There was only one way out... if one of the remaining residents happened to pass by, discovered him, and rescued him with a rope!

　　Yes... yes! That's how he could escape!

　　But by this point, would they all have been found by the "ghost"?

　　Being found by the "ghost" meant certain death!

　　A way out... what was the "way out" Li had mentioned?

　　Think carefully!

　　Yang took out a piece of paper from his pocket, the one with the original blood-red instructions written on it:

　　"November 1st, 2024. Before 12:00 on this day, arrive at the summit of Huayan Mountain in the city's suburbs. Then play hide-and-seek. One person will be the 'ghost,' while the rest must hide and avoid being caught. You cannot leave Huayan Mountain during this time. Return to the apartment after midnight on the same day."

　　Were there any hidden "ways out" in the blood-red instructions?

　　Last time with Ziye, closing his eyes and not looking at the ghost had been enough to return safely.

　　Could there be a similar "way out" this time, one that wouldn't count even if the "ghost" found him?

　　The restrictions set by the apartment were mainly...

　　One, the "ghost" cannot catch you.

　　Two, you cannot leave Huayan Mountain before November 2nd.

　　The "ghost" cannot catch you?

　　Does that mean that if the "ghost" doesn't physically touch you, it doesn't count? He was hiding in this pit right now...

　　No, that's wrong! It's a "ghost"! That wouldn't matter!

　　And if he hid here, he would definitely be touched by the "ghost"!

　　There was nowhere to run!

　　The second point was about not leaving Huayan Mountain before November 2nd... That was a common restriction, it didn't seem like a "way out" left by the apartment.

　　So what should he do?

　　If it wasn't hidden in the blood-red instructions...

　　Thinking about it, this "ghost", while it was chosen by them, was probably decided by the apartment beforehand.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

　　No matter what they did, it would end up being Si who was the "ghost".

　　Suddenly, he had a realization.

　　Something was strange!

　　Why would Si be the ghost?

　　It was decided by rock-paper-scissors, but why use rock-paper-scissors?

　　Usually, hide-and-seek has a person chosen as the "ghost" by rock-paper-scissors, but you can also volunteer.

　　In that situation, if Si had volunteered, everyone would have agreed immediately.

　　After all... no one wanted to be the "ghost."

　　"Ghost" easily made people think of death, so everyone was worried that being the "ghost" would really mean death...

　　But what was Si's attitude like?

　　He clearly... didn't want to be the "ghost"!

　　So, if someone volunteered to be the "ghost", wouldn't that prevent Si from becoming the "ghost"?

　　Could it be...

　　This is the "way out"?

　　They themselves had cut off their own chance of survival?

　　Yang was startled by this terrifying thought.

　　If there was no "way out"... wouldn't that mean they could only rely on luck to get through this blood-red instruction?

　　The problem was, not everyone had that kind of luck!

　　……

　　Tang finally made his decision. He arrived at the mountaintop.

　　Ziye's words were true. The mountaintop was empty.

　　He was right to gamble.

　　When Tang reached the summit, he was completely exhausted.

　　He was afraid that the "ghost" might be waiting for him at the summit, trapping him.

　　But as dusk began to fall, Ziye had said not to stay on the summit until the very end.

　　After thinking it over, Tang chose a path down the mountain.

　　Li hadn't called yet. He hadn't figured out the "way out" either.

　　So, the only option left was to hide and make sure the "ghost" couldn't find him?

　　That was the only way he could think of right now.

　　As he walked, he took out the food from his backpack and ate.

　　He couldn't eat much because he was nervous.

　　He finished two pieces of bread in three bites, took a few sips of water, and that was it.

　　The sky was very dark tonight.

　　Walking on the lonely path, Tang felt that even without the "ghost," it was scary enough.

　　Every step he took, he was extremely careful, not making a sound.

　　He was glad he brought a flashlight.

　　Shining it on the path ahead helped to dispel some of the darkness.

　　……

　　Please don't come out... please... don't come out...

　　Yang took out the bread from his backpack and ate.

　　He looked up at the sky every now and then, but he was afraid that if the "ghost" happened to pass by, he would be caught by surprise.

　　What if they came face to face?

　　Yang tried to cover himself with more dirt, spreading it over his head and face.

　　He thought that if it was a little darker, it would be harder to see him from above.

　　But he worried that other residents might pass by and not see him.

　　So he would look up again from time to time...

　　He felt like he was going crazy.

　　Time passed slowly, and Yang became more and more anxious.

　　Why hadn't a resident passed by yet?

　　Could it be... that they were all dead?

　　No, no! He thought, it couldn't be that dramatic.

　　At least, there had to be someone else alive, right?

　　But that thought kept growing in his mind, fear like a bottomless black hole, swallowing him whole... swallowing...

　　Just then, he heard a sound... like footsteps nearby!

　　There was so much grass around, even if you slowed down, there would be noise.

　　Who was it?

　　Was it the "ghost"? Or a resident?

　　But he couldn't yell, "Who is it?"

　　If it was the "ghost", he would be asking for trouble.

　　The footsteps were getting closer and closer.

　　Yang kept spreading more dirt over his head, keeping his head down.

　　Please God... don't let it be the "ghost"!

　　Then a beam of light shone down, followed by a voice that sounded like heaven:

　　"Who are you?"

　　It was Tang's voice!

　　Yang immediately looked up.

　　Standing at the top of the pit was Tang!