Translator: CinderTL
Corresponding to the positions where the keys were hung, there were small pieces of white tape attached.
On the tape, the room numbers were written with a blue ballpoint pen.
It seemed these were the spare keys left by the landlord.
Most of the keys had two copies, but some positions only had one key left.
It appeared that the rooms with only one key were already rented out, and the remaining key was the spare.
These corresponded to the rooms they were staying in.
Jiang Cheng picked up the key tray, noticing that a relatively remote position was empty.
After seeing the corresponding room number, Hua Luo's expression changed.
Room 808.
It was Wu's room.
"Who took the spare key for Room 808?" Fatty blinked, puzzled. "The landlord?"
Chu Jiu shook her head, lowering her head slightly as she analyzed, "Probably not. Since he knows what happened in Room 808, he definitely wouldn't want to get involved in trouble."
"If not the landlord, then who?" Fatty seemed to recall something, tilting his head and suddenly saying, "Could it be Wu? Maybe when he took it, there was only one key left."
"And he just took the only remaining key."
"Then why didn't he ask about it?" Hua Luo stroked his chin, countering, "I don't believe he couldn't figure out such a simple issue."
"So he took both keys?" From his tone, even Fatty himself felt this possibility was unlikely.
At the beginning of a mission, no one would usually do something that blatantly goes against the NPC's instructions.
That would be no different from seeking death.
"Do you remember?" Wan Yuanning, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up. "Wu took his key from the drawer himself, while ours were all given by the landlord."
Fatty's eyes paused, and a bad premonition suddenly arose in his heart. "What are you trying to say?"
Everyone connected Wu's behavior with the recent clues they had discovered, and they all sensed something was off.
"Are you saying Wu is different from us?" Hua Luo lowered his voice. "That he's a ghost who infiltrated our group?"
"That's a good hypothesis," Jiang Cheng chimed in. "If this hypothesis holds, have you thought about when the ghost might have infiltrated?"
"If the real Wu was killed, it should have been after the mission officially started."
Jiang Cheng's words were somewhat euphemistic, but everyone understood. However, this speculation was hard to accept for the moment.
"Are you saying there was never a Wu to begin with, and he has always been a ghost?" Chu Jiu exclaimed in surprise.
"Don't be nervous," Jiang Cheng comforted. "This is just one of the possibilities, but it does explain why Wu has been different from us since the mission started, doesn't it?"
Thinking calmly, there had always been many loopholes in Wu's behavior, and the key was just one of them.
He was lucky enough to choose Lin Chen's room but never had any incidents, and he maintained that indifferent attitude throughout the mission.
"Impossible," Wan Yuanning shook her head after a moment of silence. "The ghost in the mission cannot infiltrate using a player's identity before the mission officially begins."
As if to support her statement, she looked around and asked, "Have any of you encountered such a situation before?"
No one answered, but their expressions made it clear that none of them had.
"But 'not having encountered' and 'not existing' are two different things," Jiang Cheng looked at her. "Perhaps those who encountered such a situation are all dead."
Survivorship bias.
Everyone understood this principle.
"So this is just a speculation. To know for sure, we need evidence," Jiang Cheng patted his clothes and continued. "Of course, if we can confirm that Wu is indeed problematic, then I think we've already found the man in black."
Fatty, who was closest to Jiang Cheng, couldn't help but gasp. The image of Wu appeared in his mind, but it was hard to connect him with the man in black.
Deep down, everyone felt that something was off.
This mission was different from any previous one, not in terms of danger. To be honest, although there were many ghosts this time, they were relatively merciful.
So far, in a mission involving 12 people, only 3 had died, with a 75% survival rate, which was truly unimaginable.
The so-called rules seemed to have undergone some subtle changes.
After pondering for a moment, Hua Luo turned his gaze to Jiang Cheng. This young man seemed careless, but his thinking was clear, making him a reliable teammate.
"Mr. Hao," he lowered his voice. "What do you think we should do?"
"First, let's figure out Lin Chen's circle," Jiang Cheng put down the key tray, closed the drawer, and turned to look at Hua Luo. "Since you can access police files, can you try to get hold of Lin Chen's manuscripts?"
"Preferably from the week or month before her fall," Jiang Cheng added.
Many creators vent their emotions in their works, and Jiang Cheng hoped to find some clues from this angle.
Hua Luo nodded. "I'll do my best."
Then, Jiang Cheng scanned everyone with a scrutinizing gaze. Wan Yuanning frowned; she seemed to dislike being looked at this way, as it made her feel like a commodity.
"Aside from Wu, does anyone here know the remaining two people from Building 3?" Jiang Cheng asked in a tactful tone. "Or... are familiar with their backgrounds?"
Essentially, he was asking if anyone had come here with them.
Lu Huaxu was already dead. Aside from Wu, there were Liu Guo and Wei Jinting.
Asking such a question was a last resort. They urgently needed to understand the situation in Building 3 to determine Wu's identity.
Everyone looked at each other, but no one admitted to it.
This was not a place to linger. Everyone closed the door and prepared to leave.
It was getting late, but no one suggested staying on the first floor to wait for their teammates from Building 3.
Since Weng Qing was on the 7th floor, everyone went to the 6th floor, to Fatty's room.
But as soon as they sat down, the phone rang. Fatty was getting chilled mineral water from the fridge for everyone, and his hands couldn't help but tremble.
Jiang Cheng quickly walked to the phone. The screen displayed an unfamiliar caller ID.
After calming down, Jiang Cheng picked up the phone.
A very hurried breathing came from the other end. "Hello, is anyone there?" It was Liu Guo's voice, but he sounded like he was in a dire situation.
Wan Yuanning was very close to Jiang Cheng. Upon hearing Liu Guo's voice, her pupils immediately constricted.
Jiang Cheng remained silent.
The other side seemed to understand the situation and spoke urgently, "This is Liu Guo. I'm trapped in Qiao Yu's brother's café. Wu and Wei Jinting have both disappeared."
Zzz...
Zzz...
"The place I'm in now is strange—no, the timing is strange," Liu Guo said quickly, with occasional strange static noises on the phone.
Zzz...
"Everything was fine just now, but I don't know when it started. When I came to my senses, the café was empty except for me. Everyone has disappeared!"
"I'm at the front desk now. The time here shows July 7th!"
"Yes, you heard me right!" Liu Guo said excitedly. "I've traveled back in time, and now... now I have a letter next to me, addressed to Room 808 in Peace Apartment, and the recipient is Lin Chen!"
Something came up today, so there will be the usual two updates. The promised extra update will be made up tomorrow.
(End of the Chapter)
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