Not wasting even a second, Ava instantly clicked Yes.

The empty, barely visible library shifted around her, transforming into a working one on a normal day. It was still quiet, but alive, filled with the soft rustle of turning pages and muted movement. Ava stood in the same dead end between the shelves.

Alan was there, leaning against one of them. The sound of muted footsteps grew closer. Janice appeared moments later.

In contrast to the dark colors she wore in the image provided by the system, she was dressed in a bright floral dress, a book held loosely in her hands. A tassel slipped out from between its pages, identical to the one attached to the bookmark Ava had just found.

Alan straightened when he noticed Janice, an easy smile already in place, the kind that seemed practiced without effort. He said her name softly, like it was something familiar and pleasant to roll around his mouth. Janice smiled back at once, warmth spreading across her face as she closed the distance between them. She handed him the book, her fingers brushing his wrist a second longer than necessary.

“This is the book you wanted,” she said.

“Thank you,” he replied, taking it from her. His smile widened as he flicked the tassel between his fingers. “Isn’t this your favorite bookmark? Are you really giving it to me? Or did you forget it?” He tilted his head slightly. “I might think you left it on purpose.”

Janice shook her head, though her smile only widened. She leaned against the shelf beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched. Alan angled himself toward her automatically, his attention fixed, absentmindedly playing with the bookmark as they spoke quietly about their tests.

Ava stepped closer.

She lifted the bookmark in her hand, comparing it to the one Alan had. Same length. Same material. Even the knot and thread of the tassel were identical. She raised her gaze, then frowned.

As Alan laughed at something Janice said, he turned his head slightly. Just enough.

Behind his ear, faint but unmistakable, was a smudge of lipstick. Ava leaned in another step, careful and precise.

The shade was wrong. Too dark. Janice’s lips were painted a soft, muted color, nothing like the mark left on his skin.

 Ava felt a flicker of contempt.

A scumbag from the beginning, toying with genuine people at will.

When the conversation drifted to a pause, Alan leaned closer to Janice and lowered his voice.

Ava moved in without hesitation, close enough to hear his whispers.

“Let’s meet again this evening,” he whispered. “The usual place.”

Janice nodded, her cheeks turning red.

Ava sighed as she watched Janice stare at Alan’s back, eyes full of admiration.

The world snapped back to the present. 

Steps were getting closer. 

She quickly stored the bookmark in the system’s storage for belongings and lowered herself, trying to hide in the low shelf of a small empty cabinet.

A familiar voice asked, “Player 1, staying here for this long? Did you find anything?”

Just as she was about to ignore him and run to her room, the lullaby began again in the lounge. She grabbed something from a nearby table and instantly ducked fully into the cabinet, knees pulled to her chest, cramped but hidden.

The safe period had ended. Death was now possible. But with two people in the same space and the ghost hypothetically able to kill only one, either she or Player 7 would die.

How would the ghost choose?

Her eyes narrowed on the other potential victim, standing frozen behind a human-sized cardboard cutout of the university mascot—a mink in a suit, raising its hand as if waving.

The lullaby drew closer, and a part of the infant crawled into the library.

Ava stayed perfectly still, her eyes locked on Player 7. Her fingers tightened on the small round device she had picked up earlier, fingertips hovering over the buttons.

Player 7 held a pen, hand raised.

The ghost paused mid-aisle, uncertain which way to go. One player on each side, a moment stretched like the last second before a trap snapped shut.

Slowly, Player 7 ’s hand moved into a throwing position.

Ava’s eyes narrowed. Her fingers on two buttons simultaneously.

The moment the pen left his hand, she clicked.

The sound of the pen hitting the cabinet was insignificant compared to the lullaby and the sudden burst of multicolored lights from the mascot figure. Its waving hand seemed to invite the ghost for a “chat.”

The ghost limb, now revealed to be an arm, hurled itself toward the mascot. Ava clicked the buttons again, and the mascot fell back into stillness.

In the dim, shifting light, she avoided looking directly as the hand clenched Player 7 ’s hair.

The sound of tearing fabric mixed with the baby’s cry, sending shivers down her spine.

Then, a heavy thud hit the ground, followed by a rolling sound.

Ava stayed still as the lullaby drifted away. Only after a minute did she slowly emerge, switching on her lamp.

There was no trace of the victim. No evidence of what had just happened.

“You have no one to blame but yourself,” Ava muttered, eyes on the clean floor. “If you hadn’t moved, there might have been a chance you’d survive. But the moment you threw me under the bus… there was no way out.”

She pushed past the library doors, keeping her steps light.

Earlier, when Ava walked around the university, she noticed the mascot’s presence in multiple places, each one demanding attention. Something nudged her to approach a student handing out flyers for the art club, standing next to one of the mascots.

Ava commented on the mascot’s smiling face. The student lit up and went on about how their club had designed it, even showing her a remote that controlled its waving, the music, and the lights.

When she had passed by the mascot in the library earlier, she had noticed the remote nearby. When the lullaby signaled the start of a new hunting period, Her fingers itched toward the remote, mind racing with possibilities.

The score now had reached 43% and Ava chose to keep pressing forward rather than using the score-boosting card immediately.

Heading up the stairs, she retrieved the bookmark. Who knew there were such cheat items? If the bookmark could override the time condition, she wondered, what if there was one that overrode the location condition? Wouldn’t the levels be like walking on the beach if she found both?

Since the bookmark hadn’t disappeared after its first use, it meant she could use it again to trigger the main fragment on the fifth floor.

Reaching the second floor, the sound of other players moving around suddenly stopped. She didn’t slow down, pressing on toward the fifth floor.

Halfway up the stairs to the third floor, a round object bounced down the steps. 

She stepped aside, giving space to the head.

Yes. She ran into the head this time the one that the NPC described as chanting curses, its presence as unsettling as the story had promised.

Ava had no intention of interacting with it. Not when she had a cheat ready to trigger the fragment.

But it wasn’t up to her.

The Head rolled down the stairs and stopped on the same stair as her.

Wobbling slightly as if it had its own awareness.

Pale lips, tinged with blue shadow, began to move.

This level felt like a nightmare—like the dolls children tore apart, coming back at night to demand justice.