Ji Li Is Dead

"Rumble!"

Another bolt of thunder crashed outside the window, tearing through a vast bank of rain clouds and bringing the long-stopped downpour back upon the mortal world.

On the top floor of the Eighteenth Floor, only one living person remained, striding resolutely toward the final destination.

Ji Li's expression had gradually shifted from its initial gloom to utter resolve. Things had reached this point; he no longer had a choice.

Since the ghost had begun showing signs of possessing someone, it meant they could die at any moment.

Time was running out.

By the time Ji Li reached the door of the storage room at the innermost end of the Eighteenth Floor, it was already 3:55 a.m.!

Even the deadline for the false mission had entered its final five minutes.

A thin line apart, separated by a single door.

A voice, accompanied by the sudden torrential rain, spilled recklessly into Ji Li's ears.

"Push it open! Push it open! Push it open!"

"Boom!"

Ji Li kicked out at the door, a cold gray gleam flashing through his eyes as he sent the old wooden storage-room door flying open.

There was no light inside, yet the cold light behind Ji Li pierced through flesh and blood, reaching into the dark corner.

As his field of vision widened, his brows drew together. Three corpses lay before him...

Their bodies all faced away from Ji Li, but their heads had been twisted one hundred and eighty degrees around, locking eyes with him—the sole living person—in some unseen way.

The prickling unease in Ji Li's heart grew stronger. Something within him was acting as a catalyst.

Forcing him to go inside and uncover the truth!

"Since I've already made my decision, there's no need to hesitate!"

Ji Li strode straight into the cramped storage room.

From left to right, the three corpses belonged to Lao Xue, Xiao Li, and an unfamiliar middle-aged man. The last one must have been Brother Xu.

Ji Li's first reaction was to rush in and drag Xiao Li's corpse from the center of the storage room outside in one swift motion.

Though he acted decisively, as if without a second thought, he knew very well that everything before him was likely a trap.

He did not know where the danger would come from, but if he could avoid entering the storage room, he would.

The corpse was stiff as an eerie statue. Ji Li forcibly dragged Xiao Li's body into the hallway. Without even looking at that face, he reached into its pocket.

"The photo on the phone!"

Ji Li had never forgotten what the true key to this situation was.

The corpses did not matter. Whatever had hidden these three people here did not matter either. What mattered was what exactly was in the photo on Xiao Li's phone!

When his palm touched a smooth, hard object, Ji Li's heart tightened. Things had gone even more smoothly than he had expected.

He pulled out his hand, bringing with it an ordinary Android phone. Seeing the fingerprint unlock button, he yanked Xiao Li's hand out from behind his back.

He had already thought this through before arriving at the 18th Floor.

With fingerprint unlocking, as long as he had Xiao Li's phone and corpse, that would be enough.

Xiao Li had said in the chat logs that the original version of that photo was still in his gallery!

Within seconds, sweat had formed on Ji Li's forehead as he desperately bent the dead man's overly stiff fingers.

He tried them one after another, but the process took far too much time.

That was because Xiao Li had died with both hands gripping his head, and once his blood cooled after death, his body had completely stiffened.

Almost every finger Ji Li tried required him to use all his strength to break its joints!

Second by second, time passed, and Ji Li's hair stood on end.

He felt uneasy—not because the situation was too tense, nor because nothing had happened and worried him, but because he felt that something around him was quietly changing...

Ji Li was not the only one who felt it. The Third Personality reacted as well.

"Ji Li, I feel like we're not quite the same anymore."

"Yes. I feel as though some unknown thing is watching every move I make..."

"No! I'm different from you. I've discovered that a soul inside our body is slowly awakening. Every time you do something, the aura of its awakening grows stronger!"

Ji Li abruptly froze, then suddenly turned to look at the storage room with its door hanging open.

The remaining two corpses were completely motionless. He then looked down at Xiao Li's corpse beneath him.

There was nothing unusual.

But the Third Personality's words made him even more urgent. He was not worried about the ghost; he was more worried about the gray soul inside him!

"Why...

Why does the person in my heart stir with my actions..."

"Ding-dong..."

A sound interrupted Ji Li's thoughts, forcing him to pull himself away from that palpitating sensation!

The phone had unlocked!

"Go, go, go! Get out of here quickly! I can feel a bone-chilling cold!

The ghost must be here!"

The Third Personality's near-hysterical roar made Ji Li hurry to leave.

There was no need for him to say it. The instant the phone unlocked, Ji Li had already crouched and shot forward, heading straight for the stairwell!

He clutched the phone tightly in his palm, running at full speed while swiping through the screen in search of that photo!

"The elevator entrance is ahead. There's no door, so be careful not to fall in. Turn left!"

Ji Li focused entirely on searching through the phone's photos, while the Third Personality served as his guide, directing his escape route in his mind.

"The six-hour limit is almost up...

I can still sense the ghost around us. It has never left. Why hasn't it made a move yet?!"

The Third Personality was doing all the talking. Ji Li had no room to spare for distraction.

Photo after photo passed beneath his fingertips. The urgency of the situation was about to crush a living man's nerves.

The sweat seeping from Ji Li's body had already soaked through his clothes, while his hair danced wildly despite the absence of wind.

"Where is it... Where is it..."

Then, he suddenly came across a heavily pixelated photo, and his fingers stopped.

At the same time, his body halted before the elevator shaft with no doors, just one step away from its cliff-like empty drop.

The image was still loading because Ji Li had been swiping so rapidly.

Yet from its outline, Ji Li could make out a red handprint amid the chaotic scene.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

The loading finished, and the picture was completely revealed before Ji Li's eyes.

The sight instantly made Ji Li's scalp tingle, and a truth emerged naturally from the scene in the photo!

"So...

So that's how it is!"

Ji Li tucked Xiao Li's phone into his clothes, then pulled out his own Hotel Phone!

"I know the real mission. It's in the Hotel Phone!"

The email sent by the hotel account was quickly opened, appearing before Ji Li's eyes.

The true mission content, which had lain dormant for so long and tormented him for so long, quietly appeared.

After seeing the false mission content earlier, Ji Li had finally understood the photo Xiao Li had secretly taken...

The opportunity had appeared, and the true mission content was finally replaced!

Recipient: Acting Manager Ji Li of Tianhai Hotel, Shop No. 7.

Beginning at 10:00 p.m. on October 26, 2015, for a duration of 12 hours.

Discover the true mission content of this message and identify the location of the ghost by any means necessary. Doing so will count as successfully guiding in the ghost.

Note 1: During the first six hours of this mission, the ghost cannot inflict substantial harm upon employees;

Note 2: To complete the mission, the ghost's current exact location must be identified. Otherwise, it will not count;

Note 3: This mission is special. The ghost does not exist in a conventional form, but all six employees must each complete the identification, or they will be unable to return.

"The ghost... was actually..."

The moment Ji Li saw the true mission, every previous doubt was explained.

"So the ghost had always been in our..."

But before he could finish the sentence, Ji Li suddenly felt his mind and thoughts come to an abrupt halt!

Even his thinking had frozen!

From the corner of his eye, he saw a blinding red glow emerge from Xiao Li's phone and rapidly spread across his body!

Ji Li's hands climbed uncontrollably toward his own head. He had no power to resist the process.

Because once the ghost possessed someone, there was only death without a solution!

Ji Li's head was snapped around in an instant. He had discovered the real mission, learned the path to survival, and learned the ghost's location.

But everything was already too late. The calamity had revealed itself the moment he reached the fifth floor, and the ghost had been brewing within him for far too long.

Ji Li had no chance to fight back.

His corpse fell into the empty elevator shaft, while the Hotel Phone was left behind on the Eighteenth Floor and shattered into pieces!

"JI LI!!!!"

At the moment of his death, only the Third Personality let out a silent roar in his mind—but no one could hear it.