Hamish Chang has revenge on his mind after returning home to his student flat in Dunedin to find his every worldly possession tightly wrapped in tinfoil.
The prank was sprung by Mr Chang's flatmates when he arrived home to his George St flat from a break in Christchurch on Sunday and pushed open the door to his bedroom.
Inside was the gleaming, shiny handiwork that had taken his five flatmates - together with another friend - more than a week, 600m of foil and 30 hours of labour to complete.
No matter how big or small, hardly an item of Mr Chang's property had escaped the tinfoil treatment - from the walls and ceiling to his desk, bed and pillows, and even the individual pins holding up the posters on his walls.
"The attention to detail here has been outstanding," Mr Chang (20), a third-year accounting student, told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
The shiny stunt has already attracted national attention, featuring on last night's TVNZ One News.
One of Mr Chang's flatmates, Vinnie Schumacher (21), a third-year law student from Wellington, said the flatmates set to work on October 17 and worked for a few hours each day.
They were supposed to be studying for upcoming exams but Mr Chang decided to make a quick trip to Christchurch to visit his family, "and left his door unlocked", Mr Schumacher said.
"We were mulling about it and joked about it and then, the next thing we know, it was in full swing and it was going like crazy.
"It's been a good procrastination tool," Mr Schumacher said.
Fellow flatmate Joshua Richardson (21) even set up a laptop in the corner of the room to take time-lapsed photographs every 30 seconds as the room was slowly transformed over the following week.
The results were uploaded to video-sharing website YouTube yesterday morning, and a few emails to both national television organisations yesterday morning helped ensure the prank was complete, Mr Schumacher said.
Mr Chang had "taken it like a champ", Mr Schumacher believed.
"He was stoked it got done but probably not so stoked it was him."
Mr Chang agreed, saying he was "blown away" by the results.
"I walked in, just opened the door, and it was so bright because it's just, like, the tinfoil and the light.
"It's been pretty awesome, actually."
However, his flatmates should be watching their backs - revenge was coming "without a doubt", he said.
"We are staying together as a group next year, just in a different flat.
"There will be a time," he said.
