Enter the game (1)
Midsummer, Tonghua City, Chunbo Residential Area.
Although it's already summer, there was a heavy downpour today, so it's not very hot.
Under the big tree in the community, a group of elderly people were enjoying the cool air and chatting, while many children were running around and making noise.
Jian Tanxi stood by the window on the 16th floor, looked down for a while, and then closed the window.
In the room, another cute long-haired girl asked her, "Tanxi, what are you looking at?"
Jian Tanxi turned around and smiled, "I was thinking, should we go downstairs and play badminton? But the open space downstairs is full of kids running around, we can't find a place to play."
"Then let's stop playing, it's too hot. Let's continue playing Connect Four."
This long-haired girl is Gu Xinrou, Jian Tanxi's good friend and classmate.
They've been best friends since childhood and both live in Chunbo Community. They've been classmates since kindergarten.
Later, they were admitted to the same university, which can be described as fate.
It's summer vacation during their junior year, and they've all gone home.
However, the two of them often visited each other. Today, Gu Xinrou came to ask Jian Tanxi to play Go.
Jian Tanxi laughed and said, "You've already lost more than ten games, and you still want to play?"
"Of course, I refuse to believe I always lose."
"Actually, you are very skilled, but I am an expert at playing Gomoku."
"Okay, I admit you've always been smarter than me."
Jian Tanxi shook her head: "No, we're about the same."
“But you’ve always been faster than me at learning things since we were little. I think there really are differences in people’s intelligence. Smart people can be divided into ordinary smart people and super geniuses.”
"Pfft, you think I'm a super genius?"
"At least that's how I see it, haha."
The two played a few more rounds, with Jian Tanxi winning more often than Gu Xinrou, who only won one or two rounds.
Gu Xinrou is the type of person who becomes more defiant the more she loses, so she pulled Jian Tanxi to continue playing.
Jian Tanxi was getting a little tired of it, because she had figured out Gu Xinrou's tricks almost completely, and continuing to play would just be repeating the same old moves.
So Jian Tanxi said, "Let's stop playing chess, my brain cells are almost gone. How about we watch a movie?"
"Okay, let's watch a suspense movie then, we both like that kind of thing."
"Alright."
Just then, her mother, Song Lan, called from outside the door, "Tanxi, go and call your father home for dinner!"
Jian Tanxi responded loudly, "Okay!"
Jian Tanxi smiled at Gu Xinrou and said, "Wait for me a moment, I'll call my dad back, and then we can eat. My mom made your favorite braised noodles and loofah with mushrooms, I can smell the aroma."
Gu Xinrou nodded: "Yes, I haven't had Auntie's cooking for several days, and I really miss it."
Jian Tanxi didn't need to ask Gu Xinrou to stay for dinner, because they were already so close that they could always have meals at each other's homes.
If one person is at another's house, it's assumed that they will stay for a meal, and the other person's mother will also assume that they will cook extra food.
Moreover, both girls' mothers were very familiar with their tastes.
Jian Tanxi walked towards the door.
Her father, Jian Guifan, liked to play cards and would often go to Uncle Bai's house next door to play cards in his spare time.
They, a group of card-playing friends, liked to smoke while playing cards, so Uncle Bai's house was always filled with smoke.
Jian Tanxi was speechless about this, but there was nothing she could do.
The Jian family lives in 1601, and Uncle Bai's family lives in 1602.
Jian Tanxi walked to the door of 1602 and knocked, but no one answered.
She knocked harder again, but still no one answered.
She thought that perhaps her father and Uncle Bai were too engrossed in playing cards to hear the knocking.
So she called her father, but couldn't get through.
She tried calling Uncle Bai again, but still couldn't get through.
Jian Tanxi muttered to herself, "Strange, is there no signal?"
She decided to go home and make the call.
Stepping into her home, she felt something was amiss.
She couldn't figure out what was wrong, and when she looked around, she realized that her mother, Song Lan, wasn't in the kitchen.
However, the fire in the kitchen was still on, and there were still vegetables being stir-fried in the pot.
Is Mom in the bathroom?
She ran to the toilet, but no one was there.
She called out "Mom" several times, but no one responded.
She ran to her parents' room, but no one was there.
She went back to her room, but her mother wasn't there.
Strangely, Gu Xinrou has also disappeared.
Jian Tanxi panicked and called out several times, "Xinrou! Xinrou!"
But the only response she received was the chirping of cicadas outside the window.
She was only gone for a minute or two, how come her mother and Gu Xinrou are gone?
Even if they were to leave, they would have to go into the stairwell, where Jian Tanxi would definitely see them.
Since we didn't run into Mom and Gu Xinrou in the hallway, where did they go?
Jian Tanxi searched under the bed, in the closet, and everywhere else where someone could hide, but she couldn't find anyone.
Besides, why would they hide? It doesn't make sense...
Jian Tanxi found it strange, and at the same time, she was a little scared.
Should we call the police?
As she hesitated, she suddenly smelled a burning odor.
She quickly ran to the kitchen and turned off the gas stove. The vegetables she had just been stir-frying in the pan were completely burnt.
Jian Tanxi picked up the pot lid and covered the pot to prevent the burning smell from escaping.
She wanted to call the police, but as far as she knew, a person was only considered truly missing after 24 hours, and her mother and Gu Xinrou had only been missing for a dozen minutes...
Jian Tanxi decided to call Gu Xinrou's mother, but she still couldn't get through.
"Strange, there's no signal at home either?"
Jian Tanxi opened the owners' group chat, wanting to ask if anyone had seen her mother and Gu Xinrou.
However, the message couldn't be sent, and WeChat had no signal.
Jian Tanxi was completely at a loss. She decided to go and call her father home first, so that he could decide what to do.
So she ran to the door of 1602, banged on it, and shouted, "Uncle Bai! Dad! Open the door!"
However, no one responded.
In desperation, Jian Tanxi thought of finding a locksmith to open the door to 1602. She figured she could just buy Uncle Bai a new lock later.
Now that special circumstances have arisen, Uncle Bai should be able to understand.
Suddenly, she realized that she couldn't make the call...
Jian Tanxi felt somewhat desperate.
However, she remembered that the old man in apartment 1503 downstairs could also pick locks, so she decided to ask him for help. She figured if she explained the situation clearly, he would probably help.
So she quickly ran to the door of room 1503.
The door to room 1503 was open. Jian Tanxi called out a few times, but no one responded.
So Jian Tanxi went straight inside.
There was no one inside.
Jian Tanxi searched the kitchen, living room, toilet, and bedroom, but there was no one there.
The entire 1503 was both quiet and eerie.
Jian Tanxi had only eaten half of the food on the table when she reached out and touched the plate; it was still warm.
Could it be that everyone in room 1503 went out? That can't be such a coincidence, can it?
Jian Tanxi remembers that the old lady in this family had difficulty walking and rarely went out.
Jian Tanxi saw lock-picking tools in the corner of the living room, so she simply grabbed the toolbox and went to open the door to 1602.
Although it's not good to take things without asking, it's urgent now, so I'll apologize to the old man later.
She was already quite clever, and had even stumbled upon some lock-picking tutorials before. After fiddling with it for a while, she actually managed to open the door to 1602.
She hurried inside, but there was no one in room 1602.
The playing cards on the table were scattered about, several water glasses contained leftover water, and there was a smoldering cigarette butt on the floor, which had burned a hole in the wooden floor.
Jian Tanxi stepped forward and stubbed out the cigarette.
She carefully observed her surroundings and noticed that her father's phone was on the table.
It's as if a group of people were playing cards one second and then suddenly disappeared the next.
Jian Tanxi shook her head, trying to stop herself from letting her mind wander.
She felt it was too quiet here, eerily quiet.
Suddenly, she remembered something and rushed to the window to look down.
There was no one downstairs either. The elderly and children who used to sit and play downstairs were all gone.
No wonder she felt the surroundings were too quiet; so many people had disappeared.
Surely they couldn't all have left in such a short time?
Jian Tanxi felt it was necessary to call the police.
However, when she arrived at the police station, there was no one there either.
The computer screen was still on, showing that someone had been working here just moments before.
Jian Tanxi ran out of the police station and shouted into the empty street, "Hey—is anyone there—?"
But no one responded to her.
A cat darted out of the bushes, glanced at Jian Tanxi, and then ran away.
Jian Tanxi muttered to herself, "There are cats, there are cicadas, but no one... Am I having a nightmare?"
She pinched herself hard; it hurt, so it wasn't a dream.
She now has only one thought in her mind: to find her parents first.
So she ran back home and searched the house several times.
There was nothing there.
She ran to room 1602 next door, hoping to find her father, but she couldn't find him.
Jian Tanxi lost all her strength and stood blankly in the living room of 1602.
Suddenly, she saw a strange scene.
On the coffee table in the living room, there was a stack of documents, probably dozens of A4 sheets. Suddenly, those A4 sheets sprouted hands and feet and walked towards her.
The A4 paper remains the same size, and the hands and feet that have grown out are very thin, as if they were cut out of paper.
Jian Tanxi clenched her fists as she watched this scene, forcing herself to calm down.
As several sheets of A4 paper got closer and closer to her, she suddenly swung her fist, trying to knock them down.
However, all the papers deftly retreated, avoiding Jian Tanxi's fist.
Then, the papers danced in the wind, flying upwards like a tornado, all the way to the ceiling. They spun continuously, and Jian Tanxi felt that the ceiling and floor were also spinning along with them.
She became disoriented and fainted.
When she woke up, she found herself in a white, empty space.
She lay on the ground, surrounded by mist that almost completely covered her body.
The sky was a hazy white, indistinct expanse. She didn't know if she was in a room or in the wild.
The space was bright, but it was impossible to tell what was illuminating it. It didn't look like an electric light, sunlight, or candlelight.
She was confused and dared not speak.
Suddenly, a large piece of paper appeared in front of her.
This piece of paper is about the height of a person, and there is a clown drawn in the middle.
The clown kept smiling, staring at Jian Tanxi as if he were alive, which was indescribably eerie.
This piece of paper, like the A4 she saw before she fainted, had thin hands and feet, and could walk like a person.
Jian Tanxi subconsciously pinched her hand; it still hurt. So it wasn't a dream…
So, where am I? And why did I have to go through all this terrible ordeal?
What exactly is going on with these papers? Have they developed sentience? What is their purpose?
Where did those who disappeared go?
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