8:31 PM.
In Room 106, Shido Makoto lay half-reclined on the bed, hands cradled behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling as he thought back over the events of the day.
In the dining hall just moments ago, if he hadn’t come up with that method on the spur of the moment, there would surely be one more corpse now.
At this rate of attrition, did they even stand a chance of surviving 72 hours?
It was pure fantasy.
Even with his [Rollback] ability, he only had one chance to trial-and-error per day.
If he used it today, he’d be an ordinary person until the midnight refresh.
As for the second floor…
Those two charred ghost shadows could be confirmed as the spirits of the mansion’s owners, but he still couldn’t determine what triggered them.
Was it sound?
Time?
Or simply because they had stepped into an area they shouldn’t have?
Until he figured that out, the second floor at night was forbidden territory.
But the clues had to be on the second floor.
The female maid Lina’s room, that diary—they all proved the second floor was the heart of the story.
Those locked rooms held Viktor, held the young master, held all the clues to this tragedy.
He would have to go back tomorrow.
He closed his eyes, his mind rapidly replaying every detail of the day.
He needed a plan—one that would let him pry open all of this mansion’s secrets while keeping himself intact.
9:05 PM.
In Room 101, the Programmer was pacing his room in agitation.
He’d gained nothing today.
No—worse than that.
He hadn’t just failed to obtain any valuable information; he’d lost a potential teammate and completely severed ties with the other three.
He knew perfectly well that Wrench wasn’t killed by the mirror ghost.
There hadn’t been a single shard of glass in that storage room.
The lie he’d spoken aloud had now become his own greatest source of terror.
It meant that besides the ghost in the mirror, there was another—or perhaps more than one—monster in this mansion that could ignore the rules and roam the first floor during daylight, killing at will!
And that monster was on the first floor!
He had been right outside the storage room door at the time, listening to Wrench’s roars from inside.
He’d fled.
He hadn’t hesitated for a moment, turning and running straight back to his room.
He still believed his choice had been the right one.
Go to the second floor?
What a joke.
The danger there was unknown, whereas the danger on the first floor was something he…he had once thought he understood.
That kid called Student, and that silver-haired brat.
What gave them the right?
What gave them the right to go to the second floor and return unscathed?
Luck?
The Programmer didn’t believe in luck. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
In his personal philosophy, luck was an excuse for the weak.
He hadn’t climbed from a third-rate university graduate to project lead at a top-tier tech company through luck—he’d done it through any means necessary.
He still remembered his mentor when he’d first joined the company—a technical master but a gentle, good-natured man.
Before a crucial project evaluation, the Programmer had “accidentally” buried a bug in an obscure corner of the code—one only he knew about.
The day the project went live, the system crashed.
The company suffered massive losses.
That mentor, as the primary person in charge, was fired on the spot and took all the blame.
And the Programmer, as the only one who had miraculously found and fixed the bug in half an hour, became the hero who’d saved the day and was promoted ahead of schedule.
From that day on, he understood: so-called teamwork and partnership were just stepping stones on the path to success.
When necessary, kick them aside—or even climb over their corpses—that was the only law of survival.
Wasn’t this Cycle Game the same?
Except this time, it seemed he’d kicked against an iron plate.
That Student was calm like a monster.
His performance in the dining hall—that ability to instantly grasp the rules and counter them—wasn’t something a high school student should possess.
The Programmer even suspected the kid was a veteran.
But thinking about this now was useless.
The team had fractured, and he was isolated.
The chances of him surviving the remaining two days in this cursed place on his own were slim.
Tomorrow…tomorrow he’d have to find a way to rejoin them.
Apologize, eat a little humble pie—it shouldn’t be that hard, right?
After all, he hadn’t actually harmed them.
Wrench’s death was just his own bad luck.
Yes, that was it!
The Programmer stopped pacing and let out a long breath.
He walked to the bed and sat down.
The agitation in his heart finally eased a little.
He needed them.
He needed that Student’s mind, needed them to scout ahead as his pawns.
As long as he could survive, dignity was worthless.
The night passed in silence.
Or rather, for those who had grown accustomed to that faint, elusive calling sound, it was a quiet night.
Early the next morning, the four survivors walked out of their rooms in unison and gathered in the dining hall.
“Last night…did you all hear it?” the Artist spoke softly, breaking the silence.
There were faint dark circles under her eyes—she clearly hadn’t slept well.
“Yeah, the same voice,” Shirogane Kei nodded.
Her complexion was still somewhat pale, and though the wounds on her palms and forearms had been simply bandaged, they still caused some discomfort when she moved.
Shido Makoto acknowledged it as well. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
He had a premonition that this wouldn’t last much longer.
The pressure of the rules was steadily intensifying.
Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, one of them might face danger again.
But he didn’t voice this suspicion.
Without evidence, any guess would only breed unnecessary panic.
The Programmer, seeing them converse, seized the opportunity to jump in:
“About that…Student, what I did yesterday was wrong.
I was really scared by Xiao Hui’s death, that’s why I said I wouldn’t go to the second floor with you.
I hope you won’t hold it against me.”
He struck a sincere apologetic posture.
Shido Makoto wiped his mouth with a napkin and looked up at him.
“Finished?”
“Huh?” The Programmer was taken aback.
“If you’re finished, eat your breakfast.”
Shido Makoto’s response left the Programmer with all his prepared excuses stuck in his throat, neither coming out nor going down—so stuck he flushed red in the face.
Shirogane Kei’s lips curved slightly, but she quickly returned to her cold expression.
After a simple breakfast, everyone gathered around the fireplace in the main hall.
“Should we go check out the storage room where Wrench died?” the Artist suggested hesitantly.
“Yesterday was so chaotic, we didn’t dare go over.
Now that a day has passed, that thing…should have left already, right?”
She was referring to the vengeful spirit that had killed Wrench.
The suggestion was immediately met with agreement.
Unless they cleared up the circumstances of Wrench’s death, no one could rest easy.
“I agree,” the Programmer was the first to voice support, hoping to use this chance to mend his relationship with them.
“The more people, the better.
Let’s go together.”
Shido Makoto glanced at him without comment, then stood up.
“Let’s go.”
Shirogane Kei and the Artist immediately followed.
The four of them made their way through the corridor and arrived at the storage room entrance.
On the left was the food storage, on the right was the miscellaneous storage.
According to the Programmer’s account, Wrench had met his end in the miscellaneous storage on the right.
Shido Makoto stood at the door, looking thoughtful as he turned back to glance at Shirogane Kei.
“You stand at the door and hold it.
No matter what happens, don’t let this door close,” he instructed.
Shirogane Kei was momentarily surprised, but immediately grasped Shido Makoto’s intention.
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Oshi No Ko: Co-starring with Kana Arima
Let’s hit these goals: