The beginning of this horrific event is like a schoolboy writing an essay on a running account.

Nantian is a single freelance writer. Wake up in the morning according to your biological clock, wash up, and eat breakfast; Then type in front of the computer until 12 noon; Go out and have lunch at a small restaurant nearby; Go home and take a nap; Wake up at 3 p.m. and play computer games; Dinner was ordered for takeout, and after eating, I wrote an article until half past eleven; After that, he lay on the couch and watched TV - the TV was boring, and he fell asleep after a while.

The strange situation happened just after he fell asleep. After he woke up, to be exact.

Nantian rubbed his eyes in a daze, and when he saw his surroundings clearly, he was stunned for half a minute.

I'm still asleep? That was his first reaction.

No, the touch is real. Nantian pinched his arm, it hurt.

He looked around the small, unfamiliar room, about 7 or 8 square meters in total, with a closed wooden door diagonally in front of it. The room had no windows and a fluorescent lamp on top. There was only a small bed, a fabric sofa, and a flush toilet in the corner. Other than that, there is nothing else.

Nan Tian sat up from the small bed, shocked and nervously thinking—what the hell is this place? No matter how he looked at it, he was 100% sure that this was not his warm and lovely home.

Didn't I lie on the couch in the living room and watch TV before? Nantian remembered that the TV show was so ugly that he fell asleep unconsciously...... But where is this now? What's going on?

His thoughts were confused, and his throat was dry. He couldn't tell what kind of situation he was in.

At this moment, Nantian heard a woman's panicked voice from outside the door: "Ah! What is this place? ”

There are others here! Nantian jumped out of bed excitedly and stepped in front of the door in two steps - thank God, the door was not locked, and opened as soon as it was pulled.

He stepped out the door into the hallway, and at a glance he saw the frightened woman with curly brown hair, and the two of them looked at each other briefly for a few seconds, as if they saw themselves in each other's eyes.

At this moment, the door of the room next to Nantian also opened, and a slightly chubby middle-aged man appeared in front of them with the same surprised expression. Immediately after, the doors in the hallway opened, not only on this side, but also in the opposite hallway, several meters away—in each small room, a person came out. Everyone opened their mouths and stared at each other, with a look of astonishment and inexplicability.

At this time, Nantian saw the environment thoroughly - this is a large space of several hundred square meters, divided into two floors, and below is a narrow hall, with a circle of dark brown leather chairs. And he and the others are now in two symmetrical rows of corridors on the second floor. Nan Tian counted it, and there were seven rooms in each of the two rows of corridors, adding up to 14 in total. That's right, one person came out of each room, a total of 14 people.

"Where are we?" A man in a white shirt asked the crowd questions blankly.

"Look at the pattern, this should be a prison." The middle-aged man frowned.

This sentence shocked everyone. Everyone looked nervous. A short-haired woman on the opposite side exclaimed, "How did I get here?" ”

No one can answer. The same question is written on everyone's face.

At this moment, a young man in a hat walked down the stairs on one side to the hall in the middle of the first floor, carefully observing every layout here. The people upstairs looked at each other and followed them downstairs, and everyone gathered in the hall on the first floor.

"There's a door here." The man in the white shirt walked to an iron door in the hall, tugged hard, shook his head, and said, "It's locked." ”

The young man in the hat counted the brown leather chairs in a circle in the middle of the hall, put his hand on his chin, and said, "Interesting, there are exactly 14 chairs, the same number as us." ”

A handsome young man with pale brown hair put his hands in his trouser bag: "So, these are all arranged and arranged a long time ago." ”

"What the hell is going on? Who arranged these? Someone asked.

"Will it be a TV show?" A tall man said, "There are some reality shows these days that take unwitting guests somewhere, do secret filming, and then tell the guests that it's really just a TV show." ”

"Impossible." A cold voice came from a man with an equally grim face. "No TV station or production unit has the audacity to knock me out and bring me here to record something without my permission."

The tone of this man's speech was extraordinary, and it seemed to come from a small source. Everyone looked over, and Nantian looked at his face, feeling a little familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.

The chubby middle-aged man also said, "That's right, this can't be that kind of boring TV show." He looked up at his watch, "It's 9:17 a.m. on April 22." If I'm not mistaken, all of you, like me, have been illegally detained for more than 12 hours – this can never be a game, it's a crime in its own right. ”

Seeing this middle-aged man looking at his watch, everyone remembered the question of time. Some people who didn't wear watches started touching their phones in their clothes or trouser bags, and then heard their exclamations. "The phone is gone!"

"If someone catches us here and leaves their phone for us to call the police or ask for help, that's weird." The man with a grim face snorted.

"So, who secretly caught us here?" The woman with beautiful curly hair covered her mouth and said in shock, "That man wants to treat us like this?" ”

"I don't think it's just a 'person', it's probably an organization. Think about it, who has such a great ability to catch more than a dozen of us here at the same time? And, all without our knowledge. A man said in disbelief, his eyes widened.

"Does anyone know how they got here?" Said the handsome young man with light brown hair. "I mean, does anyone have the impression that they have been kidnapped or coerced?"

Everyone was silent, and then shook their heads.

"So, we all woke up in an inexplicable coma and found ourselves here?"

Nantian spoke: "I'm asleep...... And then wake up right here. ”

"Me too." The woman with sparkling diamond earrings and short hair glanced at Nantian, "I'm the same as him, I didn't have any consciousness after falling asleep, and I woke up here." ”

"It doesn't matter how we got here. The most important question now is, what are the people who have imprisoned us secretly here trying to do? Said the handsome young man with light brown hair.

After a moment of silence, the young man in the hat pointed to the leather chairs that formed a large circle and said, "Maybe these chairs are the answer." ”

"What do you mean?" Nantian asked.

"As I said, there are 14 of us and 14 chairs. It's certainly not a coincidence, right? ”

"Then what do you mean, the people who arrested us here want us to have a tea party here?" The grim-faced man sneered.

The young man in the hat was not amused, he looked around carefully: "Who knows? Judging by the current state of affairs, there is nothing more conspicuous in this hall. And the 14 leather chairs are neatly arranged in a circle – the hint couldn't be more obvious – and the mysterious owner wants us all to sit on them. ”

"I think he has a point." Nantian agreed, "That's how I understand it. ”

Everyone is now close to this circle of leather chairs. The short-haired woman said, "So what do we do now?" All sitting in chairs? And then, what to do? ”

"Maybe when you sit down, the next 'prompt' will appear." The man in the white shirt said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean by 'hint'?" The short-haired woman asked.

The man in the white shirt shrugged his shoulders: "I don't know, I said it casually." I just feel that if it were in a novel, there would be such a plot. ”

"yes, I think so, too." The young man in the hat looked a little excited, and he walked over to a leather chair to sit down, "Let's try it." ”

"Wait, don't sit!" The woman with beautiful curly hair suddenly shouted, startling everyone.

The tall man asked her; "What's wrong with you?"

Everyone looked at her, her face turned red, and she said embarrassedly, "It's nothing...... I just wanted to remind you to be careful. ”

"You think what's going to happen if we sit in this chair?" The short-haired woman asked sharply, "Why do you think that?" ”

The beautiful curly-haired woman bit her lower lip and frowned slightly. After a while, she said, "Because, in one of my previous novels, there was a plot like this - there is a mechanism hidden in the chair, and the person who sits down is ...... will die. ”

This sentence surprised everyone, including Nantian. But the curly-haired woman apparently didn't realize what everyone was surprised about.

"You say, in one of your novels? So, you're a writer? Nantian asked.

"Yes." The curly-haired woman nodded, "I'm a writer of mystery and suspense novels. ”

"What a coincidence!" Nantian couldn't help but exclaim, "Me too, I also write suspense thriller novels." ”

Then, to their further surprise, the young man in the hat also exclaimed, "What? You all write horror and suspense novels? Same as me? ”

"Wait, are we all the same? Are all suspense fiction writers? The man in the white shirt widened his eyes.

"That's right, so am I!" The short-haired woman shouted.

The grim-faced man observed the reactions of the people around him, rolled his eyes, and then whispered, "Hmph, it seems to be true." ”

The young man in the hat looked at the grim man and suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! No wonder I thought you were familiar with you just now, you are the great writer Arakishu! ”

Everyone looked over with a little surprise. They didn't expect that the famous writer Araki, who can be called a leading figure in the field of suspense novels, would also experience this strange incident with them.

Araki said lightly, "Well, that's my pen name. ”

The young man in the hat seemed to have forgotten what situation he was in, and exclaimed excitedly: "14 writers of suspense novels have gathered in a mysterious place, facing unknown dangers and puzzles - it is so dramatic and so interesting!" Our current experience is simply the best suspense novel! ”

As he finished speaking, a boy who looked to be only ten years old suddenly stared at him, his lips slightly open, as if he realized something, but did not say it.

Araki Boat still said in a slow, cold tone: "Now is not the time to get excited about this kind of thing, is it?" Let's discuss what to do next. ”

"Yes. Now it seems that it is no coincidence that those of us gathered here. Since everyone is an expert in reasoning and suspense, let's analyze what is going on together. "Also, I think it's important for us to introduce ourselves – my pen name is Ryoma." ”

"Ah, Ryoma, I know!" The young man in the hat pointed at him and said, "I've read your book "Escape from the Evil Spirit Island", it's great! I didn't expect it to be you! He rubbed his hands together excitedly.

Ryoma smiled lightly and politely said, "Thank you." He turned to the group, "Everyone should introduce themselves, okay?" ”

The handsome young man with pale brown hair was about to speak, and the young man in the hat seemed to have discovered some new world, and said before him: "Ah...... You—I remembered, too. I've seen your interview – you're the goth who has been dubbed an 'idol writer' by the media, right? ”

The handsome young man stroked the bangs on his forehead, nodded and said, "Yes, it's me." ”

The young man in the hat is indeed a nervous person, and at such a time when everyone is panicking, he is in the mood to look for stars in the crowd. "You're a beluga whale!" He pointed to a boy dressed casually and said, "The new suspense king, I read your work on the Internet." ”

This boy with the pen name Moby Dick, Nan Tian has also heard of it, he only emerged in the suspense novel world last year, there are not many works, but the momentum is unstoppable, and the speed of his popularity has made many seniors staggered.

Moby Dick smiled reluctantly and nodded, while asking the young man in the hat, "What about you?" ”

"I can't compare with you." The young man took off his hat embarrassedly and scratched his head, "I'm not famous, I haven't published a physical book, I can only be regarded as an Internet writer - my pen name is Beidou." ”

The tall man continued, "My pen name is Dark Fire, and I'm not a famous writer. ”

The woman with beautiful curly hair frowned slightly and said, "My name is Sajia...... Well, it's a pen name. ”

A woman with short hair has a mature charm that is completely different from that of a small woman. "I'm — my pen name is Chiaki." Her elongated voice is magnetic, sensual and feminine.

The people in the back introduced themselves next to each other - a thin man in his thirties with a pen name of Lake; The white-skinned man in a checkered shirt is called Wei Chicheng; The slightly fat middle-aged man with a pen name is Xiahou Shen; There was also a man with glasses, whose image looked a little cringe, his name was Xu Wen, who said that was his real name and that he never used a pen name.

After Nantian introduced himself, in the end, only the teenage boy remained. He looked like the youngest of the 14 men, and he hadn't said a word before. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he said, "Hmm...... My pen name is Chris. ”

"Chris?" Everyone was stunned, and even Araki raised his head and looked at the boy carefully.

Beidou's mouth opened wide in surprise, almost shouting, "Are you really Chris?" The 16-year-old genius writer who wrote "The Stubborn World"? ”

The boy said calmly, "Well, it's me, but I'm 18 now." He smiled shyly.

Everyone looked at each other, and their surprise was palpable. Like everyone else, Nantian felt incredible. Before, he thought that among these 14 people, Araki was the biggest writer, but he never imagined that even Chris was among them! You know, the genius teenage writer Chris is a celebrity all over the world. His novel "The Stubborn World", written at the age of 16, won many literary awards at home and abroad, was translated into more than 10 languages, and was on the bestseller list for many weeks. After that, Chris switched to writing mystery novels, each of which sold millions of copies. According to the media, Chris's IQ is as high as more than 150, but this talented young writer is very low-key and basically does not accept any interviews and reports, so to many people, including industry insiders, he is an enigmatic figure.

And such a character has actually experienced this strange incident now, not to mention Beidou, who has an exposed personality, even Nantian, who thinks he is calm, feels excited.

At the same time, a deeper level of shock and fear also enveloped him—what mysterious power could bring so many people together? What is the purpose?

At this time, Beidou was already excited and couldn't help himself, he said with a red face and dancing hands: "It's incredible, I was drinking with my friends at a barbecue stand on the street last night, and today I woke up and was in the same room with Chris, the world is amazing!" ”

"Why are you still happy?" Araki stared at him and said, "Don't do this kind of emotion, let's think about our current situation!" I remind you that instead of partying or vacationing, we are illegally imprisoned and don't yet know what will happen next - but nine times out of ten it will not be good! ”

Beidou stuck out his tongue and buried his head and stopped talking.

"So let's get back to the previous topic." Xia Houshen said, "Should we sit on these chairs or not?" ”

Wei Chicheng glanced at Sajia and said, "I don't think this lady's worries are necessary. Come to think of it, we've been in a coma here for more than ten hours, and if anyone wanted to take our lives, they would have done it a long time ago, and would they still need to resort to such a troublesome way of killing people as the 'chair mechanism'? ”

"That's right, if you want to kill us, there's no need to get us here to kill us." Xiahou Shen said, "It can be seen that what that guy wants is not our lives." ”

As he spoke, Beidou crouched down to carefully inspect a leather chair. "I've seen it, there's no mechanism, it's just an ordinary chair."

The man named Darkfire seemed to be feeling a little impatient. "There's nothing to be suspicious about." With that, he walked straight to a chair, sat down, and naturally crossed Erlang's legs.

Seeing that nothing had happened, everyone walked up to a leather chair and sat down next to each other.

Everyone else sat down, but Saga was still standing in front of the last chair, her hand on her chest, as if she was still hesitating.

Nantian happened to be next to her, and when he saw her worried look, he suddenly felt an urge to protect this little woman. He took Sajia's hand and stood up at the same time and said, "Don't worry, it's no problem, or you can sit here with me." ”

With that, he sat down on the chair in front of Saga and signaled to her that nothing would happen.

Sajia opened her mouth slightly, stared at Nantian for a few seconds, and then showed a grateful expression. "Thank you." She struggled to squeeze out a smile as she sat down on the chair Nantian had given up.

At this moment, all 14 people were seated. At the same time, a loud sound suddenly sounded in the empty house, startling everyone.

"Welcome, guests."

The 14 people sitting in the leather chairs all looked left and right in amazement, looking for the source of the sound. Beidou raised his head, was the first to notice, and shouted, "There it is!" ”

Everyone raised their heads and looked around, only to find that there were small speakers installed in the four corners of the top of the house, and the sound came from here.

"I'm sorry for 'inviting' 14 suspense thriller writers here without consent. Whatever state of mind you are in right now, whether anger or fear, please calm down for a moment and listen to what I have to say, for this is a matter of your life. ”

The 14 people sitting in the chairs held their breath, and there was not a trace of noise in the huge space.

"I'm guessing you've had some conversations just now. Therefore, I don't need to introduce your names and origins one by one. I believe that the question that concerns you most right now is what I am doing by bringing you here. ”

"To put it simply, I'm a mystery writer like you. For years, I've been thinking about the question of what it takes to write a great mystery novel that shocks the publishing world and the world. I thought about it for a long time, and finally found the answer - you, my answer. ”

The 14 people in a circle looked at each other with complicated expressions that were difficult to summarize.

"All of you here now, whether well-known or not, in my opinion, are the 14 best mystery fiction writers in China. I have invited you here to play a game with you. ”

"Let me explain the rules of the game. Now pay attention to the southeast corner of the hall, where a small box is placed. ”

The people looked in the direction he was saying, and saw what he said.

"In this box, there are 14 table tennis balls, and each ball has a number written on it, which is 1-14. For a moment, I want you to do what I say – everyone goes into the box and randomly touches a ping pong ball, and the number on it represents your 'number'. Once it's decided, the game begins. ”

"The game is all about starting with the person who gets the number '1', and every night at 7 o'clock, each person tells a new suspenseful horror story of their own. At the end of the story, everyone other than the narrator gave the story a score out of 10. After the fight, a person counts and calculates an average score – the final number is the total score of the story told by that person. Then, after 14 days, the person with the highest score is the winner of the game. ”

"Some people will ask, what is the benefit of winning this game? I think you're all connoisseurs, and you'll be aware that what you're experiencing now is a great mystery fiction subject, and the most rare thing is that it's not something you made up, it's a real event that you have experienced. I'm sure everyone in the room knows that for a suspense writer, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If this incident can be adapted into a novel, it will definitely cause a sensation in the world and create a miracle in the book market. ”

Nantian secretly exclaimed in his heart - he was not wrong at all, not to mention what would happen next, just based on the current situation - 14 suspense writers (including Chris, Araki, Moby Dick, Goth, etc.) were kidnapped by mysterious people to a closed place, and forced them to spend nearly half a month here, telling a story every night - this alone is enough of a gimmick. There is no doubt that this book will arouse the interest and curiosity of countless people just by introducing it, and it is simply a super bestseller that can attract people to buy without opening it!

The voice of the mysterious man pulls Nantian back from reverie to reality. "But there's one thing that must have all occurred to you – you can't have so many people writing about the same subject, right? Therefore, the right to write this future bestseller belongs only to the person with the highest score in the end, that is, the winner of this game. The man could write a book about the whole thing he went through, including all the stories he had heard in those 14 days. In the end, who can become this lucky person is a challenge for everyone here. ”

"Of course, some people may say – I don't agree, I don't want to play this game, I just want to go home now. For people who think this way, I won't force you to do anything. But obviously, I can't just let you go. It's only a pity to get you 'out'. ”

"What do you mean by 'out'?" Xu Wen asked the beluga whale sitting beside him with a pair of bulging eyeballs. Moby Dick shook his head and made a gesture telling him to stop talking for a while.

"Now, everyone understands the content of the game. So next, let me talk about the rules of this game, which is the most important part, please listen well. ”

"First of all, it's about the story you're going to tell every night. In addition to having to be a wonderful suspenseful horror story, the more important thing is that the later story must not have any conceptual similarities or plot similarities with the previous story. If this happens, the person who committed the foul is 'out'. I hope you will pay attention to this. ”

The voice paused for a few seconds, as if it was deliberately leaving time for everyone to think. Then, in a muffled voice, the hoarse voice continued:

"Also, let me tell you one thing, the organizer of this event, which is me, is sitting with you right now. That's right, I'm one of you. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone gasped in shock (obviously one person was acting), and looked at the people around them in amazement, and for a moment, it seemed that everyone had become suspects.

The voice seemed to have calculated everyone's reactions: "You better take the time to guess who I am later." What I want you to know now is that I'm doing this to give a fair challenge to the remaining 13 of you. Naturally, I'll tell you a story and wait for you to rate it. But, I want you to hear clearly, if the one who wins in the end happens to be me—"

The sound stopped abruptly, and the hall was eerily silent. And when the terrifying voice sounded again, everyone shuddered and shivered down their backs.

"If that's the case, then none of you left will want to get out alive."

Both ladies covered their mouths in horror, and in fact, all of them had terrified expressions. The voice on the speaker continued, "So, the only way to get out of here alive is to tell your story according to my rules and give everyone a fair score. The one who wins in the end will not only get the right to write the story, but also the right to live for all the living people - the key to open this iron door can only be obtained by the one who wins. Of course, if the winner you voted for was me, you would have to go to hell and regret it. ”

"Okay, I've said everything I should explain, and I'll remind you a few points at the end. First, you should see that this is an old prison, and there is no other way but to open the door and get out. You don't have to make all sorts of escape attempts in vain; Second, in the cabinet to the northwest of the hall, there is food and water for you to survive for half a month, as long as you don't waste it, it's no problem to survive half a month; Finally, I want you to understand that your life is in my hands, and it is best not to act rashly. If I can invite you here without knowing it, I will be able to take your lives without knowing it. The game starts tonight, so let's do it for yourself. ”

After waiting for a while, the speaker did not make any more sound.

"Whew......," Araki let out a long breath, "no doubt it's a madman's doing." ”

"The terrible thing is that this madman is right among us right now." Lake said.

"By the way, we just sat down. And the speakers rang. What's going on? Could it be that there are still people in this house, watching our every move in the dark? Xu Wen looked around nervously.

Moby Whale shook his head slowly and said, "Most of the voices were recorded in advance, and the speaker was controlled by remote control." Once we were all seated, one of them quietly pressed the remote control hidden somewhere. ”

"So, we can find out 'that person' if we only need to find out who has a remote control on their body now?" Wei Chicheng said with a glare.

"If it's a miniature remote control, you can hide it in many small places on your body, and you can't find it at all." Moby Dick said helplessly, "Besides, how to search?" Who will search for it? The point now is that we simply don't know who to trust. ”

Hearing this, everyone felt a chill and looked at each other vigilantly.

That's not going to work. In this predicament, it would be even worse if everyone did not come together. Nantian exhaled and said, "I don't think we should speculate and be suspicious of each other. After all, 13 of the 14 of us are innocent. ”

"The lad is right." Xiahoushen said, "Maybe that madman told us this in order to achieve the result of making us doubt each other, and we didn't fall for his plan." ”

Beidou, who lowered his head and pondered, suddenly grinned.

"What are you laughing at?" Chiaki stared at him.

Beidou raised his head and found that everyone was looking at him, and said, "Hmm": "It's nothing, I just didn't expect that I could be regarded as one of the '14 best suspense novel writers' along with Chris and Araki Shu-sensei." ”

Qianqiu rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "It's an honor." ”

Nantian looked at Xiahou Shen and said, "What time is it?" ”

Xiahou Shen looked at his watch: "10:36 a.m." ”

Nantian nodded, twisted his head to the side, and stared at the small wooden box by the wall.

Xu Wen said: "Do we really want to do what the man said? ”

"Or else? What else do you think we can do? Ryoma said.

"There are so many of us, we can't deal with that madman alone?" Darkfire said.

"The question is, can you tell which of us is the madman?" Ryoma asked him.

His voice ...... Is there any one of us who has a voice like that person? Xu Wen said.

Araki sneered: "Don't be stupid, do you think the person who can plan this kind of plan will be stupid enough to talk to us in his (her) real voice?" That's obviously the sound after using the voice changer, I knew it as soon as I heard it. ”

Chris rolled his eyes, looked at Araki and asked, "Uncle, have you ever used a voice changer?" ”

Araki was stunned: "...... Didn't use it. ”

"So how do you know what the sound should look like when using a voice changer?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on Araki's body, and Araki showed an unnatural expression and explained, "I've seen it in movies before...... It should be similar to the sound just made. ”

Chris let out an "oh" and didn't speak again.

"It looks like we really have to do what the man said, otherwise, we probably won't get out of here alive – as he said, now that our lives are in his hands, there is no choice," Ryoma said. ”

"Mainly, he is in the shadows, and we are in the light. As long as we can't find this person, it means that we will always be passive. Beluga added.

"Then let's play this game as he wishes - the one who wins in the end will get the key and get everyone out. I don't believe that the wisdom of the 13 of us is not as good as that of one person. Nantian said.

"But don't forget, he's been planning this for a long time, and he's prepared." Goth reminded.

Nantian held his chin and thought for a few seconds, and actually said in unison with Chris: "No, it is impossible for him to prepare the story in advance. ”

The two men looked at each other.

"Why?" Xu Wen asked.

"By the kind of rules he said, we draw lots to determine the order randomly. And the content of the later story cannot be the same as the previous one. So, if his number is at the bottom of the line, and someone happens to tell a similar story to him, then the story he has in mind can't be used. ”

Saga whispered "ah": "So, none of us can think about the story in advance?" Only when it's your turn can you start thinking? ”

"That's it." Nantian looked at her and said, "So as he said, this is a fair game for everyone, and that person wants to use his true strength to challenge the 13 of us." ”

"No, one thing is unfair, to the people behind it." Chris said.

Everyone looked at him.

"The rule is that what the people in front of you have talked about and what the subject matter is, the people behind you can't use it anymore. This means that the further you go, the narrower the subject matter of the story becomes, which is obviously detrimental to the people who come later. ”

"You're right." Moby Dick nodded slightly.

"Perhaps, he thinks luck is also part of strength?" Nantian said thoughtfully.

Xiahou Shen glanced at his watch again: "Let me remind you that the person said that the game will start at 7 o'clock tonight, that is, the one who drew '1' among us has less than 9 hours to prepare." ”

Everyone's eyes converged again, and the decision was made with their eyes.

"I'll go get that wooden box." Beidou walked towards the corner of the hall. After a while, he came back with the little wooden box in his hand. It's a box like a mall lottery, with a round hole at the top, just enough for people to put their hands in.

"Who's coming first?" Beidou asked.

"I'll do it first." Ryoma stepped forward, reached into the wooden box, and pulled out a ping-pong ball with the number "6" written on it. He turned around and showed the number to the crowd.

Nantian followed and took out a small ball from the wooden box, he glanced at the number on it, and his heart trembled.

What the? Such a coincidence?

The number on the ball is 14.

Am I the last? Is this good luck or bad luck?

While he was startled, the others came forward next to each other and took out the balls from the wooden box.

After everyone had taken it, Beidou said, "The one left in it is mine." He reached in and pulled out the last ping-pong ball and glanced at it—9.

Now that everyone's numbers are set, it will be the order in which the stories will be told for the next 14 nights.

Yu Chicheng turned the small ball with "1" written on it in his hand, and said a little nervously: "I am actually the first." ”

"Isn't that good? The first speaker can choose the theme and idea at will, and there is no need to worry about the repetition and similarity with others. Goth raised the small ball with "12" written on it in his hand and gave it to Yu Chicheng, "I'm not so lucky." ”

"Isn't it? The further you go, the more limited the subject matter and plot of the story becomes. Moby Dick said.

When Wei Chicheng heard them say this, he seemed to relax a lot, and he nodded slightly: "This is also true." He got up from his chair, "Then I'll go into the room and think of my story." ”

"Wait." Chris suddenly spoke, "I want to ask you a question - how did you get here?" ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment. Chiaki asked, "Does this question make any sense?" We're already stuck here anyway. ”

"I thought maybe we could find some of the clues in the different times and ways in which we were brought here." Chris said quietly.

Nan Tian was stunned: "You mean, maybe you can guess who the mysterious 'host' is?" ”

"I'm not completely sure, I just thought I could try."

"I'm for it." Xiahou Shen looked at everyone, "If everyone has no opinion, let's talk about how we got here, okay?" ”

"I don't know how I got here." Chiaki said.

"I don't know. But I can recall what I was doing before I was here. Xiahou Shen said.

"Okay, that's all." Araki said, "Let's go into that order now." He held up the ball in his hand.

Start with Wei Chicheng. "Hmm...... I remember coming out of a friend's house yesterday afternoon and driving home. While driving, I suddenly felt very tired, so I pulled over to the side of the road and wanted to rest for a minute or two. As a result, I actually fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was already in a room here. ”

"Did you check the time before you fell asleep, what time was it?" Chris asked.

Wei Chicheng thought about it and said: "I came out of my friend's house at about half past three in the afternoon, and then drove for a maximum of ten minutes ......."

"Is it about 3:40 p.m.?"

"Almost."

After Wei Chicheng finished speaking, Xu Wen, who was holding the number "2", frowned and said: "I was reading documents in my company's office yesterday afternoon, and when I was tired of reading, I closed my eyes and wanted to recuperate for a while. ”

"Do you remember the exact time?" Chris asked.

Xu Wen thought for a while: "It should be a little past four o'clock in the afternoon." ”

The owner of the number "3" is Xiahoushen, who said: "I was meditating on a park bench yesterday afternoon, looking for creative inspiration. I don't know if I fell asleep or what, but when I opened my eyes, I was already here. ”

"When?"

Xiahou Shen shrugged his shoulders: "I don't know, I didn't look at the time at that time." ”

"Can you tell when it is?" Chris asked.

Xiahou Shen squinted his eyes and thought for a moment, and said, "I remember that the old people who were boxing in the park were about to go home, and it was probably almost five o'clock. ”

"Hmm." Chris answered.

The people in the back talked next to each other.

Lake (number "4"): "I was surfing the internet at home and somehow lost consciousness. Time...... It was about half past five. ”

Darkfire (number "5"): "I had dinner with my friends at a restaurant and had some drink...... I went to the bathroom, and then I didn't know. I didn't look at the specific time, but the time for dinner should be after six o'clock. ”

Ryoma (number "6"): "I was out for dinner at 7 o'clock yesterday and took the subway home, and I suddenly felt a little dizzy, and then I was almost like you. ”

Chiaki (number "7"): "I went to a beauty center last night for a full-body health massage, and the masseur was quite good, I was very comfortable, and I fell asleep naturally. She spread her hands, indicating that there was no need to talk about the rest of the story.

"What about time?" Chris reminded.

"I remember this very clearly, because I looked at my phone before the massage, and it was exactly half past seven."

"Hey! Wait a minute, this ...... What's going on? Nantian, who had been listening carefully beside him, suddenly exclaimed, revealing a look of astonishment.

"What's wrong?" Xu Wen looked at Nantian in surprise.

"Didn't you notice? Starting from the number '1', the chronological order of each person's loss of consciousness is the same as the order of the numbers we randomly draw! Nantian shouted loudly.

Almost everyone opened their mouths in surprise, feeling incredulous.

"Is it the same with the people in the back?" Xiahou Shen looked at the rest of the people in amazement.

"Listen to them." Chris said.

Moby Dick (number "8"): "I was drinking coffee and chatting with a friend in a café last night. Later, she went out to answer the phone, and that's probably when I lost consciousness. The time was around eight o'clock. ”

Beidou (number "9"): "I was drinking outside with a group of high school classmates last night, a normal barbecue stand. Most of us were so drunk that we could barely remember what happened behind – until I found myself lying in a bed here. The last time I watched it when I was awake was at 9:15 p.m. ”

Araki Boat (number "10"): "I didn't go anywhere last night, I was in my own home. My wife was watching TV in the living room and I was reading a book in the bedroom. I don't remember how I lost consciousness, and I can't say for sure the time, but I can only guess it was before ten o'clock. ”

Saga (number "11"): "Last night, a friend came to my house to talk to me, and we talked for more than an hour. After she left, I lay in bed and listened to music, and after a while I didn't know anything. My friend walked around 10 o'clock, huh...... Then I should have lost consciousness within twenty minutes (around 10:20). ”

Goth (number "12"): "Last night, I went to the cinema to watch a movie, and I somehow felt tired in the middle of it, and then I gradually lost consciousness. I remember the movie started at 9:40, and I watched about half of it, so it was about 10:50. ”

After Goth's words, no one spoke. Nantian (number "14") thought he was the last, he said: "I wrote a novel at home last night, wrote it until half past eleven, then watched TV in the living room, and fell asleep after watching it for a long time. ”

As soon as Nantian finished speaking, Beidou shouted: "Oh my God, it's really like this!" The order we randomly chose was the order in which everyone lost consciousness! ”

"How could this be such a strange situation?" Xiahou Shen frowned, "This can't be a coincidence!" ”

"Could it be that the 'order' of each of us was arranged from the beginning?" Wei Chicheng guessed in astonishment.

"The order in which we were brought here is controllable. But just now each of us drew the numbers next to each other in that small wooden box, it was completely random, how can this be controlled? "Moby Dick also felt incredible.

While everyone was talking and speculating in panic, Araki said, "Don't be busy, one of us hasn't said how he got here." ”

Everyone turned their heads and saw Arakishu's eyes staring at Chris, and then they remembered that Chris, who had raised the question in the first place, hadn't said it yet.

But at this time, everyone was staring at Chris, but he was silent.

"What's the matter, genius boy, we all said this question you raised yourself, but you don't want to say it?" Araki looked at Chris with scrutinizing eyes, "Could it be that you came here differently than we did?" ”

Chris was silent for a long time, then looked at Araki and said, "Yes." ”

Araki narrowed his eyes: "Then how did you get here?" ”

"I didn't show up here after I was unconscious." Chris said.

All the people opened their mouths, and Moby Dick said, "Don't you ......?"

"Yes, I walked into this place when I was awake." Chris said calmly.

"What!" The crowd exclaimed.

Facing a skeptical gaze, Chris said calmly: "Don't get me wrong, I'm not the mysterious 'host', if I were, I would make up a lie and not tell you the truth." ”

"It's hard to say." Araki stared at him, "Maybe you took advantage of this kind of thinking of ours to do this on purpose?" ”

Chris didn't speak.

Nantian stretched out his hand and compared, looked at Chris and said, "Then please tell us, how did you come here?" ”

"Last night, I arrived at the designated place as agreed, and a black sedan was waiting for me there," Chris said. When I got into the car, I was blindfolded with strips of black cloth. The car drove for about half an hour, stopped, and I was led into an indoor place by a person, and of course, this is it. I removed the strip of cloth that was blindfolded, and the man who had brought me in had disappeared as if he had disappeared, and the door was locked. ”

Everyone stared at Chris with bated breath as if they were listening to a fantasy story. Saga asked, "And then?" ”

"Then I went down the hall to the second floor and found that 13 of the 14 rooms had closed doors and only one room had an open door. I walked in, closed the door, and lay down in bed to sleep. I didn't get up until I heard your voices in the morning—that's it. ”

After Chris finished speaking, the crowd stared at him for a full minute.

"You know what you're here for, that's why you're so comfortable with this, aren't you?" Xiahou Shen asked.

"Yes, I know." Chris looked down in thought, "But now that I think about it, I think it might have been a trap." ”

Araki said, "You might as well make it clear." What drew you here? What are you here for? Who is the person you agreed with? ”

"I'm sorry, I can't say that just yet."

Araki narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why?" ”

"Because it's my business, it has nothing to do with you, I'm sorry."

There was a brief silence in the hall, and Nantian said, "Then you can always tell us when you came here last night, right?" ”

Chris nodded: "The man didn't take my watch away, I checked the time when I entered the door, it was exactly ten o'clock." ”

"What's your number?"

Chris shows the ball with "13" written on it.

Nantian took a deep breath: "That's right, your chronological order also happens to be the thirteenth person, between Goth (ten fifty) and me (eleven and a half). ”

"What the." Darkfire scolded in a low voice.

Ryoma remembered something and asked Chris, "By the way, how did you come up with this before—I mean, how did you come up with the idea of seeing the clue in the chronology in which each of us came here?" ”

"Because the guy I agreed with was very timing-conscious, he said to the driver in the car, 'We have to get there by 11:10' – so I think chronology may have some special meaning for this mysterious 'host'."

Everyone looked at each other, with various complicated expressions on their faces.

"So, from all of us just now, have you speculated...... Who could be 'that person'? Chiaki asked nervously.

Chris shook his head and said, "Impossible, that person is very deeply hidden, and it won't be so easy to expose." I can only be sure of one thing now—" he paused, staring at the crowd, "this is not as simple as we imagined. ”

Nantian lay on the bed in the "cell", thinking about this strange and inexplicable incident.

It's not as simple as we think it is – what does Chris mean by that?

What does he know? Why are you reluctant to speak out?

Now it seems that he is the most suspicious. However, this may only be a façade.

After an afternoon of doing nothing here, Nantian was already feeling distraught—all kinds of suspicions and speculations plagued him, and worries and anxieties made it difficult for him to calm down. He imagined his parents in a distant country picking up the phone and dialing their son's phone number, only to find that they couldn't reach him. Needless to say, they would immediately come to their own city, and then find out that their son was missing...... Nantian pressed his hand to his forehead, he didn't want to think about it anymore, this imagination made his heart cramp.

At this moment, there was a soft knock on the door.

Nantian sat up from the bed and asked, "Who is it?" ”

"It's me." A woman's voice.

Nantian walked to the door and opened it, and Saga stood outside the door, holding a box of canned luncheon meat and a bottle of mineral water.

"It's past six o'clock, aren't you hungry?" Saga handed the food in her hand to Nantian.

"Thank you." Nantian took the water and canned food, and Oki Saka smiled. Seeing that Saga hadn't left yet, he asked, "Hmm...... Would you like to come in and sit down for a while? ”

"Okay." Saga walked in and sat down on the fabric sofa.

Nantian opened the can with a pull tab, but found that there was no cutlery. When she was in embarrassment, Saga took out a stainless steel spoon from behind her like a trick and handed it to Nantian, "Huh." ”

Nantian took the spoon and said with a smile: "You think so thoughtfully. ”

Saga smiled faintly.

Nantian scooped a few mouthfuls of luncheon meat into his mouth, drank some water, and said to Sajia: "The food prepared by this 'organizer' and us is quite good, much better than I imagined. ”

Saga nodded: "There are quite a lot of types of food in the cabinet, it seems that the person is still thinking about letting us change the taste." ”

"Probably because he's among us." Nantian said thoughtfully.

After eating the canned food, Nantian wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said to Sajia: "I think you are quite strong, a girl, in this situation, you will soon be able to recover your composure." ”

"You call me a girl?" Saga laughed, "I'm 27 years old. ”

"Anyway, if you're not married, you can call it a girl."

"How do you know I'm not married?" Saga asked, wide-eyed.

"I don't think if you got married, maybe you wouldn't be so relaxed."

Sajia nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I don't have anything to worry about, and I really don't have much to worry about." ”

"What about your parents? If you go missing, they'll be worried. ”

Saga lowered her head and said softly, "My parents have passed away. ”

Nantian opened his mouth slightly and said apologetically, "I'm really sorry." ”

"It's okay." Saga looked up and diverted the subject. "I think we have to be optimistic, even if we encounter this kind of thing. We should communicate and talk to each other more. Otherwise, before the 14th day, we may not be able to stand this dull day and have a nervous breakdown. ”

"Well, you're right." Nantian said approvingly.

"The one named Xu Wen has some of this tendency. When I brought him something to eat, he didn't even dare to open the door, as if he thought each of us was a bad guy trying to kill him. Saga sighed, "Alas, if people are in this state of high mental tension all the time, there will be problems. ”

"yes." Nantian also sighed.

Saga looked at her watch: "It's almost 7 o'clock, let's go down." The main event of the evening is about to begin. ”

"Okay." Nantian and Saga left the room together and walked up the stairs to the hall, when 14 people were gathered, each still sitting in the same seat in the morning, in a circle.

Next to Nanten, there is Saka on one side and Ryoma on the other. He saw Ryoma pull out a small notebook and a short-roded ballpoint pen from his coat pocket, and asked, "Are you going to write down the story he told?" ”

"Hmm." Ryoma nodded, "Maybe it can be kept as some kind of information." ”

Nantian looked at Yu Chicheng. As the first "player", he seemed a little nervous, especially when the time was close to 7 o'clock and everyone was looking at him. Wei Chicheng cleared his throat and said, "Maybe everyone thinks that I, as the first person to tell a story, has taken some advantage. However, I had the shortest time to conceive among you – maybe that would be the case. So, I hope that after I'm done, you will be able to score my story objectively and fairly. ”

After saying this, his face flushed slightly.

It seems that he really wants to win this "competition" and get the right to write the story. Nantian thought secretly. What the organizers said seemed to have an impact on everyone.

Araki said: "Of course, we will score you objectively and fairly, it doesn't matter if you are the first or not, so you don't have to worry." ”

The others nodded their heads as well.

Wei Chicheng seemed to be much more relieved, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "I'm relieved." Let's be honest, this story was only one afternoon I came up with, but maybe it was inspired by this particular circumstance – I think it's the best suspense horror story I've come up with in all these years. ”

When seven o'clock came, he began to speak.

(*The story each person tells has a significant bearing on what happens next.) ）