My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

The first three went to the Lakeview Community with the intention of joining in the fun and testing their courage, while the latter two hoped to capture some hot spots in the community, gain some traffic, and raise enough money for next semester's tuition.

The five of them walked into the Lakeview residential area.

None of them noticed that as they stepped into the grounds of Building 1, Phase 2, the surroundings gradually became deserted and fell into a deathly silence.

The streetlights behind them were still on, but the light seemed to have been sucked away by something, and they couldn't see the road beneath their feet.

The barking of dogs in the distance stopped, and even the rustling of leaves in the wind disappeared.

The entire space felt as if it were covered by a giant dome, isolating all sounds from the outside.

Xiao Ping got goosebumps.

He crossed his arms over his chest, rubbing his palms together to try and warm himself up. He exhaled a puff of white breath, the kind that only comes out in winter.

"Why does it feel like the temperature around here has dropped several degrees?" His voice trembled slightly. "It's not summer yet. Could it be that this neighborhood is really..."

"Don't scare yourself," Yao Bai interrupted him seriously from the side.

She pushed up her glasses, her tone as calm as if she were answering a question in class.

"This lakeside community is close to Sanjiang Lake. At night, the land cools down faster than the lake. The lake breeze turns into a land breeze, and the cool air from the lake continues to blow towards the community. There is not much greenery along the lake, so heat does not easily accumulate, which makes the area around the community much cooler."

After hearing Yao Bai babbling on and on, Liu Dadan, who was standing in front of him, turned around, his face full of confusion.

"What are you talking about? I don't understand." He looked Yao Bai up and down. "You guys aren't scared, are you?"

Yao Bai's face darkened, and his voice rose a few decibels. "Who's afraid? I'm just—"

Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Ping stopped her. Xiao Ping stepped forward with an awkward smile, blocking Yao Bai's pathetic stance, his tone carrying a hint of flattery.

"Indeed, it's eerie around here. Who wouldn't be scared, except for Brother Liu?"

Liu Dadan laughed loudly, his laughter echoing through the empty street, sounding particularly jarring. He put his arm around Xiaoqin's waist, and Xiaoqin playfully slapped the back of his hand, saying "You're so annoying," but didn't push his hand away.

"Hahaha! Follow me closely!" Liu Dadan turned around, gestured with his chin towards Xiao Ping, and said, "Remember to take lots of pictures of my handsome figure!"

Yao Bai tugged at Xiao Ping's sleeve angrily and asked in a low voice, "Why didn't you let me finish speaking?"

Xiao Ping lowered his voice, his tone a few decibels heavier than usual. "Try to avoid conflict. Besides Liu Dadan, who else would be willing to come into this godforsaken place with us in the middle of the night?"

He paused for a moment and glanced at Yao Bai's face.

"Also, you'd better change your personality. In horror movies, people like you die the fastest."

Yao Bai snorted and turned his head to the side. "Horror movies, horror movies, horror movies all day long. I think you've become obsessed with watching horror movies."

Xiao Ping sighed and said nothing more.

In this less-than-harmonious atmosphere, the five people walked to the front of Building 1, Phase II of the Lakeview Residential Complex.

The building stood alone by the lake, its exterior paint faded, revealing the grayish-white cement beneath. The windows were dark, and not a single light was on.

Liu Dadan stood in front of the building, looking up at the top floor. "This is it?" he said with a hint of disdain. "Nothing special about it."

Xiaoqin clung to his arm, pressing her body very close, it was hard to tell whether she was genuinely scared or just being affectionate.

Wu Sangui stood on the other side of Liu Dadan, took out his phone and turned on the flashlight, the light shining into the stairwell. The iron gate at the entrance of the stairwell was half open, and the building was pitch black.

Xiao Ping picked up the camera and pointed the lens at the iron gate. His finger hovered over the power button, hesitated for a moment, and then pressed it. The camera screen lit up, displaying the scene in the stairwell on the small screen.

Yao Bai stood behind him, gripping the straps of his backpack with both hands, pursing his lips and remaining silent.

Liu Dadan was the first to enter the stairwell of Unit 1. His footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell, each step heavy, as if declaring his presence. Xiaoqin followed behind him, her high heels clicking crisply on the terrazzo floor.

Wu Sangui walked third, holding his phone. Xiao Ping followed with his camera, and Yao Bai brought up the rear.

The motion-activated lights in the hallway were broken. No matter how much they stomped their feet or coughed, the lights wouldn't turn on. Only the beam of Wu Sangui's cell phone flashlight flickered on the wall, illuminating the peeling paint.

Someone spray-painted some words on the wall, but they are too old and the writing is now blurred.

There was some trash scattered on the ground: empty beverage bottles, cigarette boxes, and broken glass, which made a crunching sound when stepped on.

Xiao Ping raised the camera high, the lens sweeping across every corner of the corridor. He pressed his eye to the viewfinder, looking at the world through the lens.

That would make him feel safer.

It was as if there was a layer of glass between him and those bad things, preventing them from touching him.

The five people looked around in the hallway on the first floor.

Several fluorescent light tubes overhead were broken, and the remaining ones were covered with a layer of dust, obscuring their original color. Apart from being a bit old, this layer was otherwise unremarkable.

They tried to take the elevator. A thick layer of dust covered the elevator doors, and the buttons on the control panel were stuck, as if something was jamming them.

Wu Sangui reached out and pressed it a few times, but there was no response.

Liu Dadan complained, "Doesn't this residential complex have any property management?"

Wu Sangui shrugged, standing to the side: "I dare say this building has been abandoned for a long time; there's no property management there anymore."

The five did not want to leave. Liu Dadan turned and walked towards the stairwell, with the others following behind.

The emergency exit door was half-open, and the handle was rusted and felt rough to the touch.

They walked up the safety passage.

The sound of five people's footsteps echoed on the stairs, the clattering sound reverberating in the narrow space.

With each step, the echo bounced several times in the stairwell, as if someone was following behind with the same steps.

All the voice-activated lights were out of order, and only the light from Wu Sangui's cell phone flashlight flickered in the darkness.

Quiet and dark. Of the five, only Liu Dadan took the biggest steps, his shoes making a dull thud on the steps, as if deliberately creating a commotion.

The others, influenced by the atmosphere, became somewhat timid and hesitant, their steps becoming much lighter, as if afraid of disturbing something.

After all, in the stairwell of this abandoned building, no one knows what terrifying thing awaits them around the next corner of the emergency exit.

Liu Dadan glanced back, a mocking smile creeping across his face, and let out a sneer. He took a deep breath, then suddenly opened his mouth and shouted.

"ah!!!!!!"

A deafening scream exploded in the narrow stairwell, like a bomb detonating in an enclosed space. The sound hit the walls, bouncing back and forth several times, making eardrums buzz. The four people behind him jumped up almost simultaneously in fright. Xiaoqin screamed, Wu Sangui nearly dropped his phone, Yao Bai gripped his backpack strap tightly, and Xiao Ping's camera shook, the image becoming a blur.

Liu Dadan pointed at them and burst into laughter, the sound echoing in the hallway. "Look at you! It's just an abandoned building, why are you so cowardly?"

He turned around and continued talking as he walked upstairs, his tone carrying a lecturing quality.

"As staunch advocates of materialism, you should be more worried about whether there are fugitives hiding in here than whether there are ghosts around the next corner. If there really are fugitives, my shout just now would have scared them out of their wits by ten years."

Xiaoqin puffed out her cheeks and punched Liu Dadan in the back, her voice filled with anger and annoyance.

"I think you're trying to scare me out of ten years!"

The other three also looked at Liu Dadan with somewhat resentful eyes. Wu Sangui shook his head, Yao Bai pursed his lips and didn't speak, and Xiao Ping steadied the camera again; the image was still shaking slightly.