Chapter 27 The Ghost Staircase: Her First Day
The sound entered the ear.
Liang Jun frowned in her sleep, then opened her eyes.
She's a light sleeper to begin with, and in the game, she's on high alert. Any slight movement will unconditionally attract her attention.
I just opened my eyes, and my vision was slightly blurry.
Liang Jun reached her hand out from under the pillow and rubbed her eyes.
A dark figure stood in front of the table and picked up one of the lamps.
"Di Qing?" Liang Xun's voice was a little hoarse. "What are you going to do?"
Di Qing, whose name was called, trembled. She immediately looked at Liang Xuan and asked, "Did I wake you up?"
"No..." Liang Xun yawned widely, still feeling tired. "I just happened to wake up for a moment."
"Oh, I'm going to the bathroom."
The bed was still warm, and Liang Xun hadn't fully woken up when Di Qing took a desk lamp and left the dormitory.
Humans have three urgent needs, and even in such a critical moment, Liang Jun could not restrict the other person's freedom to go to the toilet.
Just thinking about how Di Qing would make a lot of noise when he came back later—the wooden bed in the dormitory wasn't very sturdy, and it would creak and groan with the slightest movement—gave Liang Jun a headache.
Rather than being woken up again later, it's better to keep yourself awake now.
Liang Jun thought that she would go back to sleep once Di Qing returned to the dormitory.
She sat up completely in bed and threw off the covers.
The chill of the night instantly swept over my whole body.
Liang Jun shuddered, feeling her mind instantly clear up.
Liang Yan fought off her sleepiness.
Her eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness. She noticed a lamp on the small table in the middle.
Although there was no reference point for time, it was estimated that more than ten minutes had passed, and there was still no sign that the dormitory door had been opened.
The public restroom is right next to their dormitory; it's just a quick trip to the toilet, it shouldn't take that long at all.
Liang Xuan couldn't help but have some doubts.
Another gust of cold air swept over her, completely dispelling her drowsiness.
She gathered her clothes and got out of bed as quietly as possible.
Gu Keke has always had a good quality of sleep and was not woken up by this.
Liang Jun picked up another table lamp from the table.
Just to be safe, she picked up the gold key from the empty table next to her, locked the dormitory door, and quietly moved to the dormitory corridor.
In the dead of night, there were no working lights in the dormitory corridor.
The only light source was the desk lamp in Liang Jun's hand—it could only illuminate the area under her feet.
Liang Jun walked carefully, keeping close to the wall.
After walking past ten bricks, turn right, and you'll find the public restroom area on this floor.
Darkness brings people endless fear.
As soon as Liang Jun stepped onto the water-stained tiles, the sound of her footsteps was amplified countless times in the space.
It seemed that a faucet was not turned off properly; the dripping sound of water hitting the flat surface echoed hollowly, adding an eerie touch to the situation.
The desk lamp in my hand looked like a candle about to burn out.
After Leung Yung entered the public restroom area, it seemed to be affected by some kind of magnetic field, and the lights began to flicker.
"I hope the power doesn't run out too..."
Liang Xuan tried to speed up the search as much as possible.
She didn't venture any deeper into the darkness, but stopped in front of the washbasin and whispered towards the inner cubicle, "Di Qing, are you there?"
Apart from the sound of dripping water, which resembled a heartbeat, there was no response to her.
Liang Jun tentatively called out a few more times, "Di Qing?"
The deathly silence cast a shadow over her heart.
The lamp's battery was clearly running low, and staying in the public restroom any longer was obviously not a wise or sensible choice.
Liang Xun quickened her pace, preparing to turn around and leave.
As soon as I stepped outside, a gust of wind blew past my right side.
In the dim light of the desk lamp, Liang Jun spotted a pair of shoes she recognized.
"What are you doing here?" Di Qing asked, looking at her curiously.
When the lamps of the two people are placed together, the brightness range expands, giving people a greater sense of security.
“I’m worried about you not going back for so long,” Liang Jun confessed truthfully.
She had just breathed a sigh of relief when she suddenly remembered the key to the problem: "Weren't you going to the toilet? Why weren't you in this public restroom?"
"I originally wanted to use this bathroom, but who knew it couldn't flush," Di Qing ignored this and pointed behind her. "I had no choice but to go downstairs to use the bathroom."
Following her movement, Liang Jun also looked behind her.
That was a place the desk lamp couldn't illuminate—as far as Liang Jun could see, it was a long, dark hole.
Di Qing put his hands on his hips and then yawned.
"Is there anything else? If not, I'll go back to my dorm and get some sleep."
"you……"
Before Liang Xun could call out to her, Di Qing quickly moved back to the dormitory entrance and pushed the door open to enter.
In the desolate corridor, only Liang Jun's breathing was still particularly noticeable.
Curious, and as if unwilling to give up, she remained rooted to the spot, craning her neck to continue peering into the darkness—
That's the staircase Di Qing just used to go up and down the stairs...
The staircase was pitch black and bottomless.
But there are no stairs in this place!
Their dormitory was clearly number 544, located at the very end of the corridor. On their first day of school, they clearly walked from the stairwell to the very end.
This should be the furthest point from the stairwell, so why is there a whole staircase here out of nowhere?!
Liang Jun was suddenly startled by herself.
[Hidden rule triggered.]
2. Public restrooms are located at the end of the corridor on each floor of the dormitory building, with exactly one restroom per floor. Public restrooms and stairwells cannot be located in the same area. If you find one, please leave as quickly as possible.
"Please leave as quickly as possible" was like an instruction, and Liang Jun's brain immediately commanded her body to react.
She backed away repeatedly, completely averting her gaze, before jogging back to the dormitory entrance.
My mind cleared instantly, and at that moment the desk lamp in my hand quietly went out of power.
Without much hesitation, Liang Xun opened the dormitory door in the dark and then hung the gold lock back up.
Di Qing, who had returned to the dormitory a step earlier than him, was already quietly lying in bed.
Her steady breathing came through the air; she seemed to be fast asleep.
The stairwell at the end of the corridor is a violation of the rules. Since Di Qing claims that he returned from there, he has naturally escaped the scope of "normal people".
But as long as I'm asleep, the dorm is safe.
Di Qing couldn't do anything to them.
Thinking of this, Liang Xun quickly climbed the ladder.
There was no need to try to coax herself to sleep. The natural zoning of the dormitory made Liang Xun feel an inescapable drowsiness the moment she touched the bed.
Her last thought before losing consciousness was that she hoped she could get up earlier the next day.
When he opened his eyes again, the bright sun was hanging high above his head once more.
I slept until noon again.
[Current progress: Survival days 6/7...]
[Successfully surviving by following the rules will allow you to clear the level. Keep up the good work!]
It's the last day.
If we can successfully hold out until 4 a.m. tomorrow, this nerve-wracking, deadly game will finally be over.
Just as Liang Xuan got out of bed, Gu Keke woke up.
Liang Xun made a gesture to her, and Gu Keke immediately understood. While Di Qing was still fast asleep in bed, the two of them slipped out of the dormitory.
"What's wrong?" Gu Keke was too lazy to wash up, and patted her slightly swollen face with both hands. "You came out in such a hurry, is there some clue you want to share?"
Liang Jun told Gu Keke about the hidden rules from last night, and the latter immediately sensed something was wrong after receiving the information.
"When did you get this? We didn't go through this step before we went to bed last night, did we?"
Liang Xun pulled Gu Keke along, walking further away from the dormitory entrance.
She told Gu Keke everything that happened last night, as well as all of Di Qing's strange behavior.
Amidst the other person's astonished expression, Liang Jun solemnly drew her conclusion.
"I suspect that Di Qing has been corrupted by the rules."
Gu Keke started to stutter a little.
Her eyes kept glancing towards the dormitory door, as if afraid that Di Qing would suddenly appear.
"But we're already on the last day..."
"It is precisely because it is the last day that we need to be more careful with every choice we make."
Liang Jun gripped Gu Keke's shoulders with both hands, forcing her to look into her eyes.
“Coco, I know what you’re thinking,” she read the pity in her eyes, “but we don’t need to pity her, nor should we dwell on when she was contaminated—these are not things we should be doing.”
Liang Xun leaned slightly forward. "What we need to do is stay as far away from Di Qing as possible and save our own lives on the last day of the game—"
Do you understand?
Liang Xuan softened her tone.
Gu Keke nodded gently, her hesitant and struggling eyes suddenly widening, her pupils filled with panic.
Liang Jun subconsciously turned around and happened to meet Di Qing, who was walking out of the dormitory.
"So you guys woke up this early..."
Di Qing casually scratched his head, a faint smile on his lips, his left dimple quite noticeable.
She walked right between the two of them, her eyes smiling, and asked, "What are you doing here?"
This is a stark contrast to their attitude a few days ago.
At this moment, Di Qing is more like...
Her first day.
Gu Keke's mind went blank; she didn't know what to say in response.
In a corner unnoticed by Di Qing, she tugged at Liang Xun's sleeve.
"We're heading to the dining area."
Liang Jun answered quite frankly, as if they were indeed discussing this matter, "You were still sleeping when we came out, and thinking that we wouldn't disturb you, we came out on our own first."
During this period, Di Qing did not go to the dining area to eat; and even if she did, she would only eat rotten and spoiled food.
Liang Jun made a bet—
She bet that Di Qing wouldn't go to the dining area with her.
In this way, they would have the opportunity to share information with the other two.
"What's the big deal about disturbing us!"
Di Qing smiled innocently, and indeed had a bit of the clarity of a high school student. "Now that I'm awake, shall I go to the dining area with you?"
Her stomach also rumbled at that moment.
Di Qing looked at the two of them, feeling embarrassed.
"I'm really a little hungry..."
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Author's note: Coco is a very kind baby.
She feels surrounded by kind-hearted people and will offer tremendous help to others in times of trouble.
To put it simply, it's equivalent to the role of a "healer/support" in a team.
Also, I included a foreshadowing element about Di Qing in this chapter, a small foreshadowing about the changes before and after. Let's see if anyone has noticed it~
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