Clank. Lin Sanjiu placed an empty can of drink on a coffee table and squashed it flat. The white Coca-Cola brand could still be seen on the twisted and misshapen red can.
"I don't know why there is only Cola here and no bottled water." Geran pushed the items on tabletop toward Lin Sanjiu. "I think that's the reason why there is a washroom on the seventh floor."
Cola beverages generally increased kidney workload and didn't replace fluid well, and were even weak diuretics. From a survivalist's point of view, water was an absolute necessity. Lin Sanjiu knew these facts but she still finished the can of carbonated drink.
"However, I've been to the washroom on the seventh floor," she frowned as she looked at the cakes, biscuits and other snacks on the coffee table. She realized that she didn't have any appetite. "The tap isn't working. There's no water."
"I know," Geran adjusted his spectacles and sighed. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. We can't be too picky. I have been drinking the water from the toilet tank."
Lin Sanjiu had drunk things worse than water from a toilet tank. She nodded and scrutinized the apartment unit once more. Just as Geran had described, there wasn't much in this apartment unit. It didn't look any bigger than 20 m². The beige carpeted floor was closer to a brownish-black due to the stains all over it. There was a coffee table in the middle of the room and two dirty black two-seater sofas.
Oddly, when she first entered the apartment unit, she didn't notice the furniture. Her gaze was immediately drawn to the thing on the wall in front of her.
It was a window.
Lin Sanjiu could not remember if she saw a window in unit 320. In any case, this was the first window she noticed and she could even see the gray skies outside. Lin Sanjiu's heart raced and she quickly approached it to see what was outside.
Outside the window, there was a small village by a river. But, the moment Lin Sanjiu inspected the "village", her body went cold. After that, an inexplicable fury overwhelmed her. She was angry and frustrated and she wanted to scream. In the end, she stood quietly without saying a word for some time.
"I guess it is different in every single room," Geran grumbled moodily. "The painting behind the window in the male washroom is that of a bustling city center."
After Lin Sanjiu stood closer to the window, she noticed that the "outside view" of the window was actually just a painting even through the glass window panel. Its vibrant play on lightning in the painting made it look real from afar.
"Is this a joke?" Lin Sanjiu voice was cold and stiff. She controlled her churning emotions. When the girl on the third floor told her that there was no exit in the building, Lin Sanjiu was still unruffled, but after seeing this still life landscape painting posing as the outside world, she couldn't keep her hands from trembling.
Geran handed her an unopened can of cola, perhaps to appease her. Lin Sanjiu took it from him and downed it with a few large gulps. The sugar from the beverage quickly worked its magic. After a while, Lin Sanjiu felt slightly better.
—
"So, the first thing to note is that a player must not knock on the doors, right?" Lin Sanjiu asked Geran thoughtfully. "What else do you know about this building?"
The scrawny man shook his head. If one could generate the most average face from facial data of all males between 20 and 30 years old in China, he would probably look like Geran.
"Other than the 'living space' in Unit 101, and the door knocking, I don't know really know much more about this place than you," Geran crossed his hands and placed them over his knees. "However, after being trapped here for 20 days, I have already thoroughly thought about this attraction. With the information that you have given me, I have some idea about it."
"Care to explain?"
"You mentioned the female ticket seller telling you something before you came in. She told you specifically that this is a sightseeing attraction, right? Could it be possible that we have to see every part of this building?"
"But I didn't miss any spot." Just when Lin Sanjiu was about to rebut, she thought of something and immediately kept quiet. In fact, she had seen only the smallest area of the building which was its corridors. Lin Sanjiu had no idea what was behind every single dark red door. Once she realized this, her face turned a little sour no matter how gutsy she was.
Noticing her changed expression, Geran added, "After you knocked a door once, you are temporarily still safe. This might be a very critical point to note. Look, you're still perfectly fine, right?"
"For now..." Lin Sanjiu rued. "If the door to unit 320 opens the third time…"
Lin Sanjiu could still imagine the overly large round shadow she saw from the corner of her eyes. She froze for a moment before she asked Geran another question with a parched throat, "What will happen to the players who see an occupant who opens his door for the second or third time?"
"Who knows?" Unexpectedly, Geran shook his head again. His face also turned a little pale. "After a player entered an apartment unit for the second time, he appeared on the first floor the second day. However… I don't know how to explain this so that you can understand what I mean. I spent that day hiding in the washroom. I don't mean he changed or anything," Geran seemed inept at expressing himself but Lin Sanjiu could sense a hint of lingering fear in his voice. With that, she got a vague inkling of the meaning behind his words. He continued, "The person did not look any different, but after surviving so many worlds, the least I could do was to trust my intuition so I avoided him the best I could. Ever since that day, I had not seen him. At that time, there was also another player I don't know. We didn't talk to each other."
Lin Sanjiu felt a shiver down her spine. She could only hope that Geran's deduction was wrong. If he was right, she would not be able to enter unit 320 again. If that was the case, how was she ever going to complete the requirement to "sightsee"?
Geran stopped speaking as if he had remembered something. After hesitating for a bit, he sighed and lamented, "Maybe, I could be wrong about everything. If that was the case, this game might be a little too easy. Peek into every unit and then exit. How could it be that easy?"
Even though Lin Sanjiu knew that Geran might have said that to comfort her, she did feel better. She nodded gratefully. "You might be on to something. If there is a 'person' living in each apartment unit, based on my experience, they should be able to provide some information… Maybe, we should try to gather more information first."
The problem with both their conclusions on the situation was that they would need to interact with the "occupant" behind each door. They both became quiet, momentarily unable to make a decision. After sitting dully for some time and not being able to come to a better solution, Lin Sanjiu stood up first and let out a heavy sigh. "In any case, we should get moving," Lin Sanjiu urged.
Geran might be a prudent and intelligent person. However, he might be overly cautious, otherwise, he probably wouldn't be trapped for around 20 days.
On the other hand, whenever Lin Sanjiu couldn't think of any better solutions, she would just rely on her muscles. "Let's go!" she prompted.
"Where to?" Geran asked, feeling somewhat puzzled.
"Let's go to the seventh flo—no," Lin Sanjiu suddenly remembered that there was only a male and female washroom there and nothing else, so she changed her mind, "We'll start from the sixth floor and knock on every door. No matter which of us is right, let's look at what is behind those doors first."
As for unit 320, Lin Sanjiu decided not to think about the issue at this moment.
Even though Geran had his misgivings, he finally stood up and followed Lin Sanjiu out.
More lights in the corridor were now damaged. After the door to unit 101 was closed, the flickering lights in the corridor became even more obvious. The end of the silent corridor had been swallowed by the dark and when they focused on anything in the flickering light, their eyes started to hurt. Lin Sanjiu and Geran tried their best to keep their footsteps as quiet as possible, as they slowly climbed up the stairway.
After they stopped talking, the whole building fell into a death-like silence. Each time they took a step, the floorboards made loud, distinct creaks. When they were about to reach the third floor, Lin Sanjiu stopped.
"You mentioned that the occupants can only move on their own floors…" Lin Sanjiu could feel the back of her neck going cold and her skin tingling, "About that… How long will they usually move around the corridor?"
Geran pursed his lips without saying a word. He took two steps up and turned his ear to listen to the corridor. After that, he took off his belt. The flashy box-frame buckle didn't seem to fit his personality at all.
"They usually don't stay in the corridor for long. But, just to be safe, we can attach this buckle to your wing. I'll secure the belt like this," Geran secured the belt and pointed at the shiny buckle, "Stretch that bone on your wing out, yes, just like that… Even though we can't see any clear reflections, it is metal so we can at least see shadows if anything moves."
Standing at the stairway leading to the third floor, Lin Sanjiu stretched one of the spines of the skeletal wing outward with some effort. She held her breath as she stared at the little metallic buckle.
The metal plate wasn't good enough to reflect any proper image except a blurred shadow of the corridor. After waiting for some time, they did not spot anything in the blurred reflection on the buckle. They carefully walked upstairs and scanned the corridor quickly. Seeing that all the doors were closed, they sprinted up the stairs to the fourth floor.
When they saw the unit number "601", their expressions turned grim. No matter what happened, they had to grit their teeth and take that risk...
Lin Sanjiu tossed a glance at Geran before she walked toward a dark red wooden door by herself. As her heart pounded rapidly, she slowly raised her hand. There was a dry flower wreath on the door of unit 601. It seemed to be a decoration that had not been taken down for a long time after a festive celebration.
Lin Sanjiu had never imagined that she would be afraid to knock on a door.
Lightly and almost accompanied by a bit of trepidation, she knocked on the door with her knuckle. Lin Sanjiu could even sense Geran moving backward. He was standing at the edge of the stairway. After she knocked on the door a few times, there was no response. It was silent.
"Why… why don't we forget it," Geran said in the same soft voice but more hastily. "Let's go back and discuss this…"
Lin Sanjiu ignored his suggestion and knocked on the door another two times. However, this time, the sound of her knocks wavered.
There seemed to be a very soft sound of footsteps from behind the door. Unlike normal distinct footsteps, that was the sound of something dragging their feet. Yet, each step sounded like it was a long stride. Lin Sanjiu gulped. The muscles all over her body tensed up. When the brass handle of the door slowly rotated, Lin Sanjiu's mind became blank.
The red wooden door opened with a creak and a gap slowly appeared between the door and its frame. As she heard the door opening, Lin Sanjiu heard a creak from the stairway. Lin Sanjiu knew, even without looking, that Geran had run away.
Before she could even consider if Geran had set her up and decide to move, it was already too late. The "person" behind the door—if it could be considered a person—had already peeked out from the gap.
Lin Sanjiu locked her eyes on that face without moving an inch. It did not even cross her mind that she would see that person here.
"Livia?"
A brown haired woman curled one corner of her lips, revealing the deep wrinkles around her mouth. She did not wear one of her shoes properly but instead step on it barefooted. That strange sound of her walking was probably because she was dragging one shoe along.
"How can you be here?" Lin Sanjiu was stupefied. "You ran to Swan Route?"
"You're still alive," Livia also seemed surprised to see Lin Sanjiu. She looked behind Lin Sanjiu and lifted the corner of her lips. "I entered this attraction yesterday afternoon… Up until now, I still can't find the exit."
"Why are you in this room?" This question was stuck in Lin Sanjiu's throat, she couldn't bring herself to verbalize it.
Livia supported her face, which always looked tired, with one hand. "All the units in the building are empty. I randomly chose one to rest. Did you just arrive? Do you want to come in and chat? But you have to wait for me, I'm not dressed properly now…"
Then, she closed the door.
Clank. Lin Sanjiu placed an empty can of drink on a coffee table and squashed it flat. The white Coca-Cola brand could still be seen on the twisted and misshapen red can.
"I don't know why there is only Cola here and no bottled water." Geran pushed the items on tabletop toward Lin Sanjiu. "I think that's the reason why there is a washroom on the seventh floor."
Cola beverages generally increased kidney workload and didn't replace fluid well, and were even weak diuretics. From a survivalist's point of view, water was an absolute necessity. Lin Sanjiu knew these facts but she still finished the can of carbonated drink.
"However, I've been to the washroom on the seventh floor," she frowned as she looked at the cakes, biscuits and other snacks on the coffee table. She realized that she didn't have any appetite. "The tap isn't working. There's no water."
"I know," Geran adjusted his spectacles and sighed. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. We can't be too picky. I have been drinking the water from the toilet tank."
Lin Sanjiu had drunk things worse than water from a toilet tank. She nodded and scrutinized the apartment unit once more. Just as Geran had described, there wasn't much in this apartment unit. It didn't look any bigger than 20 m². The beige carpeted floor was closer to a brownish-black due to the stains all over it. There was a coffee table in the middle of the room and two dirty black two-seater sofas.
Oddly, when she first entered the apartment unit, she didn't notice the furniture. Her gaze was immediately drawn to the thing on the wall in front of her.
It was a window.
Lin Sanjiu could not remember if she saw a window in unit 320. In any case, this was the first window she noticed and she could even see the gray skies outside. Lin Sanjiu's heart raced and she quickly approached it to see what was outside.
Outside the window, there was a small village by a river. But, the moment Lin Sanjiu inspected the "village", her body went cold. After that, an inexplicable fury overwhelmed her. She was angry and frustrated and she wanted to scream. In the end, she stood quietly without saying a word for some time.
"I guess it is different in every single room," Geran grumbled moodily. "The painting behind the window in the male washroom is that of a bustling city center."
After Lin Sanjiu stood closer to the window, she noticed that the "outside view" of the window was actually just a painting even through the glass window panel. Its vibrant play on lightning in the painting made it look real from afar.
"Is this a joke?" Lin Sanjiu voice was cold and stiff. She controlled her churning emotions. When the girl on the third floor told her that there was no exit in the building, Lin Sanjiu was still unruffled, but after seeing this still life landscape painting posing as the outside world, she couldn't keep her hands from trembling.
Geran handed her an unopened can of cola, perhaps to appease her. Lin Sanjiu took it from him and downed it with a few large gulps. The sugar from the beverage quickly worked its magic. After a while, Lin Sanjiu felt slightly better.
—
"So, the first thing to note is that a player must not knock on the doors, right?" Lin Sanjiu asked Geran thoughtfully. "What else do you know about this building?"
The scrawny man shook his head. If one could generate the most average face from facial data of all males between 20 and 30 years old in China, he would probably look like Geran.
"Other than the 'living space' in Unit 101, and the door knocking, I don't know really know much more about this place than you," Geran crossed his hands and placed them over his knees. "However, after being trapped here for 20 days, I have already thoroughly thought about this attraction. With the information that you have given me, I have some idea about it."
"Care to explain?"
"You mentioned the female ticket seller telling you something before you came in. She told you specifically that this is a sightseeing attraction, right? Could it be possible that we have to see every part of this building?"
"But I didn't miss any spot." Just when Lin Sanjiu was about to rebut, she thought of something and immediately kept quiet. In fact, she had seen only the smallest area of the building which was its corridors. Lin Sanjiu had no idea what was behind every single dark red door. Once she realized this, her face turned a little sour no matter how gutsy she was.
Noticing her changed expression, Geran added, "After you knocked a door once, you are temporarily still safe. This might be a very critical point to note. Look, you're still perfectly fine, right?"
"For now..." Lin Sanjiu rued. "If the door to unit 320 opens the third time…"
Lin Sanjiu could still imagine the overly large round shadow she saw from the corner of her eyes. She froze for a moment before she asked Geran another question with a parched throat, "What will happen to the players who see an occupant who opens his door for the second or third time?"
"Who knows?" Unexpectedly, Geran shook his head again. His face also turned a little pale. "After a player entered an apartment unit for the second time, he appeared on the first floor the second day. However… I don't know how to explain this so that you can understand what I mean. I spent that day hiding in the washroom. I don't mean he changed or anything," Geran seemed inept at expressing himself but Lin Sanjiu could sense a hint of lingering fear in his voice. With that, she got a vague inkling of the meaning behind his words. He continued, "The person did not look any different, but after surviving so many worlds, the least I could do was to trust my intuition so I avoided him the best I could. Ever since that day, I had not seen him. At that time, there was also another player I don't know. We didn't talk to each other."
Lin Sanjiu felt a shiver down her spine. She could only hope that Geran's deduction was wrong. If he was right, she would not be able to enter unit 320 again. If that was the case, how was she ever going to complete the requirement to "sightsee"?
Geran stopped speaking as if he had remembered something. After hesitating for a bit, he sighed and lamented, "Maybe, I could be wrong about everything. If that was the case, this game might be a little too easy. Peek into every unit and then exit. How could it be that easy?"
Even though Lin Sanjiu knew that Geran might have said that to comfort her, she did feel better. She nodded gratefully. "You might be on to something. If there is a 'person' living in each apartment unit, based on my experience, they should be able to provide some information… Maybe, we should try to gather more information first."
The problem with both their conclusions on the situation was that they would need to interact with the "occupant" behind each door. They both became quiet, momentarily unable to make a decision. After sitting dully for some time and not being able to come to a better solution, Lin Sanjiu stood up first and let out a heavy sigh. "In any case, we should get moving," Lin Sanjiu urged.
Geran might be a prudent and intelligent person. However, he might be overly cautious, otherwise, he probably wouldn't be trapped for around 20 days.
On the other hand, whenever Lin Sanjiu couldn't think of any better solutions, she would just rely on her muscles. "Let's go!" she prompted.
"Where to?" Geran asked, feeling somewhat puzzled.
"Let's go to the seventh flo—no," Lin Sanjiu suddenly remembered that there was only a male and female washroom there and nothing else, so she changed her mind, "We'll start from the sixth floor and knock on every door. No matter which of us is right, let's look at what is behind those doors first."
As for unit 320, Lin Sanjiu decided not to think about the issue at this moment.
Even though Geran had his misgivings, he finally stood up and followed Lin Sanjiu out.
More lights in the corridor were now damaged. After the door to unit 101 was closed, the flickering lights in the corridor became even more obvious. The end of the silent corridor had been swallowed by the dark and when they focused on anything in the flickering light, their eyes started to hurt. Lin Sanjiu and Geran tried their best to keep their footsteps as quiet as possible, as they slowly climbed up the stairway.
After they stopped talking, the whole building fell into a death-like silence. Each time they took a step, the floorboards made loud, distinct creaks. When they were about to reach the third floor, Lin Sanjiu stopped.
"You mentioned that the occupants can only move on their own floors…" Lin Sanjiu could feel the back of her neck going cold and her skin tingling, "About that… How long will they usually move around the corridor?"
Geran pursed his lips without saying a word. He took two steps up and turned his ear to listen to the corridor. After that, he took off his belt. The flashy box-frame buckle didn't seem to fit his personality at all.
"They usually don't stay in the corridor for long. But, just to be safe, we can attach this buckle to your wing. I'll secure the belt like this," Geran secured the belt and pointed at the shiny buckle, "Stretch that bone on your wing out, yes, just like that… Even though we can't see any clear reflections, it is metal so we can at least see shadows if anything moves."
Standing at the stairway leading to the third floor, Lin Sanjiu stretched one of the spines of the skeletal wing outward with some effort. She held her breath as she stared at the little metallic buckle.
The metal plate wasn't good enough to reflect any proper image except a blurred shadow of the corridor. After waiting for some time, they did not spot anything in the blurred reflection on the buckle. They carefully walked upstairs and scanned the corridor quickly. Seeing that all the doors were closed, they sprinted up the stairs to the fourth floor.
When they saw the unit number "601", their expressions turned grim. No matter what happened, they had to grit their teeth and take that risk...
Lin Sanjiu tossed a glance at Geran before she walked toward a dark red wooden door by herself. As her heart pounded rapidly, she slowly raised her hand. There was a dry flower wreath on the door of unit 601. It seemed to be a decoration that had not been taken down for a long time after a festive celebration.
Lin Sanjiu had never imagined that she would be afraid to knock on a door.
Lightly and almost accompanied by a bit of trepidation, she knocked on the door with her knuckle. Lin Sanjiu could even sense Geran moving backward. He was standing at the edge of the stairway. After she knocked on the door a few times, there was no response. It was silent.
"Why… why don't we forget it," Geran said in the same soft voice but more hastily. "Let's go back and discuss this…"
Lin Sanjiu ignored his suggestion and knocked on the door another two times. However, this time, the sound of her knocks wavered.
There seemed to be a very soft sound of footsteps from behind the door. Unlike normal distinct footsteps, that was the sound of something dragging their feet. Yet, each step sounded like it was a long stride. Lin Sanjiu gulped. The muscles all over her body tensed up. When the brass handle of the door slowly rotated, Lin Sanjiu's mind became blank.
The red wooden door opened with a creak and a gap slowly appeared between the door and its frame. As she heard the door opening, Lin Sanjiu heard a creak from the stairway. Lin Sanjiu knew, even without looking, that Geran had run away.
Before she could even consider if Geran had set her up and decide to move, it was already too late. The "person" behind the door—if it could be considered a person—had already peeked out from the gap.
Lin Sanjiu locked her eyes on that face without moving an inch. It did not even cross her mind that she would see that person here.
"Livia?"
A brown haired woman curled one corner of her lips, revealing the deep wrinkles around her mouth. She did not wear one of her shoes properly but instead step on it barefooted. That strange sound of her walking was probably because she was dragging one shoe along.
"How can you be here?" Lin Sanjiu was stupefied. "You ran to Swan Route?"
"You're still alive," Livia also seemed surprised to see Lin Sanjiu. She looked behind Lin Sanjiu and lifted the corner of her lips. "I entered this attraction yesterday afternoon… Up until now, I still can't find the exit."
"Why are you in this room?" This question was stuck in Lin Sanjiu's throat, she couldn't bring herself to verbalize it.
Livia supported her face, which always looked tired, with one hand. "All the units in the building are empty. I randomly chose one to rest. Did you just arrive? Do you want to come in and chat? But you have to wait for me, I'm not dressed properly now…"
Then, she closed the door.
