CHAPTER 659: LITTLE SKELETON AND BLACK CAT (3)

The black cat did not stay for long; it had always come and gone as it pleased, never settling in one place.

After it saw that the little skeleton had finished the sausage, it immediately took its leave. "Alright, let me see what kind of food I can wheedle out from them. See you tomorrow!"

The little skeleton wanted to say that the black cat did not need to go through the trouble of bringing it food since it could not digest it anyway, but the black cat was too fast and agile. Before the little skeleton could even get a single word out, it had already leaped out of the broken window, its soft and graceful figure melting into the darkness.

Without the black cat, the little skeleton was once again left alone in the art room.

It remained still for a while before stumbling to its feet, clumsily picking up the pieces of bitten sausage on the floor and moving it into the cabinet—its dark hiding place.

Along the way, it couldn’t help but pause upon seeing the lone eyeball on the floor, but recalling what the black cat had said, the little skeleton eventually refrained from picking it up.

Over the next two days, the black cat visited intermittently, bringing a different food every single time like a mother bird carrying food for her chick.

More and more players continued to perish in this place—from the initial six, to four, and now down to two...

"This is the last time," the black cat suddenly remarked as the little skeleton was eating its sweet potato. "After tonight, the active period should end."

Hearing that, the little skeleton paused slightly.

Active period

—it referred to a stretch of time when a new batch of players entered this haunted school, which they collectively referred to as a ’Cycle’. After they left, the Cycle would enter a dormant state where everything was slowly restored to its original state, and the time would restart once more, preparing for the next batch of players.

Cycle, the little skeleton mused. What an apt name.

The world it lived in was indeed an unending and everlasting Cycle.

Time had no meaning for the little skeleton. When the Cycle entered the dormant state, it would black out and lose all consciousness, only to awaken once more when the Cycle restarted.

The little skeleton had gotten used to these changes and always treated it like it was going for a nap. So it did not understand why the black cat sounded so grim.

"I hate the restart progress," the black cat proceeded to complain, its little face wrinkled as if recalling some unpleasant memories. "The entire world goes still and quiet. All traces of life are erased. I can hear nothing except for my own breathing and heartbeat," it grumbled in a quiet voice, "It’s like I am the only one left in this world."

The little skeleton took a couple of seconds to process the information it had just heard before it noticed something amiss.

"You... no nap...?" it asked in halting words.

"Nap time? Is that what you call it?" The black cat scoffed and angrily sharpened its claws against the little skeleton’s hip bones, leaving faint white marks behind. Its glossy black fur bristled in agitation. "Stupid pile of bones. You’re so dull and dimwitted that it makes me wonder why I bother to spend time with you at all!"

The little skeleton did not mind the black cat’s act of violence, partly because it could feel no pain at all and partly because its mind had wandered elsewhere.

Come to think of it, the black cat was not always here from the start.

It had appeared suddenly one day, claiming that it had come from a place called the ’upper realm’ and that it was a ’high-level nightmare creature’. It also declared that the little skeleton was a rare ’low-level nightmare creature’ who happened to gain sentience, which could be considered a miracle.

The little skeleton could not understand most of what the feline had said, but it reckoned it had something to do with the fact that it could still retain its memories after each reset.

Was that why the black cat did not take naps like it did during the Cycle’s dormant state? Because it was a high-level nightmare creature?

Wouldn’t that be pitiful? Taking naps sounded quite good...

Driven by some odd sentiment, the little skeleton couldn’t resist patting the black cat’s head, only for the latter’s fur to explode in an instant. It swiped at the skeletal hand with its sharp claws, hissing furiously, "Don’t touch me with your dirty hand, idiot!"

***

The black cat’s prediction turned out to be accurate.

Out of the last two surviving players, only one managed to stay alive until the end. The little skeleton watched from the fifth floor window as the player dragged their injured body toward the bus which would bring them out of this place.

Beside it sat the black cat on the window sill, gazing in the same direction.

The little skeleton thought that the black cat would leave without a word like it usually did. But unexpectedly, it suddenly spoke,

"Have you ever wondered why you’re trapped in this damned place?"

"Why did you suddenly gain sentience one day and—"

"—do you want to leave here, like that player?"

Three questions spoken in succession, each was more shocking than the other. The little skeleton was stunned, and its nonexistent brain seemed to heat up from the rapid thoughts crossing its mind. Trapped? Am I trapped...? Well yes, you can say so, considering I can’t leave this place... but how am I supposed to know why I gained sentience? It’s not like I asked for it myself.

But in the end, it only voiced a single question that had shaken it the most:

"Why... leave...?"

The little skeleton had never considered leaving. It was almost like the word ’leave’ did not even exist in its vocabulary. For it, this haunted school, the art room on the fifth floor, and the bottom compartment of the cabinet was its whole world. The only place where it belonged.

But the black cat just presented it with a whole new possibility:

Do you want to leave this place?

B-But... where was the little skeleton even supposed to go?

It was such a soul-crushing thought, so much that the little skeleton felt its bones rattling. At that moment, for the first time ever, it seemed to sense the restrictions this Cycle had imposed on it, the invisible chains that tethered it to this place.

The black cat surprisingly did not get angry at its dumb question. It merely turned away with a soft harrumph, "Well, you can think of it yourself. Either way, we have all the time in the world."

Before it could think of a proper response, the little skeleton’s vision turned dark.

The dormant period had started, and the little skeleton took its sweet, sweet nap.

The next time it opened its eyes again, it found itself squeezed inside the familiar dark, narrow space—none other than its living place, the bottom compartment of the cabinet.

Outside, the sun had just begun to set, casting a dull orange glow over the art room. The atmosphere was as bleak and dreary as always. The broken window had been repaired, and the glass shards on the floor no longer existed. Gone was the messy room covered in shattered clay statues.

Everything had been reset, erased, and returned to their original position.

The faint hum of a bus approached from afar, carrying a new batch of players.

The little skeleton remained motionless in place, staring at the dark corner where it had placed the food brought to it by the black cat. But now, nothing was left—all traces had been completely and thoroughly wiped out. The ghostly green fires in its hollow eye sockets flickered dully, and if it still had flesh, its lips would have been tightly pursed.

A faint gloomy feeling arose in the little skeleton.

Although the food had gathered dust and some had even grown moldy, they still belonged to the little skeleton. And with all of them gone, it’s like something precious to it had been forcibly robbed away.

It seemed to understand now why the black cat hated the reset.