And Then the Skeleton Laughed Out Loud [Infinite] - Chapter 3

◎ It was a very, very deep bite mark. ◎

Delivering fruit?

Qi Qiuxue frowned. A man wearing an eerie mask, appearing silently at her door in the dead of night—anyone would think there was something sinister afoot.

She still didn’t touch the door handle. Instead, she pressed her body firmly against the door to prevent the masked man from trying to force his way in. “…Thank you for your kindness, but I already had fruit during dinner. I don’t need any now.”

“That is different,” the masked man said, his voice carrying a hint of persuasion as he patiently explained to the person behind the door. “The fruit I brought is a local specialty, a variety we bred ourselves. No one from the outside has ever tasted it.”

“It’s a rare occasion for a guest to visit the island; I hope you will try it.”

His voice was raspy and unpleasant, yet his tone carried a trace of a smile. Qi Qiuxue watched him through the peephole the entire time. Because he was so close, she could even hear the masked man’s breathing becoming heavier.

In those eyes—the only part of him exposed, which had almost no whites—there was a peculiar emotion. It was a craving mixed with excitement, something sickly and obsessive. It was not the look of a normal person.

Qi Qiuxue felt her skin crawl under his gaze, but she was becoming increasingly certain that if she didn’t accept this plate of fruit, the masked man probably wouldn’t leave.

After a moment, she thought of a compromise: “It’s not convenient for me to come out right now. Please leave it at the door, and I’ll come get it in a moment.”

“Fine.” Fortunately, the masked man did not refuse. He slowly bent down and placed the plate right in the center of the doorway.

“Goodnight,” he said softly after finishing.

Qi Qiuxue did not act rashly. She kept her eyes on him as he turned to leave, listening intently to his receding footsteps.

Clack, clack, clack…

The old stairs creaked as they were stepped on. The masked man finally went downstairs.

After that, the footsteps grew lighter and more distant until they were barely audible, gradually replaced by the sound of the torrential rain still pouring outside.

“…”

Qi Qiuxue quickly opened the door, pulled the plate of fruit inside, and swiftly locked the door again.

She lowered her eyes to examine the fruit. Indeed, as the masked man had said, it was a variety she had never seen before. They were small round spheres similar to longans but slightly larger. The outer shell was a pale pink, resembling the color of human skin.

She peeled one. Inside was a flesh as bright red as blood, and the juice released a strange scent that also smelled metallic, like blood—a bit pungent. Inside the flesh was a pit, a perfectly regular sphere that was pitch black.

For some reason, Qi Qiuxue was reminded of eyeballs. Injured eyeballs.

There was no way she was putting this in her mouth. Qi Qiuxue stood up, carried the plate to the bathroom, and flushed it all down the toilet.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Qi Qiuxue fell into a hazy sleep. In her daze, she seemed to have a dream—a dream of someone with light, slow footsteps wandering in the corridor.

In the dream, she couldn’t see the person’s face, but she could see their hair, soaking wet from the rain. Their clothes were also drenched, and a faint smell of blood emanated from their body. The figure paced the corridor for a long time, stopping at every door, pressing an indistinct face against each peephole to carefully observe every sleeping person.

Motionless, for a very, very long time.

Then, the figure raised a hand, opened the door to a certain room, and walked in slowly.

Bang! The door slammed shut with a violent sound.

Qi Qiuxue was startled awake by the noise. She jerked upright and looked at the clock on the wall: 5:30 AM. There was half an hour left until the meeting time.

Remembering the warning the innkeeper gave last night, she quickly got out of bed to wash up. Following her usual habit, she tied her hair into a low ponytail. Once finished, she pushed open her door, intending to gather in the first-floor lobby.

But the moment the door opened, she froze. The floor of the corridor was covered in continuous water stains, as if something truly had dragged a soaking wet body back and forth in the hallway for a long time.

Qi Qiuxue couldn’t distinguish what it was for now because she didn’t see any footprints.

“…”

Did someone go out last night, or did something come in?

Qi Qiuxue subconsciously looked at the adjacent room—Room 204, Liu Dawei’s room. If she hadn’t misheard, that clear and violent sound of a door closing seemed to have come from this direction.

When Qi Qiuxue went downstairs, many people had already gathered in the lobby. Everyone was clearly very concerned about the innkeeper’s warning “don’t be late.” They were all dressed and sitting quietly at the table eating breakfast.

“Ah Xue, over here.” Seeing her come down, Liu Ge waved to her with her usual familiarity.

“Mm.” Qi Qiuxue sat down beside her. Just as she took her seat, a masked man stepped forward and lowered his eyes, placing a breakfast tray in front of her.

Qi Qiuxue took the opportunity to look at him. Although these masked people had the same masks, similar outfits, and were all burly and strong, if one compared them carefully, subtle differences could be found.

—This masked man had a scar on the webbing between his right thumb and index finger.

Qi Qiuxue recalled last night: the masked man who served her dinner, the one who brought fruit at midnight, and the one currently in front of her should all be the same person. Qi Qiuxue had a very good memory, and she had noticed this detail during these few interactions.

It was just that the light had been too dim last night, making it impossible to see the shape of the scar clearly. Now that she looked closely, she realized it was actually a bite mark—a very, very deep bite mark. The person who left this scar must have used a great deal of force, perhaps even tearing the flesh away.

What on earth had happened to this masked man? And what was his purpose in approaching her time and time again?

Qi Qiuxue harbored doubts in her heart but didn’t let it show on her face. She picked up her chopsticks, lowered her eyes, and began to enjoy her breakfast.

Fortunately, there was no strange “beef” today.

After breakfast, it was nearly 6:00 AM. The innkeeper did not appear this morning. Replacing her to host the players was a villager who had volunteered to be a guide—a young girl who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen.

The girl wasn’t wearing a mask. She wore a playful dress, held a yellow tour flag in her hand, and had a pure white whistle hanging around her neck. Upon seeing so many players, she showed no shyness at all; instead, she greeted everyone warmly.

“Good morning, everyone!” Her voice was exceptionally energetic, like the morning sun, and quite contagious. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Xiao Xiao. I’ve been entrusted by the Village Chief to act as your guide for a few days and show you the beauty of our island.”

“Grandmother Chief said there are sixteen tourists in total.” She smiled and raised her index finger to count them one by one. “One, two, three… fourteen, fifteen. Why is one missing? Did I count wrong?”

One missing?

Qi Qiuxue looked around her. She didn’t see Liu Dawei in the crowd.

Beside her, Liu Ge leaned in and whispered, “Liu Dawei didn’t come down.”

Qi Qiuxue replied softly, “Mm.”

As a player with experience in instances, it was common for people to die right at the start. Liu Ge paused. “He might be—”

Before she could finish, the sound of a door opening came from upstairs. Liu Dawei, with a messy “bird’s nest” of hair, ran down the stairs while pulling on his shirt. “I’m here, I’m here! Sorry, I somehow overslept.”

He was on the heavier side, and his heavy footsteps made the old wooden stairs creak loudly, drawing everyone’s gaze toward him.

Xiao Xiao also looked at him. The smile that had been on her lips earlier vanished at some point. She seemed a bit angry. “You are late.”

Liu Dawei didn’t know who this girl was, but he reflexively apologized repeatedly: “Sorry, sorry.”

Xiao Xiao didn’t say anything, but her expression was somewhat strange.

Uncomfortable under her gaze, Liu Dawei suddenly remembered what the innkeeper had said yesterday. He whispered to the man next to him who was roughly his age, “Who is she?”

The man he asked had also introduced himself last night as Geng Hao, a teacher in the real world. He pushed his glasses up his nose and whispered back, “The guide.”

As expected!

Liu Dawei scratched his head vigorously, deeply regretting his lateness. He apologized again: “Little girl, I’m sorry, really sorry. I didn’t mean it. It won’t happen next time.”

Next time.

Hearing those words, Xiao Xiao seemed to let out a cold laugh.

“It’s fine,” she said slowly. Her demeanor was a world away from the sunny girl she had been a moment ago. “I hope you keep your promise.”

Liu Dawei nodded hurriedly. “Yes, yes!”

Xiao Xiao didn’t respond further. She smiled at the crowd again, returning to her initial persona. “Let’s go.”

“How did you wake up late? Didn’t the innkeeper say yesterday that we can’t be late?” Whispers began to ripple through the crowd. Geng Hao frowned and questioned Liu Dawei.

“I don’t know either.” Liu Dawei shook his head and let out an uncontrollable yawn. “I used to drive big trucks; I have a great sense of time! I haven’t been late in years! I don’t know what happened last night—I fell into such a deep sleep, it was like I’d been drugged. If it weren’t for my biological clock kicking in because I needed the bathroom, I might really not have woken up.”

“It should be okay, right?” He was clearly a bit spooked, muttering to Geng Hao for reassurance. “I—I came down, didn’t I? I wasn’t late for that long?”

“Ten minutes,” Geng Hao said, looking away and glancing at the marble clock on the wall. “It’s already 6:10.”

Liu Dawei swallowed nervously. “This…”

Before he could say anything else, Xiao Xiao, at the front of the group, suddenly looked back at him.

Startled by that glance, Liu Dawei didn’t dare to whisper with Geng Hao anymore. He scratched his head in distress, muttering under his breath, “What a mess…”

There were heavy dark circles under his eyes.

Qi Qiuxue quietly tilted her head, silently observing Liu Dawei’s current state: dark circles, messy hair, unkempt stubble, and greasy skin.

She felt that this was not how someone should look after a night of sound sleep.

It looked more like someone who hadn’t slept all night.