Xiao Dian walked over to us with the instruction manual. Following the instructions, Ji Lin'an operated the manual with both hands. After pressing several keys, the mist in the Misty Forest on the monitoring screen gradually dissipated. We immediately got up and prepared to go to the Misty Forest.

When we got down to the control center, we found the door was locked and there were no buttons to open it. We all looked at Yuan Rui, who was frowning and looking confused: "Don't look at me, I don't know how to open it either."

Ji Lin'an fumbled around the door but couldn't find an open button. Ji Lin'an said, "The control panel should be able to open the door."

Yuan Rui nodded: "Okay, I'll go up and take a look."

After saying that, Yuan Rui ran up to the elevator in fright, but after waiting for a while, the door did not open. Fifteen minutes later, Yuan Rui came out of the elevator and saw us still standing at the door. He walked over with a frown: "I tried all the buttons, and there is no information about opening the door in the manual."

I said, "That instruction manual is about the zombie island, not the control center. Let's search every room; maybe we can find a key or a remote control."

Everyone nodded, and we immediately split up to search. We went up to the second floor, and Ji Lin'an and I searched the second floor, while Yuan Rui and the others searched the upper floor. I entered a room without a door number. There were two desks in the room, with all sorts of messy things piled on them. I checked the desks one by one and found only some pens with missing caps and torn pieces of paper. I opened a drawer, and several small insects flew out. Inside was a piece of moldy bread.

After searching the entire room without finding any useful information, I went to other rooms. There was only an "L" sign at the door. Inside, there was a huge desk with booklets on it. The top booklet was called the roster. I went over and flipped through it. It contained the list of 100 lucky people who had entered the zombie island. Almost all the names were marked with a red cross. Only the names of a few of us who were still alive were not marked with a red cross. Each name was followed by a number, but it was not explained what the number was.

I put down the roster and picked up the next booklet. The booklet was badly damaged, but it was still easy to tell that it was a roster, only it was missing its cover and all the names were marked with a red cross. I turned the page and saw my name, Ji Lin'an's name, and others. I didn't find Yuan Rui's or Kaka's names. I continued to check the other booklets. Most of the names were highly overlapping, and only a few names appeared in only one book. The names of the people who survived each time were different.

I took back the first booklet. The numbers after my name and Ji Lin'an's name were the same, while the numbers after Kaka and Jiang Kexin's names were a little smaller. I counted on my fingers, and this was exactly the number of days we had been on the zombie island. The other basic numbers were completely different, some more and some less, some as few hours as others, and some as many as more than two months.

Why do our names keep appearing? Could it be that this isn't our first time entering Zombie Island? But I have absolutely no recollection of ever entering Zombie Island before. If the recorded number of days represents the number of days we survived, does that mean we didn't truly die, but rather died in some sense, and will re-enter the apocalypse after death?

A sudden chill ran down my spine. This feeling was even more terrifying than dying on a zombie atoll. Who was controlling all of this? And why were they doing this? If they chose to evacuate, why leave these things behind for us to discover? It means they weren't afraid of us finding out.

I slumped into my office chair, staring blankly at the roster on the table. It felt like an endless game: a hundred people enter a zombie island to kill each other, die, and then re-enter the game, in an endless loop.

I can only think of one possibility: we're like horses on a racetrack, and perhaps the manipulators behind the scenes are broadcasting our race live globally. Maybe people are even placing bets on us—who will escape successfully, who will die first, who will kill whom...

I drooped my head in pain and suddenly noticed an access card lying under the table next to the trash can. I immediately bent down and picked it up. This access card was exactly the same as Xu Qi's, except that there was a gold dot on the lower right corner of the access card.

Although I couldn't process all that information at once, I couldn't help but get excited when I got the access card and stood up. As soon as I stood up, I pushed the chair back and bumped it against the wall with a "thud." The sound was very crisp. I turned my head instantly. Usually, when a chair hits a wall, it makes a dull thud, or it's the sound of the material hitting the wall. But this sound was unusually crisp, and there was even a slight echo.

I stood up and felt around. Behind the desk was a whole piece of wallpaper with a gold-edged line every 80 centimeters. I tapped on the wall and confirmed that it was hollow. I continued to tap forward, and when I tapped the rightmost piece, the sound changed. It sounded more like the sound of hitting a wooden board, like a door.

I excitedly pushed the wooden board, but it didn't budge. I reached out and touched the edge of the gold stripes. Without careful observation, I couldn't even see a hair-thin gap between the board and the wall. I became even more convinced that this was a door. I immediately looked around. In movies, there must be a mechanism in such places. I searched around but couldn't find anything that could open the hidden door.

I looked at the access card in my hand, then looked up at the hidden door. I walked to the door and tried to slide the card along it, but the door didn't budge. I then slid the card against the wall next to the door, and heard a "click," like the sound of a loose lock. The door didn't open. I reached out and pushed the hidden door, but it still wouldn't open. Just then, Ji Lin'an suddenly walked in: "Did you find something?"

I quickly said, "I found a hidden door and a key card. I heard the sound of the lock opening, but I can't push the door open."

Ji Lin'an quickly walked to my side: "Try swiping your card again."

I placed the card back where I had been and slid it, but I didn't hear a sound. Ji Lin'an took a step back and looked the hidden door up and down. He stepped forward, placed both hands on the hidden door, and slid it to the right. The door suddenly loosened, and the gap widened. I immediately stepped forward and pushed the hidden door with Ji Lin'an. The door opened instantly, but behind it was a sealed white wall. We both frowned immediately. I subconsciously reached out and knocked on the white wall, but the sound told me that it was a solid wall.