"Donghui? You okay?" Xiaobai moved to help me up.

I glanced at the corpse on the floor, then at the cleaver in his hand, and shoved him away in terror.

"Huh?" Xiaobai could only stare helplessly after I pushed him off.

"See? I told you he’d just get in the way. He’s about to piss himself," Moxiaoi sneered, leaning against the wall.

"Weren’t you practically pissing yourself last time too?" Xiaobai shot back.

Moxiaoi didn’t argue. Instead, she shuddered, covered her face with her hands, and whispered in a trembling voice, "You have no idea how terrifying that thing was..."

"Enough. Let’s figure out what to do next," I cut in.

"What’s there to figure? Claim the ‘time’ rewards and move on," Moxiaoi said coldly.

"Not that. How do we comfort Donghui?" Xiaobai scratched his head.

"..." Moxiaoi fell silent.

"Uh... Donghui? Donghui? Can you stand?" He reached for me again.

This time, I didn’t push him away. Numb and hollow-eyed, I let him pull me up, turning my head to avoid the corpse.

"What about him?" Xiaobai pointed at the office worker writhing on the floor.

"Please don’t kill me..." the man begged.

"Kill him," Moxiaoi ordered flatly.

"You do it?" Xiaobai asked.

"..." Moxiaoi shot him an exasperated glare. She stepped forward, pressing her crossbow against the man’s temple.

"Don’t kill me! Please!" he sobbed.

But Moxiaoi didn’t pull the trigger. She glared at the pleading man with disgust, then looked up at me. Her crossbow lowered. She strode over and yanked my collar.

"What are you doing?" I gasped.

"You do it!" She shoved me to my knees, then jammed the crossbow back against the man’s head.

"..." I couldn’t speak.

"Hey! What the hell!" Li Xiaobai roared, lunging to push Moxiaoi away.

"If he can’t do this, he gets no share of the ‘time’ rewards. And I’ll eliminate him right now. It’s better for him, for you, for all of us. Someone this naive won’t survive long anyway—he’ll just get others killed later! Dying cleanly now is better than suffering later!" Moxiaoi shouted.

"That’s too far. I’ll do it," Xiaobai said quietly. Cleaver in hand, he stepped forward and gently pushed Moxiaoi aside.

"Don’t interfere!" Moxiaoi snarled.

Kneeling there, my mind went blank. Moxiaoi’s words left me lost. And Xiaobai—even while defending me, his tone carried agreement with her. He wanted to help, but deep down, he saw me as a burden too.

"Enough. No infighting." Xiaobai pulled Moxiaoi back, his voice low but commanding.

"He’s not even half a teammate!"

"I’ll... do it," I said.

"Uh... Donghui, you don’t have to—" Xiaobai started, shocked.

"..." Moxiaoi said nothing, just watched me coldly.

"I said I’ll do it!" I yelled, pulling out the scissors I’d picked up earlier.

"Donghui..."

Moxiaoi shook off Xiaobai’s arm and pressed the crossbow to the man’s skull again.

I straddled the office worker’s torso and raised the scissors high...

"Don’t kill me! Please!" he screamed.

"I’m sorry..." Tears spilled down my cheeks.

Gripping the scissors tightly, I plunged them into his heart!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" His shriek cut off abruptly.

"Hah... hah... hah..." The only sound left was my own broken laughter—or was it crying? The others just watched in silence.

We left the ward and reached a fork under flickering lights.

We’d killed all three. Split the ‘time’ rewards evenly—each got one hour for the kills plus one bonus hour for teamwork. Two hours total.

My wristband showed 3 hours and 15 minutes remaining. Game time left: 23 hours and 15 minutes.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!* Three muffled explosions suddenly echoed behind us. Blood sprayed from the ward doorway—quieter than I’d expected.

"That’s the rule—corpses explode after one minute, right?" Xiaobai asked.

"Wanna go back and check?" Moxiaoi smirked.

"No thanks... Donghui, you okay?" He turned to me.

I didn’t answer. My eyes were unfocused, my mind empty. I clutched the bloodstained scissors and followed Xiaobai silently.

"Leave him. He’s already calculating. For a first kill, this reaction’s impressive. He’ll snap out of it soon," Moxiaoi urged us forward.

"I was a first-timer too..."

"Shut up, freak. Move."

"Donghui, stay close. Don’t get lost."

"..." I could only manage a faint "Yeah."

"..." Xiaobai sighed. "So... which way?"

"Opposite of where that group went. Their path’s probably picked clean," Moxiaoi said.

"This way then... ‘Picked clean’? Did this game rot your brain?"

Li Xiaobai led us right. Flashlight in his left hand, cleaver in his right—he moved faster now, no longer cautious. The bandages on his body were stark against his resolve.

By now...

My head had cleared a little. I finally grasped what I’d done...

I’d killed someone.

An innocent person. His dying face still flashed in my mind. Just remembering the scissors sinking into flesh made my hands tremble.

*Kill or be killed. That’s this game’s rule.*

I calmed down faster than I expected. Beyond the initial guilt, I realized—I’d already adapted.

A strange feeling stirred in my chest. Guilt? Nausea? Dread? Moral horror? Fear? Regret?

*Excitement.* I hated admitting it.

My hands stilled. I flipped the scissors around, gripping the blades.

Moxiaoi saw it. Her cold eyes shifted. *Hmph. I had nightmares for a month after my first kill.*

"Freak," she muttered under her breath.

We neared another staircase corner.

"Blood," Xiaobai stopped abruptly, sweeping his flashlight ahead. A fresh trail led around the bend—like a body had been dragged. The metallic stench of blood hung thick in the air.

"Do you sense anyone?" Moxiaoi asked Xiaobai coldly.

*Why does she trust his ‘intuition’ so much?* I wondered. *Do they have history?*

"Too many wounds... my ‘ability’... intuition’s glitchy," he said, gesturing at his bandages.

"..." Moxiaoi stayed silent.

"..." So did I. *Ability? Seriously?*

"Let’s go." He turned the corner.

The flashlight beam hit something. His face drained of color. He stumbled back, horrified. "DON’T LOOK!" he yelled.

Too late. I’d already peeked...

A grotesque corpse. A woman’s torso lay centered in the hallway. Her severed limbs stood upright around it—feet where hands should be, hands where feet should be. Her head rested on her abdomen, the collar bomb perched like a crown atop her skull.

Like some occult ritual. The ‘time’ rewards still glowed on her wristband—no explosion yet.

*"Take it. It’s yours."* Blood-stained words covered the wall.

And beyond—the stairwell reeked of even thicker blood. This was just the appetizer.

"*Cough! Cough!*" Moxiaoi paled, whirling away to lean against the wall, coughing violently.

Xiaobai covered my eyes.

"No need. I saw it," I said, fighting nausea.

"Don’t look." My tone must have startled him—he kept his hand over my eyes and pulled me back around the corner.

"*Cough!* Who the hell did this?" Moxiaoi gasped between coughs.

"..." I had no answer.

"Let’s go around," Xiaobai said grimly.

I’d changed...

Even the nausea in my chest had already faded...