Chapter 8 The Missing One

The 13mArk on the eighth floor and Ω on the first floor received the same note: [Keep the door clean].

At the time, they didn't know that anyone else had the same note.

However, after the example of Bai Haozheng, the two dared not neglect it and immediately began cleaning anything in the room that could be considered a door.

Bedroom doors, bathroom doors, cabinet doors, and even the inside and outside of the front door – they both had special skills or equipment that allowed them to clean the outside of the security door through the narrow gap.

Since the note did not specify a time, the two continued to clean the doors.

Until 03:28, a clear and deep voice rang out in the room.

"One is missing."

The voice did not ring out in one particular room, but in all the floors and rooms of the hotel.

After confirming this, the players who didn't receive a note, and those who had solved or temporarily solved the anomalies, rushed to the door with tacit understanding, peering out through the peephole.

They all saw the elevator lights come on – meaning someone, or something, had pressed the elevator button on a certain floor.

The elevator was idle on the first floor.

Ω, who lived on the first floor, saw the elevator door open through the peephole first.

In the elevator was the old woman in red, exactly as Dan Fei described, silently laughing madly at him.

Soon, the elevator doors closed and went up to the eighth floor.

According to 13mArk, who lived on the eighth floor, the old woman in red was the same, just silently laughing madly at him in the gap when the elevator door opened.

Since there were indicator boards and lights above the elevator, residents on all floors could see which floor the elevator was on.

After rising to the eighth floor, the elevator went up to the twelfth floor, and then did not rise any further until the time for the elevator's automatic response arrived, and it descended back to the first floor.

During this period, the voice of "One is missing" rang out several times.

Ω, who lived on the first floor, did not stop cleaning the door after the elevator went up.

He saw six gaunt, tall shadows wearing bamboo hats walking from the right side of the corridor, constantly whispering "One is missing," passing in front of the door of 0108, and entering the elevator – when leaving the corridor, one of the figures in the bamboo hat turned its head and glanced at the door of room 0108.

The other players' descriptions were similar, they all saw figures in bamboo hats passing by the door from the left or right side of the corridor.

Only Hei Shengzi and Bai Haozheng on the thirteenth and fourteenth floors had not seen figures in bamboo hats.

"In other words, the old woman in red or those shadowy figures in bamboo hats killed or took away the Muk Yin no Guǐ."

Bai Haozheng frowned and said, "Judging from the paper of Muk Yin no Guǐ, he had completed the instruction to sleep on the note and did not violate any taboos.

He encountered the old woman in red and the figures in bamboo hats after waking up."

"What exactly are the old woman in red and the figures in bamboo hats?"

Hei Shengzi asked in a deep voice, "The old woman in red has appeared for the third time. On the first night, she inexplicably killed Ka Fei, on the second night, she killed Dan Fei, and on the third night, she appeared directly in the elevator.

According to the hotel's accommodation guide, the elevator is absolutely safe between 01:11 and 06:07.

How could she appear in the elevator?"

Li Ang shook his head and said indifferently, "The hotel's accommodation rules only state that the elevator will activate a safety protection system, and as long as a resident enters the elevator, no entity can harm him.

It doesn't say here that anomalous entities cannot enter the elevator.

It is possible that the anomalies can also enter the elevator, but cannot harm the residents."

"One-way protection?"

Liu Wudai nodded thoughtfully, "That guide also says that if the load exceeds two people, the elevator will no longer be safe, and the fire axe in the elevator can be used to kill malicious intruders if necessary.

In other words, residents can use force inside, and can use the fire axe to kill anomalies - which means that players can use skills and items.

But it is still not certain whether this 'each elevator can only carry two sentient, living individual lives at a time' includes anomalies."

"Could it be that Muk Yin no Guǐ had already violated a taboo, but he didn't know it?"

Wanli Fengdao thought for a while and said, "His act of killing the woman in the kimono in his dream caused him to wake up early, which violated the [Please Sleep] note."

Muk Yin no Guǐ disappeared in room 1208. The door remained open, and there were no traces of fighting inside. The note and the paper with the statement were lying on the floor.

Because he described it in such detail, others could know what happened to him.

"Unlikely."

Li Ang shook his head and said, "At that time, the stone bridge in his dream had already begun to collapse. According to his estimate, if he delayed any longer, he would fall into the river with dead fish floating in it - he had heard Wanli Fengdao's description during the day, and knew that scene.

He rushed forward and only touched the skin of the other party's neck with his fingertips, and the kimono woman's neck burst and broke, and she died instantly.

The other party had no intention of resisting at all, and was even waiting for someone to come and kill her - even if Muk Yin no Guǐ didn't do it, the kimono woman would fall into the river.

Moreover, the kimono woman also said that if Muk Yin no Guǐ didn't kill her, he would be trapped there forever.

In this case, Muk Yin no Guǐ had no choice.

The note is unlikely to issue a must-die instruction."

"Then how do you explain the appearance of the strange thing after the kimono woman died?"

Ω asked in a low voice, "Those six figures in bamboo hats appeared shortly after Muk Yin no Guǐ woke up.

They kept chanting 'One is missing,'

Could the 'one' here refer to the kimono woman?"

Li Ang spread his hands, "Like I said just now, in his description, he heard the system's reward prompt after killing the kimono woman.

That is to say, the system believes that we can kill the strange things in some way.

This is contrary to the hypothesis that 'Muk Yin no Guǐ killed the kimono woman, and then was killed by the bamboo hat ghosts for this reason.'"

"There are three explanations."

Hei Shengzi said in a deep voice, "One, the bamboo hat ghosts came because of the death of the kimono woman, and they killed Muk Yin no Guǐ because he was the murderer.

However, the bamboo hat ghosts can also be killed. As long as the combat power is strong enough, they can be eliminated.

Two, the bamboo hat ghosts were attracted by the old woman in red.

The old woman in red stayed on the eighth and twelfth floors, but 13mArk was not targeted for some reason..."

Hei Shengzi turned his head and looked at Ω and asked, "By the way, in the scene you saw, how did the old woman in red enter the elevator? Did she walk over from the lobby?"

"This..."

Omega thought for a while and answered truthfully, "I didn't notice.

The soundproofing of the room is very good, and I didn't hear footsteps outside.

It was after the voice of 'One is missing' appeared that I went to the door and saw the corridor scene through the peephole.

At that time, the elevator door was already open, and the old woman in red was in it."