Chapter 10 It Is Over

• There was a silence that lasted several minutes as everyone processed the unbelievable truth.
• After a moment, Spencer was the first to reveal his identity card, which indeed had “the liar” written on it.
• The others followed suit, revealing their cards one by one, all of which also read “the liar.”
• “You're very clever.” Christine gave Skyler an approving look. “But how did you figure out we were all already dead?”
• Skyler pointed to his notepad and said, “It wasn't difficult. I kept wondering: why is the room sealed? Why are there lines on the walls and the floor? Why is there a clock placed in the center of the table? And why did Goat Head force us to take a 'half-time'?”
• He continued, “The average person consumes zero point zero zero seven cubic meters of air per minute, which means zero point four two cubic meters per hour. There are ten of us in this room, so we'd need four point two cubic meters of air every hour. According to Goat Head, we not only slept here for twelve hours, but we also played the game for almost another hour. If you multiply four point two cubic meters by thirteen, you get fifty-four point six cubic meters.”
• Skyler circled the number “54.6” on his notepad with a pen and concluded, “That's the amount of air we should have used up.”
• He glanced around the room and asked, “But how large is this room?”
• Everyone else followed his gaze.
• “The organizers left us clues. They drew lines on the walls and floor, dividing them into squares, with each square being about one meter on each side.” Skyler pointed at the markings on the walls. “The walls have three by four squares, and the floor and ceiling are four by four. That makes the dimensions of the room four by four by four, giving us a total of forty-eight cubic meters.”
• “In a room with only forty-eight cubic meters, how can we fit fifty-four point six cubic meters of air?” Skyler frowned, his expression dark. “It's been so long, and yet the air isn't thinning. We don't feel any symptoms of oxygen deprivation...”
• After pondering for a moment, Harvey took Skyler's notepad and pointed to the number “49.14”. “What does this number mean?”
• Skyler's face turned serious as he looked at Harvey and answered, “That's the amount of air needed, but this time, it's calculated for 'nine people'.”
• “Nine people?”
• Harvey was puzzled. There were clearly ten people in the room using air, yet Skyler had calculated for nine.
• “I made a bold assumption,” Skyler said expressionlessly. “What if Goat Head isn't human? Then would we have enough air? Obviously, we wouldn't.”
• “What kind of crazy person are you?” Harvey muttered, “I can't believe you came up with such a bizarre assumption.”
• “Is it really hard to understand?” Skyler pointed to the headless corpse to his right. “Dr. Johnson, you should be very familiar with skulls. Can a human crush a skull with one hand?”
• Harvey didn't respond, because he knew it was absolutely impossible.
• Even smashing the skull of a rabbit with one hand on a table would be difficult, let alone a human skull.
• Skyler turned his gaze back to the group. “Time's running out. I've already written down my choice. Now it's up to you. But remember, if even one person's answer is different from mine, we will all be 'sanctioned'.”
• The group looked uneasy.
• A monster capable of killing without hesitation was now at their mercy as they were going to vote to eliminate it.
• Would he accept it?
• Jeremiah glanced at Goat Head out of the corner of his eye and noticed that the latter hadn't moved. His deep gaze pierced through the goat mask, revealing nothing of his thoughts.
• “To h*ll with it, let's do this!” Jeremiah waved his hand and wrote Man Goat.
• After a moment of hesitation, everyone else wrote down their answers too.
• Skyler looked around—without exception, everyone had written Man Goat.
• The clock struck one, marking the end of the game.
• Goat Head slowly stepped forward. “Congratulations, everyone. You've survived The Liar. Now, I will personally administer the 'sanction' to the loser.”
• Before anyone could react, Goat Head pulled a gun from his coat, turned it toward his own heart, and pulled the trigger.
• A deafening boom reverberated through the small room.
• In the enclosed space, the sound had nowhere to escape, and everyone's ears rang from the blast.
• Goat Head clutched his chest and began to scream in agony.
• The overwhelming shriek quickly drowned out the echo of the gunshot, reverberating through the room and chilling everyone to the core.
• For over a minute, Goat Head continued screaming and coughing up blood, until the sounds finally diminished into faint groans of pain.
• “What... what the h*ll...” Jeremiah stared dumbfounded at Goat Head. “Did he actually do that?”
• After a few more minutes, even the groaning stopped.
• The nine of them suddenly realized that they could move their legs again.
• Harvey was the first to stand. He walked over to Goat Head and checked the pulse at his neck, finding no heartbeat.
• “Hey!” Harvey shouted at Goat Head's lifeless body. “The game's over! How do we get out of here?”
• But the silent corpse gave him no answer.
• The others slowly rose to their feet.
• Nothing had changed in the room—except for the addition of a dead body.
• “This is so strange. Are we really dead?” Candy still seemed preoccupied with the question. She stretched out her slender hand and slapped herself hard across the face.
• “Ouch!” Candy yelped in surprise. “It still hurts. Why can I feel pain if I'm dead?”
• Jeremiah shook his head helplessly. “What, have you died before?”
• “I...” Candy paused. “I guess not...”
• “So, who knows what happens after death? Maybe this really is hell.” Jeremiah glanced at the two bodies in the room and felt a chill run through him. “Not only can I feel pain, but I can also smell the stench.”
• “So what are we?” Michael asked. “Spirits?”
• Harvey examined his own body, finding that his heartbeat, body temperature, and pulse were all normal. He was still breathing. Yet, they weren't consuming oxygen.
• It seemed that death was indeed a mysterious phenomenon that defied medical explanation.
• “No matter what we are, I don't want to spend the rest of my days trapped in this tiny room,” Spencer said. “Let's find a way out.”
• Spencer approached Goat Head's body and casually picked up the gun lying beside him.
• The group gasped in surprise and instinctively backed away from him.
• Spencer expertly opened the chamber and examined it before ejecting the cartridge clip. The gun had only one bullet, and now it was empty.
• It was both good and bad news.
• The good news was that they didn't need to worry about anyone else using the gun to harm them. The bad news was that if they encountered any other danger, they couldn't defend themselves.
• Jeremiah, braver than most, slowly reached out and removed Goat Head's mask, revealing the face of a man whose features had completely rotted away.
• His eyes were rolled back, and he showed no signs of life.
• “What a terrifying face...” Christine remarked from the side.