[1-404]

Just then, a series of thump-thump-thump footsteps suddenly erupted from the darkness above our heads.

The footsteps were rapid, heavy, sudden, and panicked, as if from a startled ghoul, a giant, terrified heart pounding against the floorboards.

Several flashlight beams, like swords of light, shot upwards in unison, illuminating a patch of the ceiling. However, it was just the ceiling, a dirty, cobweb-covered canvas. The true source of the footsteps was the floor above, the final level of this dungeon.

The man in the distance, after a brief moment of stunned silence, turned without hesitation and scrambled towards the staircase closer to him, his legs not very nimble.

“Let’s get upstairs, quick!”

Yukino shouted and was the first to run towards the staircase not far from us, her shaky flashlight beam dancing on the ground, her clean canvas shoes making a series of rapid footsteps.

Saber rushed towards the stairs almost at the same time. Exusiai, still holding my hand, and I were a step behind, but we quickly caught up.

The sound of our four sets of footsteps echoed in the stairwell. I suddenly felt like we were the protagonists in a horror movie who were courting death. After arriving at a strange and terrifying place and hearing a bizarre noise, their first reaction isn’t to run but to get closer and investigate. By the time they figure out what it is, it’s too late to run, and they can only die because of their own curiosity. We were breaking rule number one.

…But, at this point, if we don’t get to the bottom of everything, we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives!

I couldn’t say which was worse, regretting it for a lifetime or dying on the spot, but I only knew that my blood was boiling, and I couldn’t feel any fear at all. A strange, shounen-protagonist-style courage had taken over.

We clattered up the stairs and arrived on the fourth floor, the top floor of the abandoned dormitory building. We paused for a moment to catch any sounds, but found that it was dead silent.

I stood at the top of the stairs, holding my breath and listening for about three seconds, then whispered, “No sound?”

“Did it hide?” Yukino also had a listening expression. “Our footsteps were too loud when we came up together, we couldn’t hear where the sound from upstairs went.”

“And what about that uncle who claimed to be looking for his daughter? Why is he so quiet too…?” Exusiai raised more questions.

Taking advantage of the lull, I checked the stream. The number of online viewers was already approaching two thousand, a complete miracle for us, who were completely unknown and streaming this for the first time tonight.

The comments were flying across the screen:

[This is too exciting, isn’t it?! My heart is pounding!]

[Are they this reckless? They chased after the sound without any hesitation. The protagonists in horror movies who court death at least act cautiously.]

[Watching this stream late at night is too terrifying, it feels like playing Corpse Party back in the day.]

[Me too, I’m watching this huddled in my blanket, I don’t even dare to go to the bathroom.]

[I’m so scared a terrifying monster is going to jump out at the streamers!]

[Could this stream really have no script and everything is a sudden event? That’s too incredible.]

[Do you guys think that uncle who claimed to be looking for his daughter was telling the truth?]

[If he was telling the truth, then the footsteps upstairs were from the real homeless man; if he was lying and he is the homeless man, then the footsteps upstairs were from the girl he captured.]

[Ace detective, ace detective!]

[Streamers, don’t be so reckless, be careful!]

[They look like pretty boys and girls, but they’re all brutes. My kind of people!]

There were also some people sending gifts in the stream, which for the first time made me feel a little like a real streamer.

“Let’s walk ahead and see,” I said. “Just discussing here won’t lead to any definite conclusions.”

Saber nodded and took the lead. She had just taken one step when her body suddenly froze. She waved her hand in front of her face.

In the light of her flashlight, I saw a fly buzzing and flying away.

“Tsk, a fly,” Saber frowned.

“This fly, does it indicate something?” I suddenly thought, a sense of dread creeping in.

“Yes,” Yukino nodded gently. “Flies also need nutrients. An abandoned building with only cement, bricks, steel, and wood won’t have flies. The presence of a fly means there’s a breeding ground for them here. It could be rotting food, human waste, or…”

“…a corpse?” My voice was hoarse.

Yukino was silent for a long moment, then quietly lowered her eyelids. “…I hope that’s not the possibility we encounter.”

I looked at the three of them, their flashlight beams falling dejectedly in the distance. I was at a loss for words for a moment, then I suddenly noticed that one of the beams was illuminating an open room.

The doorplate on that room read [1-404]. It was the same dorm that hadn’t paid its electricity bill, according to the blackboard in the first-floor lobby. It was also, therefore, possibly the physical counterpart to the dorm we had seen in our visions.

“It’s [1-404]!” I raised my hand and pointed at the open door.

The few of us no longer hesitated. We immediately ran towards the open door and poured into the room.

It was still three sets of bunk beds, a metal locker, and a long wooden table and chairs, no different from the other rooms. The only difference was the pure white vase on the corner of the long table, in which were blooming lilies and small daisies.

“That vase, it was in the vision too!” I immediately recognized it. “This really is the room from the vision.”

“But,” Yukino walked to the long table, reaching out as if to touch the flowers, then stopped her hand in mid-air as if worried about something. “…but the events in the vision should have happened a long time ago. Why are these flowers still in bloom?”

I also went over and sniffed. I could even smell a faint floral fragrance. These weren’t fake flowers. “Two possibilities. One, these flowers were bought recently by someone else and just put in the vase. Two is…” I spread my hands, “…some kind of supernatural power has frozen the flowers in time.”

“Let’s see what’s in the trash can first,” Saber said, squatting down next to the trash can again and shining her flashlight inside. Immediately after, I heard her suck in a cold breath.

“What’s wrong?” I hurried over. In the brightly lit trash can, I saw a pair of…

…eyeballs.

Please forgive me for not being able to describe that pair of eyeballs in detail, because they were simply too terrifying, disgusting, horrifying, and repulsive. I only glanced at them, and after knowing what they were, I subconsciously looked away, no longer daring to look. Even the horrifying image that was constantly scratching at my mind, I tried my best to throw it into the deepest part of my mind where it could hopefully be forgotten.

But there was no doubt that in this trash can, there was indeed a pair of eyeballs, abandoned here like lost children, staring up into the darkness.