Chapter 10: Is It Over?
1226 Words
This silence lingered for several minutes as everyone grappled with the unbelievable truth.
After a moment, Officer Li was the first to flip over his identity card, which indeed read “Liar.” The others followed suit, revealing that all their cards bore the same title.
“You’re impressive…” Lawyer Zhang shot a look of acknowledgment at Zachary. “But how did you figure out that we’re all dead?”
Zachary pointed to his draft paper and said, “It’s not difficult. I kept wondering why the room was sealed, why there were lines on the walls and floor, why there was a clock at the center of the table, and why the Goat Mask insisted on a mandatory ‘intermission’?”
“An average person consumes air at a rate of about 0.007 cubic meters per minute, which amounts to 0.42 cubic meters per hour. With ten people in this room, the total air consumption per hour would reach 4.2 cubic meters.”
“According to the Goat Mask, we’ve been asleep in this room for 12 hours and have engaged in nearly an hour of gameplay. If you multiply 4.2 cubic meters by 13, you get ‘54.6.’”
Zachary circled the number on his draft paper and said, “That’s the amount of air we should have consumed.”
He glanced around the room. “But how much air does this room actually contain?”
Everyone followed his gaze.
“The organizer left us clues. They marked the walls and floor with lines, dividing them into numerous squares, each about one meter per side.” Zachary pointed to the markings. “The walls and ceiling form a 4x4 space, making the room’s dimensions 4x4x3, which equals 48 cubic meters.”
“How could a 48 cubic meter room hold 54.6 cubic meters of air?” Zachary frowned and said, “After all this time, the air should be getting thin, yet we don’t feel any symptoms of oxygen deprivation…”
Dr. Zhao contemplated for a moment, then picked up Zachary’s draft paper and pointed at the number “49.14.” “What does this number mean?”
Zachary’s expression turned serious as he looked at Dr. Zhao. “That’s also the required air consumption, but calculated for ‘nine people.’”
“Nine?” Dr. Zhao was taken aback. After all, there were clearly ten people consuming air in the room, so why calculate for nine?
“I made a bold assumption,” Zachary said, expressionless. “If the Goat Mask ‘is not human,’ would our air supply be sufficient? Clearly, it would not.”
“What kind of madness is this?” Dr. Zhao pondered aloud. “How can you make such an absurd assumption?”
“Is it hard to understand?” Zachary pointed at the headless corpse to his right. “Dr. Zhao, you should be well aware of skull anatomy. Can a human crush a skull with one hand?”
Dr. Zhao didn’t answer because he knew it was entirely impossible.
Not to mention a human skull; even crushing a rabbit's skull with one hand on a table is no simple feat.
Zachary withdrew his gaze and looked at the crowd. “Time is running out. I’ve already written down my choice. Now it’s up to you, but remember, if even one person’s answer differs from mine, everyone here will face ‘punishment.’”
The crowd felt a twinge of fear. A creature that could kill at will was to be ‘voted off’?
Jason glanced at the Goat Mask, who remained immobile, his deep gaze peering from behind the mask, lost in thought.
“Damn it, let’s go for it!” Jason declared, writing down the words “Goat Man.”
The others hesitated, then followed suit, writing their answers.
Zachary looked around and saw that, without exception, everyone had written “Goat Man.”
The clock pointed to 1:00, signaling the end of the game.
The Goat Mask slowly approached and said, “Congratulations, you have all survived the ‘Liar’ game. Now I will personally administer ‘punishment’ to the loser.”
Before anyone could react, the Goat Mask pulled out a handgun, turned the barrel toward his own heart, and pulled the trigger.
An unimaginable deafening sound echoed throughout the confined room.
In such an enclosed space, the noise could hardly dissipate, leaving everyone with a ringing in their ears.
Next, the Goat Mask clutched his chest and began to scream.
The overwhelming cry quickly drowned out the gunshot, resonating in the room and sending chills down everyone’s spine.
The Goat Mask continued to scream while spitting blood. It took more than a minute for the noise to subside into painful groans.
“What… what’s happening?” Jason stared at the Goat Mask in shock. “Is he serious?”
After a few more minutes, the groaning stopped entirely.
The nine seated suddenly felt their legs regain strength.
Dr. Zhao was the first to stand up and walked over to the Goat Mask, reaching to check his carotid pulse. He found it had ceased.
“Hey!” Dr. Zhao shouted at the Goat Mask. “The game is over! How do we get out?!”
But the silent corpse offered no answer.
The others slowly began to rise.
Nothing in the room had changed, except for the addition of another corpse.
“How strange… Did we really die?” Sweet seemed to be stuck on this question. She extended her slender hand and slapped herself hard.
“Ouch!” Sweet yelped. “It still hurts… Why can I feel pain if I’m dead?”
Jason shook his head helplessly. “What, have you died before?”
“I…” Sweet paused for a moment. “I guess I’ve never died before…”
“So, who knows what happens after death? Given this situation, this might as well be hell.” Jason glanced around at the two bodies in the room, feeling uneasy. “I can feel pain, and I can smell the stench.”
“What are we then? Souls?” asked writer Han Yimo.
Dr. Zhao checked his body and found his heartbeat, temperature, and pulse all normal. He was breathing normally, yet not consuming oxygen.
It seemed death was indeed a mysterious thing, beyond any medical knowledge to explain.
“No matter what we are, I don’t want to be stuck in this small room for the rest of my life,” Officer Li said. “Let’s look for a way out.”
Officer Li walked over to the Goat Mask, casually picking up the gun that lay beside him.
This move startled everyone, and they instinctively backed away from him.
Officer Li expertly opened the chamber, checked it, and then removed the magazine, discovering it contained only one bullet, which was now empty.
It was both good news and bad news.
The good news was that they no longer had to worry about someone using the gun to harm others. The bad news was that they couldn’t protect themselves if they faced other dangers.
Jason, feeling bold, slowly removed the Goat Mask, revealing the face of a completely decomposed man underneath.
His eyes rolled back, showing no signs of life.
“What a terrifying face…” Lawyer Zhang echoed nearby.
- Writer
