No Exceptions

"I still can't believe the hotel's email could contain an error."

Although Fang Shenyan had only gone through one mission, his way of thinking had changed remarkably quickly. Perhaps, just as he said, he had been born to enter the hotel.

Yu Guo looked somewhat bewildered as he agreed from the side. "That's right. I didn't find any similar cases in the employee handbook Ji Li had either."

Tong Guan glanced at the twenty-odd staff members standing anxiously in the lobby behind them and said softly:

"It's still too early to say whether the mission details are accurate.

Shop No. 11 has always been passed down from generation to generation. Its employees have never completely died out.

That is why it retained most of the past cases. After becoming Acting Manager, I looked through them and found only one similar mission."

Shop No. 11 was another branch under Tianhai Hotel. Tong Guan's words brought them a fresh piece of information.

Fang Shenyan and Yu Guo exchanged a glance, silently understanding each other.

"So the other branches were all inherited through a continuous line, while the Seventh Branch suffered a break in succession!

The previous generation of employees all died in a single mission. No newcomers were brought in, and when Ji Li arrived, he was immediately chosen as Acting Manager."

Those words were broadcast from the Monitoring Room and reached Ji Li's ears as well.

He frowned and coughed lightly, turning to glance at the bewildered Li Xing without saying anything.

Li Xing's mind was full of doubts. He kept feeling as though there was a gap in his memories, especially regarding the "mission details."

But Ji Li's sudden turn had dispelled his intention to check his phone.

His fear of Ji Li made Li Xing slowly withdraw his hand from his clothes, causing him to miss the moment when he might have come into contact with the bloody hand on the screen.

After looking at Li Xing, Ji Li turned back around.

The secrets of the other branches that Tong Guan had mentioned gave him an odd feeling. Ji Li rolled the cigarette butt between his fingertips, his eyes silent.

Though he did not think himself special, he was clearly different from everyone else.

Shop No. 7 had only gone through its first mission at the Two-Star Hotel. How could every employee have died without any newcomers being added?

A wishful thought vaguely surfaced in Ji Li's mind:

"Heavenly Sea deliberately purged Shop No. 7, all to create a vacuum for my arrival."

It was absurd, nothing more than a feeling.

It stemmed from Ji Li's conspiratorial mindset, because he had never forgotten his desire to seek the truth.

Tianhai Hotel had to be deeply connected to his special trait of dying and returning to life, as well as the memories he had lost.

"Ji Li, I know you're listening.

"The case I mentioned is very unusual.

"We all know that the hotel allows ghosts to enter as well!

"However, ghosts that enter the hotel under extreme circumstances are restricted and cannot attack us.

"But we do not know the extent of those restrictions.

"In that case at Shop No. 11, a ghost obscured the employees' eyes!

"It caused the mission details seen by the employees to differ from the real details.

"If the outcome of our operation this time turns out to be an unknown anomaly, then perhaps all of us had already been blinded by a ghost the moment we received the mission!"

Tong Guan raised his head and looked directly at the nearest surveillance camera as he spoke loudly.

Based on his mission experience and analysis, he proposed that a ghost had entered the hotel and used an ability that blinded their eyes, making them see false Mission Information.

"Who is the ghost?"

Ji Li's already hoarse, profound voice came through the broadcast, sounding as dry and rasping as dead wood.

Tong Guan did not turn to look at the employees beside him. He merely gazed at Ji Li from afar in silence.

Ji Li saw those eyes on the black-and-white television screen, glinting sharply. He remained calm, understanding Tong Guan's thoughts.

"The ghost is Li Xing."

It was easy to connect the suspicion to Li Xing. He should have entered the hotel with Tong Guan and the others, yet he had been delayed by three minutes.

The mission details had likewise been delayed by several hours.

Li Xing was the ghost...

The conclusion was weak and unsupported by evidence, but it fit the current situation.

The Third Personality had said that the source of the curse lay among the employees.

If Li Xing truly was a ghost, if he had created a false mission and gathered around the employees to spread the curse, then many things could be explained.

Ji Li did not turn around. He merely stared at the television screen, quietly watching the anxious staff members in the first-floor lobby.

At the same time, through the television screen, he saw Li Xing curled up in a corner, silent all along and unusually quiet.

Ghost possession was Unsolvable Killing. Approaching him was absolutely impossible.

If even avoiding the staff members still resulted in unavoidable death, then it could only mean that the mission details themselves were wrong.

Because the hotel could not possibly issue a mission with no path to survival.

Ji Li did not believe they had simply failed to find the path to survival. Based on the current mission details, they had already done everything they could.

Now, all they could do was wait.

And wait was all they could do.

"The mystery of Li Xing's identity depends entirely on whether the twenty-eight employees on the first floor live or die."

Ji Li was not worried at all, because he knew very well that even if Li Xing truly was a ghost, he would never attack Ji Li before the staff members were all dead.

More importantly, even if the current mission details were overturned, he was not afraid.

Because he knew very well that there was still one final person in this building. That person was connected to the truth of this mission.

Xiao Qi, a name that sounded like it belonged to a woman.

Find her, and the full veil over this mission could be lifted.

That was Ji Li's backup plan, and the key plan for after this operation.

He was not in a hurry, but Tong Guan and the others, stationed at the corner of the second floor and observing the first floor, were extremely anxious.

"If something drastic really happens on the first floor, and the mission details are fundamentally overturned, how are we supposed to find the real mission?"

Yu Guo's heart had risen to his throat. He spoke quickly, revealing his nervousness.

Yet there was still no fear on his face. There was more excitement toward the unknown.

Fang Shenyan sat on the steps, looked at the Eyeball Tattoo on the back of his hand, lit a cigarette, and said faintly, "Ji Li is hiding something from us."

Tong Guan asked with interest, "How so?"

"Anyone with eyes can see that it is impossible for no one on the first floor to die. That means the mission of protecting the staff members has most likely already collapsed.

"But Ji Li's plan only stated the outcome and did not mention any follow-up response.

"I don't believe someone with his mind could fail to think of one, so there are two possibilities.

"First, he is not certain whether his response strategy will work. Second, he did not dare say it due to some concern."

Chang Nian, who had been listening nearby, gained a deeper understanding of Ji Li's caution.

"What concern could he have? Among the six of us, aside from Li Xing himself, everyone has probably begun to suspect his true identity."

"Perhaps Ji Li is even more cautious than we are. He is afraid the ghost isn't Li Xing.

"He can't trust anyone..."

Time passed quickly. It was now three in the morning on October 26, 2015.

Five long hours had passed since the mission began.

The employees had long since stopped second-guessing each other. Yu Guo had even stationed himself at the stairway and slowly closed his eyes as drowsiness crept over him.

The long night was not over yet, but only one final hour remained before the mission ended.

Yet no more casualties had occurred. Still, no one relaxed at this moment or believed they had found a path to survival.

Storms always became more violent at the very last moment.

And now, the final moment had arrived!

"Ah? What are you doing?"

"Xiaodong, what's wrong with you?"

"How could I..."

"Someone, hurry, come..."

Yu Guo had just dozed off when the clamor and chaos from the first floor jolted him awake. He sprang up from the stairs.

Tong Guan, Fang Shenyan, Chang Nian, and four employees emerged from the second floor, standing at a distance as they looked down at the staff members on the first floor.

Every face was filled with terror!

After a brief uproar, all twenty-eight staff members fell silent at once.

One after another, pairs of hands reached toward their own heads. Their expressions could not be made out, but that extremely bizarre sight, that dead-silent scene, was deeply branded into the hearts of the living.

Tong Guan's palm trembled slightly. He could not see clearly, but he heard it distinctly.

"Crack, crack."

One after another, one following the next...

Everyone lined up and snapped their own necks in succession!

No one could survive!