Chapter 25: 23

Zhou Lingling had gotten safely through her first year at the Unnatural Engineering University. Although this was the first time she has ever been involved in the Rule World, she has heard a lot of rumors about it.

One of those was that NPCs kill every night and that NPC killings were unnatural phenomenon that could not be overcome.

 

 

This was something that Zhou Lingling knew deeply.

Wang Duo’s death had been so odd; that way of dying is fundamentally impossible in the real world. And Qu Jialiang, he was a young man in his twenties; it was impossible that couldn’t have fought back against one limping old dorm manager. 

And lastly, there was Li Ying. After she was killed, she was still able stand rigidly in place until Zhou Lingling touched her and her body toppled to the ground.

 

What Zhou Lingling wanted wasn’t the comfort of Lin Yi’s “No, we will”. What she wanted was a certain answer.

What if they couldn’t hold on, did they still have some other way out?

If they didn’t even have some way out, how could they be talking about killing the 7-7 Monster?

 

But, things having already reached this point, Zhou Lingling knew as well that it was pointless to ask any more questions. She took a deep breath and kept quiet.

Lin Yi could see Zhou Lingling’s reluctance. He knew that Zhou Lingling wasn’t convinced. But, a tough fight was coming next and he didn’t want to see his teammates lose confidence.

“Senior Sister.”

 

Lin Yi said softly, “We’ll definitely be able to hold on. I’m not lying to you.” 

Saying so, Lin Yi took out a note from his pocket.

Qin Zhou, beside him, couldn’t help himself from saying, “Have you got some sort of pocket dimension, Little genius?”

“My master is Doraemon.” Lin Yi chuckled and then handed the note to Zhou Lingling, “Senior Sister, look.”

Zhou Lingling took it and opened the note. 

Qin Zhou also glanced at it. He thought that it was another clue that Lin Yi had picked up from some unknown corner but when he looked at it, he found that it was the note Lin Yi had written before.

Room 301, Zhou Lingling, cotton products.
Room 302, Li Ying, books.
Room 303, Cheng Yang, musical instruments.
Room 304, Lin Yi, metal canister.
Room 305, Qinzhou, clothes and cosmetics.
Room 308, Xu Xiazhi, Tobacco.
Room 309, Qu Jialiang, diving gear.
Room 310, Wang Duo, Food.

Lin Yi waited until Zhou Lingling had read through most of what was written. He then explained patiently: “The first night, Senior Wang Duo died and he was overfed to death. At breakfast the next morning, his stomach bulging and before he died, he vomitted a lot of food. His room was filled with food.”

“I had a close encounter with the Vase Girl last night and I could smell her.” Lin Yi said, “She smelled like a combination of verdigris and phosphorus. Senior Sister, do you know what verdigris is?” 

Zhou Lingling shook her head. Lin Yi said, “The main component of verdigris is basic copper carbonate. It’s also known as patina.” After speaking, he reminded Zhou Lingling, “Senior Sister, look at what’s in my room, Room 304.”

Room 304, Lin Yi, storage tank.

 

And in the storage tank were copper and gold coins.

“And phosphorus, chemical element No. 15, is used to make matches and firewords.” Lin Yi said, “Senior Sister, look at Room 308.” 

Room 308, Xu Xiazhi, Tobacco.

A thought flashed through Zhou Lingling’s mind. Though hazy and indistinct, she seemed to have caught hold of something. But in the end, she didn’t give voice to what she’d figured out.

Lin Yi continued in a good-natured manner, “When I looked outside, I saw something in the Vase Girl’s hand. Thinking on it now, it must have been a match since the window to Xu Xiazhi’s Room 308 was opened that day.”

He gave Zhou Lingling some time to think. Seeing that something had clicked for Zhou Lingling, he revealed the answer, “The way the Vase Girl kills us is based on the furnishings of the room.” 

Zhou Lingling was dazed and looked at Lin Yi in astonishment.

“The Vase Girl hates everyone here. Actually, I understand her. If I were made into a Vase Girl, I would also be seeking revenge. This is how she gets her revenge.” Lin Yi said: “If I fail to stop Vase girl from climbing in through the window, I will probably be covered in verdigris and die by heavy metal poisoning. If Xu Xiazhi fails to stop the Vase Girl, he’ll most likely be burned alive.”

After a moment’s pause, Lin Yi looked at Qin Zhou and said, “And Senior…”

The window of Qin Zhou’s Room 305 was also opened. The vase girl would come looking for Qin Zhou tonight. 

Lin Yi said, “Will be skinned by the Vase Girl.”

Afraid of scaring Zhou Lingling, he deliberately kept his voice low. But still, Zhou Lingling couldn’t help but shudder. “Ski-… Skin?”

Qin Zhou frowned at him. The vase girl would kill people according to the room furnishings. This was a matter they had already discussed. Only that Qin Zhou didn’t know when Lin Yi had figured out the killing methods.

Qin Zhou asked, “Why do you say that?” 

Lin Yi said, “When I had taken that look out of the window, not only was the Vase Girl holding something in her hand, I also saw her gesture at Senior for a long time.”

Qin Zhou had also taken a look at that time. The vase girl had indeed been gesturing at him.

Lin Yi said, “She was measuring your size.”

With that said, Lin Yi imitated the vase girl’s gestures. “Senior, are you familiar with these measurements?” 

How could Qin Zhou not be? When he had tore those clothes to serve as Lin Yi’s cover, he took a look at the clothes in the closet. The size of the clothes in the closet were exactly the size the Lin Yi was gesturing.

Room 305, Qin Zhou, clothes and cosmetics.

 

Qin Zhou smiled: “Little genius.”

Lin Yi took it as praise from Qin Zhou and he gave an embarassed smile. 

Zhou Lingling asked, “But…but does this have anything to do with whether we can hold on or not?”

“It does, it does.” Lin Yi quickly put away his smile and said, “Since the Vase Girl has designed a specific way to kill each of us, she won’t be killing us with one blow. The old dorm manager on the other hand…”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“We’re blocking the door now.” Lin Yi pointed to the things they’d pushed against the door. “Senior Sister, if you were the old dorm manager and you had a time limit of one night, wouldn’t you take down the easiest one first?”

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“Lf mjc.” Olc Tl rjlv, “Rba bcis mjc atf biv vbgw wjcjufg xlii atf 7-7 Zbcrafg, la mjc jirb vb rb klat fjrf.”

Zhou Lingling asked, “Why?”

Just as Lin Yi was about to answer, Qin Zhou, seeing that he’d been talking for too long, he answered for him, “Why is the 7-7 Monster targetting Little genius here? It’s because all this time, Little genius has been fighting against the Rules of Death that it has set. Do you think it can fight against the Rules of Death it has set itself?”

Qin Zhou knew this too and so he chose to stay in Room 304, following the Little genius to fight against a monster for the first time ever in his life. 

Zhou Lingling finally understood why they were so confident. She thanked Lin Yi, “Thank you, Lin Yi.”

She is not as smart as Lin Yi. Even if the clues were laid out in front of her, she wouldn’t be able to make the deeper connections.

She was very grateful to Lin Yi for being willng to take apart such a simple thing to explain to her in detail.

“You’re welcome, Senior Sister.” Lin Yi said, “Do you feel more confident now?” 

Zhou Lingling turned her tears into a smile. She was about to nod when—

Sha-sha-sha….

Zhou Lingling’s expression changed instatnly. “Is-is it the Vase Girl?”

Lin Yi: “No!” 

The sound hadn’t come from outside the window. Rather…

The door!

 

The old dorm manager had come looking for them first!

Lin Yi and Qin Zhou both rushed to the door at the same time, pushing against the table. 

It would be a lie to say that Zhou Lingling wasn’t scared. The confidence she had just built up with Lin Yi’s help collapsed in an instant. She looked at Lin Yi in panic. “Should-shouldn’t…the old dorm manager be looking for the 7-7 Monster?”

Neither Lin Yi nor Qin Zhou had time to answer her question. But as the rustling sound approached, Zhou Lingling figured out the answer herself.

They had to show the old dorm manager they weren’t easy pickings. They had to make him run up against a wall and then he’ll go to Room 303 to look for the 7-7 Monster.

After the strange rustling sound, the room grew quiet. 

Lin Yi held his breath and listened carefully. He then raised his eyes to look at Qin Zhou beside him and asked quietly, “Senior, what kind of weapon do you think would make a sound like that?”

The ‘sha-sha-sha’ couldn’t be footsteps. The old dorm manager limped and wouldn’t sound like that when walking. But it was for certain the old manager. It was already dark and only the old dorm manager wold be able to move around in the apartment building.

Which meant that the rustling sound could only be some kind of murder weapon. Probably because it was too big and heavy, the old dorm manager dragged it along instead of carrying it, just like how he dragged away the corpses.

Qin Zhou looked back at him. “Wouldn’t you know better?” 

The first time they met, Lin Yi had been carrying a suitcase filled with knives and bladed weapons.

Lin Yi thought for a moment and said, “None of the knives in suitcase sound like that.”

The ‘sha-sha’ sound reached the door of Room 304 and then stopped.

Qin Zhou said, “Process of elimination.” 

Lin Yi said, “Hammer?”

Qin Zhou said, “The entire weight of a hammer would be on its head. It wouldn’t sound like that.”

Lin thought for a while and said, “…An axe? The sharp side rubbing against the floor.”

Qin Zhou paused, then pulled Lin Yi back. 

Bam–

Outside their door, the old dorm manager brought down the axe against the door.

 

A gap instantly appeared on Room 304’s galvanized iron door.

The old door manager pulled the axe off the door, holding onto it with both hands. He then leaned in and looked through the gap. 

‘Click’

Thinking quick and moving fast, Lin Yi closed the lights.

The wardrobe blocking the door was already on its last legs after being subjected to the Vase Girl’s abuse. One of the cabinet legs had collapsed, making it so that it was no longer as high as the door, unable to block the sight of the old dorm manager peeping through the gap.

The power of the axe is too great. The old dorm manager was easily able to cleave open a pinky finger-width gap in the iron door. The wardrobe offered nothing more than psychological comfort. 

Room 304 was pitch black.

The only light came from that gap.

The lights in the corridor on the third floor were on and the dismal light pouring in through the crack. As soon as Lin Yi looked up, he saw a cloudy eye looking in.

The eyeball twitched in its socking, spying every inch of Room 304. 

None of the three people in the room dared to make a sound. There were silent for what seemed like a century before the eyes finally moved away from the gap.

Then there was the sound of “rustling” again. It didn’t last long though. Room 303, where the 7-7 Monster was, was right next to theirs.

“Senior, he went to look for the 7-7 Monster.” Lin Yi said.

“Is he gone?” Zhou Lingling asked in a low voice. 

The power behind that axe just now had given her a great scare. But afterwards, he just walked away?

“He’s gone.” Lin Yi said, “He’s not sure that you and Senior are here in Room 304.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Zhou gave him a knock on the head. “You’re courting death again.”

Lin Yi had dismantled the surveillance camera in Room 304. 

“I’m not…” Lin Yi held his head and said aggrievedly: “I just thought that if removing the surveillance camera was against the Accomodation Agreement, there wouldn’t have been any need to make the in-room cameras hidden ones.”

The old dorm manager had mentioned the ‘agreement’ himself indicating that he wasn’t afraid of them finding out there was an “Accommodation Agreement”. However, pinhole cameras are generally used for spying and he wouldn’t want to be found out by the people he was spying on.

 

The old dorm manager had only come to Room 304 because he couldn’t spot Qin Zhou and Zhou Lingling on any of his surveillance screen. Since he couldn’t see their silhouettes, naturally, he left.

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“Senior Sister, let’s just wait…” Lin Yi turned back to look at Zhou Lingling. His original intention was to comfort the frightened Zhou Lingling lest she scream and bring back the old dorm manager. 

But when he turned around, his words cut off.

Behind Zhou Lingling, the Vase Girl had her hand on the window sill. She noticed Lin Yi’s gaze and slowly raised her lips in a smile.

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Lingling asked.

“Nothing.” Lin Yi said, “Senior Sister, you’re so beautiful.” 

Zhou Lingling: “…”

No matter how stupid Zhou Lingling might be, she knew that Lin Yi wouldn’t be talking about her appearance at a time like this. She took a deep breath and while crying uncontrollably, she forced herself to reply, “You’ve got such good night vision. Nice of you to notice.”

Lin Yi said, relieving the atmosphere, “I have to get a more thorough look. Senior Sister, come closer and let me look closer, okay?”

Zhou Lingling said, “Okay.” 

As Zhou Lingling approached Lin Yi, Qin Zhou asked quietly behind Lin Yi, “She’s here?”

Lin Yi gave a soft “en”. The vase girl had an agreement with him that she wouldn’t come to Room 304 for three days. Now that the vase girl has came it could only be because she had been to Room 305 and not finding Qin Zhou, who had met the conditions for death, she has followed him here.

Lin Yi squeezed his hand into a fist. There was no movement from Room 303 and the 7-7 Rule World continued on.

He had no idea if it was because of the old dorm manager’s inefficiency or if something unexpected had really happened. 

Once Zhou Lingling approached him, Lin Yi pulled her behind him. He then looked up at the vase girl and found that the vase girl hung from the window but didn’t seem to mean to come in.

She pointed at Lin Yi. “Gulu… Gugu…”

Hearing this voice, Zhou Lingling’s hair stood on end.

Qin Zhou heard her as well. “Little genius, looks like she has something to say to you.” 

Lin Yi actually thought so too. He asked, “Do you want to see Wang Qingqiang?”

Hearing this name, the vase girl scratched the window angrily but still made no move to come in.

 

Lin Yi breathed a sigh of relief and said, “I’ll get him for you.”

The old dorm manager must have succeeded; otherwise, the vase girl would definitely have come in. She came to the window of Room 304 but Lin Yi promised her that he would bring Wang Qingqiang. 

Qin Zhou said, “Little genius, I’ll go with y-…”

Before he could even finish the word “you”, Lin Yi had already pushed aside the closet and opened the door.

Lin Yi quickly ran to Room 303. The door to Room 303 was open and there was no sign of damage. Just as Lin Yi speculated, the 7-7 Monster had accepted death after breaking the Rules of Death.

Monsters set the rules and enjoy them. 

But once Lin Yi reached Room 303, he stopped in his tracks.

In Room 303, Cheng Yang had fallen to the floor in a pool of blood. His body was constantly twisting and changing. Slowly, the 7-7 Monster possessing Cheng Yang’s was revealing its original appearance.

– The Vase Girl.

But unlike the vase girl, this vase girl was shrouded in black smoke. It stared fixedly at Lin Yi; anger simmered in the depths of her eyes, but there were no regrets. 

Qin Zhou, who had gone with him to Room 303, stopped. By the door, he said to Lin Yi, “The main line in a Rule World is related the Monster’s life. But the Monster doesn’t represent the person herself. It’s born of evil.”

The vase girl wanted revenge for her father’s cruel treatment. The other staff of Mystery House had also beat and scolded her at whim, calling her a monster.

These people put her up on display, using the money she earned to indulge in a life of pleasure.

She killed countless people and slowly, she begun to lose herself, forgetting that her original intention was simply revenge. She started killing people at will, killing people who led happy lives; killing people who were hale and hearty; killing normal, everyday people. 

Heaven knows how much she just wanted to be normal and ordinary.

Later, she couldn’t remember anything at all. Her only enjoyment was watching these people die in the Rule World she had made. This was her world; she was the creator of this world.

Alas, her only enjoyment was now destroyed as well.

She stared at Lin Yi and mournfully called his name, “Lin Yi—” 

The black smoke lingering around her was slowly dissipating and as it dissipated, Lin Yi felt the ground shaking under his feet.

The 7-7 Rule World was crumbling, their surroundings falling away like shards.

 

The quaking brought Lin Yi back to his senses. He anxiously asked Qin Zhou, “Senior, where’s the old dorm manager?”

Qin Zhou said, “With the 7-7 Monster gone, how can the old dorm manager still exist?” 

Lin Yi was momentarily stunned. He then ran back to Room 304 to see if the vase girl NPC was still there. Qin Zhou stopped him. “She’s gone.”

Lin Yi was immediately anxious. “I haven’t brought Wang Qingqiang to her yet.”

“I can’t believe you choose now to be struck stupid.” Qin Zhou said, “Isn’t it possible that she didn’t want to see Wang Qingqiang?”

Lin Yi: “The-then…what could that have been?” 

Qin Zhou: “She came to thank you.”

Lin Yi: “Thank me?”

Qin Zhou: “You destroyed her evil.”

As they were speaking, everything was falling like shards at their feet. A fiery white light seemed to rise in the distance. 

Qin Zhou tapped Lin Yi on the head: “Let’s go, Little genius.”

The white light soared like a rising sun, drowning them in an instant. The bare wisps of black smoke remaining was instantly swallowed. The light was so intense that Lin Yi couldn’t help but reach out and block his eyes.

After he dropped his hand, he fell silent.

They were back. 

He was back in that classroom.

There were only him and Qin Zhou inside.

The window that had drawn them into the 7-7 Rule World was still open, but gone now was the eerie red light, replaced with a view to the outside.

The sky was a little dark, but it wasn’t night yet. He could still see a corner of the campus from the window. 

Qin Zhou bent down to pick up the ‘August 29 – Student Union Patrol List’ that had fallen to the floor. He took out his mobile phone from his pocket, “Just five hours. Sure enough, it really has eaten a lot of people.”

He then looked back at Lin Yi. “What are you standing around for?”

 

Lin Yi looked around the classroom: “It-it’s over?”

Qin Zhou gave an ‘en’. “It’s over.” 

Lin Yi didn’t know why but he still felt like he was in a different world; like the floor under his feet wasn’t quite solid.

He delved into this feeling. He and even vaguely felt that it was similar to the mood of leaving home.

It wasn’t until he touched the MP4 player in his pocket that he felt this was all real.

He was back; back in the real world. 

“Senior.” Lin Yi asked, “Did Senior Sister also get back?”

Qin Zhou: “Yeah.”

Lin Yi asked, “Where’s Cheng Yang?”

Qin Zhou said, “He won while lying down. He’s probably standing around dumbfounded somewhere.” 

Lin Yi thought about it and asked, “What about Xu Xiazhi?”

Qin Zhou looked at him. “I don’t know.”

Lin Yi: “Oh.”

After a while, Qin Zhou said, “Is there something else you need?” 

Lin Yi shook his head. “No.”

Qin Zhou: “Then go and tidy up your dorm room. Standing around here, are you preparing to fulfill your promise?”

Lin Yi blushed instantly. “No no no, I’ll go now.”

After saying so, Lin Yi started heading out. Walking to the door, he looked back at Qin Zhou. “Senior.” 

Qin Zhou looked at him.

Lin Yi touched the door with his hand. “You could say that we’ve gone through a life-and-death situation together, right?”

 

Qin Zhou raised his eyebrows. He didn’t know why, but he was expecting something from Lin Yi, “I guess. So?”

Lin Yi shyly said: “Can I ask you for one thing?” 

He had used the honorific form of ‘you’. Qin Zhou thought about it and said, “What? I’ll hear it out first.”

Lin Yi: “Can I not pay the insurance?”

Qin Zhou: “…”

Lin Yi said: “I asked the Senior Sister from the student union and she said you were to one who imposed the rule about buying insurance. She said you’d need to give permission not to buy the insure. Senior, to be honest, my family is very poor and I can’t afford this amount.” 

Qin Zhou said, “We’ve only known each other for five hours. We’re not that familiar with each other.”

Lin Yi was aggrieved: “…Senior, you just admitted you’ve just admitted yourself that we’ve already gone through a life-and-death situation together. How can you change stances quicker than flipping a page in a book!”

“Sorry, that’s just that kind of person I am.” Qin Zhou threw Lin Yi’s campus rulebook to him and Lin Yi hurried to catch it.

Qin Zhou said, “Familiarize yourself with the campus rules and dont’ go courting disaster.” 

Lin Yi: “Oh.”

He still dawdled and didn’t leave. Qin Zhou glanced at him and said, “The insurance is to give your family a last bit of comfort. If unfortunately you don’t make it out of the Rule World, we’ll have to give your family this little bit of consolation.”

Lin Yi said nothing. He was silent for a while and said, “Senior, can I buy the cheapest insurance?”

Qin Zhou was amused by him. “Little genius, how poor are you?” 

Lin Yi showed Qin Zhou the balance on his phone and said indignantly, “Senior, it’s in the negative! My balance is in the negative. I can’t even afford to eat.”

The next second, Qin Zhou handed him a campus card. “Just use this.”

Lin Yi: “…I’m not looking to be a kept man.”

Qin Zhou snorted and said, feeling out of sorts, “You don’t want to be a kept man? That’s a pity, my card has no limit.” 

Lin Yi: “I want, I want. I want to.”

“Senior is so nice. Being a kept man is so good.”

 

Lin Yi happily left with the campus card and rulebook in hand.

It was getting dark and he still had to clean his dorm room. If he doesn’t clean up, he’ll have nowhere to sleep tonight. 

On the way to the student dormitory, Lin Yi, afraid that someone might rob him of this unlimited card, open the rulebook to hide it between its pages.

With a casual flip, it opened to the seventh page and he decided on a whim to read the seventh rule.

7-7 Rule: No rule.

Lin Yi was stunned. 

The campus rules was alive…

 

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