At eleven o’clock at night, the counselor sent a message in the group:

“Everyone to the activity hall for a meeting, those absent will lose their eligibility to stay on campus.”

Everyone was silently resentful but replied, “Received.”

Only Frank from room 202 dared to reply directly to him:

“Not coming, just killed someone, planning to run.”

01

Due to a shortage of dorm rooms, the school did not allocate any rooms for senior students, requiring us to go out for internships.

A few of us who planned to stay on campus for the summer to prepare for graduate exams barely managed to secure a dorm room.

We were all assigned to the second floor of a particular dorm building, with a counselor in charge and a group chat for unified management.

Perhaps because he had to work during the summer vacation, the counselor was particularly resentful, often calling meetings to set rules for us.

Unexpectedly, this time, someone finally confronted him.

Frank from room 202, whom I remembered as a quiet and introverted guy, suddenly became so assertive.

At that time, I thought he was just making an angry joke about killing someone.

The counselor immediately tagged another student from room 202, Mike, asking:

“Check what Frank is up to? If he doesn’t want to stay on campus, he can leave tomorrow.”

But after a while, Mike did not respond either.

I felt something was wrong.

Seven students lived on the second floor, with only room 202 having two occupants since they were originally roommates.

The counselor lived on the first floor next to the activity hall, where he had a better-equipped rest suite.

I lived in room 205, closest to their dorm. At that time, I considered going to check on room 202.

Luckily, I didn’t.

Because Frank sent another message: “Guess who I killed?”

I immediately understood and was shocked.

He killed Mike?

The counselor also took it very seriously, immediately sending a long message in the group:

“Everyone, stay in your dorms and lock the doors and windows. I have notified the campus security and the local police. Do not go out until they arrive.”

I found Frank’s words very strange, but wasn’t it a bit too hasty for the counselor to call the police without verifying upstairs?

But soon, I understood why.

Because the counselor sent a private message:

“This is a mass private message. It’s not safe to speak in the group. Please note, Frank’s phone might not be in his possession.”

02

I was stunned and quickly asked: “I don’t understand, what’s going on?”

The counselor’s next message shocked me:

“The reason I urgently called you for a meeting is that there is a murderer at large near us, and the police are searching everywhere for him!”

I gasped, finally understanding what the counselor meant.

He suspected that Frank had been killed and the murderer was now using his phone!

Realizing this, I quickly checked the doors and windows. Fortunately, I was usually careful, and everything was locked. The balcony was also secured with burglar-proof windows.

I breathed a sigh of relief and asked the counselor: “When will the police arrive?”

The counselor replied:

“The security personnel on duty will come with the campus police officers, they will arrive in ten minutes. The dormitory entrance is already closed, he has no way to escape. As long as you lock the doors and windows, there’s no need to be afraid.”

Reading this message, I also felt relieved.

Once the police arrived, everything should be fine.

But I was also worried about Frank and Mike. Although I wasn’t close to them, I knew them and sincerely hoped they were okay.

Wait!

I suddenly realized something was very wrong.

If there really was a murderer who killed them and took Frank’s phone, why would he send messages to expose himself?

Knowing the counselor would immediately call the police, he had no reason to do that, right?

The only purpose of breaking into the closed dormitory should be to hide, absolutely not to expose himself.

As I was pondering this, another message popped up on my phone:

“Did you notice that the counselor is lying?”

03

“What do you mean?”

I quickly replied and then realized it was from Richard in room 207.

After sending my message, Richard did not reply but immediately called me.

I didn’t hesitate and answered the call.

As soon as I picked up, I heard Richard’s voice:

“This is the reason, because you dared to take my call. You are Tom, right?”

I immediately responded, “Of course, it’s me! Wait, you mean the counselor…”

“Yes,” Richard seriously interrupted, “the counselor refused to take my calls, I suspect he’s not the counselor.”

I quickly asked, “Not taking a call doesn’t necessarily mean that, right?”

Richard explained: “I checked the nearby police reports online, there was no mention of a murderer at large.”

I asked, “Could it be under investigation, so it’s not disclosed to the public?”

Richard firmly said: “Impossible, especially involving a university campus. If there was really a murderer nearby, the school leaders would have returned to alert us. How could a mere counselor handle it?”

From this perspective, he indeed made sense.

“I’ve already called 911 to report it. If you’re still worried, I suggest you also call 911. In this situation, calling 911 a hundred times wouldn’t be a problem!”

Richard continued hurriedly.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, so I need to check on the safety of other students. For now, don’t believe a word from the counselor, Frank, or Mike, got it?”

I could only respond: “Got it, no problem.” After that, he hung up the phone.

But the feeling of unease intensified.

Especially the suspicion about the counselor.

If he had a problem, why would he still urge us to lock the doors and windows?

04

While waiting for Richard’s message, I also called 911 to report.

The process went very smoothly.

After explaining the situation, the operator said officers would come to investigate soon and that all I needed to do was ensure my safety.

So, at that time, I wasn’t too scared.

The dormitory was well-lit, I even turned on the bathroom and balcony lights.

Also, my phone had full signal, allowing me to communicate with the outside world without fear.

Although the situation was strange, I believed that once the police arrived, everything would have a reasonable explanation.

Whether it was the counselor, Frank, Mike, or the possible murderer, there would eventually be a truth.

Soon, I received Richard’s message.

He created a group chat and said in it:

“Except for the counselor and the two students in room 202, everyone else is contactable, so I made this group to inform each other of any situation before the police arrive.”

Looking at the group members, indeed, only Frank and Mike were missing.

Everyone started comforting and encouraging each other, and everyone had reported to the police, so there shouldn’t be any major issues.

Until Steve from room 208 suddenly sent a strange message:

“I just saw something move past the balcony? Towards Richard’s side.”

Richard was in room 207, meaning what Steve saw moved towards room 205, where I was!

Quickly, Richard also sent a message:

“There was indeed a shadow, but it flashed by, I didn’t see clearly, Tom, can you check what it is?”

Hearing this, I couldn’t help but take a few steps towards the balcony.

From a distance, I could see the burglar-proof bars on the balcony, and everything seemed fine. Maybe it was just a bird flying by that scared them?

I was about to type a reply when, in the moment I lowered my head, I saw something at the bottom of the burglar-proof bars.

There, a head was sticking up from below?

Yes, a human head!

His messy long hair covered most of his face, leaving only two large black eyes visible. The exposed skin appeared extremely pale under the balcony light.

As soon as we made eye contact, he suddenly grinned at me.

His mouth could open to almost his chin!

My legs went weak, and I sat on the ground, forgetting to scream. He looked human but also not quite human.

After smiling at me, he shrank down and disappeared. I was stunned.

I didn’t understand what I saw. Was it a person?

It was possible since it was the second floor, and people could climb up.

But how could a person look so terrifying?

05

I quickly picked up my phone and reported this in the group Richard had created.

Everyone started discussing, initially doubting if I had seen it wrong.

But gradually, they also felt something was wrong, and the discussion turned eerie. Especially Steve from room 208, who was the first to notice the shadow outside the balcony.

He said he had a bad guess.

This guess matched the current situation, and he explained slowly:

“Do you know there’s a type of mountain ghost called ‘Mountain’?”

“My hometown has it, it’s said to be a little ghost raised by the mountain god. If it escapes the mountain god’s control, it comes down the mountain to harm people.”

“They generally look like monkeys but have the ability to change. They can not only turn into human forms but also create illusions to separate and defeat people one by one.”

I wondered if the murderer and the missing Frank, Mike, and the counselor were due to ghostly mischief.

After Steve finished speaking, everyone fell silent for a while.

Because this was beyond our comprehension.

Moreover, we were all university students, we shouldn’t believe in such things.

But I couldn’t explain what I had just seen.

To be honest, I was scared.

Then Bill from room 211 timidly suggested:

“Just in case, should we gather together?”

Jim from room 209 hesitated:

“But what if we run into the bad guy then?”

They started debating, while others remained silent. I also felt something was wrong.

But I couldn’t figure out what it was.

At that moment, the counselor sent me another message:

The police coming to investigate have contacted me, they will arrive in ten minutes,

I will search the dormitory with them, trying to find Frank and Mike, please stay calm, lock the doors and windows, and do not go out.

This was obviously a mass message from the counselor.

It attracted my attention again, and the question resurfaced in my mind:

If Richard was right and the counselor had a problem, why did he repeatedly emphasize locking the doors and windows? Moreover, he directly mentioned one point:

He contacted the police!

But Richard said the counselor refused to take calls.

This was quite contradictory.

Thinking of this, I couldn’t help but press the voice call button on the counselor’s chat box.

To my surprise, he answered immediately!

A familiar voice came through the phone:

Tom? Did you get the message? Is something wrong? I was stunned.

06

After a while, I asked:

“Sir, did Richard call you?”

The counselor paused and replied:

“No, why? Did something happen to him?”

At that moment, I knew either the counselor or Richard was lying!

Maybe the counselor deliberately didn’t take Richard’s call, but I couldn’t guess the reason because Richard talked to me personally.

Or maybe Richard never called the counselor and was lying to me, and the reason might be in the new group chat?

Before figuring out who was lying, I didn’t dare tell the counselor everything happening. I just made some excuses, saying I was scared and worried about my classmates.

He seemed busy and anxious and didn’t notice I was lying. Then we ended the call.

I returned to the new group chat, where dozens of messages had been exchanged, concluding that we should gather together!

In Bill’s dorm room 211, the farthest from room 202.

This meant I had to open my dorm door and go out?

They had already decided, no room for discussion.

I checked the chat history; Jim from room 209 initially disagreed but was convinced.

I clicked his avatar in the chat, just to ask his opinion, and unexpectedly discovered something terrifying.

After clicking his avatar, I couldn’t message him directly but was prompted to add him as a friend! What was going on?

I had already added him as a friend, and I had everyone’s contact. Could it be…

This Jim wasn’t the real Jim? I felt a chill down my spine.

But I still clicked “Add Friend” and sent the request.

While waiting for his response, I clicked on the avatars in the group one by one, only to find the same result—they weren’t my friends!

They were all fake accounts?

At that moment, I suddenly found myself kicked out of the group chat! My scalp tingled.

If the counselor hadn’t sent a message, I might have been led to open the dorm door and walk to room 211.

Terrifying to think about!

But I didn’t understand why Richard, who was indeed himself, would create such a group and deceive me into going out?

If Frank’s phone was taken by the perpetrator, what was his situation?

As I was confused, something worse happened.

All the lights suddenly went out. A power outage!