Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 22 Orphanage

When I opened my eyes again, I was still in the security room.

The script seemed to always switch to the security room whenever day and night changed. Zhou You turned his head and glanced at the clock.

—It seems that the time is also fixed.

Just like when he came last time, the security room was still empty, and he was wearing the same brand-new security uniform. However, it was much more chaotic than last time.

Or rather, more than many.

Tables and chairs were overturned, logs and files were scattered everywhere, and even the long-broken television was thrown to the ground, its screen smashed to pieces.

Zhou You searched through the pile of clutter, then muttered to himself.

"It doesn't look like a robbery-style intrusion, but rather like someone trying to find something in this security room. As for whether they found it or not..."

Zhou You turned his head and glanced at the two vases next to him that were obviously smashed in a fit of anger.

"It seems they didn't find it, but here's another question: what could possibly be in this run-down security room that warrants such a thorough search?"

Zhou You also searched carefully, but like the intruder, he didn't find any clues. The small security room was easily visible, and there didn't seem to be any space between the thin walls and the floor where anything could be hidden. So in the end, he could only shake his head and walk out.

—After all, daytime hours are limited, so he has to be careful with his time.

The scenery outside was similar to the day before, except that the fog was thicker. If he could still see the figures of pedestrians a while ago, now he could only see some blurry figures.

"But it won't have much of an impact, since these people are impossible to communicate with."

In the milky white mist, Zhou You followed the familiar patrol route. Perhaps because he had passed two checkpoints in the night, the range of his movement during the day had expanded considerably. The Yuan Shun intersection was no longer obstructed by mist, and he could easily pass the place where he had set up his stall before arriving at the alley where he had 'played games'.

But here, he stopped.

Unlike the serene scenery at night, at this very moment, right next to that dark alley, a peculiar building suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

From the outside, the building is a detached house, occupying a land area that is not small but not very large either, probably around two or three hundred square meters. The house is a two-story building with a brick and stone structure, and a dilapidated sign can be seen on the top.

"House of Angels"

But now the house looks like it's been burned, the whole thing is blackened, and you can see a lot of collapsed areas. Presumably to prevent some strangers from disturbing it and causing any accidents, there is an iron railing around the building.

"This must be the orphanage from that little devil's ballad, right?" Zhou You glanced at it casually, feeling there was nothing useful there—after all, he had already finished the game and didn't need to look for clues here anymore—just as he was about to leave, he suddenly felt something was off.

The next moment, he slowly squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil from under the railing, and gently rolled it up.

—The moisture in the inner layer of the soil has not yet dissipated. Judging from the level of dampness, these railings have only been erected for less than half a day. No, they should have been erected just a few hours ago.

Zhou You then revealed an expression of great interest.

"But the question is, why is it only now that they've thought to fence off and prevent others from entering this building that was abandoned long ago after the fire?"

"Did something happen just now?" "Or is it some kind of side effect of me walking through the alley at night?"

Thinking of this, Zhou You, who didn't want to waste time, became interested instead.

He took a few steps back, then took a running start and nimbly vaulted over the railing. He walked across the path, which was completely exposed by vegetation, and arrived at the orphanage. Then he gently pushed the still intact iron gate.

It was not locked.

The door creaked open, bringing with it a cloud of musty, choking dust. Judging from the surroundings, it seemed that the outsiders had merely surrounded the house, and that the house itself had been untouched for a long time.

Zhou You coughed twice and walked in, enduring the dusty smell. The room looked just like any other after a fire, with burnt furniture and dark black ash everywhere. He glanced around casually by the light coming in through the window but didn't notice anything unusual.

"After entering through the main entrance, you'll find the main hall. Normally, there wouldn't be any clues here, since nobody would carelessly leave their private items in such a busy place."

He casually grasped the doorknob leading to the back and pulled it open.

Behind the door seemed to be the cafeteria, with the same dilapidated and desolate scenery, just a bunch of leftover tables. Zhou You searched around but only found a few burnt potatoes—a talent called keen observation popped up at the right time to make its presence known, but unfortunately, all it found was a pile of garbage.

Still nothing.

However, he didn't seem anxious at the moment—since he was already inside, he could just pay a resurrection coin to reset the daytime—and then headed straight for the next area.

But the problem was, just as he opened the next door, Zhou You's eyes suddenly narrowed unconsciously.

That's because of the stimulation caused by the sudden change in brightness.

Separated by just one door, the environment instantly became extremely dark. Unlike the main hall and dining hall, this innermost room had no windows at all, only receiving faint light from the cracks left by the fire.

But unlike the dim and cramped environment, this small room was crammed with more than a dozen iron bunk beds, the beds densely packed into every corner, leaving hardly any room to even step.

“This looks like the bedrooms for the orphans.” Zhou You estimated the size and found that each bed could only fit one child at most. “And it’s a bedroom with extremely poor living conditions—the leaders of this orphanage really know how to make the most of space; they managed to squeeze so many people into a space that is just an ordinary dormitory.”

He casually picked up a doll that hadn't been burned from the bed, dusted it off, looked at it briefly, then shook his head and put it back in its place.

"The dolls are also crudely made, using inferior fabrics and probably filled with the cheapest toxic cotton. In addition, there are no fine foods in the kitchen. It seems that the living standards of the orphans here have been reduced to a certain extent."

Zhou You had heard of such things in real life. Orphanages would cheat the government out of subsidies by taking in more orphans than allowed. In the eyes of those directors, all the children were just tools to make money. They would save as much as possible, and there were even news reports of children freezing or starving to death.

But that was a long time ago. Now that he's actually seeing this scene in person, even though he's a person who enjoys himself in a broad sense, he still feels a little uncomfortable.

With a soft sigh, feeling there were no clues here, Zhou You was about to go upstairs to take a look when he suddenly froze the moment he turned around.

The reason is simple: it was right in front of him, in the shadow of the cafeteria door.

There was a child standing there.

A child, charred all over, with his eyes and mouth gone, stared at him with empty eye sockets, like a vengeful ghost.

(End of this chapter)