“It seems there are no breakthroughs for now. I plan to continue searching for clues,” Fu Yan said. Without waiting for the others to react, he called Cheng Xi over and left the second floor.
Naturally, the group of five—Bai Ci, Fu Liu, the high-ponytail girl, the boy with the flashlight, and Filament—still stuck together.
They headed down to the corridor on the left side of the first floor again, resuming yesterday's search of the study to see if they could find any useful information in the books and documents.
The muscular man took the initiative to approach the man in the suit, asking to team up. Since the man in the suit was a good-natured pushover, he did not refuse.
Watching the large group file into the left side, the two discussed it briefly and headed toward the right corridor together.
As for Sun Hao, due to his “stellar reputation,” he ended up being the one left alone.
He accepted this readily, wandering around the main hall by himself, moving from the stage to the tiered seating, searching for who knows what.
Sun Hao looked left and right on the stage. In truth, his mind wasn't really on the search; instead, he was quietly pondering to himself: who exactly had killed the overalls man?
Could it be that person? Emotionally speaking, it seemed possible.
Sigh... Just thinking about it gave Sun Hao a headache.
He had clearly made an agreement with his teammates last night to strike tonight. He hadn't expected someone to break the agreement and act on their own.
Although he felt that taking action was better than waiting to die randomly, last night's agreement was originally meant to stabilize the team's morale and prevent anyone from exposing their identity out of panic.
Now that someone had struck early and broken the agreement, one could easily imagine what kind of chaotic infighting the team would face tonight.
Sun Hao the more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became.
On the other side, Bai Ci's group of five walked straight into the study.
The traps in the study had already been marked with ink yesterday, so they didn't have to worry about accidentally triggering any.
The group entered the study and dispersed. Some checked the books on the shelves, while others flipped through the documents on the desk, carefully searching for any potentially useful clues.
“Um...” Just as everyone was about to start searching in earnest, the high-ponytail girl suddenly stopped. She stood there awkwardly, a look of guilt on her face.
She spoke up, “I forgot to cover that sister's body.”
“Time was so tight yesterday, and this morning... my mind was completely jumbled. I just followed you all over here in a daze and forgot all about it.”
“The tablecloth is still in the second-floor dormitory. I'll go get it and cover her up. It'll be quick, won't take long at all. I'm sorry for delaying everyone's progress.” Having said this, the high-ponytail girl lowered her head.
Bai Ci did not blame her at all; she was quite tolerant of kind-hearted people. “It's fine, I can understand how you feel. It won't delay us much. Just go and come back quickly.”
Hearing this, the boy with the flashlight offered, “I'll go with you. Although the second-floor dormitory isn't far, we can look out for each other in case of an emergency, and I can lend you a hand.”
Nearby, Filament also looked eager to help.
“No need, and Tongtong, that goes for you too.” The high-ponytail girl shook her head, a forced smile appearing on her face. “I was already the one delaying everyone. If you guys come with me, the rest of the group will search for clues even slower, wasting more time.”
“Besides, I'm just going to get a tablecloth and then cover that sister up on the stage. I'll be right back, so there won't be any danger. Keep searching for clues, don't worry about me.”
“And anyway, it's such a short distance from here to the second-floor dormitory. If I really run into danger, I'll yell for you.”
Her attitude was resolute. The boy with the flashlight tried to persuade her a few more times but couldn't sway her. He could only nod and caution, “Then you must be careful. If anything happens, shout immediately, and we'll come right over.”
“Okay, thank you.” The high-ponytail girl bowed deeply, the guilt on her face fading slightly. She turned and quickly ran out of the study.
It wasn't just about covering the long-haired woman's body; she had another matter she wanted to confirm.
The group continued searching for clues in the study. Bai Ci, Fu Liu, and the boy with the flashlight divided the numerous bookshelves among themselves, while Filament took charge of checking the desk and the remaining areas.
“Come over and look at this, quick,” Filament suddenly called out to everyone, her voice carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling and obvious gravity.
Filament spread open the notebook she had found on the desk, making it easier for everyone who gathered around to see.
The pages of the notebook were yellowed and brittle, and the handwriting on them was somewhat scribbled yet legible, densely recording one game after another.
From “Night Hunt,” a variation of Werewolf, to “Choice of Good and Evil,” derived from Angels and Demons, every single one bore clear hallmarks of a battle royale, where victory was determined by the complete annihilation of one side.
“Round One: Sacrifice Game. Status: Completed. Survivors: 0,” Filament read aloud.
“Do you still remember the theater's introduction?” Bai Ci reminded them.
Then, she repeated the key points: “The last play performed by the theater was called 《The Feast of Sacrifice》. After that performance, all the actors in the theater mysteriously vanished and were never seen again.”
“Was that play the very first game?” Filament asked in surprise.
“Most likely, but there's no proof yet,” Bai Ci said, not speaking too definitively. “Let's keep reading.”
The group's gaze moved down along the handwriting. The records for the next few rounds of games varied, with scattered survivor counts—four at most, and as few as one.
But when they reached the ninth round, the information cut off.
That section of the pages was missing. Judging by the edges of the missing portion, they could make out traces of fire damage.
Filament pursed her lips tightly, her face full of frustration. “How did it get burned? What on earth happened in the ninth round? Could the key to ending the game be hidden in this round?”
Filament's words echoed what the others who saw the record were thinking. The heavy atmosphere brought about by the overalls man's death eased slightly, and the sense of oppression lessened.
No matter what the situation was with the ninth round, they had at least found a direction to start with.
On the other hand, Bai Ci was thinking about far more. She clearly remembered that the cause of death recorded on each of the twelve tombstones under the moonlight was fire.
This was highly unlikely to be a coincidence; they were very likely the participants of the ninth round.
Combining this with the status panel of Fu Liu's ghost form, which explicitly stated that he was bound and trapped...
In other words, the ninth round had not ended the game. Instead, it was more like the game had been aborted for some reason, and the participants of the ninth round had been trapped inside it.
Bypassing the scorched ninth round, Filament continued reading.
The subsequent records returned to being complete, not much different from the earlier ones. Game after game was listed in order, all the way up to the eighteenth.
“Round Eighteen: Calamity of Mad Poison. Status: In Progress.”
Rate on N.U.
