“Ah, well, this run is doomed anyway.”
The front door handle slowly turned, and Nuo Ai’er sighed inwardly.
Since it was already ruined, one way or another she would die, so she might as well squeeze out as much information as possible before triggering [Time Rewind] .
She gritted her teeth, recalling rule two in her mind:
[Do not open the refrigerator or the garbage bag at the door.]
“Let’s go all out with them.”
Nuo Ai’er chose B.
Alright, it wasn’t just going all out—she planned to test if rule two was correct, and also check what the hell was inside the refrigerator.
Nuo Ai’er closed her eyes, afraid to look at the owner of those footsteps. After mentally preparing herself, she flung open the bedroom door and sprinted toward the refrigerator.
Behind her, the footsteps seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then chased after her with an even more frenzied posture.
At the same time, a “click” of the door lock being picked came from outside the front door.
“Hyah!”
But Nuo Ai’er had already reached the refrigerator and yanked the door open.
…Surprisingly, no terrifying monsters gushed out from the refrigerator. It looked quite normal—just some ingredients and such.
Nuo Ai’er: ‘Well… this looks way more normal than Weiran’s refrigerator.’
But there was also something strange. Apart from fruits and vegetables, at the very bottom of the refrigerator lay a silver safe with a combination lock.
“A safe? I don’t know the password…”
Before Nuo Ai’er could examine it closely, the front door behind her was slammed open.
The man from outside had entered.
The footsteps had also closed in behind her.
Nuo Ai’er: ‘Wah’
This white-haired loli was so scared she didn’t dare turn around.
But just then, an anomaly struck!
The ingredients in the refrigerator suddenly melted, turning into strange black mist.
The black mist instantly erupted from the refrigerator, enveloping the entire room in a terrifying onslaught.
“Ugh…”
Nuo Ai’er felt her vision go black. The black mist not only devoured her but also the footsteps behind her and the man who had just picked the lock and entered—all of them were swept into the endless abyss.
[Detected player death.]
[Innate talent Time Rewind activated.]
[Rewinding…]
“Uwah…!”
Nuo Ai’er’s eyes snapped open, gasping heavily.
The rewind had activated…
“What time is it?”
She instinctively looked at the clock.
18:00.
That meant she had returned to the exact moment she entered the game.
“Phew…”
Nuo Ai’er let out a sigh of relief, her legs feeling weak as she leaned against the wall.
But she knew this safety was only temporary.
The first footsteps would appear soon.
Sure enough, just a minute or two later, the familiar footsteps sounded once more in the living room.
But this time, Nuo Ai’er was not flustered at all.
She skillfully opened the closet door, crawled inside, and gently closed it.
Everything developed exactly like the previous run.
The footsteps outside came to the bedroom, stopped in front of the closet, and tried to open the door.
The door was tugged a few times, but still couldn’t be fully opened.
However, this time, Nuo Ai’er, hiding in the closet, didn’t tremble in fear like last time.
Instead, she calmed down and, taking advantage of this absolutely safe time, began to organize the information she had just obtained with her lives.
First of all, one thing had been confirmed just now.
Rule two [Do not open the refrigerator or the garbage bag at the door] was real.
Because once the refrigerator was opened, black mist would appear and devour everything.
Similarly, Nuo Ai’er speculated that opening the garbage bag would lead to the same outcome.
Next, about the refrigerator.
There was a safe with a combination lock inside.
Following typical patterns, perhaps something important was hidden inside—like a key item to clear the game (?
But Nuo Ai’er didn’t know the password yet. Maybe there were other clues hidden in various corners of the room…
Nuo Ai’er: ‘I need to explore more.’
She had only glanced around earlier. This time, she would search thoroughly. Maybe there were small places hiding some items or tools.
While Nuo Ai’er was thinking, the footsteps outside tried a few more times, found no success, and, just like the previous run, dragged themselves away from the bedroom.
After confirming the footsteps had gone away, Nuo Ai’er pushed open the closet door and immediately began a thorough search of the room.
…Sure enough, under a loose floorboard beneath the bed, Nuo Ai’er successfully found an extra item.
It was a brass key.
The system also spoke up:
[Obtained item: Key to the second floor.]
[Item description: Can open the stair door leading to the second floor.]
“So this house has a second floor…”
Nuo Ai’er pondered.
It seemed the scope of exploration could expand.
However, Nuo Ai’er wasn’t done yet.
Before figuring out the rules, she decided not to go to the second floor.
She glanced at the clock.
It was almost 18:30.
Next came an extremely awkward situation—when the footsteps and the knocking occurred simultaneously.
Nuo Ai’er closed her eyes tightly, and when she opened them again, she had mentally prepared herself.
Since this loop had already discovered a key item, she decided to try making mistakes once more.
Before long, urgent knocking came from outside the front door.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
This time, Nuo Ai’er did not choose to remain silent.
She deliberately asked loudly, “Who is it?”
The person outside obviously detected that someone was in the room and immediately let out a sinister laugh.
“So there’s someone here.”
Immediately after, the sound of lock picking came from outside the door.
Taking advantage of this time difference, Nuo Ai’er quickly slipped under the sofa.
“Click.” The front door was pushed open.
A man wearing a delivery uniform, but with his entire face covered by mosaic, walked in.
Nuo Ai’er hid under the sofa, watching the man through the gap.
Nuo Ai’er: ‘Ugh’
‘He really is wearing a delivery uniform, huh’
‘Well, I was pretty scared, but this full-face mosaic image, along with the delivery uniform… kind of amusing?’
‘Indeed, the unknown is still the scariest’
The Delivery Guy began searching around, then walked straight into the bedroom.
He went to the closet, reached out, and pulled—
“Creak.”
The door was easily opened by him.
“Just as I thought…” Nuo Ai’er nodded to herself.
Another key piece of information:
The mechanism of the “Delivery Guy” outside the door and the “Footstep Monster” inside the room were different.
The Delivery Guy could open the closet door, while the Footstep Monster inside couldn’t.
So when both were triggered at the same time, hiding in the closet might not be a good strategy…?
But there was no time to hesitate now; she needed to get information first.
Since the Delivery Guy had already entered and was looking for Nuo Ai’er, it was only a matter of time before she was found.
Nuo Ai’er didn’t hesitate. She decided to make the final test run of this cycle.
She suddenly scrambled out from under the sofa and dashed straight for the front door, intending to verify rule five: [No matter day or night, never leave this house.]
However, the moment she stepped out of the house—
An intense feeling of weightlessness instantly struck.
Nuo Ai’er felt as if she were falling from an altitude of ten thousand meters, surrounded by endless void.
[Detected player death.]
[Innate talent Time Rewind activated.]
[Rewinding…]
18:00.
Nuo Ai’er woke up again in the bedroom.
Nuo Ai’er rubbed her somewhat swollen temples.
Now, she had used three lives to verify four true rules.
Nuo Ai’er leaned on the sofa, her gaze deep.
Rules: Don’t open the door before Meimei returns, don’t open the refrigerator or garbage bag at home, hide in the closet when hearing footsteps, and can’t leave the house… all these were true.
Then, the only false rule must be hidden among the remaining two rules related to “Meimei.”
[Rule three: After Meimei comes home, play with her nicely and don’t make her unhappy.]
[Rule six: Meimei is a good girl. Please trust Meimei.]
“Which one is lying…” Nuo Ai’er murmured to herself.
She looked at the clock on the wall, but had no clue…
It seemed she had to wait until that “Meimei” returned to verify.