After many internal struggles, I finally made a decision - people are always selfish, and I can't watch myself die miserably and horribly. But like I said at the beginning – I had to do it out of necessity.

I wrote a novel about the nightmare and the whole process of the incident that I had recorded, and sent it to the magazine for publication. Still, I'm not at ease, and I'm worried that many people don't have the patience to read the novel or don't read it at all. So, I used my psychology expertise to play a little trick. I started this novel with a reminder not to read the story, but I know that all people in the world are rebellious, and the more you tell them not to do something, the more they will do it. Like now, you've read the story in its entirety, haven't you?

Ah, don't be in a hurry to blame me—at least, I've written the way out of salvation in this novel. And I can tell you responsibly that this life-saving method absolutely works, because I haven't had any nightmares since I sent this novel out, and I've lived it to this point.

The only thing I'm not sure is – how many people will wake up at 4:19 a.m.

(End of the third story)

After Xiahou Shen's story was told, the 11 people around him all looked at him with a strange look.

"You say the story is based on real events?" Goth tilted his head and asked, "How is this possible?" ”

Xiahou Shen crossed his fingers against his jaw and said in a mysterious tone, "Do you think it's incredible? To be honest, I thought so at the time – but it turned out to be a strange thing happening to me. Of course, as a storytelling, I also did some artistic processing and adaptation, but that's how it went. ”

"Why do you make us believe this is a real incident?" Araki questioned.

Xiahou Shen looked at him: "Do you remember that not long ago the newspapers and news reported such an incident - a high school in M City died two students in a row in just a few days, and the cause of death is unknown?" ”

Beidou shouted "ah" and shouted, "I know! I've seen reports of this! ”

"I know that too." "But how do we believe that this is related to the story you just told?" ”

"As I said before, this story is based on the personal experience of a friend of mine, and that friend is the psychology teacher in the story. Of course, I used a pseudonym. ”

Xiahou Shen paused slightly, and then said, "You will question again—is that friend of mine lying to me?" Maybe it's all a story he made up? I don't really want to explain this - I trust my own judgment anyway. Also, I don't think the truth of this story is that important, right? If you don't believe me, give me a score as a fictional story. ”

Araki shook his head and said, "Isn't it important? In my opinion, the question of 'authenticity' is very important to your story. Let's put it this way, if the story was fictional, I would only give it a score of 7, and if it was an adaptation of real events, I would give it a score of 9.8! ”

Xiahou Shen looked at Araki Boat in surprise, revealing an incomprehensible expression: "Why do you care so much about the authenticity of the story?" That's too much, isn't it? ”

"You yourself told us that this story is true, and it is not what we asked. What I mean by that is that if you can show that this story is based on real events, I think we'd all be willing to give you the highest score so far. ”

After saying this, Araki looked around at the 10 writers around him, and several of them echoed his meaning and nodded repeatedly.

Xiahou Shen looked at them, clasped his hands to his chest angrily, and sighed, "I didn't expect you to be so serious. Actually, if you want to talk about the evidence, of course I have it, because in addition to listening to the friend's story, I also did a lot of related research - for example, I went to the home of the two dead students to talk to their parents - and it turned out that what they said matched each other, so I believed it. ”

He leaned forward a little and wandered his gaze between the writers: "Do you think I am such a gullible person? I'm not a kid! But now you want me to show evidence, which is clearly embarrassing me. He pointed to the closed iron door. The people who can prove the truth of this are all out there, how can I bring them here? ”

The few people who nodded with Araki just now glanced at each other, as if they had nothing to say.

Xiahou Shen said again: "Moreover, I really don't understand, why do you think that the 'authenticity' of a story is so important? ”

At this time, Chris spoke: "Mr. Xiahou, in fact, I also think that what Mr. Araki said is reasonable. Our rating of your story really depends a lot on the authenticity of your story. ”

Xiahou Shen stared at him: "Tell me the reason." ”

Chris said unhurriedly: "We are all peers, and we should all understand this truth - for example, if a movie says in the opening credits that 'this story is based on real events,' it will obviously attract much more attention and shock to the audience than a fictional story - just like if you look at "Danger of Fire" (*note: a fictional disaster film set in Los Angeles), it will only be treated as an entertainment film; But when I watched "Los Angeles Earthquake", I am afraid that the shock of the soul is many times greater, right? ”

"Well, I'm in favor of that." Nan Tian said, "As far as I know, many films that can capture the hearts of the Oscar judges and win the Oscar for Best Picture are based on real events. ”

"Let's not take the conversation off the rails." Araki said, "Let's be straightforward, if this story called 'Mystery Dream' is true, it will make me feel a horror that goes deep into my bones, but if it is just fiction, it is more ordinary." ”

Xiahou Shen listened to their words, shrugged his shoulders, and leaned back on the back of the chair. "Yes, you have a point. But now I really can't prove anything - how to score, you can see. ”

Chris's eyes rolled a few times. "Actually, you don't need to look for any witnesses, there is an easiest way to verify the authenticity of this story."

And all the people looked at him.

"According to the plot of the story 'Mystery Dream', anyone who knows about 'this thing' will be haunted by the evil spirit of the little boy. Now 11 of us have listened to the story at the same time, and if it's true, then we're going to be in the same situation as the main character in the story. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone present was taken aback, and at the same time felt a chill. Even Xiahou Shen was stunned, obviously this was something he hadn't expected.

After a moment of silence, someone suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, Mr. Xiahou, if this story is true, then after listening to your friend tell this incident, you didn't encounter the same situation as him?" ”

Xiahou Shen looked at the white whale who was talking, and replied after a while: "To be honest, I was also skeptical when I heard it, but for the sake of insurance, I recorded the general process of this incident and prepared to write a novel for publication." ”

"I see, what the psychology teacher did at the end of the story (writing the whole thing as a novel and publishing it) is actually your idea, right?" Araki asked sharply.

Xiahou Shen had to admit it. "Yes...... However, I only briefly recorded the incident, and before I could write a novel, I was 'invited' to this place. But so far, I haven't encountered the kind of weird situation that my friend has. ”

Nantian was thoughtful. "So, if you record the contents of your nightmare, whether it's spread or not, you'll be able to prevent evil spirits from haunting you - that's how to save your life, right?"

Xiahou Shen pursed his lips noncommittally.

Suddenly, someone said: "The more you talk about it, the more mysterious it becomes, and it looks like the real thing, isn't it too dramatic?" Honestly, I think it's a pretty good story, but to say it's true, it's hard to believe. ”

Xiahou Shen looked at the dark fire that spoke, and said angrily: "Then you mean I'm lying?" Joke! I've been writing novels for more than ten years, but don't I understand that novels are fiction in the first place? It's not a bad thing – why do I have to say that the story is true? ”

"Didn't Mr. Araki also say it just now - if this story is true, there is every reason to get the highest score so far." Darkfire.

Xiahou Shen snorted disdainfully: "Do you think I am deliberately pretending to add points to my story?" Then I'll make it clear, I don't care how many points you rate me, you think this story is fake, just score it very low, I'm too lazy to prove anything to you! ”

Xiahou Shen twisted his head to the side in a huff, and the atmosphere became awkward.

Chris suddenly said to everyone: "Since Dark Fire doesn't believe in Mr. Xiahou's story, then he will definitely ignore the 'life-saving method' - isn't it simple?" Tomorrow morning, we will know the truth of Mr. Xiahou's story by whether Dark Fire had that nightmare or not. ”

Darkfire was stunned for a moment, narrowed his eyes and said, "Listen to this, it seems that you will all follow the so-called 'life-saving method' - and let me be the experimenter alone?" ”

"We didn't ask you to be an experimenter, don't you believe it? Then you can verify it for yourself. Xiahou Shen's tone was full of provocation.

Darkfire said disapprerovingly, "Okay, just try—I'll tell you the results early tomorrow morning." ”

Sajia remembered a question: "In that case, when are we going to score Mr. Xiahou's story?" ”

"It seems that the score will only be scored tomorrow morning, after the results are out." Nantian said.

"That's it." Araki showed an unpredictable smile, "Then let's rest now—it's really interesting, the truth of this story actually concerns each of us." ”

This last sentence seems to imply something to everyone.

At least that's what Nantian thinks.

When he returned to his room, he took out a piece of paper and a ballpoint pen to be on the safe side, and wrote down the contents of the nightmare in the story 'Mystery Dream' on a piece of paper.

It's better to believe what you have than not to believe what you don't have.

The next morning, everyone gathered in the hall one after another. It seems that everyone is quite concerned about the results of that "experiment". But the most important person, Darkfire, didn't come down so early.

Everyone took out a variety of foods from the cabinet that were suitable for breakfast. While eating, Beidou whispered to Nantian, "Hey, did you do that last night?" ”

Nantian bit the bread and asked indistinctly, "What to do?" ”

"'How to save your life'."

Nantian sighed: "It's done—what about you?" ”

Beidou smiled: "Of course I did it." In this weird situation, anything strange can happen, so there's nothing wrong with being careful. ”

Nantian nodded, quietly observing the others—no one was acting out of the ordinary, and no one had mentioned anything about the nightmare.

It seems that everyone is very cautious.

Nantian secretly focused his attention on Xiahou Shen's body again, and found that he would glance up at the room of the dark fire from time to time - it seemed that he didn't care about the score on the surface, but in fact he still cared a lot.

It was close to half past nine, and the dark fire had not yet come out of his room, and everyone couldn't wait, and Lake said, "Why hasn't he come down yet?" Shall we call him? ”

"I remember he wasn't so late the other morning." Moby Dick frowned and said, "In this situation, who wouldn't sleep so soundly." It's ...... today."

Sajia looked worried: "Should it be ...... What's wrong with him again, right? ”

Everyone looked at each other, and Nantian said, "I'll go up and have a look." ”

Just as he was about to walk towards the stairs, Ryoma called out to Nanten, "No need. ”

Nantian looked up - the door to the dark fire room was pushed open, and he walked out of it.

The people downstairs breathed a sigh of relief.

Before Darkfire could come down the stairs, Beidou hurriedly greeted him and asked, "How is it?" Did you get into 'that situation' last night? ”

Darkfire glanced at Beidou and moved his gaze forward, finding that everyone in the hall was watching him at this time. Obviously, so people are waiting for his "answer".

Darkfire was expressionless, looked at everyone for a long time, and then said, "No." ”

His reaction was very confusing - last night, he still looked dismissive, thinking that Xiahou Shen's story would never be true. If he proves that this is the case today, it stands to reason that he should be very proud. But looking at him now, instead of having a sense of victory, he seems to be lacking in confidence - people have to suspect that he has a different heart.

Beidou asked the doubts in everyone's hearts: "You really didn't have that nightmare?" ”

Darkfire stopped talking, and walked straight to the cupboard, taking something out of it to eat, no longer paying attention to the crowd, as if avoiding the question.

Everyone looked at him for a while, and Goth said helplessly: "Since he said no, then no—can we score Mr. Xiahou's story now?" ”

Xiahou Shen said: "With all due respect, his current situation makes me think that there are only two possibilities - first, he had that nightmare, but he didn't want to admit it; Second, after he returned to his room last night, he probably didn't want to risk his life again, and finally used that 'life-saving method'. ”

Araki walked over to Darkfire and asked, "Is that really the case?" Is it one of these two cases? ”

Darkfire hung his head and chewed on a piece of luncheon meat. He didn't explain much, just repeated: "I don't have nightmares. ”

Araki turned around and said to everyone: "I don't think there is any need to ask again, the situation is probably similar to what Xiahou Shen said." ”

"Then this matter is still unclear - how should we rate Mr. Xiahou's story?" Lake asked.

Xiahou Shen said: "Just rely on your own judgment and intuition—what you think is true, it is true; If you don't believe it, it's better to think it's fictional. ”

"So be it." Araki said, "We'll score it now." ”

Nantian took out paper and pen from the cabinet and prepared to distribute them to everyone next to each other. At this time, he saw a man coming down the stairs.

It's Xu Wen. He didn't take part in the storytelling last night, and he didn't come down for so long today that everyone almost ignored his presence—and now when I saw him come down, I remembered that there was still this man.

Xu Wen still looked sluggish. When he saw everyone gathered in the hall and saw Nantian holding a paper and pen in his hand, he couldn't help but feel strange, and he cheered up and asked, "You guys are all telling stories during the day?" ”

"No, we haven't scored the story Mr. Xiahou told last night." Nantian said.

"Oh." Xu Wen answered, didn't ask much, walked to the cabinet, took a loaf of bread and a carton of milk, turned around and went back to the room. When he walked to the top of the stairs, he seemed to remember something, and turned around and asked, "You guys...... Did you encounter anything strange at night? ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and Nantian asked, "What strange thing are you talking about?" ”

Xu Wen opened his mouth and said in a low voice, "Hmm...... Forget it, it's nothing, it's probably just a coincidence......"

Araki said in a dissatisfied tone, "What coincidence? You make it clear, don't hide it like this, okay? ”

Xu Wen hesitated for a moment and said, "I don't know what's going on, these two nights, I always had the same strange dream, and then I was awakened by this terrible nightmare. ”

Xiahou Shen's head slowly raised, staring at Xu Wen in amazement, his expression and movements frozen.

The others were no less surprised than Xiahou Shen. Ryoma stammered and asked, "Tell me clearly, what's going on?" ”

Xu Wen was obviously surprised, and he didn't know why everyone became nervous after hearing his words. "The night before yesterday, I had a nightmare and was woken up," he said uneasily. I didn't pay much attention to it, but I didn't expect that last night, I had the same nightmare again - and strangely, I looked at my watch both times when I was woken up, and found that the time was actually the same. ”

Oh my God—Nantian felt a chill quickly spread all over his body, making his hairs stand on end, and he was so shocked that he even stopped breathing.

Xiahou Shen's horror was dozens of times that of Nantian, his eyes were almost bursting, the blood on his face had faded completely, and his whole body began to tremble slightly.

Beidou asked in an anxious tone, "Mr. Xu Wen, what is the content of that nightmare you had, do you remember?" ”

Xu Wen shook his head and said: "I can't remember, every time I wake up, I forget that dream, but I can feel it through the horror in my heart, it was a very terrible nightmare." ”

"What time do you wake up?"

Xu Wen swallowed: "Both times were around 4:18 in the morning. ”

"It can't be!" Xiahou Shen, who is usually steady and old, is like crazy at the moment, "I just told this story last night!" You said you had this kind of thing the day before yesterday? ”

Xu Wen was taken aback: "What story?" I had nightmares...... Does it have anything to do with the story you're telling? ”

Xiahou Shen stared at those copper bell-like eyes, his expression suddenly became hideous, and he roared angrily: "I understand! You deliberately framed me, right? You deliberately use this method to make the story I tell 'the same' with what we are experiencing now! ”

Xu Wen's face turned white with fright, and he stepped back again and again: "I don't know what you're talking about...... I didn't even listen to your story...... Also, why should I frame you? ”

"Because you're the damn 'host'!" Xiahou Shen roared, "You pretended not to participate in the storytelling last night, but you hid in your room and listened to my story quietly, and then told us the lie you just told us this morning - the purpose is to make my story 'similar'!" ”

"You're crazy!" Xu Wen shook his head violently, "I'm a victim myself!" If I were the organizer, why would I plan a thing that would have put me in a bad position (the event of Wei Chicheng's death)? ”

"That's your intention to confuse us so that we can let our guard down on you! The best example is - you broke the rules, why weren't you killed like Wei Chicheng? The fact that you are alive and well now is the best proof of this! ”

Xu Wen screamed sharply, "You want me to be killed, don't you?" I'm not dead, so disappointed you? ”

"Stop acting! You've got a flaw! Xiahou Shen swooped at Xu Wen and grabbed his slender neck, "You honestly hand over the key and let us out!" ”

The thin Xu Wen was no match for the strong Xiahou Shen at all, his neck was stuck tightly, and the flow of blood was blocked by those big fat hands. His eyes were almost bursting, his tongue was sticking out, his hands were stretched straight forward, and a dry voice came out of his throat: "Ah...... Ah......h

All this happened too quickly, and when everyone came back from their shock, they realized that Xu Wen was about to die! Several people rushed forward and tried their best to pull Xiahou Shen back, and Nantian said loudly: "Mr. Xiahou, calm down!" Whether he's the host or not, you can't kill him! Otherwise, we won't be able to get out! ”

This sentence reminded Xiahou Shen, and his hands like iron tongs slowly let go. Xu Wen escaped almost suffocating, but fell to the ground and retreated, hitting the wall and slumping to the ground, gasping for breath.

Nan Tian said to Xiahou Shen, who was still looking at Xu Wen viciously: "You calm down, don't jump to conclusions so arbitrarily, and even make a move—you said that Xu Wen secretly listened to your story in the room last night—but in fact, we have been here for so many days, and we should have known that it is impossible to hear the voices downstairs when the door is closed in the room!" ”

"What if he used a prop like a bug, wouldn't he be able to do it?" Xiahou Shen gasped and said.

"That's not possible." A voice came from behind.

Xiahou Shen looked back at Chris, who was speaking, and asked, "What do you mean by impossible?" ”

"Xu Wen couldn't have planned in advance to frame you in this way." "You're really losing your mind and ignoring simple logic. ”

Xiahou Shen looked at Chris in a daze.

"Ah, I see." Nantian suddenly realized and glanced at Chris.

Chris nodded and said to Xiahou Shen: "As you said, it is impossible for Xu Wen to know the content of the story before you tell it - then, how did he know that he could frame you before he proposed not to participate in the storytelling last night?" ”

Xiahou Shen was stunned. After a while, he muttered, "So, what's going on?" Why is there such a coincidence? What he went through was exactly what I was going to tell the story! ”

"It's not going to be a coincidence. As I've said a long time ago, it's not as simple as we think. Chris said.

"Is it all in the calculations of the 'hosts'? Is he a god or a devil? I can control everything! Xiahou Shen roared angrily, his voice gradually lowering, "If that's the case, no matter how much we struggle, we can't escape the fate of death......

Xiahou Shen's words made Nantian's heart sink heavily.

Yes, what is happening so far can be described as incredible. Could it be that the one who is among us is really a devil from hell? But in other words, if this is really something that can be done by human power, how on earth did this person do all this?

Nantian's gaze swept over everyone around him.

Damn, this guy is right in front of me, but I can't tell him.

The first storyteller, Yu Chicheng, is dead, and the second Xu Wen and the third Xiahou Shen seem to be more auspicious now, so go on like this......

After 14 days, will I really be able to get out alive?

(End of "1/14" Season 1 "The Game That Must Be Fouled")