Since the ground floor served as space for the reception hall, kitchen, activity room, storage room and Qing's private room, everyone had to stay on the second floor.

The second-floor rooms were simply numbered 1 through 8, arranged from left to right. The central staircase split the second floor into two sections, with rooms 1-4 on the left side and rooms 5-8 on the right.

The key figures - Old Lady Wang and her husband - were assigned Room 4. Another key figure - Chen Li, the possessed woman, lived in Room 6. She had to return to her room before 8 PM, and her brother Qing would securely chain and lock her door. Though Qing didn't explicitly explain the reason for locking the door, it was clearly related to Chen Li's 'possession'.

As mentioned earlier, Qing stayed on the ground floor. Setting aside whether Old Lady Wang actually had the power to exorcise spirits, based on current information, it seemed obvious that the possessed Chen Li was the focal point of this evil spirit event. Therefore, staying in the right side of the second floor was clearly more dangerous than the left.

Leon had expected serious disagreement over room assignments. Surprisingly, the bald Derion volunteered to take the room next to Chen Li. The kindhearted newsboy Herbert also indicated he didn't mind where he stayed.

With these two teammates being accommodating, Murray's arrangements became simple. The final room assignments were set:

Left side:

Room 1 - Leon

Room 2 - Blonde Monica

Room 3 - Prosthetic-armed Murray

Right side:

Room 5 - Newsboy Herbert

Room 7 - Bald Derion

Room 8 - Believer Arkman

The outcome surprised Leon. Despite his indifference, Murray had assigned him Room 1 - theoretically the safest room, furthest from Chen Li. Murray's reasoning was that Leon was physically the weakest team member, and since he was their only Chinese speaker, they needed to ensure his safety.

Additionally, there were two important "details":

(1) The building had no indoor bathroom - the outhouse was fifty meters away.

(2) At 23:00, Qing would cut off the building's power until 06:00 the next day, claiming that electric lights would agitate his possessed sister at night.

These conditions were troublesome, but everyone had solutions. For nighttime bathroom needs, they could use the mineral water bottles they'd packed. As for the power outage, everyone had bought flashlights beforehand, and their system-provided cameras had night vision capabilities.

Before bedtime, Murray gathered the team in one room.

"Everyone, I have a friend who became a Knight apprentice last year after becoming a 'Returner.' He shared some 'tips' about newcomers' first time in the Destiny Space. The most important one is to avoid interfering with plot characters' actions and decisions, and don't do anything that defies common sense. The more we interfere, the more complex the event becomes, potentially leaving us with no way out. I hope everyone plays their role as college students well and avoids unnecessary contact with the plot characters. If anyone has thoughts, feel free to communicate with me."

"Understood!"

Murray's suggestion was to let the plot develop naturally. Everyone except for the bald man expressed their agreement

Murray continued: "Also, I suggest... if anyone hears strange noises during the night, don't leave your room. The first night shouldn't be too dangerous, since the 'soul restoration ritual' hasn't begun yet, and the plot characters are still relatively normal. As long as we stay in our rooms, we should be safe."

"How can you be so sure there's no danger... you're just a rookie yourself," Derion scoffed.

Murray smiled in response: "At least staying in our rooms is safer than wandering the corridors... It's just a suggestion, not an order. We can discuss other situations in detail tomorrow after the 'soul restoration ritual.' Everyone should get some rest now."

As the impromptu meeting disbanded, the attractive blonde Monica deliberately lingered in Murray's room, dropping subtle hints with her words. However, Murray maintained his neutral attitude, and Monica eventually had to return to her room alone due to the growing awkwardness.

Alone, Murray took out a clean cloth and lovingly polished his steam-powered prosthetic arm, smiling. "A four-star evil spirit event... about the difficulty I expected. If I can become a 'Returner,' I'll easily become a Knight apprentice, starting ahead of others."

In Room 1, Leon immediately locked his door after returning. Since arriving, he hadn't found a chance to be alone. Having woken from his nightmare, something felt off about him, so he'd been keeping part of his attention on himself.

"What is this?"

With his hands held out, he sought the strange sensation from his nightmare and slowly activated the [Faceless Head].

Immediately, an odd aura spread throughout the room.

A tentacle covered in gray spots slowly emerged from his palm, swaying eerily in the air.

"A hidden ability?"

Leon stared at the tentacle, bewildered!

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"When I first left the prison without a physical body, I moved using fungal tendrils from my neck... but those were different from this. This tentacle is thicker and isn't fungal in nature... it emanates an eerie, dangerous aura."

After about ten seconds, the tentacle from his palm transformed into a pool of filthy water, dripping down before evaporating.

Simultaneously, a wave of weakness swept through Leon's body.

"Seems using this tentacle ability puts tremendous strain on my body. I can't use it except in emergencies."

He wiped the foul saliva from his mouth corner with paper.

After recovering somewhat, Leon took out the useful items he'd bought from his backpack... placing a flashlight and small knife under his pillow. The knife wasn't for fighting evil spirits but for 'experiments' and self-defense. Besides these, his backpack contained two sets of rural-style clothing for unknown purposes.

"Murray's probably right - as long as we don't actively disrupt the plot characters, the first night shouldn't be too dangerous before the 'soul restoration ritual'... time to sleep."

Due to the nightmare's influence, Leon's rest in the car had been wasted. Combined with using the strange tentacle ability, the weakened Leon desperately needed sleep.

He fell asleep shortly after lying down.

This time there were no nightmares.

However, he was jolted awake in the middle of the night by what sounded like footsteps in the hallway and a baby crying.

The power was out.

The room was pitch black.

However, the large red lanterns in the hallway were still lit.

What kind of idiot would design this - a head-sized circular hole with transparent glass smack in the middle of the door.

Through it, he could clearly see under the red lantern light:

A black-haired woman carrying a child walked past his door.

The scene shifts to Derion's room.

Among the team, he was the most hot-headed and had violent tendencies. From the start, he neither trusted anyone nor intended to follow Murray's leadership. As a factory worker, his jealousy of the middle and upper classes had evolved into hatred... after learning about Murray's background, he despised this rich kid from the bottom of his heart. To him, Murray's seemingly kind demeanor was just a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Derion took a swig from the bottle of liquor he'd bought to steel his nerves. Grabbing his flashlight and cleaver, he snuck out of his room.

The power had been cut at 23:00 by Qing as scheduled, with only the red lanterns illuminating the hallway... making the flashlight quite necessary.

Derion muttered under his breath: "According to statistics, the newcomer survival rate is less than 1%. Not to mention this is a four-star difficulty evil spirit event - our chances of survival might not even be one in a thousand. If I'm going to die, I'll die on my own terms... Why not kill the possessed person in advance? Maybe that would buy us time and increase our chances of survival."

Derion's plan was simple - kill Chen Li before the event fully deteriorated on the first night... this was why he'd volunteered to take the room next to hers.

Since Chen Li's room was secured with chains, breaking in directly might alert the others. So he opted for a stealth approach.

Derion went downstairs and circled to the back of the building. Years of intense factory work had built his muscles, making it easy to climb the old structure.

But just as he climbed up the wall and pressed himself against Chen Li's bedroom window, he suddenly froze in his tracks!

The room wasn't dark at all. A red candle burned at the bedside. In its light, Chen Li was nowhere to be seen. More eerily, the door that should have been locked was wide open.

"I checked earlier - her door was chained shut. How did it open?"

These bizarre occurrences sparked fear in Derion's heart, one that even alcohol couldn't suppress. But having come this far, he wouldn't back down.

The window wasn't locked. Derion quietly slipped into Room 6.

An unnatural chill...

The room was at least 10°C colder than outside... and the chill seemed to seep into his very bones.

Just as Derion gripped his cleaver for courage...

Footsteps broke the night's silence.

Simultaneously, a woman carrying a baby walked past the door.

The sight made Derion shudder... but he forced down the rising fear and kept himself steady.

In the next moment, emboldened by alcohol, he rushed forward, attempting to grab Chen Li and drag her back into the room to kill her.

However...

In less than two seconds after Derion rushed into the hallway...

The corridor was empty except for the swaying red lanterns - no sign of the woman with the baby.

"Where did she go?"

The bizarre, incomprehensible situation made Derion increasingly nervous, his fear intensifying.

His palms were sweaty, and perspiration beaded on his forehead.

A cold breath brushed against the back of his ear.

A woman with loose black hair stood motionless behind him, continuously exhaling cold air.

Ten ice-cold fingers, like centipede legs, crawled up his neck to his face.

The fingernails were caked with mud as the ten digits firmly gripped Derion's face, immobilizing him.

With inhuman strength, she swiftly dragged the team's strongest member into the room.

Accompanied by the sound of rattling chains, the door locked.

...

The next morning.

At exactly six o'clock, Qing restored power to the house, then went upstairs to unlock his sister's door.

Chen Li had just changed clothes and appeared completely normal, following her brother downstairs to prepare breakfast for everyone.

For the team members, the first night hadn't been peaceful.

They'd all experienced the same thing - being awakened in the middle of the night by footsteps and a baby crying... through the glass window in their doors, they'd seen a woman carrying a baby wandering the hallway.

Murray and the newsboy clearly saw that the wandering woman was Chen Li, the possessed one.

This experience had thoroughly frightened everyone, and none had slept well for the rest of the night...

"It was just a simple scare, at least we're all okay."

While Murray was reassuring everyone, he looked around at the team members gathered in the room: "Where's Derion? Still sleeping?"

"I peeked in when I passed by... he doesn't seem to be in his room," Arkman whispered, clutching her cross tightly.

"Let's check right away!"

Murray sensed something was wrong and rushed to Derion's door - indeed, no one was inside.

Standing at the back of the group as everyone discussed, Leon suggested, "Why don't we ask Qing? If Derion had left the house ahead of time, Qing would know since he stays on the ground floor."

Murray nodded and immediately headed downstairs. "Yes... I hope nothing's happened to Derion."

Following behind him, blonde Monica muttered under her breath: "It would be better if that reckless baldy died, otherwise his recklessness would end up getting us all killed."

Though her voice was low, Leon, walking last, heard it clearly.

Actually, Leon shared similar thoughts.

Derion's rash behavior could indeed bring 'trouble' to the team... from a practical standpoint, his death might actually increase the team's survival rate.

Downstairs.

Qing was starting a fire to cook noodles for everyone, while his sister Chen Li silently chopped vegetables nearby.

"Qing, have you seen the bald student who came with us... the tall, muscular one?"

After putting wood into the stove, Qing turned around with a puzzled look at the foreign students.

"Bald student?... Aren't you all here? I don't think I'm mistaken, there were only five of you, right?"

"Five?" Leon asked, confused.

"Yes... aren't you five the ones Old Lady Wang brought to film the 'soul restoration ritual'? Right, sis?"

Chen Li, quietly chopping vegetables, gave a slight nod.

Qing's words startled the five team members.

The timid believer Arkman even stepped back in fear, her body trembling slightly.

Clearly, all memories of Derion had been completely erased from the plot characters' minds.

This indirectly confirmed that Derion had met his demise during the night... the specific cause unknown.

At that moment, a prompt sounded:

『Event time remaining: 60 hours, Survivors: [5]』

Among the five-person team, only Leon and Murray remained relatively calm.

Of course, Leon was still shocked - a living person had vanished without a trace, their very memory erased from the plot characters' minds.

Unknowingly, fear had begun to spread in the hearts of each team member.