Planning Within the Tent, Actually, I'm a Strategist

"... I don't think it's necessary."

Seeing that the others were also interested, Zither-Drum Harmony coughed a few times, and for the sake of his own life, he pretended to be calm and began to speak.

"I think the other party is definitely on our side. After all, she works so hard to provide us with fresh ingredients every night... Wouldn't it be a bit much to bother her again?"

"No way, maybe they pay by piecework?"

Bai Zhi looked righteous.

"Think about it this way: if there were no students, wouldn't the Teacher be unemployed? If there were no Passenger, wouldn't the driver be unemployed? So if we didn't support her work, wouldn't she be unemployed?"

"... I don't know if the other person will lose their job, but I guarantee you'll get beaten up tonight."

Zither-Drum Harmony turned his head away expressionlessly.

"Anyway, my stance on the other side is that I'm on our side."

"Really? But that's hard to say, since there's no concrete evidence..."

Bai Zhi reached up and touched his chin, looking troubled.

"Alright, let me first summarize our current situation. We not only have to spend Seven Days here, but we also need to uncover the secrets hidden within this Apartment. Today is the fourth day, but progress on the related tasks is not going smoothly."

Bai Zhi counted on his fingers with great seriousness.

"We've now entered the fourth day. Aside from yesterday's vicious attack, there have been no casualties. If things continue as they are, we're quite optimistic about making it through the Seven Days. However, we're facing significant difficulties with another mission."

"... The secret hidden within this Apartment?"

Nodding thoughtfully, PrayerUnderDreams picked up where Bai Zhi off.

"To be honest, we have indeed discovered quite a few secrets hidden in this Apartment over the past few days, such as some unspoken rules, but we know nothing about the origins of this Apartment or other more important things..."

"Yes, under these circumstances, if someone deliberately conceals some of the information they have obtained, the difficulty of this task will instantly increase by more than double."

Bai Zhi snapped his fingers.

"We are to survive here for Seven Days, and the information you found online says that we will definitely die after Seven Days... This is no coincidence."

"So our real crisis is in Seven Days. Only by surviving the greatest crisis in Seven Days can we return safely; otherwise, we'll only die here..."

Heavenless Heretic frowned and began to think as well.

"You believe the second mission is closely related to the first, and that if we fail to find the real secret hidden in this Apartment before the Seven Days deadline, we will all die here, right?"

"That's right, that's for sure, and I'm quite certain that the second task is the key to completing the first... That's a pretty obvious hint."

Bai Zhi glanced at Heavenless Heretic and nodded.

"Didn't you notice? There was no penalty for failing this mission. After all, failing the first mission meant instant death, so there was no punishment. But what about the second mission?"

Bai Zhi smiled.

"There's no such thing as completing the first task and then skipping the second, so I'm 100% certain that if we don't complete the second task, we definitely won't be able to complete the first one either."

As he said this, Bai Zhi glanced at the Zither-Drum Harmony.

"Continuing to be complacent will only hasten our demise. This is not a place for us to relax, improve our attributes and combat power. We must take the initiative to obtain more clues to piece together the final puzzle. At the same time, I hope that everyone will not conceal any clues. Survival or death, it's actually a very easy Multiple Choice Question, isn't it?"

"So you do suspect that one of us is hiding some additional clues, right?"

Noticing the way the other person was looking at him, he felt a surge of hatred Zither-Drum Harmony.

"But have you considered the possibility that the person didn't genuinely want to hide it, but was forced to do so due to Apartment rules?"

"Hmm? Of course I've considered it."

With an unusually irritating, punchable smile on his face, Bai Zhi calmly spoke.

"However, rules are rigid, but people are flexible. There are too many ways to bypass the rules. Even if the restrictions of the rules prevent some things from being said, wouldn't it be better to just remove those things that cannot be said?"

"..."

"Alright, now it's my turn to tell you about what happened last night."

Without looking at the other person again, Bai Zhi quickly changed the subject and began to speak.

"I spent last night in room [504]. Considering that playing Game might lead to unspeakable complications because there were two people in the room, I wrapped the computer with tape and stuffed it in the Cabinet. Then last night, I went out again."

"But I didn't see you... Did you go to the Entertainment Area?"

Before he could finish speaking, Heavenless Heretic realized what was happening.

"Oh, of course you didn't see me, because I went out after lights out at 11 p. m."

Bai Zhi calmly spoke.

"So it happened after the lights were turned off... wait, after the lights were turned off!?"

As soon as Bai Zhi uttered those words, apart from Night Owl, who was resting his chin on the table with a look of utter despair due to the constant pain in his arm, the other three people all turned their gazes to Bai Zhi, with Zither-Drum Harmony being the most shocked.

"Shouldn't we be subject to... after lights out at 11 PM?"

"That's right, countless Anomaly lurk in the darkness after nine o'clock at night, and they will attack any creature that enters the darkness... except for one exception."

Recalling the Shadow Guard who had been inexplicably killed earlier, Bai Zhi's face immediately showed a look of regret.

"So at that time, I used one of my Skill to hide on that special case, pretending to be one of those special cases, and went to a very interesting place, while also shooting and killing a certain Big Light Bulb..."

"Wait, were you the one who attacked last night?! How did you manage to get back alive?!"

Before Bai Zhi could say a word, Zither-Drum Harmony stood up from his chair in shock and blurted out a sentence without thinking.

"Of course, we'll take the stairs."

The person spread their hands, looking completely innocent.

"Each Player's initial Skill are a crucial secret, something I would never share... So, can you tell me now?"

"I can't reveal this intentionally, but if you find out, I can..."

Her lips twitched violently. She glanced at Bai Zhi, Zither-Drum Harmony sat down again, looking rather weak.

"That's right, I'm the Floor Administrator for this floor."