Chapter 2 Rose Manor (I) rule-based horror

Dark grey clouds pressed over the grey-purple sky, crushing the pale, powerless, cold sunlight. Damp moisture floated in the air, as if it could condense into water droplets and fall at any moment.

Qi Si opened his eyes and found himself standing in a Gothic manor. The towering ancient castle in front of him cast a monster-like shadow, engulfing him from above.

The ancient castle looked old; its walls were covered in decaying vines that resembled a network of meridians, splitting them into fragmented pieces.

In front of the ancient castle was a sea of roses. Every rose was blooming vigorously, with branches and leaves growing wildly, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws.

A light grey, semi-transparent panel appeared in the upper-left corner of his vision. It was no different from the system interface found in common third-rate games on the market, and silver-white prompt text refreshed on it.

【instance Name: “Rose Manor”】

【instance Type: Team Survival (6 people)】

【main quest: Survive for three days, crack the rule】

【Prerequisite Hint: Flowery language is disgusting; in this instance, no NPC will deceive players with their words.】

“Is this the start of the instance already?”

Qi Si stroked the silver bracelet on his right wrist, his gaze scanning between the four lines of text, finally resting on the last one.

—He knew well that the truth could sometimes be used to deceive.

Using a series of incomplete truths to lead people down the wrong path; this was something he happened to be very good at.

A soft, narrated voice sounded in his ears.

【What exactly is the most beautiful thing in the world? She spent her whole life searching, until her beautiful face turned into a skeleton of bones.】

【The beauty-loving girl planted a garden full of roses, hoping the sea of flowers would pay the price for her beauty.】

【She looked at the roses in the garden, which were gradually aging, and began to ponder: Can roses never wither again? Can the beauty she loves never grow old?】

【Respected guests, welcome to Miss Anna’s Rose Manor.】

The voice was pinched extremely thin, like the mumbling of a fragile little girl, but the tone gave a sense of lifeless twilight, like an ancient Graveyard after the rain, damp and decaying.

Unfortunately, Qi Si had always lacked awe for Ghosts and the unknown, and he didn’t have the habit of overthinking or scaring himself.

He chuckled, lifted his foot to step onto the damp path, passed through the deep and dense sea of flowers, and stood still in front of the stone gate covered in withered vines.

He pushed the door open and entered.

…

The interior of the ancient castle was simply furnished. A huge, antique-style mechanical clock was placed in the corner, conveying a sense of age that blurred time and space.

The hall was dimly lit. In the center, there was a long marble table with a fruit basket on it. The candlelight from the nearby candelabra flickered, forming the only light source in the ancient castle.

A main seat was placed facing the door at the long table, with three chairs on each side. Five people were already seated.

These five people were naturally all players.

“This is a team survival instance. According to the Forum, we need to unite and cooperate to fight against the endless crises. We are still in the preparation stage, and we don’t know any clues, so why don’t we get to know each other first?”

The first to speak was a middle-aged man wearing glasses. He had a generic face that would be indistinguishable in a crowd, wore a suit and trousers, and at a glance, looked like a reliable social elite, making people trust him.

“My name is Shen Ming. This is my third instance. After clearance of this instance, I will be an official player. I am the general manager of a listed company; you should be able to find my information online after you get out.”

He paused, his tone relaxed: “I’ve earned quite a lot over the years. Since being selected by the Eerie Game, I’ve invested part of my funds into the research of horror, and I have achieved some results.”

“Wow, a big shot! It looks like this instance is secure! How about I call you Brother Shen from now on?” A girl with a ponytail chimed in actively.

She looked like she was only sixteen or seventeen, with two dimples on her face when she smiled. From beginning to end, she didn’t show the slightest sign of fear, as if she were here for a tour.

“My name is Liu Qingye, this is my second time in an instance. You can just call me Yezi. I used to be a ghost-hunting streamer, so I’m quite bold and naturally not afraid of Ghosts. You don’t need to worry about me holding you back.”

With two people starting, other players also introduced themselves one after another.

“This is my first time, my name is Lin Chen…” The last one to speak was a young man in a hospital gown. His face was as white as paper, looking like he was too weak to be nourished and suffering from an incurable injury.

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly stared at the direction of the ancient castle gate, his eyes widening.

Everyone followed his gaze and saw that someone was standing in the shadows of the door at some point.

The person looked to be in his twenties, wearing a white shirt and black trousers, with a slender build. Under his black short hair, his face was delicate and soft, but his complexion was pale like a phantom, making him look more like a Ghost than a human overall.

And if one looked closely, one could also find spots of blood on his shirt, as if he had just experienced a murder case.

This latecomer had no self-awareness of being regarded as a dangerous creature. Seeing that he had become the focus of attention, he smiled nonchalantly: “Qi Si, my second instance.”

When Qi Si entered the door, the players’ introductions were coming to an end. He only heard the self-introduction of the young man in the hospital gown.

Upon hearing the words “first time,” he immediately realized that some of these players were probably not entering an instance for the first time; otherwise, there would be no need to make the unnecessary effort of mentioning the number of times.

In a game involving life and death, even if team cooperation is required, it does not mean that strangers can trust each other.

Qi Si did not believe that these people would take care of a newcomer, and he didn’t want to be kept in the dark like a fool, becoming cannon fodder for trial and error for no reason.

Therefore, he lied with a calm expression.

“Hello there, handsome. My name is Liu Qingye, you can call me Yezi.” Yezi greeted him quite familiarly, then looked at the bloodstains on Qi Si’s body and asked curiously, “Is the stuff on your clothes real blood? You didn’t just come from a murder scene, did you?”

Qi Si toyed with his fingers and smiled gently: “I am a Specimen Maker. I was processing a specimen before coming here and didn’t have time to change my clothes.”

Yezi’s eyes widened: “Don’t you look at the countdown? Don’t you know you have to enter the instance at this time? I was already lying on my bed an hour before the countdown ended…”

The smile on Qi Si’s face did not fade: “So what? I’m not here to attend a ball, and this isn’t a good place for chance encounters.”

No problems, very reasonable, irrefutable, but why does it feel so strange?

Yezi pursed her lips, not entirely convinced by this explanation, but she didn’t say anything more.

The middle-aged man named “Shen Ming” took on the responsibility of being the team leader and simply repeated everyone’s self-introductions to Qi Si.

Qi Si sat in an empty seat, tilting his head and listening attentively.

The quality of this batch of players looked good at first glance, all belonging to the category worth being made into specimens. Except for the mature and capable Shen Ming and the jumpy Lin Chen, the others were all in their second instance.

The young man in the black hoodie sitting at the corner of the table was named “Chang Xu,” who claimed to be a police officer. He sat on the chair with his back straight, expressionless, with a gloomy gaze, giving off a feeling of indifference for no reason.

Opposite Shen Ming, the tall woman was named “Zou Yan,” wearing a white trench coat. In reality, she was a psychologist. Even in the instance, she always had a soothing smile on her lips, making it impossible for people to feel bad about her.

Yezi seemed to be someone who liked liveliness, looking around at everyone mischievously: “Hey, have you heard that gossip? Several major guilds might be led by the big shot Fu Jue to cooperate against the Final Dungeon…”

The players chimed in one after another, and under Yezi’s lead, they quickly became familiar with each other, chatting about anecdotes related to the Eerie Game.

The tension was diluted for a while. If it weren’t for the oppressive and gloomy stone walls of the ancient castle without windows, and the faint smell of blood mixed in the floral fragrance, few people would be able to remember that this was a horror game where people could die.

Only the second time entering the game, and they could already have such a good mentality?

Qi Si listened quietly to the exchanges of the experienced players, occasionally saying a word or two of ambiguous remarks, collecting a lot of useful information back and forth.

For example, the ways players entered the instance were different; some were driven by strong desires, while others were selected for no reason.

For example, no matter how serious the injury suffered in the instance, as long as they could survive the clearance, it would not be brought to reality.

For another example, after dying in the game, the body in reality would die in a reasonable way within half an hour.

Amidst the eager conversation, a sound of wheels rolling suddenly came from the corner of the ancient castle. The raw “clatter-clatter” sound made people think of the friction of joints.

Everyone closed their mouths in unison.

In the shadows of the corner, a man wearing a black butler uniform pushed a dining cart and appeared in front of the players like a ghost.

To be fair, his features could be considered handsome, but the texture of his skin was extremely distorted, like an inflatable doll.

Seeing that the players were staring at him intently, a flamboyant smile hung on the butler’s oily, smooth face: “Respected guests, Miss Anna will be here soon, she will dine with you.

“Of course, our manor has many taboos. For the sake of your safety, I hope you read and remember them carefully.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a piece of paper filled with words appeared out of thin air in the center of the long table, the blood-colored handwriting twisted and hideous.

Qi Si looked down, and the moment his eyes touched it, lines of text refreshed on the system interface in the upper-left corner of his vision.

【1. The manor provides two meals, morning and evening. Please come to the hall for meals at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM; after 9:00 PM is rest time.】

【2. Time is the most important thing. If you wake up at night, please ensure that you know the exact time at all times.】

【3. Miss Anna likes guests and has no malice towards them, but please remember the correct form of address, which is “Miss Anna” and not anything else.】

【4. Do not refuse Miss Anna’s requests, and try to satisfy everything she puts forward. Miss Anna dislikes disobedient guests.】

【5. Miss Anna likes to wear red dresses. Miss Anna wearing a red dress can be trusted; if you see Miss Anna wearing black clothes, please try to keep your distance from her.】

【6. Do not leave the castle at night, do not pick the roses in the manor, beware of the roses.】

【7. Only Ghosts can kill humans; please firmly believe that you are human.】

【8. If you have to violate certain rules in an emergency, please ensure that you violate as few rules as possible; perhaps she will… let you go.】