didn’t reply to her.”

“Hmph, she must have disobeyed and walked out.” Xiaoyun sneered.

“No! She is very timid and afraid of ghosts. It is impossible for her to go out! So Lin Qiu,” Wang Er became excited, and even the sound of scratching the door became louder.

“If you stay in the house, it will disappear!”

8

I didn’t say anything, but quickly wrote down the information my brain had processed in my notebook:

I can be sure that Wang Er and Xiao Yun are different people, or at least not the same person.

Although they all wanted to gain my trust, Wang Er’s core demand was for me to open the door and leave, while Xiaoyun tried her best to keep me. Since I said this was the last conversation, they would definitely not pretend anymore.

I am also sure that they are not telling the truth.

I always find it strange. If love can be faked, then Xiaoyun will definitely win the Best Actress award at the film festival. When she said she would never harm me, I always subconsciously believed it. Is it really because I have never been in love?

No, Wang Er is right. Why would I believe her words so firmly? This is unreasonable in itself and the most suspicious thing.

Needless to say, Xiaoyun could not explain all the information about the outside world.

Even her own affairs, she didn’t say much during our chat, but she was very concerned about me, and made me feel like a soul mate. She could get my inner thoughts from all my expressions. I remember Wang Er once told me that if a girl is crazy about you, she is either a love-brained person or she has something to gain.

But it’s the end of the world, and you’re still in love? Is love so strong?

As for Wang Er, he certainly didn’t tell the truth.

He didn’t know about the bug. He only appeared at night, so he didn’t know that the junior sister came to see me during the day, and didn’t know that the junior sister said it was the robot competition I participated in.

“Wang Er, did we win any prizes in the competition?” I asked.

“Lin Qiu, I’m so fucking impressed by you. It’s already this late and you’re still caring about this kind of shit!”

I wrapped the blanket around myself, took tentative steps, and deliberately went around the window. I walked to the coffee table and poured myself a cup of Coke.

“Xiao Yun, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this before,” the Coke went down my throat, and it gave me the same vigor as a pound of liquor, “You really understand me, the feeling of soul resonance is really good.”

Without waiting for her reply, I continued typing, “Now, I need to make a call to someone who is likely in the same situation as me, or who may even understand the situation better than I do.”

“Lin Qiu, don’t call!”

“Lin Qiu, stop hitting me!”

I was so surprised that I couldn’t help but say “Oh shit”.

This was the first time they had ever agreed.

“Lin Qiu, I advise you not to call. Your only correct choice now is to put down the damn phone, then walk out and live with your brother.”

“Lin Qiu, please don’t call. I have a feeling that the person who called you has bad intentions and will cause us more trouble.”

I snorted coldly, “What kind of trouble? Is it to reveal your true identity? Or is it that the prank is over and the actors have finished their work? If I make a phone call, you will disappear?”

“You’re the one who will disappear! You idiot.” Wang Er actually started crying, “Can you please listen to me for once? Are you going to give up your brotherhood just for a woman?”

While I was dealing with them, I kept my eyes fixed on the window. Suddenly, lightning and thunder struck outside. I checked the weather forecast in the afternoon and it had been sunny for the next five days.

In the light of thunder and lightning, I finally saw the cracks on the window clearly. They appeared by themselves, like the growth of a grape vine, quickly climbing around. Gradually, I remembered why it felt familiar.

The cracks gradually slowed down at the top of the window. I took two steps back and saw a QR code on the window.

I forced myself to calm down, raised my trembling hands, and swept them away.

“Lin Qiu, I didn’t just randomly choose someone to fall in love with. Can you please stop calling me? Even if we die in the end, don’t worry, I will be with you.”

I put the phone aside, messages kept popping up, and the low sobbing outside the door continued. I sat weakly on the floor at the door, covering my face, my body twitching slightly.

I wasn’t crying, I was laughing.

It’s 2:30 in the morning.

I decided to call my junior schoolmate.

“Why……”

Almost at the same moment, when I picked up my phone, I saw the last message from Xiaoyun.

With every sigh, I seemed to hear her charming and gentle voice, which made my heart soften.

“Lin Qiu!! Can you please listen to me!” Wang Er’s voice gradually became hysterical, and the sound of scratching the door was deafening.

“Thank you both for your hard work, my good friend, my girlfriend, I decided to call.”

“Sorry, the number you dialed is out of service.”

9

“Sorry, the number you dialed is out of service.”

I was a little dazed, and soon, incredible excitement swept over my whole body.

Is this… working?

This was the first time I made a phone call at night in the past few days, and the first time I heard a voice from the outside world. The mechanical female voice sounded like nature to me at this moment.

“Sorry, the number you dialed is out of service area. Please try again later.”

“Sorry, the number you dialed is out of service area. Please try again later.”

The sound of nature rang out in the quiet room, like the roosters before dawn, like street lights in the chaotic night, like the chanting of sutras in Hanshan Zen Temple.

Fight against the devil, fight against fear, fight against confusion.

The scratching sound at the door disappeared, and Wang Er’s voice also disappeared.

I returned to the WeChat list and Xiaoyun didn’t send me any more messages.

It is now 2:40 am on March 21, 2022. I seem to have confirmed something. Although I don’t dare to believe it deep down in my heart, the famous detective Sherlock Holmes said that once all impossible facts have been eliminated, what remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.

I left the door and returned to bed. Before I fell asleep, I opened my schoolmate’s circle of friends and gave her a like.

When I opened my eyes again, it was 8:30 in the morning of the next day.

I woke up suddenly, stretched my curled up body, and calmed my heartbeat for a while.

I lay there until 9 o’clock and no one knocked on the door. It was so nice. I almost had PTSD.

I got out of bed and headed straight to the entrance.

I reviewed my thoughts from last night again, and held my right hand with my left hand in front of my chest to encourage myself:

“Lin Qiu, you can do it.”

The moment I opened the door, the sky was bright.

I have never seen such a morning, no rush hour, no children going to school, no vegetable vendors, no one.

Wang Er always wanted me to open the door. He said, “Outside is the truth of the world.”

So, is this world before our eyes, where there is no human habitation, machines are shut down, and it is so quiet that you can hear the slightest sound of the wind, the real world?

I took out my cell phone and called my schoolmate again.

After a few beeps, her lively and surprised voice exploded in my ears like a mushroom cloud:

“Hello? Lin Qiu…senior? Senior, good morning!”

For the first time in so many days, I smiled from the bottom of my heart, “Well, good morning.”

The second time my junior came to my house, she was carrying two large bags of food.

“What are you doing?” I was a little surprised.

“Congratulations on your gift. I don’t know what you like to eat, but I heard that fat people love happy water.”

Although I really want to correct that not all fat people love happy water, and strictly speaking, I am not fat, but her happy mood seems to infect me, and I feel that today I will get all the answers about night and day from her.

“Last night, before I called you, a QR code appeared on my window.”

“Is this my QR code?”

“Yes.”

There is indeed something wrong with our world.

On the first night that all mankind heard the scratching at the door, everyone fell into a dream together.

Even the daytime we experience is just a dream.

“Wait a minute, if I dream during the day and at night, why are they so divided? Can people have two dreams at the same time?” I raised my doubts.

“Senior, have you ever had a dream within a dream? For example, in the morning of the dream, you remember that you have to go to school, so you wake up, get up, brush your teeth, and go to school. You feel very relaxed because you have completed the task of going to school. But in fact, you are still lying in bed, you have not woken up.”

I know about dreams within dreams. I have had them quite a lot. It was even more common when I was in high school. The study pressure was high and the tasks were heavy, but it is easy to lack sleep when you are growing up. Every day I was torn between “I have to get up quickly to study” and “I want to sleep a little longer.”

“So what happens if I go out at night? Those who go out…” I paused, “My good friends seem to walk out the door.”

“You will wake up just like you thought you were already awake.” When the school girl said this, she seemed to have thought of something. Her tone was sad, helpless and regretful.

“It’s true that you will disappear when you go out. But you don’t actually disappear. When you push the door open, you will enter a deeper dream. That is a powerful deceptive dream. It makes you think that everything has returned to normal. You have completed what you wanted to do. You have given up fear and vigilance. You no longer feel anxious, only relaxed, and relaxation will prevent you from ever waking up from the dream.”

“Senior, is your good friend Senior Wang Xuexin?” Her tone was very soft, like a guidance or an persuasion.

I didn’t answer, I just kept asking:

“My…girlfriend, when the scratching sound appeared, I joined a small group of self-help organizations and met a girl. She said she would never hurt me. Do you know who she is?”

“People are not helpless in dreams, because both the dreamer and the awake person are ourselves, and the human body functions will provide us with protection 24 hours a day.”

When a person is sleeping at night, his limbs will twitch unconsciously. An interesting explanation on the Internet is that when your brain sees that you have not moved for a long time, it wants to stimulate the nerves to confirm whether you are still alive.

The same is true with dreams.

People have consciousness and subconsciousness.

In dreams, when the consciousness falls asleep, the subconscious becomes active, and the subconscious manifests itself differently for each person.

“When we fall into a dream, the brain functions to sense it, and it will stimulate the subconscious to ensure the recovery of your body, nerves, and emotions. The scratching sound at the door is a terrifying and strange thing. If the end of the world comes, the subconscious believes that something that can protect itself in the end of the world is the image created by your subconscious. It is very vivid and will communicate with the experience and memory you have accumulated in the real world.”

After finishing this long speech, the schoolgirl saw that I was frowning and had a twisted expression. She paused for a moment and said with a teasing tone:

“As for why your subconscious mind is a girl… I guess you have never been in love.”

“Ka-ka, that… that’s not important. In other words, my subconscious has been protecting me from going out so that I don’t fall into the trap of a dream within a dream, right?”

No wonder I can like and admire someone so easily, and obey his or her words. Even though I have never met him or her, I always feel close to him or her and feel safe.

No wonder she said that she was the one who cared about me the most and was willing to accompany me even to death.

If I die, my subconscious mind cannot live alone.

“Senior, there’s someone outside your door, right?”

Looking at the sincere eyes of my junior schoolmate, I was a little touched. Even in a bright and clear world, there are things that you want to escape from.

“Human emotions are unstable, and they are magnified countless times in dreams. The energy of this emotion can also be expressed in many forms. For some people, it is fear, and for others, it is regret.”

Seeing that I was silent, she sat closer to me, patted my arm gently, and then said slowly:

“When we were investigating you, we found out that in the real world, you did participate in a robot competition and won the championship, but this competition was originally a team of two. You were responsible for the robot design, and he, senior Wang Xuexin, was responsible for the mechanical device.

“We checked his files again and found that he was not in a dream because… he died. Just two days before the game, he was in a car accident and could not be rescued. You took him to the hospital at that time.

“You and he have a very good relationship. You can say that you are best comrades, brothers, and like-minded partners. It is a deep regret for you that you were not able to participate in the competition and win the prize together. This regret will continue to tempt you to get together with him. This is also the most terrifying and dangerous form of emotion.”

So, Wang Er would stand at the door and persuade me to go out every night.

So, when I finally decided to call my junior schoolmate, that is, when I took the opportunity to wake up, he became extremely distressed and hysterical.

It’s not that Wang Er doesn’t want me to live, it’s the regret, guilt, pain, and longing in my heart that created a Wang Er outside the door.

It’s me, too, who longs to see my brother again.

“I know…” I took a deep breath, “I remembered it when I opened my eyes in the morning.”

Two days before the competition, Wang Er said he was going to find his girlfriend to explain. Before leaving, he was tying his shoelaces while muttering to me:

“Lin Qiu, she’s a good girl, although she’s a little silly sometimes, but she’s really good. You may not believe me when I say this, and I don’t really believe it either, but when she broke up with me, I was scared and sad, and I felt like I was going to miss the most important thing in my life.”

On the way back, the taxi he was riding in was knocked over by a heavy truck, and the car behind it was speeding and ran over it.

Wang Er was sitting in the passenger seat, dying, and called me.

“Dude, it’s done.”

I was sitting on the ambulance crying like an idiot. Before he was pushed into the operating room, he suddenly grabbed my hand, his face bloodied and he looked at me with his eyes wide open, “Let’s go compete.”

These were the last words he said to me in this world.

“Senior, are you okay?” The junior handed me a piece of paper. I was stunned for a moment and then I realized that tears were flowing down.

“I’m sorry, I’m fine, I’m still alive.”

“He must be very pleased that your hard work has won an award, and he must be very happy that you are still alive.”

I don’t know if girls are all good at comforting people, but at this moment I am really grateful to her.

“How did I wake up? And the investigation you just mentioned, you investigated me? You?”

“In dreams, especially dreams within dreams, some people will realize that something is wrong, and some incongruous details can give them inspiration. At this time, they can rely on their IQ or strong willpower to wake up. For example, if you have a dream within a dream on the morning of the college entrance examination, you must wake up no matter what. This is willpower awakening consciousness.

“Those of us who wake up early have discovered that we can enter other people’s dreams and act as guides for their willpower. The moment you talked to Wang Er, we noticed the bug in your dream. When you wake up to a certain degree, that is, when you ask us to add you on WeChat and contact you during the day in your dream, I will be able to enter your dream and give you hints and guidance to wake you up. Only when you take the initiative to open the door during the day can you truly wake up. The QR code may be an opportunity for me to enter, and it is also the last hint that your consciousness can give you.”

I see.

I couldn’t help but sigh, if I hadn’t talked to Wang Er, I would have always listened to the “safety mechanism” of my subconscious mind and prevented myself from dying in the dream, but I was also trapped in the dream.

If I hadn’t remembered what happened that night and hadn’t impulsively given her her WeChat ID, my junior wouldn’t have been able to help me.

What is the reason and what force can make all of humanity fall into such a dangerous dream?

Thinking of this, I asked.

“The reason is still unclear, but there must be some changes in our world. These changes cannot be without traces. We are investigating these and trying to awaken more people. Senior, your dream-breaking ability is very strong. Do you want to join us?”

I got a general understanding of the organization through her junior schoolmate’s brief introduction.

A true salvation organization spread all over the world, composed of people who are constantly waking up.

“I would like to join you. What are your names?”

The schoolgirl stood up. She looked glowing white in the sunlight. For some reason, I felt a sense of disobedience again.

She smiled and held out her hand to me, saying:

“Welcome to join the Doomsday Self-Save Guide.”