"Out of 43 workers, excluding Ji Li, who shot one person, six are dead, five taken away, and three missing.
Right now, on site, we only have 28 people!"
Tongguan frowned as he looked at the worker list recorded on the hotel phone.
He glanced at Yu Guo and Fang Shanyan beside him, then at Chang Nian, who had stayed behind him the whole time, and checked the time.
"It's been two hours and forty minutes since the mission began. Ji Li has been gone too long without contact. The lack of communication suggests he still has control over that area.
We've already tried the isolation theory several times before, but it never produced any results."
At this point, Tongguan still felt the mission was shrouded in mystery. In the preceding period, he had been testing the hypothesis Ji Li proposed, but it had yielded no effect.
First, five people were separated—none were harmed. Then three more were sent to test—again, no one died.
Finally, Tongguan hid with an employee away from the main group for half an hour, yet no ghost appeared.
This situation puzzled Tongguan.
From the start of the mission until now, apart from the first five minutes when someone died near him, there had been no casualties.
Such calmness only made him feel more uncertain.
It caused him to doubt the validity of the isolation theory. For him, the issue was no longer testing for a way to survive, but figuring out where the fatal path lay.
After all, only by knowing the path to death could he verify the path to survival.
If no one dies and everything seems calm, he fears that at the last moment, the situation might suddenly erupt.
At that point, he would have no strength left to fight back.
Once power was restored, he gathered Fang Shanyan and the others, preparing to probe the fatal path from another angle.
He looked at the bored Yu Guo beside him and asked quietly:
"Can you try the death simulation act again?"
Yu Guo had lost some patience after nearly three hours of waiting, so hearing there was something to do immediately perked him up.
"Sure, I already know the method."
Yu Guo was not one to hesitate. Almost as soon as Tongguan spoke, he put his hands to his head.
As expected, his limbs stiffened and went numb with the movement of his body, though his eyes still shone with life.
It was the first time Fang Shanyan had seen this, leaving him a little shocked and confused as he looked at Tongguan.
Tongguan, seeing that Yu Guo could indeed enter that strange simulated death state, nodded slightly and extended his hand to lay Yu Guo flat on the ground.
After a while, Yu Guo sprang back up, lively as ever.
"What are you doing this for?"
Tongguan put his own hands near his head but felt the same stiffness. After a brief attempt, he gave up.
"Looks like our staff all experience that strange effect when mimicking death."
Tongguan scanned the list on the phone, stopping at a man's name. He checked it and marked it with his finger.
Then he looked at the man, waved his hand, and said:
"Guan Ping? I need a favor from you."
He walked into the crowd while explaining to the few who followed:
"Didn't you find Yu Guo's earlier simulated death method rather strange?"
Yu Guo and Fang Shanyan exchanged a glance. Fang Shanyan pushed up his glasses and said:
"I only just heard about it, but something feels off.
The mission clearly states that the hotel will only attack us once all workers are dead.
So even if we risked our lives, we shouldn't encounter any ghosts."
Yu Guo hesitated a moment before explaining:
"But the mission details are somewhat vague. The idea that the workers would be killed first, then us, is only speculative."
Chang Nian checked the hotel phone and murmured quietly:
"No, it says that if the protection mission isn't completed within six hours, it will kill everyone.
So the mission line is already clearly defined—only if the protection fails will it kill us. How could we encounter an attack at this stage…
Eh?"
She trailed off, and both Yu Guo and Fang Shanyan sensed something was wrong.
Tongguan slowly turned to face the group, their faces all showing doubt, and said solemnly:
"You felt it too, right?"
Fang Shanyan nodded, his face dark.
"Yes. This mission information is full of loopholes and doesn't even make sense!"
Tongguan added:
"The hotel may provide vague conditions regarding time, location, and completion requirements, but that's where the ambiguity ends."
"I've never seen anything like this, where even the entire mission is ambiguous.
And the most important point is—the mission information actually uses the word *I*!"
Chang Nian felt as if struck by lightning. She immediately flipped through the emails on her phone.
At the bottom of the mission details, one line was clearly written:
*If protection mission is not completed within six hours, I will lift the restrictions on the ghosts and everyone will be killed without exception.*
"Who's ever seen a hotel mission use the word *I*? That's the most direct, subjective term.
The hotel has never used it like this—at least, I've never seen it."
Tongguan spoke with conviction, not even glancing at the phone, yet recited the mission information by heart.
Sweat appeared on Fang Shanyan's forehead. Trembling, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
A terrifying thought surged in his mind, but it was too incredible to be true, so he didn't dare verify it.
Yu Guo, however, was unbothered and said casually, "You mean the mission information we received might be wrong?"
Tongguan didn't look back, already walking toward the employee named Guan Ping.
"Drawing conclusions solely from the mission information seems too weak.
Perhaps the hotel deliberately released it this way, which is why we need to test it."
"How do we test it?"
Tongguan didn't answer. He placed the phone in Chang Nian's hand and approached the nervous Guan Ping.
With a warm smile, he lightly patted his shoulder:
"Don't worry. I'm not very familiar with the person who fired the shot earlier.
We've already tried many things, but now I need you to help me with one more task."
Tongguan's attitude was unusually gentle. This wasn't an act—he was being honest. These people were just characters arranged by the hotel, but they still had life. He might not go out of his way to save anyone, but he wouldn't intentionally harm them.
He had interacted with Guan Ping before. At that time, Guan Ping was in a bad mood and tried to resist, but Tongguan patiently communicated and calmed him down.
He had some understanding of him, and most of the people here had seen the strange corpse on the first-floor stairs.
Although no ghosts had killed anyone yet, they had begun to doubt the terrifying ghost Tongguan often mentioned.
Guan Ping clenched his teeth, unwilling but asked, "What do you want me to do?"
He assumed it would be like previous times, with Tongguan leading him to some secluded spot.
But this time, what Tongguan said gave him goosebumps.
"I want you to press your left hand on your right temple and hold your chin with your right hand, slowly twisting.
Just like the corpse at the staircase—start the simulation!
I will mimic death while maintaining the same posture as you."
Ignoring Guan Ping's surprised look, Tongguan turned to Fang Shanyan and quietly said:
"A living person simulating death actively invites the ghost.
Its complete absence so far leaves me no choice but this extreme measure.
But by acting simultaneously with Guan Ping, I can verify the ambiguity of the mission.
If the mission information is correct, I will fail to simulate death—at least, the last step will be invisibly blocked.
The mission clearly states that the workers die first.
First scenario: Guan Ping unconsciously breaks his own head, and I survive. The mission information is accurate, and we must find another way to progress.
Second scenario: Guan Ping and I die together. The mission information is completely wrong, contradicting its literal meaning.
Then we need to redefine the mission from a different perspective."
Chang Nian frowned. Tongguan's method seemed too extreme. Though they now knew the way to break the simulation—by knocking a person down—actively inviting the ghost was risky; a single mistake could mean death.
Yet Fang Shanyan and Yu Guo exchanged glances, silently approving the plan. They deemed it feasible.
Tongguan took a deep breath and looked at Guan Ping:
"Whether you want to or not, you must participate in this action.
You may stop at the last moment if you sense danger—but only at the final moment."
On the surface, Tongguan's plan seemed like a way to break the deadlock and verify his hypothesis.
But it contained a colossal error—arguably the most basic mistake imaginable.
He didn't have sufficient intelligence!
This stemmed from his subjective dislike of Ji Li and his underestimation of a one-star level mission, which kept him from letting Ji Li call and report the situation.
He had no idea that once possessed by ghost, there would be no way to survive.
You can read Eerie Overseer ahead by 60+ chapters ad-free and for free at htt ps://ravenarchives. com/book/eerie-overseer]. Bulk uploads are a bit tricky, so updates here might be irregular, but they'll keep coming.