Second time in confinement | Are you planning to live here?

With that, he slammed the door shut and locked it from the outside with a series of clicks.

You Huo heard his voice come faintly through the crack in the door. "You only took the wrong stationery. It's not that harsh. The confinement room will just make you relive the most frightening thing you've ever experienced over and over. I'll come get you in three hours."

In a room on the second floor of the house, Invigilator 001 sat in an armchair, his chin propped on one hand.

A metal bird perch stood on the table, with a pitch-black bird perched on it.

His gaze rested on the snowy forest outside the window as his fingers played with the bird's head. His face was expressionless, and he looked rather bored.

Invigilator 922 was complaining up a storm. "The fucker pissed on me four times on the way here. Every time I said a word, I scared the piss out of him!"

No. 154 came in, the slip of paper in his hand rustling as he shook it. "A little girl! You wrote 'little girl' yourself!"

His coffin face finally cracked. If he had a hundred times the courage, he would have shoved the slip of paper right in 001's face.

Unfortunately, he didn't dare.

After the two of them had complained for a while, however, they realized the man in the armchair hadn't responded at all. His gaze was still fixed heavily on the view outside.

"Boss? Boss?" 922 called twice, then finally had to raise his voice. "Qin Jiu!"

Mr. 001 finally came back to his senses.

922 shoved 154 a step forward and slipped a good distance away.

154: "..."

Fuck.

Qin Jiu's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them. "I was distracted and didn't catch that. Want to complain again?"

154 shook his head. "Forget it."

922 came forward awkwardly. "Boss... what happened?"

Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow. "What kind of out-of-nowhere question is that?"

"Nothing... I just feel like you're in a bad mood," 922 said.

"Am I?"

"A... little." 922 chose his words carefully. "Because you got dragged over here to invigilate?"

"No."

"Then why did you..." 154 muttered.

"Speak up. I didn't catch the last part." Qin Jiu glanced at him.

Whenever he fixed his dark eyes on someone, he always made them feel uneasy. Even 154 and 922, who had followed him for almost three years, still weren't quite used to it.

154 edged back another half step and cleared his throat. "I mean... if you're in a good mood, why did you drag someone who didn't break the rules over here? Isn't that a bit against the regulations?"

Qin Jiu said, "I'm following the rules. Didn't you see that 'ink' on his hand?"

154 paused. "Oh, I didn't look closely..."

Qin Jiu played with the black bird's head and said, "Besides..."

922 and 154 pricked up their ears.

But their boss left that "besides" hanging for about ten minutes without following it up with anything.

After another long while, he said, "Forget it. It's nothing."

"..."

The two subordinates nearly ran out of breath, but they didn't dare rebel and slunk away.

There was a small attic on the third floor of the house, with a wall full of white screens, each corresponding to a confinement room.

The scenes experienced by the people in the confinement rooms were projected onto these screens. In a sense, many people's secrets could be seen here.

At the moment, however, the room was secured with a heavy lock, and no one came to peek.

Two screens were lit up: one for the bald man's room and one for You Huo's.

On the bald man's screen, the camera image was blurred with blood. Through the red, a figure hanging by the shoulders and a deathly pale face were faintly visible.

You Huo's screen, however, was blank.

The screen showed the room in its original state: three mirrors, a wall clock, a wooden table, and a wooden stool. Nothing else.

Three hours later, No. 154 came with the key to open the confinement room door.

He had braced himself for arms and legs flying at his face, but as soon as he unlocked the door, he froze.

There was nothing in the confinement room, and the cold-faced handsome guy confined inside had fallen asleep at the table.

His elbow covered his face, as though he had dozed off in an actual high school classroom.

The sound of 154 entering finally woke him.

He frowned and half opened his eyes, glanced at 154, then closed them again. After taking a moment, his face full of irritation and impatience at being woken, he sat up and leaned back against the chair. "Is my time up?"

154: "..."

Why don't you sleep a little longer?????

Chapter 4: Second time in confinement | Are you planning to live here?

You Huo came out of the confinement room to find the corridor quiet.

The bald man across the way had fallen silent, and blood seeping from his room had spread everywhere.

He frowned with a trace of disgust and stepped around the blood as he headed out.

He hadn't gone far when he suddenly stopped.

An eerie feeling of being watched followed him like a shadow, as though something were craning its head down to look, its lifeless eyes fixed silently on him.

You Huo looked up.

Above him was a white ceiling, with nothing on it but a dim lamp.

"Ah, fuck! I almost overslept and broke the rules. That damned coffin face actually didn't-" Someone hurried down from upstairs, but the muttering cut off abruptly as soon as he rounded the corner into the corridor.

"You! Ahem, you're out?"

You Huo pulled his gaze away from the ceiling.

The newcomer was Invigilator 922.

As soon as he saw You Huo, he switched back to a businesslike tone. Saying "Excuse me," he strode down the corridor and opened the door from which blood was gushing.

A moment later, the bald man was released.

922 supported the limp middle-aged man, walking as though he were paralyzed on one side.

"Why are you still here?" he asked.

With his hands in his pockets, You Huo said lazily, "Waiting for you. I'm not interested in being turned to ashes."

922: "Where's 154?"

You Huo: "I don't know."

"That damned straight-laced fraud has gone off to slack again?"