Dawn broke in the east, and all things came to life.
Milky morning light slanted in from the east, dispersing the ignorance and gloom within the residence. Even the swirling dust and specks of blood were veiled in a faint radiance.
Qi Si slowly woke up. He glanced at the time displayed on the Pocket Watch of Fate—it was exactly six in the morning.
He let out a listless yawn and stared blankly at the ceiling through narrowed eyes.
He had realized that he could never sleep in during an Instance. No matter how well he usually slept, or how sleepy and exhausted he was after a night of work, once the time came, he would always wake up uncontrollably like the other Players.
Take last night, for example. After realizing that some invisible force would knock over the lantern, he had sat upright on the bed with the lantern in hand, intending to stay awake all night.
—Though he didn't know exactly what the lantern was for, it could never be wrong to deny the ghosts what they wanted so easily.
Unfortunately, he had still drifted off in a daze afterward. He did not even know when he had put the lantern back on the bedside table. Some Instance mechanism designed to ensure Players got enough rest had probably taken effect.
His final memory was of a loud night-watchman's call, a hoarse voice reciting, "Third watch at midnight, all is safe," like an oracle proclaimed by an ancient shaman.
Qi Si remembered that midnight referred to the period between eleven at night and one in the morning. By the fullest count, he had only slept six hours before waking up now.
Well, the Eerie Game had always been very proactive about waking Players up, presumably to prevent them from