My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

The five continued walking upstairs.

Second floor, third floor, fourth floor.

They would peek out from the emergency exits on each floor. The corridor was pitch black; the beam of their flashlights could only illuminate a small area.

Xiao Ping would always take a picture of the emergency exit door with his camera, while Yao Bai would stand at the door for a while longer, as if anticipating something.

To Xiao Ping'an's relief, and to Yao Bai's disappointment, there seemed to be nothing strange about the building.

There were no unusual sounds, no unusual sights, and no unusual sensations.

This is just an ordinary abandoned building, no different from any other abandoned building in the city.

Liu Dadan put his hands in his pockets, his expression turning impatient. "This is boring. If I'd known it was just this, I'd rather have gone to a haunted house."

Wu Sangui chimed in from the side, "That's right, that's right. What a wasted trip."

Yao Bai lowered her head somewhat dejectedly, her bangs obscuring most of her face, making it impossible to see her expression.

"Looks like we won't find any hot topics this time."

Xiao Ping's reaction was rather calm: "What's circulating online doesn't mean there are ghosts in real life. Most of the information is exaggerated to grab attention. If you're trying your luck here to find a hot topic, it's fine if you don't find one, but if you do, who knows who will be the one trending?"

Since nothing serious has happened, everyone except Liu Dadan has gradually relaxed.

Even as they climbed the stairs step by step, everyone started to feel a bit bored.

Liu Dadan yawned, his mouth wide open, making no attempt to hide his weariness.

"Why don't we go back? This place is so boring."

"Seconded." Wu Sangui also stretched, raised both hands above his head, and leaned back slightly.

Yao Bai gave up on the idea of ​​finding a hot spot here, and naturally didn't want to stay any longer. She lowered her head, put her hands in her pockets, and shuffled her toes on the ground a couple of times.

With everyone's unanimous agreement, they decided to leave.

Xiao Ping decided to take one last photo. He picked up the camera again, pointed it at the emergency exit door, and pressed the shutter.

The shutter clicked once in the quiet hallway, freezing the image. He looked at the image in the viewfinder, making sure it was clear, before putting the camera down.

In the photo, the emergency exit door is tightly closed, with large patches of paint chipped off, revealing the underlying wood panels. The upper right corner is marked in red paint as their current floor – the 16th floor.

……

Everyone turned and began to go downstairs.

The footsteps paused for a moment before resuming in the hallway.

Liu Dadan continued walking at the front, humming a lighthearted tune, but the tune was so off-key that it was impossible to tell what song it was.

Xiao Ping walked at the very back. He wasn't looking where he was going; he was looking down at the video footage and photos on the camera.

The screen light reflected on his face, flashing as he operated it.

His fingers pressed the buttons, flipping through the pages one by one.

As he kept pressing the camera button, photos and video clips flashed by.

Photos of the hallway, photos of the stairs, graffiti on the walls, broken light bulbs, and closed doors.

These photos were all ordinary and unremarkable, so he didn't pay much attention to them. He started pressing the keys quickly, wanting to flip to the front as soon as possible.

But as soon as he saw a photo, his hand, which was pressing the button, suddenly stopped.

His feet stopped too.

He was stuck between two steps.

His eyes were fixed on the screen, his brows furrowing as they squeezed together, creating a deep vertical line.

When Yao Bai saw Xiao Ping stop, he also stopped and turned to look at him with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong?"

Xiao Ping did not answer. He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, and continued pressing the button.

He flipped through two or three more pages before stopping again. This time, his brow furrowed even more deeply.

He flipped through a few more photos, much faster than before, his fingers almost continuously pressing the buttons. The photos on the screen flashed by, one after another.

His expression became noticeably flustered, his breathing became rapid, his nostrils flared, and a thin layer of sweat began to seep from his forehead.

Seeing Xiao Ping's actions, Yao Bai's heart, which had just settled, jumped again. She moved closer to Xiao Ping, stood on tiptoe, and wanted to see what he was looking at.

But after seeing the screen on Xiao Ping's camera, Yao Bai's expression became even more puzzled. The screen showed a photo of an emergency exit door; the door was closed, and some of the paint was peeling off—that was all.

She couldn't see anything unusual.

But Xiao Ping was frantically flipping through the photos of the emergency exit doors in his camera.

One, two, three.

Each photo is taken from a different angle and under different lighting, but they all depict the same thing.

The door to the emergency exit.

Xiao Ping stared at the doors, his teeth chattering incessantly. A clattering sound came from his mouth, and the frequency of his teeth striking each other increased.

"What's wrong with you, Xiao Ping?" Yao Bai swallowed hard, his voice trembling.

Their actions naturally attracted the attention of the three people coming downstairs. Liu Dadan was the first to stop and turn around to look at Xiao Ping and Yao Bai standing upstairs. Xiao Qin followed behind him and also stopped.

Wu Sangui stood at the corner of the stairs, his flashlight beam shining upwards onto Xiao Ping's pale face.

Liu Dadan frowned, his tone somewhat impatient. "What's wrong? What is it now?"

Wu Sangui chimed in, "Let's go! What are you dawdling for?"

Xiao Ping ignored them. His fingers gripped the camera body, his knuckles turning white.

The camera's view was frozen on the last photo he took—a photo of the emergency exit door on the 16th floor.

His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, his lips trembling several times before he managed to utter a sound with difficulty.

"No...it's gone..."

Yao Bai took a step forward. "What's missing?"

Xiao Ping's voice sounded like it was being squeezed out of his throat, dry and hoarse.

"The number is gone! The number printed on the emergency exit gate in the photo is gone!"

The hallway fell silent for a moment.

No one spoke; not even their breathing could be heard. Only Xiao Ping's chattering teeth were clearly audible in the silence.

Yao Bai snatched the camera from Xiao Ping's hand and looked down at the screen. The photo showed the emergency exit door on the 16th floor was tightly closed. She asked疑惑地问道, "What number?"

Xiao Ping pointed a trembling finger at the screen. "Every time I took a picture of the emergency exit door before, there was a number marked in red paint in the upper right corner! But... but now when I look through the photos, there's nothing in the upper right corner of the emergency exit door in any of them!"

There's nothing there.