"Listen to me, sis, you can't just go around slitting throats like that." Hu Shuo covered his neck and took a few steps back, eyeing her warily.
"Makes sense! If you kill the wrong one, you’ll be a murderer!" another Hu Shuo chimed in.
"Watching this makes my neck hurt."
"She really doesn’t hold back, huh?"
Tong Yang smirked faintly. "I won’t kill the wrong one. I wouldn’t act unless I was absolutely sure."
After all, Tong Yang was the last person in the room who wanted to be branded a murderer.
She had struggled to get this far, with a future she could finally foresee—she wasn’t about to let her life fall apart now.
Tong Yang pulled up a chair and sat down, one leg curled beneath her, the other bent with her elbow resting on her knee as she twirled a butterfly knife in her hand. She narrowed her eyes at the nearly identical faces before her and said, "We’ve got about eight minutes left. Talk. Which world’s script are you holding?"
Hu Shuo raised his hand. "The real world. No script. Just unlocked a segment of the plot in the shop and got out."
Another Hu Shuo said, "Parallel world. Just the security guard from Tan Wanqi’s script. Did nothing, saw nothing."
Zhou Jingyun said, "Real world."
Another Zhou Jingyun said, "Parallel world."
Tao Bai curved his eyes into a smile. "Real world."
Another Tao Bai mirrored his expression. "Parallel world."
Chu Shiyu said, "I don’t have a script. The plot I interacted with was probably the real world."
Another Chu Shiyu said, "Parallel world. Tan Wanqi’s script."
"If we categorize the real world and parallel world scripts as A and B, then you’re each other’s counterparts from A and B. First, let’s figure out how to separate them."
Xu Junyue stood behind Tong Yang with her arms crossed, listening with interest before pulling out her own butterfly knife. "How about we mark everyone from A world with an X on their face? Tong Yang, what do you think?"
"Xu Junyue, shut up!"
"Can you act like a decent human? We’re friends! Friends for years!"
"How about I draw an X on your face, huh?"
Xu Junyue retorted shamelessly, "What’s the big deal? An X on your face looks cool!"
"If you’re so brave, draw it on yourself first!"
"If I do it, will you? Whoever backs out is a coward."
"Get lost!"
"Xu Junyue, you’re insane."
Chu Shiyu suggested, "Let’s cut our hair."
Tong Yang considered it for a moment. "Agreed."
"What? No way! My hair is my lifeline!"
"You’re a guy—why do you care so much? And you’ve got a buzz cut! It’ll grow back in two days!"
"What do you know? What’s wrong with guys caring about their hair? What’s wrong with a buzz cut?"
Chu Shiyu explained, "If we use any other method to mark ourselves without causing harm, there’s a risk of being replaced. Cutting our hair makes it obvious at a glance."
Tong Yang nodded. "Good point. So, should A world or B world cut their hair?"
"B! B!" Hu Shuo shielded his head and ducked behind the others.
Chu Shiyu said, "It’ll grow back anyway. I don’t mind."
"Then B world it is."
A world was the real world, while B world was the parallel world. A world followed the real-world script unlocked in the shop, while B world followed the incomplete parallel script of Tan Wanqi’s death case.
No scissors were found, so Xu Junyue used her butterfly knife to hack away at B world’s hair, leaving it uneven and ragged.
When it was B world Chu Shiyu’s turn, she took one look at the three boys’ butchered hairstyles and firmly insisted on doing it herself.
She twisted her hair into a bundle and painstakingly sawed through it with the knife. Truthfully, it didn’t look any better than Xu Junyue’s handiwork.
But that was fine—chopped this messily, no one could replicate it exactly.
Tong Yang surveyed the group. Aside from herself, He Jingjing, He Jingjing (Sister), and Xu Junyue, there were eight people from the two worlds—twelve in total.
There was no way to fully distinguish them in just a few minutes. They’d have to take it step by step.
And they still didn’t know why the parallel world had mixed itself into their midst.
That left only He Jingjing (Sister).
Tong Yang turned her gaze toward her, and He Jingjing immediately bristled, shielding her sister defensively.
"Sis, it’s okay." He Jingjing (Sister) smiled gently and nudged her aside.
Tong Yang thought for a moment before asking, "Where’s the real He Jingjing (Sister)?"
If she had already been replaced by someone from the parallel world, the real He Jingjing (Sister) was most likely dead.
He Jingjing’s emotions flared. "What nonsense are you spouting? She is the real Jingjing!"
Though He Jingjing was still in denial, the others who had initially doubted Tong Yang no longer questioned her after what had just happened.
After all, it was only after choosing He Jingjing (Sister) that the chaos had settled.
He Jingjing (Sister)’s expression grew complicated. She soothingly took her sister’s hand and said, "There is no real He Jingjing (Sister)."
Tong Yang pressed her lips together, her gaze darkening.
"What?" Hu Shuo from A world asked suspiciously.
"Jingjing, what do you mean?" B world Hu Shuo looked equally confused.
Zhou Jingyun from B world, his white hair now a tangled mess, frowned hard enough to crush a mosquito. "Don’t joke around. This isn’t funny."
"Jingjing…" He Jingjing stared at her, eyes red. "What are you saying? How can there be no real Jingjing? You are the real He Jingjing (Sister)! The one who grew up with me!"
He Jingjing (Sister) shook her head. "Sis, He Jingjing (Sister) never existed in this world."
He Jingjing swayed unsteadily. "You’re lying… Are you sick? Did you lose your mind? Let’s go see a doctor—let’s go home to Mom and Dad—"
Tong Yang said, "In the real world, He Jingjing (Sister) was never born?"
He Jingjing (Sister) lowered her eyes. "Mm."
"He Jingjing (Sister)! How can you say that?! What kind of joke is this? My little sister, who grew up with me, was never born? Are you all out of your minds?"
"Hu Shuo? Xu Junyue? Zhou Jingyun… Tao Bai… You all know Jingjing, my sister. How could she have never existed?"
He Jingjing (Sister) said, "Sis, you know Mom’s health was never good. It wasn’t because of us being born. She could never have carried twins—our family has no history of twins. Even if she had conceived twins, only one would have survived."
Tong Yang narrowed her eyes. "But the parallel world has He Jingjing, plus you. So in that world, your mother did have twins. Why?"
He Jingjing (Sister) pressed her lips into a tight line. "Gene serum."
"Gene serum? What’s that?"
"Something terrifying. It alters human genes, and the extraction process is horrifically cruel. The main component is a single nerve from the human brain—something the upper class adores."
"Does the person who loses the nerve die?"
"No. They become walking corpses. No longer consuming resources."
Tong Yang fell into deep thought. Based on this explanation and her interactions with humans from the parallel world, she deduced that they were divided into three categories: the first, the lower class whose brain neurons had been extracted, leaving them only capable of obeying orders; the second, the middle class who continuously self-destructed to reduce resource consumption; and the third, the upper class who enjoyed all resources and genetic enhancements.
"So you were sent to the real world as a child and have been in contact with the parallel world ever since?"
He Jingjing (Sister) nodded. "Yes."
"Why? What's the purpose?"
He Jingjing (Sister) lowered her head and remained silent for a long time.
"I..." She bit her lower lip. "I didn’t want to hurt you or my family."
Tong Yang’s pupils constricted sharply. "Your goal was to integrate into the real world?"
"Mhm..." He Jingjing (Sister) kept her eyes downcast, not daring to look at the expressions on the others' faces.
"How many others like you have entered the real world?"
He Jingjing (Sister) replied, "Due to certain restrictions, there can’t be more than fifty people like me in the real world. Otherwise, the extras would mysteriously die."
If that was the case, then no more than fifty people like He Jingjing (Sister) had been sent into the real world since childhood—hardly enough to pose a threat for now.
The reason they were restricted was likely due to the existence of the time anchor.
She suddenly thought of Ye Huai. Could he be one of those fifty?
"What else do you know about the parallel world? For example, how exactly do they cross dimensions?"
Tong Yang also wanted to know the exact number of restricted individuals the "other Tong Yang" had mentioned earlier and whether it was related to He Jingjing (Sister)’s claim of fifty.
He Jingjing (Sister) shook her head. "I don’t know. I’ve never been to the parallel world. All this was told to me by 'Mom.'"
"Why... If you’re not Jingjing... then why..." He Jingjing murmured in confusion.
He Jingjing (Sister) said, "Sister, I’m not the only one who infiltrated the real world. They could be in any profession. From the start, Mom and Dad were deceived."
"Sister, I never meant to hurt you. I... I really like it here. I don’t want to go back to the parallel world. It’s terrifying, even in the upper class." Tears welled up in He Jingjing (Sister)’s eyes, clinging to her lashes, trembling as if about to fall.
Tong Yang asked, "Were you involved in what happened today?"
He Jingjing (Sister) shook her head, wiping away her tears. "I don’t know. 'Mom' only told me to hide my identity and not expose myself before they entered the real world."
"Tong Yang, kill me. I don’t want to go back to the parallel world, and I don’t want to hurt you..."
"No! You can’t hurt Jingjing! She hasn’t done anything wrong! She’s innocent too!" He Jingjing suddenly threw herself in front of her sister, tear streaks evident on her face, refusing to let anyone near her.
"So what if she’s from the parallel world? She won’t hurt us! People from the parallel world are just like us—they’re just another version of ourselves. Why do they have to die? Tong Yang, you’re the scary one, attacking them without even understanding! They’re just ordinary people!"
Xu Junyue wagged a finger in the air. "No, no, no! They’re not ordinary people. Have you ever seen ordinary people use human brain neurons to make genetic drugs?"
Chu Shiyu from World B sighed. "Jingjing, the parallel world is far more horrifying than you or I can imagine. Their goal is to replace people in the real world and seize its resources. If we don’t act, we’ll be the ones who die."
"I don’t care about parallel worlds or real worlds! You can’t hurt Jingjing!"
Tong Yang shot Xu Junyue a sidelong glance. "She’s still your friend. Can you really do it?"
Xu Junyue replied, "For the sake of humanity’s collective survival, even if I can’t bring myself to, I’ll still do it."
"No need to rush. There are still more dangerous people over there." Tong Yang’s gaze shifted meaningfully toward the identical individuals from Worlds A and B.
Tao Bai from World A asked, "Tong Yang, are you sure people from the parallel world will definitely harm us?"
Tong Yang said, "Don’t ask stupid questions. Our presence here is proof enough."
Zhou Jingyun from World B frowned. "What exactly do you know?"
"All I know is that if you don’t want to die here and still wish to return to the real world alive, you’d better listen to me and stay wary of those around you."
"Even if I can’t tell yet who’s from the parallel world, you all know the truth deep down. If you want to survive, cooperate with me, don’t act recklessly, and try to earn my trust. You have no other choice."
Tong Yang put away her butterfly knife and stood up. "As for He Jingjing (Sister), you should stay cautious. If she makes any suspicious moves, kill her without hesitation."
Her gaze swept over the group. "Remember this: here, any hesitation, retreat, or pointless kindness will become the blade that stabs you in the back."
"Time: 10:10 PM. Players, please proceed to the eighth floor via the corridor."
The corridor lights flickered on one by one, illuminating a bright path.
At the end, the previously sealed escalator leading to the eighth floor had begun operating again.
"Let’s go," Tong Yang said.
"I wonder what’s waiting for us on the eighth floor?"
"The script says the setting spans floors seven to nine. Does that mean we’ll have to go to the ninth floor too? Are we going to relive the same nightmare twice?"
"No way! I can’t take it anymore!"
...
[Eighth floor, eighth floor, eighth floor!]
[It’s so comfy being a spectator behind the screen, though I feel a little bad for them.]
[Wait, I’m confused. Even though there are two identical people from Worlds A and B, they know themselves whether they’re from the real world or not. So why does Tong Yang insist they stay cautious? Why not just have the real-world versions kill their parallel-world counterparts?]
[No way! The margin for error is too high! If the real world can attack the parallel world, the parallel world can do the same. That’s a 50% chance the real person dies—way too risky. I agree it’s better to wait until they’re sure.]
[But would the parallel-world people really hold back from attacking them?]
[For now, it seems so. They haven’t shown any intention of exposing themselves yet.]
That was precisely Tong Yang’s plan.
[What about He Jingjing (Sister)?]
[She provided some intel about the parallel world, and it aligns with what Tong Yang already knows. So she’s probably telling the truth.]
[But she’s still from the parallel world. We can’t just pretend nothing happened.]
[Let’s see what Tong Yang decides.]
As for He Jingjing (Sister), Tong Yang hadn’t made up her mind yet.
She knew He Jingjing (Sister) wasn’t lying. The things they had encountered in the parallel world of the Third High School indeed didn’t resemble normal, thinking people. Most likely, some nerve in their brains had been extracted, turning them into mindless slaves who only obeyed orders.
As for whether to kill her—at least for now, she posed no threat. They could decide later.
The group walked down the brightly lit hallway until they reached the escalator.
As they rode it up to the eighth floor, the lights in the seventh-floor corridor flickered off one by one, plunging the space back into pitch-black darkness.
The eighth floor was no different. Only a dim light above the escalator remained on, while the rest of the floor was swallowed by endless shadows.
Once everyone stepped off the escalator and onto the eighth floor, a blackout curtain suddenly dropped from above, sealing off the escalator entrance and completely separating the eighth floor from the seventh.
Instantly, everything was swallowed by total darkness.
"What are we doing up here?"
"Shh! Don’t speak."
"Beep—"
A beam of light suddenly flickered on to their right, illuminating a woman dressed in a red bridal gown, her face veiled by a crimson headscarf.
"Shit!"
"That scared the hell out of me!"
Behind her was a stark white wall, the light casting eerie shadows from above.
She stood motionless, clutching a red handkerchief in her hand, her nails painted dark red, her skin so pale it nearly blended into the wall.
"What… what does this mean?"
Before anyone could react, another light flared to life on the right.
They turned to see a man dressed in Qing Dynasty attire standing rigidly under the glow, a yellow talisman pasted on his forehead, his arms stretched straight out in front of him.
"I know him!"
"That’s a jiangshi!"
"And this one…?"
"A female ghost!"
"No way! I can accept parallel worlds with people, but I draw the line at actual ghosts in reality!"
"They can’t move, right?"
"If they do, I’m dead. I’m not joking!"
[Holy shit? A jiangshi? This is intense!]
[Is the eighth floor some kind of ghost survival game?]
[Thanks, but I’d rather deal with zombies than jiangshi.]
[So thrilling! So thrilling!]
Tong Yang, however, doubted it. Parallel worlds weren’t supernatural phenomena—multiple universes were scientifically plausible—but she didn’t believe in spirits.
With a loud boom, LED lights suddenly illuminated a sign in the distance: Midnight Cinema.
"A movie theater?"
"Right! In the parallel world’s script, wasn’t there supposed to be a movie at 8:40?"
"But 8:40 is long past!"
"Beep beep—"
An unknown machine emitted a sound as the lights beneath the sign flickered on.
There stood a concession counter selling popcorn and soda, manned by two expressionless clerks in black uniforms. Their faces were deathly pale, their eyes bloodshot and unnervingly wide.
"The movie starts in ten minutes. Please collect your tickets and refreshments."
Given what had happened on the seventh floor, they had to follow the rules to progress to the next stage. There was no other choice.
Tong Yang stepped forward first.
"Popcorn or fries?" the clerk asked.
"Fries."
"Please wait."
One clerk scooped something from a sealed container into a paper bucket, while the other filled a cup from the soda machine.
[The parallel world really goes all out with the theatrics—serving snacks before killing people.]
[This is bad. I bet something awful’s gonna happen in the theater.]
[Ugh, I’m gonna be traumatized after this.]
"Here are your snacks and drink. Your ticket is inside. Please proceed to the designated screening room and seat."
The paper bucket didn’t contain fries. Instead, it held several bluish-white, unevenly severed fingers. The drink cup, sealed with a lid, was filled with a murky reddish-brown liquid that reeked faintly of blood.
"Please enter." The other clerk opened a side gate and bowed, gesturing for her to proceed.
It seemed they had to enter separately.
Tong Yang picked up the items and glanced back at the others.
"Wait for us!"
"If you go in first, what are we supposed to do?"
"Did they actually give her fries and soda?"
She tilted the bucket slightly to reveal its contents, prompting a collective gasp.
"This is insane! I’d rather die than eat that!"
"Be careful," Tong Yang warned before walking alone into the theater corridor.
"Wait! Aren’t you scared?"
"Sis! Sis! What about us?"
"Damn it! You guys are useless. I’m going after Tong Yang!"
Hu Shuo from World A rushed to the counter. "I’ll take popcorn!"
"Very well."
A few seconds later, the clerk handed him a bucket, a drink cup, and a ticket.
Hu Shuo’s face twisted in horror when he saw the contents. He gagged, covering his mouth. "I don’t want this…"
"Apologies. No exchanges."
The other clerk opened the gate. "Proceed."
"Please adhere to your assigned screening room and seat."
Clutching the items in disgust, Hu Shuo looked back at the others with tears in his eyes. "Don’t pick popcorn."
"What is it?"
He tilted the bucket—inside were burst eyeballs oozing foul liquid.
"Ugh—"
"Disgusting!"
This is the parallel world’s idea of snacks??
"I’d rather have the fingers!"
"Wait—what’s in the drink?"
"Please don’t tell me it’s what I think it is…"
……
Tong Yang walked down the enclosed corridor, lit only by the dim glow of screening room numbers.
Her ticket read: Screening Room 3, Seat 06-07—sixth row, seventh seat.
The hallway was eerily silent, the walls lined with what looked like horror movie posters, visible only up close.
"Tong Yang, wait for me!"
A panicked voice echoed from behind.
She turned to see Hu Shuo from World A sprinting toward her.
"Save me… save me… I don’t want this!" He skidded to a stop beside her, eyes brimming with tears, clearly terrified.
Tong Yang glanced into his bucket and immediately recoiled. "I don’t want it either."
"What do I do? Can I just throw it away? This is sick! Are people in the parallel world insane? These are eyeballs!"
Tong Yang nodded. "Be confident—they are insane."
"But I wouldn’t discard it. If it’s needed later, you’re screwed."
Hu Shuo looked ready to cry. "I’m never eating popcorn again!"
Tong Yang studied him for a moment before asking, "Which Tao Bai do you think is from the parallel world?"
“Huh?” Hu Shuo from World A was momentarily stunned. “I don’t know, I can’t tell. They seem pretty much the same.”
“Are you from a parallel world, then?”
“No! Absolutely not! They’re the ones who are crazy!”
Tong Yang studied him thoughtfully. “You seem pretty attached to your hair, even though it’s just a buzz cut.”
“Of course!”
“Look at Hu Shuo from World B! Xu Junyue shaved his head down to the scalp!”
“Wait, you’re not suspecting me, are you?”
“Guess.” Tong Yang gave him a meaningful smile, neither confirming nor denying, her attitude deliberately ambiguous.
“Damn it! Don’t just stab me out of nowhere! If I’m gonna die, at least let me know why!”
Tong Yang shrugged. “Relax, as long as none of you do anything weird, I won’t hurt you.”
Hu Shuo from World A exhaled in relief. “Good.”
“What about you? You’re not gonna suddenly attack me, right?” Tong Yang eyed him warily. “You’re a guy, after all. In a one-on-one fight, I might not win.”
Hu Shuo from World A rolled his eyes. “You’re from the real world. Why would I attack you?”
“Fair enough,” Tong Yang nodded.
“Which screening room are you in?” Hu Shuo from World A asked.
Tong Yang looked surprised. “We’re not in the same one?”
“No idea.”
Tong Yang glanced at Screening Room 3 nearby and said, “I’m in Number Three.”
“What seat?”
“04-07,” she replied without batting an eye.
Hu Shuo from World A paled. “I’m in Room Two. What do we do?”
Tong Yang said, “Wait here for the others. Someone must be in the same screening room as you.”
Within minutes, the others began filing into the theater hallway.
“What did you pick?”
“Fries.”
“Fries.”
“Fries.”
“After seeing your popcorn, who’d still choose that?”
“Ugh! I should’ve waited for you guys to pick first!”
Tong Yang asked, “Which screening rooms are you in?”
“Three.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
Though the space appeared vast, with a long, dark corridor, everyone was clustered around the first three screening rooms.
Tong Yang, He Jingjing, He Jingjing (Sister), and Chu Shiyu from World B were in Screening Room 3; Hu Shuo from World A, Xu Junyue, Zhou Jingyun from World B, and Tao Bai from World A were in Screening Room 2; Chu Shiyu from World A, Hu Shuo from World B, Zhou Jingyun from World A, and Tao Bai from World B were in Screening Room 1.
“Everyone, stay safe.”
“Let’s go.”
The twelve of them dispersed into their respective screening rooms.
The screening rooms were pitch-black, the seats swallowed by darkness. The space felt far larger than expected, their footsteps echoing hollowly in the emptiness.
As Tong Yang and her three companions entered Screening Room 3, motion-activated blue lights along the steps flickered on, illuminating small patches of the floor.
Tong Yang said, “Let’s find our seats first.”
“Okay…”
“Which row and seat are you in?”
He Jingjing and her sister were in Rows 09 and 12, while Chu Shiyu from World B was in Row 08—the seat numbers seemed completely random.
Tong Yang, at the front, climbed the stepped seating. Suddenly, the light near Seat 01-01 flickered on, revealing an arm in her line of sight.
At the same time, she heard a sharp, frightened gasp behind her.
Following the light, Tong Yang looked at the seat. A shadowy figure sat there, and in the dim glow, she realized the entire front row was nearly filled with people.
“Be careful,” Tong Yang whispered before continuing upward.
Chu Shiyu from World B stayed close behind her, while He Jingjing and her sister trailed at the back.
With each step they took, more motion-activated lights flickered on, revealing shadowy figures seated in every row. The dim lighting made it impossible to discern their features—whether they were real people or just props or mannequins.
Finally, they reached Row 6. Seat 07 was in the middle, requiring them to squeeze past six other seats.
A figure sat in Seat 06-01. As Tong Yang navigated the narrow aisle, she inevitably brushed against the person’s body. The sensation against her leg was indistinct, but she didn’t linger, pushing forward to her seat.
Sure enough, only her spot was empty—both sides were occupied.
The other three, despite their fear, steeled themselves and squeezed past the faceless figures to their own seats.
The motion-activated lights shut off, plunging Screening Room 3 into dead silence.
Tong Yang held the paper bucket containing fingers and placed the foul-smelling drink cup in the holder to her left.
The silence didn’t last long. The screen at the front of the room slowly brightened, casting a dim glow that finally revealed the outlines of their surroundings.
Tong Yang glanced left and right. These weren’t props or mannequins—they were real people.
The screen’s faint light wasn’t enough for clarity, but upon closer inspection, she saw they wore oversized clothes, their hands hidden in their sleeves, eyes shut, eyelids sunken. Their skin was eerily pale, almost translucent, like ice. It was impossible to tell if they were even alive.
Tong Yang scanned the room. Every row in Screening Room 3 was filled with seven or eight people, all dressed the same, sitting the same way, with identical expressions. Aside from slight differences in their faces, they looked like carbon copies.
The screen remained blank for now, emitting only light.
Frowning, Tong Yang grabbed the wrist of the person to her left and pulled back their sleeve. Their skin was ice-cold to the touch, and when she looked down, she saw their hand had been completely severed at the base—no fingers remained.
Her breath hitched. She immediately checked the person to her right, yanking back their sleeve. Just as she feared—their fingers were gone too.
Staring at their sunken eyelids in the shadows, Tong Yang realized: their fingers and eyeballs had been turned into the so-called “snacks.” And that dark red liquid reeking of blood…
Clenching her jaw, she pressed her fingers against the person’s wrist. A faint pulse throbbed beneath her touch. They were still alive?
“Welcome, dear audience, to the Midnight Cinema. Tonight’s feature presentation: The Bride.”
Images finally flickered to life on the screen.
A woman in a vibrant red wedding dress stood by a wall, her head covered by a red veil, her nails painted crimson, a red handkerchief clutched in her hand.
Behind her, a hidden door in the white wall creaked open, and a hand reached out, resting on the bride’s shoulder.
The hand playfully lifted the veil, fingers trailing down the bride’s neck.
The bride stood rigid as a doll, unmoving, allowing the hand to do as it pleased.
Crack!
Without warning, the hand seized the bride’s throat and violently wrenched her head back. The sound of snapping bone echoed as her skull bent at a grotesque angle, the red veil slipping from her face.
The scene grew increasingly brutal, increasingly bloody.
Tong Yang heard the sound of He Jingjing sobbing behind her.
For an ordinary person, the scene was too horrifying to bear—that hand was tormenting the bride without restraint, twisting her body into positions no human could possibly achieve. The hand moved with such casual cruelty, as if every bone in the bride’s body had already been shattered.
What sent chills down the spine was the bride’s numb expression.
Under such torment, she couldn’t possibly still be alive. Yet no matter how she was violated, her eyes remained open, hollow and lifeless, staring straight at the camera—as if piercing through the silver screen to lock onto Tong Yang.
Even after witnessing countless horrors across parallel worlds, Tong Yang’s heart still clenched violently at this sight.
Because this bride was the same one they had seen at the escalator entrance when they first arrived on the eighth floor. Because, when the red veil slipped away, the bride’s face was revealed—identical to that of the twin sisters.
The deep slash Tong Yang had left on her neck was still visible.
Even though Tong Yang had personally killed the parallel-world version of He Jingjing, this grotesque and chilling spectacle stirred turmoil in her heart—let alone how He Jingjing herself must have felt.
Tong Yang averted her gaze, but the sickening cracks of the bride’s bones being snapped echoed relentlessly, clear and unmistakable.
[Yang-jie, what’s that sound? It’s making my hair stand on end.]
[Are you guys okay? We haven’t heard anything in a while.]
[What kind of movie is even playing? All I hear is cracking noises.]
[Yang-jie? Can you say something?]
"Don’t ask. You don’t want to know what that sound is."
Tong Yang’s voice was heavy, edged with hoarseness.
[Alright, I’m someone who takes advice.]
[Won’t ask anymore, won’t ask.]
[It already sounds terrifying.]
[What the hell is going on?]
"No idea."
About half an hour passed before the images on the screen froze, lingering on "He Jingjing’s" eerily calm face.
"The film has concluded. Players are reminded not to waste resources—please consume your snacks and beverages before exiting the screening room."
[What snacks? What beverages?]
[The ones Yang-jie collected earlier.]
[What kind of stuff is that? Their reactions didn’t seem like it was normal food.]
[Wake up! This is a parallel world—nothing here is normal!]
[Who’s to say it’s not eyeballs?]
"Please note: If any food has been discarded, the player will be punished and become the protagonist of the next film."
"Eat… what?"
"Are they insane…?"
The three others seated in different spots were completely stunned.
They had to eat those things to leave the screening room?
"Alternatively, you may distribute the food and beverages to others nearby. If they consume them, the player may also exit the screening room."
Tong Yang stared blankly at the silver screen, the broadcast’s words reverberating in her ears.
It suddenly struck her—those lurking in the shadows weren’t just trying to kill them. They were humiliating them.
Forcing them to watch grotesque scenes, making them do vile things, then compelling them to hand-feed the contents of those paper buckets to their original owners.
Across the three screening rooms, the films’ protagonists were likely the figures they had encountered at different points on their way from the eighth-floor escalator to the theaters: the bride by the wall, the talisman-covered zombie, and the two clerks behind the counter.
No direct harm had come to them, no demands made—just relentless humiliation, torment, and manipulation.
Tong Yang’s hands, resting on her knees, clenched into fists, her expression dark with fury.
Eat those things themselves, or make someone else do it?
Maybe blindly following the rules wasn’t the answer. The ones hiding in the dark seemed to think she was just an obedient little student.
They were watching from somewhere unseen, probably wondering—would the players choose to eat, or would they force it on others?
Tong Yang wasn’t going to play the good girl anymore. She didn’t know what consequences it would bring.
But now, she would do everything in her power to break the rules—to drag every last one of those hidden monsters into the light and slaughter them, one by one.
