Chapter 15
They’d just left hell, only to find themselves in another.
When they returned to the stairwell, all three looked far worse than before.
“Let’s keep going up and look. Maybe there’s a way out?” Jiang Mingran refused to abandon hope.
But the second floor was almost identical to the first.
The third was a little different. There was one room on the entire floor, marked 303.
They searched the whole level and confirmed there were no others.
Only 303. Who knew where 301 and 302 had gone.
No one was inside 303. Its door stood half-open, revealing a bed, a table, and a chair. There was no bedding.
“Does anyone live here…?” Jiang Mingran murmured.
Apparently not. If someone did, surely they’d at least have sheets and blankets?
Shao Lan shook his head.
Whether anyone lived there no longer mattered.
“Let’s go back to the eighth floor,” he said. “We shouldn’t stay on other floors too long.”
They knew nothing about this place. Lingering like this was dangerous.
Taking his advice, Jiang Mingran carried Uncle Bing back up. The three returned to the eighth floor.
The property manager was still waiting. Seeing them, she immediately put on her trademark professional smile. “Hello, residents. Are you ready to check in?”
Shao Lan looked at the still-smiling property manager.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but her smile seemed particularly eerie.
He thought for a moment. “Could I ask a few questions before deciding whether to check in?”
“Property Management exists to serve residents,” she said with a smile. “You may ask me anything.”
“What is this place?” Jiang Mingran couldn’t help asking.
She answered smoothly, “Building 7, Xingfu Estate.”
She might as well have said nothing.
After a moment’s thought, Shao Lan asked, “If this is Building 7, are there other buildings? Building 1 or Building 2, for example?”
She paused briefly, then said apologetically, “I’m sorry. As a member of Property Management for Building 7, I can only answer questions concerning Building 7.”
“If we don’t want to live in Building 7, how can we leave?” Shao Lan asked.
This time, she didn’t answer. She smiled as though she hadn’t heard the question.
Jiang Mingran tried a different wording. “Can we check out?”
The words check out seemed to awaken her. Slowly, she turned to him.
“Would you like to check out?”
For the first time, Shao Lan saw her smile disappear, replaced by an intensely serious expression.
Instinctively, he sensed danger.
“Would you like to check out?”
As she asked a second time, Shao Lan immediately stepped in front of Jiang Mingran.
“He’s only asking,” he said. “We don’t want to check out.”
Jiang Mingran was baffled. But at Shao Lan’s meaningful backward glance, he could only follow along. “Uh, yeah… I don’t want to check out.”
The property manager didn’t respond at once. She seemed to be considering something.
Shao Lan decided to change the subject with another question.
“You said we shouldn’t use the elevator to go to other floors. Why?”
The question interrupted her thoughts on the previous subject. Leaving Jiang Mingran, she turned to Shao Lan and resumed her familiar smile.
“Resident Shao Lan, I’m pleased you’ve raised such an important question. Here is the answer.”
“The elevator is the most important piece of equipment in this building. Its function is to transport residents to game scenarios. It is not available for everyday use.”
“Game scenarios…” Shao Lan frowned. “I remember you called what we just experienced a screening scenario.”
She explained patiently, “Would you like to know the difference between game scenarios and screening scenarios? There is no great difference. You could say the screening scenario was your first game scenario.”
“If there is a distinction, it is that screening scenarios select residents eligible to move into Xingfu Estate. As everyone’s first game, they are usually relatively easy.”
Relatively easy?
Jiang Mingran could barely breathe.
They’d been killed over and over in that apartment. They’d barely escaped with their last life. And that counted as easy?
“Do you have any more questions?” the property manager asked Shao Lan with a smile.
He considered for a moment.
He had many questions. But he also knew she couldn’t possibly answer them all.
“If you have no further questions for now, allow me to help you check in,” she said, smiling. “Please follow me.”
She turned and walked ahead. Jiang Mingran looked at Shao Lan, who said helplessly, “Follow her.”
This eerie building didn’t even have a door. They couldn’t get out. Resisting would achieve nothing.
The property manager led Shao Lan to a room marked 802.
“Mr. Shao Lan.” She pushed open the door. “This is your room. Welcome as the resident of 802.”
He didn’t move or speak. He stared at something a short distance away.
The eighth-floor corridor resembled a hotel’s, with doors facing each other on opposite sides. Directly across from 802 was 801.
Its door stood ajar, leaving a narrow gap.
Through that gap, a pair of wide, fixed eyes stared at Shao Lan.
The person was so skeletal that he couldn’t even tell whether they were male or female. In a sunken face, those bulging eyes stared at him. The figure didn’t move.
“Oh,” the property manager said.
She went to 801, pushed the door open, and entered.
“Report.” After a brief examination, she took out a walkie-talkie. “The resident of 801 needs to check out. Please send the appropriate staff to handle it.”
In less than a minute, a tall man in the same dark blue uniform appeared in the corridor.
He strode into 801 and dragged the person out.
The emaciated body lay fully exposed before them. Its overpowering stench made Uncle Bing and Jiang Mingran double over and retch.
Fighting nausea, Shao Lan studied the skeletal figure. Judging by the worn clothes, this was a woman.
Her eyes were wide open, her pupils dilated. Her joints were stiff as her body dragged along the floor.
She’d been dead a long time.
Was this what checking out meant? You had to die to check out?
Cold sweat covered Jiang Mingran. He didn’t dare imagine what would have happened if Shao Lan hadn’t stopped him in time. He would have kept asking the property manager how to check out…
She had already returned. “My apologies. A minor work matter delayed us a few minutes. Mr. Jiang Mingran, allow me to show you to your room.”
Jiang Mingran was so repulsed he nearly threw up. But Shao Lan motioned him to follow, and he could only go with her to 803.
She opened the door. “Mr. Jiang Mingran, welcome.”
Every room was identical. One word described them: empty.
There was only a bed, a table, and a chair. Nothing else.
Even the bed was just a wooden board. No sheets, blankets, or pillows. Nothing.
Exactly like what they’d seen in 303.
“How are we supposed to live here?” Shao Lan asked. “There’s nothing in it!”
Smiling, she pointed to a screen set into the inner wall. “Are you asking about purchasing everyday supplies? You can buy everything you need from the vending machine.”
With that, she took Uncle Bing to check in. Jiang Mingran approached the screen.
“Facial recognition successful. Hello, Resident Jiang Mingran. What would you like?”
The screen was about the size of an iPad. A search box appeared.
After hesitating, Jiang Mingran typed “drinks.”
He’d been running around all night, and had just climbed several flights of stairs. His throat had long since gone dry.
Like a shopping app, the screen immediately displayed a list.
“Mineral water: 5 yuan/bottle. Orange juice: 8 yuan/bottle. Cola: 8 yuan/bottle. Jasmine tea: 8 yuan/bottle. Milk: 8 yuan/carton. Yogurt: 12 yuan/bottle.”
“Tourist-trap prices?” Jiang Mingran muttered.
The prices were a little higher than in an ordinary supermarket. But he was so hungry and thirsty that he added some food and drinks to his cart and tapped “Pay.”
“Total: 102 yuan. Your balance: 500 yuan. Confirm payment?”
His hand stopped in midair.