~~

As Cai Minyou slowly opened the door, he slipped through the gap he had made. Silently slipping through, he closed the door behind him, the light slowly disappearing from the outside. Step by step, he avoided making a loud noise, making his way to the stairs on the left side. With his hands on the ladders he started to step up the steps quietly, attempting to not wake up the sleeping Wei Li'an in front of him.

He paused for a moment, looking at the face slightly buried under the blankets, his eyes closed. The corners of Cai Minyou's mouth slightly raised, seeing the chest of the other calmly rise and fall. He was going to consider getting an extra blanket for the other because the other only had a singlet on, but after having a second look, the other looked comfortable. It was good that Wei Li'an was able to settle in well and have a sleep after the initial round was finished. Cai Minyou then continued up the stairs, settling himself in his large bed. He brought the blanket over himself, closing his eyes.

After an eventful, tiring day of transitioning from the initial stage to the first round, he could finally rest.

Rest?

A thud could be heard in the room, causing Cai Minyou's eyes to open. The sound was heard very close to Cai Minyou, making him slightly more awake than before. He held onto the edge of his blanket, unknowingly grasping it tight. He slowly lifted up his head, barely being able to see anything due to the darkness. The edge of the bed was slightly blocking his view, so he was only able to see the top half of the room from his position.

He shook his head before he laid fully back down. It was probably Qin Hao or Wei Li'an accidentally hitting something during their sleep. Turning to the side, he couldn't help it but think about it further. His head, deep into the pillow, was full of thoughts relating to the noise.

He should stop overthinking and get to sleep. Tomorrow was where the first meeting for their performance was, and it was probably a dance stage he had to do. He needs energy.

But before he was able to close his eyes further, the lights had turned on along with a louder thud, startling him. He quickly sat up, being able to see the whole room clearly from the top bunk.

What he saw was not what he expected.

Against the wall, next to the door, there was Wang Zhengliang, holding Xu Haiqiao by his collar. The male had his back against the lightswitch, which had turned it on. Wang Zhengliang's face was close to Xu Haiqiao, as he was pinned against the wall.

Cai Minyou's eyes widened. He quickly leaned forward, putting his hand on the edge of the bunk bed, taking a closer look. Surely, Xu Haiqiao was standing there, with a dead expression, as his collar was held tightly by Wang Zhengliang with a maddened expression.

"Haiqiao? Liang Ge?" Cai Minyou leaned forward, careful to not fall directly off the bed either from leaning too forward, or from shock. "What are you doing here?" He asked in a whispering voice, afraid he was going to wake up Wei Li'an and Qin Hao who were probably still sleeping.

However, Cai Minyou did not receive any answer, as Wang Zhengling continued to look at Xu Haiqiao with a mad expression. Cai Minyou watched silently, slightly confused about what was going on. He watched as Xu Haiqiao turned his head to the side in a cool manner, but it seemed like he was looking at someone else.

That someone else was.....

Cai Minyou quickly left the comfort of his bed, climbing down the stairs to give the situation a closer look.

And there, sitting on Qin Hao's bed, was Wei Li'an. Cai Minyou's eyes widened. Not only because he was handsome, but it was that the other was completely dressed in different attire.

His mouth slightly gaped, seeing the glasses resting on his nose, accompanied by the beige suit with a red chequered tie. This completely contrasted the simple singlet that he was wearing when he was sleeping. He sat on the bed with a formal posture, holding a photograph in one hand. Xu Haiqiao had looked at Wei Li'an, completely disregarding the presence of Cai Minyou.

It was not because Wei Li'an suddenly changed outfits, but it was because he had not recognised it at all. Cai Minyou was feeling a mix of confusion and slight panic.

"Hey! Wei Li'an!" Cai Minyou waved a hand in front of his eyes, but Wei Li'an never moved an inch due to his actions. Instead he only kept his eyes on Xu Haiqiao, who still had Wang Zhengliang grabbing onto his collar. "Haiqiao? Liang Ge?"

Cai Minyou watched as Li Zefeng reached out a hand to Wang Zhengliang's shoulder, bringing him away from Xu Haiqiao.

"..."

"Li Zefeng! Since when did you get here?" Cai Minyou only had processed just then that another person in his dorm room. With confusion, he continued to watch as Li Zefeng walked towards Wang Zhengliang, who was in a state that Cai Minyou described as... unable to laugh or cry. Something was wrong with Wang Zhengliang.

Li Zefeng signalled Wang Zhengliang to sit down in Cai Minyou's desk chair, which made Cai Minyou confused.

"That's my chair! Go sit on the extra one, no one's sitting there." Cai Minyou exclaimed, trying to hold back the confusion he had. He had completely disregarded that he was speaking to his elders in this manner, but despite how Cai Minyou spoke to the 4, they never replied or realised that Cai Minyou was standing there.

He turned back to see Wei Li'an, who took something else out of his pocket. A joker card.

"A joker card....?" Cai Minyou, who doubled his confusion, watched as Wei Li'an threw the card carelessly on the ground in front of Wang Zhengliang. His eyes travelled to Wang Zhengliang, who had slumped into the chair after seeing this card.

He watched as Wang Zhengliang's facial expressions turned into those of despair.

It was previously silent before, but now the room was full of noise, coming from the broken, psychotic laugh of Wang Zhengliang. Cai Minyou stood there helplessly. The male sitting on the chair had a broken expression on his face, as he continued to laugh painfully, with hints of sadness in it,

"Liang-Liang Ge! Are you okay?" He rushed up to Wang Zhengliang, who continued to laugh as if Cai Minyou did not exist. Still with a few sobs and laughs, he leaned forward, before picking up the card that was previously thrown on the ground.

The male standing watched as Wang Zhengliang started to wave the card around slowly, in a psychotic manner. Cai Minyou had no idea whether to feel scared or pity Wang Zhengliang. What had happened in the span between when he last saw him earlier this day and now? He stood there helplessly, watching the other continue to wave the card around.

Cai Minyou turned around, seeing Wei Li'an sit there with a satisfactory expression. His eyes then travelled to the bed he was sitting on, seeing the sleeping male, Qin Hao.

Even after all the hysterical laughing and sobbing, Qin Hao still managed to sleep through it all. Cai Minyou, with panicked steps, walked up to the bed of Qin Hao, using his hand to shake him.

"Hao Hao, Qin Hao, wake up." Cai Minyou continued to shake the sleeping male, but to no avail, the other still did not open his eyes. At this point, the awake male was panicking, slightly hyperventilating, Wang Zhengliang had turned crazy, Xu Haiqiao, Wei Li'an and Li Zefeng were just watching, doing nothing about it, and Qin Hao was sleeping, unable to be woken up.

He stopped trying to shake Qin Hao awake, and turned his attention to Xu Haiqiao and Wei Li'an, who were just watching from the sidelines.

"Haiqiao, Wei Li'an, are you going to do anything about this?" Cai Minyou questioned, looking at the two. "Are you just going to watch Wang Zhengliang lose his mind?"

As Cai Minyou expected, both the two other males were unresponsive. He heaved a great sigh, feeling helpless as Wang Zhengliang continued with the unusual behaviour.

Cai Minyou was scared.

In the middle of the dorm, he sat down, burying himself into his knees, his arms wrapped around them. Slightly shaking, he tried to fight back tears that were coming to his eyes. He had no idea why he felt the urge to cry, but seeing this unfamiliar situation play in front of him. Being alone, unable to communicate with others, unable to help...

"You can help them."

"Huh?"

"Welcome, participant #1, to the assessment task.《Task 1》 of the assessment has started. Thank you for your participation."

Cai Minyou looked up, wondering where the voice was from. It sounded similar to the voice that would usually voice over the speakers of the place whenever there was a dorm activity or rules were being announced.

That 'thank you for your participation' really sounded like 'go die, please'.

"What assessment? Are you going to introduce me to this assessment or not?" Cai Minyou spoke, feeling a bit stupid talking to an entity he didn't even know. He was surprised himself; he responded so casually, still processing that he was just announced as a 'participant' in a 'assessment'. Surrounded by unresponsive Xu Haiqiao, Li Zefeng, and Wei Li'an who had his hands on Wang Zhengliang's shoulders now, he felt a bit awkward to talk about a random assessment, but he did anyway.

"During the preparation for 《Yi Gong》, you are given a task. You must complete this task before the performance day. If the task is not completed, a chosen group will receive a punishment.

*You are a new participant, so the group has been chosen for you. Once you gain more experience, you get the freedom to choose your own groups.*

Group chosen: Sleeptalking

Main member: Wang Zhengliang

Side members: Xu Haiqiao, Wei Li'an, Li Zefeng

Punishment: The listed members will adopt the personality of their -Yi Gong- performance character

Good luck."

Cai Minyou sat there, as the hoard of information had come way too quickly for him. He attempted to process the information, as the scene of the 4 members played around him.

There was too much to process.

He sat there, thinking about it. He had to complete a task, if not completed, Wang Zhengliang's group will become their performance characters.

He had too many questions. None of them even knew what their Yi Gong performance would be, not even Wang Zhengliang's group themselves. They had their meeting the next day. How was the scene in front of him still playing out? And most importantly... what was the task?

"You haven't even told me whatever task you want me to complete. How do you want me to do it?" Cai Minyou's words were added with a bit of annoyance, slightly frustrated by the whole situation.

To Cai Minyou's dismay, the voice answered very vaguely. "There will always be clues."

What clues? Clues, your head. Cai Minyou, closed his eyes, absolutely tired with all the different emotions he had felt in one night. He shook his head, before seeing the free bed on the lower bunk. He did not have the energy to climb back up to his own bed, and Wei Li'an was currently doing whatever he was doing to Wang Zhengliang.

So why not? Cai Minyou would rather sleep on the floor than go climb back up the stairs. He had wasted too much energy for one day, and all he wanted to do was sleep now. Maybe if he woke up, he would find that this situation was all part of his illusion.

He slowly made his way over to the large bed, slipping himself under the covers. As Cai Minyou closed his eyes, it was the first time he had felt tranquillity that day.

~~