Cycle of Death - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

503 used the masculine pronoun for “he”?

But our Dorm Supervisor is a woman.

I immediately messaged him back: “What do you mean? A ‘he’?”

He replied instantly: “Yes, you read that right. I’m not talking about the Dorm Supervisor. I’m talking about a murderer!”

I frowned and sent a skeptical follow-up: “How do you know? Did you call the police?”

“I did. Whatever you do, don’t turn on the lights!”

His dismissive attitude and lack of explanation only deepened my suspicion.

Those of us staying behind during the break were all students on the verge of expulsion due to failing too many classes.

The school had shown some mercy by letting us stay for an intensive training program and retake our exams, but the condition was that we had to submit to military-style management.

This meant we couldn’t afford a single violation.

Coincidentally, one of the rules was that we had to spend every night in the dorms during the training period.

To prevent us from fooling around together, we were assigned individual rooms. We had been allowed to choose our own rooms when we moved in yesterday.

Because we were so spread out, I wasn’t familiar with anyone else; I couldn’t even remember their names.

However, I did remember one particularly lively student who lived in 107.

I found his WeChat and sent him a message: “Did you turn on your lights? I heard someone killed the Dorm Supervisor and is telling us to turn on the lights to see which rooms are occupied.”

After a moment, 107 replied: “That’s ridiculous. That guy in 503 is ranked at the bottom of the training program, and there’s a fixed pass rate. If you get a demerit, doesn’t that mean he has one less competitor?”

It clicked.

So that was it. 503 was being incredibly malicious!

A murderer? It was completely illogical and felt totally out of place.

Thinking this, I reached out to press the light switch.

But at that exact moment, a thought suddenly struck me-

I never told 107 that it was 503 who said there was a killer!

I pulled my hand back from the switch.

A message from the Dorm Supervisor arrived immediately: “Those who still haven’t turned on their lights will have it noted in their evaluation shortly.”

I was torn.

What 503 said was indeed far-fetched. A murderer? Why would they want to kill us?

He hadn’t offered a single word of explanation.

Could it be that he had also messaged 107 privately? Is that why 107 named him immediately?

I was about to ask, but 503 sent another message: “I’ve already informed two students on the first floor, but they didn’t listen and questioned me. I’m afraid they’ve already been killed. The murderer is definitely moving from the first floor up. Hide, quickly.”

So he had messaged him privately. My suspicion regarding 107 no longer held water.

However, 107’s next message forced me to doubt him all over again.

He actually asked: “By the way, which room are you in? It’s fine if you don’t turn on the light. I’m on the first floor; I’ll just explain it to the Dorm Supervisor for you.”

I felt a sudden chill run down my spine.

Before this message, I could believe that the person holding the phone was 107 himself.

But the person who sent this message definitely wasn’t him.

Because he knew I lived in 205!

Could it be true? As 503 said, had he really been killed in such a short amount of time?

To verify this, I immediately pulled my spare phone out of my backpack.

I logged into my secondary WeChat account, started a video call with my main account, and then wedged the phone into the bookshelf so the rear camera was aimed at the dorm door.

Once that was done, I messaged 107 back while heading for the door:

“I’m in 205. I’m already in bed. 503 just tried to trick me again, so I really didn’t go down to turn on the lights. Please let her know for me. Thanks.”

Then, I crouched down and crept through the darkness for a short distance until I reached room 211. I opened the door and slipped inside.

Luckily, I had been bored when I first moved in yesterday and had walked the entire floor, which was how I knew the lock on 211 was broken.

I entered the room and checked my phone-

The door to room 205 had actually been opened!