Chapter 1236: Elevator?
Holding onto the door continuously was a bit challenging. To be precise, if she used one unit of Higher Consciousness, that unit couldn't be stretched continuously like the texture of chewing gum. In order to make it stretchable, Lin Sanjiu had to convert the "capacity" that was originally its volume into length. When one unit of Higher Consciousness had been stretched to an extremely long and thin state, she would add another unit of Higher Consciousness and continue molding it. This was a process that required continuous focus. If she lost focus and climbed two steps without molding the Higher Consciousness, the end hanging on the door would be pulled off.
Though it was possible, she wasn't familiar with this method, so it was a bit challenging, and she had to stop and adjust several times. Several times when she raised her head, she found that the three people ahead had already climbed far ahead. The little Glowfish Bohemia took out to illuminate the surroundings had become blurry clusters of light, suspended high in the dim and narrow stairwell.
Advancing single-file in such a narrow and dark place made it easy for someone to sneak in or for someone to get left behind. When she caught up to them again, Lin Sanjiu slowed down a few meters behind Puppeteer and breathed a sigh of relief.
The stairs and the walls on both sides were made of an unknown material, and it seemed like countless mouths thirsty for a long time, rapidly swallowed up all the sounds they made. Forget about footsteps, sometimes when Bohemia said something at the front, Lin Sanjiu couldn't catch what was said, and the words dissipated before she could hear them—like right now.
"What?" She had to raise her head and shout loudly. In the dim light, the only things clearly visible in front were Puppeteer's dark and silent back, and the occasional shadows higher up that flickered on and off. "Who's speaking? Is it Bohemia?"
"I said," Bohemia raised her voice again, "the stairs ahead are steeper and narrower! They sure know how to save on materials!"
The narrower and steeper stairs as they went up was one of the reasons they couldn't stick close together. Another reason was, of course, Puppeteer.
"Why don't you take out a few more Glowfish?" Lin Sanjiu suggested. "I can't see how far back anymore."
"You have Higher Consciousness. If someone forces the door open, you'll be the first to notice. Is there any need to look back?" Bohemia retorted, not holding back even with two people in between. "Do you think my fish can be used endlessly—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt her surroundings darkening. The Glowfish swam away from her head with a flick of its tail, along with the other Glowfish. They had all swiftly moved toward the front of the line. Even before she could speak, she heard Bohemia's surprised question, "Who's there?"
Everyone came to a halt.
"Huh?"
Lin Sanjiu faintly heard Bohemia's question again and saw the shadow of the former security guard, who was standing by the wall, extending his neck to look forward; he was the most alert one. Every time they stopped on the way, he would immediately press his back tightly against the wall, leaving space for Puppeteer to fight.
"Weird," Bohemia said. After two seconds, she finally turned around and shouted, "There's a dead body here!"
"Is... is it really dead?" the former security guard asked tremblingly.
Whether it was truly dead or not, she could tell by touching it. Lin Sanjiu shouted, "Excuse me," and as she squeezed past Puppeteer, she continued to mold the Higher Consciousness. After some difficulty, she finally reached the step just below Bohemia. Due to the narrow space, the former security guard stumbled a few times and almost lost his balance.
In order to climb the stairs without stepping on her dress, Bohemia had changed into a hoodie and shorts at some point, as if she had suddenly traveled to a different era. "Look," she said, pointing. "Scared the heck out of me."
A man's body had spread down the steps like a snake, his head resting on the step closest to them, staring up at them. He had clearly just died, with no severe signs of lividity. However, because his head was at the lowest point, blood had accumulated on his face, causing patches of bluish-red skin. [Planar World]'s conversion card limit for the second day hadn't been reached yet. Lin Sanjiu touched his forehead, and sure enough, the corpse smoothly turned into a card.
[Cause of Death Unknown]
It's another corpse found on the way.
"How did this person die here?" Bohemia muttered.
"Could... could this be someone who tried to squeeze into the elevator earlier?" the former security guard guessed aloud. "If the previous batch of discharged players were about to leave, and he rushed in in a hurry, then the people in front took the elevator, and the NPC locked the door behind, he wouldn't be able to get out."
Bohemia shuddered. "So, he got... trapped and died here? Does that mean it's been a long time since the last discharge? Or is the stairwell itself dangerous?"
"I can't say for sure," the former security guard said, scratching his head, looking puzzled. "Really... Why didn't I read about this in the guides?"
Now, they were all in the same boat. Lin Sanjiu didn't think he was deliberately hiding anything. She nodded. "Since it's a dead person, let's continue."
"Dispose of the dead body," Puppeteer said coldly. He stood at the bottom, his figure condensed into a darkness darker than the dim surroundings. "Are you a scavenger?"
Lin Sanjiu was about to ask why but immediately realized. The NPC had mentioned that as long as there was one extra person present when the elevator was running, their qualifications would be canceled. However, it didn't specify whether that fifth person had to be alive or dead. Puppeteer must have thought about turning someone into a puppet.
He never forgot his old ways.
She returned to the back of the group and canceled the card transformation of the corpse. She hastily searched the body, finding nothing. Then she pushed the body off the stairs, and it tumbled down, its shadow and sound swallowed by the endless darkness of the stairwell.
"Sorry," she whispered and turned to catch up with the group.
The footsteps, breathing, and rustling of clothes of the three people ahead were all absorbed by the stairwell. If she didn't look up, she might think she was climbing this endless staircase alone. The long stairs she left behind in the darkness seemed to extend infinitely, and the four of them left no sound.
Several times, she was quite sure that as soon as she turned around, she would see the corpse silently crawling up, but every time, it was just her nerves on edge. In the empty stairwell behind her, apart from the empty darkness and the disarrayed footprints left by her group in the dust, there was nothing else.
While she kept looking back, Bohemia suddenly called out ahead, "Um, Sir? Do you... do you think, in this stairwell, there are only the four of us?"
Puppeteer at the front continued his actions as before, not even turning his head. She didn't see him checking the surroundings. Half a second later, the familiar gloomy voice said to her, "Stay close. Did you just throw your tiny brain into the hospital?"
Lin Sanjiu was startled. When she first entered, Puppeteer had complained that she was too close and had to move back several meters. Since then, she had maintained the same distance. Now, he suddenly wanted her to get closer. Could it be because he felt something strange about this place?
However, at least he didn't say that someone else had entered.
She hastily replied with an "Oh" and quickly climbed two steps. She was cautious, only shortening the distance by one meter. After all, Puppeteer was unpredictable, and he might use [Pestilence] to drive her away in the blink of an eye. However, she didn't expect that after just climbing two steps, she would hear him shout, "Move back!"
One moment he thought she was too close, and the next moment he thought she was too far. What was wrong with this person?
Lin Sanjiu has recently been quite frustrated by Puppeteer's actions and hasn't been in a cooperative mood. She stopped her steps altogether, watching his figure continue to ascend until he was about seven to eight meters ahead before she resumed following. Strangely enough, despite now being farther away than before, Puppeteer seemed satisfied again, and he didn't ask her to come closer. In order to maintain this new distance, Lin Sanjiu adjusted her position several times to keep up with the speed of the three in front.
They had climbed many levels of stairs step by step. Even the posthumans with great agility began to feel a stinging pain in their thigh muscles. Lin Sanjiu wiped away some sweat and began to appreciate Bohemia a bit more. Despite her usual chattering and aversion to heavy lifting, she was now maintaining a steady pace for the group in a serious manner. Just like the Glowfish swimming back and forth above her head, Bohemia's movements were calm and rhythmic, without any haste, displaying great discipline.
They had been inside for quite a while, and it seemed like the elevator should be arriving soon, right? Could it be that they were finally catching a break, passing through this level smoothly without any issues?
Lin Sanjiu held her Higher Consciousness in her hand, forming a long line, and there was still no vibration coming from the door. This reassured her somewhat. If she could stand still for five minutes, following the method taught to her by Hei Zeji, she could slowly feel the distortion of the surrounding space after it had been occupied. If someone had sneaked in, they could conceal their traces and their voices, but they couldn't hide the presence of occupying a part of physical space.
"Hey, I want to stop for a few minutes," she shouted ahead. "Bohemia, don't go on! Do you remember what happened when I found Red Face?"
Due to the former security guard standing in between them and with unclear intentions, she couldn't explain her words fully. However, Bohemia would surely understand what she intended to do.
Bohemia's reply was quickly swallowed by the stairwell. If it weren't for Puppeteer's shadow ahead slowly stopping, Lin Sanjiu would have thought that Bohemia didn't say anything at all. Several Glowfish were flying back and forth in the air, sprinkling uneven light as they swung with the movement of her body. Everything in the stairwell was hazy, as if even the constantly swaying shadows had come to life.
Hei Zeji's method was indeed quite practical. She had another chance to practice so soon. Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and, following every word Hei Zeji had told her from memory, slowly spread her consciousness, waiting for the strange sensation of "the universe is a membrane" to return.
"Elevator...!"
The former security guard suddenly took a quiet breath, probably because he was finally getting what he wished for. His excitement made his voice faint and distant, as if it came from a faraway place. Strangely, even though his voice was so low, Lin Sanjiu could still hear it. When she realized she had also heard Bohemia's excited, fragmented voice right after that, she felt a sudden shock. Before fully comprehending what was happening, she was covered in goosebumps, and every hair on her body stood on end.
Something was wrong. How could they, who had been standing still the entire time, suddenly see the elevator?
At the same moment, that peculiar sensation burst forth in her mind: within the ten or so meters of space around her, no one was occupying it. Lin Sanjiu abruptly opened her eyes, seeing Puppeteer and the other three still standing on the stairs ahead. Then, she closed her eyes again, and in her perceived physical dimension, there was only herself and the endless staircase ahead.