“These… things?”
Gao Yi asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.
“All of this!” Xiao Hong said, dramatically circling her hands, a gesture eerily similar to the old woman’s earlier, then continued:
“Everything that’s happened in this supermarket, I feel like I’ve experienced it before!”
What on earth, does this instance have a time loop element?
Gao Yi cautiously listened for movement in the supermarket hall outside the door, but there were no signs of an earthquake.
Looking back at Xiao Hong, the gas station attendant still had her head lowered, her legs pressed tightly together, as if trying to shrink herself as much as possible.
“Is that so…”
Considering her mental state before and now, as well as the inherent memory confusion of the original inhabitants of this script.
To be honest, Gao Yi felt the credibility of her words was not very high.
With a slight shift of thought, he glanced at the special task again.
Special Task: Explore everything that happened in “Huirong” Supermarket, ascertain the truth of the disaster (06:59:23)
More than half the time had already passed; did he really need to try to continue exploring the plot?
Truth be told, Gao Yi was indeed a very curious person, but compared to his life, this bit of curiosity was too insignificant to mention.
The friend who owed him money and ran off hadn’t settled the score yet; the news material obtained from getting beaten up hadn’t been published yet; his ex-girlfriend’s missed calls hadn’t been dealt with.
If he really died here, it would be too worthless.
So, instead of risking further investigation into Xiao Hong’s words, it would be better to appease her, muddle through the remaining seven hours, get the return ticket, and then make plans.
Based on this, Gao Yi’s answer naturally sounded a bit perfunctory.
But Xiao Hong, sitting opposite him, suddenly flicked her ponytail, lifted her head, and said with a trembling voice:
“I’m telling the truth! I really remember so many things, these fogs, those monsters, they’ve appeared more than once.”
“Mm, I believe you.”
“Mr. Gao Yi, please don’t humor me, everything I’m saying is true!”
Xiao Hong’s words were still filled with a heartbreaking tremor, but she seemed very serious.
At this moment, she no longer had her head lowered; instead, she was looking directly into Gao Yi’s eyes.
Seeing her like this, Gao Yi couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.
In this situation, he could only go along with her and ask:
“Alright, if you really are a ‘time traveler’…”
“No, I’m not a ‘time traveler’!” Xiao Hong corrected:
“I’ve just experienced the same things multiple times.”
Gao Yi nodded to show he understood, reorganized his words, and then asked again:
“Then in your previous experiences, have you met me?”
“No.”
Xiao Hong shook her head.
“Then how do you know you’ve experienced it many times?”
“Because many scenes are the same: white fog, the supermarket, monsters, the student couple, Manager Yamada, Mr. Fujimoto…”
As she spoke, Gao Yi suddenly sensed something, a kind of discord beginning to brew in his mind.
He sat up straight, dissected and reconstructed his memories, and after a slight deliberation, asked again:
“Then… is there anyone who’s different?”
“Yes!” Xiao Hong nodded excitedly.
“For example… me?”
Xiao Hong nodded again, this time with a noticeably larger Amplitude.
Gao Yi finally understood where the sense of discord in his mind came from.
The people outside, when discussing the source of the bloodstains on the ground, had completely different accounts of the man who died first.
Mr. Fujimoto said it was a “wolf-like creature,” the old woman said it was “Mountain God’s giant hand.”
But Xiao Hong said it was “shadows and tentacles.”
However, during that internal world collapse, Gao Yi had seen what those monsters outside the supermarket truly were.
They were indeed shadowy, bizarre creatures and wriggling, slimy tentacles.
Among everyone, only Xiao Hong was correct.
Was this a coincidence?
Or, as she herself said, had she experienced the same things many times?
Gao Yi made a “wait a moment” gesture to Xiao Hong.
Then he lowered his head, took out the notebook from his pants pocket, and began to summarize the points of doubt.
“Why does Xiao Hong say she’s experienced it many times?”
“She shouldn’t have seen the monsters, so how could she accurately describe their type?”
“Why is she the only one among everyone who can say it correctly?”
Suddenly, before entering the game, the black-hoodied man’s mumbling on the subway appeared in Gao Yi’s mind.
“It’s too terrifying…” “Holy Grail…” “Someone save me…”
Why was he so scared?
That man clearly possessed very strong physical qualities, so why was he so lacking in confidence, how could he be scared like that?
Gao Yi flipped through the pages, taking out the “ticket” clipped in the notebook.
Instance Ticket: Heart Ghost Mist (Holy Grail 5)
Mode: Solo
Perhaps “Holy Grail 5” represented the difficulty, or perhaps “Solo” signified the arduousness of the script.
But was this little information really worth such fear?
Perhaps, perhaps…
Gao Yi quickly wrote in his notebook.
“Perhaps, that man knew in advance how terrifying this script was.”
“Which means this script, this ticket, perhaps it hasn’t only appeared this one time!”
Gao Yi’s expression became excited; the pleasure of approaching the solution to a puzzle was unparalleled.
Just a little more. If this conjecture was correct, what would it mean?
That black-hoodied man might have just been forced to participate in this game.
If this script has indeed been experienced many times, what does that mean?
This might mean that Xiao Hong’s memory is not wrong; she has indeed participated in the script’s process multiple times.
Each time the script resets, and each time new players participate.
And Gao Yi himself was already an unknown participant.
Then Xiao Hong must know a lot about this script; the key to solving the puzzle is her!
Gao Yi excitedly looked up, only to see Xiao Hong opposite him staring blankly at his wrist.
No, he couldn’t let his excitement get the better of him.
If all the previous conjectures were correct, then why was Xiao Hong the only one who could remember those things?
Looking at the ceiling, there were no signs of an earthquake, and the strange noises outside the supermarket hadn’t appeared either.
Why didn’t her memories cause this space to vibrate?
The answer, what was the answer?
Looking back at Xiao Hong, she was still staring at Gao Yi’s wrist, her bangs, gathered by the red hairpin, had lost some of their shape due to her recent excitement.
What was so different about this ordinary gas station employee?
Wrist? Why was she looking at my wrist?
Gao Yi followed her gaze and looked down.
On his left wrist, there was indeed the complex blood-red tattoo that appeared after entering the script.
The tattoo that could summon the light screen, representing his “player” identity.
A chill ran up his spine to his brain. Gao Yi, disregarding etiquette, suddenly leaned forward and grabbed Xiao Hong’s left arm.
Amidst her startled cry, Gao Yi forcibly pulled up the sleeve of her white shirt.
On her left wrist, on her fair skin, there was a blood-red tattoo exactly like Gao Yi’s.
Gao Yi took a deep breath, slowly released Xiao Hong’s left hand, and his trembling pupils gradually focused.
The puzzle was solved.
So that’s it.
Xiao Hong, she was also a player.
A player trapped in this script.
........................................
