“Something’s not right. Something definitely went wrong.”
[Overlord]’s expression was grim as he scanned the room, taking in the mere six people left.
“How can more than half of us be dead on just the first day of a three-day dungeon?”
Now, only six people remained in the prison cell: [Overlord], [Blackback], [Sheets and Covers], [Old Qian], [Inch of Time], and Su Shisan.
The kill rate was far too high—it sent a shiver down her spine.
“And we probably have a mole among us,” [Blackback] added, his brows deeply furrowed. He pulled out a small brown notebook and began scribbling while he spoke.
Once he finished, he looked directly at [Old Qian].
“Didn’t you claim the prison cell was a safe zone? Then how do you explain [Heaven Above]’s corpse?”
They had already moved [Heaven Above]’s body to a corner, and the group had thoroughly examined it earlier.
As veteran players in a horror survival game, they’d seen plenty of corpses. Judging from the condition of the body and the stench it gave off, he had likely died six or seven hours ago.
That lined up exactly with the time they had just left the prison cell. If [Heaven Above] had known the cell was a safe zone and didn’t have any defensive skills, he would’ve just stayed inside to rest.
He had no reason to step out and get himself killed.
“Someone must’ve lured him out and killed him—then dragged his body back just to frame me!” [Old Qian] snapped in defense. Still, he didn’t seem too anxious.
He knew people were beginning to suspect him as the mole, but that was fine—there were too many suspicious factors floating around. With only six left, no one would dare act rashly.
Still, letting suspicion linger on him too long wasn’t ideal either. [Old Qian] narrowed his eyes and said meaningfully,
“Let’s be real—this dungeon is clearly picking us off one by one. Isn’t the person who first suggested we split up even more suspicious?”
That person had been [Blackback]. His face instantly darkened.
“Oh, now you speak up? No one objected back then.”
That comment dragged everyone down with him, and the room broke into a chorus of defensive rebuttals.
Su Shisan had just returned and overheard the argument. She pretended to be groggy, sitting up and lifting her blanket.
“What’s all the yelling about? Wait… why are there so few of you?”
“Ask the mole,” [Overlord] sighed, seizing the moment to change the subject.
“But more importantly—what’s this you said about discovering a sixth floor?”
Back when there were 13 of them, even knowing there was a mole didn’t kill the group’s morale. The odds were just 1 in 13.
But now?
With over half dead and a 1 in 6 chance of being the traitor, paranoia was taking root fast.
[Overlord] feared that if they kept fixating on the mole, they’d end up tearing each other apart before the dungeon did.
So her change of subject worked. Instantly, all eyes turned to Su Shisan—clearly curious about what she’d found.
Su Shisan had anticipated this moment. Calmly, she said, “I’m guessing some of you already tried heading up to the third floor, right? If you did, then you know—security there is insane.”
“We couldn’t get in at all. I suspect that floor holds either the way out… or the HQ of this place.”
Everyone nodded. They’d come to the same conclusion—Floor 3 was definitely critical.
But what did that have to do with the sixth floor?
“I don’t think they’d put both the HQ and the escape route on the same floor. That’s just bad design. So I started wondering—what if there’s a mirrored floor? Like… a symmetrical counterpart.”
Her voice was calm, logical, and persuasive—perfect for silencing doubts.
[Inch of Time] lit up, gasping softly.
“You mean… like a negative third floor, mirroring the positive one?”
Su Shisan nodded.
“Exactly. I found an entrance. There’s definitely a floor below the prison.”
It was a huge breakthrough. Everyone instantly perked up.
[Sheets and Covers] turned to [Blackback]: “Then that bottom floor must be the real way out!”
Seeing the confusion on Su Shisan’s face, [Inch of Time] leaned over to whisper an explanation:
“[Blackback] previously discovered the third floor was the prison HQ. Our advanced task is to destroy it.”
[Overlord] filled her in on what the group had been discussing—intel about the third floor, the increasing difficulty of the dungeon over the next two days, the floating island prison location, and the sheer number of guards upstairs.
If not for the early bloodbath, they’d probably have uncovered even more.
As for the dead players, only [Inch of Time] had seen anything of note. She’d been nearby when [Queen] and [Old Qian] fought.
But spotting NPCs around—and suspecting one of the fighters was a mole—she wisely stayed hidden.
Later, when both players turned up dead, she realized: neither had been the mole. They’d been outplayed by the real traitor.
The rest had died while acting solo, making it impossible for anyone to witness what had happened.
Despite not knowing the mole’s identity, the group had mapped out most of the prison already.
But in dungeons like this, the real challenge wasn’t information gathering—it was surviving the consequences of that knowledge.
“This dungeon’s clearly not going easy on us. Forget the advanced task—tomorrow, we all head to the bottom floor,” [Overlord] proposed, summarizing the intel.
She had no intention of soloing a war dungeon’s final challenge.
[Sheets and Covers] was the first to agree.
“Absolutely! We’re aiming to break out of here. Otherwise this whole run’s a waste.”
Su Shisan’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. This prison was floating. Escaping without a plane was no small feat.
Was this guy hiding some kind of secret?
Did he know a way down without flying?
Still, she nodded.
“I’m in.”
She had hoped to lead them down a different path, but this wasn’t the time to argue.
There would be other chances to sway their opinions.
If all went well, once she and [Sparta] made the negative third floor look dangerous enough, the players would reconsider.
That was the plan they’d agreed on the night before. And unless something unexpected happened, it should work.
But the unexpected did happen.
The next morning, just as they were preparing to leave, [Blackback] suddenly blocked the exit and looked at Su Shisan with a triumphant glint in his eyes.
“You’re the mole, aren’t you?”
Su Shisan’s heart sank, but her expression stayed neutral, even a bit amused.
“What are you talking about? Why throw out wild accusations all of a sudden?”
[Blackback] pulled out the brown notebook from yesterday.
“This is a one-time-use item. It lets me view a person’s recent experiences.”
In a horror survival game, such an item was priceless. If you had a rough idea of someone’s time of death, this tool could pinpoint the cause—and help you avoid the same fate.
Su Shisan knew he wasn’t lying. There was no way he could’ve guessed it was her otherwise.
But she didn’t panic. She just smirked coldly.
“Oh, so you say. Funny, though—weren’t you everyone’s top suspect yesterday? And now, suddenly, you’ve got some magical evidence to shift the blame onto me?”
It was a fair point. The crowd’s doubtful stares began to waver.
After all, it was a one-time item. No way to verify it. If [Blackback] had just picked up a random notebook to frame her, and they believed him, they’d look like fools.
Only [Overlord] was smiling. Looking around at the troubled expressions, she clapped her hands.
“Well, this makes things simpler, doesn’t it? A 50/50 is way better than a 1 in 5, right?”
“Yeah!” [Sheets and Covers] brightened.
“We just have to keep an eye on the two of them!”
[Overlord] nodded.
“You watch [Blackback]. [Inch of Time], you watch Su Shisan. Any objections?”
Her gaze lingered on the two suspects. Sharp, hawk-like eyes studied every twitch, every breath.
The moment either of them slipped, she’d be ready.
[Blackback] clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed, but said nothing.
He’d anticipated this situation the moment he outed Su Shisan. But just as [Overlord] had said—two suspects were better than five.
As long as the mole was contained, he believed they could still clear the dungeon.
Suddenly—
“I object!”
A loud male voice rang out from the doorway.
Everyone turned in shock.
It was the bespectacled man, [Gushan Temple North]—the one who had disappeared the night before and was assumed dead!
“Bet you didn’t expect this, huh?”
[Gushan Temple North] smirked at Su Shisan, whose face had gone expressionless.
“Even with your careful planning, I still made it back alive.”
Clearly, he had some hidden trump card that even [Sparta] hadn’t accounted for.
Su Shisan’s plan was now in shambles. But she didn’t blame [Sparta].
She’d been warned—B-rank players had all sorts of bizarre tools. That’s why she was brought in to begin with.
Now, with two people accusing her—and [Gushan Temple North]’s real survival story backing it up—Su Shisan’s identity as the mole seemed all but confirmed.
No one could believe it was a trick. His story was too raw, too real.
But just as they turned to confront her…
Su Shisan had vanished.
In the command room, [Sparta] pursed her lips.
“…What now?”
She’d been about to apologize to Su Shisan—if only she’d killed the guy, Su wouldn’t have been exposed so badly.
But the dark-haired girl stopped her gently.
“There are two ways to play this game: hidden… and exposed.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll still choose the advanced task.”