Under the watchful eyes of countless people, Andrew slowly closed his eyes and began mentally reviewing everything that had happened that day.
From being trapped in the bathroom at the start, to taking the death elevator downstairs.
From jumping out of the car within half an hour, to returning home and finding three new Rule Notes.
From having his identity seen through by his sister, to the power outage, and walking out the front door together with her.
If you disregard the content of the rules and aren't influenced by preconceived notions, this family still seemed perfectly normal.
Whether it was Dad, Mom, or his sister, they all showed care and concern for him.
So, was it possible that Dad, Mom, and his sister were actually good people—or good ghosts—who genuinely cared about him?
Could the real problem… be the rules themselves?
Could the rules have been altered? Or perhaps the rules were deliberately designed to mislead and confuse him?
An unprecedented, wild idea surfaced in Andrew's mind.
Sometimes, you can't just look at the surface. You have to see what people do.
He had locked himself in the bathroom and refused to come out. Of course, his family would be worried and try to check on him, maybe even break the door down in desperation.
If they had truly wanted to kill him, there was no need to go through all that!
Also, when he claimed to have forgotten his textbook, both Dad and Mom were willing to go down with him and ride the elevator again.
Dad even accompanied him up the stairs from the fifth floor all the way to the eighteenth, then back down to the first floor.
If they really wanted to harm him, would they go to such lengths?
It just didn't make logical sense.
At the very least, based on the events alone, the problem lay with the elevator, not with his parents.
Then there was the moment after he jumped out of the car, his parents ignored the danger and chased after him immediately.
After catching up to him, they didn't scold him too harshly, but instead showed even more concern. They even took leave from work to take him home and let him rest.
Up to that point, there was still nothing suspicious about his parents.
The power outage and the danger that followed had nothing to do with them either.
As for the so-called exorcism items—hemp rope, towels, tape—if you didn't overthink them, they weren't particularly strange.
After all, in many places, even ox heads are used as protective charms.
Parents checking whether their child is asleep or has kicked off the blanket before going to bed was completely normal, especially when their child had been "haunted" repeatedly that day.
The only reason he had felt scared and uneasy was due to the psychological influence of the rules.
If you strip away the rules, there was really nothing wrong with his parents.
The only thing that couldn't be explained… was the dismembered body parts in the fridge!
That was the one detail that had made Andrew instantly label his parents as dangerous.
But to be objective, just because his parents had killed and dismembered someone, did that definitely mean they intended to harm him?
What if they had done it in desperation, to protect him and his sister?
That wasn't entirely impossible.
Judging them to be dangerous based solely on that evidence seemed a bit far-fetched.
After all, many parents are ruthless to others but kind to their own children, that's not unusual at all.
As for calling Mom and getting the Two Meter Tall Woman instead…
Or going to Dad's company and seeing people whose builds were similar to those wearing the rabbit, piglet, and puppy headgear…
Those three didn't even have distinct physical features—objectively, many people could resemble them in build.
More importantly, even if those three people were the ones in the animal masks, that didn't mean they had a direct connection to Dad.
Just because a coworker is a murderer doesn't mean you're an accomplice.
At most, it made Dad a bit suspicious—nothing conclusive.
And then there's the most important fact:
If you stay home during the blackout, you die!
But those people who show up during that time—are they even real?
For instance, when those three people in the rabbit, piglet, and puppy masks were supposedly in the neighborhood, Andrew was already riding a taxi in the Simulator to Dream Times Square.
At the same time, the three coworkers who resembled them were already at the company.
If you compare the timelines carefully, those three masked people and the coworkers appeared in two places at once!
That made no sense.
The most likely explanation? They were hallucinations caused by the blackout.
And finally, when he heard the rooster crow at midnight and escaped with his sister.
During that entire escape, his parents never once appeared!
It was only under the psychological influence of the Rule Horror that he assumed his parents wanted to harm him.
When Andrew connected all these dots, he realized he had made a fatal mistake.
He trusted the rules too much.
Are the rules always correct?
Is it possible the rules had been tampered with?
Especially considering that many of the rules had already been clearly altered.
Take, for instance, Rule 10 from the Nighttime section:
[You must accept the package delivery at 1 a.m.!!
Note: Before opening the door, look through the peephole. The courier will be wearing a rabbit, puppy, or piglet (crossed out) head mask. Do not open the door to bad people!!
Don't open the door! Don't open the door! Don't open the door!! (The text below has been heavily scratched out.)]
And Rule 4 from the Elevator section:
[4. Do not stand in the middle of the elevator!! (The word "middle" has been crossed out.)]
If those two rules could be altered, then what about the others?
What if some rules had already been changed but weren't marked?
The possibility was very high.
Which meant… you couldn't completely trust the rules!
Following them to the letter only led to death.
But what if you didn't follow them exactly?
Suddenly, Andrew felt as if the clouds had parted and the sky had cleared, his thoughts became sharp and focused.
Yes, his parents definitely had secrets.
But the rules should also be questioned!
Since that's the case, he would focus on uncovering the unknown truth!
At the same time, he would use the Simulator to test which rules were flawed and what would happen if he deliberately broke them.
Andrew's eyes shone brighter than ever.
The gloom and despair from before had completely vanished.
"Brother, here, have some water. Are you feeling better now?"
Just then, his sister returned.
"Much better."
Taking the water from her hand, Andrew drank it in one go and completely unaffected by the third rule from the Morning section:
[No matter what, do not drink the milk your sister gives you.]
That feeling of no longer being bound by the rules was incredible!
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]