Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

This was just Chen Ji's initial guess.

There are actually two more direct pieces of evidence.

First, before the game started, he inadvertently noticed that Zhao Xun's eyes were tightly closed.

After that, the relaying of messages went wrong with him.

Secondly, it was also based on his own observations...

Chen Ji had already scanned the crowd several times before he even told them to observe.

No matter how you look at it, no matter how many times you look at it...

Of the six faces he saw, one person always had their eyes closed!

But this scene was like a dream, and often after Chen Ji blinked again, the person who had been keeping their eyes closed would return to normal.

However, when he counted to the end, including himself, it became eight.

Yun Yuan suddenly shouted, and to avoid confusion, she counted them one by one according to their names:

Zhang Wenyi appeared twice!

Female boxer Zhang Wenyi's expression changed drastically, and she immediately retorted, "Bullshit!"

"It was clearly you! I saw it with my own eyes! Your eyes were closed!"

"Why......"

Zhao Xun murmured to himself, having looked around most carefully in order to prove his innocence, and had looked around several times in a row.

"Everyone's eyes seem to be both closed and open?"

The red-haired man didn't even glance at the rest of the people. With his hands in his pockets, he casually explained:

"Or maybe there really are eight ghosts, didn't the bald guy say that?"

"Or maybe it's this ghost... that can switch between the faces of any one of us at will."

Chen Ji glanced at him and said to Zhao Xun:

"It won't be eight ghosts."

"If there are really 8, then no one can beat this game."

He thought for a moment and began to explain: "If the ghosts correspond to the number of us, then in the first round of relaying the message, the dialogue should have been altered at least six times."

This excludes the first and last messengers.

"But apart from the dead bald man, everyone else heard the same thing."

The answer is actually quite obvious.

There is only one ghost, which is the extra "person".

It will randomly appear in the middle of the group, wearing someone else's face, to spread ghost stories.

No one expected that the bald man's words would inadvertently reveal the truth!

There is a ghost among us!

"What should I do?"

Zhang Wenyi frowned deeply. "We simply can't tell who's a ghost and who's a human!"

"Like this," Chen Ji said after a moment's thought, "Next time in the game, everyone should turn their heads slightly when relaying messages."

"Those behind can see clearly whether the messenger in front is the same person again. If they can't see clearly, they can observe the messenger's eyes."

"When ghosts are listening or speaking, their eyes are usually closed."

Chen Ji wasn't worried that the ghosts mixed in with them would hear about this method.

If a ghost turns its head, it will inevitably be discovered that it has closed its eyes; but if it doesn't turn its head, it will only further confirm its identity as a ghost.

Zhang Heng suddenly interrupted Chen Ji, letting out a cold laugh.

"You want to kill everyone?"

"The rules clearly state that [moving is not allowed]!"

"okay."

The red-haired man raised his hand, stopping Zhang Heng from questioning him.

"Everyone turned their bodies to the side when they were relaying the message, and they're all still alive and well. As long as the movements are small, they should be fine."

His voice wasn't harsh; it was calm, as if he were simply trying to ease the tension.

However, Zhang Heng actually shut his mouth and nodded somewhat reluctantly.

The others looked somewhat hesitant, but this was indeed the only way to distinguish between a ghost and a human.

Everyone fell silent.

At this point, there was less than a minute left before the break ended.

Zhang Wenyi leaned against the wall, hugging his arms tightly, seemingly lost in thought.

Zhao Xun's face was tense, and he would occasionally glance at everyone warily, his initial cooperative attitude completely gone.

The red-haired man winked at Yun Yuan and Zhang Heng, and the three of them walked to the other side alone.

Chen Ji's gaze sharpened slightly as he gave the three of them a deep look.

He then looked around several times before finally spotting Wang Xiaoming.

Wang Xiaoming seemed not to have moved at all; his expression was blank and somewhat forlorn.

Chen Ji walked past him, seemingly casually, and said in a very low voice:

"Be careful of Zhang Heng, and don't reveal your strange creature."

After saying that, he walked to a corner by himself, glancing every now and then at the giant macaque that kept covering its ears.

Wang Xiaoming's body trembled, as if he hadn't expected Chen Ji to discover his location, and also as if he hadn't expected Chen Ji to say such a thing.

He sat on the ground, clutching the hem of his plaid shirt tightly, a complex look in his eyes.

Nobody expected this...

Wang Xiaoming didn't want this strange creature at all.

……

Wang Xiaoming, male, 27 years old, clerk.

An ordinary name, an ordinary identity, an ordinary job.

From childhood to adulthood, my life and family have been unremarkable.

No one paid special attention to him, and he had nothing to attract attention for.

If this world were a game, Wang Xiaoming would be an NPC with unclear pixels.

Of course, Wang Xiaoming is also a human being, and as a human being, he has a need for recognition.

His biggest fantasy was to be able to embark on adventures like those in the anime he watched, find like-minded companions, and obtain unparalleled treasures...

The adventure has indeed begun.

That day, he received a ship ticket...

Little did they expect that the realm was fraught with danger, and that ghosts were actually real!

With his caution and wisdom, Wang Xiaoming gradually grew accustomed to the terror of the domain, and even became a key figure in finding a way out several times.

He began to realize that he was not as ordinary as he thought.

A girl was rescued by him in the game, and the two began to get to know each other in real life, finding solace and comfort in each other.

Wang Xiaoming finally felt that he had become the protagonist of his own story!

Until... in that domain.

An unseen ghost killed many people.

What kept Wang Xiaoming alive was the knowledge that someone was waiting for him to come home!

In the end, he finally found a way to survive: he made himself invisible and survived for five minutes in the presence of the ghost!

This was possible because Wang Xiaoming found the most crucial mysterious object in this domain:

Plaid shirt

[Note: This is a piece of clothing that everyone has in their wardrobe]

[Ability: Invisible within the demon's field of vision for ten minutes; can be used a maximum of three times per domain]

[Cost: With increased usage, its presence in the real world will gradually diminish.]

Wang Xiaoming took the plaid shirt with him.

Wang Xiaoming used it many times.

The domain is getting harder and harder; he has no way to overcome it.

Until one day, he realized that the people around him could no longer hear him...

Mom and Dad haven't called him in a long time.

The girl who was about to get engaged to him had forgotten that she had once been saved by a boy named Wang Xiaoming.

She left.

There's no going back now. Even if Wang Xiaoming takes off his plaid shirt, the consequences won't disappear.

.......

The break is over.

Before being pushed into his position, Zhang Heng glanced at Wang Xiaoming silently.

To be precise, it was the plaid shirt he was wearing that I was looking at.

Then, he cautiously glanced at the red-haired man.

The other person was far away from him, didn't even glance at him, and didn't look too good. He was alone with Yun Yuan on the other side.

Chen Ji saw all of Zhang Heng's actions clearly.

Chen Ji felt the thrust that had returned to his body. He shifted his gaze from Zhang Heng to the macaque that had remained motionless.

The macaque remained facing the wall, its ears tightly covered.

Chen Ji seemed to be deep in thought.

The second round of the telephone game is about to begin!

The lines are arranged from front to back as follows:

Zhao Xun, Yun Yuan, Zhang Wenyi, the red-haired man, Zhang Heng, Wang Xiaoming, Chen Ji.

This time, Chen Ji arrived at the most dangerous position.

and......

The three people Tang Qin organized were all in front of him!

Chen Ji's heart tightened. Even if the lie was exposed, the words on the whiteboard would be 100% altered when they reached him!

His only chance of survival lay in the clue on the table next to him.

And what comes from the front is almost entirely unreliable.

His mind raced, and various solutions flashed through his mind in an instant, but he abandoned them all one by one.

The view ahead was completely blocked, making it difficult for Chen Ji to peek with his pen.

Moreover, that would very likely violate the taboo of "not moving around at will during the game".

Although he did have some thoughts about this taboo, he had only played one round of the game so far, and many things could not be confirmed yet.

Just then, a new clue suddenly appeared on the small table next to them.

It's a body that only has an upper body...

Rag doll.

The doll was simple and dirty, without limbs, just a tattered cloth covering a body full of cotton.

But the moment they saw the doll, the red-haired man, Yun Yuan, Zhang Heng...

All three of them were taken aback.