Nuo Ai’er: ‘I’m gonna die’
Even though she was curled up in the cramped space, hands clamped over her mouth, breathing reduced to the minimum, that “thing” would still open the cabinet door.
It seemed this rule about hiding in the closet was wrong… Next round.
The cabinet door was pulled open a crack.
Nuo Ai’er’s heart stopped. She didn’t dare look at what was outside.
It’s coming.
She closed her eyes, waiting for the time rewind talent to activate.
…However, something strange happened.
After opening a crack, the cabinet door suddenly stopped. It seemed that the “thing” outside encountered some obstruction and couldn’t pull it open any further. Then the cabinet door was pushed shut, then opened a crack again.
The other party tried several times, seeming a bit impatient. But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t fully open the door. Finally, after two more attempts, it seemed to give up and stopped touching the door.
Subsequently, the footsteps outside gradually faded away, wandering into the living room, and finally disappearing into the depths.
But even so, Nuo Ai’er didn’t dare relax her vigilance. She remained curled up, motionless for a full five minutes.
Only after confirming that the footsteps had completely vanished did she cautiously push open the cabinet door and crawl out.
The bedroom was empty, nothing there.
“Phew… haah… haah…”
Nuo Ai’er’s legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath.
“So… so agonizing”
Nuo Ai’er muttered, her voice trembling.
But fortunately, the agony wasn’t entirely fruitless. She had obtained a crucial piece of information. After hearing footsteps, hide in the closet and don’t make a sound… that is, Rule Four, this rule is true.
Hiding in the closet did keep her temporarily safe; that thing couldn’t get through the cabinet door.
“Time…”
Nuo Ai’er glanced at the clock on the wall. It was now 18:30. There was still an hour and a half until “Sister comes home” as stated in the rules.
During this hour and a half, she had to remain vigilant at all times, ready to deal with any possible footsteps.
But just then—
“Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!”
A frantic and violent knocking suddenly came from the front door.
“!” Another situation had arisen.
Nuo Ai’er stiffened, instinctively covering her mouth, and in her mind flashed Rule One: Sister will come home at 8 PM every night. Before that, don’t open the door for anyone, and don’t make a sound to reveal someone is home… It was only 6:30 now, so whoever was knocking definitely wasn’t “Sister.”
“Anyone home? Delivery’s here! Open up!” a man’s voice came from outside, urgent.
Nuo Ai’er: ‘Normally, a delivery guy would just say that and leave it at the door, right… why keep banging like crazy to make someone open the door?’
‘Well, maybe that guy is trying to trick me into making a sound.’
‘If I say something like “just leave it at the door,” he’ll realize someone’s home, and then something bad will happen…’
‘I’m not falling for that trap [(^^)’
Nuo Ai’er held her breath, standing still without making a sound. Now, she just had to wait…
The knocking continued for about half a minute. Seeing no response, it finally stopped. The footsteps outside faded away.
Nuo Ai’er let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed onto the sofa.
“Phew… scared me to death.”
She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Even though it was just staying silent, the process was really oppressive.
“Calm down, calm down… I’ve got quite a bit of info now…”
Nuo Ai’er started organizing the information, seriously thinking about the rules of this dungeon.
So far, she had confirmed two rules as true: Rule One—don’t open the door or reveal someone’s home before 8 PM—and Rule Four—hide in the closet when hearing footsteps. That meant among the remaining four rules, one must be false.
“The question is, which one…” Nuo Ai’er rubbed her temples, feeling her brain overheating.
Rule Two: Don’t open the refrigerator or the trash bags at the door.
Rule Three: When Sister comes home, play with her properly and don’t make her unhappy.
Rule Five: Whether day or night, never leave this house.
Rule Six: Sister is a good girl. Please trust Sister.
Besides the two rules related to Sister that couldn’t be verified, there were two rules that required her to actively trigger them. That meant… she could test them by trial and error.
“How about… just go and open the fridge?” A crazy thought flashed through Nuo Ai’er’s mind. Open the fridge, or open the door and run out of the house.
Then she could quickly test and verify the truth of Rules Two and Five. That was indeed the fastest way—the best way to avoid pitfalls was to step in them first.
Nuo Ai’er hesitated. Mainly, it was the fear of the unknown that kept her from acting rashly. The two recent scares had her body still trembling.
Even with the time rewind, she didn’t know what would happen to her. Without mental preparation, it was still hard to take that step.
“Forget it, I’ll wait a bit longer.”
She decided to tough it out until 8 PM, wait for “Sister” to come back, and verify Rules Three and Six first.
However, just as she relaxed—
“Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!”
The knocking came again. And this time, the force was even greater, the frequency faster, as if the person outside had lost patience.
Nuo Ai’er felt a sense of speechlessness.
Nuo Ai’er: ‘Go ahead and knock. I’m not making a sound. What can you do to me, meow (Awa)’
She felt a wheel spin in her head. It was a bit scary earlier, but after experiencing it once, it was okay. Now listening to that guy impotently knocking outside, she almost wanted to laugh.
But just as Nuo Ai’er was feeling a bit at ease…
Suddenly, footsteps sounded in the living room.
Nuo Ai’er: (°- °”)
Nuo Ai’er’s smile instantly froze. Her whole body stiffened, her mind blank.
The person outside seemed to hear the footsteps in the living room and suddenly laughed. That laugh was eerie and sinister, seeping through the crack in the door:
“What’s this… isn’t someone home? Pretending to be silent and not answering Uncle isn’t nice, you know.”
Then, a metallic scraping sound came—the person outside was picking the lock.
“Click… click…”
The sound of the lock turning was especially harsh in the silent room. At the same time, the footsteps in the living room grew closer and clearer. That dragging, heavy pace was slowly moving toward the bedroom.
Nuo Ai’er felt an unprecedented despair.
No way… How could they have a combo move like this?!
The knocking outside and the footsteps in the living room sounded simultaneously, linked together. Nuo Ai’er’s heart raced, goosebumps all over.
Just then, the long-awaited option appeared…
[Choice Moment!]
[A. Hide in the closet]
[B. Go out and open the fridge, blast them]
Nuo Ai’er decides…
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