The Hand of Confession – Chapter 160

Volume 6: Days of Being Zapped in the Lab

Palm

Except tonight, no one would be turning off the lights for them.

To drink or not to drink, that was a question worth considering. Shen Maomao stared at the bowl, and the bowl stared back at her. She didn’t move for a long time.

After a while, Lou Jingmo’s voice came from the next room: “You can drink it.”

Since Lou Jingmo had said so, Shen Maomao picked up the bowl and downed it in one gulp with her eyes closed.

The so-called nutrient solution tasted just like water, but she really couldn’t compliment the texture. Maybe swallowing raw egg white felt like this—sticky, slippery, making one resist the urge to dry heave.

But after consuming this stuff, the feeling of hunger in her belly really did vanish instantly.

Who knew the things this group researched were actually quite useful? Still, that couldn’t cover up their heinous act of using human bodies for experiments.

Shen Maomao rubbed her stomach, turned back to her small bed, and just as her bottom touched the sheet, she heard several screams merge into one, piercing through the reasonably soundproof iron door and reaching the ears of the few people near it.

The few people nearby all stood up and ran to the railing. 290 from across the way said, “It’s three people…”

Shen Maomao looked at him. “How do you know?”

290 replied, “There are three different voice tones.”

Three people; it easily made one think of the three who had gone down earlier…

290 added, “But they were screaming themselves hoarse… I couldn’t tell if it was the same three people from before.”

Lou Jingmo said, “We’ll know if we see whether they come back. But we can’t rule out the possibility of a back door.”

So, the group leaned against the railing, bodies turned sideways, eyes fixed intently on the iron door to the lower right, waiting for the three in white coats to reappear.

The screams stopped. The entire cage fell silent once more. Shen Maomao could even hear the rapid breathing of number 290, separated from her only by a corridor.

She suddenly felt a little nervous, her heart beating faster and faster. Her eyes seemed to peer through the iron door, seeing the scene behind it—blood pooling on the floor, a corpse reaching a hand towards the main gate, various monsters gnawing on the body…

But when she blinked, she realized those were just hallucinations brought on by her extreme tension.

Shen Maomao shook her head, trying to clear it.

Dong!

A deafening bang suddenly erupted, making everyone shudder simultaneously. Players closer to the door even let out short cries of alarm. At the same time, all the lights instantly went out, plunging the cage into darkness. In an instant, they couldn’t see a thing.

Before Shen Maomao could react, the light filaments crackled—zzzt, zzzt—twice, then lit up again.

On the nearby iron door, a small, outwardly bulging handprint had appeared. The handprint was tiny, less than a quarter the size of an adult’s palm.

Dong dong dong!!!

A flurry of bulging handprints appeared successively on the door, like some playful child eagerly pounding on it, wanting to rush out from behind and see what the outside world was really like.

The thick iron door seemed to turn into a large piece of rubber, easily kneaded into various shapes.

Dense handprints covered the iron door. The fluorescent lights flickered incessantly as if providing accompaniment, making one suspect they might overload and explode.

A somewhat distorted alarm sounded in the distance, inevitably reminding people of the air raid sirens in 《Silent Hill》. Everyone present felt a scalp-numbing fear—what exactly was that thing outside? Could this door actually stop it?

No one knew the answer.

But this terrifying feeling of Death itself just outside the door was enough to make their adrenaline surge, prompting them to take actions they would normally never dare to—

Screeeech—

A female player very close to the door opened her cell gate, ran into the centermost corridor, and fled frantically in the opposite direction.

With one person leading the way, the question became: to run or not to run? Many hesitated.

Shen Maomao’s hand rested on the railing; she swallowed nervously.

Dong!

Another loud bang. The lights went black again, then quickly relit.

However, the corridor was empty. The woman who had just run past Shen Maomao’s cage and continued forward was gone.

Shen Maomao’s heart pounded wildly. She immediately backed away from the railing, retreating quickly, even bumping into the table in her panic.

She didn’t stop until her back hit the wall, but this didn’t bring her much sense of security.

How did that woman disappear? Why hadn’t she made a sound before vanishing?

After that episode, the others instantly abandoned any thoughts of escape, honestly shrinking back into their cages, not daring to take another step out.

Perhaps realizing it couldn’t break through the iron door, or perhaps having received satisfactory food? The thing behind the door finally gave up its attack, regrouping¹ to fight again later.

The lights returned to normal, and the alarm stopped. The players remained silent for a long time before a hoarse voice finally whispered—

“What… exactly is the thing behind the door?”

Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t friendly.

Lou Jingmo said, “Sleep. Nothing else should happen.”

Shen Maomao knew Lou Jingmo was speaking to her, so she obediently lay down on the bed, staring wide-eyed at the surveillance camera still diligently working, without a hint of sleepiness.

290 across the way also said, “Get some rest. We still have experiments tomorrow…” He reached this point, somewhat stuck between laughter and tears. “F%cking sickos, making us scared shitless all night, and tomorrow morning we still have to be treated like guinea pigs by those perverts…”

Another voice said, “When will days like these ever end²…”

Shen Maomao thought of what the NPC woman had said—Since you’ve come in, don’t even think about getting out again.

It seemed she wasn’t just talking about this laboratory, but more like the entire game.

One instance after another; when this one ended, there was the next. Everyone lived in the fear of impending death, dancing with the Grim Reaper under his scythe³… This was the punishment the game creators intended for the guilty—as long as they lived, they would never find peace.

Even someone as usually carefree as Shen Maomao couldn’t help but feel lost about the future.

But she still had Lou Jingmo.

Shen Maomao touched the back of her neck, feeling inexplicably reassured.

No matter what they encountered in the future, Lou-jie would definitely be by her side… right?

Forget it, better not raise any flags⁴.

Shen Maomao pulled the cold blanket over herself and slowly closed her eyes.

Except tonight, no one would be turning off the lights for them.

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The bell signaling dawn rang. Shen Maomao opened her eyes, only to find there wasn’t much difference between opened and closed.

The lights had gone out at some point, she didn’t know when. The red light of the monitor was also gone; perhaps the circuit had malfunctioned after being on all night.

The sound of shuffling footsteps filled the corridor, occasionally interspersed with complaints about someone kicking someone else, or someone stepping on another’s foot—a complete contrast to the orderly situation on the first day.

She fumbled her way to the door, pulled open the cage gate, and tentatively stretched out a hand to avoid bumping into anyone.

A small, icy hand patted hers, then quickly withdrew.

“F%ck…” Shen Maomao nearly died of fright on the spot and immediately snatched her hand back.

She definitely hadn’t imagined it—she had felt the entire outline of that hand just now. It was less than a quarter the size of her own, with five distinct fingers, easily reminding her of the little child knocking on the door last night.

“What’s wrong?” Lou Jingmo’s voice sounded directly in front of her. Shen Maomao took tiny steps towards the sound, extending her arm again as she walked, asking, “Lou-jie, did you… huh?”

Shen Maomao froze for a moment, her hand unconsciously squeezing.

Several veins popped on Lou Jingmo’s temple. “Get your damn paws⁵ off.”

Shen Maomao’s face flushed scarlet in an instant—Shua!

Fortunately, it was pitch black, so no one could see her face, red as a monkey’s butt.

Shen Maomao’s face was beet red; Lou Jingmo’s was dark as the bottom of a pot⁶.

The stupid thing’s grip was damned⁷ strong too.

For a moment, she really wanted to just leave Shen Maomao there and ignore her, but it was just a fleeting thought.

She grabbed Shen Maomao’s arm, slid her hand down to grasp hers, and led her slowly forward, asking, “What happened just now?”

Shen Maomao whispered, “A little hand just touched mine. I’m sure I didn’t imagine it. That hand was freezing, like ice. And even if I did imagine the touch, that level of cold isn’t something a normal human could have.”

As she spoke, she placed the hand the child had touched onto Lou Jingmo’s, letting her feel the temperature on it. “Look, this is the hand it touched, it’s still cold now!”

Lou Jingmo: “Alright, I get it. Don’t put such a cold hand on mine.”

Shen Maomao: “…”

They hadn’t walked far before the light became less dim. In the darkness, she couldn’t make out people’s specific features, only seeing vague silhouettes.

The further forward they went, the brighter the light became, until they reached yesterday’s platform. The main doors remained wide open, revealing bright lights inside, lines of test subjects—another realm of order.

They had suddenly transitioned from a powerless, backward medieval prison to a futuristic world brimming with technology. The difference in living conditions between the test subjects and the experimenters was just that vast.

The two queued up behind the crowd. Shen Maomao heard the few people in front discussing escaping today’s experiment and couldn’t help leaning close to Lou Jingmo’s ear, whispering, “Should we escape?”

Lou Jingmo: “Depends on the situation. We’ll decide later.”

Soon it was their turn. Shen Maomao expertly placed her hand under the machine, and a round number tag fell into her palm. Then it was Lou Jingmo’s turn.

Both were still C.

It seemed they thought these two homosexuals weren’t cured yet and needed another round of electroshock today.

After receiving their number tags, the two didn’t leave immediately but stood nearby for a moment, waiting for the few people behind them to finish.

The laboratory had 300 test subjects. Only fifty lived in the medieval-style cells, starting from number 250. The first thirty were NPCs, the last twenty were players. Based on room locations, those behind the two were bound to be players.

The process of receiving number tags was completely open and unconcealed, so they could easily see which experiment others were assigned to.

They didn’t know about those ahead of them, but without exception, none of the people behind them were assigned to Experiment B.

So, what was this Experiment B, the one from which there was no return?

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