They returned to their room about ten minutes before nine-thirty. As for the others, they had not returned yet. Chu Siyan peered at the doors of the NPCs with a small frown.
"Jun, we should protect them too, right?"
Jun Siwoo coldly looked at the doors. "They are meant to die to give us clues."
"But it doesn't feel right." Chu Siyan clenched his fist tightly. He had talked with these girls and spent some time with them, so he inevitably wanted them to be safe, irrespective of whether they were real living people or NPC characters in a game.
"Is there any way to stay together?" He paused by the seniors' room.
Jun Siwoo looked back at him. "Coming?"
"I just want to talk to them for a bit."
Nodding, Jun glanced at his watch. "You have ten minutes. If you don't return, I'm locking the door," he said coldly and left.
Chu Siyan could sense the impatience in Jun's tone.
'Sorry, Jun. I can't go against my conscience.'
He knocked on the door. Inside, he heard nothing. Even the lights were not on.
"Sister? Are you guys in? I've just returned from the mini-mart. I've got snacks."
The door did not open. Even so, he waited and waited and waited…
Nothing.
No one opened the door.
Sighing, Chu Siyan decided to give up on the idea. He moved back to his room and checked the doorknob. It was surprisingly unlocked. He poked his head in first.
Jun had already laid down on the bed and seemed to be breathing steadily.
"Are you asleep?"
"You're noisy. Come in."
Chu Siyan rushed in and closed the door behind him. With a frown, he looked at the door. The lock was broken.
"Do you know any DIY ways to lock the door?"
"Do you think a locked door is going to stop a ghost?"
Chu Siyan glanced back at him with a pout. "But it will make us feel a bit more secure."
"Just lie down. You're making a racket."
Sighing, Chu Siyan lay down on his single bed. His eyes sought out Jun with a pout.
"Are you upset with me because I suggested we protect them?"
Jun suddenly opened his eyes and turned to his side. His upturned eyes looked as though they were glaring at him, but the warmth in his pupils told him otherwise.
"Don't be swayed by beauty."
"Huh? But I wasn't."
"Just saying." He turned to the other side, showing his back to him. "Now sleep."
Like clockwork, at nine-fifteen, the power went out.
The whole room was shrouded in darkness. Chu Siyan silently opened the chip packet, but the wrapper gave out a loud crumpling sound.
Jun, who had closed his eyes, gazed at him accusingly.
"So hungry… I wish we had a stove. We could have cooked the ramen."
He simply chowed down on the crunchy ramen, then hurriedly ate the chips.
Quickly, time went by. His Apple Watch beeped, indicating that it was only two minutes before nine-thirty.
He quickly lay down, remaining completely still. His eyes stared at the moldy ceiling. His mind was racing.
The clues they had found were already quite substantial. But the thought that they had to sacrifice the NPCs to obtain more clues left a bad taste in his mouth.
'Do they really have to die, though?'
Those girls seemed to have opened up to him after just a few hours. Maybe in a day, he would be able to uncover many more clues simply by talking to them.
He sat up.
'I'm not going to let them die.'
He gripped the torchlight tightly in his hand and searched around the room for weapons.
Suddenly, he noticed a piercing pair of eyes staring at him from the other bed.
"Oh, Jun… I thought you were sleeping. Sorry, did I disturb you?"
"What are you doing?"
"Searching for weapons."
Chu Siyan crawled under the bed and found a small nail with bits of hair stuck to it. He wedged it between his fingers and made a fist.
"I can try to punch the ghosts?"
Jun sat up, exasperated by this new roommate of his.
"You can try. But I'm not sure you'll live to tell the tale."