"Thank you." The female player who had invited Mu Anqi was clearly the one who held the small group together. She earnestly expressed her thanks, then asked, "What's your trade serial number? You can share this information directly with me, but I can't let you take a loss."
"No need, let's just call it a good deed." Mu Anqi waved her hand. To be honest, she admired this female player. In a trial instance where it was unclear whether it was a competitive type, she was still able to unite unfamiliar players and encourage them to stick together for mutual support. That was something Mu Anqi couldn't do. Moreover, this team-up wasn't manipulative—because in the honest game, all the female players had survived the night safely with a draw, and there had been no casualties during the nightly hunts.
Of course, if this was just a disguise by the female player, Mu Anqi had nothing more to say. Either way, when this player took the initiative to express thanks and offer repayment, Mu Anqi was happy to play the role of the good person this once.
Not wasting any time, Mu Anqi planned to return to the white paper resident's house to ask about the situation. However, all the houses of the white paper residents looked incredibly similar. She vaguely remembered the general direction, but once she got close, it was difficult to tell one from another.
Hmm, the furnishings inside the houses were different. The decorations at the door… uh, did her landlord have a purple potted plant or a red one? Or was it a cactus? Why was there no house number, no street sign!
Damn it, next time she'd hang an apple on the doorknob—otherwise, there's no way to tell which house is which.
"Dongdong, what are you looking for?"
Emotionless whispers sounded in Mu Anqi's ear. For some reason—perhaps due to growing resistance, or something else—Mu Anqi wasn't startled this time. In fact, she even let out a sigh of relief. "Good thing you showed up. I couldn't tell where your house was anymore… Can I hang an apple on your doorknob next time? Or would someone else take it?"
As she spoke, Mu Anqi suddenly realized what the two "dong dong" sounds were before the white paper resident asked the question.
She had indeed said not to suddenly start talking, but even if a sound effect—possibly footsteps or knocking—was added before the question… it was still pretty abrupt! Oh well, oh well. The white paper resident was kind of cute this way.
"Over there. You can. No one will." The white paper resident seriously answered Mu Anqi's questions, then asked, "Are you hungry?"
"Mm, I think I kind of am." Mu Anqi hesitated for a moment between going to the spawn point to eat or eating the meal made by the white paper resident, then looked at her with hope. "There seemed to be some steak in the fridge. Do you know how to cook it?"
"I do."
And so, Mu Anqi calmly followed behind the white paper resident back to the house.
She sat on the sofa, watching the white paper resident busying herself in the kitchen, and felt a little sad as she pondered her guesses about this instance. She didn't know what would happen once she entered the City Lord's mansion and met that so-called Goddess of Beauty, nor what the white paper resident would face. Ah… hopefully nothing bad would happen? After all, they had the memories of the previous traveler.
Clearly just a monster born from the Black Mirror Vortex, and even merely a derivative, an attachment born from the BOSS due to the Vortex's peculiarities… Mu Anqi didn't care about the other white paper residents, only this one in front of her. Though they had no body temperature, they still gave off a sense of warmth.
Really… if she could clear this instance, she should leave a bit more Guan coins for the white paper resident before she went. Emotional energy that monsters could feed on—though seemingly worthless—was still… better than nothing.
After placing a steak in front of her, the white paper resident prepared to sit on a small stool.
"Can I ask you a few questions?" Mu Anqi asked. "But I'm being quite selfish in wanting you to hear them without getting upset."
"Very selfish questions?" The white paper resident seemed to be pondering. She sat upright on the small stool, back straight. "I will restrain my emotions."
"…"
The question at the tip of her tongue was swallowed back down. Mu Anqi couldn't help but blurt out, "When the next traveler comes through the cycle, don't get too close to them. It's best not to offer them a place to stay either."
"Thank you, but that doesn't seem like an excessive question?" The white paper resident didn't agree or refuse, just offered thanks and responded with confusion.
Mu Anqi sighed and collected her emotions. "Alright, then now I'm going to ask the excessive question."
"The first day I arrived, what were you looking at?" Mu Anqi originally wanted to meet the white paper resident's eyes—but the white paper resident had no eyes. So she could only stare at that sheet of white paper and carefully listen to her response. "If you were looking at me… why were you staring at me?"
"I was looking at you," the white paper resident said. "As for the second question, I don't want to lie to you, but you might be afraid of me."
Mu Anqi froze for a moment. "Tell me first." She'd already been startled so many times by the white paper resident—being scared again… wouldn't be that big of a deal, right?
"I've never hosted a guest before," said the white paper resident. "I wanted to see what a guest was like—what they do, say, think. The Lady Goddess of Beauty really likes guests from outside. I wanted to learn, to become like a guest."
Mu Anqi blinked. For some reason, she felt that even if the white paper resident removed the word "guest" from their sentence, it would still make sense. Wanting… to become a real, living human? For a monster in the Black Mirror Vortex, that was impossible.
"That answer doesn't scare me at all."
The white paper resident remained in the same posture, seriously resembling a statue of a thinker. "Because I made it sound nicer."
"…" Mu Anqi pressed her lips together, but didn't dwell on the topic any further. "You never seem to go out at night. Can I know why?"
"Except for the followers of the Goddess of Beauty, the residents of Samsara City aren't allowed outside at night."
Mu Anqi nodded and asked, "Then what about me? Can I?"
The white paper resident shifted slightly. She didn't answer immediately. After about a two- or three-second pause, she finally said, "You can, but it's very dangerous."
"The followers of the Goddess of Beauty hunt guests who go out at night." The white paper resident paused again, then added, "Really, it's very dangerous."
"Then if you went outside, would the followers of the Goddess of Beauty hunt you too?"
"They won't, but I'm not allowed to go out at night." The white paper resident seemed unwilling to continue on this topic and changed the subject. "Can you ask something else?"
"Alright." Mu Anqi really liked this question-and-answer format. The white paper resident in front of her answered everything she could with sincerity, and for those she couldn't, she clearly stated so. She never got angry or lost control because of Mu Anqi's questions—everything felt very harmonious. Mu Anqi wondered, had no other players realized how easygoing the white paper resident was? Hmm… then again, on the first night, not many players had stayed over, and among those who did, someone had died. Even if other players knew the white paper residents were generally harmless, they probably wouldn't dare to test boundaries so freely. Even if they stayed again or interacted more, they would definitely remain cautious.
Aside from having bad luck with item draws, she seemed to be quite lucky in the game overall?
"If I go out at night, why would the followers of the Goddess of Beauty hunt me?"
The white paper resident fell silent again. This time, the silence lasted a little longer.
Mu Anqi thought, seems like this is another question that can't be answered. Just as she was about to switch topics, the white paper resident unexpectedly spoke.
"Because… there are things that we don't want you to see," she said.
"I see…" Mu Anqi pondered. From the looks of it, her speculation was likely correct. The City Lord's mansion, huh? She didn't consider the possibility that the white paper resident was lying. First, because once she chose to trust the white paper resident, she intended to keep trusting her. Second, the questioning was only a supplement—no matter what answers the white paper resident gave, she and that other player would still have to give it a try.
"Last question. Um… can I enter your room?"
The white paper resident's body seemed to grow increasingly stiff. That paper-white face stared at Mu Anqi, frozen in place. Mu Anqi couldn't read any emotion from her.
"Why?" the white paper resident asked.
"You know, I'm trying to find something." Mu Anqi didn't try to lie. She spoke softly, "I don't know what it is or what it looks like, but I don't want to leave out any place. Of course, if you're unwilling… I won't go."
"Is it important to you?"
"Very important. To me… and to returning to the outside world, it's very important."
The white paper resident stood up. "Then, go ahead."
For the first time, the white paper resident turned around, sat down with her back facing Mu Anqi and the direction of the master bedroom, and didn't look back again.
Mu Anqi had never imagined that, in a trial instance, she would be finding various clues through such means. She hadn't even used her blessing ability once.
Even though Mu Anqi felt that entering the master bedroom after gaining the white paper resident's permission was acceptable—and the white paper resident knew she was searching for something… Mu Anqi was still afraid that the white paper resident might lose control and fall into corruption. After all, it felt more like a form of "Goddess of Beauty" contamination. So, she kept the cane candy tightly gripped in her hand.
—The master bedroom was very clean and orderly. Normal blue-and-white bedsheets and a neatly folded quilt shaped like a tofu block. There was a small desk in the room, but no books on it. Mu Anqi walked over to take a look—there were some draft notebooks, but all of them were blank. No diaries, and no books hinting at the world or the Goddess of Beauty.
Mu Anqi pulled open the drawers, opened the nightstand, even crouched beside the bed and carefully checked underneath—but found nothing. Hmm, the private bathroom was also spotless.
Mu Anqi opened the wardrobe. It was filled with hanging clothes. She went to wash her hands, dried them carefully, then crouched down in front of the wardrobe and rummaged through the neatly folded clothes at the bottom—but didn't find anything suspicious—
Hmm? Why did the inner wall of the wardrobe feel so cold and smooth? Mu Anqi froze for a moment, then suddenly realized something. She removed a few of the hanging garments and pushed the rest aside, and clearly saw her own reflection on the wardrobe's inner wall.
It was an extremely long, extremely large mirror.
It was hard to describe the feeling, but the thought surged up all on its own:
Found it.