2 002. [Under-bed Friend]_1

These three paragraphs are the only explanation, with no further detailed description.

Those chilly words, to Lu Ban, carried a hint of coldness, not resembling any kind of welfare system, but more like a cue card from a thriller movie.

"Is this a System task?"

Lu Ban roughly guessed what lay behind those three doors.

Each description was somewhat eerie, making them somewhat undesirable choices to make.

But having obtained something that could change his circumstances, Lu Ban was still curious and wanted to give it a try.

What drives human beings toward both doom and progress is curiosity.

"[Travelers] and 'No-return Alley' seem to require outdoor action, [Under-bed Friend] should be an indoor task, right?"

Lu Ban thought to himself.

According to the System's assessment, his physique, strength, and agility were all at normal levels, with only his appearance being somewhat decent. If he were to complete a System task, wouldn't an indoor one be simpler?

With such limited information, Lu Ban couldn't extract much useful information from these brief descriptions.

After some thought, he decided to start at home.

Not for any particular reason, but because he couldn't be bothered to run around.

And he was most familiar with his own home; it's not like a ghost from the bedding was going to crawl out and scare him to death, was it?

His finger gently rested on the middle door, and Lu Ban saw the twisted, eerie door slowly open as if pushed by his finger, and he could even hear the creaking sound of the door opening.

All faded away, leaving only the neat lead type on the script that seemed to be typed out, pausing dramatically as they appeared.

[Under-bed Friend]

[Have you ever wondered what's under the bed, the scratching noises that rise in the night, the occasional sound of marbles, within the clutter and dust, is there something else there?]

[Task Difficulty: Mortal]

[Task Requirements: At midnight today, lie on your bed in complete darkness, close your eyes, and after five hundred heartbeats, open your eyes and look under the bed to complete the task.]

["You've lived together for so many years, why not greet your good neighbor? I'm talking about the one under the bed."]

Seeing these words, Lu Ban hissed unconsciously.

"What the hell is this horror game?"

This description, which seemed like a supernatural game, usually marked the beginning of a deadly sequence in horror movies.

He pulled out his phone to search for the game corresponding to the description but found nothing.

Apparently, the game was not well-known, or perhaps...

those who played it were no longer able to talk?

Shaking off this inauspicious thought, Lu Ban stood up.

The script returned to its original state, with a great masterpiece from another world lying inside, unknown to anyone.

He looked at his phone again, with a thought.

The text on the phone distorted and changed into the System's content.

[Time until the task starts: 08:40:33]

It seemed that the task was set to begin tonight.

"As a task for beginners, it shouldn't be too difficult, right..."

Lu Ban didn't know whom the System was affiliated with. He thought for a moment, and instead of going straight home, he went to a large supermarket near his residential complex.

Flashlights, emergency lights, cross jewelry, garlic, salt, Lu Ban bought a bunch of various items, tools used in movies, rumors, and stories to ward off evil.

For some reason, he also prepared a crowbar.

The crowbar felt quite handy in his grip.

Under the strange gaze of the kids nearby, Lu Ban checked out and returned to his rental apartment with his arms full of bags.

Building 4, Floor 13, Apartment 1304.

Due to the inauspiciousness of the floor and room number, the rent for this one-bedroom apartment was very cheap.

After setting down his burdens, Lu Ban first ordered takeaway.

While waiting for the takeaway, he unpacked the emergency light and installed it next to his bed, then he took out the string of garlic.

"Speaking of which, should the garlic for exorcism be crushed?"

He hesitated for a while but, in the end, didn't bother and simply hung it at the foot of the bed.

Just as he hung the garlic and was preparing to get the salt, a bit of inspiration suddenly came to him.

"They say the task only starts at midnight, so what's under the bed right now?"

The bed, a model of IKEA-style affordable wooden planks, cast a dark and gloomy shadow underneath.

Lu Ban genuinely had never seriously looked under the bed since moving in; he had only swept around the edges with a broom.

That's how it is with artistic types; once inspiration strikes, it cannot be contained.

Lu Ban was overtaken by a strong curiosity to see what was currently under the bed.

"It should be fine, right..."

He knelt on one knee, leaned forward slightly, one hand on the edge of the bed, the other supporting himself on the floor, and shifted his head downward.

Click-clack—

A sound akin to a marble hitting the ground and bouncing back suddenly echoed in the room.

Lu Ban paused.

The sound didn't seem to come from the ceiling but rather seemed to emanate from beneath the bed.

He grew even more curious.

His gaze lowered into the shadow under the bed.

Screech—

A sound as sharp as fingernails scraping a blackboard pierced Lu Ban's eardrums, and he felt a slight chill in his teeth, but his gaze had already swept under the bed.

There, in the depths of the shadow, he saw a pair of eyes staring right at him!

Lu Ban's heart missed a beat, and he quickly shone his phone's light, only to realize that it was a ragged blue Lala doll left by someone unknown.

He reached out and picked up the dust-covered doll, noticing its mouth agape as if mocking Lu Ban's overreaction.

Ding ding ding ding—

A noisy sound suddenly exploded, causing Lu Ban to shudder, almost dropping his phone. He threw the doll aside instinctively and looked at the phone screen, which showed an incoming call from a delivery service.

"Hello, oh, I'm coming."

Lu Ban opened the door, said thank you a few times as he sent off the delivery guy, and put the Shaxian shredded pork and egg fried rice on the small living room coffee table. He turned to pick up the blue Lala doll.

But when he looked toward the edge of the bed again, he noticed that the doll had disappeared at some point.

Lu Ban peered under the bed only to see, among the thick dust, the blue Lala doll's figure staring at him with two heavily made-up, large eyes.

"... Is this even reasonable?"

A sinking feeling hit Lu Ban. He retrieved the doll and placed it on the table, pinning it down with a copy of "When the Human Stars Shine."

Afterward, he didn't bother eating first; instead, he sprinkled salt under the bed, tossed in a string of garlic, threw down a toy crucifix he'd bought, and finally, placed a one hundred yuan note to suppress the evil.

Turning his head, the doll laid obediently under the book, like an inanimate object.

"It can't just be the [Under-bed Friend], can it?"

After pondering for a moment, Lu Ban decided to throw the thing into the trash downstairs.

After the garbage collection time passed, not even the king of heaven could crawl out of the trash can!

Holding the doll, Lu Ban rushed downstairs, making use of the final moments to throw it into the bin for dry trash, and watched as the garbage collector closed the lid before he headed back upstairs.

Bending down to check again, Lu Ban did not see the doll under the bed.

He relaxed, heartlessly finished watching a mukbang on a video site, polished off the Shaxian shredded pork and egg fried rice, downed a can of chilled soda, lazily wasted time by playing around, and even watched a horror movie from this world to bolster his courage until it was 11:50 PM.

With a crowbar and flashlight on the bed, Lu Ban turned off the lights, climbed into bed with the light from his phone, lay down, and quietly gripped the crowbar.

Checking the stopwatch, Lu Ban waited until the second hand hit exactly twelve o'clock, then put down his phone and closed his eyes.

He began to count his heartbeats.

*

The game content in this chapter is all nonsense made up by the author and has no effect whatsoever!

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