Who Told You to Play Infinity Like This - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

[The Hunting Ground: Their playground, the stage for the myriad worlds.]

[Welcome, Player s70099.]

An air conditioner hummed low, and the pitter-patter of water echoed from nearby, as if someone were taking a shower.

She seemed to be lying in bed, sleeping. Though her eyes were closed, she could tell the room was dimly lit.

Chu Zhao kept her eyes shut. At the moment of her death, she had received an invitation to the [Hunting Ground].

Before she had closed her eyes and plunged into the void, she had seen the details of her first game-

[Dormitory 612]

[Game Type: Survival, Roleplay

Faction: Ordo · Edict

Difficulty: ? (Trial)

Objective 1: Survive for seven days

Objective 2: Hidden

Objective 3: Hidden

Players Alive: 360/360]

Chu Zhao slowly propped herself up and sat up in bed, scanning her current surroundings.

The lights were off, the curtains were drawn, and the room was dim.

It was a dormitory-a four-person room with loft beds over desks. The room was rectangular, with four beds arranged in pairs on either side. The central aisle was fairly spacious. At the far end of the room were the sink and the bathroom. The bathroom light was on, and the sound of splashing water came from within; someone was showering.

The air conditioner on the wall displayed a temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. Based on the feel of the air, Chu Zhao judged it to be summer, a conclusion supported by the clothes she was wearing.

“You’re awake?”

As Chu Zhao was still inspecting the environment, a soft, cold voice sounded from behind her. She instinctively turned her head.

Through the mosquito net, a young girl draped in a jacket and covered by a thick quilt was speaking to her.

The girl’s eyes were dark and heavy. Her lower body was hidden beneath the thick bedding, making it hard to see her clearly.

…Is she cold?

Chu Zhao gave a soft grunt of affirmation and, like any student waking up from a nap, asked for the time. “What time is it?”

“Three-forty.”

Though the girl’s gaze was unsettling, her tone was relatively normal.

She watched as Chu Zhao climbed down from the bed.

Once down, Chu Zhao realized someone was sitting at the desk directly opposite her bed. This person also happened to turn around at that moment. “Lin Qiu is almost done showering. It’s your turn for duty today; go clean the bathroom.”

Chu Zhao responded with a nod. Pretending to tidy her desk, she kept her back to the woman who had spoken, using the opportunity to observe the details she had missed earlier.

If the first girl who spoke to her was Bed No. 1, and she counted clockwise, she was Bed No. 2. The girl who told her to do her chores was No. 3, and the remaining empty bed was No. 4.

In all likelihood, the person in the shower was No. 4, Lin Qiu.

Because the desks were separated by wardrobes, she couldn’t see the state of Bed No. 1’s desk for the moment. However, the desks for No. 3 and No. 4 were incredibly tidy-practically spotless.

While she had been vaguely responding to No. 3, she had taken the chance to glance at No. 3’s desk.

On it were two phones, a laptop, a box of tissues, and a pair of Bluetooth earbuds next to the tissues. Books were neatly arranged vertically in the built-in hutch.

When she turned back to her own desk, she saw a mess of test papers, books, and stationery… and in that very moment, she thought she heard the water in the bathroom stop.

Chu Zhao frowned. Following her intuition, she began tidying her desk. She gathered the scattered papers and books into a neat pile and tucked all the stationery into a circular pen holder.

Despite not hearing a door open or the sound of footsteps, the next second, the sound of wet slippers rang out right beside her.

A particularly cold voice spoke. “Why is your desk so messy?”

…Did this person teleport? How is she so fast!

Chu Zhao dodged the question. “I’ve finished cleaning it.”

She placed the books neatly into the built-in bookshelf, mimicking No. 3’s arrangement, and naturally set the stationery aside. “Lin Qiu, are you done?”

As she spoke, she turned her head naturally. The person who had just finished showering came into view.

She was a tall, thin, and pale woman with dark, sunken eyes. Her long hair was soaking wet and dripping. However, the moment she appeared, a light screen suddenly flickered over her face.

“I’m done,” Lin Qiu said, her voice as flat as still water. “You go ahead.”

Chu Zhao looked at her face, but in reality, she was scanning the light screen at lightning speed.
[The Edict]

[1. Dormitory 612 is a united and loving dormitory; uphold the principles of mutual respect and mutual assistance.

2. Zhao Qinghe and Lin Qiu have a very good relationship and are close friends who share everything.

3. You trust Yun Shuang implicitly and believe her words without doubt.

4. You never go to the sports field when you have no classes.

5. You never go to the cafeteria alone.

6. You do not like the stray animals at school and never feed them.

7. There is nothing outside the window; the curtains must be drawn when sleeping.]

Is this a beginner’s tip?

Chu Zhao looked into Lin Qiu’s eyes and said, “It’s my turn for duty today. Do you guys want to wash up first?”

She used a questioning tone. Lin Qiu frowned, her voice growing impatient. “They’ve already washed.”

Chu Zhao smiled as if nothing were wrong. “I guess I’m just sleep-deprived.”

Internally, she quickly analyzed the rules.

[Dormitory 612 is a united and loving dormitory; uphold the principles of mutual respect and mutual assistance.]

United… mutual assistance?

Does that mean under the right conditions, they could become allies?

[Zhao Qinghe and Lin Qiu have a very good relationship and are close friends who share everything.]

Chu Zhao pretended to pack her toiletries and picked up a loose-leaf notebook. Her gaze fixed on the name column.

It seemed she was “Zhao Qinghe.”

So she and Lin Qiu were close friends who shared everything?

[You trust Yun Shuang implicitly and believe her words without doubt.]

Who was Yun Shuang?

A roommate, a teacher, or someone else?

With no information, she set it aside for now.

[You never go to the sports field when you have no classes.]

She never went to the sports field when she didn’t have classes-was the field dangerous?

[You never go to the cafeteria alone.]

She needed to go with others?

[You do not like the stray animals at school and never feed them.]

Animals?

[There is nothing outside the window; the curtains must be drawn when sleeping.]

This one didn’t even specify a subject. Did the restriction apply to the roommates as well?

Seven tips, seven sentences.

Chu Zhao remembered this was a four-person dorm. Aside from Lin Qiu, she didn’t yet know the names of the other two.

Lin Qiu was in Bed No. 4.

Zhao Qinghe was Bed No. 2. What were the names of No. 1 and No. 3?

If they were such good friends, could she still be their roommate if she didn’t know their names?

And why was the subject of the first two rules “Zhao Qinghe,” while the last five changed to “you”?

Chu Zhao was thinking a lot, but it didn’t slow her movements.

Fortunately, while her desk was a bit messy, her wardrobe and drawers were very neat. Her toiletries were clearly arranged in a single compartment of her desk cabinet, visible at a glance.

While tidying the desk, she saw her class schedule. There weren’t many classes. She memorized it roughly and then looked toward No. 3.

Aside from reminding her about “duty” when she got out of bed, No. 3 hadn’t spoken another word.

Except for the sound of Lin Qiu’s hair dryer, the dormitory was unprecedentedly quiet. As if sensing Chu Zhao’s gaze, No. 3 looked over.

Chu Zhao turned her head naturally, looking toward the other girl’s hand. “The phone…”

No. 3’s expression was calm.

After three seconds, she slowly turned her head and handed one of the phones to Chu Zhao. “You left it with me yourself.”

Chu Zhao took the phone and smiled at her.

There was no phone on Zhao Qinghe’s desk or in her cabinet, yet No. 3 happened to have two phones on hers. Chu Zhao had taken a bold gamble.

She had only said the word “phone.” No matter how No. 3 responded, she could have forced an explanation to smooth it over.

Luckily, nothing went wrong.

After taking the phone, Chu Zhao placed it on the desk. She was about to shower; she couldn’t exactly take it in to look at it.

If not for the “Roleplay” tag, she might have actually done it, but… she couldn’t break character.

Chu Zhao did a quick cleanup and walked toward the bathroom with her things.

There didn’t seem to be any danger in the dorm… at least for now.

Only when she reached the back of the room did she catch a faint, lingering scent of decay. Chu Zhao’s sharp eyes noticed that the standing water on the sink had a slight reddish tint.

The color was very faint; in the dim light, it was almost invisible.

She pushed open the bathroom door.

The school was quite old. The washroom and the toilet were in the same space, separated only by a low partition that wasn’t even as tall as Chu Zhao-it was better than nothing.

Perhaps because it hadn’t been long, the steam from Lin Qiu’s shower hadn’t dissipated yet.

The lighting in the bathroom was poor-dim and yellow, as if covered by a layer of amber gauze. In the swirling steam, it provided a faint, hazy sense of security.
Chu Zhao squinted the moment she turned on the water.

The hot water pouring from the showerhead was a piercing, vivid crimson.

The gurgling stream trickled through Chu Zhao’s fingers.

Dim yellow lighting, a silent bathroom, and the sound of running water.

At this moment, the atmosphere was dialed up to the max.

Chu Zhao expressionlessly scooped up some water and sniffed it, muttering to herself, “The pipes must be old and rusted.”

She wasn’t lying; the water looked very red, but it didn’t have that viscous texture, and the scent was clean-just a hint of rust… The only anomaly was that the water temperature was exceptionally high. In just those few short seconds, Chu Zhao’s hand had already been scalded red.

She adjusted the temperature for a while before giving herself a quick wash, her mind still dwelling on those seven messages.

Suddenly, Chu Zhao heard a slight movement and stopped, alert.

She took a small step forward and looked down.

There was a clear, red palm print on the toilet lid.

Chu Zhao: “?”

Is your story a bit too cliché? I mean… attacking someone while they’re showering? Have you no sense of martial honor?

In the split second she was stunned, another print appeared on the tiled floor-a bright red palm print.

The palm print didn’t look large; it was either a child’s or a girl with small hands… The floor was wet; wouldn’t they slip walking backward like that?

A strange thought rose in Chu Zhao’s mind, only to be snapped back to reality by a sudden, bone-chilling drop in the room temperature.

The rising steam condensed instantly. The frigid cold from across the wall dispelled the warmth brought by the hot water. Without a moment’s hesitation, Chu Zhao turned and shouted-

“Lin Qiu! Save me!”

[Dormitory 612 is a united and loving dormitory, upholding the principles of mutual respect and mutual assistance.]

[Zhao Qinghe and Lin Qiu have a very good relationship and are close friends who share everything.]

Two rules flashed through Chu Zhao’s mind. She didn’t even have time to verify if the rules were correct.

What kind of decent person launches a sneak attack while someone is showering?

As she spoke, Chu Zhao was already pushing at the door.

The next second, the door was opened from the outside, and Lin Qiu’s pale, cold face appeared before Chu Zhao.

She scanned the bathroom and said in a steady, flat tone, “What is it?”

Chu Zhao looked back, and sure enough, she saw nothing.

The bloody palm prints were gone; there were only the old, dilapidated tiles on the floor.

Chu Zhao didn’t bat an eye. “It was a cockroach!”

Lin Qiu narrowed her eyes.

Chu Zhao: “A cockroach the size of a palm. I bet you’ve never seen one before.”

To make it more convincing, she even gestured with her hands quite seriously.

Lin Qiu stared at her fixedly before pushing her back inside. Chu Zhao subconsciously gripped her arm.

It felt icy to the touch-stiff and cold.

Lin Qiu remained expressionless. “It’s gone.”

With that, she pushed Chu Zhao back into the bathroom without further discussion.

Only then did Chu Zhao realize she wasn’t wearing any clothes.

Her roommate was surprisingly polite… Tsk.

She had intended to keep the shower brief. If she weren’t afraid of failing her ‘role-play,’ she wouldn’t have even taken her clothes off, fearing some emergency. And it turned out there really was one… Her precautions had been in vain after all.

After coming out, Chu Zhao washed her face at the sink. Under her roommate’s gaze, she even had to hide her thoughts, leaving her no time to worry about the thin layer of bloody water in the basin.

In truth, what happened just now could have been a hallucination, but she didn’t dare gamble on it.

Fortunately, she had taken the opportunity to test the ‘Edict’ once… If the rules were all true, then the fact that Lin Qiu could be summoned by her call meant she also had to follow the principle of ‘mutual assistance.’

After all, Lin Qiu and ‘Zhao Qinghe’ were ‘close friends who shared everything.’

If her roommate made an unreasonable request, could she refuse?

If Lin Qiu made a demand, could she say no?

While her mind raced with these thoughts, she calmly walked back to her desk with a comb.

It had been a long time since she had experienced dormitory life.

Having just finished her shower, Chu Zhao naturally picked up her phone.

She needed to gather as much information as possible to deal with any emergencies.

For example… what if she didn’t recognize her roommates?

In a normal dorm, it wouldn’t matter if she checked her phone for a bit after showering before cleaning up, but Room 612 might not be so accommodating.

Opening her phone, Chu Zhao immediately saw a pinned group chat-[Room 612].