The Deal

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I admit I was a little loud just now. My room really does need cleaning. I've finally been waiting for you!"

Zhu Daqiang immediately put on a different face. In his heart, he could lose to anyone—but he absolutely couldn't lose to Yuan Xing. What gave a two-timer the right to act superior to him?

So Zhu Daqiang cheerfully invited Bai Yuze and Yukino inside.

As soon as they entered, Bai Yuze understood why Zhu Daqiang had said he didn't need a cleaning service. There was hardly any furniture in the room. The first floor at least had a bedside table, but this room had only a bed and a shabby table and chairs. An old computer sat on the table, with an ashtray beside the monitor, stuffed full of cigarette butts.

Only then did Bai Yuze notice the layer of mist-like gas floating near the ceiling. Judging by the smoke-stained yellow walls, he guessed it was smoke.

To be precise, secondhand smoke.

"Heh heh, I told you my room didn't need cleaning, didn't I?"

"Then why did you ask us to come in?"

Yukino's question left Zhu Daqiang speechless. Right—he'd forgotten about that. He'd only been thinking about not losing to Yuan Xing.

"Uh... I wanted you to see that I'm way better than that punk Yuan Xing."

"Is that so? What do you think of Yuan Xing?"

Yukino took the opportunity to ask him that, while Bai Yuze quietly switched on the recording function on the phone behind his back.

After recording ten minutes of Zhu Daqiang's "admiration" for Yuan Xing, Bai Yuze put his phone away.

"Why is there so little furniture in your room?"

"Hmph, it's all because of that miser. He claims fewer pieces of furniture make cleaning easier. Ha! The truth is, this room was only cleared out temporarily."

"Then why did you choose to stay here?"

Zhu Daqiang scratched his head, which was barely hanging on his neck, and gave an embarrassed grin.

"What can I say? This room's cheap. Once I make it big, I'll move into a place a hundred times better than this... No! A thousand times better!"

"Alright, sorry to bother you."

The sight of someone's head hanging on by a thread was something Bai Yuze had grown used to, but Yukino still found it hard to stomach.

After leaving room 207, the two exchanged a glance and headed for room 205. Before they could knock, however, the door opened by itself.

"Come in."

Yuan Xing's voice came from inside. The pitch-black room looked like a gaping abyss ready to swallow them alive. Bai Yuze took Tuanzi's phone from his pocket and switched on its flashlight, which helped settle his nerves a little.

As they entered, the iron door slammed shut. A flash of cold light shot past, and a blade pierced the wall beside Bai Yuze.

"Oh? You've got some nerve. You and that young lady are both quite impressive."

Bai Yuze smiled faintly. He wasn't surprised because he'd been through this before and had gotten used to it, while Yukino hadn't even had time to react.

"I know what you're looking for, but I'm sorry—I don't have it. However, I can trade you an item from this room."

By the weak light of the flashlight, they could just make out Yuan Xing sitting on the bed, his empty, black eye sockets facing them. The sight was unsettling.

"A trade? What kind of trade?"

Bai Yuze was a little surprised. He clearly remembered that Yuan Xing hadn't proposed a trade in the previous loops. Something seemed to have changed.

"If I'm not mistaken, you have the key ring the receptionist gave you, right? I want the key to room 207."

"What will you give us in exchange?"

Yuan Xing pointed to the wall behind them.

"I'll trade you that knife. I imagine you're troubled by the monster on the first floor too, aren't you?"

"What do you know about the monster on the first floor?"

"I know a little. I'll tell you after I'm done with what I need to do. Give me that key."

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to refuse."

Bai Yuze rejected Yuan Xing's offer. In the previous loops, the moment Yuan Xing got the key, he'd gone to fight Zhu Daqiang. In the end, they'd both died. Now that he finally had a chance to learn what had happened in this residential building, Bai Yuze wasn't about to let this rare source of information disappear.

But Yuan Xing didn't get angry. Instead, he burst out laughing. Just as Bai Yuze was starting to feel puzzled, Yuan Xing's next words left him stunned.

"Could it be... that you've died several times?"

"What do you mean?"

Bai Yuze quickly regained his composure and didn't let on in the slightest.

"Heh. When Zhu Daqiang chased you during the day, you stayed remarkably calm. Even someone highly trained would show fear when faced with death, but you acted as if you were already used to it.

"There are only two possibilities... You've died many times... or you know what's going to happen."

Yuan Xing's words sent a chill through Bai Yuze. He was confused. In the previous loops, Yuan Xing had acted like an NPC, but now it was as if a hollow shell had suddenly gained a soul.

"Of course, I wouldn't jump to conclusions based only on that. But just now, I became sure something was off about you."

"Just now? Could it be...!"

Only after Yuan Xing prompted him did Bai Yuze recall how foolishly he'd reacted.

"You remember now, don't you? I never said what the item was, but you focused on the 'trade.' That means you did know the item wasn't in my room. But the truth is, I made the whole thing up. I just wanted to test your purpose."

"So you knew from the start that I'd come looking for you? But what if I hadn't focused on the 'trade'?"

"Of course, that was possible. But I know myself. I don't have many friends, and I don't like talking to people. So I knew I'd never bring up the word 'trade' under any circumstances. That's why I said it casually, to test your reaction."

Bai Yuze took a small step back. After realizing the iron door wouldn't open, Yukino went to pull the knife from the wall so she could defend herself.

The instant Yukino touched the handle, she felt a burning sensation on her hand.

"My apologies, beautiful young lady. This knife hasn't left this room, so it's still under my control."

"You can see?"

At Yukino's question, Yuan Xing only chuckled. He snapped his fingers, and the room instantly lit up.

At last, Yukino saw where Yuan Xing's eyeball was. It hung in a corner near the ceiling, watching them like a surveillance camera.

"Blind people don't need the lights on. But I'm not blind. I just can't put my eyeball back in its socket."

"So... can we discuss our trade now?"

Yuan Xing snapped his fingers, and the knife embedded in the wall returned to his hand.

He sat there with a smile, watching the two of them. The knife in his hand was both his bargaining chip and the source of his confidence.