That line again.
The old woman had said it just moments ago too.
The old woman suddenly slapped the counter.
Smack!
“Back to your room!”
The moment her voice fell, the girl recoiled into the depths of the hallway as if startled.
Her footsteps gradually faded away.
The entire hotel fell silent once more.
The old woman was quiet for several seconds before putting her smile back on.
Only this time, no matter how Su Nian looked at it, the smile seemed strained.
“Children don’t know any better.”
“Don’t take it personally.”
Su Nian didn’t respond.
She silently made a note of one thing.
There was more than one “person” in this hotel.
And…
The old woman seemed to be afraid of that little girl.
One NPC.
Afraid of another NPC?
Just then, the System updated again.
【Safe zone reached.】
【Please complete check-in within ten minutes.】
【Anyone who exceeds the time limit will be considered to have given up protection.】
“Let’s go up first.”
Su Nian finally picked up one of the keys.
The other five followed suit.
Just as she turned to head upstairs, the old woman suddenly lowered her voice.
In a volume only Su Nian could hear, she said,
“The Night Watchman’s things…”
“Don’t let anyone know.”
Su Nian stopped mid-step.
She didn’t turn around.
Since the old woman knew, that meant she could see the hidden identity Su Nian had obtained.
She might even…
know what the Night Watchman was.
Suppressing the questions in her heart, she led everyone up to the second floor.
The wooden staircase creaked with every step.
Each one sounded like it was crushing human bones.
The second floor had only one long hallway.
There were three rooms on either side.
Exactly six rooms.
The doors were numbered in order:
201.
202.
203.
204.
205.
206.
The woman with glasses had just started to relax.
Then she suddenly froze.
“Y-you guys, look…”
Everyone followed the direction of her finger.
At the end of the hallway,
there was another staircase leading upward.
Above the stairs,
there was nothing but darkness.
And on the wall,
there hung a wooden sign.
Two words were written on it.
Third floor.
Su Nian’s breath caught.
She clearly remembered the rule sign downstairs.
This building only had two floors.
If you see a third floor, close your eyes immediately.
Without the slightest hesitation, she squeezed her eyes shut and barked,
“Everyone, close your eyes!”
“Now!”
Su Nian was practically shouting.
“Close your eyes!”
She had shut her own eyes first, even raising a hand to cover them.
Almost at the same time,
several panicked gasps came from behind her.
Clearly, someone had reacted a beat too slowly.
“I…”
The woman with glasses had barely spoken when Su Nian cut her off sharply.
“Don’t talk!”
The entire hallway instantly fell into deathly silence.
No one dared open their eyes.
Only the faint creaking of damp wood kept coming from ahead.
One step.
Then another.
As if…
someone was coming down from the third floor, one stair at a time.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The footsteps were slow.
But they were getting closer and closer.
Su Nian could even feel a chill slowly spreading from the stairwell.
She didn’t open her eyes.
Because she remembered perfectly well.
The rules weren’t joking around.
After an unknown amount of time,
the footsteps stopped.
They had stopped less than ten feet away from them.
There wasn’t the slightest movement.
The silence was maddening.
Then suddenly,
a gentle woman’s voice sounded beside Su Nian’s ear.
“Su Nian.”
Her pupils contracted.
It was her mother’s voice.
The voice she had heard throughout her childhood.
Gentle, familiar, and carrying the faintest trace of exhaustion.
“Why are you standing here?”
“Open your eyes.”
“Mom came to take you home.”
Su Nian didn’t move.
She only slowly clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms.
The pain kept her even more alert.
Her mother couldn’t possibly be here.
Rule Three.
If someone calls your name, do not respond.
When the voice by her ear saw that she wasn’t reacting, it gradually changed.
“Su Nian.”
“Don’t you believe your mother?”
“Open your eyes.”
“Look at me.”
The voice drew closer and closer.
At last, it was practically pressed against her ear.
A cold breath gently brushed her earlobe.
But Su Nian remained perfectly still.
Just then,
a tearful voice suddenly came from beside her.
“Mom…”
Su Nian’s heart sank.
Damn it!
Someone had answered!
The next second—
“Aaaaaah!”
A shrill, agonized scream tore through the entire hallway.
Then came the sound of something heavy being dragged.
As if something had seized someone by the legs and was forcibly dragging them toward the stairwell.
“Help me!”
“Hel—”
The voice cut off abruptly.
The surroundings fell silent again.
Su Nian clenched her teeth.
She knew.
They were down one more person.
After an unknown amount of time,
the System notification finally sounded again beside her ear.
【Abnormal phenomenon ended.】
【You may resume movement.】
Su Nian didn’t open her eyes right away.
She silently counted to ten.
Only after confirming that there wasn’t a sound anywhere did she slowly lower her hand.
She opened her eyes.
The hallway had returned to normal.
There was no third floor.
No staircase leading upward.
At the end of the hallway, there was only an old wooden wall.
As if none of what had just happened had ever occurred.
But…
someone was missing.
The middle-aged woman was gone.
All that remained on the floor was a long drag mark and one fallen slipper.
【Current survivors: 5.】
The System’s cold notification proved once again that it hadn’t been an illusion.
The woman with glasses was crying so hard she couldn’t speak.
The other two players were deathly pale and trembling all over.
Su Nian didn’t comfort anyone.
She only silently looked toward the end of the hallway.
On the wall,
at some point, a line of blood-written words had appeared.
“It has been watching you the whole time.”
The instant she stared at that line,
the Mind’s Eye that had awakened only recently suddenly trembled faintly.
The world before her eyes seemed to be covered in a thin gray mist.
And beside the line of bloody text, another line of writing that had not been there before slowly emerged.
It wasn’t written in blood.
It looked as if someone had carved it in, stroke by stroke, with a fingernail.
“Don’t believe the first rule.”
Su Nian’s pupils abruptly contracted.
For the first time, her breathing became unsteady.
Because the first rule on the check-in notice downstairs said—
After checking in, do not leave the hotel before midnight.
But now…
The hidden message revealed by the Mind’s Eye was actually contradicting the rule.
So which was it…
Was the rule deceiving the players?
Or was this hidden line of text the real trap?
Su Nian slowly tightened her grip on the Night Watchman’s wooden plaque.
She knew.
The real first night was only just beginning.
Su Nian said nothing.
She stared at the carved words only she could see.
Don’t believe the first rule.
Several seconds later,
the words slowly vanished.
As if they had never appeared.
She lowered her head and glanced at her palm.
At some point, the Night Watchman’s wooden plaque had grown slightly warm.
And at the very bottom of the System panel, another line of tiny gray text had quietly appeared.
Night Watchman trait: When rules conflict, you may glimpse one “truth.”
Su Nian’s heart jolted.
Not all the truth.
But—
one of them.
In other words, even after the Mind’s Eye awakened, what she saw might not be the complete answer.
“Su Nian…”
The woman with glasses called her name cautiously.
“What do we do now?”
Su Nian came back to herself and swept her gaze over the others.
Five people.
They had gone from ten at the beginning to only five now.
The first night wasn’t even over yet.
She took a deep breath.
“Let’s go back to our rooms first.”
“But don’t lock the doors.”
Everyone stared at her.
“Why?”
“If something really happens, at least we’ll still have a chance to escape.”
She didn’t tell them about the hidden rule.
Because she still couldn’t be sure.
Just as they were about to split up,
a faint laugh suddenly came from the other end of the hallway.
“Hee…”
“Hee-hee…”
Everyone froze at the same time.
That laugh…
It was the little girl.
The next second,
a rag doll slowly rolled out from around the corner.
Rumble…
Rumble…
It rolled all the way to Su Nian’s feet.
The rag doll was very old.
One of its eyes had fallen out.
Its body was covered in countless tightly stitched black threads.
The strangest thing was,
its mouth had also been sewn into an exaggerated smile with black thread.
The woman with glasses staggered back in fright.
“Don’t touch it!”
Su Nian didn’t touch it.
She only looked down at it.
Suddenly,
the rag doll turned itself around.
Its one remaining glass eye
stared straight at her.
Its mouth…
slowly opened.
A small piece of paper folded into a square fell from its mouth.
It smacked onto the floor in front of Su Nian’s feet.
Everyone held their breath.
No one dared pick it up.
Su Nian was silent for two seconds.
Then she crouched down.
Instead of touching the paper directly, she used a wooden stick beside her to gently flip it open.
The paper unfolded.
There was only one sentence inside.
At exactly midnight tonight, don’t stay on the second floor.
Everyone’s expression changed.
The first rule said:
After checking in, do not leave the hotel before midnight.
But now,
the note said:
Don’t stay on the second floor at midnight.
The rules were in conflict again.
“Who… who are we supposed to believe?”
The woman with glasses looked ready to cry.
Su Nian didn’t answer.
Because she had noticed
another line of minuscule writing on the back of the note.
She turned it over.
By the dim light of the kerosene lamp in the hallway, she finally made it out.
It was crooked handwriting, clearly written by a child.
Grandma lies.
The instant she finished reading it,
the old woman’s hoarse voice suddenly rang out from the end of the hallway.
“Little girl…”
“What did you take?”
Su Nian abruptly looked up.
The old woman was standing at the stairwell, though Su Nian had no idea when she had gotten there.
But she clearly remembered…
The old woman couldn’t leave the front desk.
At that moment,
the old woman was still wearing a kindly smile.
Only that smile had slowly split open.
All the way to her ears.
Her neck slowly tilted to one side at an angle no human could possibly manage.
“Hand over the note…”
“Give it to me.”
As she spoke,
the old woman’s feet still hadn’t moved.
Yet her entire body moved as if it had no bones.
An inch.
Then another inch.
Along the hallway floor,
toward Su Nian… she slowly glided closer.
Su Nian didn’t retreat.
Nor did she hand over the note.
She simply folded it up and put it in her pocket.
The smile slowly vanished from the old woman’s face.
In its place was an expression so gloomy it was almost feral.
“Little girl…”
“People who don’t listen…”
“Don’t live very long.”
She still wasn’t walking.
Her entire body glided soundlessly across the floor like a puppet controlled by invisible strings.
And her speed…
was getting faster and faster.
The woman with glasses finally broke down.
“Run!”
She spun around and dashed for her room.
The other two scattered and fled as well.
But Su Nian remained where she was.
Because she had suddenly thought of something.
The rules…