Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Are you saying that the Pajama Woman and Chen Xiaomeng have the same objective?" The fat guy felt he was beginning to follow Jiang Cheng's line of thought. Indeed.
Upon reflection, the actions of the two women did have similarities; both had used the rules within the tasks to undermine their teammates.
In the last mission, Chen Xiaomeng had betrayed Fan Li.
If it weren't for Jiang Cheng's quick wit, both he and Jiang Cheng would have followed in Fan Li's footsteps.
Looking back, it was possible that Sister Nuan's death was also somehow linked to this woman.
The Pajama Woman had betrayed the Qipao Woman from the same dormitory.
In the only two missions they had encountered nearly identical betrayals, which could not be explained as mere coincidence.
The Pajama Woman, like Chen Xiaomeng, must have had some ulterior motive.
Thinking about the Qipao Woman's body having been searched, Jiang Cheng's first reaction was that they were looking for something.
The fat guy realized this too.
Their willingness to take such significant risks indicated that this item was extremely important and likely related to the predicament they currently faced.
"Could it be something that helps us escape this nightmare?" the fat guy cautiously asked. "At the start of the task, this item might be randomly assigned to one of us, and whoever gets it can survive and ultimately leave."
"Just like in many games."
Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment and nodded. "It's possible, but that's not entirely accurate. It would be more appropriate to say that acquiring this item might increase our chances of survival."
At this point, there was no way to verify their speculations, so the two of them didn't delve deeper.
They continued walking toward the equipment room.
With Jiang Cheng leading the way, they quickly found the equipment room.
It was located at the far end of the school, in a relatively remote area.
On a low single-story building hung a sign that read "Equipment Management Center."
It still had the old-fashioned push window design from decades ago, with vertically arranged iron bars that were rusted.
The iron-plated door was similar, with corners already peeling away.
But fortunately, it wasn't as rusted as the bars.
It had a thin layer of galvanized metal on it.
Time seemed to have a particular affection for this place, leaving marks of years everywhere. The fat guy blinked and said that when he was very young, his grandmother's house in the county looked just like this.
Jiang Cheng surveyed the surroundings and said nothing, leading the fat guy onward.
Just as they were about to step through the door, it was suddenly pushed open from the inside.
A woman's face appeared before them.
"Come in," she said.
As she spoke, she turned and walked away, leading the way with her back to them.
It was the ponytail woman from Room 406.
Her voice had a slightly hoarse quality, but it wasn't harsh.
The fat guy suddenly felt a strange sensation.
He found that the woman oddly matched the environment.
Jiang Cheng, walking beside him, glanced at him sideways but said nothing.
The space inside the equipment room was larger than Jiang Cheng had imagined. They crossed a yard covered in fine sand.
In one corner of the yard were some desks and chairs haphazardly piled together, but they looked abandoned and beyond repair.
Against the wall was a glass blackboard with a corner shattered. The bulletin board on it was largely blurred, with only the first and last two characters faintly visible.
One was "No," and the other was "Come."
"Doctor." The fat guy gently called Jiang Cheng's name, pulling him out of his thoughts.
Jiang Cheng returned his gaze and realized that the room in the yard was their destination.
The ponytail woman, the middle-aged man in a tank top, and another man were all there.
The Pajama Woman, whom the fat guy had been thinking about, was hiding behind them, looking tense and scared, nervously tugging at the hem of her pajamas, her eyes full of emotion.
But the suited man and the one with the cap were nowhere to be seen.
"It doesn't matter how many of you come," a man's voice rang out, old yet strong, clearly not one of their teammates in this mission.
"I've already said what needs to be said. The equipment you sent is like this; it has nothing to do with me."
The lighting was poor here, making it hard for the two to see the people in the shadows immediately.
Jiang Cheng suddenly squinted.
It was an elderly man, probably around 65, with an unusually pale complexion, as if he hadn't seen sunlight in a long time.
He walked with an unnatural stoop, but his gaze gave off an undeniable impression.
The old man took a step toward Jiang Cheng.
At this moment, everyone noticed that the old man's legs seemed to have issues; not only was he struggling to walk, but he was also holding a wooden cane in his left hand.
"What's going on?" Jiang Cheng turned to the ponytail woman.
"We came to collect the equipment, but found there's a problem with the camera," she said succinctly.
Except for her, the faces of the others didn't look good, especially the middle-aged man in the tank top, whose teeth were gritted as if he wanted to beat the old man to vent his anger.
After hearing about the equipment issue, the fat guy moved closer. "What kind of problem?"
The ponytail woman gestured for another man to bring over the equipment.
After opening the camera, the man pointed at the lens. "Moisture has gotten inside."
The fat guy blinked. "Is that serious?"
"Yeah." The man exhaled, and from his expression, it was clear this was not a trivial matter. "It will significantly affect the shooting quality. If it were just a little, it would be fine, but now we can already see tiny water droplets forming inside the lens. Generally, in such cases, one should consider getting a new lens."
"Don't you have a backup?"
"We do, but it's in even worse condition than this one." The man whispered. "This is already what we've filtered through."
This was bad. They were there to film an anniversary celebration, but now the camera had a problem.
At that moment, the man bit his lip and leaned in closer. "This probably isn't an accident; someone must have tampered with it." He took out the camera bag and opened it, saying to the two of them, "There's moisture-absorbing silica gel inside. This camera bag also has some moisture-proof functionality, so it's impossible for this to happen overnight."
After saying this, he looked at the old man, and the meaning in his eyes was obvious.
But the old man remained as he was, leaning on his cane, his gaze blurred as if shrouded in mist.
"What about the two people from Room 405?" Jiang Cheng turned to the ponytail woman. "Why haven't we seen them?"
"I don't know." The ponytail woman appeared much calmer than the remaining three. "I didn't see them when we arrived; maybe they went elsewhere to look for clues."
Whether intentional or not, she emphasized the word "clues."
(End of the Chapter)
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