The sound of the woman's high heels echoed farther and farther away, along with the dragging of the corpse. Then, with a loud bang of a door slamming shut, everything fell silent.
Blood from the boy had splattered all over the table, mingled with shards of mirror and melted wax—an appalling sight.
The girl who had been sobbing finally broke into loud, desperate wails. "Why… why me… why did it have to be me…"
The girl beside her said nothing, quietly patting her on the back to soothe her.
Meanwhile, the girl who had sat next to the now-dead boy finally lost control too. "What do we do now? What am I supposed to do alone now…? I… I can't go on…"
So that boy had been her ghost puppet.
Xie Mingchi sighed inwardly. He hadn't expected the first casualty to happen this early in the game.
Xiao Xiao snapped, annoyed. "Crying won't help. Better start looking for clues sooner than later."
Chu You, ever the peacemaker, stepped in gently. "Let's take a moment and get ourselves together. We've already had our first sacrifice, which means it's time to get serious."
He led by example. "I'm Chu You, and this is my partner, Xiao Xiao."
Xiao Xiao let out a grunt of acknowledgment.
Xie Mingchi followed, "Xie Yi," he said, pointing at Wan Wuqiu beside him. "And Wan Er."
He still preferred to keep his real name protected.
He wasn't sure if Chu You or Xiao Xiao had given their real names either.
Shen Feinian caught on quickly. "I'm Shen San. And this is my partner, Feng Si."
The girl who had sat next to the dead boy spoke next. "I'm Zhen Jia… and that was my ghost puppet, Xiao Mu."
The girl who had lost control was named Jian Na. The one comforting her was Xia Zhi.
There was also a boy named Lu Meng, partnered with someone called Xiao He. Neither of them had said a word yet.
After the introductions, Chu You took the lead, recalling the moment of Xiao Mu's death. "He must've triggered a death condition—that's why he was killed instantly."
He paused and then added, "It's probably because he said Egger was… 'pretty'."
As he said this, he drew quotation marks on the table with his finger.
Xie Mingchi nodded. "Yeah, that matches the clue I got in the last puppet realm."
Since someone had already triggered that rule, and it was easy enough to infer from Xiao Mu's actions, there was no reason for him to keep that clue to himself.
Upon hearing this, Zhen Jia's eyes lit up. "Really? You got the soul thread from the last realm's gatekeeper puppet?"
Xie Mingchi nodded. "Yeah, but I got it through a trick. This is only my second time in the puppet realm."
Zhen Jia's excitement faded a bit, but she still looked relieved. At least someone on their team had found a soul thread before.
At least there was hope.
"So now we've identified one death rule," Chu You said. "Let's all avoid triggering it again. As a more experienced player, I suggest we share any clues during mealtimes, and we should all come to the dining room at each mealtime too. It'll improve our chances of survival."
Chu You added, "The difference between mid-level and low-level puppet realms is pretty stark. The harder it gets, the more we need to work together. That's how we get out alive."
Xie Mingchi agreed. In the last realm, they'd only found the soul thread and made it out because all six of them worked together.
This time, while he knew Shen Feinian and Feng Yu would still stick with them, the more allies, the better.
He wasn't obsessed with finding the soul thread—if he could, great; if not, making it out alive would be enough.
Everyone else nodded in agreement. Chu You let out a breath of relief. "Okay then, let's start searching for clues."
People began to disperse. Xie Mingchi decided to check out the rooms on the fourth floor first. If anything seemed off, it'd be better to deal with it before nightfall.
Just then, Zhen Jia approached him nervously. "Hey… can I team up with you guys?"
Xie Mingchi didn't respond right away.
Zhen Jia rushed to explain, "I've been in the puppet realm a few times, but I'm only ever useful for one or two clues. I've never gotten a soul thread. And now without my puppet… I really can't do this alone."
Her voice trembled with emotion. "Please… I really can't handle this on my own."
Jian Na and Xia Zhi were also thinking about asking to join Xie Mingchi's group. Aside from Xiao Xiao and Chu You, he and Wan Wuqiu looked like the most capable ones.
But Xiao Xiao was intimidating, so they decided to approach Lu Meng and Xiao He instead.
After all, if too many people grouped together, it'd just become one big, messy team again.
As Xie Mingchi was still debating, Wan Wuqiu spoke up first. "Sure. We can work together and share resources."
Zhen Jia was overjoyed.
"But," Wan Wuqiu added, "we can't share a room. Xie Yi and I… it wouldn't be convenient."
Zhen Jia looked confused for a second, then seemed to get it and nodded rapidly. "Got it, got it! I'm very respectful of boundaries. I won't intrude at all!"
Xie Mingchi: "…"
This felt oddly familiar.
But did she just… misunderstand something?
Sure, he wasn't exactly eager to explain his preferences to others, but just standing next to Wan Wuqiu didn't mean they were a couple, right?
Wan Wuqiu seemed perfectly pleased with her reaction. "Alright. We're going to check out the rooms. You should do the same."
After agreeing on their plan, the five of them headed to the fourth floor.
Xie Mingchi glanced around. There were plenty of rooms, and each was large enough to accommodate two people—but not more. So he and Wan Wuqiu would have to share one.
There was one more thing.
All the rooms had only one bed.
A double bed.
Egger had said they could pick any room, but everyone seemed to instinctively choose to room with their partner. No one was foolish enough to sleep alone.
And that was… a little awkward.
Xie Mingchi's toes curled from secondhand embarrassment.
In the previous realm, he and Wan Wuqiu had shared a room, but not a bed. Plus, He Qi and Shen Feinian were around, so it hadn't felt weird.
This time was different. There was only a small sofa in the room—barely big enough for one person to sit, let alone sleep.
So the only option was to share the bed.
But Wan Wuqiu was not exactly the kind of person who helped Xie Mingchi stay calm.
He was slightly taller, with clean-cut features and a warm, approachable air. He claimed to be in poor health, but to Xie Mingchi, the guy seemed strong enough to wrestle a bear.
The way he had helped Xie Mingchi earlier—with just one hand—he could probably pin him down without breaking a sweat.
This man practically radiated temptation.
Xie Mingchi's heart beat a little faster.
He'd known from the start that he paid extra attention to Wan Wuqiu.
Realizing it now made him uneasy. He quickly forced himself to shove those thoughts aside, took a deep breath, and tried to convince himself it was just a passing illusion.
He walked into a room and turned to Wan Wuqiu. "This one okay?"
"No problem," Wan Wuqiu replied. "Let's check the place over."
"Yeah."
They split up—Wan Wuqiu started rummaging through drawers and corners while Xie Mingchi surveyed the room.
It was like a standard hotel room: one double bed, a vanity, a chair, a small sofa, and a bathroom.
There weren't even any wardrobes. Everything was visible at a glance.
The creepy part?
There were mirrors. Tons of them.
Over the bed, above the vanity, near the door, and two huge ones in the bathroom.
Even the bedside drawers and vanity drawers were full of small mirrors—and shards of mirrors too.
Xie Mingchi immediately thought of the mirror shards Egger had swallowed at the dining table…
Clearly, these fragments weren't anything good.
Wan Wuqiu reported from the corner, "There are a bunch of mirror shards over there too. I didn't touch them."
Egger had eaten mirrors earlier, and now their room was filled with them. It was too conspicuous. They had no idea what might happen if they messed with the mirrors.
"Too many mirrors. Definitely suspicious," Wan Wuqiu said. "This is just a mid-level puppet realm—the clues won't be too deeply hidden. Death conditions are usually pretty clear."
Like in the last realm, which had been low-level, the rules had been practically handed to them. The death conditions were limited: the youngest person died each night.
Mid-level realms wouldn't be that blatant, but the clues wouldn't be buried too deep either.
Just like now—an overload of mirrors—it was clearly off. They just didn't know how the mirrors would kill someone.
Then Xie Mingchi recalled Xiao Mu's death. "Are there restrictions on when the gatekeeper puppet can kill? Like only at night or during the day?"
Wan Wuqiu sat down and traced a circle on the vanity with his finger. "Yeah. Break a major rule, and you die at night. Break a minor one, and you die instantly."
Xie Mingchi immediately understood.
Like in the last realm—the major rule was the corner game. Minor ones were things like not turning around during the game or not handing the candle to a ghost.
The moment they entered that realm, the four youngest people had already been chosen by the corner game. That was the major rule. But since death under that rule only happened at night, they weren't in immediate danger.
Qi Luo, who broke the minor rule by going upstairs, had died instantly.
The boy from earlier must've broken both rules—major and minor—hence his sudden death, while Xie Mingchi had only violated the major rule.
So it seemed even violating the major rule didn't necessarily mean immediate death.
The room check was nearly done. Xie Mingchi scanned the space one more time and said, "Let's go ask Feng Yu and Zhen Jia what their rooms are like."
If they had just as many mirrors, it meant all the rooms were the same.
If not, they'd have to switch.
Wan Wuqiu nodded. "Sure."
Xie Mingchi gestured for him to wait. "I'm gonna wash my face real quick."
Maybe it was because the castle was underground, but he felt a little stuffy—he needed to clear his head.
He stepped into the bathroom and turned on the faucet. Cool water gushed out.
Splashing it on his face in handfuls, he felt his mind clear instantly.
He finished washing and looked up—facing a large mirror. On either side were hanging baskets holding candles.
The same kind Egger had swallowed.
He was honestly developing PTSD from seeing candles now.
Trying not to think about it, he turned to leave the bathroom.
But something caught the corner of his eye.
He turned back sharply—toward the other big mirror on the opposite wall.
It showed an identical reflection of the bathroom. Empty, just like his side.
Only… he wasn't in it.