CH 13

Where were the goldfish? QiLeren found himself unable to break his spellbound gaze away, words catching in his throat.

“They’re gone,” SuHe remarked, following QiLeren’s eyes.

Dr Lu rubbed his arms. “Stop,” he pleaded with a shudder, “there’s something seriously wrong about this place. It feels off.”

“Why don’t we think about this another way?” suggested XueYingying optimistically. “What if actually seeing the fish was the strange part? Maybe the fact that they’ve disappeared means we’ve gone back to the normal world!”

Dr Lu immediately latched onto XueYingying’s idea. “Hey, that makes sense! What kind of fish screams anyway?” he reasoned. “This kind of supernatural occurrence was probably here to tell us that we’ve entered another dimension – each goldfish symbolised one of us, so when they disappeared it meant that we were getting segregated into different dimensions! It would make sense for the goldfish to disappear now that we’re together again.”

XueYingying could be seen letting out a breath of relief at Dr Lu’s theory, but QiLeren only grew more worried. If the number of goldfish reflected their numbers, then why…

…Then why did he only see three goldfish before losing consciousness?

The dead one obviously symbolised him, but who were the other two? And more importantly, why were there only two and not three?

Who was the odd one out?

QiLeren could feel the chill of terror gently lapping at the edges of his mind. There were four people, but only three goldfish. What did the missing goldfish mean? What if…?

There was an moment in which he couldn’t bring himself to meet his companions’ eyes, just like how he couldn’t bring himself to look at the person he had held hands with. The lingering doubt and suspicion at the possibility that the familiar faces he saw now were no more than masks reared its head, choking the words before he could voice them. Who could he trust?

Only he saw the goldfish. Only he knew.

No, maybe he was just thinking too hard and deluding himself. Maybe the two goldfish was just a coincidence.

…But could there truly be a coincidence as convenient as this? What if one of them was actually…?

Who was it?

QiLeren was startled out of his thoughts by a light touch on his shoulder, turning to see SuHe frowning at his violent reaction. “You don’t look so good.”

Without even looking QiLeren could guess that his complexion wasn’t much better than that of a ghost’s.

“Are you actually alright?” fretted XueYingying. “You were already pale and unconscious when we found you.”

“I’m alright.” Not even QiLeren himself believed his words but he pressed on anyway to tell them about his horrifying experience, making sure to omit the goldfish from his story. His companions were reasonably shocked at the recount, not having expected that deceased players could become the very ghosts they fought.

Was it because she died whilst being consumed by rage and despair, or could it be that all the dead players thus far had turned into…?

Just the thought was too much.

“What do we do now?” asked XueYingying.

Dr Lu was still fixated on the lobby screen. “I still think there’s something we’re missing,” he muttered to himself. “Four thirteen…four thirteen…maybe it’s a password? Like zero-four-one-three? We haven’t seen any locks yet though, and also that would be way too easy.”

“How about we take a detour to Director Li’s office?” SuHe suggested wisely, seeing the horror game enthusiast among them pulled firmly into the mystery’s grasp. “If his office indeed repels ghosts as you say, then perhaps we could use some of the objects it has to offer, like sandalwood or prayer beads.”

Dr Lu lifted the sleeves of his white lab coat with a grin, revealing two hands weighed down with rows upon rows of prayer beads. “I swiped these from his office earlier, but there’s still a ton left in there. Care for some casual thievery?”

His lively demeanour eased QiLeren’s mind, tilting the balance in Dr Lu’s favour. Compared to XueYingying or SuHe, this doctor that he had met at the very beginning held more of his trust.

As it stands, no complaints were voiced about this suggestion and thus the party once again resumed their journey under the navigation of Dr Lu. “I’ve actually been wanting to go there for a while,” he chattered, “but every time I think about it I remember that we’d have to go past places like oncology and OB-GYN. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess. Ugh, why do I keep getting into situations like this?”

QiLeren trailed behind the three, carefully considering each of his companions.

Which one was it? SuHe and XueYingying’s stories were quite similar in that they both had hoards of ghosts to fight off with bagged blood before escaping, whereas Dr Lu had the advantage of locational familiarity. If he were to draw a conclusion from that alone, QiLeren’d be hard-pressed to choose anyone other than Dr Lu.

But there was also evidence like the prayer beads to think about, not to mention the fact that Dr Lu was leading them to the office at this very moment. Whether or not Director Li’s office could ward off ghosts was something that could be easily proven if need be; if this was a lie, then it’d be a really flimsy one.

No, Dr Lu was likely telling the truth, which left XueYingying and SuHe’s stories under scrutiny – seemingly thrilling but lacking the evidence to back it up. And the most important thing was…

QiLeren looked down at himself; loading the saves had erased any trace of the struggle he’d been in, whether it be blood from the bag he slashed open or from his own throat. The other two, however, similarly had no traces of blood on their bodies. XueYingying’s hair was wild with post-battle frenzy and faint bruises on her elbows and knees could be seen peeking out from beneath her scuffed clothes, but the same could not be said for SuHe.

He was as neat and put-together as he had always been, eyes calm as he conversed with Dr Lu. A small frown would periodically grace his expression but QiLeren couldn’t help but feel as if his poise was one that stood at odds with the situation.

SuHe was far too composed. From the moment they’d met there had been no panic, no terror; not even when he was attacked by ghosts or on the verge of falling off of the roof did he show any sign of alarm. In fact, QiLeren had been more panicked than he was when that happened. Reflecting upon it now, the lack of reaction was indeed strange.

On top of that, he had no skill cards. Though there was no way to know if everyone received a skill card, both he and Dr Lu got theirs at the beginning with XueYingying following suit right after the abortion-triggered achievement. Besides, how did a normal human survive for so long (and through waves of ghost attacks while separated) in such a dangerous environment without special skills? It was by no means impossible, but it was suspicious.

Come to think of it, has any of them seen card slots under his clothing?

If SuHe wasn’t a player… No, he was reading too much into this. The fact that SuHe spoke about missions and tutorial villages before is evidence enough of his identity as a player.

But that’s not quite right either, was it? What if there was a way for NPCs to gain access to information they shouldn’t have? What if ghosts could possess the corpse of a player and absorb their memories?

The more he thought about it, the worse QiLeren felt about the situation. He observed Dr Lu and SuHe with a troubled gaze, both of whom were walking ahead of him and engrossed in a conversation about eastern religions and their presence in horror movies. Dr Lu had vast experience with watching films, but what he lacked in experience SuHe more than made up for with knowledge.

As if sensing QiLeren’s uneasy stare, SuHe turned and nodded at his blank expression with a smile.

QiLeren ducked his head and averted his eyes from SuHe’s. In the starkly lit corridor, a blinking red light above them caught his eye. It was a common sight, easy to be overlooked – yet at this moment he could not feel anything other the heavy leaden weight of dread pooling in his gut.

How could they have forgotten that there was a serial killer prowling around the hospital?

Why was it that the serial killer managed ‘coincidentally’ run into so many victims despite them being spread out over two buildings? Because it wasn’t a coincidence! Dimly, QiLeren heard himself croak with a trembling voice:

“Have the security cameras here always been on?”