LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 70: "Elysia Is Already Dead"
Raiden Mei, startled, began to question Number Four's statement.
"Wha—"
Bang!
A gunshot cut through the night. Li Mo's gun smoked.
"Sorry, my finger slipped, Number Three. Go to sleep. Get some rest. Goodnight." He addressed Number Three specifically, avoiding eye contact with anyone else.
While everyone was still reeling from the gunshot, Number Three quickly pulled Raiden Mei into her bed and hid under the covers.
Having identified the threat, Li Mo's plan was to use the Bizarre's rules against it, or at least stall for time. Number Five was a lost cause. Number Four was merely a manifestation; killing her wouldn't solve the problem and might make things worse. He'd wait until the second night.
Why a second night? The previous victims had all died in one night, but it likely took time. Number Four hadn't tried to question everyone, perhaps not even realizing she could. The only instant-kill rule was the room check, but even then, only those who responded were in danger. The Bizarre entity seemed to operate under the premise of eliminating all living occupants before moving on.
Li Mo pulled the covers over himself, intending to follow the final rule: rest well. So far, obeying the rules hadn't caused any harm. And knowing Number Four was the threat, he could sleep soundly.
1:00 AM. The room was silent. Everyone, including Li Mo, was asleep. Dreams offered a temporary escape from reality.
Scrape… scrape…
The sound of slippers against the floor broke the silence. A dark figure approached the door, wiping away the last line of the rules. It bit off half a finger, writing in fresh blood: [Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?] It seemed to be searching for someone.
The script grew more distorted. Blood dripped down the door and into the hallway.
The figure approached bed two. It was empty. Raiden Mei was under Li Mo's covers.
Morning arrived. Or rather, the dorm lights turned on, revealing another night. Li Mo woke up, instantly alert.
Something unexpected had happened. Number Five was alive. Number Four was sleeping peacefully. But Number One's bed was soaked in blood.
If Number One was dead, then Number Five was the problem, as she was Number One's upper bunkmate. But this contradicted Li Mo's deduction. He'd expected only Number Five to die.
The others woke up, the world outside still shrouded in darkness. An endless night.
"Is everyone awake?" Li Mo called out. It was the start of the second "day," but still night.
"Ugh…" Number Three rubbed her eyes. "Are we saved?"
"Not until we're all dead. Only the dead can leave." Li Mo rushed to Number One's bed. She was dead, cause unknown. No visible wounds, just a copious amount of blood.
"How… how did she die? She went to bed early, didn't answer the room check, didn't leave the room!" Number Three cried, glancing nervously at Number Five in the bunk above.
Number Five stretched casually, then launched into a detailed account of her alibi, confirming details only she would know.
"See? I told you everything. You can't suspect me. He said Number Four was the ghost! Nothing happened when we went to the bathroom. The hallway lights were on! If one of us was the ghost, wouldn't they have turned the lights off?"
Li Mo's eyes narrowed. "What did you just say?"
"Nothing happened when we went to the bathroom…"
"The next part."
"The hallway lights were on."
"..." Li Mo paused. "Are you sure?"
"Ask Number Four. I'm not lying." Number Five sounded confident.
Number Four nodded sleepily, her eyes still half-closed.
Li Mo understood. He opened the door, preparing to leave.
"Wait, Li Mo! You can't go alone!"
"I know. I need to confirm something. Don't follow me." He pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway, firmly closing it behind him.
Panic erupted in the room. Number Three paced frantically. She'd finally decided Li Mo was human, someone she could trust. Now what? How could she, an ordinary girl, outsmart a ghost?
Her phone buzzed. "Babe, I'm outside your dorm. There are so many guards with guns! What happened?"
"We're not dead yet," Number Three snapped. "But we will be soon!"
Li Mo walked down the hallway. Looking back, he saw only darkness. The room protected the living, keeping the ghost out. That's why it needed the room check, to identify its targets.
The hallway lights were out, from the perspective of someone inside the room.
Why had Number Four acted so strangely? Why hadn't Number Five died after breaking the rules? Why was Number One dead instead?
He had a theory.
The hallway was silent, oppressive. He walked towards the bathroom at the end, finding a second sheet of paper.
[The living and the dead see the world differently. The dead can deceive themselves into thinking they are alive, but the living cannot.]
[These are the rules for the dead:]
[Rule 1: Do not break the rules for the living. This allows you to maintain the illusion of life.]
[Rule 2: Room check is from 10:30 PM to 11:00 PM. When the dorm supervisor calls your name, answer "Here." She will record you as living, allowing you to continue the deception.]
[Rule 3: You may leave the room alone.]
[Finally, when you see these rules, you must pretend to be alive to survive. Shh, don't let anyone know you are dead. Use the rules to kill all the living, and no one will realize you are dead…]
Li Mo's eyes narrowed. He touched the paper. It extended, revealing another message: [It's hard to believe you're still alive.]
His theory was confirmed. There were rules for the living, inside the room. The dead, disguised as the living, didn't have to follow them.
Number Five had died when she left the room with the ghost. That's why she'd seen the hallway lights as working.
Number One had died because her upper bunkmate, Number Five, had become one of the dead. This was the only rule that resulted in instant death.
The dead could win by killing all the living. What about the living?
He remembered the last line of the living's rules: [I hope to see you all tomorrow morning.]
"The living win by identifying and expelling all the dead from the room."
"But am I still… living?" He hadn't reset, meaning he hadn't died. Yet he could see the rules for the dead. He suspected he was now one of them, in some form.
"Maybe I'm just a consciousness. I'll call MEI and find out what's happening outside."
He dialed MEI. Communication seemed unaffected by the separate space. The ghost could influence electronics, but not completely. As long as he could discern truth from falsehood, he was safe.
The sky outside was still dark. The endless night continued.
"MEI, it's Li Mo. I'm in the hallway outside room 303. What's happening out there?" He deliberately avoided asking her to come inside. If she was being manipulated, she might try to enter the room.
"Li Mo?" MEI sounded surprised. She was standing guard over his body. Officials and investigators were being held back.
"You sound surprised to hear from me."
"Yes. Because your phone is in my hand. I'm standing in the hallway outside room 303, next to your… body."
Li Mo froze. "Body?"
"Yes. You didn't reset. You collapsed in the hallway. Two other girls are in the same condition."
"There should be three bodies, besides me."
"You're right. But one is just a skeleton. Drained of blood."
"I see. I understand now. It's not a ghost, but a Bizarre phenomenon. MEI, kill me. In the real world. I can't deal with phenomena. I can only stall. Call Elysia."
"...Alright. Be careful."
MEI hung up, raising her gun. A single shot pierced Li Mo's heart.
In the hallway, Li Mo collapsed.
He woke up back in the dorm room, about to leave.
"As I thought. Resetting considers the room safe."
"Wait, Li Mo! You can't go alone!" Number Three called out.
He stepped back inside. "Right."
He walked towards Number Four and Number Five. He was alive again, but he knew the rules for the dead.
"Care to explain yourselves? Number Four, and Number Five. You're both dead." He leveled his gun at Number Four's forehead.
Number Three and Raiden Mei stared at him, stunned.
"What are you talking about? We're alive! Why are you cursing us?!" Number Four and Number Five stepped back.
"You're dead," Li Mo said bluntly. "Is it fun deceiving yourselves? Or do you want to kill the rest of us so you can 'live'?"
"We…"
"Li Mo, what's going on? Why are you saying they're dead? They're right here!" Number Three was confused.
"The rules in the room are for the living. The dead don't have to follow them. If the living break the rules, they become dead and see the dead's rules. Kill all the living, and you can 'live.'"
"I saw the rules for the dead. You don't have to hide anymore."
His words, as cold as his gun, stripped away their pretense. Their faces twisted into狰狞 masks.
"It's your fault! You lured it here! We wouldn't be dead if it weren't for you! What's wrong with wanting to live? Should we just die?"
Bang! Li Mo shot one of them.
"Of course you should die. Should I die instead? I don't have time for this." He flashed forward, shooting the other one in the head before she could react. They were just manifestations, easily dispatched.
Number Three and Raiden Mei stared at the bloody corpses, covering their mouths.
"Turn around. We'll be leaving this place soon."
"Now we wait," Li Mo said softly.
In the real world:
A pink-haired girl flitted through a clothing store, her face alight with joy.
"This one's cute! And this one! Hmm… maybe I should buy them all?"
"No, no. MEI will scold me. But MEI listens to him. I'll just act cute! He'll agree!"
"Shopkeeper! I'll take all of these!"
The "shopkeeper" wore a strange outfit: a silver mask, a black hooded cloak, and a black umbrella, even indoors. It observed the girl with glowing red eyes.
"Certainly, Miss Elysia," Gray Serpent said.
Elysia skipped out of the store, laden with bags, oblivious to Kevin watching her from a nearby rooftop.
"My lord…"
"Let's go."
"She…"
"She's not Elysia. She looks and acts like her. Same personality, same powers."
"But Elysia is dead. There can't be another." Kevin turned away. He'd checked countless world bubbles and parallel universes. In every one, Elysia had sacrificed herself for humanity. He couldn't explain why a living Elysia was here, in the real world.
"My lord, she mentioned MEI."
"...Keep observing."
Elysia continued her cheerful stroll, humming a tune, until MEI called.
"Sent you the address. Get back here."
Elysia sighed, glancing at her phone. "Alright, alright. My vacation's over." She emphasized her name, heading towards Chiba Academy.
"Finally decided to show up," MEI grumbled. "Deal with this. Li Mo's consciousness is trapped inside."
"Always so serious, MEI. Smile! You're so pretty when you smile. I lose motivation when you frown."
MEI rolled her eyes, kicking Elysia lightly. "Hurry up. Or I'm canceling your vacation."
"Hey! You can't do that…"
"Fine, fine. Leave it to Elysia!"
The surrounding crowd dispersed. Elysia's modern clothes transformed into a white, flowing gown. A crystal halo shimmered behind her. A giant manta ray materialized in the air. She raised her staff, bathed in radiant light.
"Shining brilliance, illuminate the earth!"
A blinding light erupted outside the isolated dorm room.
"Time to go," Li Mo said.
The locked-away laptop snapped open to the fifth page. Unlike the worn first page, this one was pristine, emitting a floral fragrance. Elegant script appeared:
[Elysia is already dead. Elysia is already dead.]
[Elysia is already dead. Elysia is already dead.]