[…I’m not the only resident being plagued by their overtly enthusiastic invitations.
There’s a woman staying in Room 102 – don’t know her na, but she lives in the sa building as I do. We’re on the sa boat, it seems.
It was through her that I discovered anomalies in the community.
She’s a young, beautiful, but aloof woman. She is exactly the type of woman who you would see in the movies, rejecting anybody that cos her way from thousands of miles away.
Such a woman would not associate herself with .
I happened to read on the registration form at the managent office that she has a son studying in the local primary school, and a mother suffering from Alzheir’s at ho.
For so reason, she disliked contact with anybody. She would deliberately avoid people if they happened to bump into her in the community.
Hence, she’s the type of person to not attend parties, let alone the welco party.
The difference between us is that it’s in her character to not attend gatherings like these, while I was forced to not attend due to an illness.
And that difference unites us. We are the only outliers in the Happy Community.
Coming back ho late the other day, I stumbled into her arguing with the security guard downstairs. Her voice was sharp, stinging, demanding to know the location of her mother who has went missing.
However, the security guards on duty failed to find her, and they failed to provide any useful surveillance footage.
Their heated argunt went on all night, but I didn’t pay them much attention.
An old woman with Alzheir’s going missing is sothing that is to be expected – if anything, I felt that it was the woman’s fault for not keeping a close eye on her mother.
I would notice her looking for her mother for about two or three weeks, and she looked increasingly troubled the more I saw her. In the end, she gave up.
Another few weeks later, I bumped into her downstairs, sitting on a bench in front of the building with a somber expression. She saw walking past, and unexpectedly, she called out to .
“I sympathize with you, and envy you for being able to stay in an apartnt like this,” she spoke eloquently to .
Because of my job, I never have the opportunity to talk to won, let alone such a beautiful one in front of .
It was silent and awkward. With a dry smile, I rembered that I should reply to her, “Is living in an apartnt a bad thing? I an, they give you a little garden to tend to on the first floor, so…”
“It is,” she said. “Staying in the first floor ans you’re closer to the ground. Closer to gravestones, skeletons, Jew harps, and strange visions.”
“Ah, interesting,” I had no idea what she was yapping about, and gave the driest answer known to man. Turning around, I subconsciously glanced at the window of her unit, only to notice nothing but black.
Moving closer, I could see a face gradually coming closer on the reflection of the glass, approaching closer and closer-
“Be careful,” the woman stepped up to and whispered in a calm voice. “They’re watching you.”
Who? Our neighbours? The security guards? The managent staff?
I fear that she might be a little emotional due to the loss of her mother.
That night, I searched for videos regarding a Jew’s harp, listening to its weird lodies.
It’s strange – a peculiar mix of lody and onomatopoeia. Like vibrating airflows, like the low hums of tal bouncing, like the low growls of an unknown beast, like endless, incessant chanting…
Why a Jew’s harp? What does that have to do with anything? I’ve never heard anything like that up in my unit.
Is that what she was hearing close to the ground?…]
Reading this, Jiangli placed her tablet down on the bed, and rummaged through the files relating to the Night Division’s investigation on the Happy Community.
Their investigation took place underground, and Jiangli has always disliked places like these. Sewers, basent, underground parking lots, and the like – those places were humid, dark, and resemble tombs.
In fact, these are the primary investigation places for the Night Division while researching on potential urban legends.
[The sewers in the Happy Community are cleaner than an untainted maiden’s hand…]
Reading the investigation file, the corners of her mouth twitched slightly. The investigation must have been in vain, considering that this is all he could co up with.
Bai Kai’s investigation report displayed that the underground systems of the Happy Community were spick and span, with no detectable psychic fluctuations. Despite the sewers appearing as though they are regularly cleaned, his investigation report concluded that there was certainly sothing abnormal present.
Although he didn’t give a reason why he thought it was abnormal, I fully understand why he did, Jiangli nodded.
A perfectly clean underground area, both physically and in psychic standards… sothing slls fishy – like they’re trying to cover sothing up.
[…The days went on, but my neighbours are still as friendly as ever to .
However, because of that woman, I began keeping a closer eye on the community.
I began noticing that the birds flying past my unit every morning looked exactly the sa, and so were their chirps.
My neighbours were all young – just like the rumours, nobody who lived here seed to be over forty.
After bedti, I noticed a man who lives in the building opposite of mine looking around with a pair of binoculars. Is he spying on ?
I’m starting to feel unsafe in my own ho. I’ve seen strange markings appearing on my door.
And a recurring dream. Or should I say, a recurring nightmare…
I dreamt of a figure with a vague, blurry face lurking within my ho. It was visibly stronger than , and yet, slightly shorter. It seed so ordinary that I could mistake it as anybody on the streets.
It hid in a dark corner of my bedroom, by the foot of my bed. Sotis behind my door. Watching. Observing.
I chalked it up to that woman ssing up with my thoughts. Who cares about living on the first floor? Or a Jew’s Harp? Her words are negatively influencing regardless.
However, a month later, I’d co to realize that sothing was very wrong with the community.
That evening, coming ho from work, I could sense sobody following .
Its footsteps intertwined with mine – light and slow. Calculated, like a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse.
Looking back, I would only be greeted with a stone path, and grass that grew on both sides of the path, neatly trimd off by the community’s gardeners.
I continued my walk ho, but I heard the footsteps again, and this ti, they were lighter than before, but much, much closer.
I turned around imdiately and saw a man standing behind .
It was one of the managent’s staff, wearing a black suit. His muscles could be seen visibly underneath his shirt, but he was shorter than in stature. He was the very sa staff mber who invited to the welco party.
Not sure what his na is.
In fact, I don’t think anybody in the community does either. All of them were recruited online, and I guess that only the managent knows of their identities.
He did not try to hide. Instead, he greeted with a smile.
There was sothing unnerving about his smile. As if it was forged, like an alien learning how to smile to blend in with humans.
“We’re having a small party this weekend,” he smiled. “I hope you’ll be able to attend this ti. To make up for the welco party you missed, correct? Everybody here wants to get to know you!”
“…everybody?”
“All of managent, and of course, your neighbours,” he grinned.
I suddenly rembered the woman who lived in Room 102, and asked, “Even the lady who lives on the first floor?”
“Yes. Her too,” he responded while staring straight into my eyes.
“…alright. I’ll see if I’m free then.”
At the ti, our company was preparing for a project, and my work schedule is as inconsistent as it can be. I couldn’t guarantee that I’ll be able to attend the small party anyways.
Strangely enough, my vague answer seed to have angered him. His smile was still plastered on his face, but I saw rage in his eyes.
When I turned around to leave, I could still feel eyes on . It might be the staff mber, but I couldn’t bring myself to look back. I decided to take my phone out and use the cara as a ans to look backwards, but what I saw on my phone, I…
The staff mber was still staring at my back with no expression. His eyes didn’t seem human at all, as if I was nothing but prey.
Further away, I could see my neighbours with their dogs all coming to a halt, staring at my back with wide eyes. Even their dogs were motionless and staring at , as if they were under so sort of spell.
My body scread at to turn around, and the mont I did, that spell seed to be lifted imdiately.
The neighbours resud their walks like they never stopped; the dogs frolicked in the grass like they never stopped; the staff mber smiled at like he never stopped…
“Yes? Can I help you?”
“N-no. No. No… it’s nothing.”
His words brought out of the trance, and I walked quickly back ho without stopping.
Even then, I felt their unmoving eyes on . As if they wanted to do sothing malicious to .
Their eyes were like nails piercing through my body.
Is there anything more terrifying than being treated as Public Enemy No. 1 by your neighbours, and even your house’s managent?…]
“…a spell?”
Jiangli put her tablet down and flipped through the files, which contained data from a sample survey given to residents living in the Happy Community. The data showed that there were no traces of curses or any other psychic influence on the residents.
“An urban legend’s influence, perhaps? Or have they fully transford into dependents?”
Jiangli picked up the tablet once more.
[…When I hurried downstairs of the apartnt, I saw the son of the woman from a distance. A mber of managent was squatting down next to him, talking to him as he reached for sothing in his pocket.
I recalled my previous experience with the manager, and felt that the child might be in grave danger. I was about to step forward to intervene when I heard the woman screaming behind .
“No! Don’t touch my son!” she shouted.
I turned back to look at her, and I was frightened to see her. Sohow, she seed to have aged by ten years – if it wasn’t for her voice, I wouldn’t have recognized her.
Afterwards, I wouldn’t see her for another week. When I saw her again, sothing terrible seed to happen.
Because her son has disappeared.
I was coming back ho after buying dinner at the canteen, and I saw her running towards from a distance. She wore nothing but a nightgown, and her hair was absolutely disheveled. Sothing must’ve happened to her, and she seed incredibly depressed.
“H-have you seen my son?” she huffed, catching her breath.
“No,” I simply said, and she ran away without another word, disappearing into the night.
Not long after I returned ho, I could hear the vague sounds of police sirens, and guessed that the woman must’ve called them here.
Listening to the intermittent sound of sirens as I ate, I recalled the ti where the managent staff was talking with the woman’s son, and I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Dear Reader, imagine that there are people near your ho with the intention of harming you – sowhere where you should feel safe at all tis…
The days gone by, and I was buried in mountains of work. I ended up sleeping overnight at work for several nights in a row, and I wouldn’t have known if the woman ended up attending the follow-up party.
It didn’t occur to that she would be missing.
When I went to find her, there was a thick layer of dust on the windows and the door to her unit.
Again, I couldn’t see anything through her window. I tried shouting, but got no response from her.
…
Am I the only one left?
I still have those sa nightmares every night, but they were getting much clearer, and the strange figures were getting closer and closer to night by night.
I stopped going ho after that. I brought a folding bed to work, and only ca ho once to pack sets of clothes to wear in the office.
A week would pass, but sothing happened. The figure in the dream t with .
That night, I buried my head in work once again. My colleagues were done with their work, and the whole office was empty.
In the wee hours of the morning, the sky was pitch dark, and the gloomy clouds hung low, as if they were trying to trap anything that tried to fly out.
Then, the rain ca, and so did the heavy thunder and lightning that shook the community to its core.
Big drops of rain slamd themselves onto the window, and I could no longer concentrate on work. I laid down on the bed I brought to rest and fiddled with my phone before falling unconscious.
I dreamt about the sa figure who has been haunting every night – it sneaked into the office building under the rain, went up the stairs of the fire exit, and ca to the door of my office’s unit.
I realized very quickly in my lucid state that I had to run away, but my hands and feet seed to stop working, and I was forced to lay still on my bed.
All I could do was watch in horror as the figure, shuffling between the desks and chairs, approached closer and closer to . Then, it climbed on top of , though my bed made no creaking sounds.
I had no idea who it was.
Its face was as blurry and unrecognizable as it always was.
It hunched over, squatting on my chest as it held a tiny mallet and sothing pale, thin, and tentacle-like that glimred as the lightning struck over the building.
I knew want it wanted to do – it wanted to hamr that strange thing into my skull.
I knew I was dreaming, but I felt the sharp, stinging cold that penetrated my skull, accompanied by the excruciating pain that slamd into my brain one strike after another.
I reflexively tried to scream under the intense pain and fear, trying my best to wiggle around. Finally, I woke up.
The cold rain greeted as I opened my eyes. Looking at the streets around , I was so petrified that I fell to the wet concrete underneath .
It turns out that, in my dream, I sohow left my office and returned to the gate of the Happy Community. I could vaguely see shadows standing behind the gate, like gravestones.
I could hear weird bursts of music coming further inside – soft, muted, like a strange mix of lodies and onomatopoeia; like tal vibrating against each other; like every syllable coming alive to drive itself into my brain…
The Jew’s harp! That’s what it is!
It’s impossible to forget that instrunt once you hear it.
I soon realized that this was what caused the woman to disappear, and they’re coming to get now. I started running for my life, and I never looked back.
From that day onwards, I lived my life in fear. I was scared, afraid that I would disappear like that woman and her family.
But, what other choice do I have? Do I continue living in the community and die as soon as I hit forty?
I don’t care who it is or how it happens. Save my soul. Help . I don’t want to disappear. Save . Save . Save . Save . Save .
[THE REMAINING CONTENTS OF THIS POST HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR VIOLATING COMMUNITY GUIDELINES, AND HAS BEEN DELETED OR RESTRICTED BY THE MODERATORS OF THE FORUM.]
…
REWARDS: Extended Lifespan (10 Years), Property in the Happy Community]
A Jew’s Harp… that may be a key elent.
After reading the lengthy entry of the commission, Jiangli put down her tablet and rubbed her slightly swollen temples.
She initially thought that the urban legends surrounding the Happy Community would be contained within the community itself, just like the urban legends surrounding Shihekou High.
If that was the case, they could rinse-and-repeat and simply impose strict surveillance and placent of seals to minimize the harm they would bring to civilians.
However, after reading the entry, she realized that things may not be as simple as she thought it was.
The figure in the story sohow left the community to go to the person’s office, and haunted him to the point where he’s facing severe paranoia. Plus, the urban legends are sohow able to conceal their psychic fluctuations, coupled with the ability to ss with a person’s mind…
“I would classify them as a B Threat or higher. Unpredictability is a major factor…”
As she thought about it, her phone buzzed. Taking a look, it was a ssage from VACCARIA.
[VACCARIA: Yo, you asleep?]
[Genius Mahjong Girl: Yeah.]
[VACCARIA: Ooh, you’re sleepwalking? Could you please send a selfie as promised? I know you aren’t using a landline – I know it! It says right here that you’re logged into your phone right now! Selfie! Selfie! Selfie!]
“…”
Jiangli sighed, opening her gallery and sent the pictures that she had prepared for VACCARIA.
[Genius Mahjong Girl has sent an image.]
[Genius Mahjong Girl: There. Happy? Now that you got my selfie, make ample preparations. I don’t need you holding back during our mission. 🫰]
[VACCARIA: ???]
TRANSLATOR NOTES:
NOTICE (14/6/2024): I am very sorry, but there won’t be any updates today or next week. I just got ho and found that my dog has passed away, most likely due to a case of serial dog poisoning happening in our area. I am filled with nothing but regret for not being there when she needs and I am afraid that she died lonely and afraid. I am not in the correct ntal state to translate for now and I deeply apologize for that. I will see all of you most likely the following week. Thank you for understanding. -slicedbread
EDIT: Thank you again for pointing out the discrepancies and describing the sound of the Jew’s Harp! I’ve adjusted the translation to fit it better!
If you want to listen to what a Jew’s Harp sounds like, Google has a nifty function that lets you listen to how it sounds when you search it up. To , it kind of sounds like sheets of tal wiggling in a cartoonish way – unsure how that would sound creepy, but things are certainly escalating to be very creepy…
As always, if you’d like to support this translation, you can do so at my Ko-Fi with the button below! ^.^
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