Chapter 0097 – Storming the Penumbra

　　”This dorm room is not quite the same as the previous ones.” Zhu Jianing stood at the entrance of the dormitory, looking like she was ready to run back at any time, “It’s a bit of that secret room escape feeling, the clues to the exit are probably hidden here, right?”

　　”I don’t know, this is the first time I’ve seen a haunted house with such a high degree of freedom, the owner has a really big heart and isn’t afraid of anything happening to the visitors.” Fei Youliang walked to the side of the chair and casually picked up the pieces of white paper, on which were respectively written – When will I die? In what way will I die? Who will be the next to go to death?

　　”Looking at this scene is a bit like a pen fairy game, but ……” Fei Youliang looked again at the ballpoint pen wrapped in transparent tape on the chair, “This pen is also too strange, right?”

　　”Could there be some kind of mechanism?” Zhu Jianing also walked over and took the ballpoint pen in his hands, pressing hard a few times and almost shattering the barrel, “It seems like a very ordinary pen.”

　　”Do you remember what the haunted house owner said before he came in?”

　　”The haunted house contains four mini-scenes, and you have to experience all of them to get a clue about the exit.”

　　”That’s right, the clues to the exit are hidden in the four mini-scenes, let’s have a good look, from my experience, there should be something like a key and a note in this dorm room.”

　　The dormitory was not big, and the two searched all the corners without finding a hint.

　　”This haunted house is a bit difficult and cleverly designed.” Fei Youliang laid the white paper in his hand flat on the table, three pieces of paper had words written on them, only one was blank on top: “Do we have to experience a game of penmanship to know the answer?”

　　”It’s not good to play the Pen Fairy Game in a haunted house.” Zhu Jianing looked at the few questions on the blank paper and was a bit flustered.

　　”Of the four small scenes in the haunted house, this is the only one that looks a bit easier, without using it as a breakthrough, are you going to go back to that classroom to look for clues?” Fei Youliang waved his hand impatiently, “Besides, do you really think there is a pen fairy in this world? Hurry over here, try it once, if it doesn’t work, just leave.”

　　He didn’t know where the problem was, he always felt that it wasn’t too comfortable, the negative emotions that had been repressed at the bottom of his heart were aroused, and he had the urge to destroy everything.

　　Zhu Jianing reluctantly walked across to Fei Youliang, the two of them standing on either side of the chair on the left and right.

　　”But I don’t know the course of the game.”

　　”Don’t worry, I’ve seen a lot of movies about Pen Fairy, and I’ve tried it at home a few times a long time ago, all of them are lies, this game can be explained by science.” Fei Youliang held the pen vertically and hovered over the only blank piece of paper, “Reach your fingers into my fingers and clasp the pen, then don’t worry about anything.”

　　”Okay.” Zhu Jianing trusted Fei Youliang and crouched down on one side of the chair, holding the ballpoint pen in the center, “And then do what?”

　　”Just keep quiet.” Fei Youliang wrote down the words yes and no on the white paper and waited until there were no more distracting noises in the girls’ dormitory to interfere, then said softly, “Pen Fairy, Pen Fairy, you are my past life, I am your present life, if you want to come, draw a circle on the paper.”

　　As soon as his words fell, the half-open door of the dormitory was suddenly blown by a gust of wind.

　　The worn room door slowly opened, and outside was the dead silent corridor.

　　Zhu Jianing shivered and shrank towards the room.

　　”Don’t move.” Fei Youliang gazed at the tip of the pen, his body like a stone statue.

　　The cloudy wind hovered in the dormitory, the scrap paper on the floor cut into his calves as if he had been gently scratched with his fingernails, the temperature lowered, and the chill spread upward along his ankles.

　　Maintaining the same movement, when in a state of high tension, human senses will become more sensitive, which is undoubtedly a kind of torture for the two people who are playing the pen fairy game.

　　The dilapidated girl’s dormitory seemed to darken a bit, the stained sheets were touched by something, it looked as if someone was crawling out from under the bed.

　　After about ten seconds or so, both of their hovering arms began to tremble gently, and the tip of the pen left a series of unconnected dots on the white paper.

　　”The Pen Fairy shouldn’t be coming, right?” Zhu Jianing still asked after holding back for half a day, he just couldn’t stand the oppressive atmosphere.

　　”Many movies say that the time to invoke the Pen Fairy is ten minutes, and if there is no response within ten minutes, it means it has failed. But this thing is originally fictionalized by people, and many times the reason why gamers think the Pen Fairy appears is actually a psychological effect.” Fei Youliang signaled him to be patient, “This place is one of the four scenes that the haunted house owner said, let’s follow his request and see what new tricks he can play.”

　　Just as he finished speaking, the ballpoint pen in his hand shifted a bit, the amplitude was small enough for both men to notice.

　　”Did you move it?”

　　In unison, they both looked at each other, both seeing a hint of surprise on the other’s face.

　　”It wasn’t me.” Zhu Jianing hurriedly denied it, he hadn’t even gotten out of the fear brought on by those eyes before he encountered this again, and was tense, “Youliang, you don’t think it’s really the Pen Fairy coming, right?”

　　”It can’t be, the Pen Fairy game is just using the environment and gameplay to bring about psychological suggestion, and the game time is intentionally arranged to be very long, with the arm hanging in the air, it will shake involuntarily due to breathing and pulse.” Fei Youliang seemed to be trying to convince himself and added, “People subconsciously fantasize that the pen itself is moving, and the subconscious mind affects subjective judgment.”

　　That is, just as he finished speaking, the pen in his hand moved again, this time very obviously.

　　The two of them exchanged glances and looked towards the white paper at the same time, the originally scattered dots on the paper were connected by a line, which happened to be drawn as an irregular circle.

　　”Crap! It seems like it’s really coming!” Zhu Jianing wanted to draw his hand back, and was grabbed by Fei Youliang at the critical moment.

　　”Whether it’s a real pen fairy or not, keep playing.”

　　”Why?”

　　”If it’s a real Pen Fairy, ending the game without sending it away without authorization will haunt it until death; if it’s a fake Pen Fairy, we don’t have to be afraid at all, everything is just a game session arranged by the haunted house owner.”

　　”Then what do you think should be done next?”

　　”Ask questions and then send the pen fairy away.” Fei Youliang was still able to keep his cool.

　　”Ask what? The questions on those other pieces of white paper?” Zhu Jianing pointed to the next few pieces of white paper.

　　”It’s a trap, you should never ask about things related to death when playing the Pen Fairy game, we can just ask random irrelevant ones.”

　　”Irrelevant questions?”

　　”Just let me do it.” Fei Youliang grabbed Zhu Jianing’s hand and didn’t let go, after a moment’s pause, he signaled Zhu Jianing to keep quiet and said softly, “Pen Fairy, Pen Fairy, can you tell me what my future wife’s name is?”

　　It was originally a casual question, but what Fei Youliang didn’t expect was that when he said this question, the gloomy wind in the girl’s dormitory suddenly stopped, and there was an oppressive to the extreme aura emanating out from behind him.

　　The pens in the two men’s hands trembled more and more violently, and they soon wrote down three words on the white paper.

　　”Go to hell!”