"Keke..."

The sound from behind her still seemed to cling to her scalp, making her skin crawl.

It was a female voice, and it was impossible for Gu Mian to make such a sound.

I have to get out of here quickly!

But at this moment, Keke saw Chu Changge, in front of her, suddenly halt.

In the dark, Keke slightly opened her mouth. Why did he stop?

Before she could utter a sound, Chu Changge, who was in front of her, suddenly spun around. The flashlight in his hand also changed direction; its grim white beam swept back along the staircase, illuminating the source of the sound.

Keke hadn't expected Chu Changge to do such a thing and froze on the spot.

After turning around, Chu Changge didn't react much. He simply stared at the space behind her as if he saw something, or as if he didn't see anything at all. Seeing this, Keke also slightly turned her head to look behind her.

Just as she half-turned her head, she felt a hand land abruptly on her shoulder. Then, a voice identical to the one from earlier came to her ear, "Keke, what's wrong with you? You don't answer when I call you... And Meiren Chu, what's with that expression?"

What?

Keke turned her head towards the source of the sound.

She saw a short-haired girl about her own height standing before her. The girl appeared somewhat anxious, an expression mixed with a hint of terror.

Is she... a human?

Although the other party could call her by her name, Keke didn't recognize this girl. The girl was an acquaintance of "Xu Keke," not her—the player who had joined the instance partway through.

But Keke reacted quickly, giving an ambiguous answer, "We were just too scared... Why are you here too?"

They had been mysteriously brought to this place. Keke guessed that the girl in front of her was also one of the twelve people, similarly brought here inexplicably.

However, Keke didn't know the name of the girl before her.

At that moment, she suddenly felt Chu Changge drawing something on her back.

Keke instantly recognized it. Chu Changge was repeatedly tracing the character for "Moon" on her back.

Connecting this to the names of the twelve players, Keke immediately linked the person before her to Pan Yue.

That's it, Keke understood.

Looking at the names, she recognized five of the twelve people from her class. Excluding Gu Mian, Fatty, Chu Changge, 007, and Yue Nu—the five instance players—there were only two people among the twelve she didn't know: Li Wentao and Pan Yue.

The girl in front of her probably wasn't Li Wentao.

Pan Yue showed a curious expression, as if she found the two people before her rather strange. But she seemed to quickly accept the situation. "I also don't know why I'm in this ghostly place. I was at school, but in the blink of an eye, I was here..."

As she said this, Pan Yue's anxious expression turned a bit peculiar. "How come you guys have a flashlight?"

Hearing this, Keke quickly explained, "We found it here."

As she spoke, Keke tilted her head slightly to glance downwards. Gu Mian's voice hadn't been heard again; it seemed his chances of survival were slim.

Pan Yue, however, didn't seem to care much about the flashlight, nor did she notice Keke's subtle movements. With a frightened expression, she said, "I thought I was dreaming... It's pitch black all around. Nobody answered when I called out. I couldn't see anything and didn't dare to move... Then I saw a light over here, so I followed it and found this staircase. That's when I saw you."

Chu Changge looked down and indeed saw a door at the bottom of this section of the staircase. It seemed Pan Yue had come from there.

Pan Yue looked around, her shoulders hunched slightly. "Why are you guys here too? Did the same thing happen to you?"

Keke nodded. "Yes, we were also mysteriously transported to this place. Actually, there were five of us who came here together..."

"Five people?"

"That's right," Keke said. "Besides him and me, there were Gu Mian, Lin Qi, and Wang Pan. But all three of them vanished mysteriously on the way."

"How can that be!" Pan Yue's eyes widened. "Does that mean everyone here is..."

Chu Changge's voice came from behind Keke. "They're all people who played that game a week ago. That game isn't over; that's why it's replaying now in a different way. We are currently in that game, Close Your Eyes, and it's the ghosts' killing time."

Chu Changge spoke while staring intently at Pan Yue.

The identity of this person who appeared so suddenly is questionable. Is she a ghost or a civilian?

"That's impossible!" Pan Yue's voice suddenly rose, but then it quickly fell again as if she had remembered something. "I remember Zhang Pingfan telling me before... he was too scared to play this game..."

Zhang Pingfan? Chu Changge caught the name.

This name had been mentioned frequently since they entered the instance. At this stage, the mysteriously disappeared Zhang Pingfan was definitely the most suspicious person.

And according to the available information, Zhang Pingfan and Pan Yue seemed to have a good relationship.

Keke also realized this. She then asked, "What did he say?"

Pan Yue seemed somewhat dazed, likely because the pitch-black surroundings made her extremely uneasy.

With a worried expression, Pan Yue grabbed Keke's arm. "Zhang Pingfan... he mentioned before that he was too scared to participate, worried about dying. It was ridiculous! Do you remember? On the night we played the game, right after the identities were distributed, the classroom lights went out. Zhang Pingfan was the first one to run out. The next day, he even told me he forgot to get his identity slip and hadn't even glanced at it!"

Identity? Chu Changge frowned. If there were paper slips with identities written on them, things would be much simpler.

Keke narrowed her eyes. "So, did anyone secretly peek at Zhang Pingfan's Identity Plate?"

With some confusion, Pan Yue looked at Keke. "Do you also think our sudden appearance here is related to that game?"

"Not only that," Chu Changge said, taking a step down the stairs. "The killing has already begun. At this moment, anyone could die."

Pan Yue's face still showed disbelief. "Although we did appear here mysteriously, that game isn't as mystical as you say, is it?"

"It's true," Keke said. "I saw with my own eyes the other three people who came with us vanish right in front of me. Anyone who goes down the stairs disappears."

Pan Yue still didn't quite believe her. "Could it be that you just weren't paying attention and got separated from them?"

"No, really," Keke said, frowning. "They were right behind me. We were even holding hands, but in the next second, they were gone."

Pan Yue couldn't understand. "Perhaps they were behind you, and you just didn't notice when you got separated."

Keke was frustrated and speechless. Just as she was about to retort, the surrounding light suddenly vanished.

In an instant, the light from the flashlight completely disappeared from their sight.

Immediately following that was Pan Yue's scream.

"Ah!" Pan Yue abruptly grabbed Keke. "What's happening? What's wrong?"

Keke's hands trembled as she slowly took out her own flashlight and switched it on.

The light once again illuminated the area.

Only, this time, things were a bit different.

Chu Changge had disappeared.