Due to the second requirement for immigration applications:
"Have a clear understanding of Pseudo-Persons, anomalies, and related concepts of monsters, and possess a certain cognitive ability regarding horror literature".
As a result, humans who have immigrated from other countries have a relatively high recognition and a keen interest in horror literature. Moreover, their offspring born in the new country will receive education in horror literature during their growth, developing related hobbies from a young age.
In the United Nations, there are many horror literature websites, which are among the most favorite online destinations of most people in their leisure time.
4hs is one such comprehensive horror forum.
Because the website rarely exposes itself and registration for the forum comes with certain restrictions, it tends to attract a young crowd that favors deep horror.
The 4hs forum was initially divided into five major types or sections of horror literature:
1. "Gore and Discomfort"
5. "Supernatural Phenomena"
Each major section was further divided into subtypes, for example, the monster section included Zombie, Werewolf-Vampire, Sci-Fi Alien, and Giant Creature categories, among others.
As times change, more and more new types of horror culture have emerged, and the forum updates its sections accordingly, such as the recently popular Body Horror category.
While using 4hs to exchange and discuss horror literature, many people have also found partners with common interests through the forum, and even developed romantic relationships through the site’s built-in social system.
Andy was one of the 4hs users, not particularly seasoned, having registered an account only after starting his job.
His favorite section to visit was the Assassin category.
He met his girlfriend there; both are fans of serial killer movies and are somewhat interested in other horror literature as well.
Although they have been confirmed as a couple for a full two months, they have never met offline.
And recently, Andy encountered a strange incident.
He works as a car repairman, with work hours mainly in the afternoon and evening, often only finishing work after 10 p.m.
About a week ago, Andy started feeling like someone was following him on his way home.
As someone who likes horror movies and had learned a few combat moves at school, Andy always carried the tools he used for car repairs with him.
Whenever he felt the presence of the stalker, he would suddenly turn back, or pretend not to notice, sneaking off at the next intersection and hiding to observe from afar.
But no matter what he did, he could never see the stalker, not even a hint of a clue.
It seemed that as soon as he showed any sign of alertness, the stalker would immediately vanish.
The mysterious individual always seemed to evade surveillance and only followed Andy when he was alone.
This stalking would only continue up to the front door of his home; once Andy reached the residential area he rented in, the stalking would cease.
Since their city was quite special, there was no Investigation Bureau presence. After discussing the matter with his girlfriend and deciding what to do, Andy took out some money and sought out a local agency, asking them to find the stalker. Fresh chapters posted on Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
With the agency’s involvement, Andy no longer felt the presence of the stalker, and everything seemed to return to normal.
A new horror film called Night of Fear was about to premiere locally.
Andy mustered the courage to buy two tickets and for the first time, asked his online girlfriend to meet up. Though he thought it would be a difficult process, they quickly arranged the time and place with a few simple sentences.
Excited about the prospect of ending his 27 years of singlehood, Andy hardly slept that night.
If he wasn’t imagining what his girlfriend looked like, he was thinking about what to wear the next day, even daydreaming of the various scenarios that might unfold upon meeting.
Andy arrived punctually at the meeting point. Although it was their first time meeting, considering they both were fans of serial killer movies, he deliberately wore a long coat and big head leather shoes, even hanging the hammer he used for repairs on his waist.
He also sent a photo of his outfit to his girlfriend and mentioned that he would wait at Seat No. 3 in the cinema’s waiting area.
As time ticked by and the appointment time was already long past, there was still no sign of his girlfriend.
The messages he sent went unanswered as well.
The movie was about to start,
Just when Andy thought he was being stood up, ding! His bracelet popped up an interface with a message from the special person he was monitoring.
Andy looked up and was instantly stunned.
The "young lady" waving and greeting him was entirely different from any scenario he had envisioned.
Andy had never actively inquired about the other party’s physical appearance and didn’t expect her to be strikingly beautiful, but the situation before him was more than he could bear.
The "young lady" holding a large popcorn in one hand and a big soda in the other had a more robust stature than he, a car repairman.
With a height barely over one meter sixty, her weight appeared to be well over two hundred pounds.
The "young lady" was also dressed in an unconventional serial killer outfit.
A somewhat unsettling clown makeup and a black-and-white striped top that didn’t quite fit, paired with tight leather pants that seemed ready to burst.
She also had an incongruously styled leather backpack, as though it contained tools for a crime.
Such physique and attire would draw a lot of attention anywhere she went.
"Night Demon sir?" the young lady called out Andy’s online username in advance.
The education Andy had received prevented him from leaving on the spot, and he tried to keep his expression as natural as possible.
The girl ran towards him and apologized repeatedly, "Sorry, I was a bit delayed on the way, let’s go! The movie is about to start."
Andy’s mind had long since drifted away from the movie; he kept observing the girl beside him, finding it hard to believe she was the person he’d been talking to online.
It wasn’t just about the appearance,
The girl’s behaviors were equally awkward, removing her shoes as soon as she sat down and draping one foot over the backrest of the seat in front.
Throughout the movie, she kept chewing on popcorn non-stop.
The "crunch, crunch" sounds almost accompanied the entire screening, and occasionally she would cough violently from eating too fast, then chug down a large bottle of Coke.
As the movie neared the end,
The girl made an extremely exaggerated gesture, seemingly because a piece of popcorn was stuck deep in her tooth gap and she couldn’t pry it out no matter what.
Left with no choice, the girl removed all of her teeth.
Yes, they were false teeth.
Andy guessed that she was only around twenty years old, yet she was already wearing a full set of dentures, cleaning the filth between them with her hands before stuffing them back into her dilapidated mouth.
Andy had made up his mind; after briefly discussing the plot with her, he excused himself, claiming stomach pain.
She didn’t stop him, just waved goodbye normally, looking forward to their next date.
Back at his rental apartment.
The more Andy thought about it, the more something felt wrong; he couldn’t believe that his girlfriend of two months would be . He sat in front of the computer and clicked into her personal profile.
In fact, he had visited it countless times before.
The album was full of horror movie screenshots and some everyday scenic photos; none showed her face.
Andy continued to browse through his girlfriend’s past posts.
Finally, he found a post from three years ago where she uploaded a photo of her upper body wearing a terrifying mask. The girl in the photo was not fat at all, in fact, she had a great figure.
It’s just a pity that the mask covered her face, making it impossible to recognize her specifics.
"Could she have gained so much weight in three years? Maybe she’s suffered some sort of blow... It’s indeed possible, after all, living in this city, everyone’s under a lot of psychological stress.
Forget it, no more online chatting for me."
Andy closed his laptop disheartened and went to the bathroom to wash himself from head to toe, trying as best as he could to forget the scent and the so-called girlfriend he had come into contact with.
After finishing his bath.
Andy, no longer bound by his conscience, was ready to delete his girlfriend’s contact information right away.
But as he stepped out of the bathroom, towel-drying himself, he froze.
Something had appeared on the computer chair.
It was the girl’s backpack from their date that night.
Pink, bulging, and unsettling...
Andy remembered it vividly because it did not match her outfit at all, and it had been sitting in the vacant seat next to them during the movie.
His first reaction wasn’t to touch the backpack but to check the rest of the premises.
After confirming there was no one in the room and no signs of the doors or windows being opened, he slowly approached the backpack. At the same time, he contacted the agency he had worked with before, stating there might have been a break-in and asking them to come over.
Having received a response from the agency, he approached the backpack with a metal hammer in hand.
One hand grasping the zipper, he slid it open slowly!
A mass of dense black hair squeezed out from the gap in the zipper.
Even Andy, who had a certain tolerance for horror literature, stepped back in fright at the sight but didn’t sit down.
Instead, he took a photo of the scene and sent it to the agency, urging them to come quickly.
He approached once more and began to inspect the contents of the bag.
The severed head of a woman looked to be about twenty, quite beautiful, and matched Andy’s imagined impression of his girlfriend, even exceeding it.
Even though Andy had never met this woman, he felt an eerie familiarity, and a dreadful suspicion crossed his mind.
The sudden sound from the wristband startled him, and looking down at it made him break out in a cold sweat; it was a message from the ’girlfriend’ he hadn’t managed to delete.
"Mr. Nightmare, is your girlfriend beautiful? Also, thank you very much for accompanying me to the movies tonight. The men before, they would all run away at the sight of me.
I will treasure you well."
Andy’s arms trembled with fear, soon overtaken by anger.
With anger-shaky fingers, he began to rapidly type a reply:
"You dirty fat pig, don’t let me catch you! Or I’ll smash you into pulp and feed you to the pigs! I***"
After finishing the editing and clicking send.
A series of notification sounds emanated from somewhere inside the room—the message recipient was inside the room!
Andy’s whole body tensed, gripping the hammer even tighter. If the person was inside the room, even better, he could just smash them on the spot, like a Murderer.
Andy followed the sound, slowly bending down, looking under the bed.
If anything emerged from beneath it, he was ready to swing the hammer firmly gripped in his hand.
when he fully bent down and reached out to lift the hanging bedsheet,
he found the space beneath the bed empty, except for an arm with a wristband.
A plump girl with clown makeup plastered on her face was lying on the ceiling, smiling down at him.