The bathhouse was enormous, so large that even when divided into male and female sections, it still left one no choice but to marvel at its size.
The female bathhouse had only four occupants: No. 2 Zhang Huiran, No. 6 Shamate, No. 9 Huaru, and No. 14 Yelena.
Looking at this gender ratio, Huaru once again felt she had been tricked.
Why create female characters at all?
It was basically whoever made one was the fool, wasn’t it?
Moreover, she had noticed earlier that before entering the bath, No. 2 had instinctively headed towards the men’s bath, while No. 10 Liu Qingzhu and No. 12 Xu Kesi were trying to enter the women’s bath.
That was interesting.
Piapiapia had previously sold information about No. 10 Infinite Monarch An Xuewu and No. 12 Labis Lazuli in the QQ group, including their appearances and behavior styles.
That’s how Huaru could accurately identify that No. 10 and No. 12 were the same QQ group members.
In other words, since piapiapia knew their appearances, then at least their last time entering the Dark World, they used their current looks.
After such a long adaptation period, would they still make such a silly mistake of entering the wrong bath?
No. 10 Liu Qingzhu claimed to be a professional troll, so he should be extremely sensitive to text and easily distinguish gender signs on the bath doors, right?
No, no—maybe he was deep in thought and suddenly didn’t notice?
No, that’s not right either.
He was so smart, he should have anticipated this situation in advance.
Could it be that he was pretending to enter the wrong bath on purpose?
But… what purpose would that serve?
There was no need for that, was there?
Could it have really been a momentary oversight?
Huaru’s mind was in complete chaos.
She thought No. 10 was very smart and logical in his actions—and she had caught onto all those logics.
But this time, she couldn’t grasp the logic behind entering the wrong bath.
It made her restless and uneasy.
Each of the women in the bathhouse had their own thoughts.
No. 2 Zhang Huiran seized every opportunity to canvass votes, leaning close to No. 6 Shamate and chatting about amusing stories.
The two of them soaked naked in the water, laughing and talking, while the latter remained unaware of No. 2 Zhang Huiran’s restless eyes and rather unruly hands.
Huaru, on the other hand, was much more honest than that wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Her eyes didn’t wander; most of the time she just looked at her own legs submerged in the water.
She did have some impulses, but they were limited to just touching her legs—no deeper thoughts.
Compared to these carnal matters, she seemed far more concerned with how to survive in the Dark World and how to break through this task’s world.
No. 14 Yelena was relatively close to Huaru, but neither of them spoke.
Yelena wanted to approach and say something but hadn’t forgotten the fierce “Get lost!” expression Huaru had given her earlier.
Compared to the girls’ side, the adjacent men’s bath was obviously much livelier.
No one seemed to care about the earlier bathroom mix-up. No. 3 Qian Min was chatting enthusiastically with No. 10 Liu Qingzhu, while No. 1 Zhou Wei and No. 12 Xu Kesi even started playing sumo wrestling in the water.
The noise lasted well into the night, only around 8 p.m. did anyone start thinking about going back.
After climbing out of the bath, Huaru headed to the inner washing room.
Usually, after soaking, one needed to wash off with water, but there were already people inside.
That was No. 14 Yelena, who had arrived earlier.
She was holding the showerhead, cleaning the stalls, and a pungent smell filled the air—the scent of overused toilet cleaner.
She wasn’t the cleaning type, so why was she so meticulous even about places like this?
Seeing Yelena’s timid demeanor, Huaru wondered if her own scary expression on the second floor had been too much—could it be that the other was trying to make peace?
She didn’t say anything and casually picked a stall, grabbing the showerhead to rinse off.
The stall was indeed spotless; not a speck of dust could be seen.
Well, whether there was dust in this Dark World remained a mystery.
“I… I…” Yelena had stopped her cleaning. She obviously wanted to say something but immediately shut her mouth upon hearing the increasingly loud laughter outside.
“Eh? Why does it smell so strong in here?” That voice was No. 2 Zhang Huiran’s.
Of course, no one answered her. Neither No. 6 Shamate nor No. 2 Zhang Huiran was the type of woman who regularly did chores.
Until returning to their rooms, No. 14 never found a chance to talk to Huaru, who didn’t want to engage either.
She deliberately avoided her because now was not a good time for conversation.
Before midnight, some people remained in the lobby, watching the electronic clock tick second by second; others searched everywhere for weapons; and some huddled together, discussing plans.
When the clock showed 11:50 p.m., everyone had no choice but to return to their rooms.
Even those who wanted to test what would happen if they didn’t dared only speak of it but took no action.
23:57:00
23:58:00
23:59:00
Every minute passed excruciatingly slowly, especially the final 60 seconds.
Some began examining the locks, others searched for objects to block the doors.
But all the furniture was firmly nailed to the floor, like ships anchored at sea.
No matter how many methods they tried, they couldn’t move the bed to barricade the door.
Helpless, they had no choice but to use their own bodies to block the doors. It was a last resort.
Everyone seemed powerless except to await death.
24:00:00
Even though it was time to sleep, no one could settle into rest.
The game… officially began!
Aside from civilians, the killers and police heard the system’s voice in their minds: You have now entered an abnormal time period.
You and your teammates can use special mechanisms from now on.
Before leaving her room, Huaru messed up her bed a bit to make it look as if someone had already slept there.
Only then did she gently open the door.
Not far away, the door of Room 7 also opened, and No. 12 Xu Kesi appeared.
The guy wore nothing but a pair of blue underwear.
With a hand gesture from No. 12, Huaru and No. 7 Ragna cautiously walked towards him.
Passing by the doors of No. 10 and No. 11, their hearts pounded, fearing those doors might suddenly open.
The three went to the back and soon arrived outside No. 14’s door. Xu Kesi pressed the doorbell.
Huaru had wanted to warn No. 12 that the doorbell was loud inside, as her own had been pressed before.
If the doorbell rang in the quiet night, others nearby could easily hear it.
But when the bell rang this time, no sound came from inside.
Could the doorbell be broken?
No, it wasn’t. No. 14 Yelena opened the door.
The others went inside, turning her room into their meeting place.
“Pretty convincing act. I almost got fooled,” No. 12 Xu Kesi said in Cantonese upon seeing Huaru’s cool and aloof demeanor. He immediately knew she was acting during the day and couldn’t help but praise her.
“You’re not bad either. You look like a Hong Kong reporter. But can you speak Mandarin?” Huaru replied calmly, exuding the aura of a refined lady.
“Your voice… it’s too loud,” No. 14 Yelena said, pointing at No. 12 Xu Kesi—the guy wearing no clothes.
“Don’t worry,” No. 7 Ragna casually kicked the wall a few times and continued, “I tested it during the day. Not only can we freely enter others’ rooms, but once the door is closed, no sound can be heard inside or outside. Outside noises can’t be heard inside, and inside noises can’t be heard outside. Whether knocking or kicking, no sound is made. The only sound that carries through is the doorbell—only if someone presses the bell will those inside hear it.”
“So you mean the sounds here can’t travel through objects? They’re completely isolated?” Huaru asked, puzzled.
“Yes, that’s what it means — it’s just like a real environment. As soon as the door is closed, the sound is completely shut out.”
The answer didn’t come from No. 7 but from No. 12, who seemed to know this too. This time, he spoke in Mandarin, albeit with a heavy accent that was easy to detect.
Interesting. It seemed these two teammates had thought things through and were quite reliable—not like useless teammates at all.