Chapter 76: Inner Space and Outer Space

"I don't understand what you're saying. I'm Xiao Chen!" Xiao Chen's face was ashen, her lips trembling as she bit down on them and looked at Xi Yan, as if deeply insulted.

Xi Yan let out a sigh and began to explain, "This blue carousel horse is the mechanism at the heart of this amusement park, isn't it? Oh, no—more precisely, this blue carousel horse is the tool you used for your crimes."

"You people are not alive. You are the Lost Ones, aren't you?"

"Aren't you curious how I know?" Xi Yan spoke sentence by sentence, and with each word, Xiao Chen's complexion grew even paler and more fearful.

It was the fear of being found out for something one had done, like a child forging a parent's signature on a test paper and being discovered.

"I don't understand. What are you talking about? Can you take me away? Please, I'm begging you." Xiao Chen kept repeating herself.

Xi Yan paid her no mind, instead leaning against the now still carousel horse and continuing, "From start to finish, this entire amusement park has only been you, hasn't it?"

Xiao Chen didn't answer, stubbornly biting her lip.

Qing Yan's eyes were shining bright; once her fear faded, only endless curiosity remained.

"First, about the notebook—there were two entries, different but not by much. The first time, I saw it from Xu Yu's perspective as he watched others. The second time, it was Xu Yu watching himself."

"You..." Xiao Chen still looked pitifully at Xi Yan.

"And then, the words carved on the carousel horse—the first time, it told us to run; the second, it told us to stay. I was too scared to notice before, but thinking back, the blue carousel horse was present both times."

"What does that prove? Maybe the person who wrote it each time was different," Qing Yan questioned, while Xiao Chen stood aside, quietly staring at Xi Yan.

"You're right, it wasn't the same person. But it does show that this amusement park contains two spaces—an inner space and an outer space. The outer space is filled with danger, while the inner space is relatively safer."

Qing Yan still didn't understand, her eyes full of confusion as she looked at Xi Yan. He smiled helplessly and could only explain all the details.

"The first warning on the carousel horse told us to leave, and at that time, the blue horse was there. And then there was Xu Yu's attitude—he was cold, expressionless. The diary was written from Xu Yu's perspective, watching others. This was the outer space.

We were told to leave because the cold Xu Yu would look for a chance to kill at night.

The second time, the warning on the carousel horse told us to stay, and the diary was written from Xu Yu's perspective as he watched himself—in other words, Xu Yu was experimenting on himself, which matches the diary I saw just now. The blue horse was present. This is also the outer world.

We were told to stay because that room is an absolutely safe area—neither Xu Yu nor Xiao Chen can enter. That's why, when I invited Xu Yu inside, he never came. It wasn't because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't."

But all this was still the outer world—the only difference was that the second time, someone discovered the safety of that room.

...

After the first encounter with Xiao Chen, she showed the diary entry to Xi Yan and Qing Yan—it was Xu Yu observing others.

Then Xu Yu arrived, and this Xu Yu was the same as before—friendly and full of smiles, not the cold Xu Yu. At that point, the blue carousel horse vanished. This was the inner world.

The threat in the inner world is the smiling Xu Yu; in the outer world, the danger is the experimental subject Xiao Chen—or rather, the experimental subject Xu Yu.

Xu Yu experimented on himself, and the monster he created was Xiao Chen. That’s why Xu Yu and Xiao Chen never appeared at the same time.

After hearing Xi Yan’s analysis, Qing Yan felt dizzy, but she more or less understood.

Simply put, when there’s no blue carousel horse, only the smiling Xu Yu appears; when the blue horse is present, the cold Xu Yu and Xiao Chen appear.

Xiao Chen is the result of Xu Yu’s experiments on himself, designed to lure and kill.

"But if their aim is to kill, why leave a safe room?" Qing Yan voiced her doubt.

"Because of the rules. No matter where you are, there are always rules. Even in places of survival that seem lawless, rules exist nonetheless. The rule of this amusement park is that there must always be a safe place."

Qing Yan nodded and looked at Xi Yan with a trace of admiration.

"I didn’t expect you to figure it all out. I’m curious—how did you know?"

Suddenly, Xiao Chen’s form changed—she transformed into the cold Xu Yu, still holding the lantern.

"I guessed."

"…"

"…"

Xi Yan’s answer left the air heavy with silence. Qing Yan stared at him in disbelief, as did Xu Yu.

Qing Yan suddenly regretted admiring him a moment ago.

"You guessed? You guessed that accurately?" For once, a rare hint of surprise appeared on Xu Yu’s cold face.

Xi Yan raised an eyebrow and retorted, "Why couldn’t I?"

In truth, Xi Yan didn’t know how he could guess so well. Many of the details were automatically filled in by his mind from the clues, as if he’d gained this ability ever since he became an Esper.

Previously, his sense of foreboding was the strongest, but now his powers of observation and memory had grown exceptionally sharp.

"Everything you said is true. I am indeed one of the Lost Ones—I’m from the Eighth Survival Zone."

Xu Yu placed a hand on his face, and when he lowered it, he had become a young woman.

Without further preamble, Xu Yu began to recount her story.

...

Xu Yu was originally the amusement park owner’s daughter, a graduate student, and her name too was Xu Yu.

She loved conducting new experiments, and eventually, she turned herself into a subject.

She didn’t know why she couldn’t die—she discovered it by accident. So, she began to carry out increasingly terrifying experiments on herself.

In the end, she split her own soul, creating many people: the male Xu Yu, the ticket seller, and others.

Xiao Chen was one she created only recently, using the real survivor Xiao Chen as a template.

As for the blue carousel horse, it was indeed the switch that controlled the two spaces—but Xu Yu herself could not touch it. It changed at random.

When the blue carousel horse was present, Xu Yu could only take on her most genuine form, which seemed approachable.

When the blue horse was gone, Xu Yu could become any of the monsters she had created, and kill according to her whims.

As for the safe room, Xu Yu never wanted such a place to exist. But Xi Yan was right: it was the rule, an inviolable rule.

The notebook was also part of the rules—she was required to show it to all who entered, though whether they read it was up to the survivors themselves.