"Even setting aside where Li Wentao's extra seventh vote came from, it's an extraordinary coincidence that this inexplicable seventh vote also happened to be cast for Li Wentao."

Chu Changge lifted his head. "So, are you suggesting that more than the eight of us entered those two buildings last night?"

Gu Mian nodded.

There was another person. A malicious and extraordinarily cautious individual, watching their every move from a dark corner, and ultimately joining them in deciding Li Wentao's fate.

"The ghost wouldn't hesitate to cast its vote for a civilian," Gu Mian continued. "If Yue Nu's vote wasn't cast for Li Wentao, then it's certain that Li Wentao's seventh vote came from one of Zhang Pingfan, Yuan Qinghua, or Guo Jimei. That is to say, among these three people…"

Gu Mian said, looking at Chu Changge, "At least one of them is a ghost."

And there was a strong possibility that this was the ghost who killed Fatty. The ghost hiding among these three might very well be the true ghost in this game. To hang someone as large as Fatty from a doorframe was something an ordinary person couldn't do; perhaps an instance player could. But Zhang Pingfan, Yuan Qinghua, and Guo Jimei—none of them were instance players. So, the real ghost was hidden among these three.

Chu Changge fell silent. "As you just said, the ghost wouldn't hesitate to vote for a civilian. So undoubtedly, there's a ghost hiding among the six of us who voted for Li Wentao."

However, four of these six people were instance players, which made the choice difficult.

At that moment, Chu Changge suddenly stopped walking. Gu Mian turned to look at him.

Chu Changge adjusted his glasses. "Gu Mian, with your capabilities, you ought to have seen last night that Li Wentao wasn't the ghost, yet you voted anyway."

Gu Mian chuckled. "Did you not see that Li Wentao wasn't the ghost either? But you also went along and voted."

The same went for 007. She had experienced many instances and was highly intelligent; she had even managed to see through the Fairy Tale City instance's conspiracy before being assimilated. However, her performance last night was also very strange. Without any suspicion or guessing, she voted for Li Wentao in the middle of the chaos. Then there was Keke. She usually appeared to be a timid and kind high school student. Since she had no unaccounted-for time, she was considered the least suspicious. However, Gu Mian clearly saw that when Li Wentao charged at Pan Yue last night, Keke deliberately tripped Pan Yue as she tried to escape, causing Pan Yue to fall to the ground and be caught by Li Wentao. Her behavior was extremely strange. All these instance players had ulterior motives; only Fatty was purely kind-hearted, so he was the first to die.

The preparatory bell rang through the academic building.

Gu Mian didn't linger but resumed walking upstairs.

Chu Changge followed closely behind.

Suddenly, Gu Mian, who was walking ahead, said, "By the way, there's something I need to ask."

"What?" Chu Changge's voice came from behind.

"Was that you I saw last night?"

Gu Mian was referring to seeing Chu Changge at the bottom of the opposite building the previous night.

He heard Chu Changge fall silent behind him for a few seconds before slowly uttering a single word.

"Yes."

So, Chu Changge had indeed seen him downstairs at that time but had left in a great hurry.

Because their conversation on the stairs had delayed them, Gu Mian and Chu Changge arrived at the classroom after the teacher had already started the lesson.

Perhaps because students often arrived late, the teacher didn't pay much attention, merely glancing at Gu Mian and Chu Changge before allowing them into the classroom.

When Gu Mian reached his seat, he saw his deskmate, Xu Xingcheng, looking at him nervously.

"What happened with you, Chu Changge, and Wang Pan? Why didn't you return to the dormitory yesterday? Wasn't Wang Pan with you?"

Xu Xingcheng looked extremely nervous, as if someone in his family was on their deathbed.

Gu Mian turned to look at him, paused for a moment, and then said, "I remember you asking me about the 'Close Your Eyes' game yesterday."

Xu Xingcheng's expression faltered, a guilty look on his face. "What about it? Did you remember who the ghost is?"

"No," Gu Mian said, shaking his head while looking at Xu Xingcheng. "We played a round last night."

"What?" Xu Xingcheng looked even more guilty, his mouth slightly agape. "You guys really played a round?"

They really played a round? Gu Mian caught the unusual undertone in this question; it was as if someone had already told Xu Xingcheng they had played the game last night.

Gu Mian calmly nodded. "Mm, last night Wang Pan was killed by the ghost."

After he said this, Xu Xingcheng's face twitched slightly. "Then...where is he?"

"Killed by the ghost."

"Stop joking around with me!"

"I'm not lying."

At this point, Xu Xingcheng stuttered, "Th-then… then you guys must've voted last night. Who got the most votes?"

Gu Mian looked at Xu Xingcheng. "It was Li Wentao."

Hearing this, Xu Xingcheng's face turned somewhat pale. "Then...then what happened to Li Wentao in the end?"

Gu Mian lowered his head. "The one with the most votes, naturally, gets eliminated."

"What does 'eliminated' mean?"

"Dead."

Just then, the teacher on the podium seemed to notice something was amiss in their corner.

"Xu Xingcheng, what's wrong with your face? Shouldn't you go to the infirmary?"

Xu Xingcheng, whose name had been called, quickly replied, "I'm fine, really..."

Gu Mian noticed that the teacher hadn't asked about Fatty, who was absent, as if it didn't matter at all.

What was going on? He found it strange.

Just then, Gu Mian suddenly heard Chu Changge's voice from behind. "Look at the back."

Hearing this, Gu Mian looked back.

He was sitting in the second-to-last row. Behind him, besides Chu Changge, was the rear blackboard.

He could now clearly see the writing on it: "Wang Pan – Three days' leave."

Fatty had died last night; he absolutely couldn't have requested leave. So, was this… the ghost's doing?

Xu Xingcheng, beside him, seemed completely oblivious to the message on the rear blackboard, solely focused on breaking out in a cold sweat.

Afterward, no matter how Gu Mian tried to subtly probe, Xu Xingcheng kept his mouth shut.

Chu Changge also noticed something was amiss with Xu Xingcheng; the light glinting off his glasses also occasionally shifted towards Xu Xingcheng's direction.

The first class passed very quickly.

Although Gu Mian wanted to ask Xu Xingcheng more, he had already arranged to meet with 007 and the others during the first break, so he had to leave.