Zhu Shu said, “We entered the game in the morning. We first had breakfast together with all the hotel guests, and then everyone gathered in Yan Ge’s room to discuss strategy. Around midday, we heard a woman screaming outside, so everyone went out together to see what had happened.

“We found a female corpse near the door. Yan Ge and Lin Kui examined the body… Lin Kui is the subject Yan Ge recruited from the evaluation team.

“The body was discovered not far from Yan Ge’s room. It was the female guest from room 305 — she had been stabbed multiple times in the chest. While Yan Ge was preparing to search for further clues, the guests from the lower floors and the detective came upstairs… The detective found the body and questioned each of us. Then, unexpectedly, the guest from room 405 suddenly accused Yan Ge and Lin Kui of being the murderers.”

At the memory, Su Man bristled with indignation. “When Yan Ge and Lin Kui were examining the body, they got some blood on themselves — and that was apparently enough to be treated as evidence. They’ve been detained by the detective on the first floor!”

Bai Youwei furrowed her brow. “Just because they got blood on them…?”

“There’s more.” Zhu Shu continued. “There are bloodstains outside the doors of rooms 401 and 403, and bloody handprints on the doors as well.”

Zhu Shu explained to Bai Youwei, “401 and 403 are Lin Kui’s and Yan Ge’s rooms.”

A woman found dead right outside Yan Qingwen’s door, blood splattered throughout the surrounding area, and when the detective arrived, he had happened to see Yan Qingwen and Lin Kui examining the body — the suspicion against them was going to be very difficult to shake.

Bai Youwei thought for a moment. “Hmm… Yan Qingwen lost the initiative from the start. Someone had already set him up in advance.”

“These people are unhinged! Why would anyone set us up?!” Su Man fumed. “Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to just find the killers together and clear the game?!”

Bai Youwei’s mouth twitched and she looked at Su Man, exasperated. “I mean… could you stop and think for a second? This isn’t an ordinary game — it’s a *battle*. In a competitive game, cooperation between players isn’t possible. Your mission objective is to find the killers. Theirs might not be~”

Su Man blinked, caught off guard. “You mean… their goal isn’t to find the killers?”

Bai Youwei pressed her hand to her forehead. That slow of a reaction…

Zhu Shu sighed softly and said quietly, “Weiwei is right. We wasted too much time in the preparation phase at the start and never considered that the opposing side might make their move within just two or three hours of entering the game.”

“Exactly — who charges in and starts killing right away?” Su Man couldn’t help but add. “I assumed we’d have at least until nighttime.”

“The opponent is exploiting exactly that kind of thinking — which is why they were able to act so easily.” Bai Youwei said. “In the first battle, every player is going to be very cautious. Once inside the game, most people are busy observing and familiarizing themselves with the environment — that’s actually when their guard is at its lowest.”

She paused for two seconds, then lowered her voice and continued, “And furthermore… Yan Qingwen probably had no idea he’d already been identified. The opposing side spotted him as the leader of your group, so they targeted him first.”

Zhu Shu and Su Man couldn’t help but look at each other.

If Bai Youwei’s analysis was correct, then… from the very moment they had gathered in Yan Qingwen’s room, they had already been watched.

Su Man suddenly felt a chill run through her. She tightened her brow and said, “Just who are these people… the game barely started and they’ve already calculated all this — that’s absolutely twisted…”

Bai Youwei fell silent as well.

If she were being honest with herself, if she had entered this game, she probably would have fallen for it too.

Because when people find themselves in an unfamiliar environment and are given a task, they instinctively gather with their companions to brainstorm and figure things out together.

Yan Qingwen especially, having spent time in the military, had this kind of regimented thinking ingrained in him. Yet he had never imagined that such a small detail could be enough to expose his weakness.

—