chapter 21

Lu Li looked up and carefully observed the Clown.

Now, the Clown had both hands raised high above his head.

In his right hand was the Chainsaw used for judgment, and his left hand was clenched into a fist, holding a large bunch of Balloons. There were the four colors mentioned in the question, but there was more than one Balloon of each color.

“There’s no time limit for Group B’s question. Think it through before you answer,” Luo Jia Bai subconsciously touched his Arm, which was wrapped in bandages, anxiously rubbing it back and forth. “There aren’t many chances. You can resurrect infinitely, but I don’t have that kind of perverse ability.”

He carefully touched the knife with Evil Spirit Ability. “This knife can save me once. I can exchange Points for at most two more Life-Saving Items. That means, at most, I can be chopped three times.”

The correct answers for Group A were found one by one; they answered correctly because they eliminated all the wrong options.

But Group B’s question didn’t even have options.

The difficulty had increased.

Luo Jia Bai was worried. He squatted in front of the Blackboard Bulletin for a long time, but didn’t see any more chalk words appear. “Why isn’t there a reference answer for this question?”

Lu Li took out the Items he had collected earlier, flipping through several Notes and muttering to himself, “The Clown can’t coexist with Dad. The Clown is a good friend, but you can only meet the Clown in the Early Morning. But now it’s After School Time…”

The Class Bell had just rung, and only those who finished their homework could go play in the Park. This meant it was actually After School Time now.

It was afternoon.

But in Nuo Nuo’s Diary, it said you could only meet the Clown in the Early Morning.

Afternoon was not Early Morning.

These two times conflicted.

Why?

Who was lying?

Lu Li paused and pulled out a Note from Nuo Nuo’s Diary.

“Nuo Nuo said her favorite color is red. She’s been repeating this since entering the game. It should be a hint for the Player. Maybe this question is simple-just write ‘red Balloon’?” Luo Jia Bai paced anxiously, leaning over to look at what Lu Li was holding. “Why are you taking out Items from the previous round? Once you clear a stage, these are basically useless.”

Lu Li said, “I know the answer.”

The two times actually didn’t conflict.

And no one was lying.

Luo Jia Bai was delighted, thinking Lu Li agreed with his idea. “You think it’s red too, right?”

“No.”

“It’s not any color.” Lu Li put away the Diary and bent down to write the answer on the blackboard.

[You say to the Clown: “Today is my Birthday.”]

Luo Jia Bai saw what he wrote and his face turned pale with fright. “Bro, I’ll call you bro-are you sure this answer is right? It’s completely different from what I thought!”

Lu Li put down the chalk and took a few steps back.

He looked at the Clown’s pitch-black, deeply sunken eyes.

“Today is my Birthday. I heard if I hug you, I’ll get a Balloon.”

“Can I give you a hug?”

The Clown seemed to be staring at him. Then both of his raised hands began to tremble, and even the Classroom floor, which had been chopped into pieces, shook unnaturally.

“The Clown is about to use his ultimate move!!”

Amid the deafening roar, Luo Jia Bai screamed and crouched down, covering his head. “I told you to think carefully! What’s that sound? Check for me! Did he turn on the Chainsaw in his right hand?”

The roar suddenly stopped.

Lu Li happened to be standing right in front of the Clown.

Both of the Clown’s large hands came down together, forming a hugging gesture, encircling Lu Li in the center.

The big hands dragged on the ground as they tightened, pressing Lu Li into the Clown’s cold embrace.

Lu Li reached out and touched a part of the giant Clown’s body.

When the dates are different, afternoon and Early Morning don’t conflict.

Today was the first day Nuo Nuo met the Clown.

It was also Nuo Nuo’s Birthday.

She wrote in her Diary that she learned from her Classmates that there was a Clown in the Park today, and if you hugged him, you’d get a Balloon. So after school, she waited until all the Classmates had left before meeting the Clown.
Nuo Nuo couldn’t possibly know exactly which color Balloon she would get.

So this fill-in-the-blank question shouldn’t be answered with a color.

Only the Clown knew which Balloon would be given.

After Lu Li hugged him back, the Clown let go.

With two incredibly strong fingers, the Clown pinched a tiny Balloon and gently handed it to him, as if presenting a precious gift.

All the other colored balloons were released and disappeared into the rafters.

“An orange Balloon?”

Luo Jia Bai was still crouched on the ground, eyes closed and hugging his head. After waiting so long without hearing the crisp sound of a Life-Saving Item breaking, he couldn’t help opening his eyes. He just caught Lu Li receiving the Balloon and was stunned. “You actually got it right? The Clown gave you a Balloon on his own? And it’s not even one of the colors listed in the question!”

Lu Li made a quiet “Mm,” curiously looking at the Balloon and reaching out to touch it.

His fingertips hadn’t even touched it yet.

Birthday music came from the two Classroom speakers that had been mere decorations until now.

“Happy Birthday to you!” The song crackled with static.

The orange Balloon caught fire at the top, and instead of leaking air, the flame burned downward in an arc along the Balloon, all the way to the end of the string. Suddenly, a small white cake with a candle appeared in Lu Li’s hand.

The flame along the string became the candle’s flame.

As the fire flickered, the cake melted, white cream dripped down and covered his fingers, and the whole cake flattened.

Lu Li frowned and tried to wipe off the cream. The flattened cake broke apart and turned into five or six pieces of Candy.

The candy went from full to hollow, the wrappers unfolded and lay flat in Lu Li’s palm, turning into a white greeting card.

A blessing was written on the card, which flipped open on its own in an eerie way, then turned to ash, disappearing little by little in the wind.

The Classroom speakers finished the birthday song just as the card vanished.

Lu Li looked down at his empty palm and said softly, “The cake is gone.”

“The whole birthday ritual was quite complete,” Luo Jia Bai commented after watching the whole thing. “This Clown really has a sense of ceremony. Nuo Nuo is a needy kid-part little child, part little boss-starved for affection. She’d easily treat him as a good friend.”

Lu Li still held his hands as if cradling something, his tall figure seeming rather lonely.

Luo Jia Bai patted him on the shoulder. “You really treat this horror game like it’s fun? It’s gone, already disappeared.”

“If it’s not an Item, it can’t exist?” Lu Li said. “I thought I was going to get a gift.”

“Just like the test paper earlier, it’s all disappeared.” Luo Jia Bai was still puzzled by the answer. “How did you know what it was?”

“We’re in Nuo Nuo’s Classroom right now, and everything we do is so we can go to the Park after school. So today is actually the first day Nuo Nuo meets the Clown. The Diary says today is Nuo Nuo’s birthday, and she went to find the Clown to get a Balloon on her birthday.”

Lu Li said, “Timing is important.”

Luo Jia Bai suddenly realized, “You figured out the timeline in the last two rounds, so you got the right answer.”

The Clown raised both hands above his head again, pulling the two doors hanging from the wall down to the floor.

The Classroom floor became flat again.

Finally, a flashing guidance line appeared at the feet of Lu Li and Luo Jia Bai, each leading to one of the two doors.

Game Night had arrived.

–

Lu Li pushed open the door and saw the candlelight outlining the tall, upright figure of a man on the bed.

The blood and stench that had filled the Instance had been driven away.

He could smell a cool, crisp scent in the clean room.

Lu Li walked to the bedside, his steps light.

“Good evening, Bosi.”