迴聲租屋處 / The Echo Rental

最可怕的不是寂靜，而是你明明獨自在房內，卻聽到了另一個人的呼吸聲。 / The most terrifying thing isn't the silence, but hearing another person's breath when you are clearly alone in the room.

Category	Psychological/Urban Horror
Origin	Inspired by 'Hidden Room' and 'Wall-Dweller' urban legends
ScareLevel	5
Warning	Unexpected drafts in sealed rooms, unexplained scratching sounds behind wallpaper, and a feeling of being watched while sleeping.

序幕 / The Prologue

在繁忙的大都市中，租屋處往往是年輕人唯一的避風港。然而，對於剛搬進這間位於舊市區廉價公寓的林曉來說，這個避風港正逐漸變成一座囚籠。這間房子在網路上看起來完美無缺：價格低廉、採光良好，且牆壁厚實。但搬進來的第三天，她開始注意到一些不協調的細節——牆上的壁紙在深夜裡會微微顫動，而每當她陷入深睡，耳邊總會響起一種極其微弱的、像是有人在努力壓抑呼吸的嘶嘶聲。

In the heart of a bustling metropolis, a rental apartment is often the only sanctuary for young people. However, for Lin Xiao, who had just moved into a cheap apartment in the old city district, this sanctuary was gradually turning into a cage. The place looked perfect online: affordable, well-lit, and with thick walls. But on the third day after moving in, she began to notice certain discordant details—the wallpaper would vibrate slightly in the dead of night, and whenever she fell into a deep sleep, a faint, wheezing sound, like someone struggling to suppress their breath, would echo in her ear.

恐懼核心 / The Core Terror

林曉的第一週是平靜的。她對這間公寓感到滿意，直到她發現了那個「縫隙」。在臥室的衣櫃與牆壁之間，有一個約三公分寬的窄縫，深不見底。最初，她以為那只是建築結構的缺陷。但漸漸地，她發現每當她走出房間，那個縫隙裡會傳來極其輕微的摩擦聲，像是衣服在粗糙的牆面上拖曳的聲音。

First week for Lin Xiao was peaceful. She was satisfied with the apartment until she discovered the 'gap.' Between the wardrobe and the wall in her bedroom, there was a narrow crevice about three centimeters wide, seemingly bottomless. At first, she thought it was just a structural flaw of the building. But gradually, she noticed that whenever she left the room, a very faint scraping sound would emanate from the gap, like fabric dragging across a rough wall.

她試著用手機的手電筒照進去，但光線只能延伸不到半公尺便被濃稠的黑暗吞噬。那種感覺很奇怪，就像黑暗本身是有重量的，正在將光線向內拉扯。那天深夜，林曉在睡夢中被驚醒，她感覺到有一種冰冷的視線正凝視著她的後腦勺。她猛地轉身，房間裡空無一人，只有月光透過窗簾灑下慘白的色調。然而，當她看向那個縫隙時，她發現衣櫃的位置似乎移位了幾毫米，而縫隙的邊緣出現了一抹不自然的、灰白色的皮膚痕跡。

She tried shining her phone's flashlight inside, but the light could only penetrate less than half a meter before being swallowed by a thick darkness. It felt strange, as if the darkness itself had weight, pulling the light inward. Late that night, Lin Xiao was jolted awake from a dream; she felt a cold gaze staring at the back of her head. She turned abruptly, but the room was empty, with only the pale moonlight filtering through the curtains. However, when she looked toward the gap, she noticed the wardrobe had shifted by a few millimeters, and a sliver of unnatural, grayish-white skin was visible at the edge of the crevice.

恐懼像冰冷的毒液一樣在她血管中蔓延。她不敢大聲呼救，因為她意識到，如果這裡真的住著某個東西，它已經在觀察她很久了。她開始在房間各處設置陷阱：在縫隙前撒上薄薄的一層面粉，在牆角貼上透明膠帶。第三天早晨，當她醒來時，她屏住呼吸看向地面。面粉上沒有腳印，但膠帶上卻貼著一根極細的、像是指甲一樣的碎片，以及一抹乾涸的血跡。最令她毛骨悚然的是，面粉上出現了一個淺淺的凹痕，位置正好在衣櫃縫隙的出口，像是有人在深夜裡將臉貼在地面上，試圖嗅她的氣味。

Fear spread through her veins like ice-cold venom. She didn't dare scream for help, realizing that if something truly lived here, it had been observing her for a long time. She began setting traps around the room: sprinkling a thin layer of flour in front of the gap and sticking transparent tape in the corners. On the third morning, upon waking, she held her breath and looked at the floor. There were no footprints in the flour, but the tape held a tiny, nail-like fragment and a smudge of dried blood. Most horrifying of all was a shallow indentation in the flour, located right at the exit of the wardrobe gap, as if someone had pressed their face against the floor in the middle of the night, trying to smell her scent.

林曉決定立刻搬走。然而，當她嘗試撥打房東電話時，對方卻用一種極其平淡的口吻告訴她：「這間房子的隔牆是雙層的，中間有足夠的空間供人走動，但那是為了隔音設計的，請不要試圖打開它。」掛斷電話後，林曉在寂靜中聽到了一個聲音。那不是來自於牆壁，而是來自於她的耳邊。一個沙啞且乾枯的聲音，在她的耳廓邊輕輕地呼了一口氣，低聲地說：「你發現我了。」

Lin Xiao decided to move out immediately. However, when she tried to call the landlord, the man told her in a flat tone, "The walls in that room are double-layered, with enough space for someone to walk between them, but that's for soundproofing. Please do not try to open it." After hanging up, Lin Xiao heard a sound in the silence. It didn't come from the wall, but from right beside her ear. A hoarse, desiccated voice breathed softly against her earlobe, whispering, "You found me."

都市傳說背景 / Urban Legend Trivia

此故事靈感來自於現代都市傳說中的「牆中人」(The Wall-Dweller)。在現實生活中，有些舊式公寓或違法改建的房屋中，確實存在著不合理的夾層空間。警告徵兆包括：1. 房間內莫名其妙的冷風（即便窗戶關閉）；2. 牆內傳來規律的敲擊聲或呼吸聲；3. 物品在無人觸動的情況下發生微小位移。如果你發現家中的牆壁有不自然的縫隙，請絕對不要試圖用光線照射或用手指觸碰，因為那可能會讓「裡面」的東西意識到你的好奇心。

This story is inspired by the 'Wall-Dweller' urban legends. In real life, some old apartments or illegally renovated buildings actually contain irrational interstitial spaces. Warning signs include: 1. Unexplained drafts in a room even when windows are closed; 2. Rhythmic knocking or breathing sounds coming from within the walls; 3. Minor displacement of objects without any human touch. If you find an unnatural gap in your walls, never attempt to shine a light inside or touch it with your fingers, as it may alert whatever is 'inside' to your curiosity.

Don't look behind you. | 不要回頭看。

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