He said, “I know. It’s me.”
These three words made Lu Chu’s throat, which had just been soothed by the hot water, dry again. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.
Seeing Lu Chu’s bewildered expression, 7 smiled slightly and patted his head, “Don’t worry about this. I have a plan when the time comes.”
Hearing this, Lu Chu felt a weight lift off his shoulders.
Then 7 stood up and said, “You probably haven’t eaten for a while. I’ll make you something to eat. You can use the first room upstairs. It has a bathroom and my clothes, which might be a bit big but should fit you. We have thirteen days, so there’s no rush.”
With 7’s mention of food, Lu Chu suddenly felt hungry as if he hadn’t eaten all day. The basement, while not filthy, was damp and cluttered. He had sat on the floor against the wall and later checked around the room, making him feel uncomfortable.
Remembering he had been sitting on the basement floor and now on the sofa, Lu Chu stood up awkwardly and brushed off his pants.
Seeing this, 7’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “I’ll make something for you.”
“Alright,” Lu Chu replied, “Thank you.”
.
While 7 prepared the food, Lu Chu went upstairs to the first room. On the bed in the center of the room was a set of clean clothes and a new pair of underwear. Suppressing his embarrassment, Lu Chu entered the bathroom and took a good shower.
For the first time since the citywide loss of sensation began, Lu Chu felt relaxed and at ease, as if his previous near-death experiences were just a bad dream.
After his shower, Lu Chu washed his clothes and then went downstairs.
7 had already finished cooking, and there was a feast on the table with four dishes and a soup.
Lu Chu laughed, “I didn’t know you could cook.”
When they first met, 7 was very quiet and, after being invited to Lu Chu’s home, silently did things as if he had forgotten how to interact with people.
“Just adapting to the role,” 7 waved the recipe book in his hand. “I just learned. I measured the ingredients and cooking times precisely. Try it.”
Imagining 7 meticulously weighing ingredients, Lu Chu chuckled, “I bet it tastes great.”
They sat across from each other. 7 had already served the rice. After taking a few bites, Lu Chu praised, “This is really good.”
7 didn’t eat, just watched Lu Chu and said, “It’s missing something compared to your cooking.”
Lu Chu was surprised, “What’s missing?”
7 naturally served him more food, “A taste that makes people linger.”
Lu Chu was taken aback, then smiled, “If you like it, I can cook for you anytime.”
.
The atmosphere was just right.
After Lu Chu had eaten enough, they began discussing the “game” and the “rules.”
After some thought, Lu Chu finally voiced his long-held question, “7, who exactly are you?”
Was he a selected player, or like Lu Chu, someone who once thought his world was real but was actually in the game?
7 seemed to have anticipated this question. Instead of answering directly, he gave Lu Chu more food and asked, “If I had to adapt to this role, what should I do?”
Though confused, Lu Chu answered seriously, “Follow the original character’s habits, lifestyle, and life trajectory without deviating too much from their behavior and will.”
“Right,” 7 nodded approvingly. “So do you know what happens if someone or something in the ‘game’ deviates from the original worldview or breaks away from the character assigned by the ‘rules’?”
Deviating from the original worldview… or breaking away from the character assigned by the ‘rules’.
Hearing this, Lu Chu immediately thought of himself.
In the game he was in, the ‘rules’ set the worldview that “no one in this town had ever lost sensation before, so when the entire town lost sensation, everyone fell into panic, leading to suicides or mutual killings.” Clearly, Lu Chu’s existence should also adhere to this worldview—living healthily and peacefully until the world fell into chaos and then either surviving or dying in panic.
But he didn’t.
For some reason, he became the only blind person in the town, defying the ‘rules’ and being viewed as an outcast, enduring scorn and ridicule.
“In every ‘game,’” 7 said, looking directly at Lu Chu, “there can be elements that go out of control. Like the body’s self-cleansing process, if something goes out of control, the ‘rules’ will find a way to eliminate the unstable factor.”
Lu Chu frowned, “Eliminate?”
7 nodded, “Yes, eliminate. For example, the identity I’ve taken on now is that of a kidnapper—pale, sickly, and enjoys killing for fun. The only person who could kill me would be the ‘player’ selected for this game. So if I deviate from this character’s personality, the ‘rules’ will try to remove me.”
Lu Chu put down his chopsticks, his expression serious, “How will it remove you?”
“For instance,” 7 gently wiped the corner of Lu Chu’s mouth, “by having someone kill me.”
Lu Chu’s heart skipped a beat.
“So,” Lu Chu’s throat moved, “did the ‘rules’ ever try to eliminate me?”
7 stood up and walked to the living room, picking up the paper and pen Lu Chu had used earlier. He returned and asked, “Do you know what your task was in that game?”
Lu Chu: “What was it?”
7 bent down and wrote a few lines on the paper with smooth, fluid motions.
Lu Chu took the paper.
It read:
“Objective: Survive
Clue: None
Hint: Seven days”
Extremely concise.
Lu Chu asked, “Does it mean to survive for seven days in the citywide loss of sensation?”
7 nodded, “After seven days, reaching the tower we entered would bring you back to the ‘rules’.”
Thinking back, Lu Chu remembered being confined to a room by 7 for the first seven days of the citywide loss of sensation, hearing the chaos outside, the screams of fear, and the continuous pounding on the door, but never stepping outside.
During those days, 7 often went out at night.
At the time, Lu Chu sensed no malice from 7, feeling instead that he was being protected.
While Lu Chu was lost in thought, Qi Li sat back down across from him and asked, “Have you ever wondered why the ‘sensationless’ were banging on your door in your original game?”
Even though they couldn’t see or hear, normally, they should have wandered the streets in silent panic, aimlessly moving around or even harming themselves in despair. They shouldn’t have known where people were, but they accurately banged on Lu Chu’s door.
“Because,” Lu Chu said, “the ‘rules’ wanted to eliminate me?”
“Yes, you had become a variable. In those seven days, the ‘rules’ tried every possible way to eliminate you.”
It seemed that 7’s actions at that time were indeed protecting him.
However, there was still one thing Lu Chu was unsure about: “If the ‘rules’ found my existence unreasonable, why didn’t they try to eliminate me earlier? Why only after the citywide loss of sensation?”
“They did,” 7 touched his brow bone, “try to eliminate you earlier.”
Lu Chu suddenly looked up at him.
“Because I was the one tasked with eliminating you.”
7’s tone was so gentle that Lu Chu felt a sense of unreality, yet this 7 overlapped perfectly with the calm, silent man he first met. As Lu Chu was lost in thought, 7 gently touched his lips, speaking as if reminiscing:
“Killing you was the easiest of all my elimination tasks.”
“But I failed.”
