Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Horror Chapter
"Was it when we were on the fifth floor that made you suspicious? Can you tell me how you figured it out?"
Wang Ke asked curiously. He felt that he had done well so far; at least Lin Dahai and Xu Meng hadn't noticed anything.
"I don't know what Lin Dahai and Xu Meng think of you, but I can't believe someone like you would be at the forefront of such danger. When you were looking at the doll on the fifth floor, I know that feeling. Once you fixate on the doll's face, your body seems to lose control, and you can't look away. Yet, you forced yourself to turn away. The only explanation is that you weren't really looking at the doll because you already knew what happens when you do."
Wang Ke clapped his hands. "So that's where I exposed myself. I'll be more careful next time."
Jiang Liu looked at Wang Ke, who seemed unconcerned. "I've answered your question; now I have one for you."
"Didn't you already guess it?" Wang Ke shrugged. "Why ask me again?"
"Guessing is one thing; I need to hear the answer from you," Jiang Liu said, staring intently at Wang Ke. "What is really going on here?"
Wang Ke gradually stopped smiling, his gaze calm as he looked at Jiang Liu. "You're quite clever. Just as you've guessed, I am Wang Ke but also not Wang Ke. How should I explain this to you? You can think of me as another version of Wang Ke from a different timeline."
"A different timeline? A parallel universe?" Jiang Liu furrowed his brow.
"Of course not; I'm just using that as a metaphor." Wang Ke tapped his head. "Let me start from the beginning since nothing much is happening right now."
Jiang Liu gestured for Wang Ke to continue. Wang Ke glanced at the dark corridor nearby before turning back to speak. "Earlier, when we were on the first floor, I mentioned that the number of people involved in this supernatural event might correspond to the number of rooms—seven rooms for seven people. But this hint has two meanings."
"What are those two meanings?" Jiang Liu asked.
"The first refers to the number of people earlier; the second," Wang Ke said with a peculiar smile that made Jiang Liu uneasy, "is the number of times this incident has occurred—or the number of times we might die."
"Number of deaths? Are you saying a person could have nine lives like a cat and die nine times?"
Jiang Liu scoffed, but as he saw the mischievous glint in Wang Ke's eyes, his expression slowly turned serious. "Are you serious?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Wang Ke twisted his neck slightly. "I don't know how much you understand about the rules of supernatural events, but remember, no one can fully grasp the rules of these occurrences. Anything can happen within a supernatural event."
After hearing Wang Ke's words, Jiang Liu's expression suddenly darkened, a terrifying suspicion surfacing in his mind. His voice came out hoarse and dry as he asked, "Have I died several times?"
"Oh, you caught on quickly," Wang Ke said mockingly as he looked at Jiang Liu. "I'm sorry to tell you, but you haven't died even once."
Jiang Liu was stunned, and after regaining his composure, he hurriedly pressed on, "How is that possible? If I haven't died even once, then how could I have gone from the first floor—"
At this point, Jiang Liu stopped, staring at Wang Ke's mocking expression. "Wait, even if we die multiple times, we would still be the same person upon revival. There's no way two identical people could appear. But you did appear, which proves that your claim about my death count is wrong."
"Clap clap," Wang Ke applauded. "Very impressive; keep going."
"You might have been referring to the number of occurrences of the event. If I think about it carefully, the number of occurrences should match the number of deaths. But I don't believe you'd say something unnecessary like that unless it had another meaning. If the events didn't happen one after another, it must mean that the seven occurrences happened simultaneously—meaning one event occurred seven times at the same time.
But there's one thing I can't understand: if the events happened simultaneously, how did you appear?"
"Although I've revealed many details to you, you've still managed to deduce a rough outline of the entire situation from them. This level of intelligence is truly admirable; no wonder you've always been the last one standing on other floors."
"I... other floors... last standing?" Jiang Liu furrowed his brows as he looked at Wang Ke.
"Considering the time, it's almost time for me to tell you directly," Wang Ke said as he stood up from the ground and brushed off nonexistent dust from his pants. "Everything you've speculated is correct, but the events did not occur all at once. There is only one supernatural event; this can be a rule. However, different timelines can exist in the same location. Each layer has seven different timelines where we coexist in the same event."
"So you're Wang Ke from another timeline?" Jiang Liu asked as he looked at Wang Ke.
"That's right; I came here from another timeline."
"How is that possible? How could people from different timelines come together?" Jiang Liu was skeptical of this answer.
"But my presence here means that this impossible thing has already happened."
"How did you get here? I don't believe it's just a matter of casually crossing timelines; there must be limitations."
"I’m not sure about that either. I only know that the time on each floor is chaotic. For example, when we were on the fourth floor, we were in a different time and space. Now that we’ve come to the third floor, we might still be in a different time and space. The only way to determine how to enter other times and spaces is by crossing floors."
At that moment, Jiang Liu finally understood why the food on the dining table had disappeared when they returned to the fourth floor. He also realized why Wang Ke had suggested everyone search in different places; it turned out he had experienced all of this before.
After pondering for a moment, Jiang Liu looked up at Wang Ke and asked, "I have one more question. What about this time's Wang Ke?"
Wang Ke smiled and replied, "He’s dead. I killed him myself while he was still unconscious."
Jiang Liu didn’t know how to face the Wang Ke standing before him, so he could only remain silent. Seeing Jiang Liu's expression, Wang Ke spoke softly:
"To be honest, killing your own self feels terrible. When I was choking him, it felt like I was choking myself. I thought I would feel suffocated too, but surprisingly, I felt nothing at all. It wasn’t until he stopped breathing that I realized we were not the same person."
After saying this, Wang Ke looked back at Jiang Liu: "You can’t truly understand this strange feeling unless you’ve experienced it yourself."
"Does that mean I also killed my own self like you did?" Jiang Liu's voice was low and slow.
"Yes, and it was mostly done by the same version of you. Aside from appearances, I haven’t noticed any similarities between you and them," Wang Ke replied.
The atmosphere fell into silence once again as Wang Ke's words lingered in the air.
Comment 0 Comment Count