Underworld Player

"What day do I— Isn't it Sunday?"

As Temperance Gentleheart blurted out her answer, she whipped her phone out to check.

"Look, that's what it says on my phone..."

"To you, it's Sunday, right? But my phone says its Tuesday," said Bai Zhi calmly as he showed Temperance his own screen. "All signs indicate that the orphanage is in a dimension of its own, cut off from the real world, which means the phones are unable to receive any signals from the mobile network. Thus, assuming that your person was reloaded at some point, your phone would be reloaded at the same point in time and fail to update."

"Tuesday..." Temperance Gentleheart arrived at a shocking realization. "Wouldn't that mean a whole two days have passed since I arrived? Have I died twice already?!"

Bai Zhi narrowed his eyes at the girl before him.

"...That's something even I can't say for sure, so how do you know you died twice?"

"Uh... Because two days passed? Dying once a day sounds about right..."

Suddenly sensing a hostile aura from Bai Zhi, Temperance couldn't help stumbling backward a few steps.

"I, I'm pretty good at putting two and two together... Besides, it's not that hard to figure something like that out, right? After all, only the day changed. The time is the same—some time in the morning..."

"...You've done it Carpenter Zhao, you've dropped from the 18th floor to the 19th floor below ground in my estimation."

Bai Zhi was silent for a moment, then turned to Temperance with a blank expression.

"Based on the clues I've gathered, even since we joined this quest, we could have been reloaded once, twice or any number of times."

"But why? Shouldn't it be twice?" Temperance Gentleheart asked, relieved that Bai Zhi's hostility seemed to have faded.

She sighed, then spurred by a nagging thought, could not help blurting out, "Also, what was that all about? For a moment there, I felt like you wanted to kill me...?"

"Huh, you're imagining things," came the flat reply.

Temperance could only stare back at him wordlessly.

Bai Zhi resumed his explanation. "I noticed, as I entered the orphanage grounds earlier, that there was a steaming-hot cup of tea in the guardhouse. That tells us that whenever the reload occurs, it is not only the main building that gets reloaded, but all the areas outside it as well. Thus, it's impossible to tell, from the time of day or the gap between our days, just how many times this scenario has been reloaded... Besides, didn't you notice that the time on our phones are not the same either? In fact, if one paid close attention to the matter of time, it's easy to figure out the secret condition behind this Mandatory Quest..."

Bai Zhi paused as he absently plucked a hair from his head, then continued blandly, "I don't know what exactly triggers a reload, but what I do know is that each time it happens, everyone is returned to the starting point with their memories reset. Anyone who died has their body and items are restored, while any survivors only have their body restored—items in their Inventory are left in the same state after the reload as before it. For example, take a look at this Wall-nut card I have."

As he said this, Bai Zhi brought out the Plant Card that he had obtained from the "Save Dave" Game.

"I'm sure I had 800 Sun on this before, but it's gone down to 700 for some reason. The gas masks, too—I packed seven, but now there's only one left in my Inventory."

"...So you've known what was happening all along?"

Temperance Gentleheart looked stunned as she took in everything he said.

Bai Zhi glanced at her.

"Correct, I suspected something like this early on. Just don't die, and it's easy to figure it out by spotting the changes to your inventory." Switching gears, he added, "Let me ask you this: where did you first appear in this quest?"

"Outside the, the main building, I guess...?"

"And the others? No need for specifics, just tell me if they were inside or outside."

"Uhh..."

Temperance frowned slightly as she tried to recall, and said hesitantly, "I think they were appeared within the compound, too... Wait, I think you're the only one who walked in from outside!"

The sudden realization left her gobsmacked.

"Ooh... That's pretty much what I expected. The main supernatural entity is hiding inside the orphanage, so it can only exert its powers within the orphanage compound. But that means you all probably suffered a complete wipeout before the last reload."

Bai Zhi lifted one of his folded arms to stroke his chin, nodding thoughtfully.

"If that's so, then there should be no problem..."

"Hey, wait, what? What do you mean, 'no problem'? Getting wiped out is clearly a major problem!"

Temperance yelled suddenly, filled with inexplicable irritation.

"If you've already figured it out, why didn't you tell us sooner? Do you enjoy keeping people in the dark that much?"

"Heh, mediocre mentality." Bai Zhi fixed her with an inscrutable gaze. "Even if we ignore the question of how many reloads have occurred, I'm absolutely sure that I told you guys everything during the last reload."

"Then... Then how did we still get wiped out...?"

"Good question. The threats in this orphanage aren't that deadly overall, and you have me on your team, so logically, there's no way the whole team—except me, anyway—would be so thoroughly trashed."

Temperance Gentleheart's mouth twitched with exasperation as she listened to Bai Zhi's bombastic talk, but there was nothing she could deny.

After all, from the easy, confident way she had seen him handle every challenge before, if anyone had a right to say such things, it would be him.

"So, why did we get wiped? I'll grant that it's at least the third reload by now, and I cannot fathom a single reason why I would let you all die the last round..."

Turning to look out the window, Bai Zhi sighed deeply.

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbably, must be the truth*... That leaves only one reason I can think of for the team wipe last round.

"What is it?"

Temperance asked eagerly.

"Easy."

Bai Zhi wore a mask of perfect serenity as he looked back at her.

"It's because I planned for you all to die."