Rainy Night Theater (25)

What could it be?

Moreover, based on this hypothesis, since Liu Siwei and Fu Liu were both participants in the Ninth Round of the game and were even both Madmen, why did they die so early?

Bai Ci recalled Fu Liu's airy smile before his death, as if he had already known he was going to die.

Whether he had sought it out or not was one thing, but he had certainly met his end with calm composure.

She lined up the names of the deceased in her mind in the order of their deaths: Li Yi, Wang Er, Liu Shanxi, Liu Siwei, Wu Tong, and Fu Liu.

Just then, a startling discovery—or rather, a borderline absurd thought—flashed through her mind.

Li Yi, one.

Wang Er, two.

Liu Shanxi, three.

Liu Siwei, four.

Wu Tong, five.

Fu Liu, six.

Following this pattern, wouldn't the next person to die be Qi Lixin?

And after him would be Zheng Ba and herself—Bai Jiu.

Fu Yan and Cheng Xi were players. It seemed Sun Hao, who was also not part of this homophonic number sequence, must be a player as well.

As for herself, Bai Ci figured that due to the intervention of Fu Liu I, that ostentatiously described skill had changed her name and slotted her into the sequence.

“Xiao Jiu, snap out of it. What's wrong?” Seeing Bai Ci silent for so long, Cheng Xi called out to her.

“Sister Cheng Xi, I think... no, I'm sure... well, not that sure, but...” Bai Ci put on a panicked act, tears welling up on command. “I don't think my name is Bai Jiu.”

“Huh? Why would you say that?” Cheng Xi was utterly baffled. She knew NPCs sometimes advanced their own storylines, but she had never seen one skip ahead like this.

The NPC had only zoned out for a moment, so where on earth had the plot just jumped to?

“It's a feeling. I don't think my name is Bai Jiu, just like how Liu Siwei was actually Liu Ziwei.”

“Tell me more.” Cheng Xi hopped onto the edge of the desk behind her. Sensing that this was going to be a long story, she figured she had better sit down for it.

“Except for you, Brother Fu Yan, and Sun Hao, everyone else's names are probably fake too. They were modified to fit homophonic numbers. It's not that anyone meant to lie; we've all been influenced by something.” With red-rimmed eyes, Bai Ci solemnly explained the pattern she had discovered to Cheng Xi.

“I knew it!” Cheng Xi slapped her thigh. “Who on earth would name their kid 'Ba'?”

“...” Bai Ci fell into a subtle silence. Actually, sorry, but that one really is his real name.

Cheng Xi thought her tangent had rendered the NPC speechless. She quickly waved her hands and apologized, “Sorry, sorry! I got off track.”

“Back to business. If we go by this pattern, then isn't Qi Lixin the next one to die?”

Bai Ci nodded, her expression filled with worry.

Seeing this, Cheng Xi looked down and began fiddling with the camera in her hands, her fingers quickly swiping across the screen to check the images synced from the other cameras.

In truth, this camera was an item, but its function was rather gimmicky.

Whenever a camera holder suffered a fatal attack, it would snap a photo of the weapon or the killer's back. These photos were stored in a special album that could only be accessed from the master camera in her hands.

Mind you, it only triggered upon receiving fatal damage; whether the person actually died was another story.

So all in all, it was a rather gimmicky item.

“Oh no. Did he actually die?” Staring at the bloody photo of a knife that had just appeared in the special album, she suddenly stood up.

Bai Ci quickly asked, “What's wrong? Did something happen to Qi Lixin?”

“Yeah. The photo from his camera captured a massive amount of fresh blood. Come with me.” Cheng Xi gave a vague reply as she grabbed Bai Ci's wrist and hurried toward the staircase.

Passing her own dorm, she stopped, let go of Bai Ci, and pushed the door open. A few seconds later, she stepped back out holding a large, blue-and-white plastic megaphone.

In terms of style, it looked just like the megaphones street vendors used to hawk their wares in the real world.

“This is a work-related item,” Cheng Xi explained vaguely. “Using this to call everyone is much faster than looking for them one by one.”

As she spoke, she pulled Bai Ci to the staircase, raised the megaphone to her mouth, and pressed the record and power switches. After a harsh screech of static, her voice blasted through the megaphone, echoing throughout the entire theater.

“Everyone, gather at the staircase immediately! We have urgent news concerning everyone's lives. Come quick!”

The message repeated twice. Before long, Sun Hao emerged from the right corridor with Fu Yan, supporting Zheng Ba, whose arm was wrapped in bandages.

“How did you three end up together? Qi Lixin didn't actually die, did he?” Cheng Xi asked, turning off the megaphone.

“Wait, why does that sound so weird? What do you mean 'didn't actually die'? Are you saying you already knew something would happen to him?” Sun Hao asked, scratching his head with a hint of confusion.

“Yes, Qi Lixin is dead,” Fu Yan admitted flatly.

He explained what had happened in detail. “Sun Hao and I split into two groups with Zheng Ba and Qi Lixin, agreeing to search for clues in different scenes.”

“A few minutes ago, we suddenly heard Zheng Ba scream. We rushed over and found that they had triggered a trap in the garden scene.”

“There was a row of hidden spikes there. Qi Lixin couldn't dodge in time, and his heart was pierced. Zheng Ba was luckier; a spike only went through his arm, missing his vital organs.”

“By the time we arrived, Qi Lixin was already gone. We had to take Zheng Ba to the hospital scene first to patch him up using the bandages and medicine we found there.”

“Then we heard your megaphone and hurried over.”

Zheng Ba's ankle also seemed to be sprained, as he walked with a slight limp.

Hearing Fu Yan's words, he groaned, his voice filled with lingering fear and frustration. “That trap was hidden too well. You couldn't see it at all. We just took a random step and triggered it. Qi Lixin, he...”

He choked up halfway through his sentence.

He knew very well that if he hadn't instinctively taken half a step back by some miracle, he would have died there too.

Sun Hao patted his back, offering a few clumsy words of comfort, before turning to Cheng Xi. “Alright, that's what happened on our end. Why did you suddenly call us to gather? What's this important news? Don't tell me it actually has to do with Qi Lixin's death?”

Cheng Xi nodded and pulled Bai Ci closer. “It is. Bai Jiu discovered a key pattern that might be linked to the order of all the deaths.”

She then explained the homophonic number pattern Bai Ci had discovered to everyone.

“According to this pattern, Qi Lixin represents seven, which is why he was the next to die.”

After hearing Cheng Xi out, Sun Hao couldn't help but roll his eyes. “Unbelievable. So this battle royale of ours actually has a script? Classic theater. They really know how to put on a show. They're playing us like fools.”