Everyone’s eyes widened at He Zhihan the moment he asked the question.
Jun instinctively tightened his grip around the unconscious little girl. Hao Qing quietly stepped closer to He Zhihan, while Dali frowned.
"...What are you planning to do with her?" she asked warily.
He Zhihan looked genuinely offended. "What?" He clicked his tongue. "Why would you assume I’m going to hurt a child?" He placed a hand against his chest dramatically. "I’m a murderer, not a monster."
The room fell silent.
His expression became serious. "Besides..." He looked at the unconscious girl. "...She belongs to this game. She’s not a player."
Dali blinked rapidly before looking down at the little girl. Hao Qing’s expression also changed as he studied her more carefully.
"...Children are dangerous in the Endgame," he admitted quietly. "If He Zhihan thinks she’s suspicious... I’m inclined to trust his judgment."
Dali frowned. "You trust a criminal?"
Hao Qing didn’t even hesitate. "We’re trapped in a death game. At this point, I care more about who’s useful than who’s innocent."
Dali opened her mouth, but no words came out. After several seconds, she sighed. "...Fine." She crossed her arms. "Let’s say you’re right, and she belongs to the game." She looked at He Zhihan. "How exactly is that supposed to help us survive?"
Meanwhile, Jun carefully pressed two fingers against the girl’s neck. "...She still has a pulse."
"Good." He Zhihan nodded casually as he walked toward a stack of cardboard boxes. "Wake her up."
Jun knelt beside the girl and gently patted her shoulder. "H-Hello..." he whispered. "It’s safe now. You can wake up."
Nothing happened.
Hao Qing looked between Jun and He Zhihan, clearly torn between helping wake the girl and figuring out what He Zhihan was searching for. Before he could decide, Dali let out an exasperated sigh.
"That isn’t how you wake an unconscious person." She crouched beside Jun. "Move over." She hesitated for a moment before muttering, "...If she wakes up and tries to eat me, I’m blaming all of you."
He Zhihan snorted. Ignoring them completely, he shoved several empty cardboard boxes aside.
Most of them contained nothing. The next box held watercolor paints. Another was filled with colored pencils. Markers. Paintbrushes. Every box contained art supplies.
He continued searching without slowing down, his eyes carefully examining every corner of the cramped room.
"What are you looking for?" Hao Qing approached him.
Hao Qing frowned. "I don’t understand."
He Zhihan didn’t look up as he rummaged through another box.
"We’re supposed to hide," Hao Qing spread his hands helplessly. "Even if you’re right, even if the Teacher eventually finds everyone because this is her territory... There are no clues. There’s nothing to solve. We just have to survive."
He Zhihan gave him a dull look. "I don’t want to spend six hours hiding in a corner."
Hao Qing blinked.
"I want to kill the monster." He Zhihan’s gaze returned to the boxes. "And to kill it... I need to figure out how."
He looked back at Hao Qing. "Frankly, Doctor, you don’t have to keep following me." He shrugged. "You’ve survived a scenario before. Go hide somewhere. If you get lucky, maybe you’ll live."
Hao Qing frowned. "You..."
"Oh." He Zhihan suddenly patted the pocket of his prison pants before pulling out a crumpled pack of mint gum. He popped three pieces into his mouth before extending the pack toward Hao Qing. "Gum?"
Hao Qing stared at him in disbelief. "...No."
He took a step forward. "You need to listen to me. This is a Nightmare Scenario. We’re supposed to survive, not fight the monster."
He Zhihan casually slipped the gum back into his pocket. "I’m not suicidal." He chewed thoughtfully. "And I’m a lot of things, Doctor... but I’m not stupid either. If I charge at the teacher now, I’ll die."
He continued searching through the remaining boxes. Paint. Brushes. Markers. Colored pencils. Nothing else.
Eventually, he stopped. "...That’s strange."
Hao Qing looked over. "What is?"
"There isn’t a single sheet of paper." He Zhihan slowly straightened. "This is an art supply room." His eyes narrowed. "There should be stacks of sketch paper."
Silence filled the room. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up. "...The classroom." He snapped his fingers. "It’s all in the art classroom. The drawings..."
Hao Qing frowned. "The drawings?"
"They were all children’s drawings." He Zhihan spoke more to himself than anyone else. "Families... houses... flowers... classmates..."
Before he could finish, a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the hallway. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Crash!
Something heavy slammed against the walls outside. Then... silence.
Every person in the office froze. They silently looked at one another as the silence became even more terrifying than the scream.
[Time Remaining: 4 Hours 26 Minutes.]
The System’s cold voice echoed throughout the entire school. Everyone instinctively looked toward the ceiling, even though there was nothing there.
Dali let out a relieved breath. "...At least we’re still alive."
He Zhihan frowned. "...Only ninety-four minutes?"
Hao Qing walked over to the unconscious little girl and crouched beside her. Her head rested quietly on Dali’s lap, looking as though she had simply fallen asleep. "...She’s still not waking up?" he asked.
Dali shook her head. "Nothing."
Hao Qing stared at the girl’s peaceful face for a long moment before something suddenly occurred to him. "...When I first saw her..." he murmured.
Everyone looked at him.
"...She was carrying a stuffed bear."
He Zhihan’s eyes narrowed. A stuffed bear... He immediately recalled the scene in the classroom. The little girl had indeed been clutching a worn stuffed bear before Hao Qing picked her up.
He looked at Hao Qing. "Where is it?"
"The bear?"
"Yes."
Hao Qing thought for a moment. "...I think we left it behind. It should still be in the first classroom."
Dali’s eyes widened. "...Wait." She frowned. "Why are we talking about a stuffed bear?"
"...Um..." Jun said quietly.
Everyone looked at him.
"...When my little sister was younger..." He shrank a little under their gazes. "...She couldn’t sleep without her rabbit doll."
He scratched his cheek. "...Maybe... this girl is the same?"