Chapter 6: Timeline

The man led her to the Back Kitchen and took a bag of nutrient solution from the cabinet, handing it to her.

"Drink it."

The voice sounded extremely faint in the darkness.

Moonlight fell on the mask that had repeatedly given Su Mian the uncanny valley effect.

Su Mian froze again; she took the nutrient solution, and under the DM's gaze, gently bit a small opening with her teeth.

She didn't know if it was nerves or a dry throat, but Su Mian sucked for a long time without drawing in the liquid, and her delicate nose tip broke out with sweat.

The clumsy action caught the man's eye; he chuckled softly, sighed, and leaned in.

"Don't rush... my child."

He reached out, grasped the lower part of the nutrient solution, and gently squeezed upward.

"Um!"

Su Mian didn't react in time; the liquid ran down the corner of her mouth, slid onto her neck, and she couldn't help but shiver.

"Suck it in."

He spoke in a warm tone, lowering his eyes to stare.

Su Mian could clearly not see his face, yet she felt he was curious.

Curious about what?

How a fragile human managed to survive until now?

Su Mian suppressed her thoughts, adjusted the angle, pressed the tip of her tongue against a corner of the opening, sucked forcefully, and the sweet liquid slid down her throat.

The taste of glucose...

Su Mian's eyelashes fluttered lightly; her body is weak, so she often deals with this stuff, and she tasted it immediately.

Her body gradually warmed, and her heartbeat steadied.

A gloved hand took hers, as if merely fulfilling a Dean's duty.

Perhaps something settled in her stomach, her brain began releasing dopamine, and Su Mian felt a hint of reassurance.

It was the moment, after entering this bizarre Script Murder Game, when she could briefly catch her breath.

But that was not a reason for her to lower her guard.

Because Su Mian knew that even through cloth, the temperature of palms could still transfer.

The man's palm was clearly cold.

…

It seemed the high‑intensity operation had dizzyed her, and Su Mian stumbled back to the Dormitory with no clear recollection.

She was too exhausted, rested her head on the pillow and slept, dreamless through the night.

The others fared worse: Yu Maomao spent the night plagued by nightmares, and the two occupants of the neighboring Dormitory, listening to the half‑night-long counting‑sheep sounds, were not in great spirits either.

Su Mian was awakened by a burst of Screams, followed immediately by Yu Maomao's shaking.

"Mi Guo! Mi Guo! Dead!!!"

Yu Maomao stared at the nearby bed, dry‑vomiting, while Su Mian had just woken, her vision still blurry.

She could only see a dark figure lying on the distant bed; after turning over and getting off the bed, as she approached, a wave of burnt and rotting smell hit her.

The girl was unrecognizable; her face was burnt down to a pair of hollow eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling, the skin and flesh at the joints gone, exposing stark white bones.

Su Mian remembered her; she was the braided‑hair girl from yesterday. Though the burn had obscured her features, she had stood out yesterday, being the leader among the children.

Su Mian guessed she was an important NPC, deliberately noting the girl's bed, only to have her die a day later.

Upon hearing the commotion, Zhou Yichen and two others rushed to the scene; Wang Zhe hadn't quite slept, his face marked with huge dark circles.

Zhou Yichen slipped both hands into his pockets, his expression faint.

Wen Zirui still kept his head down, wearing a short dress today to maintain his character setting.

The script in everyone's pocket trembled slightly.

【Detective, please go to the Activity Room.】

"You were in the same room as her; didn't you hear any sounds last night?"

"I don't know—woo— I, I had nightmares all night..."

The few of them left the scene with solemn faces.

Outside, workers in black uniforms passed by, bumping into the group, carrying a huge bundle.

"Move aside, move aside."

"What the hell is this?"

Wang Zhe stepped back a few paces, and the worker's tone grew impatient.

"The dead child's clothes, pants, daily items—too unlucky, so we burned them."

They then lifted the items and left.

Su Mian didn't leave; she tore the pillowcase from her own bed and slipped it onto her hand, rummaging through the girl's body, which had fully rotted, with fragile parts shattering at a touch.

Su Mian had to be even more careful, feeling around for a long time, and finally found a Jade Plaque at her chest.

A date was engraved on it.

"March 26"

The reverse bore the girl's name, "Guan Xiaoxiao".

She frowned, noticing the two sides were carved differently; the name side used neat Song‑style characters.

The date side's numbers were crooked, the "2" initially looking like a "5".

Many children make this mistake when learning numbers; if it were a clue, Su Mian guessed, it was either left by the Murderer or carved by Guan Xiaoxiao herself.

【Mian Mian, the Activity Room is just missing you.】

Su Mian put away the Jade Plaque, stood up, "I understand."

She just stepped into the conference room, her eyes met DM's, Su Mian paused briefly and said, "Dean, hello."

Under someone else's roof, it's better to be cautious.

The man nodded lightly.

Once everyone was seated, DM leisurely arranged his gloves, snapped his fingers lightly, and the digital clock began counting down.

One hour.

"Dear little friends."

"I am truly sad; this morning I learned that my orphanage has lost another innocent, cute little angel."

"What makes it even more heartbreaking is that the murderer…"

"…is among you."

The tone suddenly turned cold.

As soon as the words fell, the sky outside the window suddenly darkened, and the Activity Room, once full of childlike innocence, lost its color.

With a thud, a crow slammed dead against the window; blood smeared across the glass, and the whole orphanage echoed with a girl's harrowing cries, telling of her fate.

This is how it originally looked.

Sadness, despair, horror beyond humanity.

Upon entering the orphanage, the Orphan's Grievance rang loudly.

A memorial photo was placed on the podium; DM gently shifted the frame, and the girl in the black‑and‑white picture smiled brightly at the five of them.

It was that just‑deceased girl, her eyes wide, showing eight teeth, deliberately a bit like an Impostor.

Wang Zhe was the closest; he swallowed and quickly averted his gaze.

"Does any child know her name?"

"Guan Xiaoxiao."

Su Mian whispered, and as soon as the words fell, a shadow dropped at her side, another piece of candy.

"Smart child."

As he stood, he lowered his voice into her ear and said, "This time it's green apple flavor."

……

Su Mian expressionlessly slipped the candy into her pocket.

Childish.

At some point, he returned to the stage, and the man wrote several large characters.

Timeline.

"Now, tell me, what did you all do last night?"

Wang Zhe: "After dinner, the three of us returned to the Dormitory one after another; we were basically together."

"We didn't go out afterwards either," Wen Zirui added softly.

"But… when we were sleeping, she was still alive."

"Then we can narrow the scope; she died in the middle of the night."

Yu Maomao, after hearing Zhou Yichen's analysis, hesitated, glanced at Su Mian.

Su Mian sneered inwardly; before she could speak, Yu Maomao, as if resolved, harshly opened her mouth.

"Yesterday… at nine o'clock, Mi Guo went out once."