Lu Mi was still looking down, quietly reveling in his own delight, when a pair of flip-flops suddenly entered his field of vision. "Um..."
"Hm?"
The moment Lu Mi saw those shoes, which were clearly unsuited for running for one's life, he began sizing their owner up: wearing a Wristband meant he wasn't a newcomer, yet he had entered the instance in flip-flops. He certainly had nerve. Perhaps he was like Cheng Cheng, strong enough that he wasn't afraid to tempt death.
But when Lu Mi looked up, the man he saw had a completely different air from Cheng Cheng-
He was around twenty-five or twenty-six, with shoulder-length curly hair and a thick beard covering the lower half of his slightly bowed face. His eyes shifted evasively, but there was nothing sleazy about him. He looked like a shy little bear.
Now that Lu Mi had raised his head to look at him, the man couldn't help stepping back a few paces, opening his mouth as if to say something.
"Zhong Zixian, what are you still dawdling for? Hurry up and catch up with everyone else." Someone bumped the man's shoulder.
"If you can't find the dormitory in time for bed and some ghost latches onto you, I won't be able to save you."
Indeed, only a handful of people remained in the classroom.
"Got it, Rongyu." Zhong Zixian looked at Lu Mi and finally blurted out what he wanted to say. "Um, be careful on patrol. The first night usually has the most deaths."
Lu Mi nodded. "Thanks. You be careful too."
Wang Rongyu rolled his eyes. "Worry about yourself instead. He's got Cheng Cheng looking after him. He won't die."
Lu Mi ignored that remark. They had to reach the gatekeeper and sign in within ten minutes of the evening study session ending.
He grabbed Roman, and the two practically sprinted to the gatehouse.
"You're here?"
The gatekeeper raised his eyes, his mouth barely moving. A faint air of resentment emanated from him.
"You must patrol until eleven thirty tonight. Come back here to sign out when you're done. I'll be watching you on the surveillance cameras. No slacking off."
The two took flashlights and entered Teaching Building No. 3, where their daytime classes were held, to begin work.
The teachers and students had all left, and moonlight spilled across the concrete floor. The corridors and classrooms, bustling during the day, were now deserted. Only their footsteps could be heard.
"Achoo-"
After patrolling a few floors, Lu Mi felt a chill around his neck and pulled his collar up.
The season in this instance seemed to be the transition between autumn and winter, and the temperature dropped even lower at night.
A moment later, he heard the man beside him ask with a hint of displeasure, "Where's your scarf?"
"Huh? Oh." Lu Mi opened his backpack and dug out a scarf. Roman had given it to him in the previous instance.
"Hold this." Roman handed him his flashlight, and the scarf in Lu Mi's hands naturally passed into Roman's.
"I can do it myself..." Roman's hands brushed across his neck with the scarf, forcing him to tilt his head up slightly.
After a while, Lu Mi couldn't help asking, "Does it really take you this long to tie a scarf?"
"Shh." Roman leaned close to his ear, his hands moving extremely slowly. "Something's watching us."
"..."
They were currently on the third floor, where their classes had been held during the day.
Lu Mi faced the balcony. All he could see was part of Roman's shoulder right in front of him, and the swaying branches and leaves of a large tree.
Meanwhile, Roman, who was tying his scarf for him, casually glanced at a classroom opposite them out of the corner of his eye.
A figure in a school uniform stood behind the classroom window with its head tilted. There was no telling how long it had been watching them.
Its head tilted farther and farther to one side, bending at an inhuman angle, as though its spine had snapped and only a thin strip of flesh still held it together...
Elsewhere, the players who hadn't been punished had already been assigned to separate boys' and girls' dormitories.
Inside girls' dorm room 509, the light bulb flickered.
A tall girl stood in the doorway with her arms folded, carefully reading what was posted on the door.
"Yiwen, I'm going to shower first." A newcomer walked past her carrying a washbasin.
"Okay, be careful. Oh, Xiao Yi," Shen Yiwen said, "did you read the rules on the door?"
"Yes, yes, I read them."
Xiao Yi answered offhandedly and headed to the shower room, humming a tune.
After closing the shower room door, she finally couldn't hold it in anymore. She crouched on the floor and burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Seriously, this reality show is incredible. The actors are dedicated, and the special effects look so real. I just wonder how much they'll pay me when it's over."
Back in the dorm room, Shen Yiwen sat on her bed to rest, silently reciting the rules from memory.
Student Dormitory Rules, rule one: loud laughter and boisterous behavior are prohibited in the shower room.
"Excuse me, what are you laughing at?"
"Holy shit, when did you get here?" At some point, a girl had appeared in front of Xiao Yi. Her long black hair was soaked, plastered tightly against both sides of her face. Something shiny seemed to flash on top of her head.
"Excuse me, what are you laughing at?" the girl repeated.
"I... I thought of something funny." Xiao Yi slowly stood up with her back against the door. As her line of sight rose, she saw a fruit knife embedded in the top of the girl's head.
"Oh, may I ask," the girl leaned forward, letting blood run down the fruit knife and drip onto Xiao Yi's face, "can you see me?"
"Hahahaha, you guys made this way too realistic. Even the smell of blood is so..."
Xiao Yi wiped some blood off her face and stared at her reddened fingers. The rest of her words caught in her throat.
I'm screwed. This blood looks real...
The girl leaned even closer.
An extremely deep gash lay exposed where the fruit knife had pierced the top of her head.
Xiao Yi swallowed. Inside, she could see a flesh-colored brain quivering with the girl's movements.
"May I ask, can you see me?" the girl asked again, her hollow eyes staring unblinkingly at Xiao Yi.
"Yes... yes..." Xiao Yi's lips trembled. Once she was upright, she yanked the door open and bolted outside. "Holy shit! Aaaah!!"
At the same moment, Shen Yiwen opened her eyes on her dorm bed. "Is Xiao Yi really going to be okay?"
Another roommate reassured her, "She'll be fine. She's mentally tough, and she's pretty too. If you ask me, she might just be the next Lu Mi."
"Lu Mi?" Shen Yiwen shook her head. "The ghost audience has very picky tastes. If he can keep holding first place on the Popularity Ranking, he must have more going for him than mental toughness and good looks."
Her roommate gave an "Oh" and looked toward the door. "By the way, who do you think wrote these weird rules?"
Student Dormitory Rules, rule two: each dorm room has a different entry code. Please remember your own room's code.
A note in red lettering for this room: the entry code for this room is [Knock loudly once, pause for two seconds, then knock softly three times in succession. Repeat at least twice.]
Xiao Yi sprinted to the door of room 509 and pounded on the steel door with a loud bang, bang. "Shen Yiwen! Li Xiaoxiao! Hurry up and let me in!!!"
As she knocked, she turned to look down the corridor.
"Thank goodness. Thank goodness she didn't follow me." She relaxed a little, checked the room number again to make sure she hadn't come to the wrong door, then slammed her open palm against it dozens of times. "Shen Yiwen! Open the door! Can you hear me?"
The corridor lights flickered a few times, but still no one opened the door.
"Call her. Right." Xiao Yi took out her phone with trembling hands. "Good thing I was smart enough to exchange contact details with Shen Yiwen beforehand."
Just as she dialed the number, the steel door in front of her suddenly made a sound and opened a crack.
The door had opened from the inside.
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