The group continued to walk onward without turning back. They all had blank faces as they focused on the road ahead, not even caring about what just happened. It was an illusion, alright. It seemed to be created by a mysterious mist.
Only Shane knew that it was a mist from another dimension connected to the current horror realm. Could it be that there would be other realms here as well?
So how could they destroy this world without touching different realms?
Shane frowned.
The voice also echoed in the background as if it were coming through a speaker. It almost made it look like the creator of this horror game had installed cameras and speakers everywhere. If so, there must be a place for that person to handle things inside. He must have been keeping a keen eye on everyone else.
So where was this station? It could be that he had overlooked something.
So after thinking about this, he opened his mouth and asked his host. "What do you think about this world? We can't place the bombs anywhere."
"Maybe, we should try putting it up in the hall back there."
Shane also thought so, but he still felt something was wrong here. Since other places were also connected with different realms, it could be that the hall itself might also be in another dimension. He couldn't be completely sure of anything at this point.
Should he try? What if he ended up destroying another dimension?
Shane thought for a while. It wouldn't be too bad, would it? In any case, there wasn't a trace of another soul in either hall or the corridor. So he could safely say that it wouldn't harm him and his host even if he destroyed those places. He didn't want to trigger the main villain of this realm who had created this world.
But to bring out that villain and force him to act, he would have to put on a deliberate act. So he opened his mouth:
"Let's go back and put a bomb in the next realm."
Sam was surprised, but he agreed, "You're right. We should bring out the mouse."
Shane was so satisfied with his host this time that he relaxed on the empty ground and sighed. He wished if all the hosts were like this guy, but he knew it wasn't possible. Not every host would be able to understand his thinking as well as Sam.
Soon after that, he saw his host taking out one of the bombs available in the inventory as he planted it silently without anyone noticing. Then, the ten of them walked out of the corridor through a door at the dead end of the path. Nao was the first one to push open the door as she glanced back.
"Let's go. I hope you guys know how to survive the next round. We can't lose anyone else now. We're already nine members after the loss of Tiger."
The rest of them agreed as they started walking onward. Beyond the corridor, there was a room covered in black. The walls were dark as the same color round table was placed at the center. If it weren't for that brown line at the end of the table, they wouldn't have noticed it at all!
At the center of the table, there was a deck of cards placed neatly. Nao cautiously approached it as she narrowed her eyes at the cards. Just as she was about to open her mouth, she heard the voice speaking again:
"Welcome to this round. Oops, I have forgotten how many rounds we have played already, but it doesn't matter anymore. You're all going to die at the end of this horror game anyway. Hehehehe."
The voice didn't care about other people anymore as it mocked, "How ridiculous! You guys are worthy of being players. You can get frightened just when I laugh."
"Can we get to the point?!" Nao spoke through her gritted teeth.
She couldn't take it anymore after hearing the mocking sound. She just wanted to get out of this hell hole already!
Just as they were discussing, Sam suddenly asked, "Strange voice, I have a question to ask you."
"You guys were doing a great job. So, I'm in a good mood." The voice really seemed cheerful as it spoke next, "Ask away."
"Can you tell me why this world has so many realms attached? Not that I'm complaining, but you might end up getting affected the most if you continue your way…." Sam paused as if suddenly thinking of something and continued: "Don't answer the question if you have a suicidal tendency. So many realms…. You must have suffered a lot to gain that much credit to actually make this happen, right?"
The voice suddenly went silent. None of the available people had thought that this certain person would end up saying something like that out in the open. To be honest, none of them had even realized that there were several realms attached to the scene at all!
Nao was the first one to open her mouth and probed, "You know something?"
Sam nodded and shook his head. "I may or may not. Depending on your truthfulness."
In other words, Sam was even doubting the hosts available here. And what's up with the voice calling them 'players' like this? Were they in a game or something?
When Sam looked over at the deck of cards, he nodded. They really were in a game.
Soon enough, the voice spoke again, "Welcome to the card game! You have unlocked a special feature called card games because of how good you were previously! So as a gift, you all will get a chance to save yourself one more day! How good it must be to breathe for 24 hours more? Are you happy? Are you excited?"
None of them understood what the voice meant. What did it mean to be able to breathe for a day more?
They had a vague suspicion that they were about to die soon, but because they were doing 'good' enough, they were given a day more before finally killing them! The right of them froze. Except for Sam, everyone else was staring at the deck of cards at the table with pale faces.
Sam finally opened his mouth and asked, "You're cheating. I asked you something. Not only you didn't answer, but you also gave us multiple hints about something we don't even understand! Why are we here in the first place? Where did we come from? And what happened to our memories? Don't even try to ignore me this time."
He opened up his menu as he raised his chin. "If you ignore me anymore, I'll bomb up the corridor behind the door. So think about what you want to say the next time."
The voice went silent all over again. Nao glanced over at the young man as she glared at him the next moment.
"Are you mad?! Do you know you're playing with fire?"
"How do you know what is fire if you don't play with it for the first time?" Sam had an innocent expression of a teenager on his face. "And I'm not mad. I'm just fast-forwarding a few steps."
"What do you mean?"
Sam said nothing. What he was doing was stimulating the hidden enemy. If he or she were among them, that person would likely exhibit an unnatural expression. Even if that person was a good actor, he or she might do something to reveal evidence against them.
All he wanted was to make the villain panic.
It seemed he was getting succeeded. He didn't smile. Instead, he glanced over at the cards as he put another bomb above it and said boldly, "Okay, I know you want to kill us. So why don't I make things easy for you and commit a group suicide? I'll count to three. If you don't reveal yourself, I'll just end up destroying our own bodies along with these realms!
"One!"
"Two!"
"Wait!!!!!" Nao was the person who spoke first. "What the heck are you doing?! None of us want to die, you know! If you really want to die so much, just kill yourself at another place! Don't drag us in your tricks."
"Miss Nao," Sam suddenly turned to face her and smiled, "who gave you permission to become a leader of this small group? Why did you even bother leading us at all? You seem to be the most suspicious one among us!"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Nao's face turned black after being blamed.
She could see that other hosts were also starting to distance themselves from her. She gritted her teeth and glared at the teenager.
"Then what do you propose we do? Let ourselves die in dire straits?"
Sam was silent for a while as he looked over at others and smiled. "I was just kidding. Let us play cards, shall we?"
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