Observation Chapter 7
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Observation Chapter 7: The Girl Outside The Door
This time, the distance he normally crossed in just a few steps had surprisingly taken Lin Qian several dozen seconds to cover.
To him, those moments felt like centuries.
At last, he made it to the metal grille.
With blue veins faintly pulsating beneath his pale skin, his hands felt its way around the rough wall. He then slowly moved his eyes towards the peephole.
“…”
Aside from the sound-activated light that flickered unpredictably between light and darkness, the corridor was deserted.
“Huff…”
The tension in Lin Qian’s nerves swiftly dissipated.
After taking a few steps back, he swiftly collapsed on his bed.
‘That was close…’
Lin Qian felt like he had just survived a disaster.
‘This is just so unbelievably bizarre…’
If an ordinary person were in this situation, they would have long been delirious.
Fortunately for him, he was not like most people.
As an author of dark and depraved novels, it was necessary for him to possess some degree of mental fortitude.
After about ten minutes of rest, Lin Qian sat up.
Having gone through such a stimulation, his inspiration was completely unleashed.
Needless to say, that creativity was channeled towards twisted and depraved novels.
Take, for example, a girl standing pitifully outside a door, her face smeared with tears…
The cause of her heartache stemmed from the betrayal of her handsome boyfriend, who would frequently look for enjoyment elsewhere. Eventually, he chose a particularly cruel method to end things with her.
From that moment onwards, she began ruthlessly killing every handsome man she saw…
As the handsome protagonist of the story, Lin Qian had found himself on her radar.
The moment he opened the door, the girl’s sharp knife would slit his throat, sending blood spurting in all directions…
‘Wait a moment!’
‘Wait, why am I even thinking about this? What I really need is inspiration for a light-hearted novel!’
‘A light-hearted novel! A light-hearted novel…!
‘Perhaps the story could unfold like this…? As a storm rages late at night, a cute girl stood outside a door. Gripped by deep loneliness and longing for her boyfriend, she had stealthily snuck out, hoping to catch a glimpse of him?’
‘Wait… That might actually…work…?’
Lin Qian stroked his chin and subtly nodded to himself.
‘Rumble!!!’
Suddenly, like a silver dragon, streaks of lightning flashed across the night skies.
‘Pitter-patter…!’
Heavy rain started pouring down from the sky.
‘You’re kidding me, right?!’
A complex expression graced Lin Qian’s face, mirroring the kaleidoscope of emotions within his heart, which ranged from elation to sorrow.
‘And, what did the document say?’
[Peering through the peephole, I saw no one outside the door…]
[I let out a sigh and returned to my bed, soothing the unease in my heart… while brainstorming the storyline for my next novel…]
[[Suddenly… Lightning cleaved through the night sky, followed by a downpour of torrential rain …]
‘It ends… here?’
Lin Qian took a step forward and returned to his seat at the computer.
At this moment, the document underwent another round of changes.
The pale background seemed to respond to his terrified, pallid complexion, as the black words on the screen began to wriggle about like maggots.
[Just when I had finally eased my tense nerves, out of nowhere…!]
“Boom!!”
A sudden powerful door slam, followed by the frantic twisting of a doorknob, echoed throughout the room.
It sounded as if someone was pounding on the metal grille, hell-bent on breaking the door down and getting into his apartment.
Lin Qian was so overwhelmed by fear that he tumbled back into his bed and took in a deep breath of cold air.
“Could this be a burglary?”
Hearing this massive commotion, Lin Qian realized…
…that even this metal grille was incapable of keeping the other party at bay.
He made a swift decision, flipping his body and picking up the spring bar that was within his reach.
‘Bring it! Let’s fight to our heart’s content!’
Unless this issue was resolved, he would eventually starve to death from not eating his spicy hotpot.
Rather than let things come to that state, he chose to confront the situation head-on. He stood ready to take on any challenger, be they human or ghost!
Unfortunately, no matter how vast their thoughts were, people often found themselves diminished in their actions.
Even Lin Qian was no exception. Despite the loud voice in his mind, his quivering hands had perfectly illustrated his present condition.
This time, it took Lin Qian a minute to feel his way to the door.
But before he could even get his eyes to the peephole.
“Knock, knock~?”
“Is anyone in?”
A calm, feminine voice rang out.
Lin Qian could not help but freeze for a moment.
Through the peephole, he saw a young girl dressed in a violet nightgown.
‘This can’t be real, can it? There’s actually a young girl outside my door?’
“…”
“Is anyone home? Your delivery has arrived.”
‘This shouldn’t be dangerous, right?’
The girl had a petite stature, and did not seem to have any sharp object in her hand.
Lin Qian briefly examined his arms and legs.
‘If we ever got into a fight, she shouldn’t be a match for me.’
‘Moreover, even if the world I inhabit were to merge with my novels, there should be a grace period, right? There’s no way things would suddenly escalate without any warning.’
Lin Qian placed his hand on the door handle.
“Growl~”
‘I’m so hungry!’
‘Since I’d starve to death even if I don’t open the door, I might as well take the risk and do it!’
“Hello, my apologies for the delay. I’ve just come out from the shower. May I ask who you are?” With a firm resolve in his heart, Lin Qian opened the door and spoke with a gentle smile on his face.
After saying those words, he took a moment to appraise the girl.
From the looks of it, she seemed to be around sixteen or seventeen years old.
Draped in a silk nightgown, the girl’s wrists were so slender they would barely fill his palm. Her fair complexion bore a rosy hue and the features on her delicate oval face were beautiful and beyond compare.
‘Who is this girl, I wonder?’
Lin Qian quickly combed through his memory, gathering information on all the tenants living in this building.
If a girl of such beauty truly lived here, there should be some trace of her in his memory, however faint it might be.
As if she had sensed Lin Qian’s thoughts, the girl graced him with a sweet smile. “Big Brother, I’m a new tenant that has just moved in today. I live right next door to you. Earlier, the delivery guy had mistakenly knocked on my door with your order. When I saw the unit number, I realized it was meant for you, so I came over to let you know.”
“…”
‘So that explains it.’
Lin Qian reached for his phone and glanced at the screen, which unmistakably confirmed the successful delivery of his takeaway.
‘This delivery person is quite irresponsible.’
“Thank you for the help. I’m really sorry for disturbing you at this late hour.”
Following up on his thoughts, Lin Qian politely said, “Well then, it looks like we’re neighbors now. If you ever need any assistance, feel free to contact me. The name’s Lin Qian. What’s yours?”
When it came to this girl, Lin Qian’s first impression was rather favorable.
“Lin Qian~?” The girl blinked her large eyes. “In that case, we’re family. I’m Lin Yin.”
“Lin? The third tone?”
“Yes, ‘Lin’ as in the frigid cold, and “Yin” from music.”
“Pfft…” Lin Qian laughed. “The Lin in my name is formed by two wood characters1.”
‘Lin Yin? That’s actually a pretty uncommon name. Setting everything aside, it’s the first time I have encountered a surname like hers before.’
Her name seemed right out of an anime-inspired novel and resembled something one would find on SFACG.
“Ah, it doesn’t really matter. They both have the same sound, don’t they?” Lin Yin stomped her feet and turned her attention to the spicy hotpot Lin Qian was holding. “Hey, your spicy hotpot… Do you mind if I try some? I’m kind of hungry right now…”
“I want to have a juicy beef ball, just one will do.”
“Sure. Will you like to pick it up yourself or do you need my help with it?”
“Would you mind helping me out then? I haven’t had a chance to wash my hands.”
“No problem.”
Lin Qian opened the bag, snapped the chopsticks apart, and used the opposite end to pick up a beef ball. “Here, open your mouth.”
“Ahh~” Lin Yin stood up straight and opened her mouth wide.
*Munch, munch, munch…*
The way Lin Yin ate her food was incredibly adorable; Her small face overflowed with pure joy as she savored the beef ball.
‘Is this …what a heroine in a light-hearted novel looks like?’
Lin Qian stroked his chin, as if he had just been enlightened.
Apart from those moments when he was absorbed in writing, he was, for the most part, quite a decent person.
One would never suspect him to be a seasoned writer of dark and depraved literature.
“Lin Yin, based on how you look, you must be a high school student, right?”
“Mhm, how about you?”
“I’m… currently in college.”
“You’re a college student? Hey, can I come in and see your room?” Lin Yin had a curious expression on her face, as she stretched her head towards the apartment behind him. “I’ve never seen a college student’s room before.”
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- Note: While the two might have the same first name in the Latin Alphabet, the way they’re written is different and symbolizes different meanings in Chinese. As you can see, the names Lin Yin(凛音) and Lin Qian(林谦), makes it obvious that they are completely distinct from each other.
In this case, the Lin in Lin Qian’s name is 林, which is made up of two 木, which means wood in Chinese.