Chapter 28: My Name Is… Su Bai

Chapter 28 My Name Is... Su Bai

"If you want to survive, play your role well."

The words spoken by the boy in black earlier kept echoing in Feng Ling's ears.

Her thoughts drifted aimlessly until only one idea remained—if that boy had meant her harm, he could have just let the ghost woman strangle her earlier. Why go through the extra trouble?

After wiping the blood off her glasses with her clothes, Feng Ling didn't bother with her disheveled appearance and hurried back to Building No. 3 as quickly and quietly as possible.

Compared to the ghosts that might appear in Building No. 3, the unknown dark corners in the green spaces outside the residential building frightened Feng Ling even more.

Returning to Building No. 3, the lights in the first-floor lobby calmed her a little. Through the glass door of the lobby, she saw bloodstains on her face and clothes, making her look even scarier than the supernatural beings at first glance.

As Feng Ling examined her reflection in the glass, she noticed the digital clock in the lobby reflected in it.

When she had first "returned home," Feng Ling had complained about the digital clock in the lobby, feeling that the black clock displaying red numbers was completely out of place with the lobby's decor.

But now, the digital clock in the reflection looked strange.

Confused, Feng Ling turned around and saw that the time displayed on the wall clock was—

98:100

"What's going on?" Feng Ling remembered that the clock had shown normal time when she last saw it, but now the numbers clearly didn't look like any time format.

She moved closer. The numbers on the clock remained unchanged, but she noticed a small white post-it note next to the clock. It was hard to spot against the white wall unless one looked closely.

On the post-it note was a line of text—

"If the clock you see isn't a clock, come find us in Room 204."

Beside the text, someone had drawn a cartoon character playing video games, resembling some of the memes Feng Ling had seen online. But in this context, Feng Ling felt the cartoon character might indicate that the person who left the note was a "player."

Moreover, the person who left the note instructed anyone who noticed the clock's abnormality to go to Room 204 to find "them." If "they" were indeed players, perhaps only players who had regained their memories would notice the clock's oddity.

And at least two players had already gathered in Room 204.

Could it be a trap?

Though Feng Ling was conflicted, the content of the note made her too anxious to stay put. Even though the boy in black had told her to play her role, Feng Ling knew her current mindset was poor, and her acting skills were even worse. If she returned "home" now, she would surely blow her cover over time.

If she didn't go to Room 204 to check, she would regret it.

Having made up her mind, Feng Ling, as before, avoided the elevator and the stairwell on the right where she had encountered the ghost in the red dress that hung itself. Instead, she took the left safety stairwell and soon arrived outside Room 204.

The corridor on the second floor looked no different from the sixth floor, with clean beige wall and floor tiles. The overhead lights illuminated the corridor as brightly as daylight, making it hard to believe this was a nightmare world.

The door to Room 204 looked ordinary from the outside, and no sounds could be heard from within.

As Feng Ling hesitated outside Room 204, hand raised uncertainly about whether to knock, someone inside seemed to have noticed the visitor outside. A man's voice softly asked—

"What time is it?"

"I..." Feng Ling didn't have a watch, and her phone had disappeared when she entered the nightmare world. Although accessories and clothes she was wearing upon entering the nightmare world remained, items like phones didn't come through.

But soon, Feng Ling realized the person in Room 204 wasn't actually asking for the time.

"The numbers on the clock are 98 and 100," Feng Ling said, mentioning the two numbers that obviously weren't a time display.

"98?" The man's voice sounded momentarily puzzled. "There are two less?"

Before Feng Ling could understand what he meant, a young woman's voice softly asked her, "You sound young. Are you still in school? High school or college? Which school?"

"Honghuai Normal," Feng Ling replied, feeling a sense of relief and finally feeling like she'd found her people. Undoubtedly, the reason they were asking about real-world information was because, no matter how similar the nightmare world was to the real world, there were still information gaps.

"What a coincidence, I'm from Honghuai Normal too," the woman behind the door continued. "Do you remember which teacher's elective was the most popular during freshman year phys ed?"

"It was Swordsmanship class," Feng Ling said without hesitation. "I know Professor Xuan's class is very popular, but it's nearly impossible to get into."

"How many times have you beaten the game?" came another question from inside.

"J-just once," Feng Ling answered honestly.

"Ah." The person inside sounded somewhat disappointed but still accepted Feng Ling's answer. Soon, the door to Room 204 opened a crack, revealing a man and a woman standing inside.

The man looked quite refined, but he was holding a kitchen knife pointed at Feng Ling as he opened the door. The other person, Feng Ling's fellow student, was a pretty girl, but the way she looked her over made Feng Ling feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

Especially when the girl finally looked away, there was a hint of disdain in her eyes.

"Another newcomer," the girl said under her breath, though her volume was loud enough for everyone to hear. "What's with the blood on you?"

"I had some trouble," Feng Ling said, unsure how to succinctly describe her encounter, including the boy in black with the sword.

Although her fellow student seemed a bit odd, being in the nightmare world made Feng Ling feel a sense of familiarity with any human player, almost like meeting someone from home in a foreign place. She even thought it was normal for people she just met to have some strange attitudes.

"You're all players, right?" Feng Ling offered what she thought was a friendly smile.

"Of course," the girl sighed. "Come in. Since we already have one newcomer, one more won't hurt."

The refined boy beside her put away the kitchen knife and opened the door to let Feng Ling in.

"Ning Yan," the girl introduced herself. "Also the tenant of Room 204. I live here alone, so there's no other messy stuff around. I'm letting you all use it as a safe house for players. Didn't expect to meet a schoolmate here, and a newcomer too."

"..." Feng Ling wished she could find a mirror to see if she had "newcomer" written on her face.

"I'm Fang Xiujie, a student from Chenghai University in the neighboring city," the boy said, closing the door after Feng Ling entered. "I originally lived in Room 304, but there's something there that claims to be my 'grandmother'..."

Looking past Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie, Feng Ling noticed a third person in Room 204.

He stood quietly behind the two, a boy dressed as casually as Feng Ling. His exposed skin was quite dark, and unruly hair covered part of his face. Paired with a pair of black-rimmed glasses, it was hard to make out his features.

Noticing Feng Ling's gaze, he gave a shy smile and said, "Hello, I'm the other new player. My name is... Su Bai."

His voice was a bit raspy, but for some reason, Feng Ling felt like she had heard this voice somewhere before.