The narrow corridor was suffocating.

Li Yibai lingered in the pitch-black corridor for a while. Eventually, unable to bear the terrifying darkness any longer, he bolted towards the far end.

Not long after his frantic escape from the terrifying corridor, one of the doors was suddenly pushed open a crack.

Meanwhile, Gu Mian was standing in the narrow stairwell, looking down at Guo Jimei, who was sitting on the floor, terrified. "It was clearly you trying to be spooky here, so why do you look like *I'm* the one who scared *you*?"

The hand that had reached out from the corner belonged to Guo Jimei.

Just as Gu Mian was staring at the top of her head, Guo Jimei, who was squatting on the ground, seemed to sense something and looked up. Her eyes met Gu Mian's pale face, illuminated by the faint flashlight beam.

A bloodcurdling scream then pierced the area.

Startled, Guo Jimei sat on the ground, staring up at Gu Mian with wide eyes. "Are you a ghost? You don't make any sound when you walk."

Gu Mian pulled the flashlight from his pocket. "If I were a ghost, you probably wouldn't be sitting here all safe and sound... Besides, shouldn't I be asking you that?"

He brightened the flashlight, shining the intense beam on Guo Jimei's face. She raised a hand to shield her eyes. "Don't shine it at me."

Gu Mian ignored her. "Of course, I need to get a good look at you. I need to see what kind of thing reaches out a pale hand from a dark little corner to grab someone's trouser cuff. If it's a ghost, shouldn't I turn tail and run?"

Knowing she was in the wrong, Guo Jimei didn't argue. After a moment of silence, she explained, "I was hiding here just now. I saw you pass by and wanted to call out to you."

Gu Mian thought for a moment, recalling the pale hand from earlier. "That's a rather unique way to get someone's attention."

"No..." Guo Jimei explained, "It's because... before you arrived, I saw something, and that's why I hid here."

Guo Jimei really sees a lot of things, Gu Mian mused, stroking his chin. During the day, she saw Yuan Qinghua turn into a ghost. Tonight, it seemed she'd seen something strange again, and even reached out with a pale hand to grab someone's trouser cuff.

Seeing Gu Mian's silence, Guo Jimei continued, "As soon as it struck eight o'clock tonight, everything went black before my eyes. In an instant, I was in this place. I've been here from the very beginning...

"Because it was so dark, I didn't dare move around. I didn't even dare to make my flashlight too bright.

"I originally wanted to survey the surroundings to see which way would be better to go, but before I could get a clear understanding, I heard someone approaching."

As she spoke, Guo Jimei frowned. Gu Mian's flashlight beam illuminated her face, allowing him to see her expression clearly in the darkness.

Guo Jimei looked grave, as if trying to recall something. "When I heard the sound, I was terrified, so I just hid here. It was too dark; I couldn't see my surroundings, and I didn't dare turn on a light. I only heard someone walking towards me."

Gu Mian listened quietly to Guo Jimei's words.

"I heard that person getting closer and closer, and finally, they walked straight through this corridor! I didn't dare make a sound... You know why I didn't dare, right?"

Encountering a teammate in a horror instance is like meeting an old friend in a foreign land. If things go well, the two might even greet each other with tears of joy.

But teammates in this instance aren't necessarily *real* teammates.

Gu Mian looked at Guo Jimei. "You said that in this place, with the lights off, you can't see anything. Yet that person was able to walk straight through this dark area. Only a ghost could do that, right?"

Guo Jimei nodded hurriedly. "Exactly! If you hadn't passed by with your flashlight on, I definitely wouldn't have dared to make a sound either."

That's what Guo Jimei thought.

But someone with a flashlight isn't necessarily trustworthy, Gu Mian mused. Ghost impersonators also exist among instance players, but these instance players don't possess any night-vision abilities. So, someone carrying a flashlight isn't necessarily human.

Gu Mian fiddled with the flashlight in his hand, then asked, "It was so dark; you surely don't know who that person passing by was, right?"

Guo Jimei nodded hesitantly. "I don't know... It was too dark; I couldn't see. I only heard that person pass by and then they never came back. That ghost went in the direction you were heading earlier. I was afraid it was still nearby, so I didn't dare make a sound. That's why I wanted to reach out and grab you."

Guo Jimei's earlier scream was definitely piercing enough. If the ghost had been nearby, it would have heard it long ago. There was no need for the two of them to be secretive now.

Gu Mian shone his flashlight in the direction he had been heading.

The flashlight beam cut through the darkness, revealing a somewhat indistinct walkway.

"That person went that way..." Gu Mian murmured to himself.

Could the person Guo Jimei saw be the coat stand I saw in the flickering corridor not long ago?

Of course, that "coat stand" could very well be the Guo Jimei in front of me.

Not everyone can play the wolf in sheep's clothing, but most people can play the sheep.

Guo Jimei hesitated before speaking. "I think... that person looked like Yuan Qinghua."

Here we go again.

Ever since the incident in the equipment room this morning, Guo Jimei had insisted it was Yuan Qinghua and hadn't budged an inch all day.

Gu Mian suggested a bad idea. "Since you didn't get a clear look, why don't we go over there and see?"

Guo Jimei's eyes widened in the flashlight beam. "But the ghost might still be there!"

Gu Mian said, "A ghost can only kill one person a night. As long as the two of us stay together, it won't dare to appear."

Hearing this, Guo Jimei nodded hesitantly but then said warily, "How do I know you're not a ghost? In a creepy place like this, you weren't even scared when a hand suddenly grabbed you, and you even came over to check on me..."

As Guo Jimei spoke, she backed away a few steps, her eyes filled with suspicion.

Gu Mian spread his hands. "I think the person squatting in a corner in this creepy place, reaching out a hand to grab someone's trouser cuff, is more suspicious."

Guo Jimei fell silent.

Ultimately, the two of them still went in the direction Guo Jimei said the person had gone.

This narrow stairwell was shorter than Gu Mian had expected, and they quickly reached its end.

"An elevator?" Gu Mian frowned, raising his flashlight to illuminate what was in front of him.

That's right, it was an elevator. And it appeared to be one that had been abandoned long ago.

The buttons and display panel beside the elevator were dark; Gu Mian pressed them several times, but there was no response.

The elevator doors were shrouded in a thick layer of dust, so thick that the seam between them was barely visible.

However, despite the thick dust on the doors, Gu Mian's sharp eyes noticed that there seemed to have originally been something on the upper part of the doors.

He raised his hand and wiped away some of the dust on the doors, revealing what was underneath.

It was a square sticker, about two fingers wide, with several large words written on it: "Elevator 4, Basement 1."

This sticker on the elevator door really resembled a classroom door sign.

Meanwhile, Guo Jimei, standing beside him, froze when she saw it. "This is... our school's basement?"