Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 708 - 706: Elevator

13MARK, who lived on the eighth floor, and Omega, who lived on the first floor, received the same note: "Keep the door clean."

At the time, they were unaware that someone else had received the same note. However, following Bai Haozheng's earlier example, neither of them dared to neglect the task. They immediately started cleaning anything in their rooms that could be considered a door: bedroom doors, bathroom doors, cabinet doors, and even the inside and outside of their entry doors. They each had Special Skills or equipment that allowed them to clean the outside of the security doors through the narrow gaps.

Since the note did not specify a time, the two kept cleaning anything door-related until 03:28, when a haunting, deep voice echoed through their rooms.

"One less." This voice did not arise in a single room but resonated throughout all floors and rooms of the hotel.

Upon realizing this, the players who did not have a note for the round, as well as those who had already dealt with or temporarily resolved the strange events, instinctively rushed to their doors to look through their Cat's Eyes.

They all noticed the elevator light turn on—this indicated that someone, or something, had pressed the elevator button on a certain floor.

The elevator was idle on the first floor. Omega, on the first floor, was the first to see the elevator doors open through his Cat's Eye. Inside was an old woman in red, matching Danfei's description, silently laughing maniacally at him.

Soon after, the elevator doors closed and ascended to the eighth floor.

According to 13MARK on the eighth floor, the old woman in red did the same; during the brief moment the elevator doors were open, she just silently laughed maniacally at him.

Since there were indicator displays and lights above the elevator, all residents could see which floor the elevator had reached.

After ascending to the eighth floor, the elevator went up to the twelfth floor. It then ascended no further until it was time for the elevator to automatically respond and descend back to the first floor.

Meanwhile, the voice saying, "One less," echoed several times. Omega, on the first floor, had not stopped cleaning the doors since the elevator began its ascent.

He saw six tall, lean shadows wearing Bamboo Hats come from the right side of the corridor. They were murmuring, "One less," as they passed the door of Room 0108 and then entered the elevator area. As one of the figures in a Bamboo Hat left the corridor, it turned to glance at the door of Room 0108.

The other players reported similar experiences, all having seen figures in Bamboo Hats pass by their doors from either the left or right side of the corridor.

Only Black Holy Son and Bai Haozheng, on the thirteenth and fourteenth floors, had not seen any figures in Bamboo Hats.

"So, the old woman in red or those shadows in Bamboo Hats must have killed or taken away the Ghost of Hidden Eye," Bai Haozheng frowned. "Based on the paper from the Ghost of Hidden Eye, he had completed the sleep instruction required by the note and did not break 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 those shadows in Bamboo Hats?" Black Holy Son asked in a low voice. "The old woman in red has appeared for the third time now. On the first night, she inexplicably killed Kafei; on the second night, she killed Danfei; and on the third night, she appeared directly inside the elevator. According to the accommodation guide's rules, the elevator should be absolutely safe from 01:11 to 06:07. How could she appear inside the elevator?"

Li Ang shook his head and said dispassionately, "The hotel's accommodation rules only stated that the elevator would activate a safety protection system, and as long as residents entered the elevator, no entity could harm them. It did not say that anomalous entities couldn't enter the elevator. Possibly, anomalies can also enter the elevator but cannot harm the residents."

"One-way protection?" Liu Wu Dai nodded thoughtfully. "That guide also states that if the load exceeds two people, the elevator will no longer be safe. If necessary, the fire axe inside the elevator can be used to kill any intruders with malicious intent."

"In other words, residents can use force inside and are capable of killing anomalies with the fire axe—for players, this is akin to using skills and items."

"However, it's still not certain whether 'each elevator can only carry two sentient, living individuals per trip' includes anomalies or not."

"Could it be that the Ghost of Hidden Eye already violated a taboo without knowing it?" Wanli Fengdao thought for a moment and said, "His act of killing the woman in the kimono in his dream caused him to wake up prematurely, thereby violating the note that said, 'Please sleep.'"

The Ghost of Hidden Eye disappeared from Room 1208. The door remained open, and there were no signs of a struggle inside; the note and the paper with his statement were scattered on the floor. Because his account was so detailed and clear, the others could understand what had happened to him.

"That's unlikely." Li Ang shook his head. "At that time, the Stone Bridge in his dream was starting to collapse. By his estimate, if he delayed any longer, he would fall into the river filled with dead fish—he had heard Wanli Fengdao's description during the day and recognized the scene."

"He rushed forward, and just as his fingertips touched her neck, the neck of the woman in the kimono burst and broke, killing her instantly."

"She had no intention of resisting; it even seemed she had been waiting for someone to come and kill her. If the Ghost of Hidden Eye hadn't acted, the woman in the kimono would have fallen into the river anyway."

"Moreover, the woman in the kimono had said that if the Ghost of Hidden Eye didn't kill her, he would be trapped there forever. In such a situation, the Ghost of Hidden Eye had no choice. A note is unlikely to issue a command that guarantees death."

"Then how do you explain the appearance of the strange entities after the death of the woman in the kimono?" Omega asked in a low voice. "Those six figures in Bamboo Hats appeared shortly after the Ghost of Hidden Eye woke up."

"They kept repeating, 'One less.' Could the 'one' they were referring to be the woman in the kimono?"

Li Ang spread his hands. "Just as I said earlier, his account states that after he killed the woman in the kimono, he heard the System's reward notification. This means the System believes we can kill these strange entities in some way."

"This contradicts the hypothesis that 'the Ghost of Hidden Eye was killed by the Bamboo Hat Ghosts for this reason.'"

"There are three explanations," Black Holy Son said gravely. "First, the Bamboo Hat Ghosts indeed came because of the death of the woman in the kimono, and they killed the Ghost of Hidden Eye because he was the murderer."

"However, the Bamboo Hat Ghosts can also be killed. As long as one's combat power is strong enough, they can be eliminated. Second, the Bamboo Hat Ghosts were attracted by the old woman in red."

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

Black Holy Son turned to look at Omega and asked, "By the way, in the scene you saw, how did the old woman in red enter the elevator? Did she come from the lobby?"

"This..." After pondering for a moment, Omega responded truthfully, "I didn't notice."

"The room's soundproofing is very effective, so I didn't hear any footsteps from outside. It was only after the 'One less' voice sounded that I went to the door and looked through the Cat's Eye to see the corridor."

"At that time, the elevator doors were already open, and the old woman in red was inside."