"So what do we do now? The initiative is in their hands; do we just have to do as they say?"
The thought of her fate being held in someone else's hands sent a shiver down Yukino's spine, reminding her of her own family situation.
"Wait, I need to think this through properly."
Bai Yuze's mind raced; he still felt there was something fishy about all of this.
Just then, he saw the wound on his wrist and subconsciously recalled the bruises and burn marks Yukino had mentioned…
Suddenly, Bai Yuze understood. He quickly questioned the anomaly outside the door.
"Hey, little guy, can you change into other people's appearances?"
"Yeah, why?"
Bai Yuze gave a mysterious smile.
"Want to get out of here?"
——————
"Are you sure you can call the Front Desk just by inputting a random string of numbers?"
Yukino knew Bai Yuze wouldn't do something without confidence, but to just input a random string of numbers and claim it was the Front Desk's phone number… how was that different from winning the lottery?
"Absolutely. Remember the rules said to call for help when the water from the ceiling fills the entire hallway? The only one who can help us in this private residence is the guy in Room 108. So no matter what number I dial, it will only connect to the guy in Room 108."
"I remember its premise was the water on the first floor… Does that mean the note Yui Yuigahama and I saw was half-true and half-false?"
"Exactly. But for now, we only need to remember this one rule. The others are either wrong or we don't have time to verify them."
"So you've figured out a way to deal with that guy?"
Yukino looked at the dog beside her… Yes, the dog was the anomaly transformed.
During her time with Bai Yuze, her thinking had been forcibly elevated. She seriously suspected whether Bai Yuze intended for the anomaly to stab that guy's gallbladder when he wasn't looking; otherwise, why would it transform into a dog for no reason? Was it specifically to annoy her?
"Yes, I've prepared a good show for him."
Bai Yuze chuckled, then pressed the dial button.
The phone rang for a while, then connected.
"Hello?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Bai Yuze first cleared his throat, then solemnly said.
"True true false false, false false true true, guess who I am?"
"Speak your mind, say what you need to! You got your words wrong."
"Front Desk, a little help, please—the water in this basement is almost chest-high, and we and your dog are about to die here."
"Chest-high? Shouldn't you have died a long time ago then?"
"Just play along, okay—I'm fighting an anomaly right now, come save me quickly."
"How exactly do I need to play along?"
"Don't bring any useless tools—just come down as fast as possible and pull us and your dog out."
"How can I save you without tools?"
"To prevent the dog from getting scared and running off—this is for your own good too."
"Alright, I understand."
The call was disconnected.
"What? Will he come down?"
Yukino was a little worried, but Bai Yuze didn't give a clear answer, instead praying internally that his request would be answered.
——————
Upstairs, after the Front Desk hung up the phone, he first lit a candle, but strangely enough, the lights in his room were already on.
Even more miraculously, the flame of the burning candle was blue! As the candle burned, a natural barrier formed within Room 108.
After doing all this, the Front Desk took out a piece of paper, a marker, and a photograph.
He first wrote the eight characters Bai Yuze had said, "True true false false, false false true true," at the top.
Then he began to slowly recall what Bai Yuze had said.
"Every sentence pauses… Does that mean it's a division? So, according to this…"
The Front Desk wrote down Bai Yuze's words verbatim on the paper, then drew dividing lines at the pauses. Combining this with the true… false… true… false… false… false… true… true… intervals, he got…
[Front Desk, a little help, please. Play along, okay? To prevent the dog from getting scared and running off, this is for your own good too.] (True)
"My dog doesn't get scared and run off, so is this referring to other people?"
The Front Desk then looked at the false statements, interpreting them in reverse.
"Is the current situation still safe? Since he told me not to bring those so-called 'useless' tools… Does that mean he wants me to bring 'anomalous artifacts'? And to drag out the pace as much as possible? This kid is quite interesting."
The Front Desk chuckled. At this moment, the Front Desk wasn't wearing those strange clothes. The camera zoomed out, revealing a muscular human holding a photograph, and in the photograph was a familiar figure…
"Yang Peng… I think I'm close to finding you…"
Bai Yuze closed his eyes tightly, constantly reviewing his plan in his mind for any flaws.
Yang Peng had always guided the three of them as a "veteran," and the hints he gave helped them overcome one difficulty after another.
This kindness had filled the three with trust in Yang Peng, but now that trust was about to collapse…
Because Bai Yuze had discovered a secret: Yang Peng's "hints" had a flaw.
If one only looked at the first half of the sentence, "Please disobey the Front Desk," there wouldn't be any problem. But the key was the second half, "You've got the wrong person."
Bai Yuze didn't react at first, but after realizing it later, he broke out in a cold sweat.
How did Yang Peng know he had the wrong person? If he had just said, "Please disobey the Front Desk," it would at least mean the Front Desk was on his opposing side. But Yang Peng's phrase, "You've got the wrong person," revealed another meaning: there are good Front Desks and bad Front Desks.
So how could someone who had already left… or died… know that he had the wrong person?
This meant Yang Peng was still in this private residence. If he was here, why didn't he accompany the three to find a way out?
It wasn't until Bai Yuze saw the wound on his wrist and recalled the marks Yukino had mentioned that he understood why Yang Peng didn't meet them.
Yukino and Yui Yuigahama were both victims, Bai Yuze was the suicide, and for this script to be complete, three more roles were needed.
The perpetrator, the silent one, and the witnesses. Since there were two victims, there were also two witnesses, except one witness became the silent one.
The silent one was the male corpse in Room 102, as only a corpse would remain silent forever.
And the other witness was the Front Desk who had been helping them. Therefore, the identity of the "perpetrator" naturally fell to Yang Peng.
This was also why Yang Peng didn't meet them.
Witnesses and suicides combined become exposers. Since he, as a suicide, could enter the loop, Yang Peng painstakingly left many notes, all to gradually build the three's trust in him. His ultimate goal was to make the three completely trust him and help him kill the witness….