Kaleidoscope of Death

Chapter 112: An Unexpected Incident

Getting to see your people survive was the ideal outcome, no matter what method you had to use to ensure it—at least, that was the case for Lin Qiushi.

After that, they were all doomed to a sleepless night. The number of Hakobito inside the house had once again increased, and they still had no idea how they were meant to escape. To put the Hako Onna to rest, the easiest method was to use the Doll Mary on Hako Onna's bones, the Doll Mary being Hako Onna's favorite stuffed doll from back when she was alive. But the item that Xiao Mei had opened up the night before was one of Hako Onna's power cards, named "My Doll Mary," and though the names both included Doll Mary, the two items had completely opposite uses.

My Doll Mary was a power card that, in the game, made it so that the player with the Doll Mary item could not transfer its ownership to anyone else. Plus, the doll would keep crying and making noise, so the player would have to stack the noise discs twice. If the noise discs fell and made a sound, the Hako Onna could make a move. This power increased the speed of Hako Onna's movements and the frequency of her power usage.

If the player in possession of the Doll Mary was killed, then the items they possessed would too be buried. Players would lose that method of escaping from the mansion, and the difficulty of the game would once again increase.

Lin Qiushi had a faint guess as to why Ruan Nanzhu had told Sun Yuanzhou what he did. Ruan Nanzhu seemed to be using false intel to confirm some facts.

The next morning, there was obvious exhaustion on everybody's faces. The incident last night had clearly affected them.

Bright and early, Lin Qiushi had selected two chests inside their room and given them a listen. He'd confirmed there were no odd sounds inside before letting Ruan Nanzhu open one.

The chest was totally empty. Though there was no power card, there was also no item—a fairly fruitless effort.

Lin Qiushi gave the second chest to Liang Miye. Today was his turn to not eat and go hungry, and tomorrow would be Liang Miye's.

For two days and three nights, all Ruan Nanzhu had had to eat was a bowl of instant noodles. Though he hadn't said anything, he must be hungry. In the dining room, he also didn't speak much to the people around, just quietly sat and put food in his mouth.

Today was the third day in which those who did not open chests could not eat food. Most people had already crumbled under that intrusive, suffocating sense of starvation. They'd chosen chests to open and were vigorously chowing down at the sides of the dining table.

After eating his fill, Ruan Nanzhu set down what was in his hand and said, "Xiao Mei opened up a power card yesterday."

His gaze swept once around the table, but did not see Xiao Mei. Losing her lover had likely been a major shock to her; she hadn't even wanted to come to breakfast.

"What's the card?" Xuan Zihui asked.

"My Doll Mary," Ruan Nanzhu said. "It's a very important power card. Before I talk about it, I want to ask—has anybody here found a stuffed doll?"

Everyone in the group shook their heads, indicating that they had not seen this doll.

"Alright, then let me continue," Ruan Nanzhu said. "After the doll is found, if the Hako Onna uses this power, then the person in possession of the doll might need to open two chests the next day in order to eat. Of course, this is only my guess, and this power could be interpreted in some other way. Regardless, it won't be a good thing."

Inside the doors, things only ever got more difficult. There was nothing to make the game simpler.

"So what's the doll for?" someone asked.