Chapter 6: Rose Manor (5) – Late Night Visitor (Revised)

Everything faded into the distance, including the sound of breathing nearby and the wind far away.

Qi Si stood with his head bowed, standing indifferently, knowing he was dreaming.

A long silence blanketed the world, and it was a long time before the low, mournful music began to play. A faint light illuminated the dark field of vision as a black crow flew past, alighting on the white relief of a cross, turning its head to stare at Qi Si.

An European-style Graveyard unfolded before his eyes. It was evening, and rows of ghastly white tombstones stood in neat lines, looking like teeth growing out of the earth, with the loose soil acting as festering gums.

A tall Idol stood in the center of the Graveyard, its surface glazed with the scarlet twilight. Its hands, held against its chest, cradled a splash of bright red, venomous and jarring to the eyes.

A solemn eulogy rang in his ears: “Today, we bury our father and mother here, as well as our dear sister. May they accompany us forever in the Kingdom of Heaven…”

Qi Si felt that with his scumbag personality, he should burst into laughter and disrupt this orderly funeral scene.

But in this chaotic and hazy dream, he seemed only able to control his body clumsily, unable to make more precise expressions.

With a “swish,” a stark white hand bone broke through the soil, looking exactly like a blood-stained rose under the scarlet glimmer.

It was within arm’s reach. Qi Si tentatively stretched out his right hand to touch it, but a second before he could make contact, a gust of wind rose from the ground, blowing him backward.

His back hit something solid, and his whole body jolted. Qi Si opened his eyes on the bed, locking eyes with the ceiling, which was mottled with grass sprouts and black spots.

“Clang—clang—clang—”

The bell outside the door chimed with a steady rhythm.

It was 3:00 AM.

Qi Si quickly realized that Shen Ming’s previous advice of “don’t think about anything, just keep sleeping” was as absurd as “don’t think about pink elephants.”

After waking up in a dangerous environment, trying to curb one’s racing thoughts and go back to sleep immediately was simply nonsense.

All a player could do was find a way to know the exact time as soon as possible.

Qi Si placed his right hand on his left wrist, counting the seconds by relying on his pulse, which was constant at one beat per second.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Light, nimble footsteps sounded overhead, like the tapping of a wooden cane or the dance steps of someone on tiptoes. It sounded crisp and fragmented in his ears, as uncomfortable as ants crawling on his heart.

This sound was different from Anna’s footsteps; it was lighter and more trembling, giving the impression that the person might buckle at the knees and fall at any moment.

Is there someone else on the Third Floor? Who could it be? Is it Ghosts or a living person?

Qi Si turned his head to look at Lin Chen beside him.

This guy’s breathing was steady; he was out cold, so he wouldn’t be adding to the chaos with any sudden panicking—which was one of the few pieces of good news.

“Tap, tap, tap…” The footsteps overhead sounded for a while longer, then stopped abruptly without warning.

Seventeen seconds later, footsteps with the same tempo came from the direction of the stairs, getting closer and closer.

Qi Si held his breath, staring at the door with his eyes half-open.

Soft, shuffling sounds wandered through the hallway, approaching and then receding, as if searching for something, yet unhurried, like a stroll.

At a certain moment, it stopped, and a knocking sound rang out in the silence, the soft, slow “knock-knock” drifting through the floor.

If Qi Si remembered correctly, the door being knocked on was Room 1, where Ye Zi and Zou Yan were staying, diagonally across from his room.

Both of them were likely asleep, and the knocking was like a stone thrown into the ocean, not stirring up a single ripple.

The thing outside the door knocked for a while, and after waiting for no response, it let out a long sigh.

The footsteps sounded again but changed direction. This time, as if it had a target, it went from far to near in a few seconds.

“Knock, knock, knock.” The familiar knocking sound landed on Qi Si’s door, the frequency identical to the previous one.

Waves of rich floral fragrance condensed in the air, drifting and floating into his nostrils. A hissing sound came from the gap in the door, as if something were trying to force its way in.

Qi Si silently twisted the bracelet on his right wrist, drawing out a cold blade and holding it between two fingers.

“Knock, knock, knock.” The thing outside the door knocked three more times, then fell into a silent wait.

After waiting in vain for a response, the footsteps gradually faded away, and the strange sound at the door gap stopped instantly.

Qi Si narrowed his eyes slightly, drawing out his breathing until it was long and soft, almost blending in with the surrounding silence.

Sure enough, the next second, the footsteps that should have left turned back abruptly.

“Are you asleep?”

A woman’s voice sounded outside the door, soft and delicate, muffled like sleep-talking.

It sounded like Anna’s voice, yet it was slightly distorted, giving an indescribable, weird feeling.

Qi Si remained silent, his fingertips gripping the blade tightly.

“Are you asleep?” she asked again.

The situation was clear now: staying awake at night undoubtedly meant danger, though it was unclear how that danger would manifest and whether it would unreasonably break down the door.

From beginning to end, Qi Si had been silently calculating the time in his heart, so even now, he could accurately state the specific time—3:11:27 AM.

Perhaps because of this, the Ghosts could not act on him directly.

“You’re not asleep, right? Let me in, okay?”

The “Anna” outside the door said softly, sounding both like persuasion and a plea.

“You promised me that you would take me with you tonight… We already agreed on the time…”

“The time has come. Why didn’t you come to find me? I came to find you, so why won’t you see me?”

Qi Si scanned the rules on the system interface, his gaze resting on the fourth one.

【4. Do not refuse Anna’s requests. Try your best to satisfy everything she asks for. Anna dislikes disobedient guests.】

Satisfy Anna’s request—did that really mean he had to open the door and invite her in?

However, was it really Anna outside the door?

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

There wasn’t even a peephole on the guest room door, so how could he judge what color clothes the Anna outside was wearing?

The rule violation at dinner could be excused with “the law doesn’t punish the masses,” but violating it now was almost equivalent to saying to the heavens, “I want to die, don’t save me.”

Although Qi Si was not someone who feared death, dying on the first night would be too rash and embarrassing. He touched his chin, thought for a while, and decisively decided to keep playing dead.

After all, the person outside was clearly making a request—how could a request and a demand be confused?

Besides, didn’t “try your best” itself imply that it was something you could choose to do or not?

Qi Si believed his logic had no flaws and was quite sound.

For random events like waking up at night, which were unavoidable disasters, there was no way to be 100% correct in how one responded; whether one lived or died was all up to luck.

Although he had been unlucky since he was a child, he was not afraid of gambling. As long as the risk was within an acceptable range, what did it matter if he lost the bet?

Anna fussed to herself for a while, then sighed gloomily: “It seems you really are asleep.”

The light footsteps sounded again, moving toward the last door.

Almost at the same time, the sound of wind, seeming real yet illusory, whistled from the direction of the floor-to-ceiling window. Even though the window was tightly closed, the sound forced its way in.

Qi Si closed his eyes tightly, holding his breath and keeping silent.

The next second, a gust of wind from an unknown source blew the curtains open, causing the stool holding down the curtains to tip over with a “clang,” making a clattering sound.

The room key in his chest pocket felt faintly hot, and lines of text refreshed on the system interface in the void.

【Name: Room 2 Key】

【Type: Item (Cannot be taken out of the instance)】

【Effect: When the holder is in the corresponding room, other entities cannot force their way into the room without the holder’s permission.】

【Note: Guests should also have the right to be alone; this is politeness. Of course, this excludes cases where the host is extremely angry.】

Qi Si felt a gaze land on him as if it were physical, stickily licking over every corner.

He calmly maintained steady breathing, as if he had been asleep for a long time; his fingertips pressed the blade into the bedding, leaving no trace, not moving an inch.

The gaze from outside the window lingered for a full minute before reluctantly moving away.

A sigh drifted in the night wind, sounding disappointed and helpless: “It seems you really are asleep…”

At the same time, one could hear “knock-knock” knocking sounds beginning at the door of Room 3, where Shen Ming and Chang Xu were staying, unhurried and incessant…

…

In Room 3, Shen Ming had opened his eyes the moment the 3:00 AM bell rang.

Thinking of the first two rules, his eyelids kept twitching uncontrollably.

He was not a person with many ideas. In reality, he had become a workshop director at the factory by grinding out seniority, and he usually avoided doing things whenever he could.

Standing up this time to pretend to be capable, seizing the position of leader, was truly too bold for him.

But he had no choice. This was his third instance. If the rumors were correct, his mortality rate in this instance would be far higher than others’, and a slight carelessness would lead to being smashed to pieces.

He had to gain an advantage as much as possible, preferably by tricking other players into obeying him.

Unfortunately, things were not going smoothly.

Chang Xu had his own strong opinions and, no matter what Shen Ming said, would just keep a cold face and make no reaction. Qi Si looked gentle and harmless but clearly had his own plans; Zou Yan was unfathomable, and Lin Chen was dispensable…

Shen Ming couldn’t help but complain in his heart about his niece who had given him the idea, talking about “establishing a reliable and decent persona” and “occupying the moral high ground.” It was easy to say, but in reality, it was impossible to implement and instead ended up roasting him on a fire.

He had dragged this stupid niece into the game originally just to find a scapegoat to test the death point for him, not wanting to add so much trouble.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

The knocking sound passed the first two rooms, like a guillotine on the execution platform suddenly falling, and finally arrived along with the footsteps.

Shen Ming tensed his whole body, not making a sound to avoid revealing any flaws.

A soft woman’s voice came from outside the door: “You’re not asleep, right? Let me in, okay?”

【4. Do not refuse Anna’s requests. Try your best to satisfy everything she asks for. Anna dislikes disobedient guests.】

The rules on the system interface were clear and explicit. Shen Ming had once seen with his own eyes a player die in a bizarre way after violating the rules.

If everyone violated the same rule and a random unlucky person had to die, an old player entering the instance for the third time would definitely be the priority choice.

The more Shen Ming thought about it, the less he dared to neglect it. He quickly sat up and was about to get off the bed.

Without warning, a pair of cold hands covered his mouth from behind, pressing him firmly back onto the bed.

Shen Ming struggled violently on instinct, and then he heard Chang Xu’s lowered voice coming from beside him: “If you don’t want to die, be quiet. Don’t let Anna know we’re awake.”

As if to verify his words, the voice outside the door became shrill: “I know you’re not asleep! Open the door! Let me in!”

‘She already knows! If I don’t open the door now, I’ll be violating the rules!’ Shen Ming screamed silently in his heart, no longer able to maintain his sanity.

He struggled suddenly, and although he was still restrained on the bed by Chang Xu, he still made a loud “bang” sound.

As if triggering some switch, the door let out a long, creaking sound, opening slowly and steadily.

A red figure stood at the doorway, messy white hair covering most of her face, easily making one think of the rumored red-clad vengeful ghost coming to claim a life.

Shen Ming was startled, but then he remembered that the fifth rule stated 【Anna wearing a red dress can be trusted】, and he felt slightly relieved.

However, the next second, several vines stretched out from the darkness, wrapping around the red figure and dragging her backward, accompanied by the sobbing sound of “Why do you still want to see him?”

Several more vines rushed straight into the room, attacking toward the bed.

Shen Ming’s heart almost stopped beating, but fortunately, he was not completely unprepared.

Before entering the instance, he had specifically donated most of his wealth to exchange for a life-saving item from the guild.

“I’m sorry, my wife has no job, my children are small, and my whole family depends on me. I must live…”

Shen Ming muttered, trembling as he raised his hand to grasp the amulet hanging on his chest, activating its effect.

【Name: Disaster-Redirecting Talisman】

【Type: Item】

【Effect: Reduces presence to the minimum, avoiding the gaze of the strange (Duration: 30 seconds)】

【Note: They can’t see you, so they’ll have to go find your roommate instead.】

The amulet in his palm felt faintly hot, and Shen Ming saw the vines that were originally attacking him turn their direction, stabbing toward Chang Xu beside him…