Among the initial thirty people, some were acquainted and not complete strangers.
Couples, the five individuals in Beom Seok's group, and Francesco's group, who were clearly familiar with one another, all displayed a level of mutual familiarity that surpassed that of mere acquaintances.
But now, almost none of them remain.
Apart from the couples, a distance had already formed between Beom Seok and the two band members. The three people on Francesco's side each pulled up a chair and sat down, maintaining a distance of about two meters.
Not to mention the others.
"Everyone, this is not a solution," Beom Seok broke the silence. "How about this: everyone clearly states whom they suspect in their hearts and we act together with more trust in each other. What do you say?"
"How? I think you are suspicious!" The white-collar worker immediately stood up excitedly. "Not only you but also those two people. Weren't you together yesterday? You are the most likely to have been replaced!"
"I don't deny that we slept in the same room, but Huang Peng died in the corridor, and anyone could have gone there," Beom Seok retorted immediately.
"That sounds nice, but who do you suspect?" The white-collar worker curled his lips in disbelief.
Beom Seok thought for a moment, and then said, "Albino—no, if there is anyone the substitute ghost could deceive more easily, it would be Rami."
"Hey! What do you mean?"
"I think if the substitute ghost told you privately that it had discovered something and asked you to come out, you would definitely go to see."
Rami immediately slammed the table. "Why would I bother with a guy I didn't even know before? That guy is your man, and he came to me after he died?"
"Oh? For example... if he said he found a secret passage to leave here or something, you really wouldn't go?"
"So I haven't heard of such a thing!" Rami roared, pointing at Francesco and saying, "Isn't this guy even more strange? So many people have died, yet a group of three of them are completely unharmed? Do you believe it? If I were that ghost, I would be hiding among them, and you're talking nonsense here!"
"Hey, Rami, what you said isn't right," Francesco quickly raised his hand. "We are lucky to be alive until now. We don't have anything special, and we've been managing the thankless job of electricity. We should speak with conscience."
"Conscience? Do ghosts have a conscience? You look like a hermit, so why should I believe you?" Rami bared his teeth, his eyes reddening.
"Calm down, Rami we are just guessing. I'm not angry when you say that," Francesco raised his hand and pressed down twice, then turned his head. "It's about that little girl, Anna. It's not that I have a problem with you, it's just that you know too much. If I were a ghost, I would have to kill you first."
Anna simply smiled after hearing that.
"I do know a lot, so how do you think the ghost can lure me out to meet it?"
"For example... how to open the door?"
Francesco's words changed Anna's expression.
"You spent the whole day yesterday looking for a secret passage. I think you were looking for a secret passage or something like that. I saw you taking tools from the warehouse. Since you found it but didn't rush in, does that mean you can't open the door?"
"Ha... That could indeed lure me out... But the probability is very small," Anna admitted. "It's not easy to open the door, but I pay attention to my own safety."
"Really?" Francesco pressed on. "But from the pattern of your actions these days, I can't see how much you pay attention to your own safety."
"It seems that Uncle Francesco has identified me?" Anna looked at Francesco with a smile.
"Little girl, don't be so agitated. I've said that I'm just raising doubts for everyone to discuss. You can't identify anyone," Francesco smiled slightly, crossed his hands, and leaned back calmly in his chair once again.
The atmosphere returned to dullness.
"Anna, who do you suspect?"
Beom Seok's question made Anna feel very uncomfortable.
Why should she waste time on such a meaningless topic?
"Except for Sister Ling Yan, I suspect everyone."
Anna stood up, turned around, and walked towards the warehouse.
"Everyone here makes me feel insecure. Sorry, I didn't open the door, so I have to keep trying. If you want to continue playing this kind of werewolf game, I'm sorry, I won't accompany you."
"Why are you running? Are you feeling guilty?"
Rami shouted immediately.
"Ghosts don't feel guilty. They will just have fun while trying to kill you all!" Anna left without looking back.
After she left, everyone looked at each other. Some people held their heads and lay on the table, while others sighed and shook their heads. However, the topic of who to suspect ended there.
"When Grace showed leadership, you suspected her, and she died," Ling Yan suddenly said.
"When Anna was actively exploring secrets, you suspected her, and she left."
"What do you want to say?" Rami asked, dissatisfied.
"Nothing, but are those opportunities that were originally possible slipping away from us again and again because of this internal struggle?" Ling Yan said, standing up.
"Ling Yan!" Noah said in a deep voice.
"Noah, I'm sorry. I think Anna is fine, and she must not die. I can't use my brain, but can't I protect the one among us who is willing to use his brain?"
Noah stared at Ling Yan seriously for a long time, and finally sighed.
"You... know what you want to do. Just do it."
However, there were still people who didn't know what to do.
"Leave the things," Rami stood up.
Ling Yan paused.
"That wooden sword—I know that Anna has a lot of good things on her, so I won't take that idea, but we don't have any defensive props. You should at least leave us something to fight back with."
Rami said convincingly, but everyone understood that it was Ling Yan who had really injured the ghost with the wooden sword, which made people jealous.
"What do you mean, Ramu?" Noah immediately stood up and stopped Rami.
Rami tilted his head. "Noah, stop pretending to be a saint. Your muscles are useless in front of ghosts. Do you dare to say that you have no idea about the sword in your heart?"
"Are you... looking for a fight?" Noah frowned and blocked Rami from chasing.
At this moment, with a clang, Ling Yan threw the wooden sword and its sheath on the table and said seriously, "He is not wrong, Noah, Uncle Wyatt. It's up to you to protect everyone from now on."
"Come back!"
Noah failed to stop Ling Yan this time. He lowered his head and picked up the wooden sword, revealing a somewhat hesitant look for the first time.
"The human heart cannot stand the test."
Anna walked towards the stairs, a hint of regret in her expression.
From the moment he entered the villa, the seeds of suspicion had taken root in everyone's heart, and today's mutual suspicion was just an outbreak. The substitute ghost's killing ability was not strong, but it was precisely because of its devastating blow to the team relationship that it manifested so clearly today.
"So, do you think what you said is true, Anna?"
Ling Yan followed about two meters behind. Putting down the wooden sword also meant that she had relinquished her responsibility. Her tone became a little more relaxed, and her usually calm expression also revealed a touch of nervousness.
"It's not what I think... Sister Ling Yan." Anna also knew that what she had said to Ling Yan this morning was a bit alarmist, but she had become increasingly confident in her judgment.
"Information, the ghost's killing methods, the killing sequence, the killing time... This series of things are not meaningless. Although I haven't found all the key points, I am very sure about the speculation regarding tomorrow's information."
"Why?"
"Shattered hope will make people more desperate... That's about it. The design of this competition game is so malicious that I have to speculate based on the worst-case scenario. Fortunately, there is also the collection of the blood of the sacred bird. When necessary, I will wake up Sister Grace."
"I understand, but... how do we get there?"
The two came to the second floor from another staircase at the end of the corridor. Anna took out two maps to compare the locations and then walked into a room.
"Yesterday I was trapped in a dead end. There is indeed a gap between the door and the surrounding 'walls', but if the 'door' is actually a wall, it is useless to look for a switch there. If I remember correctly, the passage below is actually sealed by metal plates. The real way... is to go down from above."
As she said this, Anna had already found the position just above the wall. Looking around, she immediately noticed that one of the dragon-shaped ornaments at the foot of the bed was much more worn than the one at the other corner.
"This is it."
She grabbed the dragon-shaped ornament and tested the force, found the direction, and began to twist it. After a full rotation, a tiny sound of a mechanism turning reached their ears, and the wooden floor close to the wall began to sink downwards, slowly revealing a hole large enough for a person to descend.
Anna smiled. There were still four kinds of collectibles that had not yet appeared. She already knew the effects of two of them. As long as she obtained them all, she could at least guarantee a survival probability of over 70%.
"We..."
At this time, Ling Yan suddenly reached out and grabbed Anna, extending the hand holding her mobile phone to take a picture of the dark opening. It revealed only a steep staircase.
"I'll go ahead. Be careful."
Anna was slightly stunned, then smiled.
"Yeah."
The smell of dust in the air indicated that no one had passed this way for a long time. The stairs descended steadily, even deeper than the basement. However, after the narrow initial section, the passage gradually widened, and the slope became less steep. Anna and Ling Yan held hands, using their mobile phones to illuminate the front, back, left, and right as they walked cautiously.
In the darkness, a low cry suddenly echoed.
Even though the two were brave, they were startled by the sudden sound!