Chapter 9#
Chapter 9#
Apology
“It’s you?” Yu Qing asked. It was both unexpected and yet expected. The voice made him feel a complicatedsomething.
There was a pause on the other end. “I was going to introduce myself, but guess I can skip that. You know me?”
“I heard your voice once,” said Yu Qing. However, he had trouble explaining why he could place a voice he had only heard once, so he said, “I always remember voices I hate.”
“Oh. Is that so? Well, it’s an honour.”
A frivolous person, Yu Qing made a mental note,just like that hateful alias. He asked sternly, “What do you want?”
A laugh carried over. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you were the one who called.”
Yu Qing: “…”
Just hearing the guy speak filled him with inexplicable irritation, so much so that he lost his train of thought.
“So, you called just to tell me how hateful I am?”
Of course not. It was to find out what was up with 1811 now—but he said, “Yes.”
“Oh well.” The tone came off somewhat regretful. A moment passed, then ^^ added, “Actually, I do have something to tell you. It’s about what I was in the middle of typing.”
Yu Qing had a bad feeling about where this was going. “What is it?”
“Hold on, I’ve prepared it.” Judging by the sound, ^^ was unfolding a piece of paper. He cleared his throat and began to read, “An Apology Letter.”
Yu Qing: “?” Was he crazy?
“Dear…” ^^ hesitated, then muttered, “I was aiming for sincerity when writing that, but it comes off a bit frivolous when read out loud.”
Sincere? Everything he said sounded like it came with a “^^” at the end. Yu Qing slammed the phone down, then frowned at the skeletal kitten beside him. “How can anyone like that exist?”
Only after hanging up did it dawn on him that the call had lasted barely thirty seconds, and he was still none the wiser about the situation with 1811. All he’d heard was a ridiculous apology letter, and just the maddening salutation at that.
Right on cue, the room phone rang.
Yu Qing: “…”
He instructed, his expression far from pleasant, “Hang up.” Ever obedient, the little skeleton reached a paw towards the hang-up button, but just as it was about to step down, its master’s hand shot out, picking up the call.
Xiaomi: “?”
Yu Qing deadpanned into the receiver, “If you’re going to continue reading that nonsense, beat it.”
For years, that tone had inspired fear in anyone who heard it, but ^^ actually laughed. “All right then. I’ll save it for the next time I need it.”
Yu Qing: “…”Next time?
Reining in his mirth, ^^ said seriously, “I was so busy apologising that I forgot to ask. When you first called, was it because you discovered something?”
“I discovered I shouldn’t have called this number,” Yu Qing snapped, then slammed the phone down again.
Just before the line went dead, he thought he could hear the speechlessness from the other end. Picturing the scene, Yu Qing finally felt a little better.
Seconds later, the phone rang again.
Xiaomi’s paw was still hovering over the hang-up button. It blinked at its master in bewilderment, waiting for a proper instruction.
This time, Yu Qing didn’t put it through the wringer. He shifted its paw away and picked up the call.
^^ chuckled. “Calmed down yet?”
Yu Qing snorted, but he didn’t hang up. Without any further prompting, he got into it. “I called because the phone’s been vibrating non-stop. It’s a nuisance. I checked the party chat and discovered this floor has two rooms numbered 1811. I’m staying in one. Naturally, the room card and number for mine has obviously been altered.”
He’d noticed this when checking in, but as the information had nothing to do with him at the time, he hadn’t paid it any mind.
“If I’m not mistaken, my room used to be 1814. The other one, the real 1811, is furnished after mine…” Yu Qing trailed off before describing it. “Everything seemed to be mirrored, so I wanted to see if people were too.”
And he appeared to be right.
“Ah, no wonder…”
“No wonder?”
“No wonder the room looked off when I opened my eyes. It’s because everything is flipped.”
When he opened his eyes?Yu Qing asked, “Did you just wake up in that room?”
“Yeah, the call woke me up. I opened my eyes to find myself sitting in the chair at the table. I almost thought you’d fallen asleep sitting up, just so I could get right back into sorting out my mess.”
Yu Qing listened to his description, lost in thought. “So when you—” He was going to say ‘when you are inside me’, but it sounded weird, so he rephrased it. “So while I’m awake, you can’t see or hear anything that’s going on?”
“More or less.”
Yu Qing scowled. “More or less?”
^^ huffed in laughter. “When I’m not in control, your body is like…” He mulled over how to put it. “A small house.”
“?” Yu Qing paused, almost thinking that he’d misheard. “A what?”
“A small house.” The voice was laced with mirth. “With the doors and windows shut, and me inside. Sometimes I’m asleep, but sometimes I wake up for a bit, and when I do, I get snatches of what goes on outside. I can extrapolate from the bits and pieces, very, very little, but enough to make some guesses. Enough such that I won’t look like a dumb goose when I wake up, but not much better than that.”
“So, to avoid looking like a dumb goose—” Yu Qing obstinately pinned the label on him as payback for the ‘small house’ comment “—you should try working out why your room is a clone of mine.” He still had no interest in the so-called dungeons and quests, but he loathed the idea of the traces he left being reproduced wholesale to others.
“Hang on. Let me have a look.” The call sounded like it was put on speakerphone while ^^ inspected the room. Moments later, his voice drew close again. “Try stepping out of the room.”
Yu Qing switched on speakerphone as well. Under Xiaomi’s confused gaze, he stepped out of the room. The call crackled, then cut off, leaving only the busy tone.
As it appeared, as long as Yu Qing was out, the man in the other room would also disappear.
A minute later, the disconnected line reconnected. ^^ said helplessly, “Seems like I’m under quite a few restrictions. There’s not much I can do if I can’t even step outside. Why don’t you come and see for yourself?”
Yu Qing asked, “Did you say ‘please’?”
^^ amended at once, drawling, “Please, would you come and see for yourself?”
Yu Qing reluctantly nodded. He straightened up. Just as he was about to end the call, there came a remark, “Back into the house I go for now.” His hand hovered over the button, and he asked out of the blue, “What is your name?”
“Hmm?”
“Your name.” But then Yu Qing felt like he’d asked something unnecessary. “Never mind. It’s nothing.” He just found that smiley too infuriating.
After a pause, just before Yu Qing could hang up, the voice answered, “Mi Xiaobai.”
Please do not repost or retranslate.
In the end, Mr. Painted Skin still went out in his bathrobe, only because he was alone in the pitch-dark corridor. He first tried swiping the card he’d gotten from the clue on his own door. It worked. Then he walked over to the other room 1811 and tried it there. It also worked.
Having dealt with too many life-and-death affairs on the island, Yu Qing was no stranger to the occult. Obviously, something had been planted in both rooms, and that’d usually be at the door.
He kicked the doormat, but there was nothing but dust underneath. He closed the door and examined it. Just as he was about to lift the brass doorplate, out of nowhere, footsteps drifted from the lift lobby, light and brisk, like children, followed by the voices of two girls.
“Why are you touching our doorplate?”
“Daddy, a strange man is trying to take our doorplate.”
Yu Qing: “…”
He looked down at his bathrobe, damned the laundry service under his breath, and then looked over.
A man dressed to the nines strode his way, one hand resting on each girl’s head, admonishing them, “Don’t run. Mummy and Nanna are still downstairs. They’ll be up soon, so let’s wait for them.”
The man was handsome and dignified, the kind who clearly looked well-heeled or successful in his career. Both the ring on his finger and the watch peeking out from beneath his cuff were of considerable value. On the other hand, the girls in matching white dresses looked like twins, about five or six years old, give or take. They chattered excitedly as they ran towards Yu Qing, only to be stopped by their father.
“Not this way. They always mix up left and right after coming out of the lift.” The man shot Yu Qing an apologetic smile. “Sorry, they got the wrong door.”
Yu Qing didn’t reply, his gaze gliding over them.
Among the island customs was a rule: when encountering a ghost that spoke, you mustn’t answer unthinkingly, no matter what they said. It was best to pretend you hadn’t seen them.
Then again, while Yu Qing could pretend not to have seen them, he couldn’t do the same for the irritating holograms. As soon as the man passed by with the twins in hand, a hologram popped up.
What lousy luck! You happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, bumping right into that family of five!
Nevertheless, timed quest < His Treasure > has been triggered. Perhaps that’s the silver lining. In the Beginner Dungeon, timed quests are shared across the party.
Time remaining: 10 min.
The countdown was also displayed on the chat. 09:58… 09:56… 09:51…
Two minutes later, ThreeKings, wearing that black hoodie and sporting a head full of red hair, crashed the scene like a whirlwind. Being the coward that he was, he’d even dragged along a companion, JustRude.
Mr. Painted Skin, forced to parade down the corridor in his bathrobe, was already fed up. He had no intention of worrying about the fate of those two noisy ‘teammates’.
However, the lift chimed, and the doors opened. Along with ThreeKings and JustRude were a young woman and an elderly woman—clearly the ‘Mummy and Nanna’ mentioned by that man. The twins were peering around the corner. The moment they spotted the people in the lift, they cried out, “Mummy, Nanna! We accidentally went the wrong way again.”
They skipped in, each pulling one person out. Their jet-black eyes darted around, landing on ThreeKings and JustRude who were also taking the lift.
“Oh, there are two big brothers too.” They giggled. “Do you also stay on this floor?”
Yu Qing frowned and typed his first message in the party chat: Don’t answer them. Pretend they aren’t there.
But he’d forgotten one thing.
ThreeKings and JustRude, who’d never expected to run into ghosts in the lift, were now quailing in a corner, so terrified that they nearly blacked out. They couldn’t spare a moment to check their phones.
So ThreeKings stammered, “Huh? I-I might be a cleaner?” It was only after he’d responded to the girl that JustRude slapped him, and that was when he saw the message Yu Qing had sent in the party chat.
The duo scuttled over and whispered, “We’re done for. I spoke to them. Why aren’t we supposed to respond?”
“Why?” Yu Qing pointed behind them. “Just look behind you and you’ll see.”
ThreeKings and JustRude silently looked over their shoulders.
And so they saw the family of five gathered together with unnervingly blank expressions, their jet-black eyes boring into them.
Then, crimson blood gushed down the corridor like a waterfall, and five heads lolled to the side. The five severed heads, along with their limbs, fell apart.
“AAAAAAAAH!” ThreeKings shrieked, and, clutching JustRude, collapsed to the floor. Dismembered limbs rolled about as the duo scrambled around on all fours.
Yu Qing shut his eyes. “…”
Trash x2.
Escape From Rose Island(Chapter 9)
Translated by 🎏luckykoi
Please do not repost or re-translate.