The graduates became more agitated with 30 corpses lying in front of them. Ally quickly approached and like what they did to the registrar, their group examined the bodies that are covered in their own blood.
"It's different," Noah said after examining the wound on the man's body from the first pair that got out of the cubicles. "The bullet came from a longer firing distance."
"Still, it's one of us," Vince who just then approached the group again with his partner whom he also did not know, noted.
"The doors and windows are closed. There are no holes," Ally added. "It's definitely one of us."
"A-Are there many of them?"
Everyone turned when they heard an unfamiliar voice ask. They all looked at Vince's partner.
"Uh... who are you?" Hailey couldn't help asking.
"Lia," the young lady answered sparingly, seeming a little shy on their group.
"To answer your question, no," Ally said in a direct tone which made Lia and the others shift their gazes to her. "None of them were shot at the same time."
For the first time since morning, Vince frowned because of what Ally said. "That's not enough reason to conclude that we only have one culprit."
Instead of answering or explaining, the young lady just shrugged her shoulders.
"What do you say, we unmask him?" Jerome suggested.
"Then what? Provoke him to pull the trigger until he kills us all?" Hailey asked flatly.
"We should," Kingsley said seriously, getting the attention of his companions. "But in an inconspicuous way."
"The gun might not look like a normal gun. If it does, someone would've noticed it already," Vince said, grinning again. "The more we think about this situation, the more we find out how sedulously planned and laboriously executed it is."
"We can create a list of suspects based on who checks their phones frequently," Ally proposed. "He or she is in contact with whoever's behind this, to know when's the time to kill someone."
"Alright," Kingsley nodded then looked around at everyone looking at him. "You all heard them."
"And what if that someone is in this group?" Vince's grin never disappeared when he asked.
No one was able to speak again when the same static rang out from the speakers. Everyone fell silent and waited, knowing that they will be hearing that deep voice again after that sound.
"You can never cheat on the game creator, dear engineers. I thought I told you not to make me mad."
That was all and the person behind the deep voice coming from the speakers said nothing more. The others were still surprised and confused when Ally hurriedly knelt down. They just watched as she groped the corpse of the same man that Noah had examined.
"What are you doing?" Hailey frowned when she asked, but the young woman ignored her.
Ally's hand stopped in one of the pockets of the man's pants. Without hesitation, she put her hand in there.
"Hey—" Noah was about to scold the young woman when she held up the familiar packet that she took from the man's pocket.
"They didn't do it," Ally said casually.
Silence prevailed for a few seconds before whispers filled the entire hall.
"What the fuck produced those sounds then?" Jerome asked with a frown.
"Those were fake?" Hailey asked too, looking a little surprised. "I must say, they made a really great job of making it sound so real."
"So, you lied." Ally innocently looked at the former secretary of the Student Council. "You said your ears were virgin, yet you know how real moans sound."
Hailey's eyes widened. She looked at Arkin and Jerome who were obviously holding back their laughter. "Shut up!"
*****
"The second batch is going in," Noah uttered softly when he sat next to Ally, away from their companions again. He wiped the small beads of sweat from his own forehead as he had just finished helping move the corpses to one side. While doing that, he noticed that the young lady was looking so deep in thought again that's why he approached her. She didn't even move when he spoke. He sighed. "Did you plan on doing the same thing?"
Ally looked down and slowly nodded. "I saw the inside of the cubicles. There are no cameras or mirrors. I thought they wouldn't know."
"We all saw what happened. Whoever's behind this knows everything," was all that Noah said. The young lady did not respond anymore so he just stayed silent as well.
Just a few seconds later, the small noises echoed again, not just from the one cubicle. Everyone inside is doing the task in fear of suddenly losing their lives when they come out.
"H-Have you done that?"
Noah turned to the young lady next to him and saw her hugging her trembling knees. He returned the question. "Have you?"
Ally just buried her face in her own knees. As time went by, her clenched hands felt colder and colder. She only looked up when she realized that the person next to him stood up. She saw her rushing to Hailey who was crying while hugging Kingsley.
"I-Is she..." Ally stopped her own words, already knowing the answer to her own question.
"She'll be alright."
She turned around and saw Arkin also sitting on the floor, a meter away from her. He was also looking at the crying Hailey.
Ally didn't say anything and just looked back in Hailey's direction. Instead of the former secretary, she only saw Noah because he walking towards her, blocking her view.
Noah didn't say anything, but just based on the look he was giving her, Ally knew why he approached her again.
It's their turn to do the task.
Ally swallowed the lump in her throat as she stood up, almost falling because her knees were shaking. She took the deepest breath she could and walked on her own towards an empty cubicle. The surrounding noise seemed to have disappeared. She could only hear the strong beating of her heart, which accompanied every step she took.
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