404: The Student Who Doesn’t Exist

The night school started, after a heavy rain.

In Room 404 of Linjiang No. 7 Middle School’s dormitory,

a pair of black slippers appeared that no one admitted owning.

At first,

no one paid them any mind.

Until later

a fifth water bottle appeared in the dorm.

A fifth duty roster.

A fifth desk and chair.

And then,

everyone began to remember:

there had always been a fifth person living in Room 404.

His name was Zhou Yan.

The cafeteria auntie remembered him.

Teachers called on him by name.

The class representative collected his homework.

There was even a medical record for him in the infirmary.

But the problem was,

Zhou Lin had never seen this person.

Even more terrifying,

as “Zhou Yan” left more and more traces in the real world,

Zhou Lin suddenly realized:

everyone was slowly beginning to forget him.

And at Linjiang No. 7 Middle School,

there seemed to be an even more horrifying secret

many years ago,

in Room 404,

there really had been a fifth person.