Chapter 170-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 170 Another Self (I)
At first glance, even Zhu Ning found the Dead Post's title unsettling. Purifying Contamination Zones was supposed to protect ordinary people, but right now ordinary people didn't even know how long they had left.
At this critical juncture, was Prometheus sending her into a Contamination Zone a bit beside the point?
Then again, if she succeeded, it would only cost a few hours at most. If she failed, she'd die inside.
Either way—only two outcomes. Neither would significantly affect the current situation.
Zhu Ning already knew this was how her other self communicated with her. Otherwise she wouldn't even bother going.
This game was bound to have an "easter egg." What did the other her want to say this time?
The Dead Post was an internet segment. The show was called "Little Ghost's Ghost Talk," hosted by someone called Little Ghost.
The premise: share your real paranormal experiences. The show featured live call-ins with people who'd actually experienced supernatural events.
Because the callers were real eyewitnesses, the immersion was intense and the chat interaction was excellent.
There was also a segment where the host helped callers solve their problems. The host was supposedly an exorcist himself, and the chat would chime in with suggestions.
Zhu Ning entered the livestream. No timestamp was displayed—she couldn't tell if it was a recording or live.
The vertical video had a blood-red wall as the backdrop, plastered with several yellow talismans—clearly the host's attempt at creating a horror atmosphere. It looked exactly like a low-budget charlatan setup.
A blood-red horror filter covered the frame. Seated before the camera was a round-faced man in a Taoist robe who looked every bit the fraud. "Hello everyone, welcome to Little Ghost's Ghost Talk. I'm your host, Little Ghost."
Little Ghost went through his usual routine of interacting with the chat—begging for tips and likes—then pressed a button. "Next up, let's welcome today's first guest. How should we address you?"
After a pause, static crackled from the other end of the line. About three seconds later, a voice came through—distorted by a voice changer. "Just call me Xiao Yuan."
Obviously a pseudonym. Zhu Ning guessed this was the main character.
Little Ghost: "Hello, Xiao Yuan. What kind of trouble have you run into?"
Breathing came through the phone. Xiao Yuan seemed to be speaking with her mouth pressed close to the receiver, making her breathing especially loud.
Xiao Yuan lowered her voice: "There seems to be an extra person in my house. I don't know what to do. I'm too scared to talk to it."
[Starting off this intense today?]
[Interesting—more, more.]
The host had heard plenty of ghost stories. He wasn't actually scared, but to maintain the horror vibe, he put on a grave expression and lowered his voice: "Can you describe specifically what kind of person?"
Xiao Yuan: "I—I don't know, but it appeared out of nowhere."
Little Ghost frequently received incoherent calls and offered some guidance: "Can't your family see it?"
Xiao Yuan: "My—my family all think it's me."
Little Ghost: "How could they think that? Surely family members wouldn't get it wrong."
"No," Xiao Yuan's voice was pressed very low, sounding desperate. "They really did get it wrong. All my friends get it wrong too. Whenever I'm not around, it pretends to be me. And it plays the part better than I do. I feel like it's about to replace me."
Little Ghost was quiet for a moment. A comment drifted across the screen: [I know this one—the two people are actually the same person.]
[Right, maybe Xiao Yuan should see a psychiatrist. Works every time.]
[Nah—most mentally ill people don't know they're sick. The moment they get diagnosed, that's when they really lose it.]
Little Ghost asked: "How did you first discover it?"
Xiao Yuan seemed to be calling from somewhere unusual. Her voice sounded strange—as if she were in some kind of enclosed space. "I—I feel like it's existed for a long time, but I never knew it was there."
"To protect my privacy, I won't talk about my actual home," Xiao Yuan said. "There are a lot of people in my family. I have many brothers and sisters."
Xiao Yuan: "I'm an extremely ordinary person—ordinary to the point of having zero distinguishing features. My hobbies are pretty limited too—I just like reading novels and playing games."
"That day happened to be a weekend. I had to go back to school the next day. While packing my things, I found a registration form on my desk—it said I was signing up for a swimming competition."
"I thought it was really strange, because I can't swim. And the handwriting on the form was mine, but much neater than my usual writing. I don't know if you can understand what I mean—it's the kind of handwriting you'd use when you're being deliberate."
Zhu Ning roughly understood. Most people's everyday handwriting was messy—good enough to read, that was it.
But on important occasions or official documents, people wrote more carefully—stroke by stroke. Stare at your own careful handwriting long enough and it starts to look unfamiliar.
"Did I write this? When did I write this?" Xiao Yuan voiced her confusion. "I thought it was weird at the time but couldn't make sense of it, because our school really was holding a swimming competition and I really did have this form. My first thought was that someone had signed me up. So I went to ask my little brother."
"My brother is the mischievous type—we used to fight all the time as kids. I figured he was messing with me, forging my handwriting to sign me up so he could watch me embarrass myself."
"So I took the form and went to find him. He was with my older brother and sister at the time. The moment all three of them saw me, they asked: 'Are you ready for the competition?'"
"I thought my little brother was playing a prank on me, so I got angry at him and told him to stop touching my stuff."
"But—" Xiao Yuan's voice hitched. "After I lost my temper, everyone just froze. Thinking back on it, the way they looked at me—it was fear. They were looking at me like I was a stranger. My older brother said, 'Wasn't it you who said you wanted to enter the swimming competition?'"
Xiao Yuan paused before continuing. "They said it was me—yesterday morning—who suddenly announced I was entering the competition. That I'd said it myself, with my own mouth."
Xiao Yuan seemed afraid the audience wouldn't grasp the severity, and emphasized: with my own mouth.
Xiao Yuan: "I finally felt that something was wrong. I insisted it was impossible, swore on my life I'd never said it. Besides, I'd slept in because I was up late gaming—I didn't even get up until noon. There was absolutely no way I'd talked to them that morning."
Little Ghost: "And then?"
Many in the livestream were hooked. After Little Ghost's prompt, some snapped back to attention. The chat asked if it was sleepwalking.
Xiao Yuan: "My sister said I'd probably been sleepwalking and told me to go back to bed. So I went to my room. I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the registration form in my hands. The handwriting was mine. I can't describe what that feeling was like—no ghosts, nobody out to get you, everything looks normal on the surface—but you know something is absolutely wrong. Except you can't explain it, and if you try, they'll send you to a doctor."
Xiao Yuan: "I couldn't sleep that night. I tossed and turned, couldn't figure it out. From then on, I started deliberately watching for more evidence."
Xiao Yuan: "I tore up the registration form and didn't go to the swimming competition. Then the following weekend, I came home and heard laughter from the media room. My sister and siblings were all inside hanging out. I wanted to join them, so I opened the door. My sister was gaming. I sat down next to her, and she suddenly said, 'Oh, you're back from the bathroom?'"
"I thought she'd mixed me up with someone. I said, 'What are you talking about? I didn't go to the bathroom—I just got home.'"
"My sister's face went pale. She set down the controller and turned to look at me. 'Didn't you say you were going to the bathroom?'"
"I—" Xiao Yuan's emotions were starting to fray. "I didn't expect what came next to be so... so bizarre. I asked my sister more carefully. In their world, I'd been hanging out with them for over four hours, then stepped out to use the bathroom. When I came back, I'd had a complete personality shift."
"During those four hours, I'd even played games with them. The console still had my save file. And they all said they preferred the other me."
[Split personality. Definitely.] The chat rendered its verdict.
Little Ghost wasn't so blunt. He sensed there was more to come. Xiao Yuan: "At first I really did think I had split personality. But then I realized something was off—I had an alibi. The day they were gaming together, I was at the school library doing research. The school security cameras could prove it."
"So while I was at school, another person was at home spending time with my family. When I was about to arrive, it said it needed the bathroom and left. Then I walked in. Seamless handoff."
"I was sure now. There was another person. She only appeared when I wasn't around, socializing with my family and friends. And I was convinced it was trying to replace me."
[Actually, that's kind of nice? I sometimes fantasize about having another me—so when I'm not home, someone can play with my cat.]
[Don't let the capitalists find out. If they knew they could exploit two of you, they'd go insane.]
[Doesn't anyone find this terrifying? The other you does everything better, and everyone likes it more. What happens to you then?]
Xiao Yuan couldn't see the chat. She only told her story. "I made a decision—to catch it in the act. That turned out to be the decision I regret most."
When you didn't notice, life could go on. Once you noticed, it was impossible to ignore. And you'd start to realize your entire life was a massive lie.
Xiao Yuan: "I knew it appeared when I wasn't home. I was supposed to go out with friends that weekend. I left as planned, but didn't go far—I secretly circled back."
"I crept close. From a distance, I could see it with my sister, helping her with chores. The kitchen was on the ground floor. I watched them through the window, laughing and chatting together, baking a cake."
"I froze at the window. It happened to look up and see me. My sister had her back turned, getting something from the fridge—so it was just the two of us, face to face." Xiao Yuan's speech grew faster and faster, almost manic. "I thought it would be scared of me. But it wasn't scared at all! It just stood there by the window, watching me! Completely expressionless!"
"Then—then—" Xiao Yuan's voice began to tremble, as if even the memory caused her pain. "My sister was about to turn around. She'd already closed the fridge door. The moment she turned, she'd see me standing outside the window. That's when I made a decision I still don't understand—I hid."
"I ducked below the wall and kept listening to them laugh and talk." Xiao Yuan's voice cracked with sobs. "I don't understand. It's the one that doesn't belong—so why was I the one hiding? But that was my gut reaction. I was truly terrified."
[Whoa, is it trying to take your place?]
[This is like one of those doppelgänger ghost stories.]
Xiao Yuan was truly crying now. Through her sobs, it took a long time before she could speak again. "Later, I started to wonder—what if I'm the extra one?"
[Right! How do we know the caller is human?]
[This... could it be a ghost?]
[Haven't you heard? Ghosts can use the internet now.]
Little Ghost chimed in at the right moment: "It's possible. We truly can't verify."
After that, the chat exploded with debate. Some argued Xiao Yuan was the original—the other self knew Xiao Yuan couldn't swim, so signing her up for a competition was clearly an attempt to get her killed.
Others argued Xiao Yuan was the ghost who didn't know it. Why else would she hide? Why was she so guilty?
The question on everyone's mind: which of the two had survived?
Little Ghost waited for the discussion to die down, then asked: "Is there more?"
"More?" Xiao Yuan's voice turned hollow. She let out two dry laughs, then sank into eerie calm. "After that, it started appearing openly. When I ate, it stood behind my sister. When I watched TV, it sat in the corner. When I slept, it hugged me from behind. I tried to get used to it, but it was hard."
An extra person in your life. It only watched you in silence. When you were absent, it took your place among the people around you. In everyone else's eyes, there was only one of you.
Everyone else's life was normal. Only yours was not.
"When we both existed at the same time, nobody else could see it. Only I could."
"Several times I tried to talk to it. I wanted to ask what it wanted! If it wanted my life, I'd just give it over."
"But I don't know why—" Xiao Yuan lowered her voice. After a sudden burst of laughter she fell into stillness, her voice turning eerie. "I don't dare talk to it."
She seemed to have been tormented for so long that she'd grown accustomed to this life. A bone-deep chill seeped through her words. "It's right behind me. But I can't bring myself to speak."
Every time she tried to open her mouth, an invisible force stopped her. No one knew what would happen after a conversation.
Sometimes people had self-preservation instincts. Certain inexplicable intuitions existed to protect you from harm.
After saying this, Xiao Yuan fell into a long silence. Only her breathing came through.
The chat was silent. Little Ghost was stunned. In that moment, it was as if the entire world had been put on pause.
Everyone present—everyone watching, Zhu Ning included—felt something indescribable. A dark, oppressive energy seeped from some unknown corner, as if it could reach through the screen and into your world.
"So..." Little Ghost asked the crucial question. "Where are you right now?"
They could clearly tell Xiao Yuan wasn't calling from a normal place. Her voice was extremely stifled, as if she was hiding from something.
Xiao Yuan whispered: "In the closet."
"And where is... it?"
"Outside the closet."
Two people separated by a closet door. One crouched inside in terror, pressing herself as deep as she could among the hanging clothes. The other stood just outside—standing so close that the tip of her nose touched the wooden door, smiling.
They looked exactly alike.
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