"Are you sure that was a person… and not something else?"
The thin man asked with a grim expression, pressing the question again and again.
"You all understand what this could mean."
"Brother, if you're going to say that… why don't you go check it yourself?"
Hearing his tone, Ryan looked slightly displeased and turned back with a frown.
"I suggest you go see whether that thing left any footprints. If it was a ghost, it probably wouldn't leave any."
As soon as those words were spoken, the thin man narrowed his eyes and stared back at him, his expression growing even darker.
"Enough. Is this really the time to argue?"
Ethan glanced between the two of them. It was obvious that their conflict was more than a simple quarrel.
He spoke slowly.
"When I came earlier, I checked the ground."
He paused.
"The ground was full of water, and the snow hadn't piled up yet. When we walked here just now, none of us left any footprints."
He continued,
"So we shouldn't take unnecessary risks."
After Ethan finished speaking, the others were momentarily stunned.
"I think so too."
At this moment, the girl with tied hair spoke up.
"If we go check recklessly without understanding the rules, we might just be asking to die. If that really was a ghost… who knows whether it has actually left?"
For a moment, the room fell into silence.
With no benefit and only risk involved, the matter was awkwardly dropped. No one brought it up again, but the shadow of it lingered in everyone's mind.
After that, they each began busying themselves. Everyone seemed very experienced, as if they were searching for clues in the place.
Only the boy who had lost one shoe looked completely bewildered. He could only follow the others nervously, wandering around anxiously.
Ethan watched them for a moment before walking into the inner room.
The space inside was not small. Beneath the glass window was a long sleeping platform covered with many thick quilts. The two girls were currently rummaging through those blankets, searching for something.
Ethan walked to a corner of the room and casually opened a wooden wardrobe.
Inside, at the bottom of the cabinet, several thick cotton coats were neatly arranged.
Ethan picked one up and examined it. The coat was somewhat old and didn't look very clean. It carried a strong dusty smell, clearly having been stored there for a long time.
"One… two… three… four…"
Ethan took the coats out one by one, and suddenly paused.
There were exactly six coats.
Even more coincidentally, at the very bottom of the cabinet there was also a pair of cloth shoes.
He immediately thought of the shoes the boy had lost earlier.
It was almost as if… someone had predicted all of this and deliberately prepared these items for them.
A chill rose from Ethan's back. The discovery gave him an indescribably eerie feeling.
Could it be…
that everything they had done outside the temple had been watched by something?
"What did you find?"
At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Ethan had already sensed the person approaching. He turned around and saw the girl with tied hair standing there. He stepped slightly aside so she could see for herself.
Another girl from the group stood beside her. She had a tear mole beneath her left eye and delicate features.
The two of them stepped forward together.
But after looking for only a moment, they exchanged glances, their expressions becoming hesitant.
At that moment, the other three people also walked in.
"In the kitchen there are basically just jars and bottles, along with some food and firewood. Did you find anything?"
Ryan walked in holding an iron basin with burning charcoal inside and casually placed it on the floor.
The girl with tied hair gestured toward the wardrobe. Seeing the clothes, the others quickly gathered around.
"This is a bit strange. The number of coats matches our group exactly…"
Ryan muttered to himself, frowning.
"Could this be a role-playing type nightmare again? But there are two girls here. They can't expect us to role-play monks, right?"
"And even if we are supposed to be playing certain roles, what's the deal with this pair of shoes? Don't tell me someone predicted that one of us would lose a shoe."
Ethan listened quietly. Ryan's doubts were almost the same as his own. Even for these experienced players, such a situation was clearly unusual.
"Could it be… the person we saw behind the door earlier?"
At that moment, the girl with the tear mole beneath her eye spoke softly.
Hearing this, Sophia, the girl with tied hair, seemed thoughtful.
"You mean… it was also the one who opened the door for us? So when we were outside the temple, it was already standing behind that door watching us?"
Perhaps that was the only explanation.
Otherwise, six coats could still barely be explained as coincidence. But the appearance of that pair of shoes was far too precise.
The thought that something had been watching them from the very beginning sent a chill through everyone.
"So… should we wear these clothes or not?"
Daniel, the boy who had lost one shoe, swallowed nervously and looked at the others for guidance.
Even inside the room, he was still trembling. The clothes here looked worn, but they were extremely tempting to him in the cold.
And with only one shoe, it would be difficult for him to move. If something unexpected happened, he might not even be able to run.
"A coat isn't going to kill you. If you don't wear it, are you planning to freeze to death?"
Ryan casually tossed the coat and shoes to him and put on one himself.
Then he warned him,
"Remember this. In this world, only breaking the rules will kill you. But if you're so afraid of the rules that you become too scared to do anything at all, you'll still die."
The short-haired boy froze for a moment and quickly asked,
"So what exactly are the rules?"
He had clearly seen the text appear on his phone and desperately wanted to understand what was going on.
"For example, when you stepped outside the boundary of the temple earlier, that was already a rule."
The thin man suddenly sneered and spoke.
"The mission prompt clearly said to find the ghost's corpse within the boundaries of the temple. But you stepped half a foot beyond the last stair. That's why the ghost grabbed your foot."
Seeing the boy's pale face, the thin man continued expressionlessly,
"So for the sake of your own life, I suggest you stop doing such stupid things in the future. At the very least, don't drag others down with you."
Although what he said was true, his tone was extremely harsh. Combined with his cold gaze, it made the young boy visibly fearful.
"You can't say that either. At least now we know exactly where the boundary of the temple is."
Ryan dragged over a stool and sat beside the fire basin, warming his hands as he spoke slowly.
The thin man did not argue further. He simply looked away.
Ethan listened quietly and was now almost certain of his guess.
The boundary of the temple mentioned in the prompt was exactly at that final stone step.
If anyone crossed that step, even slightly, the corpse-spotted hand from earlier would appear again.
If Daniel had truly been dragged down earlier, he would already be dead.
But as Ethan thought about it, another idea suddenly formed in his mind.
If everyone already knew they shouldn't leave the temple's boundary, why had no one warned the boy earlier?
Yet later, they had risked themselves to save him.
Was it because they hadn't reacted in time?
Or…
had those experienced players deliberately used the boy to confirm their suspicions?
The thought made Ethan's heart skip.
For experienced players, a newcomer like Daniel clearly lacked both ability and experience.
But people like him seemed destined to bear certain "costs."
And those costs were things that could never be openly discussed.
As for why they saved him…
Ethan wanted to believe they had simply been kind.
But there was another possibility.
Only the living could continue paying those costs.
The fire in the basin burned quietly, thin smoke drifting upward and disappearing through gaps in the roof tiles.
The temperature in the room rose slightly.
Not much time had passed since they entered the temple, yet the sky outside the window had already gone completely dark.
The courtyard was pitch black, filled only with the piercing sound of wind.
Fortunately, electricity still worked in the temple.
They switched on the lights and gathered around the fire basin for warmth.
"So what do we do next? Are we supposed to search for the ghost's corpse like the phone says?"
The oppressive silence made Daniel nervous. After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked timidly.
"Search my ass. Going outside after dark is suicide."
Ryan replied.
"The best thing we can do now is stay quietly in this room and not split up. Otherwise people might start dying on the very first night."
"There's enough food here. We'd better be prepared to stay in this world for quite a while."
Then he seemed to remember something.
"Oh right. I think only I introduced myself earlier. Since we've just met, how about we all introduce ourselves?"
Daniel hesitated, unsure whether he should reveal his identity.
But at that moment, someone spoke beside him.
"My name is Sophia. I work in sales in the real world. I've cleared one nightmare before."
It was the girl with tied hair.
The others had already noticed the fresh wounds on her, but no one had asked about them.
Ethan studied her expressionless face and felt she didn't look like someone who worked in sales.
But no one questioned it.
The girl with the tear mole beneath her left eye continued smoothly,
"My name is Emily. I'm a teacher. I've also cleared one nightmare."
She followed Sophia's template.
Then, as if feeling it wasn't sincere enough, she softly added,
"The first time I saw the elevator descending endlessly, I was terrified too. I thought someone had kidnapped me."
"If it hadn't been for the others helping me, I might already be dead. I'm really grateful to those who are still willing to help others even in desperate situations."
Hearing this, Daniel was clearly moved.
But he was not good with words and simply said,
"My name is Daniel. I'm still a senior in high school…"
"Daniel? That sounds like your real name."
Ryan suddenly spoke.
Daniel froze.
"That name sounds very… genuine."
Ryan smiled strangely.
"But do you want to guess whether the names and identities they just gave are real or fake?"
Daniel's eyes widened as he looked at the two girls.
Neither of them showed any unusual expression.
But neither did they deny it.
At that moment, Daniel suddenly seemed to understand something. The expression on his face became extremely complicated.
"Relax. I'm just reminding you."
Ryan grinned.
"No one here is interested in you. And normally, it's not easy to track someone down through a name anyway."
Ethan could tell Ryan really was trying to warn the boy.
But for someone his age, the warning probably felt more like a scare.
At this point, the only two people left who hadn't introduced themselves were Ethan and the thin man.
The thin man's introduction was very brief.
"Victor. Office clerk. Cleared one nightmare."
Finally, it was Ethan's turn.
By now he had already realized that this so-called introduction didn't really matter.
Whether it was true or false, no one truly cared.
They only needed a name to address each other by.
"My name is Ethan."
He said simply.
And that was the end of it.