Although Boulder thought such comparisons were meaningless and it was hard to tell who would win, he agreed to suggest to Elena that she submit her story to one of two newspapers, at Charles's insistence.
Both *The Luntown Gazette* and *The Strand Journal* were weekly publications. *The Luntown Gazette*, fully titled *The Luntown Literary Bulletin*, was released every Friday and mainly serialized short stories, original poems, and announcements of new plays. *The Strand Journal*, on the other hand, preferred to report attention-grabbing headlines, such as verdicts in murder trials, and sensationalized gossip or popular literary works.
Elena had originally wanted to submit to the penny magazines, but they only accepted long novels, preferably ones that could run for a year or two in serialization. Her urban legend couldn't stretch that long, so after comparing various publications, she had to admit that *The Strand Journal* was perhaps the best fit for her.
"Then I'll submit it to them," Elena decided, choosing a pen name to avoid being linked to the author of *Helen*. Since she wanted to create a "real" experience, it was best not to reveal herself as a novelist.
Of course, Boulder also told her about Charles's bet. He showed Elena Charles's book *The Invisible Man*. After all, Charles had read Elena's works, and it had to be said that *The Invisible Man* was quite groundbreaking.
The protagonist is a wanted criminal who accidentally gains the ability to turn invisible. However, when he tries to use this power, he is shocked to find that the invisible world is full of ghosts. These ghosts not only sense his presence, but they seem intensely interested in him, wanting to consume him.
In order to escape the bounty hunters, the protagonist is forced to use his invisibility skills. But over time, he finds it increasingly difficult to escape the ghosts' gaze. Faced with a life-or-death decision, he makes a hard choice—he gives up using his invisibility and surrenders.
"Really? This can be used for moral teaching?"
While it was thrilling to be pursued by bounty hunters and terrifying to face ghosts, the chase was intense, and though it wasn't overly scary, the sense of tension was palpable.
"I think it's quite good," Elena cautiously complimented. "But it's not really the same genre as mine. I don't think there's much of a comparison."
How dare he challenge me like this? Let me write a ghost story that will scare you to death.
"That's what I said," Boulder replied.
Though he said this, after both of their works were submitted to *The Strand Journal* and *The Luntown Gazette*, the secretive society set up a private bet, wagering whether Elena's submission would be successfully published.
"How did you come up with such a bet?" her loyal follower, Reginald, grumbled. "Even though she changed her pen name, with her ability, how could she not get published?"
Especially since, after reading those stories, every night before going to bed, he had to check his wardrobe and stuff cotton in his ears to prevent bugs from crawling in. He even changed his drinking habits, opting for tea instead of alcohol. Even someone as brave as him was still uneasy after reading those stories. The editors of the publications should have some discernment!
"After all, Charles is one of us," the person who set up the bet said awkwardly. "We have to support him."
"Oh?" Reginald raised an eyebrow and asked casually, "So, who do you think is more likely to succeed?"
"Huh?" The person chuckled nervously. "Of course... Elena. She's had such an impressive track record. I guess, maybe our judgment missed the unique aspects of those little stories, right?"
Just as he spoke, Charles happened to pass by and gave them a sidelong glance.
Both of them immediately felt uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Elena's new pen name and story were approved by *The Strand Journal*. The editor sent her a letter with the good news and expressed curiosity about whether the story was real or not. They even discussed what type of insect could enter the brain through the ear canal to lay eggs.
Most people thought it might be a small flying insect, like a fly, while others guessed it could be a centipede or cockroach. Either way, the stories had certainly caught their attention.
When Elena's submission was accepted, the whole society quietly waited for the publication to be released.
Meanwhile, Elena had already started writing her second piece. This time, she decided to write a truly terrifying story that would make the members of the society understand what real fear felt like.
Perhaps in terms of immersion, words aren't as intuitive as films or television shows, but words have their own advantage—human imagination.
"Let me set some rules," Elena thought, the quill scratching across the paper with a sharp, swish sound.
Ghosts usually have their own rules. For example, Sadako watches a videotape, and Kayako haunts her own house. As long as you're not terribly unlucky, they typically don't pose a threat to others' lives.
Most rules begin when stepping into a haunted house, but Elena felt this was too simple and wouldn't allow for proper immersion. So, she racked her brain and decided to base the story on something everyone encounters—letters.
Like Sadako, it was a little trick to drag someone in. The protagonist receives a mysterious letter containing a strange story about a girl who hung herself due to certain circumstances. Anyone who reads this story will die within seven days unless they send it to someone else within that period.
However, in reality, even if the letter is passed on, fate cannot be changed.
At first, the protagonist doesn't take it seriously and considers burning the letter. But his wife insists on keeping it.
The protagonist is a writer who works from home. One day, as usual, he sits at his desk in the study, trying to come up with ideas. But this time, something feels different—he constantly feels a strange stiffness at the back of his neck.
Soon, strange things begin happening at home. The oil lamp keeps lighting by itself without wind. When night falls, he hears the cries of a baby, but when he goes outside to check, he finds no one. The door creaks, and when the surroundings are quiet, he can even hear the sound of high heels clicking from upstairs, as if someone invisible is walking around, but there's no one upstairs.
As time goes on, things get worse. When he looks into a mirror, his reflection lags behind, even showing a chilling smile. At night, he hears knocking at the door. When he cautiously opens it a crack, he sees a pair of blood-red eyes staring back at him from the crack.
His three-year-old child, left alone, laughs out of nowhere, seemingly playing with an invisible friend. The child's doll, which had a sewn mouth, suddenly smiled upwards in an instant.
Unable to bear the hallucinations anymore, the protagonist decides to get to the bottom of what's happening. He hires a detective to uncover the mystery. However, one night, he wakes up to find a woman with long hair covering her face sitting by his bedside, dripping blood.
Elena used every spine-chilling technique she could think of in this segment. By the time she finished writing it, she couldn't fall asleep and just stared at the oil lamp.
"Let's say it's afraid of light," she thought, unable to sleep, getting out of bed and pulling on a coat to continue writing.
There wasn't a tradition of ghosts fearing daylight yet, but that didn't matter. She could add it in: "Heehee, this way no one will dare to sleep with the lights off at night."
As the detective delves deeper into the case, he finally discovers that the person who sent the letter was a writer friend of the protagonist. However, this friend had been missing for four days, exactly the same amount of time since the protagonist received the letter.
The protagonist is furious and asks the detective to continue the investigation. He finds that when he lights a lamp, the abnormal occurrences stop. So, he begins to light lamps at night while sleeping.
The light seems to anger the unknown spirit even more. His child starts mentioning the names of unseen friends in a deep voice, sending chills down his spine.
The room lights go out for no reason, and in the darkness, the child laughs eerily. His wife begins hearing strange whispers from the walls, with indecipherable words that only sound ominous.
In this environment, the wife slowly loses her sanity. She screams in an empty room, her voice filled with endless terror. She begins refusing to enter certain rooms, as if they hide an unspeakable threat. During the day, she becomes thinner, and at night, she struggles with nightmares, waking up frequently.
After these terrifying experiences, the writer decides to end his life to put an end to the curse. He hopes his death will appease the strange ghost and save his wife and child.
The story was written by the detective, who claimed that three days after his visit, he returned to find the writer dead. On the writer's desk, he found a diary, which is how the detective learned of the writer's fate.
After the writer's death, his mad wife disappeared, and the child was sent to the orphanage. The detective couldn't find the letter in the wife's room, but the mailman recalled that she had sent a letter, though he couldn't remember to whom.
In the end, the detective issued a warning, advising people reading the story to be cautious when opening unknown letters to avoid a similar tragedy.
Elena finished the entire story, and by the time the sun rose, she was so exhausted she collapsed into bed, falling into a deep sleep. She slept soundly, without a single dream.