Chapter 21: Deadly Room Numbers (Part 1)

After returning to her room, Shen Qingqiu took a shower, finally having a chance to change into clean clothes. As she was lying on the bed, she couldn’t help but think of Xiao Muyu again. Xiao Muyu could probably stand her now.

As she was lost in thought, the phone on the bedside table rang. Shen Qingqiu’s expression, which had just started to soften, instantly turned cold again, and she answered the call.

“Looks like you’ve cleared another instance. Congratulations.”

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes darkened slightly. A cold smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she replied, “You’re still alive too. Congratulations.”

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*Ding!* After Xiao Muyu finished packing up and checked out of the room, she heard a chime. She glanced at the clock in the hotel lobby—it was almost time for the new instance to begin.

“Good luck, miss! We look forward to your next visit!” said the female receptionist, seeming well aware of where Xiao Muyu was about to go.

In a flash of white light, Xiao Muyu once again appeared in the same room where she had first arrived.

It had the same setup, but the person sitting there was no longer No. 001.

“Welcome to Instance No. 002. I am the one in change for this instance, Arbiter No. 002. You will enter the new instance in fifteen minutes.”

Arbiter No. 002 appeared to be around eighteen years old, with a rather serious expression, dressed in a white shirt and suit pants, looking somewhat detached.

“First, let’s verify the player’s information: Xiao Muyu, age 26, cleared stage: No. 001—Human Skin Manor, points: 125, rating: S.” After reciting this, she glanced up at Xiao Muyu, clearly a bit surprised by her results.

“Yes,” confirmed Xiao Muyu.

“An excellent result. It’s quite rare to achieve an S rating on the first stage. I hope you can keep up this performance.”

“Thank you. I have a question—how many instances are there in total?” Xiao Muyu followed up her placid thanks with a critical question.

No. 002 actually smiled a little at this, then directly answered: “Ten. The difficulty of these ten instances are categorized into four levels: B, A, S, and SSS. The first three levels each have three instances, and the tenth instance is at SSS-level.”

“Instance No. 001 should have more than one type, right?” Xiao Muyu asked.

“That’s right. Each instance corresponds to hundreds, or even thousands of scripts, and it will be randomly assigned to you. Of course, later on, you will get to draw for yourselves.”

“I have another question. What’s the highest level reached so far in Skynet World? Has anyone successfully returned to the real world?”

No. 002 frowned slightly at her. “That’s outside of my authority to answer.”

Xiao Muyu fell silent and didn’t say anything further. No. 002 then bent at the waist and waved her forward. Suddenly, Xiao Muyu felt a wave of dizziness.

The familiar sound of gears turning rang in her ears again, and the system’s cold, mechanical voice echoed once more.

“Loading file, decompressing, loading complete! Initiating!”

There was a loud boom, and Xiao Muyu opened her eyes.

The moment she did, her heart nearly stopped. Less than ten centimeters away from her, a pair of eyes were staring directly into her own. Startled, Xiao Muyu took an unsteady step back, and the pupils in those eyes also contracted sharply, as the figure stepped back as well.

Cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and after stepping back, she realized that the pair of eyes wasn’t someone else’s—they were her own. A mirror was hanging in front of her! It showed her own reflection, slightly tense and still in shock.

What was going on? She glanced at the mirror somewhat warily, but ultimately, her gaze fell to an area just below the mirror.

She was in a pitch black place. The only reason Xiao Muyu could see herself in the mirror, was because a candle had been placed on either side of it. Lighting candles to look in a mirror always hinted at something spooky.

In the dim candlelight, the figure in the mirror wasn’t entirely clear, with shadows hiding most of the facial expression. Only the eyes were unexpectedly distinct—they were Xiao Muyu’s eyes.

Suddenly, a faint crackle broke the silence. One of the candle wicks popped with a tiny spark, almost like some sort of signal.

Xiao Muyu couldn’t help but clench her hand. The scene was too unsettling—what did lighting candles and staring into a mirror in a dark room late at night mean?

As Xiao Muyu turned to check her surroundings, she failed to notice that in the mirror behind her, what was supposed to be her own reflection did not move at all. The reflection simply stared at Xiao Muyu’s back, her eyes subtly following Xiao Muyu’s movements.

Suddenly, the left candle’s weak flame started to flicker. Xiao Muyu’s heart jumped and she quickly turned back, staring intently at the candle. Simultaneously, the reflection moved with her, mirroring her actions exactly.

Xiao Muyu gave the mirror a side glance, and the reflection glanced back in the same way, showing nothing unusual, but a sense of unease lingered in her heart.

Of the two candles, only one flame was flickering, and it was becoming more intense, as if it might go out at any moment. Xiao Muyu reached out her hand to feel for a breeze, but there was none.

She was on high alert, her emotions taut, trying hard to stay calm and figure out what was happening.

Then, the second candle began to flicker as well. As the dancing candle flames cast shifting shadows, her reflection in the mirror also started to sway.

Sway… No, something was wrong. When a person was standing still, only their shadow would sway with the light. Why was her reflection moving on its own?

Xiao Muyu immediately stepped back, but the figure in the mirror remained in her original position, staring at her intently, her eyes following Xiao Muyu’s every move.

Her heart raced, pounding in her throat, and she had no doubt that the so-called “Xiao Muyu” in the mirror could step out at any moment.

A door handle! Xiao Muyu felt a door handle, and immediately twisted it forcefully—but the door wouldn’t budge!

She couldn’t afford to keep her back to the mirror. As soon as she realized the door wouldn’t open, she immediately turned around to face the mirror. The person in the mirror looked exactly like her, but deep down, she knew that wasn’t her reflection.

In the mirror, “her” lips curled into a weird smile, “her” eyes shifting away from Xiao Muyu to focus on the mirror trapping her.

Xiao Muyu found the figure’s actions a little odd. It felt as if the person in the mirror was confined within it, and was standing there looking at the mirror’s surface.

Then, blood-red marks began to appear on the mirror, forming letters stroke by stroke, as if someone was writing on it.

Xiao Muyu couldn’t tear her eyes away. By the time she realized something was wrong, the first word had been completed, not in Chinese, but in English. The word was “Bloody”. Blood-red liquid dripped down the glass, causing the word to bleed and blur.

The blood-red writing continued, and the expression of mirror Xiao Muyu grew even more delighted.

A thought suddenly flashed through Xiao Muyu’s mind. She forcefully covered her eyes, quickly rushed up to the mirror, and furiously used her sleeve to wipe the surface. Surprisingly, the word “Bloody” was easily wiped away, and the two flickering candle flames steadied with a sudden whoosh. A woman’s faint sigh came from the mirror, as if in regret.

Xiao Muyu looked up at the figure in the mirror. Her face was pale, and her breathing erratic, punctuated by her heaving chest. That was her real reflection.

She immediately rushed to the door to try to open it again. This time, as she pressed down on the handle, and the door opened with a click.

A beam of light came flooding in, piercing through the darkness and fear; it was bright outside. Without hesitation, Xiao Muyu stepped through, and the door slammed shut behind her, snuffing out the candles inside.

“Heh.” There was a soft huff of laughter as the figure in the room watched the closed door, smiling just like Xiao Muyu.

After Xiao Muyu shut the door behind her, she finally had a chance to see where she was. To her left and right, stretched long corridors lined with doors, all firmly closed and facing each other, much like the dormitories from her school days. With a quick glance, she noticed that all the doors had numbered doorplates.

The rooms across from her were 4320 and 4315, her room was 4311, and the room numbers seemed jumbled. All the numbers began with 43, probably indicating this was Building 4’s third floor.

As she pondered this, she heard a faint click from room 4319 on the same floor. It was a very subtle sound, but one Xiao Muyu knew well—it was the sound of a door failing to open. This was quickly followed by a muffled scream, and the sound of someone slamming against the door.

Xiao Muyu stared intently at the door. It wasn’t very thick, so it didn’t completely block out the sounds from within, yet it was mercilessly maintaining a boundary between life and death. Whoever was inside had likely faced a grim fate, dying before they even had a chance to begin.

“Aahh!” *Bang!* Another door opened—it was room 4314.

A woman scrambled out, desperately kicking her legs on the floor to get away from the door. Her hair was disheveled, and she was screaming hysterically while clutching her head.

Xiao Muyu could clearly see a pale hand reaching out from the doorway, swiping at the air. After missing its target, the hand quickly extended further, seemingly ready to crawl out at any second.

Xiao Muyu’s body moved before her mind caught up. Despite her rapidly beating heart, she dashed over and, with a slight clench of her jaw, kicked the wrist of the hand reaching out.

Whatever was inside probably never expected that someone who had been crying for their life could still retaliate so decisively. The hand immediately retracted, almost as if Xiao Muyu had scared it.

Xiao Muyu swiftly shut the door, managing to avoid immediate danger.

The woman, still shaken with fear in her eyes, stared at Xiao Muyu in stunned silence. However, the calm only lasted a few seconds before there was another loud bang of a door opening. Xiao Muyu watched as the woman beside her opened her mouth wide, closed her eyes, and began to shriek in terror. The noise was deafening, causing Xiao Muyu to tilt her head away and turn around in frustration.

After turning around, Xiao Muyu saw a tall, slender woman with long legs rushing out of a door. Meanwhile, inside the room she just exited, another person who looked and dressed exactly like her was lunging out. The figure had a pale face and ghostly white fingers, exuding a baleful aura, seemingly intent on throttling the escaping woman. It was the ghost from the mirror!

“Don’t let her out!” Xiao Muyu shouted urgently.

The long-legged woman’s movements paused abruptly upon hearing her shout. She quickly pulled her left leg back and lifted her right leg high.

With explosive power and impressive flexibility, she executed a kick that soared over her head and then smashed down onto the ghost’s head.

The sight made Xiao Muyu feel a buzzing sensation on her own head. The female ghost’s neck emitted a sharp crack, before she was sent sprawling to the floor, likely earning a concussion from the fall.

The female ghost seemed momentarily stunned, then let out a hiss. Her right hand, with nails as long and sharp as blades, shot out, aiming to claw at the long-legged woman.

Unfortunately for the female ghost, the long-legged woman moved even faster than her. She sidestepped, grabbed the ghost’s right wrist tightly, and deftly ducked to avoid the ghost’s left hand. After securing the left hand, the long-legged woman forcefully twisted and bent both of the female ghost’s arms upward. At the crack of bones breaking, Xiao Muyu turned her head away, and closed her eyes.

When Xiao Muyu looked again, the long-legged woman had kicked the female ghost back into the room, and firmly closed the door. When the long-legged woman turned around, Xiao Muyu finally got a clear look of this person who moved like the wind – it was Shen Qingqiu.

“Why are you here?”

“So it’s you.”

They each said four words, but with clearly different moods.

Shen Qingqiu chuckled after reflecting on Xiao Muyu’s words.

“Why do I feel like you aren’t very happy to see me, Miss Xiao? Such a shame. I was so pleasantly surprised to see you.”

Shen Qingqiu’s outfit, similar to before, consisted of a black V-neck T-shirt with a black leather jacket, black pants, and boots, giving her a menacing look. However, her loose brown curls, exquisite features, and witty smile made her appear extremely charming. Her overall appearance formed a contrast that blended well together.

Xiao Muyu furrowed her brows but calmly spoke: “I was mistaken. I doubt there’s anyone else in this world who could violently deal with horrifying ghosts as normally as you do.”

Shen Qingqiu’s smile widened, and she fixed her eyes intently on Xiao Muyu. “So, are you complimenting me?”

Xiao Muyu was a little resigned, knowing this person only heard what she wanted to hear. She turned her gaze to the woman nearby, who was dumbly crying while watching the interaction between her and Shen Qingqiu. She looked away, offering no comfort, and instead, focused once more on the more than ten doors.

‘Maybe more people will come out.’

Shen Qingqiu reached out and tried to push a door open, but it didn’t budge.

This was a strange setup. It seemed that players could only open the doors from inside, while the mirror ghosts couldn’t.

Xiao Muyu’s observation was correct. In the next few moments, three more doors opened. Unfortunately, only two people made it out. They couldn’t save the girl furthest from them when her mirror ghost forcefully dragged her back inside.

The three girls who had narrowly escaped were still visibly shaken. Two out of the three couldn’t even stand up; they had their eyes closed, and were clinging to each other in fear. The third, a girl with her hair tied in a bun, had a pale face but managed to say to Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu: “Thank you.”

Shen Qingqiu glanced at her, not saying a word. However, seeing the girl trying to push through her fear to express gratitude, Xiao Muyu decided to reply, “You’re welcome.”

Neither Xiao Muyu nor Shen Qingqiu moved; they both kept their eyes on the doors that had not yet opened, waiting to see if anyone else would emerge.

However, there was no more movement from any of the doors. Xiao Muyu was a bit surprised—could there really be only six players? And all of them female?

Just then, in the silence, a *ding* sound rang out, startling the three players who were already as nervous as spooked birds.

“Welcome, players, to Survival Instance No. 002—’Deadly Rooms’. The game has now begun. All players, please proceed to the meeting room in the multi-purpose building’s lobby. Note: you only have fifteen minutes, or else these doors won’t be able to keep those things locked in.”

The cold, mechanical voice echoed above them. Xiao Muyu observed the rooms. If all the ghosts were to come out from these rooms, even Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t be able to handle them.

She quickly scanned the area and her expression tightened as she said, “There’s no staircase. It’s all just rooms.”

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Author had something to say:

Xiao Shen only hears what she wants to hear, and what she doesn’t want to hear, she’ll pretend not to understand it. The second instance has started. Ugh, it’s a little difficult to write, and hurts my head so much.

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TL: I’m sure those familiar with a certain Western urban legend (or a well-known red cocktail) knows the word that’s supposed to come after “Bloody”.