Chapter 40: Game Start

“We… let’s go quickly.” Li Xiaobai pinched his nose and somehow pulled two tissues out of nowhere to stuff into his nostrils.

“Are you okay, Xiaobai?” I stepped closer and touched his forehead.

“Pfft—” He suddenly covered his nose again.

“What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly.

Mo Xiao’ai pulled me away, looking at Li Xiaobai with a helpless expression. “Stop torturing him. He’s miserable enough already. He brought it on himself.”

“Huh? How am I torturing Xiaobai?” I wore a puzzled look.

“…Don’t make that face at me.” Mo Xiao’ai froze, stunned by the sight. Damn! That expression is cheating—it charms everyone, male or female!

Uh-oh, I suddenly felt the urge to push over this adorable cross-dresser too. No! Mo Xiao’ai, you’re a seventeen-year-old girl! How can you think such shameless things?

“Let’s move! No more nonsense!” Having thought that, Mo Xiao’ai took the lead and headed for the staircase in the opposite direction.

“Xiaobai, you okay? Let’s go.” I tugged at Xiaobai.

“Mm-mm, let’s go, let’s go.” Nose still covered, he followed Mo Xiao’ai with me in tow.

Since Xiaobai had already looted the entire fifth floor, we reached the fourth-floor staircase unimpeded. Unlike the stairwell we came down from, this one was sealed off going up to the fifth floor, but the way down to the fourth was clear.

The moment we prepared to descend, Mo Xiao’ai and Li Xiaobai instantly turned serious—their expressions shifting rapidly.

Mo Xiao’ai checked her new compound bow and the quiver on her back, which held at least five or six black arrows, a stark contrast to her previous single arrow.

She nocked an arrow and cautiously stepped down.

Beside me, Li Xiaobai had also swapped to a new machete.

As for me… I had changed into a nurse’s uniform. The skirt was way too short, leaving my thighs uncomfortably exposed. I had to hold the skirt down with one hand as I slowly descended the stairs.

Suddenly, Li Xiaobai wrapped an arm around me and pulled me back.

“Huh?!” I startled. Was he having perverted thoughts again?

“Hey—we’ve got guests.” He called out to Mo Xiao’ai ahead.

“I see them.” Mo Xiao’ai, already in front, had drawn her bow and was aiming forward. But since I hadn’t finished descending, I couldn’t see who she was targeting.

“Be careful.” Li Xiaobai warned me, then quickly moved beside Mo Xiao’ai, holding a flashlight in his left hand and the machete in his right.

“Ahhh, my hat—”

I pressed down my skirt with one hand and steadied my nurse’s cap (I really did put it on), then pulled scissors from my pocket and hurried down.

At the stairwell exit, Mo Xiao’ai and Li Xiaobai wore strange expressions.

I reached them and saw a man at the left corridor entrance. He had dragged a chair from somewhere and sat there, leisurely watching us with amusement. He wasn’t Asian—a young white guy.

He was fair-skinned, clean-cut, and looked refined, but in his hand he kept twirling a strange black knife—a karambit.

In this abnormal environment, his presence was jarringly out of place.

Mo Xiao’ai, Li Xiaobai, and I all stayed silent, uncertain what to say. We just watched the young white man, waiting for him to speak first. Though he didn’t seem villainous, Mo Xiao’ai kept her bow trained on him, vigilant.

He smiled at us, stopped playing with the knife, and chuckled. “So it’s not the couple from the fifth floor? And I see two pretty girls.”

He spoke Chinese—very fluently.

“Who are you?” Mo Xiao’ai asked coldly.

“Hello, beautiful lady. My name is William Smith.” He stood slowly and made a gesture that looked like a nobleman’s greeting.

Seemed very polite. I gripped my scissors tightly, standing beside Li Xiaobai.

“Where are your teammates?” Li Xiaobai asked. His tone wasn’t harsh—like me, he apparently thought William was a decent person.

“I killed them. Not only that, I killed everyone on this floor.” William said with an easy smile.

“…” Mo Xiao’ai said nothing, her gaze turning even colder.

“…” Li Xiaobai narrowed his eyes.

“…” I was startled.

Instant whiplash—I thought he was a good guy!

“I thought the couple who fled back to the fifth floor would finally have the courage to challenge me… but they got taken out.” William sat back down and resumed playing with his knife.

Did that man and woman from the fifth floor come to the fourth? Why did they flee back? Challenge? Too many questions flooded my mind.

“Do you think you can take all three of us?” Mo Xiao’ai sneered.

“No!” He answered immediately.

We all fell silent again. This guy was too erratic—totally unpredictable.

He just smiled at our reactions, stood up again, and laughed. “I want to play a game with you.”

“…What game?”

“Hide and seek. Same rules as a killer’s game. The venue is the fourth floor. If you can find me and kill me, you win. Otherwise, you lose. But there’s one rule: I’ll only use this little karambit to play with you.” He brandished the black claw-shaped knife.

“What’s in it for you?” Mo Xiao’ai asked coldly, puzzled.

“Nothing—just fun.” William shook his head, still smiling.

“Are… are you the murderer?” I asked weakly.

“No, but you could call me the murderer’s biggest fan, pretty nurse lady.” He smiled elegantly.

Another morally twisted lunatic! Why is this hospital full of people like this? And I’m not a nurse! I mentally ranted.

“No need to play. I’ll kill you right now, and that counts as our win.” Mo Xiao’ai said coldly, clearly ready to loose her arrow.

“Heh, you can try, beautiful lady.” Still elegant, and extremely confident.

“…Then die.” Mo Xiao’ai furrowed her brows, wasted no words, and shot an arrow straight at William.

William hooked the chair with his toe and kicked it toward the black arrow—blocking it mid-air at the last second!

Seeing the arrow miss, Mo Xiao’ai showed no surprise. She quickly drew another arrow from her quiver, nocked it with practiced ease, and aimed again.

Suddenly, William tossed something at his feet. With a bang, the entire corridor filled with thick smoke. William vanished into the haze, and Mo Xiao’ai lost her target.

“A homemade smoke bomb…” Mo Xiao’ai held her bow, alert, wary of a sudden attack.

“Careful.” Li Xiaobai shielded me with his body, machete ready, his expression grim.

“Game start~” William’s voice came from within the smoke.

The smoke slowly dissipated, and William had disappeared from his spot.

“He’s gone.”

“What now? Chase him?” Mo Xiao’ai slowly lowered her bow and asked.

“It’s too dangerous!” I whispered from beside them.

“Good point. It might be a trap. Who knows if he’s telling the truth—whether his teammates are really dead or just hiding?” Mo Xiao’ai analyzed calmly, then looked at Li Xiaobai for his opinion.

Li Xiaobai stood silent, eyes closed.

“He wasn’t lying. There’s probably only him on this entire floor. But he’s constantly moving, so I can’t pinpoint his exact location.” He opened his eyes, his goofy persona gone, expression serious.

“Then what are we afraid of?” Mo Xiao’ai started moving forward.

“Confidence. I don’t understand where his confidence comes from. That makes me uneasy.” Li Xiaobai also started forward, signaling me to stay close.

Just as Mo Xiao’ai reached the spot where William had been sitting, she suddenly felt the floor sink beneath her—the entire section collapsed! She fell into the pit.

“Xiao’ai!” I cried out.

But Li Xiaobai was quick. He dove to the edge of the broken floor and grabbed Mo Xiao’ai’s hand.

“Pull me up!” Mo Xiao’ai screamed in terror. She could see down to the third floor—scattered rubble, but more importantly, the ground was covered with bear traps!

If she fell, she’d be crushed into ketchup!

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