Nightmare Assault Chapter 393: Corruption

“Hopefully, he can live,” Hua Luo sighed.

…

“Damn it!” Liu Guo kicked the cafe’s glass door heavily, but to his consternation, the door was much sturdier than it looked. Everything outside the door looked the same. A woman walked by, carrying her groceries. There were vegetables and meat. About eight meters away, a few bicycles were parked. Four students stood around them, enjoying some finger food as they chatted and laughed. The school bags were slung over the bicycle handles.

An old van stopped in front of a bookstore. Two men unloaded the stock while one took drags of cigarettes. Beside the van was an old couple, supporting each other as they crossed the street.

Everything looked normal. Liu Guo tried to smash something into the glass door, but it was to no avail. The feeling of being watched returned. He felt the temperature dropping.

“Hey, can you hear me?” Liu Guo knelt and shouted through the gap between the two panes of glass. “I’ve been locked in here!”

Soon, his calls were answered. A few walked over with confusion. The bespectacled elder bent down and asked, “Young man, what’s wrong?”

“I came here for coffee, but the boss locked me in here.” Liu Guo explained, “He forgot about a customer before he closed the shop.”

“The boss sure is careless.” The student said, “Do you have the boss’s number? You can call him to get him to come back.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone conduct a business like this.” The man with the cigarette tutted.

“I don’t have time. I have an emergency. Can I trouble you by breaking the glass door from the outside?” Based on Liu Guo’s prediction, the ghost could control the cafe. If he could leave, he might survive. Of course, he couldn’t break the glass door on his own. He needed external help.

“Is that necessary? This door… looks expensive.” The elder persuaded, “Just wait a little bit longer. Perhaps you can give us the boss’s phone number. We can call him for you.” For the old man, breaking the door would incur too hefty a price. It was not worth it.

“We need to hurry.” Liu Guo pleaded sincerely, “I could pick up a weird scent. It might be gas.”

“Gas?” The pedestrians’ faces changed. If there were a gas leak, this could be life-threatening. The man threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. “Don’t worry. We’ll try to open the door further and see if you can slip through.” The students hurried to help. With their collaboration, they managed to widen the gap. If Liu Guo tried, he might be able to crawl out.

“What are you doing just standing there?” The man’s face was red from exertion. “Hurry up. We can’t hold this much longer!”

The old man urged, “Young man, be quick. You cannot joke with a gas leak…”

However, Liu Guo seemed to have discovered something. The Good Samaritans who helped him had their eyes turned cold. The way they were reflected on the glass door was also different. In their reflections, they looked vicious and cold, like they wanted to eat him alive. These… were not humans.

This was bad…

Liu Guo slowly retreated before turning around to run upstairs. The ghost’s power was greater than he thought. No. This might not be the ghost. It was the door. The door had mutated. It caused these inexplicable things.

“Damn it!” Liu Guo raced to the second door and opened many doors. To his despair, all the windows on the second floor had disappeared. Where the windows were, there were only white walls.

In the end, he charged into a messy room. It was at the end of the corridor. There was a couch, an unmade single bed and a black table. A red laptop sat on the table. Liu Guo recognised it as Qiao Yu’s laptop. He looked around and found a camera on the shelf. A few photography magazines were scattered on the ground. This was Qiao Yu’s room. Based on the timeline, Qiao Yu should still be alive.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Footsteps came from downstairs. Liu Guo finally understood Qiao Yu’s fear. The footsteps were abnormally clear. Every click landed on his heart. The footsteps soon moved up the stairs and stopped outside the door. Liu Guo locked the door. The door was old, and the lock was dated.

Someone turned the lock from the outside, and the handle moved noisily. It squeezed Liu Guo’s heart. He couldn’t run anymore. However, he could still do something for those who were still alive.

Instantly, Liu Guo rushed to the laptop. When he realised it was still on, he hit the record button. He showed the comic draft to the camera. He focused on the hand-written letter.

When the door handle stopped moving, Liu Guo hit the save button. Then, he used Qiao Yu’s account to send the video to everyone in his friend list. Then, he added a voicemail. “Those who receive this video, please contact Qiao Yu’s older brother or come to Nan Mu Wan Cafe. There’s a reward for those who do.

“This is not a joke. I repeat. This is not…” Liu Guo stopped talking. The laptop shut off cause it was disconnected. Through the reflection of the screen, Liu Guo saw someone sitting on Qiao Yu’s bed.

The person raised his head and revealed a pair of red eyes.

Liu Guo went to grab the baseball bat. When he saw the man, he knew the latter wouldn’t let him go. This verified his suspicion. The door had mutated, or else the rules couldn’t be broken.

He was unfamiliar with these things. He didn’t know how to resist them. He knew that these things caused the rules inside the doors to be twisted. These creatures had the power to overwrite the rules.

Inside the door, they rose above the rules.

This door… had been fully corrupted.