Lin Wan'er's face grew even paler, and she huddled close to Chen Xue. Zhao Kun swallowed hard, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. Only Li Ye, acting as if nothing had happened, took out a small folding stool from his bag, sat down, and resumed his great undertaking with the chips.
"Relax, standard procedure," he comforted them. "It's just like an escape room. The first step is always to lock the door and release the hounds... oh, I mean, release the ghosts."
Time ticked by in dead silence. Aside from the occasional crunch from Li Ye, the only sound was the frantic beating of their own hearts.
As the clock's hands slowly crept toward one, the shadow of the second rule loomed over them.
[Rule 2]: At one in the morning, if you hear knocking on the windows, do not turn around.
"Hey," Li Ye suddenly spoke up. "Let's play a game. How about 'Who's the Spy'?"
"You're in the mood for games?" Zhao Kun found the man utterly incomprehensible.
"Just to lighten the mood. If you stay tense for too long, you'll snap," Li Ye said with a grin. "Plus, it'll train our concentration and keep us from accidentally turning around."
As soon as he finished speaking.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The knocking on the window began without warning.
The sound was light, slow, with an eerie rhythm, like long fingernails scraping gently against glass. It came from behind them, from the row of windows completely covered by curtains.
Lin Wan'er instantly clapped a hand over her mouth, her body trembling like a leaf. Chen Xue froze, her eyes fixed forward. Zhao Kun was pinned to his spot, unable to move a muscle.
Tap. Tap. Tap...
The sound continued, unhurried, infinitely patient, as if it knew the people inside were enduring immense torment.
Li Ye's reaction, however, was beyond everyone's expectation. He quickly pulled a pair of massive noise-canceling headphones from his bag, put them on, closed his eyes, and began to sway gently to some non-existent beat, muttering to himself.
If one listened closely, he was humming: "...Call me an exhibitionist, I'm only dramatic 'cause I'm scared..."
He had perfectly insulated himself from the outside world, both physically and mentally, while strictly adhering to the "do not turn around" rule.
Lin Wan'er and Chen Xue stared, dumbfounded. Even Zhao Kun had a look of disbelief on his face. You could... do that?
The knocking continued for about five minutes before finally stopping.
Li Ye took off his headphones and let out a long breath. "Phew, it's finally gone. That friend was quite persistent. I should recommend them for The Voice. With that sense of rhythm, being a drummer would be a waste of talent."
The others: "..."
With him stirring things up like this, the tense atmosphere seemed to genuinely dissipate. Lin Wan'er's complexion even improved a little.
However, a new problem arose.
Zhao Kun clutched his stomach, his face turning a shade of green. "I... I need to use the restroom."
Everyone's expression instantly became grave.
[Rule 3]: The last stall in the restroom—never enter it.
"Well..." Li Ye stroked his chin, looking at Zhao Kun with sympathy. "Maybe you could hold it in? I have a plastic bag here, if you want to make do?"
"What do you take me for!" Zhao Kun retorted angrily. "I just need to pee! You can't die from holding in your pee! Besides, the rule just says not to enter the last stall. I can just use one of the front ones, right?"
He seemed to have a point. The rules of an instance often contained the path to survival. As long as you didn't break a taboo, you should be safe.
Li Ye shrugged. "Alright, good luck. Make sure you have enough toilet paper. I've got some here, friendly price, ten bucks a foot."
Zhao Kun was too angry to speak to him. He squeezed through the gap in the door blocked by the desk and disappeared into the pitch-black hallway. His footsteps quickly faded into the darkness.
Minutes ticked by. Five minutes, ten minutes... Zhao Kun hadn't returned.
Lin Wan'er asked worriedly, "Do you think... something happened to him?"
"Hard to say," Chen Xue frowned. "A place like a restroom is naturally heavy with Yin energy."
Li Ye, however, was studying his sticky notes. He drew a toilet next to Rule 3 and put a large 'X' through it.
"I think," Li Ye said suddenly, "the trap in the rules often isn't in the literal wording. It says 'never enter,' but that might not just mean your physical body."
"What do you mean?" Chen Xue asked.
"For example, does your gaze count as 'entering'? Does your voice count as 'entering'? Or even, if you're in a front stall, and the stream of your pee flows into the last stall... does that count as 'entering'?"
Li Ye's words sent a chill down the two girls' spines. They had never considered that a simple rule could have so many deadly interpretations.
Just then.
"AHHH—!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream erupted from the end of the hallway, filled with boundless fear and agony. The voice was unmistakably Zhao Kun's.
The scream stopped as abruptly as it began.
The hallway returned to a deathly silence, as if what they had just heard was a hallucination.
But they all knew. Zhao Kun was not coming back.