Three players acted as 'ghosts,' among twelve participants in total.

Five people were present, almost half the total players. It was unlikely that none of these five were playing the role of 'ghosts'.

So, out of these five, who exactly was a ghost... or perhaps, 'who were ghosts'?

The night wind blew by, and Fatty felt a chill on his back.

Getting a 'ghost' to admit their identity was impossible.

Fatty gently nudged Chu Changge, who was next to him, then glanced at the date displayed on Chu Changge's wristwatch as the other looked on.

The green numbers on the digital watch were somewhat dazzling in the darkness.

It was September twenty-fifth, 7:41 PM.

The five present had fallen into an unspoken silence.

Gu Mian saw 007 seem to want to say something, but she swallowed her words. He figured she wanted to say something like, 'I'm just an ordinary citizen,' but everyone would claim that, and no one would believe it.

At that moment, Keke spoke up, "Right, my in-game name in this instance is Xu Keke, similar to my nickname. It's pretty easy to remember..."

She said tentatively, looking at Gu Mian, "You're Mr. Gu, aren't you?"

The only name on the wanted list.

Gu Mian's alias was still Doctor, displayed in green, but this instance directly revealed his real name.

However, even if the instance had given him a fake name, Keke would have recognized him as 'Gu Sanwan' from the wanted list.

She had experienced the hide-and-seek instance with Gu Mian.

After the hide-and-seek instance collapsed, a compensation list was released, which always displayed players' real aliases. The name 'Gu Mian' was conspicuously listed there.

There hadn't been any player nicknamed 'Gu Mian' in the hide-and-seek instance at the time.

If Keke wasn't foolish, she could deduce who the 'Gu Mian' on the list was through elimination.

This was an awkward subject. Should I kill her to silence her? Gu Mian wondered for the second time.

But just as he was considering the feasibility of murder, he suddenly heard Fatty, from behind him, say, "Oh, right, I have that little…"

But Fatty's sentence was cut off mid-way.

What happened?

Gu Mian turned to look at the suddenly quiet Fatty. At this point, everyone else also looked curiously towards Fatty, who was at the back.

Chu Changge had his hand on Fatty's shoulder, apparently having just silenced him.

Keke didn't continue the previous topic but nervously bit her lip as she looked at Fatty. "What do you have?"

Fatty's expression was odd. After a pause of several seconds, he stuttered, "I... uh... need to pee... Can someone come with me?"

Gu Mian: "..."

Asking a girl to accompany a boy to the restroom wasn't appropriate.

Luckily, the teaching building wasn't far, and each floor had a restroom. Fatty practically dragged Chu Changge with him.

Gu Mian and the others waited nearby.

Since it wasn't yet 7:50 PM, Gu Mian wasn't worried; he wouldn't have been concerned even if Fatty had gone to the restroom alone at this point.

007 didn't seem to have any worries.

Only Keke, standing to one side, looked very nervous. She seemed to have completely forgotten about mentioning Gu Mian's name earlier.

While Fatty and Chu Changge were in the restroom, Keke, still visibly nervous, asked Gu Mian, "In this game, don't we win by voting out all the 'ghosts'? Do we have any clues yet?"

007 glanced at Keke.

Even though Keke's question positioned her with the ordinary citizens, only she knew if she was a 'ghost'. She might be saying this to hide her true identity.

Keke was clearly intelligent. She'd clammed up after noticing Gu Mian didn't appreciate his name being brought up. If someone like her wanted to hide her identity, she'd do it very well.

Appearances were mostly unreliable. Personal investigation was the only way to find the truth.

While 007 remained silent, Gu Mian spoke, stroking his chin. He asked unexpectedly, "You and Zhang Pingfan are in the same class, so you must know about his disappearance, right?"

Keke seemed to hesitate for a moment.

In the dim corridor, Gu Mian couldn't see her expression. He only heard her pause for a few seconds before replying, "Yes... Zhang Pingfan is in my class, but I haven't seen him since entering this instance. Our class leader said he suddenly disappeared yesterday, without any warning..."

"Our class leader is still in the office discussing it with the teachers. Oh, and our class leader for Class Nine is Yuan Qinghua. I mentioned her before, right? She's also playing Close Your Eyes."

Yuan Qinghua? That's quite a unique name.

Having read numerous web novels, Gu Mian knew authors often followed a certain naming convention: unimportant side characters got generic names, while good-looking or important characters received more distinctive ones.

According to this convention, Yuan Qinghua probably isn't a pushover.

Similarly, Yue Nu probably isn't one either.

Just look at how plain 007's game name, Lin Qi, or Keke's, Xu Keke, sounded in comparison.

Keke then continued, "Speaking of Zhang Pingfan, I know one of the twelve players, a girl named Pan Yue, is close to him. We might get some information if we ask her. But Pan Yue isn't in our class, so I wouldn't recognize her..."

Pan Yue?

Gu Mian remembered that 007, Yue Nu, Pan Yue, and Li Wentao were all students of Senior Year 2, Class 13. So 007 should recognize her.

At this, 007 frowned. "Pan Yue is indeed in my class, but we only just entered the instance. I haven't had much chance to talk to her yet."

"Looking at your game alias, you must be Lin Qi from the list, right?" Keke offered a shy smile. "Our classmate, Li Yibai, is really close to your character—like childhood sweethearts. Don't fail to recognize him when you see him."

007 knew Li Yibai was one of the twelve players, but she hadn't expected her character and his to be childhood sweethearts.

Luckily, they weren't in the same class. Otherwise, her cover could easily be blown.

At this point, Chu Changge had already come out of the restroom, with Fatty trailing behind him.

Gu Mian looked at the two of them. "Why did it take so long just to use the bathroom?"

Fatty replied awkwardly, "The atmosphere in this instance is too scary. I had a bit of trouble... uh... going."

Gu Mian glanced at Chu Changge's wristwatch. It was 7:50 PM. Ten minutes left. The 'ghosts' would start their hunt soon, and they still had no clue about the game.

"We have no suspects and no clear clues. We must do something in these ten minutes," Gu Mian frowned. "At the very least, we need to identify a suspect. The 'ghosts' kill between 8:00 PM and 3:00 AM. Right after that, we have the first vote. I suspect we won't have any time to find clues while the 'ghosts' are active."

Chu Changge nodded slightly.

Not wasting any time, Gu Mian turned to 007. "Do you know where Yue Nu is now?"

Keke, standing beside him, asked, "Is Yue Nu also a player in this instance?"

Fatty nodded. "She's in the same class as 007."

Yue Nu and 007 had agreed to look for players separately at the classroom and cafeteria entrances, but Yue Nu had mysteriously disappeared.

007 shook her head. "I don't know where she is right now. Maybe she went back to class."

"Okay, the five of us will team up for now," Gu Mian nodded. "Out of the twelve players, Zhang Pingfan is currently the most suspicious; there's not much suspicion on anyone else yet. No one knows where he is, and crucially, he's acting alone. There's no one to restrain him. If he's a 'ghost', he can kill at any time."

If we follow the lead on Zhang Pingfan, it points to Pan Yue, who is close to him. Pan Yue from Senior Year 2, Class 13—007's classmate.

Gu Mian looked at 007. "Take us to Class 13 to find Pan Yue."

Chu Changge glanced at his wristwatch. It was now 7:51 PM.

By this time, the teachers had basically finished their patrols, so they wouldn't be caught even if they ran wildly outside the classrooms.

Hearing this, 007 immediately broke into a run. "Time is tight; we can't afford any delays."

As she ran ahead, she grumbled, "If I'd known time was this tight, we wouldn't have hidden in that dilapidated little pavilion for so long."

Gu Mian, following behind, chimed in, "Actually, we would've had enough time if Fatty hadn't gone to that bathroom."

Fatty: "..."

Gu Mian continued, "Between 8:00 PM and 3:00 AM, the five of us should stick together. If a 'ghost' tries to kill one of us, they'll hesitate, fearing their identity will be exposed."

Just then, Keke, close behind Gu Mian, asked with obvious confusion, "Are you actually afraid of 'ghosts' killing people?"

Though those were her words, Gu Mian could hear the subtext: 'Shouldn't the 'ghosts' be afraid of *you* killing *them*?'

Gu Mian paused. I don't recall this student-like girl witnessing my... brutal treatment of 'ghosts'. Did she hear about it from someone else?

007, however, looked genuinely surprised. "Why would you say that?"

In 007's memory, the most brutal thing Gu Mian had done was tear the skin off an arm. Since there were no actual 'ghosts' in the Fairy Tale City instance, she hadn't witnessed his famous ghost-tearing antics.

"You'll understand soon enough," Fatty, at the very rear, suddenly leaned in to explain to 007.

Such strange people...

007 was still puzzled but continued to lead the group upstairs.

"Our classroom is on the fifth floor," 007 said, a little out of breath. "We're almost there."

The teaching building had five floors in total. It took them less than two minutes to quickly ascend.

But just as they reached the top, the others were stunned.

The hallway on the fifth floor was pitch-black; not a single light was on.

"What's going on?" Fatty peeked down the hallway from the stairwell. "Is evening self-study over already? But I'm sure the lights on the fourth floor were still on when we passed it."

Without wasting time, Gu Mian turned to 007. "Where is your classroom?"

007 pointed to the right end of the hallway. "All the way at the end."

Gu Mian stepped into the dark hallway, with the others following closely.

He quickly reached the end of the corridor. Fatty had already taken out his flashlight and was shining it on the sign above a doorway.

It wasn't a classroom plaque but a sign that read 'Storage Room'.

"This isn't it," Gu Mian said, turning back to 007.

007 looked bewildered. "How did it suddenly change? Is this a ghost wall?"

At this point, Fatty shone his flashlight towards Gu Mian and 007. "Miss, are you sure you didn't remember wrong? Maybe your class is on a lower floor?"

Then Keke suggested, "Should we go downstairs and check?"

There was nothing more to do here, so Gu Mian headed for the stairs.

Fatty, holding the flashlight, whispered, "I think we should still be able to find clues between eight and three..."

He had just reached the stairwell when he realized it looked different from before.

The lights on the fourth floor, which had been on, were now extinguished.

At that very moment, even the beam from Fatty's flashlight vanished. They were plunged into complete darkness, unable to see a thing, only hearing sharp intakes of breath from the others.

Gu Mian frowned slightly, turning to face the pitch-blackness behind him. "Fatty?"

No one responded.

Then, suddenly, another light came on.

It was Chu Changge. He had taken out his own flashlight. Its stark white beam illuminated his face, giving him a rather terrifying appearance.

Chu Changge was looking at his wristwatch. "It is now... 8:01 PM."

「Night had fallen.」

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