Infinite: Dawn Game

The darkness lasted for about ten seconds before Chen Yi saw it gradually dissipate and heard the girl crying.

"Let's go."

Chen Yi squinted, looking at the familiar interior of the elevator in front of him, and subconsciously looked down to find the woman who had made the sound.

It's Xiao Li.

To be precise, it was a Li who was about ten years younger than the Li they saw now.

Xiao Li was covered in blood, and a boy who looked a few years younger than her was standing in front of her.

The boy held her hand tightly, his handsome face filled with terror. He sobbed as he looked at Xiao Li with his tear-filled eyes.

"sister--"

“Once we’re out,” young Li interrupted the boy, “we’ll forget about this place.”

She reached out and touched the blood on the boy's face, and whispered:

"...If I could go to school, that would be even better."

Young Li smiled; her youthful and pretty face lacked the heavy makeup Chen Yi had seen in the hotel.

She's probably not even twenty years old yet.

As Chen Yi pondered, her gaze shifted from Xiao Li to the boy in front of her.

Shi Jiu once said that Xiao Li is the manager's older sister...

That boy was the manager who later became a reporter and infiltrated the Fuling Hotel again.

The current timeline... should be the timeline where Xiao Li helps the manager escape from the Fuling Hotel.

But would the manager really run away by himself?

The boy spoke the very next second that the thought had just crossed Chen Yi's mind.

"Sis, aren't you going to run with me?"

He seemed to sense something, gripped Xiao Li's hand tightly, and said in a trembling voice:

"No, we promised to run away together. We promised that once we got out, we'd go to school together, and we'd find normal jobs together..."

The boy kept talking incessantly, reaching out and tugging at Xiao Li, "Come on, we have to go together, we have to go together, sister, we have to go out together, go out together—"

"Shhh."

Xiao Li covered the boy's mouth with her hand, and she breathed out a soft, trembling breath, then very softly suppressed her heavy breathing.

"Don't say so much. If I could leave... I would definitely leave this place."

Xiao Li paused slightly before saying the last two words, and Chen Yi guessed that she probably wanted to say something like hell.

Chen Yi looked up and paused for a moment.

"Be good, okay?"

Xiao Li continued talking to the boy, "The power outage should only last two or three minutes. You can use that opportunity to run out through the main entrance behind the guests... Listen, you know that this kind of escape is very easy to get caught, right?"

As she spoke, the muscles on both sides of her cheeks twitched slightly, and her hands covering the boy loosened their grip a little:

"If you get caught, if you get caught, you must die immediately, you must find a way to commit suicide, understand?"

"..."

The boy's sobs in the elevator grew louder and louder. He looked to be only a little over ten years old, with a childish voice and face. In reality, he would only be considered an elementary or middle school student. He had already reached the point where he needed to know about suicide.

“…I know,” the boy nodded, choking back tears. “I will. If, if I am caught and taken back, I will definitely, definitely try to commit suicide.”

"Uh-huh."

Xiao Li smiled, wiping away the boy's tears. She then looked up at the cold, gray ceiling above the elevator, her eyes filled with fear and unease about the future.

Chen Yi stared into those eyes without saying a word.

He was just a "passerby".

A "passerby" whose memories were pulled into that ball of brains.

It wasn't just Chen Yi; there was nothing anyone who was a player could do.

"The time is almost up."

Xiao Li suddenly spoke up. She nudged the boy who was still tugging at her arm and whispered:

“You shouldn’t keep crying like this.” Xiao Li’s voice suddenly turned cold. “Lin Shuli.”

From now on, your name will be Lin Shuli.

The boy looked a little confused. He stared at Xiao Li in front of him and asked, "Sister, aren't you called Lin Shuli?"

"You haven't given me a name yet."

"Give it to you."

Xiao Li gently pulled the boy's hand off her arm and said earnestly:

“I have nothing left to give you,” she said. “Only this name.”

Xiao Li smiled and said, “Lin is the forest, Shu is the comfort, and Li is the courtesy. Lin Shu Li.”

"From now on, you will be Lin Shuli."

"..."

Chen Yi looked quietly at the "memories" in front of him and pursed his lips.

Then, the moment the elevator doors opened, the entire hotel suddenly lost power. Xiao Li grabbed Lin Shuli's hand and quickly ran out of the elevator, frantically fleeing into the endless darkness.

It was so dark all around.

When Chen Yi followed them, he couldn't see anything around him.

All he could see was two children struggling to escape down the corridor, surrounded by the sounds of angry shouts, condemnations, and screams from countless guests and hotel staff, as well as the wails of those in extreme pain.

The voices of men and women mingled together, along with the chaotic clatter of footsteps and running in the corridor, like a mournful dirge echoing through a chaotic, dark hell.

Chen Yi saw Xiao Li pull Lin Shuli to the first floor of the hotel.

The hotel's first floor was packed with people, so crowded it was practically overflowing.

Chen Yi heard someone in the crowd shouting to close the hotel doors to prevent any "goods" from sneaking out.

Xiao Li pulled Lin Shuli and ran even faster.

Lin Shuli, who was just given a name, is lucky.

As someone fumbled to close the hotel door, Xiao Li seized the opportunity and pushed him out.

Then came an even deeper darkness.

Chen Yi could see nothing anymore.

He heard the sound of a door being pushed open in the darkness, and Xiao Li's panicked screams.

"Close the door now!"

Xiao Li shouted, "Don't let the 'goods' escape! Close the door now!"

These words seemed to ignite the thoughts of some people in the darkness, and in that instant, Chen Yi heard the sound of more people running at the same time.

They were the "goods" that also took the opportunity to sneak out.

They might be human merchandise sold into the hotel, job seekers lured in by a high-paying job posting in the newspaper, or homeless people tricked into coming by bad people because they had nowhere else to go...

There are just too many people.

Amidst the chaotic running sounds, Chen Yi, who was in a different space, could only see Xiao Li, whose face was flushed as he pushed open a large door.

There was still an unconcealable fear and worry in her eyes—which, in subsequent interrogations, could be attributed to her being afraid.

Xiao Li pushed the door, and she was hit several times, turning pale and covered in scratches on her arms.

But she still didn't let go.

Xiao Li, no, it should be Xiao Li.

Xiao Li didn't dare to look up.