Doomsday Wonderland

After Lin Sanjiu had been sitting by the edge of the basketball court for about ten minutes, the others who had scattered into the classrooms began to emerge one by one. They chatted and gradually funneled back into the court. This time, the small groups dissolved, their boundaries blurring as everyone craned their necks to watch one another. Regardless of who the others were, there was a sense that anyone might interject with a comment at any moment.

Caveman had somehow found a basketball and was discussing with Wen Ya, Tenny Voltz, and a few others how people played basketball before the doomsday. What were the white lines on the ground for? They understood they needed to shoot the ball into the hoop, but where were they supposed to stand?

"Well, we're not competing," Tenny Voltz said eagerly as he grabbed the ball. "Without all those rules and restrictions, isn't it better? We can just do whatever we want."

The others exchanged glances. Wen Ya smirked, a mix of mockery and knowingness on his face, and said, "Then let's make up a few rules ourselves."

Even though nothing explicit was said, Lin Sanjiu could tell what they were thinking. After just a few hours, this group of ordinary people had developed an astonishing level of vigilance toward spoken words. As soon as Tenny Voltz made his casual remark, the others immediately suspected it could contain a message and grew wary of it.

It seemed that now, like her, everyone parsed every sentence they heard, analyzing it for potential messages.

Tenny Voltz, realizing what the others were thinking, looked displeased. He scoffed and reluctantly listened as Wen Ya began laying out some rules.

"I noticed something, and I think I should mention it..." Guan Nan said from the other end of the court, addressing a few others. "Even though the scenes change every 30 minutes, time itself seems to be progressing continuously. Have you noticed?"

"Huh?" Hina exclaimed, startled. "How do you know?"

"The earlier scenes, the hotel and the beach, were all in the morning. When we got to the forest, it was already afternoon," Guan Nan said, looking up at the sky. "And now, look at the horizon. It's starting to turn orange. I work day jobs in Chimeric City, so I'm used to judging time by the sky. I'm very sensitive to it."

She was right; Lin Sanjiu had only just realized it herself. Several others also looked up at the horizon, their expressions reflecting the same realization. Ya Rong's gaze swept the sky, and she let out an involuntary "Ah."

When she noticed everyone looking at her, Ya Rong quickly said, "It's true. The sun looks like it's about to set. Does that mean we'll have to spend the next scene in the dark?"

"It won't be as dark as the third scene," Jiang Tian said, understanding the implication. "Artificial locations will probably have some lighting."

"But once it gets dark, the killer will have more opportunities to act," Guan Nan said with a frown. She turned to Hina. "You're definitely not the killer. Haven't you thought of any way to protect yourself?"

Hina's face turned slightly pale. She muttered, "Do you think the killer... will really make a move?"

"Hina!" Wen Ya, who had been playing basketball, suddenly turned and called out to her. "Come over here for a moment."

As Hina got up, Guan Nan sighed and added, "You'd better think it through. It's always better to be cautious."

Taking advantage of the distraction, Ya Rong quietly stood up and walked a few steps to Lin Sanjiu's side.

"I've figured it out," she said softly, staring at the concrete ground. "I know what the evidence is."

"Oh?" Lin Sanjiu replied, raising an eyebrow.

"The rules mention that in your home territory, your credibility doubles... but they don't specify how that doubling is displayed," Ya Rong said, lightly scratching her nose and using her hand to partially cover her mouth. "In normal scenes, if your credibility is 0.5, it will just show as 0.5. But in your home territory, it won't directly display as 1. Instead, a small parenthesis will appear after it, with the doubled value inside. I guess it makes sense; it's only temporary, so separating it like that keeps things clearer."

Lin Sanjiu smiled slightly as she listened. "Why did you choose a school campus?"

"There was a movie shown in the recreation room before the doomsday. It was about a group of students, and I could never forget it after watching it..." Ya Rong hugged her knees and sighed softly. "I always wished for a time when I could learn interesting things, surrounded by friends, without worrying about survival..."

For an ordinary person, that was indeed a near-unreachable dream.

But for Lin Sanjiu, even if time could rewind and she could alter her fate to avoid entering the world of doomsday, she wouldn't choose to go back. The version of her who would have lived peacefully in modern society was no longer the same as the Lin Sanjiu who had experienced countless upheavals and tied her life to her friends.

"Now you know that my home territory has come and gone," Lin Sanjiu said, glancing at Ya Rong. "Aren't you afraid that I might be the killer? Didn't you distrust me at first?"

3

Ya Rong gave an embarrassed smile. "Well, yeah... there was a time when I was wary of you. The things you said were a bit strange, after all."

Lin Sanjiu crossed her arms, waiting for her to elaborate.

"But when I was at the hotel, I was behind the front desk looking for supplies and overheard Hina and Rob talking," Ya Rong continued, unaware that Lin Sanjiu had seen her crawl out from behind the desk at that moment. "What they said really stuck with me."

"What did they say?"

"Hina asked if it was only the two of them who heard that weird comment from Dr. Chen. Rob said it seemed like it and that he wasn't sure whether to believe Dr. Chen's explanation."

Ya Rong fidgeted with her gray robe. "I listened quietly for a while and pieced it together. Apparently, Dr. Chen said something to them like, 'Use this pocket dimension to get rid of the others.' But Dr. Chen later explained that he didn't mean he was going to eliminate people; he was referring to the factory. Still, his explanation wasn't enough to convince Hina and Rob. By the end of their conversation, they were still half-skeptical, unable to come to a conclusion."

Lin Sanjiu immediately understood. "Then you overheard Guan Nan accusing Jiang Tian as well..."

"Yes," Ya Rong said quickly, her breath slightly uneven. "Dr. Chen, Jiang Tian, and you—just from what I've seen, that's already three people who have said suspicious things and then denied them later. Once or twice might be a coincidence, but three times is a pattern. I started wondering if this pocket dimension is deliberately manipulating trust between people. Maybe that's why Dr. Chen and Jiang Tian, who seemed credible, ended up losing part of their credibility. As for you... when we were drifting down the river together, I trusted you completely back then."

For an ordinary person bound by daily concerns, being able to think so far outside the box was truly impressive.

Lin Sanjiu let out a breath. "I suspected the pocket dimension was behind it from the beginning, but I thought you wouldn't believe me if I said it."

"Well, I'm just an ordinary person," Ya Rong said softly, drawing a glance from Lin Sanjiu; the statement was oddly intriguing.

1

"So, it's because you inadvertently noticed that at least three people were pushed by the pocket dimension to say suspicious things..." Lin Sanjiu mused. "No wonder you seem to be the only one who hasn't been... well, trapped by it."

She paused before adding, "And Jiang Tian, though I'm not sure if she's been trapped or if she's figured it out and just isn't saying anything."

"Trapped?" Ya Rong blinked in confusion. "Trapped by what?"

The young woman's thoughts moved quickly, and she seemed to scare herself with the implications. "After so many scenes, no one's done anything obviously suspicious... Could it be that they've all turned into mouthpieces?"

"Not quite yet," Lin Sanjiu said with a frown. "But I suspect that by the next scene, there'll be some movement... I'll explain everything then."

She was confident in her prediction, but even she didn't expect the unexpected to arrive so soon.

The ninth scene was a cinema with a bar. There were countless items that could serve as media—posters, glasses, flyers—and even a movie playing halfway through in the theater. With the echo of sound effects and the dim, spacious screening room, it became almost impossible to track who was saying or doing what.

The tenth scene was a museum. While each exhibit had only one item, the souvenir shop was practically a media paradise. Most of the merchandise—bookmarks, postcards, and the like—was small, light, and came in quantities far exceeding eleven.

"This scene's owner has great luck with media, but it's useless if they can't transmit a message," Muya said, sweeping his hand over the merchandise as though even touching it was a risk. "I've figured out the most important trait of a message."

"Oh? Do share," Rob replied with a smirk.

"No harm in saying it," Muya said, shrugging. "We all know a message is presented in the form of a proverb or moral lesson, but its most critical feature is that it has nothing to do with the pocket dimension. If you say it outside of the pocket dimension, people will still understand it. Think about it; isn't that true?"

The group fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly reflecting on their own messages. No one contradicted him.

"So," Muya continued, clearly pleased with himself, "if someone starts talking to me about anything unrelated to the pocket dimension, I immediately get suspicious. No matter what they say, if it's disconnected from the pocket dimension, it's not getting into my head."

"Then you might miss out on a lot of crucial information," Jiang Tian remarked coolly.

"So what? There's no such thing as being too cautious in a pocket dimension. Missing a bit of information won't kill me, but blindly trusting someone's message might." Muya shook his head and sighed. "If this pocket dimension were proceeding normally, I'd be confident I wouldn't lose. But now... who knows when the killer might go crazy and slaughter us all?"

"The killer's target was the record-keeping system," Wen Ya said coldly. "Why would they kill you?"

The two locked eyes; for a moment, it was just a difference of opinion about the killer's intentions, but the tension between them sparked like flint.

As with previous scenes, everyone carefully navigated the tenth scene. Without the record-keeping system, anyone wanting to take an item first counted to ensure there were far fewer than eleven before picking it up. Thanks to Muya's remarks, the group's vigilance toward messages had reached new heights, narrowing their conversations to topics strictly related to the pocket dimension.

"The next scene is coming," Hina said uneasily, glancing around.

"Right," Jiang Tian raised her voice, "we need to pay attention to the number of scenes. After the doctor died, we still don't know if—"

Her sentence trailed off.

For several seconds, the group stood in stunned silence, as if no one dared believe what they were seeing.

"How... how is this possible?" Hina turned in a slow circle, taking in the crystal chandeliers, the lobby seating area, the front desk, and the distant restaurant. "We're back at the first hotel?"

Only ten scenes had passed. That meant, at minimum, someone in the group had already become a mouthpiece. 

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