Bai Youwei called toward the door without any politeness: “What do you care whether I stay here or not — just keep standing out there for now!”

Su Man’s eyes went wide in disbelief: “You’re really not letting it in?! If the inspector doesn’t come in, the game can’t start!”

“Did I say I wasn’t letting it in?” Bai Youwei rolled her eyes with brazen ease. “The question is, do you think now is a good time? Why rush to let it in and start the game? Are you ready? You haven’t washed your face or brushed your teeth! What’s the hurry?”

Su Man’s face turned red under that barrage. She bit her lower lip, furious to the point of bursting — yet not a single word of rebuttal came to her.

Bai Youwei pursed her lips and said: “I don’t care — I need to wash up first. I want water, food, and I need to use the bathroom… my hair isn’t even brushed. It can’t come in yet!”

“Yan Qingwen.” Su Man shot a smoldering glare toward Yan Qingwen.

Yan Qingwen glanced at Bai Youwei, then said evenly: “Do as she says. There are things we need to prepare before the game begins anyway.”

Su Man was seething, but swallowed her frustration and went upstairs.

Zhu Shu thought about it and followed her up.

Teacher Cheng was the first to bolt toward the kitchen, where he set water to boil for instant noodles — hoping to at least get everyone something in their stomachs before the game started.

The others dispersed in different directions: some went to wash up, some went to look for useful weapons.

The game hadn’t started yet, and no one knew much about what was coming — so the preparations they could make were limited. All they could do was try to get into the best condition possible.

Everyone was bustling about. In the end they all gathered in the dining room for a thin bowl of watery noodles — barely passing as “full.”

Throughout the whole process, the inspector apparently did stay outside just as told, playing “Für Elise” on a continuous loop.

The originally lovely melody became pure noise after countless repetitions — maddening to hear, nauseating to endure, until their ears felt like they were growing calluses.

Only when everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and made all the preparations they could did Bai Youwei finally consent to letting the inspector in.

There was a click.

No one even had to go open the door. It opened by itself.

A music box — round on top and square on the bottom — appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The body of the music box was a white, gold-edged square case, painted with a common pattern of climbing roses, with a gold winding key on one side.

Atop the square case was a decorative snow globe — the kind where, if you shake it, snow falls inside the glass sphere.

“It’s you two?!” The music box suddenly raised its voice.

More precisely, it was the sphere atop the box that was speaking.

“I remember you! You popped the belly of my frog! You awful man!”

The snow globe’s voice was agitated. After a second’s pause, it forcibly composed itself and said:

“But don’t worry — as an inspector, I will preside over this game with complete fairness and impartiality, and will not use my position to settle personal scores or deliberately make things difficult for you~”

The upward lilt at the end of the sentence betrayed its gleeful, gloating nature.

The crowd looked at one another.

Shen Mo and Bai Youwei naturally recognized it — that childlike voice, combined with this spherical form, was impossible not to recognize.

Even Tan Xiao recognized it, clicking his tongue in wonder: “So the inspector can change its appearance? This time it’s not a golden ball!”

“I can be any spherical shape!” the snow globe said with buoyant pride. “Golden ball, silver ball, iron ball, wooden ball, fireball, ice ball, crystal ball~ Any ball that exists in this world!”

It drifted leisurely into the room and settled with a light bounce atop the sideboard against the wall. Its body was crystal-clear and translucent, fine snow drifting in swirls inside — quite beautiful.

“Can you turn into a soccer ball?” Tan Xiao asked.

“Of course!”

“What about a basketball?”

“Any ball works — a perfectly round sphere is the most perfect shape in the entire universe!” it said cheerfully.

“Any ball? Hmm, hmm, hmm…” Tan Xiao thought hard. “Can you turn into a rugby ball?”

The snow globe seemed to take that as a personal insult and screeched in outrage: “I just said a perfectly round sphere is the most perfect shape in the entire universe! And now you’re saying rugby ball?! Is a rugby ball round?!”

—