"The ability to change the script increases with my character status... Currently, I can modify five words. My current status is a golden supporting character. What will the next level be?"
"Protagonist?"
Hoàng Tuân pushed his wheelchair silently towards Lê Hoa Phát's house.
Coincidentally, he wondered if when Lê Hoa Phát bought his house, he considered the convenience of coming over to eat at Hoàng Tuân's place.
Their houses were actually not very far from each other.
Hoàng Tuân didn't need to take a taxi...
It only took ten minutes to push the wheelchair to Lê Hoa Phát's house.
During these ten minutes, Hoàng Tuân often checked his novel control panel to kill time...
His current state was a bit strange.
The good news was that his status had improved, and the number of words he could modify had increased. Next time he entered the horror world, he might be able to make larger-scale changes.
The bad news was that the strange bugs in his body had undergone some magical changes after devouring many bizarre things in that world.
It seemed that they were slowly digesting those things with an extremely full stomach...
Since the weird creatures couldn't be killed, they naturally couldn't be digested.
Thus, the state of those bizarre creatures constantly recovering and disappearing in the bugs' stomach...
"I wonder if I could control them if I let the bugs spit them out."
Thinking about this.
Hoàng Tuân's wheelchair was now just a few centimeters away from Lê Hoa Phát's door.
"Forget it, don't try such unrealistic ideas. If I let them out and they want to kill me again, the loss will be greater than the gain... I'll go see what's up with Phát first."
He shook his head slightly, dismissing this absurd idea.
Then he raised his hand to knock on Lê Hoa Phát's door.
As he was doing this, Hoàng Tuân suddenly felt that something was off.
He paused and suddenly turned around. In his field of vision, he saw several people on the busy street looking away, pretending to be engaged in their own activities.
"Is this... surveillance?"
Hoàng Tuân observed the odd reactions of these people.
Such a thought suddenly popped into his head.
But then he felt it was meaningless.
As a doctor in a psychiatric hospital, although Lê Hoa Phát usually appeared carefree and didn't seem like a normal person when talking to him, he shouldn't be under surveillance by a group of strangers.
He couldn't think of any benefit in monitoring a psychiatrist...
"Could it be that he caused some trouble?"
Hoàng Tuân couldn't help but speculate.
But after thinking about it for a while, he found it quite amusing.
Judging by Lê Hoa Phát's temperament, he was the type who disliked causing trouble and wouldn't have many enemies.
Causing trouble or anything like that was really unlikely.
"Kít..."
Just as Hoàng Tuân was pondering these things, the door in front of him suddenly opened. The dark and gloomy crack of the door made a sudden sound, startling him a bit.
Hoàng Tuân looked down through the crack.
But there was no bright scene to be seen.
At the same time, there were no footsteps, as if the door had opened by itself...
"Hoàng Tuân, come in."
Immediately, Lê Hoa Phát's voice suddenly rang in Hoàng Tuân's ear.
It was different from what Hoàng Tuân had imagined.
At this moment, Lê Hoa Phát sounded like he had a severe cold, his voice hoarse and uncomfortable, as if something foreign was stuck in his throat.
"Why are you being so mysterious today?"
Hoàng Tuân saw Lê Hoa Phát hiding behind the door and couldn't help but silently complain.
To a friend he had played with since childhood, his actions seemed very familiar.
Unlike some social friends, each meeting didn't need to be filled with hours of catching up.
Hoàng Tuân pushed his wheelchair into Lê Hoa Phát's house.
After he had just entered, the latter slammed the door shut with a "Bang" and then buried his head as he walked inside without a word...
"Hey, why don't you turn on the lights and be considerate of a disabled person? How can I move around in this darkness?"
Hoàng Tuân stopped at the door, calling out to Lê Hoa Phát, who was about to leave.
Lê Hoa Phát was momentarily stunned by this.
Then he remembered that Hoàng Tuân didn't often come to his house and wasn't familiar with the layout of the furniture.
After a two-second pause.
He changed direction, took a few steps, and turned on the room light...
"That's better."
Hoàng Tuân nodded in satisfaction and continued to push his wheelchair towards the living room.
Lê Hoa Phát's house was actually quite spacious.
The living room alone was about five square meters wide, and since he lived alone, the room was just a place for him to sleep.
So, there wasn't much furniture.
Only some simple furniture.
What could be seen after opening the door were the huge brown wooden bookshelves on both sides, filled with many books that Hoàng Tuân had never read and wouldn't want to read.
The books were still very new.
There was also a lot of dust on them...
Hoàng Tuân didn't need to guess to know that these two huge bookshelves were just simple decorations that Lê Hoa Phát used to decorate his house with a sense of... knowledge, perhaps.
After looking around.
He believed the other person preferred reading comics...
A few meters ahead was a sofa, somewhat in the British style. If it weren't for the large floral cloths that elderly women loved placed on it, it would still be quite elegant.
A TV or anything like that...
The living room didn't have one.
According to Lê Hoa Phát, in this age of powerful and widespread smartphones, buying a TV to put at home was akin to waste.
After all, every day after work, he only played games or slept.
Of course, he wouldn't install unnecessary things like that...
Hoàng Tuân observed.
Lê Hoa Phát's state was obviously not right today.
Throughout the process of opening the door for him, apart from the initial invitation, he remained silent.
Leaving Hoàng Tuân behind, he walked ahead alone.
Then he sat on the sofa, head lowered...
Hoàng Tuân's eyes swept over the plastic cup on the coffee table, with a stubbed-out cigarette inside.
He asked jokingly.
"What's this? Learning to smoke now?"
"Bad mood."
Lê Hoa Phát replied.
His voice was still low and weak, like someone struggling to get out of a warm bed after waking up.
"Bad mood?"
Hoàng Tuân raised an eyebrow. This was the first time he had heard Lê Hoa Phát say he was in a bad mood.
Usually, he was always easy-going.
The guy who always joked and said he didn't care about anything would have a bad day?
"What's up, got dumped on a dating app?"
Hoàng Tuân continued joking, glancing at the water jug, then deliberately glancing at Lê Hoa Phát, coughing twice, hinting at what the other person should do at this moment.
But at this hint.
Lê Hoa Phát remained motionless, still sitting silently on the sofa as if he hadn't seen anything.
"Haizzz, hospitality is no more. I remember you used to pour me water when you first moved here."
Hoàng Tuân pursed his lips, pretending to reminisce and said.
"Pour it yourself."
Lê Hoa Phát only replied with these three words.
Alright.
It seems his mood is really bad; otherwise, he would be playing along with me by now, starting a little skit...
Hoàng Tuân thought so.
Then he pushed his wheelchair to the side of the water jug, poured himself a glass of cool boiled water.
The sweetness of the water flowed down his throat.
Hoàng Tuân put down the glass in his hand.
He casually asked, "Have you caused any trouble recently? When I came here, I saw a lot of people watching you."
"No."
Lê Hoa Phát's words were still simple.
"Oh? Then why did you install surveillance cameras outside your door?"
Hoàng Tuân asked back.
"There are no surveillance cameras."
"So, tell me, when I came, I didn't text you, nor did I make much noise. Plus, I didn't even knock on the door. How did you know I was here?"
Hoàng Tuân thought about what happened earlier at the door.
He asked Lê Hoa Phát.
But.
After asking this question, Hoàng Tuân could clearly feel the stiffening atmosphere.
Lê Hoa Phát didn't answer immediately.
It seemed like he was thinking about how to respond.
He looked up at Hoàng Tuân with those dazed eyes, then lowered his head again.
"I heard some noise. Recently, my hearing has improved. I could hear it."
Lê Hoa Phát said.
"Wow, impressive? So sensitive?"
Hoàng Tuân pretended to be surprised.
He rummaged through his bag for a while, took out a piece of chocolate he had bought at the supermarket not long ago, and threw it towards Lê Hoa Phát.
"Thud!"
The latter caught it easily.
Then he peeled off the outer wrapper, put the chocolate in his mouth, and ate it.
"Don't try to hide it anymore. If there's something you can't tell me, just eat a piece of chocolate and relax. Or maybe talk about what's happened recently, what's made you feel bad."
Hoàng Tuân said as he watched Lê Hoa Phát eat the chocolate.
Inside the house.
The sound of chewing chocolate was very clear.
After swallowing the chocolate emotionlessly, Lê Hoa Phát took out a pack of cigarettes from which he had already taken out two.
He took one out and put it in his mouth.
"I remember you said these things were only used by people who were mentally helpless or autistic, to numb themselves, right?"
Hoàng Tuân reached out and took the cigarette from Lê Hoa Phát's mouth, then flipped it in his hand to examine it closely.
"Wow, you're smoking the expensive stuff... This will harm your body, I think it's better if you don't smoke."
He said.
Putting the cigarette back on the coffee table...
Lê Hoa Phát looked at the cigarette on the coffee table, didn't intend to take it back or take another from the pack, just quietly watched.
As the clock on the wall ticked.
A long time passed.
He sighed softly.
He looked up at Hoàng Tuân, staring seriously into his eyes, and asked, "Do you believe that ghosts and supernatural phenomena truly exist in this world?"
"Huh? Why are you asking such a spine-chilling question?"
Hoàng Tuân asked, puzzled.
He didn't understand why Lê Hoa Phát was so different today.
And why he was asking about something he had been experiencing frequently lately.
Instantly.
Hoàng Tuân frowned, wondering if Lê Hoa Phát had been dragged into the horror world and was now sitting here as a result of luckily surviving.
The "victims" pulled into the horror world were random.
At least that was what Hoàng Tuân felt at the moment.
So, it wasn't impossible for Lê Hoa Phát to be dragged in...
"I believe it, so go on. What strange thing happened to you?"
Hoàng Tuân replied, also not forgetting to inquire about Lê Hoa Phát's situation.
"It's nothing major, I just encountered a pervert wearing a woman's wedding dress..."
Lê Hoa Phát said calmly.
He smiled faintly.
This was the first time today that Hoàng Tuân saw a different expression on his face.
"Pervert? Tell me more about it."
The bad feeling grew stronger.
Hoàng Tuân also felt a bit uneasy.
"There's not much to say, simply as I mentioned. When I was working, I accidentally met a man wearing a woman's wedding dress, and he wanted to marry me."
Upon hearing this.
Hoàng Tuân suddenly remembered the previous murder case at Lê Hoa Phát's hospital, where he mentioned a young patient encountering a man dressed as a bride, wanting someone to marry him.
If he remembered correctly.
At that time, the young man was dragged into the horror world and experienced this situation...
"By the way, the ring..."
At the time of the murder.
Hoàng Tuân also saw a very strange ring on the deceased's hand, it looked like a wedding ring but with inconsistent sizes.
He suddenly realized.
What had happened to Lê Hoa Phát.
He hadn't been dragged into the horror world.
Instead, he encountered the influence of the horror world on the real world...
"Luckily, he was unharmed. I should have warned him back then."
Hoàng Tuân said regretfully.
However, he also forgot that at that time he was only seeing those things and didn't know that the weirdness would affect the real world.
Until the spider woman appeared at his house.
Only then did he fully understand the terrifying and frightening connection between the two worlds...
"And then?"
Hoàng Tuân asked.
"Then nothing happened. I realized this person was very strange, a ghost, so I escaped."
Lê Hoa Phát still answered bluntly.
This tone was too calm.
It certainly made Hoàng Tuân feel very strange...
"Escaped?"
"I don't quite understand. Explain it carefully again. I have plenty of time today, I can stay longer."
Hoàng Tuân asked again.
He felt the need to confirm Lê Hoa Phát's situation.
This childhood friend had become so strange; if anything unexpected happened, it would be truly frightening.
But.
Upon hearing Hoàng Tuân's question, Lê Hoa Phát just shook his head.
A strange, inexplicable smile appeared on his face for the second time.
He looked at Hoàng Tuân with both eyes and said.
"There's really nothing, you don't need to ask more. You've already figured out the answer. Right now, I really don't want to talk. Don't worry about me."
"Hmm?"
Seeing the puzzled expression on Hoàng Tuân's face.
Lê Hoa Phát explained.
"Didn't you ask how I knew you were at the door?"
"Although it's a bit hard to believe, I can actually hear your thoughts..."