The Ten Days of Doom

An old tungsten light bulb hung from the center of the room, flickering with a dim glow.

The tranquil atmosphere spread through the room like ink dropping into clear water, gradually diffusing and enveloping everything.

In the very center of the room stood a large round table, looking worn and battered. At its center was a small ornate clock, intricately designed, ticking steadily.

Surrounding the table were ten people dressed in various styles; their clothes looked somewhat tattered, and their faces were smudged with dirt.

Some leaned on the table, while others reclined in their chairs, all deep in slumber.

Standing quietly beside them was a man wearing a goat-headed mask and dressed in a black suit.

His gaze peered through the hollow eyes of the mask, watching the ten individuals with keen interest.

Suddenly, the clock on the table chimed, with both the minute and hour hands pointing to "twelve."

Far away, outside the room, a deep bell tolled.

At that same moment, the ten men and women seated around the round table slowly began to awaken.

As they gradually regained consciousness, they first looked around in confusion, then exchanged bewildered glances with one another.

It seemed that none of them remembered how they had ended up there.

"Good morning, nine of you," the goat-headed man spoke first. "I’m delighted to meet you here. You have been sleeping before me for twelve hours."

The sight of this strange man startled everyone, especially in the dim light.

His mask appeared to be made from a real goat's head, with many strands of hair yellowed and matted together.

The hollow eyes of the goat mask revealed his cunning gaze.

With every gesture, he exuded a distinct odor reminiscent of a goat, mixed with a faint scent of decay.

A man with tattooed arms paused for a few seconds before finally realizing the absurdity of the situation and hesitantly asked the goat-headed man, "Who... are you?"

"I believe you all have this question, so let me introduce myself to you nine," the goat-headed man cheerfully waved his hands, as if he had been preparing for this moment.

A young man named Qi Xia, sitting farthest from the goat-headed figure, quickly surveyed the room and soon wore a serious expression.

Something felt very strange about this room.

There were no doors; all four sides were walls.

In other words, the room was completely enclosed by walls, ceiling, and floor, yet there was a table placed in the middle.

How had they arrived here?

Could it be that they were brought in first, and then the walls were built around them?

Qi Xia looked around again. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all adorned with intersecting lines, dividing the surfaces into many large squares.

Another detail that caught Qi Xia’s attention was the goat-headed man's mention of "nine people."

No matter how he counted, there were clearly ten individuals sitting around the table, plus the goat-headed man himself—making eleven in total.

What did "nine people" mean?

He reached into his pocket and, as expected, found that his phone had long been taken away.

"No need to introduce us," a cold woman said to the goat-headed man. "I advise you to stop your actions now. I suspect you have unlawfully detained us for over twenty-four hours, which constitutes 'illegal detention.' Everything you say will be recorded and could form testimony against you."

As she spoke, she disdainfully brushed off the dust from her arms, as if she found being imprisoned far less objectionable than being dirty.

Her words did indeed awaken the others; regardless of who their captor was, daring to kidnap ten people had already crossed the line of legality.

"Wait..." a middle-aged man in a white lab coat interrupted the group's thoughts. He slowly turned to the cold woman and asked, "We just woke up; how do you know we’ve been detained for 'twenty-four hours'?"

His tone was calm yet assertive, cutting straight to the point.

The cold woman nonchalantly pointed to the clock on the table and replied, "The clock here shows twelve o'clock, but I have a habit of staying up late. The last time I checked the time at home, it was already twelve o'clock. This indicates we have been detained for at least twelve hours."

After finishing her explanation, she pointed to the walls and continued, "You must have noticed that there are no doors in this room, which means this person put considerable effort into getting us inside. He claimed we have been asleep for twelve hours, and now the clock points to twelve again, suggesting it has made at least two full rotations. Therefore, I suspect 'over twenty-four hours.' Is there a problem with that?"

The man in the white coat shot her a cold glance, still harboring doubt.

After all, in such an environment, the woman seemed overly composed.

Would a normal person remain so calm in the face of kidnapping?

At that moment, a young man wearing a black T-shirt spoke up, "Goat-head, why are there ten people here when you say there are nine?"

The goat-headed man fell silent, not answering immediately.

"F*ck! I don’t care how many people are here..." The tattooed man cursed, pushing against the table to stand up, only to find his legs weak and unresponsive, forcing him to remain seated. He continued to point at the goat-headed man, "Listen, you don’t understand the serious consequences of messing with me. I will take your life."

At this, the expressions of the men around them grew serious. It was evident that a leader was needed; if they could subdue the goat-headed man together, they could still control the situation.

However, they soon realized their legs felt as if they had been injected with something, rendering them completely powerless.

All they could do was threaten the goat-headed man verbally, shouting and cursing.

Qi Xia remained silent, gently stroking his chin as he stared at the clock on the table, deep in thought.

Things didn’t seem as straightforward as they initially appeared.

He understood that the goat-headed man's mention of "nine participants" indicated that if there were ten people in total, one of them must not be a participant.

So who was he?

Among the five men and five women seated in the room, could one of them be the "kidnapper"?

The goat-headed man remained silent, slowly moving closer to Qi Xia and standing behind a young man.

Everyone followed his gaze and noticed that this young man, despite being dirty, wore a blissful smile on his face.

The goat-headed man raised his hand slowly and placed it on the back of the young man's head.

The young man's smile grew increasingly eerie as he looked at the others with excitement, seemingly aware of something.

With a dull thud, the goat-headed man slammed the young man’s head onto the table.

A pinkish substance spilled out like paint, spreading across the table, leaving blood splatters around each person's face.

The young man's skull had been shattered against the table.

Outside the room, the distant tolling of bells rang out once more.

Qi Xia was close to the deceased and felt a warm, sticky substance stick to his face.

He questioned his psychological resilience, believing it strong enough, yet he found himself trembling.

The girl seated to the right of the dead man froze for three seconds before her face twisted in horror, letting out a piercing scream.

This scream shattered the mental defenses of everyone present.

How could a person, with such a frail body, possess the strength to crush a human skull against a table? Was that goat-headed man even human?

The goat-headed man spoke slowly, "The reason I prepared ten individuals is that I needed one of you to quiet down."