Chapter 36: The Listener’s Imagination

Lin Zhi’s number was 1.
The first thing Lin Kuo checked was her score.
He took a deep breath to clear his mind, then continued reading:

Name: Duan Lei
Number: [2]
Duration Score: 0
Number Score: 0
Story Score: 10
Total Score: 10
Ranking: Eliminated

Name: Zheng Huaxin
Number: [3]
Duration Score: 6
Number Score: 10
Story Score: 0
Total Score: 16
Ranking: Eliminated

Name: Su Qianqian
Number: [5]
Duration Score: 0
Number Score: 0
Story Score: 0
Total Score: 0
Ranking: Eliminated

These were the scores of the three people who had died last night.
Lin Kuo felt like he had discovered something, but at the same time, he felt like he was “unable to see Mount Lu clearly because I’m standing in the mountain.”
In other words, he couldn’t quite grasp the full picture yet.

There were still three other people with scores.
Lin Kuo quickly checked theirs. In numerical order:

Name: Yan Jie
Number: [8]
Duration Score: 0
Number Score: 0
Story Score: 30
Total Score: 30
Ranking: 3

Name: Zhang Mengnan
Number: [12]
Duration Score: 54
Number Score: 0
Story Score: 15
Total Score: 69
Ranking: 1

Name: Lin Kuo
Number: [13]
Duration Score: 3
Number Score: 0
Story Score: 0
Total Score: 3
Ranking: 4

Lin Kuo jotted down the key data, then, without even bothering to eat breakfast, pulled Lin Zhi and Jiang Sheng back to their room.
He was worried he’d forget something, so he asked Lin Zhi to get a pen and paper ready.

“Let’s start with the key points.”

Lin Zhi wrote Key Points at the top of a new sheet, prepared to record everything in order.

Lin Kuo’s mood had improved. His thinking was clearer now, and his words were less scattered.
He closed his eyes and recalled the events from last night.

“Three people died last night.
Today’s total number score is 30, which means the system gives 10 points per kill.”

“Your number score is 20, and the only other person with a number score is Number 3, with 10 points.
Last night, the materialized little boy attacked rooms 2 and 3. That proves numbers 2 and 3 were killed by the little boy.
So, Zhizhi, your 20 points are for killing them.
The other 10 points—that’s from Number 5, and those points were awarded to Number 3.”

Lin Zhi was a little confused. Jiang Sheng looked even more lost.

Lin Kuo explained,
“Simply put—the people killed by the little boy are counted toward your number score.
The people killed by the female ghost are counted toward Number 3’s number score.
And both of you, the ones with number scores, also have a duration score of 6, which represents the existence time of the materializations.”

Lin Zhi quickly wrote down this conclusion, her mind already filled with questions.
The storytellers at yesterday’s story session were numbers 2 and 8.
Why would the materialized killer from number 2’s story have his score counted on her head?
What she couldn’t figure out the most was that even the existence time of the materialized thing would be counted on her head.

Why?
Because the little boy was how she imagined him? Did that mean she was just picking up the scraps?

As she thought about this, Lin Zhi suddenly froze.
Then she abruptly looked at Lin Kuo, her eyes wide.

“Bro… I think I get it now.”

Lin Kuo let out a sigh of relief.
Jiang Sheng looked at her expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

Lin Zhi set down her pen and carefully organized her thoughts before speaking.

“The storyteller’s story doesn’t materialize directly.
What really materializes is the listener’s imagination—right?
When Number 2 told the story of the creepy little boy, I imagined what that boy looked like.
So the cat watched me, and it materialized my imagination.
That’s why the little boy’s kills and existence time are all counted under me.”

She felt like this made perfect sense, so she continued.

“And in Yan Jie’s story—the Sadako scenario—your question about why smashing the TV would stop her makes sense now.
It’s because that Sadako wasn’t the original story’s version; she was the one imagined by Number 3.
And in Number 3’s imagination, smashing the TV would stop her.”

Lin Kuo nodded.
“Exactly.”

Why had he received a duration score on the first day?
Because when Lin Zhi told her ancient pagoda tree story, Lin Kuo had visualized what the tree looked like.
That day, the cat wasn’t staring at Lin Zhi—it was watching him.
And since it was his imagination, he could imagine the tree to be powerful, but he could also imagine its weakness.

Lin Zhi frowned.
“But then… why did your ancient pagoda tree attack me?”

Lin Kuo sighed.
“Because of the numbers.”

“The numbers?”

“The materialization attacks the next number after its imaginer.
You’re Number 1, so your little boy attacked Number 2.
After Number 2 died, he attacked Number 3.
Sadako was imagined by Number 3, so she attacked Number 4.
I’m Number 13—so naturally, my ancient pagoda tree attacked you.”

That was a long explanation, and it left Lin Kuo slightly winded.
He rested for a moment before continuing.

“I also figured out why I got affected by the depression.”

Lin Zhi immediately responded,
“Because Zhang Mengnan is Number 12, so her materialization attacks you, Number 13.”

Then she remembered something else.

“Wait—that night, Sadako clearly tried to attack you.”

Lin Kuo was stunned.
“She attacked me?”

Lin Zhi’s eyes widened in realization.
“Oh! It’s not based on the person’s number, but the room number!”

Lin Kuo nodded.
“Right.”

Her thoughts flashed back to that night.
On the first day, everyone had stayed in their assigned rooms, so the attacks went by numerical order.
But when Lin Kuo had his depressive episode, the three of them were all in Jiang Sheng’s room—Room 4.
So Sadako, imagined by Number 3, naturally attacked Room 4.

After Lin Kuo smashed the TV, the three of them left Room 4, and Sadako went on to attack Room 5.
It made sense now why the old man had told everyone not to visit other people’s rooms. That was probably why.

Right now, both Rooms 4 and 5 were empty.
So tonight, the little boy and Sadako would both start their attack from Room 6.

Lin Zhi’s heart skipped a beat.
“Number 6 is gonna have a rough night.
Should we warn him?”

Lin Kuo shook his head.
“We can’t share this discovery.”

If the other players learned this, they might deliberately tell horrifying stories to rack up points and target people. Who knows what kind of atrocities they’d commit?

Lin Kuo tapped the table.

“Now, write down the unknown clues.”

Lin Zhi quickly took notes.

Lin Kuo said,
“Everyone can imagine things.
So does the cat pick materializations randomly or choose the strongest one?
If two people imagine at the same time, will the materialization be stronger, or will two separate ones appear?
And is the number of people attacked by materializations each night always greater than or equal to 2, or equal to 2?”

Lin Zhi jotted everything down.

Lin Kuo looked at the list of clues.

Key points:

1: The materialization is produced by the listener’s or storyteller’s imagination.

2: The target of the materialization’s attack is the next number (room number) after its creator.

3: The duration and kill scores of the materialization are the duration and number scores of its creator.

4: Number score × 10.

5: If the target room is empty, the attack will move on to the next numbered room.

Unknown points:

1: The condition for Shen to choose what to materialize.

2: If multiple people imagine, will the materialization be enhanced, or will its quantity increase?

3: Is the number of participants attacked by the materialization ≥ 2?

This sheet of notes answered almost all their previous questions.
Lin Zhi’s note-taking had improved, and the structure was much clearer this time.
Lin Kuo’s thoughts flowed smoothly now.

He pursed his lips.
“There can be ties in the rankings.”

Lin Zhi blinked.
“Huh? How did you figure that out?”

“The display screen.”

On the second day, many people had scores of 0, but they were all ranked 4th.
At the time, Lin Kuo had thought it was because they hadn’t told their stories yet.
But in fact, everyone’s points had already been calculated from day one.

So that fourth place represented…

That everyone could technically tie for third place and still clear the instance.

Lin Zhi sighed in relief.
It was her first time in an instance, and surviving by stepping on corpses wasn’t something she wanted to do.

Jiang Sheng finally caught up.

“So, Brother Lin Kuo, does that mean we can all survive?”

Lin Kuo stayed silent.
Lin Zhi shook her head, “…Not necessarily.”

Theoretically, the best solution would be to gather everyone and share these discoveries.
Then everyone could coordinate to keep their scores close and tie for third place.

But the problem was…

“Because third place is never as safe as first place.” Lin Kuo said.

People’s hearts were unpredictable.
And with so many uncontrollable variables, no one could guarantee the scores would remain equal.

In that case, first place would always be the safest.

Jiang Sheng only half understood.
Lin Zhi looked uneasy.

Lin Kuo continued:

“Right now, Zhang Mengnan is first with 69 points, and her duration score will keep increasing.
Second is Lin Zhi, with 41 points, also still increasing.
Third is Yan Jie, with 30 points.”

After a pause, he added:

“Zhang Mengnan’s team is just her now.
The rest of the players are all in Yan Jie’s group.
So when they tell their stories, if we use our imaginations, their scores will most likely cap at 30 story points.”

Lin Zhi understood her brother’s strategy.
By using their imaginations during the storytelling, they could control the other players’ scores to stay at 30.

That way, at the end of the session, the rankings would be:
1st: Zhang Mengnan
2nd: Lin Zhi
3rd: Everyone else tied at 30.

The instance would end peacefully.

But Lin Zhi couldn’t shake a bad feeling.

“Bro, my heart’s beating so fast.
I feel like it won’t go that smoothly.
Also, we still don’t know the condition for that cat named Shen to choose what to materialize.
It would be terrible if it’s random.”

Lin Kuo was silent for a while and said, “I agree with Yan Jie’s previous statement of the strongest in the story.

So I’m inclined to believe that the condition for Shen to choose an imagined materialization is the strongest or most real existence in each person’s imagination.”

He gave a few examples:

“When you told your story, other people probably imagined a water ghost or a Taoist priest, but I pictured an ancient pagoda tree. That’s why the tree appeared.”

“In Zhang Mengnan’s story, we all focused on the poster’s mental state.
Zhang Mengnan is a media person, so she looks at problems from a different perspective than us.

So only she herself would delve into the story and find that the more terrifying things than the protagonist were the postpartum depression and schizophrenia.”

“And Number 2’s story—most of the veterans were planning their next move while he told it.
So the only detailed imagination was yours, Zhizhi.”

“Finally, Yan Jie’s Sadako story. The veterans were all strategizing.
Only the newbies imagined Sadako, so that’s what materialized.”

After saying so much, Lin Kuo unscrewed a bottle of water and took a few sips to moisten his throat.

His fingertip tapped on the clues listed under the Unknown category on the paper.

“So, the most likely condition for Shen to choose a materialization is Yan Jie’s strongest in the story theory.”

Lin Zhi spoke up, “Bro, the lies I told you before… you probably saw through them a long time ago, right?

You just turned a blind eye and gave me face.”

Lin Kuo glanced at her and replied coolly, “It’s good that you know.”

He was still affected by depression.

If not for that, he should’ve figured out these clues long ago, let alone fallen for Lin Zhi’s childish tricks.

With a clear mind, he would’ve seen through them easily.

But he’d simply thought it was irrelevant and chose to believe her.

Lin Zhi showed an adoring expression and tugged at the corner of Lin Kuo’s clothes,
“My brother is so amazing, wuwuwu.

I’ll never dare to lie again.”

Lin Kuo tapped her on the head and rescued the wrinkled corner of his clothes from her grip.

Then, he spoke seriously, determined to get all his thoughts out in one breath while his mind was still clear:

“The condition for Shen to choose a materialization can be verified at tomorrow’s story session.

I don’t know what will happen if the imaginations are of equal strength…”

At this point, he looked at the other Lin Zhi in his vision.

“Jiang Sheng, what you need to do is go over the storyteller’s story in your mind.”

A child’s imagination is always boundless.

Lin Kuo wasn’t worried that Jiang Sheng’s imagination wouldn’t be chosen by Shen.

He was more worried that Jiang Sheng was too young to understand this pile of conclusions.

But to his surprise, Jiang Sheng nodded solemnly.

“I know, Brother Lin Kuo. Don’t worry.

When I think about the story, I’ll also think about their weaknesses.”

Lin Kuo was a little taken aback.

Jiang Sheng was much more mature and clever than other kids his age.

When Lin Zhi was Jiang Sheng’s age, she was still playing in the mud.

With that thought, Lin Kuo glanced at Lin Zhi.

“Hehe.”

“…”

His head throbbed a little.

He wasn’t sure if it was because of Lin Zhi or the depression.

He rubbed his temples, trying to ease the ache.

His depression was slowly getting better.

Though it was a slow process, it was still progress—and treating depression couldn’t be rushed.

Fortunately, Lin Kuo had managed to hold on.

If something happened to him, the next one to fall into depression would be Lin Zhi.

Depression was temporarily held back by Lin Kuo.

What remained were the anti-personality, anti-social little boy from Number 2’s story, and Sadako from Number 8’s story.

The lethality of these two materializations was far greater than ‘Depression.’

And there was still another story session coming tomorrow.

Even Lin Kuo couldn’t be sure how many more materializations would appear after midnight.

The more materializations there were, the more dangerous it would become.

To be safe, they needed to deal with the existing materializations before any new ones appeared.

So tonight, he had to go to room 6.

The room fell silent.

The person who had been standing outside the door overheard no more clues and quietly turned to leave.

******

That day, just like before, Lin Kuo and Jiang Sheng did not go downstairs.

It was all up to Lin Zhi to run errands, bring food, and gather information about the others.

Because Lin Kuo had decided to deal with the little boy and Sadako tonight, he rested in advance to conserve his energy.

When it was time to sleep, the three of them went to room 3.

Since the little boy had already attacked the people in rooms 2 and 3, his next target would be room 4.

And Sadako had attacked room 5, so her next target would be room 6.

Among the 13 rooms, room 3 was the safest right now—and also the closest to room 6.

Room 3 had already been cleaned by the old man, and there were no clues left behind.

Lin Zhi was a little disappointed.

She’d been hoping to find something that could help them discover the little boy’s weakness.

This made her even more worried about Lin Kuo’s plan for tonight.

She wanted to go with him.

But Lin Kuo shook his head. “I’ll be more at ease going alone.”

That was the truth.

Not just for Lin Zhi’s safety, but also for other reasons…

Lin Zhi could only watch helplessly as Lin Kuo stepped onto the narrow windowsill and made his way toward room 6.

Her heart pounded wildly, but she didn’t dare say a word—afraid that if she spoke, Lin Kuo might lose his footing and fall.

She could only stick her head out of the window, eyes wide, watching Lin Kuo carefully make his way toward room 6.

May the Bodhisattva protect him, Lin Zhi clasped her hands together and prayed sincerely.

On the other side, Lin Kuo reached the window of room 6.

He looked back at Lin Zhi, signaling her to go back and rest, then turned his gaze toward room 6.

The Number 6 Lin Zhi in his vision was anxiously chain-smoking.

He was probably stressing over tomorrow’s story session.

The ashtray beside him was full of cigarette butts.

The cigarette between his fingers had already burned down to the stub, and a clump of ash fell onto his hand.

But he didn’t brush it off, just sat there muttering to himself,

“That bastard Yan Jie told the story of The Ring, but the number score was all counted on that girl Number 1’s head.

How the hell can I not figure it out…”

At that moment—

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

Number 6 jumped up in fright, cursing under his breath.

The knocking didn’t stop.

Number 6 mustered his courage, walked to the door, and shouted, “Who is it?”

“Number 12, Zhang Mengnan.”

Lin Kuo, outside the window, was stunned.

What was Zhang Mengnan doing here at this hour?

His expression darkened as he silently watched room 6.

Number 6 opened the door, and in Lin Kuo’s vision, two Lin Zhis appeared.

The Lin Zhi standing outside the door of room 6 looked into the room nervously.

Lin Kuo quickly shifted sideways to avoid being seen.

When he figured the timing was about right, he looked into the room again.

No one was there.

Lin Kuo pursed his lips.

He waited a little longer, but neither Number 6 nor Zhang Mengnan returned.

He glanced at the clock—it was already 11:30.

It seemed the two of them weren’t planning to come back.

Although Lin Kuo didn’t know why Zhang Mengnan was looking for Number 6, this turn of events actually worked out well for him.

At least he wouldn’t have to reveal any clues to Number 6.

With that thought, Lin Kuo opened the window and climbed in.

He waited in the room for midnight to arrive.

After a long wait with no movement, Lin Kuo checked the clock again—11:30.

He noticed something unusual and was about to look for a weapon when the TV suddenly let out a hissing static sound.

The black screen flickered, revealing a dry well.

A pair of withered hands reached out from the wellhead.

Lin Kuo looked around.

The only usable weapon in the room was a hammer by the bathroom.

He walked over to pick it up—but another force tugged on the other end, stopping him.

Lin Kuo looked up.

The Lin Zhi holding the hammer smiled, “Let’s play hide and seek.

You hide. If I don’t find you in half an hour, I won’t kill you.”

Lin Kuo thought for a moment. “You hide.

If I find you in half an hour, I’ll kill you.”

It seemed this was the first time anyone had negotiated terms with him.

The little boy hesitated.

Lin Kuo said, “The clock in the room isn’t moving.

I’ll definitely find you, and I’ll definitely kill you.

So are you scared?”

The little boy snapped, “Of course not!”

“Then are we playing or not?”

“We’re playing!”

“Give me the hammer.”

The little boy hesitated.

Lin Kuo taunted, “What, you can’t beat me without a hammer?

Among all the materializations I’ve seen, you’re the weakest.”

The little boy, provoked, finally let go. “Good luck.”

Lin Kuo: “Hide now. I’ll start counting.

One, two, seven, eight.”

“…”

He only had two seconds left to hide.

Just as he was deciding where to go, a pair of hands grabbed his neck.

Lin Kuo looked up.

In his vision, two materialized Lin Zhis were fighting.

If not for the fact that one of them still had her lower body stuck in the TV, Lin Kuo really wouldn’t have been able to tell which was the little boy and which was the female ghost.

But clearly, the little boy was no match for supernatural power.

In no time, he was strangled to death by the female ghost Lin Zhi.

The remaining female ghost gave Lin Kuo a strange smile and began crawling out of the TV cabinet with both hands.

Lin Kuo calmly walked over and smashed the TV with the hammer.

After stopping her from coming out, he hit her arms a few more times for good measure.

The little boy was Lin Zhi’s imagined materialization.

Since Lin Zhi was human, her imagination still followed basic logic.

No matter how anti-social the little boy was, he was still just a human boy.

Being strangled like that, of course he’d die.

What remained was the female ghost.

Lin Kuo thought about it from the perspective of Number 3.

If you imagine Sadako climbing out of a TV, then naturally you’d think smashing the TV would stop her.

He’d known this clue long ago.

He just needed to figure out how to eliminate her after stopping her.

By normal human logic, ghosts act at night because the moon belongs to yin, while the sun belongs to yang.

Once dawn comes, all filth in the world has nowhere to hide.

Lin Kuo was tired of smashing.

After confirming Sadako couldn’t strangle him for now, he smashed the TV a few more times to ensure she couldn’t get out or go back in.

Then he picked up the TV and threw it out the window.

Once the sun came up, the materialization would turn to dust.

But everyone in the villa heard a loud bang along with a piercing, resentful scream.

In room 12, Zhang Mengnan looked out the window and saw Sadako stuck in the TV.

She waved to Number 6.

“I wasn’t lying to you.

The target of the two materializations tonight was you—room 6.”

Number 6 was so scared he couldn’t speak.

After a long while, he stammered, “You… why did you save me?”

Zhang Mengnan said, “It was Lin Kuo who saved you.”

“Number 13?”

Zhang Mengnan nodded. “What a pity.

I didn’t know he’d go to room 6 tonight.

Otherwise, the one who should’ve died would’ve been Number 7. Maybe Number 8 too.”

Number 6’s mouth dropped open. “…Why are you telling me this?”

Zhang Mengnan shrugged. “I can’t help it.

I’m alone now, and I’m ranked first in score.

Number 8 definitely won’t let me off easy.

I wanted to team up with them, but I overheard Number 13’s plan.

His goal is for all of us to survive.”

“…Isn’t that good?”

Zhang Mengnan’s expression was blank. “Of course it’s good.

But do you think Yan Jie will allow it?

He’s not stupid. His performance is better than everyone else’s.

Given enough time, he’ll figure everything out.

And he’s bringing Number 7 through the instance.

Once he understands the rules, he’ll secure first place for himself and second place for Number 7.”

Then the original third-place score of ‘30’ would rise dramatically.

That would mean more deaths, and Lin Kuo’s plan of having everyone tie for third would become nearly impossible.

Zhang Mengnan said, “I agree and disagree with Lin Kuo’s idea.

How should I put it?

Only if Numbers 7 and 8 die can Lin Kuo’s idea be realized.

If I hadn’t told you what I overheard, would you have followed me out of room 6?

Of course, I only did this to help Lin Kuo.”

She looked at the wailing female ghost stuck in the TV and gave a cold smile. “What a pity.”

Number 6 was silent for a long time.

Everything he couldn’t figure out before now made sense.

He frowned. “So the materialization isn’t based on how scary the story is, but on the listener’s imagination?

If that’s the case…”

Zhang Mengnan said, “Then prepare well for tomorrow’s story session.

Imagine something as powerful and unsolvable as possible.

That way, Shen will choose your materialization.

Your number is 6, so the materialized thing you imagine will target Numbers 7 and 8.

After they’re dead, your score will hit around ‘30.’

Then you can find a way to deal with your own materialization.”

Number 6 swallowed nervously. “…Okay. I got it.

Don’t worry, I already know what story I’m going to tell tomorrow.”