“Hu Ya!” Yu Yaqing didn’t want to come to blows with a former teammate. She stepped forward and gave another sharp command. “Hand over the key!”

Hu Ya continued to retreat, then suddenly spun on her heel and sprinted down the corridor!

Yu Yaqing thrust out a leg to chase her, but she was one beat too slow!

Hu Ya dashed into her room and slammed the door shut with a boom!

“Hu Ya!” Yu Yaqing pounded on the door. “Come out! Don’t do something foolish! The key could very well be a trap!”

The person inside the room made no sound.

The others had all been woken by the commotion, emerging from their rooms one by one, asking Yu Yaqing in confusion:

“What happened? What’s wrong with Hu Ya?”

Bai Youwei dug a finger at her ear as well, asking with drowsy bewilderment, “What are you all shouting about?”

Yu Yaqing felt somewhat ashamed. Even though what Hu Ya had done was her own personal choice, Hu Ya was still her team member, and Yu Yaqing felt she bore some responsibility.

“Hu Ya has a key, and she may be planning something…” Yu Yaqing pressed her lips together and said quietly, “I’m worried she’ll cause problems.”

“Is she the one who came out in the middle of the night to try opening the door, and found it wouldn’t open?” Bai Youwei yawned and said lazily, “Leave her be. As long as the Duke isn’t dead, none of us can leave anyway — she’s no exception. Everyone go back to sleep.”

She wheeled herself back into her room and shut the door.

Su Man and Zhu Shu looked at each other, then returned to their own rooms as well.

Yu Yaqing looked at their retreating backs, then looked again at the closed door before her. She raised her hand and knocked once more.

Knock, knock.

No sound from inside.

Yu Yaqing thought for a moment, then said through the door, “Hu Ya — whatever happens, I hope you’ll stop and think carefully. Don’t let the game get into your head.”

Even after she finished speaking, there was still no movement.

Yu Yaqing stood before the door for a while, then turned and went back to her own room.

……

On the other side of the door, Hu Ya pressed her back against it and slowly slid down to sit on the floor. She lowered her head and stared at the key in her hand.

“What is there left to think about…” She stared at the key, her eyes going vacant as she muttered, “If the Duke dies and that clears the game, I can clear it together with the others. But if the Duke doesn’t die… the others won’t make it — only me… only I will survive to the final day.”

She closed her eyes and clenched the key in her hand.

“I can’t trust them… the only one who can ever be relied upon is yourself.”

……

The next morning, Bai Youwei rose early.

Counting the time, this was already her third morning in the game. It was time to bring things to an end.

She steered her wheelchair to the dining room.

The Inspector was arranging breakfast — still just the same simple fare of milk and dry bread. Simple as it was, the Inspector seemed to take endless pleasure in adjusting the placement of dishes and the angle of the food, like someone in the grip of severe obsessive tendencies.

The others had not yet arrived.

Bai Youwei took a first bite of the dry bread. The texture was like chewing splinters of wood.

She set down the bread and drank half a glass of milk instead. At least the milk was fresh.

“There is actually something I’ve been thinking about for a while…” she began, speaking aloud. “For a game in a women-only session, if the condition to clear it is to kill the Duke — isn’t that a little too reliant on brute force?”

The Inspector watched her in silence.

Bai Youwei said, “After all, violence is not something women excel at. But if it isn’t killing the Duke, then the only method left would seem to be finding the key.”

She paused here, then raised her eyes to regard the Inspector.

“But that method is even less reliable…” She kept her gaze fixed on that face, so similar in form to a strikingly handsome illustration, and said with composure, “Because I cannot imagine — if an Inspector in a game were deliberately offering false information, how could the game even continue?”

“The Inspector is always correct,” it finally said. “Only situations where players have misunderstood can exist. Situations where the Inspector has been wrong cannot.”

Bai Youwei said, “Then let me ask you one more time — is the condition to clear this game a matter of finding a key?”

The Inspector fell silent.

After a moment it answered, “The condition to clear this game is to become the final bride.”

Bai Youwei smiled faintly. “Thank you.”

—