After the lights were turned off at night, the dormitory supervisor suddenly sent a message in the group:
“Surprise inspection. All students, please turn on the lights. Otherwise, you will be reported for staying out overnight as a disciplinary violation.”
I was about to turn on the light when a classmate from room 503 suddenly sent me a private message, saying:
“Don’t turn on the light! He’s trying to figure out which dormitory has people in it!”
1
The 503 classmate used ‘he’ with the single – person radical?
But our dormitory supervisor is a woman.
I immediately replied to him, asking, “What do you mean? ‘He’ as in a man?”
He also replied to me right away, “Yes, you read that right. I’m not referring to the dormitory supervisor, but a murderer!”
I frowned and sent a message to question him, “How do you know? Have you called the police?”
“I’ve called the police. Anyway, don’t turn on the light!”
His attitude of not explaining much increased my suspicion.
Our group of students who stayed on campus during the holiday all faced expulsion due to having too many failed courses.
The school showed mercy and let us participate in an intensive training for a retest, but the condition was that we had to accept military – style management.
This meant that we couldn’t violate any rules even once.
Coincidentally, there was one rule: We must stay overnight in the dormitory during the intensive training.
And to prevent us from fooling around together, each of us had a single – person dormitory. We freely chose our dormitories when we moved in yesterday.
Because we lived scattered, I was rather unfamiliar with everyone, and I couldn’t even remember their names.
But I remembered that one classmate was quite lively. He lived in room 107.
I found his WeChat and sent him a message, asking, “Have you turned on the light? I heard that someone killed the dormitory supervisor and asked us to turn on the lights to figure out which dormitory has people. Is that true?”
After waiting for a while, the classmate from 107 replied to me, “Ridiculous. That guy in 503 ranks at the bottom in the intensive training, and there’s a passing rate. If you violate the discipline, wouldn’t he have one less competitor?”
I suddenly understood.
So that’s how it was. 503 was really vicious!
The talk about a murderer was indeed unreasonable and too out of place.
Thinking of this, I reached out to press the light switch.
But at that moment, I suddenly thought of something –
I hadn’t told the classmate in 107 that it was 503 who said there was a killer!
2
The hand I stretched out to turn on the light retracted again.
The dormitory supervisor’s message came again immediately, “Those who still haven’t turned on the lights will be recorded in the assessment soon.”
I was hesitant.
What 503 said was really too far – fetched. What murderer? Why would he kill us?
He didn’t give any explanation.
Could it be that he also sent a private message to 107? That’s why 107 mentioned him as soon as he replied?
I was about to ask, but 503 sent me another message, “I’ve informed two classmates on the first floor, but they didn’t believe me and questioned me. I’m afraid they’ve already been killed. The murderer must be moving up from the first floor. Hide quickly.”
Sure enough, he had sent messages to others as well. Then my suspicion of 107 was unfounded.
But then a message from 107 made me start to suspect him again.
He actually asked me, “By the way, which dormitory do you live in? It doesn’t matter if you haven’t turned on the light. I’m on the first floor. I can just tell the dormitory supervisor for you.”
I suddenly felt a chill down my spine.
Before this message, I could still believe that it was the real 107 holding the phone.
But the person who sent this message definitely wasn’t him.
Because he knew that I lived in room 205!
Could it be that, as 503 said, in such a short time, he had already been killed?
To confirm this, I immediately rummaged through my backpack for my spare phone.
I created a secondary WeChat account, initiated a video call with my main account, and then placed the phone on the bookshelf, positioning the rear-facing camera to point at the dormitory door.
After doing all this, I opened the door and went out while replying to 107’s message:
“I live in 205. I’m lying on the bed. I was tricked by 503 again just now. I really didn’t go down to turn on the light. Please tell the supervisor for me. Thank you.”
Then, I bent down and walked in the dark for a while, came to room 211, and opened the door to enter.
Fortunately, when I moved in yesterday, I was bored and walked through the whole floor, so I knew that the door lock of room 211 was broken.
I entered the room and took out my phone to check –
The door of room 205 was actually opened!
3
The speed was too fast. I had just left, and someone entered right after.
If I had walked a little slower, I…
Might have died.
Just thinking about it made my scalp tingle.
Because the light wasn’t on, I could only see a dark shadow.
But the problem was that this dark shadow was actually holding a knife in his hand!
He was agile and had a clear target, rushing straight towards the bed.
And without even looking, he directly slashed down at the bed with the knife.
A chill ran down my spine because if I had been lying there, my head might have been chopped off.
What 503 said was true. There really was a murderer in our dormitory building!
But why?
We just failed some courses. We weren’t heinous. Why would he kill us without discrimination?
After missing the target, the shadow seemed to realize that there was no one in the dormitory.
So he took out his phone, and the screen light shone on his face. But he was wearing a mask, and I still couldn’t see his appearance clearly.
Soon, I received a message from 107, “Don’t you live in 205?”
Sure enough, 503 was right again.
107 had indeed been killed, and his phone had been taken by the murderer.
Naturally, I didn’t dare to reply to him.
But he continued to send me a message, saying:
“Hiding is useless. What happened tonight is much more complicated than you think.”
At that time, I just wanted to escape, and I didn’t take this sentence to heart.
But in fact, things really went beyond my expectations.
Because in the video, I saw someone poke their head in through the door and take a look.
There was a faint light in the corridor, so I could clearly see –
This person was wearing a police uniform and a police cap.
503 said he had called the police, and it was indeed true.
Great.
I couldn’t wait to see him rush into the dormitory and subdue the knife – wielding gangster.
But to my great surprise –
This policeman walked into the dormitory slowly and stood side by side with the murderer.
I was stunned.
4
I immediately knew the reason.
Because the two of them actually started talking, and I promptly pressed the screen – recording button.
This scene was extremely strange.
A policeman and a man in black, who was highly suspected of being a murderer, were actually having a perfectly natural conversation.
“Nobody?”
“Got tricked. The one in 205 ran away. He must have been persuaded by 503. But don’t worry. They’re doomed.”
“How many people ran away?”
“I’ve killed 107 and 115. As for the others, the other two are still killing them. I can only confirm that 205 and 503 ran away.”
“Find them quickly. There’s not much time. Don’t worry about the alarm. Go.”
“Okay. I’ll ask the other two about the situation and find everyone as soon as possible.”
They talked like this and slowly walked out of room 205…
And I was dumbfounded.
So there were three of them!
Including the policeman, there might be even more.
At this moment, the only person I could believe was probably 503.
But thinking carefully, this person also had problems. Why did he know so much?
I didn’t even know why we were being killed, let alone who the murderer was.
And he even started to defend in advance and had the time to warn us.
I immediately sent a message to 503, “Who are they? Why do you know so much?”
After a while, he replied to me, “I also know how to survive. Now, including you and me, only six people are still alive. We need to get together to succeed.”
He didn’t answer my question but put forward a very constructive suggestion.
This made me subconsciously type a line, “So where are you?”
Just as I was about to press send, I suddenly thought –
If I received such a message, I would definitely suspect that the other person was one of the murderer!
Just like the ‘107’ who asked me which dormitory I lived in, and the ‘dormitory supervisor’ who asked us all to turn on the lights.
Even 503’s sentence “We need to get together” was very suspicious.
This was a sentence to guide me to find him.
It was malicious.
I deleted the original message and instead asked him coldly, “Are you the murderer?”
And his reply was –
“Hahaha.”
I felt icy cold all over.
Oh no. Had 503 also been killed?
5
If he was dead, I really wouldn’t know what to do.
After all, I knew nothing about what was happening tonight.
But fortunately, things weren’t that bad.
Because 503 sent another message, “You’re smart. I don’t play with fools. Come into the group. Let’s figure out a way together.”
I suddenly realized that he had been testing me just now?
If I had easily told him my address or said I was going to find him, then…
He would have given up on me.
And immediately, I was pulled into a WeChat group.
There were only four people in it. Besides me and 503, there were also 308 and 511.
But weren’t there supposed to be six people?
Before I could ask, 503 started to speak, “Okay, everyone’s here.
“First of all, I want to make one thing clear. We’re all communicating through the screen and have no idea who the people on the other side are. So the first taboo tonight is: meeting.
“Anyone who wants to know your hiding place can be regarded as the murderer directly.
“And if we want to survive tonight, we have to hide like a cat – and – mouse game.
“So the most important thing is to figure out how many murderer there are.”
Thinking of this, I quickly typed, “There are three murderers, but the problem is that one of them is a policeman. So everyone, don’t call the police anymore.”
308 seemed very surprised and asked me, “What? Are you sure?”
I didn’t explain much and directly sent the video I had just recorded.
They all silently started watching the video.
Strangely, 511, who had been silent in the group, suddenly applied to add me as a friend.
Naturally, I passed the request immediately.
He didn’t beat around the bush. As soon as he spoke, it was a shocking sentence:
“The person wearing the mask in the video is 503!”
6
I was stunned and quickly asked him in reply, “What the hell? The picture is so dark, and he’s wearing a mask. How can you recognize him?”
The intensive training had just started yesterday, and we were all strangers before. I really hadn’t recognized everyone clearly, let alone considering the factors of darkness and the mask.
511 explained, “I can adjust the light on my phone. Look at this.”
After saying that, he sent a screenshot. The brightness was increased a lot, and indeed, half of the face above the mask could be seen clearly.
“And I’ve been with 503 for the past two days. We’re the only two people living on the fifth floor. Of course I can recognize him.
“Isn’t this the reason why he knows so much information and informed us in advance? Because he’s one of them!”
My mind went blank.
But I also voiced my doubts, “But if 503 is one of the murderers, why did he notify us to hide? Wouldn’t it be better to just kill us all?”
And 511 replied, “My guess is that he’s the backup in their team. That is, in case someone really escapes, they will definitely believe 503 who sent the warning message in advance. Just like our current situation.”
I still questioned, “But look at the video. He didn’t know that I secretly left a phone as a monitor, but he mentioned 503 when talking to the policeman. This shows that he’s not 503!”
511 continued, “How can you be sure that he didn’t find out and is just acting? A phone is that big. How could he not find it? I think the video you recorded is just him acting to clear his suspicion, cooperating with you.”
I fell silent.
511’s firm attitude made me waver a bit.
And I had a way to find out if my phone had been discovered.
The reason it could have a network for video calls was that there was a secondary card inserted in it.
The phone was set to speaker – mode, and the volume was very loud.
And without killing me and taking my fingerprint, the murderer couldn’t change this setting.
So I dialed the number without hesitation. Suddenly –
“You are the most beautiful cloud in my sky…”
The huge ringtone burst out from the inferior speaker, resounding through the quiet night.
The call was immediately hung up.
But I also heard clearly –
The ringtone wasn’t on the second floor but came from above my head.
Sure enough, the phone had not only been discovered but also taken away!
7
511’s message was sent over immediately, “What happened just now? Was it you?”
I also answered truthfully, “Yes, I called the phone that recorded the video, and it turned out that it was really taken away.”
“Then it matches my guess. Quickly look at the group! He’s going to start his tricks! He’s going to send someone to their death!” 511 left a hasty message.
I switched the chat window back to the group and found that 503 was talking non – stop:
“Since the policeman is on their side, it means that stalling for time is useless. There are only two options: escaping from the dormitory or counter – killing them.
“To achieve this goal, someone will definitely die.
“It’s better to choose 404 and 312, who haven’t joined the group, to die first. Do you have any objections?
“You all heard the phone ringtone just now, right? Although I don’t know what happened, I advise you not to be curious.
“Because it’s very likely to be their trick to attract us to expose our positions.
“Also, if none of you are particularly close to 404 and 312, then I’m going to start talking about my plan?
“I’ve been in private messages with them. I can coax them into being baits, but I also need your help.”
Only then did I know the reason why those two people didn’t join the group.
And at this time, 511 threw out a question, “Don’t be in a hurry. Why don’t you explain why you knew in advance that someone was going to kill us? What’s their purpose?”
This question was what the three of us wanted to figure out.
It was also the main reason why 511 and I suspected him.
But unexpectedly, his explanation was, “Because you told me, @511.”
Not only 511 himself but also I was shocked.
What was this all about?
8
“Nonsense! Utter nonsense!” 511 immediately denied it because he was still using this point to question 503.
503 explained one by one, “Don’t you remember? At dinner time, you came to my dormitory with your lunch box and ate with me. Then you started rambling on… Don’t you remember at all?”
511 continued to deny, “Bullshit! I ate dinner in my own dormitory!”
“And you also told me that I could only say it when you asked me why I knew so much inside information. So when others asked me, I didn’t answer a word. Only when you asked me did I reply.”
503 continued to talk on and on, “Otherwise, explain how you knew there was a killer when I didn’t send you the message ‘Don’t turn on the light! He’s trying to figure out which dormitory has people in it!’?”
Line 196: 511 seemed to have finally caught a loophole and said, “Hehe, got you! I almost really thought I had dinner with you. You’re lying. Don’t believe me? Everyone, take a look at this.”
And 503 also said a sentence, “Fortunately, I took a photo at that time. Look at this.”
Then, the two of them threw pictures in the group at the same time.
The picture 503 threw was of the food. Besides his own lunch box, the person next to him was also captured, and it was 511!
And the picture 511 threw was a chat record. It was the chat record between him and 503, but clearly 503 had sent that warning message to him!
“?????”
“?????”
They both sent a long string of question marks at the same time.
“I definitely didn’t have dinner with you!”
“I definitely didn’t send that message to you either!”
I was completely confused.
And just as the two of them were at a stalemate, 308 also sent me a private message.
He said an even more shocking thing:
“Is it possible that both of them are already dead and their phones are in the hands of the murderer?”
9
I wasn’t without considering this possibility, but it didn’t seem reasonable.
Because 503 had been giving reliable warnings, like telling us there was a killer at the beginning, and later emphasizing that we must never meet.
I said to 308, “If they just wanted to kill us, there’s no need to make things so complicated. I think there must be some hidden reason.”
308 asked me again, “But the conflict between them shows that one of them must be lying, or maybe both of them are untrustworthy. I think we should unite.”
I thought for a while and then said, “511 is more suspicious because 503 showed the photo, and 511 didn’t deny that the person in the photo wasn’t him. Chat records can be faked. He showed me his photo – editing skills on the phone before, so the chat record he sent might be faked by him.”
308 said, “It’s hard to tell. Look at the group.”
I switched back to the group and found that 503 had said several sentences: “Including forming the group, how to resist, it was all taught by you. Even sacrificing others was your idea.
“I’ve already told 404 and 312 to gather at the platform. They can climb over the wall out of the dormitory from there.
“And next, while the murderers are dealing with them, we’ll climb out from the back door.
“I don’t care what kind of cognitive disorder you, @511, have, but I think this plan is feasible. It’s already being carried out. Whether you follow or not is up to you.”
The platform is on the roof of the dormitory supervisor’s room, connected to the second floor of our dormitory building. It’s indeed possible to climb over from the corridor window at the end of 201.
This method seemed very feasible, although it meant sacrificing two innocent classmates as baits.
But who among us was truly innocent?
So I was the first to respond in the group:
“I’m in.”
But unexpectedly, 503 immediately sent me a private message, saying:
“Not a chance! This isn’t the real plan!”
10
My scalp tingled, and I immediately asked in reply, “Then what’s the real plan?”
503 quickly replied to me, “The bait is real, but the escape is fake. Because there are four murderers, they will surely split into two groups. Two will go to kill the baits, and two will wait at the back door to intercept those trying to escape.
“And we’ll go to the platform and kill two of the murderers!
“Escaping is impossible, and hiding is actually useless. Only by counter – killing can we survive.
“It’s absolutely no problem for us to attack two of them by surprise. The worst – case scenario is a two – on – two sneak attack because I really don’t understand what’s going on with that guy in 511 now.”
Three against two? Or even two against two?
There were clearly four people in our group!
If 511 was an unstable factor, then…
308 was directly excluded!
I frowned and thought carefully. Soon, I noticed something strange –
When 308 sent me a private message, at first, he wanted to get me to join him!
Although his intention wasn’t very obvious, he said we should be on the same side.
But after seeing 503 say we would escape together from the back door, he changed his mind.
Because he found a way to kill us without having to get me on his side, which was to wait at the back door!
I took a breath and typed a line, “Sure enough, 308 is the murderer you let into the group on purpose.”
He asked me again, “I knew you were smart. Do you know what I mean by three against two or two against two?”
I thought for a moment and said, “This means you won’t tell 511 the real plan. If he was the one who met you in the afternoon and coordinated everything, then he would naturally know. If not, he’s most likely the murderer, and he’ll go to the back door to intercept us. Because ostensibly, three of us are escaping from the back door, and it would be most secure for them to send three people to match. Naturally, it would be two against two on the platform.”
“Correct. Get ready. It’s a life – or – death battle.”
But neither of us expected that this life – or – death battle wasn’t as simple as we thought.
11
I quietly searched for weapons in the dormitory.
After all, this was an empty dormitory, and there was nothing there.
I didn’t dare to make too much noise, for fear of being caught before we even started. After all, the enemy had a knife.
Finally, I could only tear off the guardrail steel pipe from one of the beds and use it as a weapon.
My phone lit up, and I clicked on it. It was 503 giving orders in the group:
“They’re here! Everyone, let’s go! Be extremely quiet!”
I grabbed the steel pipe in one hand and carefully pushed open the dormitory door with the other, then walked out.
Fortunately, there was no one in the corridor outside.
But I could hear footsteps.
At that time, the dormitory I was hiding in was 211, and the platform was over at 201.
Hearing footsteps meant that someone was on their way there.
I walked all the way bent over, and luckily, I didn’t run into anyone.
When I reached 201, I hesitated for a moment. Unexpectedly, the door suddenly opened, and a voice came out, “Is that the classmate from 205?”
I tightened my grip on the steel pipe and replied, “Yes.”
“I’m from 503. It seems… there are really only the two of us left.”
He walked out of the dormitory, and only then did I truly trust him.
He also had a steel pipe in his hand. It seemed this was the best weapon we could find.
He pointed to the dark corridor and said:
“That window is the only entrance and exit to the platform. There’s a two – or three – meter – high wall on the other side of the platform. There’s no way to climb out, so those two are doomed.”
“Understood. We just need to guard there.”
I clenched the steel pipe in my hand even tighter.
“No matter who comes out, beat them to death!”
We slowly walked into the corridor and to the window, then ambushed on both sides.
As soon as we got close, we heard moans outside.
They were pitiful.
Someone was dying.
Soon after, the sound of footsteps came from outside the window.
There were two people’s footsteps.
We both knew that what was about to happen next would be extremely crazy.
12
When the upper half of the murderer’s body stuck out from outside the window, 503 and I didn’t hesitate at all.
Because he was wearing black clothes and a mask.
We smashed our steel pipes down hard!
Without any hesitation.
The opponent didn’t even have time to let out a scream before falling straight in.
I repeated the action of raising the steel pipe and smashing it down, constantly striking the back of his head.
With each strike, I could feel the sound of his skull cracking.
Thick blood flowed out.
This action obviously scared off the other murderer outside the window. 503 and I looked at each other, and he climbed out of the window first.
I followed closely behind, and we chased onto the platform.
The black – clothed murderer was holding a knife and slowly backing away.
Behind him, there were clearly two corpses, with most of their bodies dyed red.
Were they 404 and 312, whom we had indirectly killed?
Perhaps stimulated by the corpses, 503 and I charged forward like crazy, not giving him any chance.
He was backing away while trying to communicate with us:
“Wait, don’t act rashly. You can’t kill me. I can tell you…”
But I completely ignored what he wanted to say and what he was saying.
503’s steel pipe knocked the knife out of his hand.
My steel pipe directly hit his head.
He staggered back, his eyes wide open, seemingly finding it extremely difficult to accept this reality.
After all, he was the murderer. He never expected that we would be more brutal than him, right?
“Die, die, die!”
I growled in a low voice, continuing to smash the steel pipe randomly at his head.
After taking a few more blows, he finally fell down.
503 rushed up and hit him a few more times with the steel pipe until he completely stopped breathing.
Only then did I realize that I was exhausted and gasping for breath.
503 was the same. He was also breathing heavily.
I even had to bend over to catch my breath, and because it was my first time killing someone, I felt so nauseous that I almost vomited.
But it was precisely this bending over that made me see a terrifying scene –
The mask of the “murderer” we had just killed was knocked off by the stick.
In the faint moonlight, I saw his face.
It was actually me!
13
I got goosebumps all over my body.
The corpse lying on the ground, although his head was broken and half of his face was dyed red with blood.
But it was my own face. How could I not recognize it?
However, with 503 beside me, I didn’t dare to show it too obviously, let alone let him know about this.
He was as suspicious as I was. He would definitely show hostility towards me.
But I couldn’t figure out what was going on.
Why was there another me?
Could it be a clone?
Was it some kind of alien that could disguise itself as me?
In just a few seconds, I made a decision: I must never let 503 know about this.
Otherwise, we might fall apart.
Even if I had to find out the reason, it would be after killing all the murderers.
There were still two murderers and one policeman left.
But at this moment, something terrible happened –
I only felt a sudden breeze blow behind me, and then I felt an extreme coldness in a certain part of my waist!
I turned my head and saw that it was another black – clothed person!
The knife in his hand had stabbed into my waist.
I felt extremely weak all over.
I wanted to scream, but my throat was blocked by liquid. My voice didn’t come out, and instead, I spat out a lot of blood.
The murderer also took the opportunity to lift his foot and kick me away. A piercing pain spread throughout my body from my waist.
I fell down, hitting the floor heavily.
“Ah!”
503 finally let out a scream and quickly picked up the steel pipe to defend himself.
I lay on my side on the ground, pressing my hand against the stabbed waist.
But the blood still kept flowing out.
I was sore all over, and all my strength was draining away.
I knew that my life was also slipping away.
And 503’s situation wasn’t much better either, because I saw –
In the fight between the two, he was clearly at a disadvantage. He was forced to retreat continuously by the black – clothed person with a knife.
His arms, shoulders, and even his waist had been cut by the knife.
If this continued, he was probably going to die too.
And I was surely doomed…
Just as I was despairingly about to close my eyes, things took a new turn.
I saw that a figure appeared in front of the window not far away!
14
He climbed out of the window with a clean and neat movement. I finally saw clearly that it was –
The classmate who lived in 511!
503 had sent his photo, and I recognized him at a glance.
I opened my eyes wide, trying not to die easily.
Because the appearance of 511 gave me hope.
If we could kill the murderer and call an ambulance in time, I might still be saved.
Sure enough, 511, who entered the platform, didn’t hesitate at all. He charged straight towards the two people who were fighting.
The man in black was solely focused on quickly dealing with 503. He kept waving his knife forward and stepping closer.
Finally, he knocked the steel pipe out of 503’s hand with a fierce blow!
503 also stumbled and fell to the ground, sitting down.
The black – clothed person seemed to have won a complete victory. He raised his knife to give 503 the final blow.
But like me, he completely didn’t notice what was behind him.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
511, who rushed up from behind him, was even more ruthless. He raised his knife and directly slashed at the black – clothed person’s neck!
In an instant, more than half of the blade sank into the black – clothed person’s neck!
His body flew to one side due to the impact.
The force of this blow was so great that 511 lost his grip.
As a result, the knife was embedded in the black – clothed person’s neck and flew out with him.
Then it landed heavily!
511 didn’t hesitate. He directly followed up, stepped on the twitching body of the black – clothed person with one foot, and pulled out the knife with one hand!
At that moment, the blood from the black – clothed person’s neck sprayed everywhere.
He continued to twitch for a few seconds and then gradually calmed down under 511’s cold gaze…
My heart was filled with hope again.
There was only one policeman left. As long as we could kill him, I could be saved!
But reality played a huge joke on me again.
Because I discovered –
The knife in 511’s hand was exactly the same as the black – clothed person’s!
15
“You, you actually came…”
503, who seemed unable to stand up and was sitting on the ground, gasped out such a sentence.
511 walked over with the knife and replied, “Yeah, yeah…”
I stared at the knife in 511’s hand in a daze from a distance.
Why did he have such a knife?
At that moment, I remembered the argument between 503 and 511 in the group.
I also thought of the “me” that I had just killed with my own hands.
His corpse was still lying quietly beside me.
Since there were two “me”s, could there also be…
Two 511s?
The 511 in the group didn’t have dinner with 503 in the afternoon and didn’t tell him about the upcoming massacre.
And the 511 in front of me was the one who found 503 in the afternoon, told him all the truth, and asked him to coordinate everything just now!
If this was really the case, then what was his purpose?
Since he, like these black – clothed people, could turn into our appearance, why did he have a different goal and a disagreement with them?
I had a bad premonition again.
503 relaxed and asked, “Sure enough, it was all your plan. It wasn’t my illusion… That message was probably sent to you by accident when I made a group – send… By the way, I thought you would really go to the back door and die there…”
511 replied casually, “I did go to the back door and was killed there.”
Sure enough, it was exactly as I guessed.
The 511 in the group was really dead.
This 511 had been hiding in a secret corner all night, arranging for 503 to carry out everything, and finally came out to reap the benefits!
But I no longer had the strength to warn 503.
My eyes started to blur again.
But in the blur, I saw 511 raise the knife and, in 503’s aghast gaze —
Stabbed him!
It was over.
503 fell down with a stunned expression.
It was completely over…
I was about to close my eyes when, unexpectedly, a person suddenly appeared in my field of vision!
16
My eyelids were extremely heavy, almost closing into a slit.
I wasn’t sure if I didn’t see clearly or if it really happened –
The murderer in the police uniform actually appeared beside 511!
The two of them started chatting, just like in the video I had recorded.
“Yo, you killed him already. Not bad, not bad.”
“Okay, they’re all dead. I won. Now you can give me an answer, right?”
“Why are you in such a hurry? The time isn’t up yet.”
“I can apply for an early end, can’t I? Since everyone is dead, let’s end it.”
“Really? Are you sure? You want to end it early?”
“Yes, I’m very sure. I want to end it early.”
“Emmmm…”
The policeman hesitated for a while and then continued:
“Okay, then end it early. I announce – you lost!”
511 asked in astonishment, “How is that possible? Everyone is dead! Whether it was the last round or this round, only I’m left!”
“Why don’t you check all the corpses?”
The policeman sneered and turned his head to look at me.
At that time, they were already far away from me.
I didn’t move and didn’t make any sound, making 511 really think that I was dead!
But what was the use?
Because I saw that he was already rushing towards me with a furious expression, holding the knife ! At that moment, I realized again that I was doomed. But there was actually another turn of events! The policeman stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers – 511 immediately turned into ashes! The wind from his running helped, causing the black ashes he turned into to float up. I was dumbfounded. But in the blink of an eye, the policeman was already standing in front of me. He was still so leisurely and relaxed. He said to me with a smile, “You, won.”
17
After a strong flash of light, I actually reappeared downstairs of the dormitory. Yes, I could stand up. I touched my waist and found that the wound had disappeared without a trace, and there wasn’t even a bit of blood on my clothes. That whole night of terrifying experience was like a nightmare that had completely left me.
But was it really so? Of course not. Because when I looked down, I saw that there was actually a set of black clothes, a black mask, and a familiar knife placed on the ground. A familiar voice suddenly sounded beside me, “This round is about to start soon. They’ll be back for dinner soon. Are you ready? You have to kill everyone within the specified time to win. Only if you win can you ask questions and leave here.”
I turned my head and found that the one standing in front of me was that “policeman”. I suddenly understood what 511 meant by “last round” and “this round”. I also understood why there were two of me and two 511s. I opened my mouth and asked, “I understand. The person who stays from the last round will become the murderer in the next round, and I have to kill everyone to escape this cycle, right?” He nodded.
But I smiled and asked in return, “Really? But the performance of the classmate living in 511 in the last round wasn’t like that.” He asked me thoughtfully, “Then what do you think it was like?”
In the last round, 511 wanted to use our hands to kill all the murderers from the round before last. That’s why he controlled 503 and coordinated the whole situation. But I was alone and had no helpers. I understood! “When you said ‘kill everyone’, you didn’t mean those classmates who will come later, but… Everyone except ‘me’! Only 503 understood in the last round, right?”
He put away his smile, shook his head non – committally, and then said, “Go ahead with confidence. I’ll block all the alarm calls…” After saying this, he turned around and disappeared in front of me.
I don’t know who he is, but he’s definitely not human. I also don’t know why there’s such a cycle. But maybe if I win, I’ll know the answer.
I picked up the things on the ground and rushed towards the dormitory stairs. I must win.
– End –
