Day of Imprisonment

The fire alarm continued to blare incessantly. Luo Xi walked over and held down the reset button on the alarm panel. After a few seconds, it finally quieted down.

At this moment, the few people remaining on the twenty-fourth floor were silent.

They looked at each other, observing, with a strange sense of 'understanding'.

Luo Xi first ran to the women's restroom and the women's locker room, taking a quick look around. When he came out, he muttered to himself, as if saying 'Just as I thought,' 'How amazing,' or something similar.

Then, he pulled up a chair and sat down, signaling the others to sit as well.

Some people sat down; others did not.

“Judging by everyone's reactions, this selection process was very successful. All the irrelevant people have left. The remaining ones should at least remember the last time Mao Ge turned into a monster and killed people.”

Luo Xi cut straight to the chase.

Because he knew there was no time to waste.

One day… No, Mao Ge could start his killing spree at any moment. So, in essence, there wasn't even a day.

Across from him, Du Lei, Guo Zening (male colleague 1), Feng Kai (male colleague 2), and Zhang Yanan (female colleague) still didn't speak, but their expressions varied. Manager Du narrowed his eyes and wiped sweat, and if you looked closely, there was even a sneer on his lips.

Guo Zening and Zhang Yanan both seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Feng Kai's eyes darted around, as if wary of someone.

“Let's hurry and get reacquainted. My name is Luo Xi, a Memory Retriever who has preserved memories once.”

After he spoke, there was silence. No one responded.

Luo Xi smiled, not at all embarrassed, and looked at Du Lei: “Director Du, you're the senior here, why don't you go first…”

Du Lei narrowed his eyes, staring at Luo Xi, then looked at Zhang Yanan over there. Immediately after, his gaze shifted back, and he said, “I thought about your method before, but I didn't implement it because I thought it was a bit risky. But looking at the results, it seems to be working.”

“It's mainly because the timing was good. Last time, Mao Ge transformed early, otherwise, we might not have had this opportunity to chat candidly with everyone.” Luo Xi's smile faded, and then he rubbed his face.

“Candidly?” Du Lei smiled: “Alright, I've finally met a smart person. But I'm very curious, what do you plan to do after the selection?”

“I'll explain that to everyone later. Right now, I need everyone to state how many times they have preserved their memories. It's best not to lie or conceal anything.” Luo Xi put on a calm expression at this moment, or it could be seen as having no expression at all.

Du Lei simply smiled at this moment, without answering.

The others also didn't say anything, but it was clear that they each had their own thoughts. Some were eager to try, some were cautious, and some were vigilant.

Feng Kai, who had a gloomy face, suddenly spoke: “So, why should we tell you? Who do you think you are?”

It was inevitable that someone would question him.

In Luo Xi's view, this was also a means of 'defense,' and at the same time, it was bound to show a strong, unyielding stance.

Just like Feng Kai now.

Luo Xi glanced at him, and said expressionlessly: “Of course, it's your right to choose to hide it and not say anything, but let me make it clear, being candid at this stage is crucial. It determines whether or not we can clear the game next.”

“Clear the game? Clear what game?” Feng Kai sneered: “You've only preserved your memories once, what do you know? You're just talking big.”

Luo Xi didn't seem to care at all about such aggressive words. In his opinion, this 'provocation' was also a kind of answer.

“Director Du, would you like to say something? Or, do you also choose to hide it?” Luo Xi looked at Du Lei.

Du Lei saw that he couldn't avoid it, and chuckled: “Everyone here is so familiar, after all, we've been colleagues for a long time. And since we've been dragged into such a bizarre and strange situation, we should help each other. We all know each other's names, so I'll just say how many times I've preserved my memories.”

After speaking, he looked around and held up a ‘eight’ with his hand.

“Eight times, I've preserved my memories eight times.”

His tone seemed to carry a hint of boasting and smugness.

Luo Xi nodded and looked at the other two people.

“I only have one time, I only remember what happened last time, Mao Ge from the cabinet…” Guo Zening was interrupted by Luo Xi before he could finish: “We'll talk about the rest later.”

The former nodded and sat back down.

“I also have one time. To be honest, if Luo Xi hadn't said just now that Mao Ge was downstairs at ten o'clock, I would have thought that I was having a nightmare. But that experience was too real, too scary…” Zhang Yanan said at this time. She was a little nervous, sitting in the chair gesturing with her hands, trying to express herself.

From the moment she was killed, and then suddenly appeared in the women's locker room, discovering that time had returned to the time she had just arrived this morning, she was completely stunned. It can be said that she was in a daze all morning, her heart filled with fear and doubt.

But she didn't know who to talk to about this kind of thing.

She had secretly asked another female colleague before, but the other party didn't remember it at all, and didn't know what she was talking about.

In this situation, she was still a little confused, but she understood one thing clearly: the few people left here at this moment all remembered Mao Ge turning into a monster and killing people.

In other words, she wasn't crazy, and it wasn't a dream. That terrifying everything was real.

Her fingers were trembling with excitement, and she had a strong desire to communicate.

Luo Xi could see her state, and comforted her: “When I suddenly came back to my senses at my workstation in the morning and found that the day had started again, my mood was the same as yours. Relax a little, being too excited isn't good for your health.”

Zhang Yanan quickly nodded, with a look of gratitude on her face.

“So, in the last round, we were all killed by Brother Mao. Then, did anyone evade Brother Mao's pursuit and survive to the end?” Luo Xi glanced around. No one spoke, and he guessed the situation was similar to what he had predicted.

Last round, total annihilation.

“Among the five people here, only Director Du and Feng Kai are 'veterans' who have survived for more than one round. The following question is specifically for the two of you. Of course, you two can choose not to answer.” Luo Xi's gaze swept over Feng Kai.

“Ask away. I think it's good for everyone to gather together and be frank. Three cobblers can outwit Zhuge Liang. Maybe we can really come up with a solution.” Du Lei sighed at this moment.

Guo Zening and Zhang Yanan, two 'newbies', are still confused. They can understand some of what Luo Xi said, but some of it is completely incomprehensible, and they don't know what he's talking about.

But they don't dare to interrupt.

They're itching to ask questions, so they're holding back a lot.

Logically speaking, Luo Xi's question is easy to answer, but neither Du Lei nor Feng Kai immediately spoke.

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After a long time, Du Lei shook his head: “Luo Xi, the fact that you can ask this question shows that you have already grasped a lot of information about the Day of Imprisonment. I even suspect that you lied before. You are not a 'newbie' at all, but a veteran who has survived many rounds like me.”

“I am indeed a newbie!” Luo Xi spread his hands, looking completely sincere.

Du Lei smiled. He was still wiping his sweat: “It's impossible to avoid Liu Mao's killing time. No normal person can survive after the killing time. So, how long we can survive in a round completely depends on when he turns into a ghost.”

“Are you sure?” Luo Xi frowned.

“At least that's how it's been in the few rounds I've survived. You've seen what Liu Mao looks like when he turns into a ghost, everyone has seen it. Who do you think can escape?” Du Lei didn't know what he was thinking of, his expression was a little ferocious. In fact, fear was hidden under his ferocious expression.

Probably some bad memory.

Feng Kai still didn't say anything. This guy seemed like a hedgehog, untouchable, and a hedgehog with a very bad temper and strong vigilance.

But Du Lei's answer was 'no one can avoid the killing time', which encompassed everyone, including Feng Kai.

“Brother Lei, this guy is probing us.” Feng Kai suddenly said.

Du Lei was stunned, and immediately thought of something. His expression suddenly became a little ferocious.

Obviously, the other party's question set a trap. Since it's impossible to avoid the killing time, then the fact that Du Lei has survived several Days of Imprisonment means that he has killed at least an equal number of Memory Retrievers. Otherwise, where would the memory cards to preserve memories come from?

“I'm not that low-level.” Luo Xi's reaction was very calm.

The corners of his mouth held a smile, as if he was despising the other party for regarding him as such a low-level and foolish person.

“Killing other Memory Retrievers to obtain memory cards in order to preserve memories is one of the rules of the Day of Imprisonment. There's no right or wrong, good or evil to speak of, and there's no need to go to such great lengths to probe you. Besides, does this question need to be probed?”

Luo Xi's reaction instantly extinguished Du Lei's anger.

He realized that he might have really underestimated the other party.

“Luo Xi, speak. What are you planning to do?”

“Of course, to 'clear the game'.” Luo Xi didn't hesitate at all when answering the question, as if he had already anticipated these questions and already had standard answers.

“How to clear the game?” Du Lei asked, narrowing his eyes.

Luo Xi didn't answer, but looked at Guo Zening and Zhang Yanan over there, who were dumbfounded from beginning to end, as if they were elementary school students trying to understand middle school courses.

“Brother Mao's appearance at that time was very scary, right?” Luo Xi's voice softened.

Fear flashed in their eyes, and they nodded.

“Whether it's veterans like Director Du, or newbies like us who have only preserved memories once, it's impossible to forget Brother Mao during the killing time. So, when I said 'at ten o'clock, Brother Mao is downstairs', anyone who remembers the last event would not be able to act as if nothing happened. Satisfying curiosity is human nature, coupled with the time pressure created by the huge sense of crisis, no Memory Retriever could possibly go downstairs in that situation.”

“In other words, the seven Memory Retrievers currently on the twenty-fourth floor are all the ones who exist.”

At this time, Zhang Yanan couldn't help but raise her hand.

Luo Xi smiled: “You speak!”

“We, seem to only have five people…” Zhang Yanan looked around and corrected.

“Forgot to say, the Memory Retrievers also include Old Gao, who died in the morning. In addition, there is one more… Adding her, there are exactly seven people.” After Luo Xi finished speaking, Du Lei and Feng Kai subconsciously glanced at each other.

“But this is a game for eight people.” Luo Xi continued.

“Eight people? Are there other Memory Retrievers?” Feng Kai couldn't help but ask at this time.

Luo Xi smiled and shook his head: “The eighth person is Brother Mao. Eight people play a game similar to cat and mouse, one cat, seven mice.”