Chapter 150: The Grand Performance (XIII) – “Resurrection”

Room 6 was Dong Xiwen’s room. After the players tore off the wallpaper, they similarly found no new clues.

Dong Xiwen explained, “I found the script fragment for the first act on the desk; it was just sitting right there in plain sight. I almost suspected this dungeon was insulting my intelligence.”

Qi Si nodded and looked at the desk in the corner of the room. “Dong Xiwen, I have a feeling the ghost corresponding to your room is likely related to writing. You’d better stay away from that desk later.”

Dong Xiwen truly hadn’t expected Qi Si to be so kind. In his view, if there were a way to clear the dungeon by killing everyone else, this homicidal comrade would certainly implement it without hesitation.

What was he doing? Showing goodwill? Pretending to be a good person?

Qi Si looked at Dong Xiwen’s wary expression and only smiled indifferently. Saying “I’ll head out first,” he left the room and returned to his own.

He leaned against the door, listening to the players’ footsteps scatter. Once he estimated everyone had returned to their rooms, he turned the doorknob again and stepped out.

The stage was already empty, with only neon lights shining from various angles onto the polished, reflective floor, decorating the entire scene in a brilliant glow that blurred the vision.

For a brief moment, dark shadows could be seen hidden beneath the spots of light, but they too vanished in a flash, impossible to see clearly.

Qi Si walked straight toward Room 6.

Ever since the first act ended, he had a faint premonition that this dungeon was not simple.

Faced with a complex dungeon, one must either kill the other players or stir up the situation… In Room 6, only after everyone had left did Dong Xiwen fish a black card out of his pocket.

【Role Card – Audience】

【Description: He is an uninvited guest, barging from outside onto the stage where the actors perform their story. He makes no sound, peeping and critiquing from the sidelines, providing rich feedback and emotion. He seems to have more opportunities to know the full scope of the story, yet also seems to be part of the play himself, troubled by the playwright’s narrative trickery.】

【Effects: 1. ‘Progress Bar’ – You can see the progress of the script;】

2. ‘Otherworldly Realm’ – You are not in the same dimension as the actors and cannot receive physical damage from them.】

This was the card Dong Xiwen had picked up after entering Room 5.

At that time, the moment he crossed the threshold, it was as if he had entered a parallel space-time. The surrounding scenes were familiar yet different from his memories.

He was at his younger brother’s school, attending at the same time as a senior student.

Images flashed before his eyes, accompanied by a narrator explaining the background, as if he were playing a text-based simulation game. But in Dong Xiwen’s eyes, every frame was so real; when he saw his brother’s smiling face, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.

A voice whispered persuasively in his ear:

“Those bullies haven’t laid a hand on Xiao Wen yet, but you know exactly what they look like. Kill them, and Xiao Wen won’t have to die.”

“They are all guilty. Judging the crimes they will commit in the future ahead of time can save the victim before it happens. This is an act of justice. What are you still hesitating for?”

Dong Xiwen looked up and saw his own sin.

It was a giant black scale floating overhead, casting a shadow that could almost envelop the entire city. Beneath it, ghostly shadows flickered; it did not look solemn or holy, but instead eerie and terrifying.

【Ghost Name: Scales of Judgment】

【Corresponding Player: Dong Xiwen】

【Description: A giant scale that delights in forcing humans to choose between good and evil. It sets up difficult scenarios to test humanity and kills those who give the wrong answer. What exactly is the correct answer? No one knows; perhaps it doesn’t know itself, ha, ha, ha.】

【…】

Dong Xiwen was lifted by a force and flown into the air.

The Role Card was placed steadily in the center of the scales. After he landed, he bent down and picked it up. Immediately after, he learned from the system prompts that he was the fourth character to “learn their destiny.”

“So I’m actually the Audience? Wait, didn’t Charlie say we’re all both actors and Audience? Why is this identity singled out? Did the playwright run out of ideas when designing the role cards?” Dong Xiwen spoke in a mocking tone, involuntarily thinking back to the start of the dungeon.

He was the only person who had entered the dungeon scene from outside the door, and he had remained on the periphery of the focus ever since, playing no positive or negative role, acting as a spectator from beginning to end.

He seemed… indeed quite special.

Knock, knock, knock.

Three unhurried knocks sounded from outside the door, and the sleepiness that had just begun to settle in Dong Xiwen mostly dissipated.

The next second, he heard a familiar voice speak gently: “Dong Xiwen, it’s me, Zhou Ke.”

“Zhou Ke”? What was he doing here? He wouldn’t be trying to solo-kill me, would he?

He wasn’t afraid of being solo-killed, given the effect of his Role Card, but who knew if the person outside was a ghost in disguise?

As Dong Xiwen hesitated on how to respond, the voice outside suddenly gave a faint sigh: “I know you won’t let me in. I only came here to give you a warning: watch out for He Hui.”

“Huh?” Dong Xiwen’s mouth dropped open, but he leaned closer to the door. “Big brother, tell me more.”

“I’ve studied psychology; I can tell she lied about her identity.” Qi Si stood outside the threshold, his tone sincere. “She’s not a supporting character, so she must be either the Protagonist or the Villain. If she were the Protagonist, we would let her live until the end just for the sake of a perfect performance; there’s absolutely no need for her to hide her identity. Therefore, she can only be the Villain.”

“The Villain?” Dong Xiwen didn’t quite believe it. “If she’s the Villain, she’s hidden it too well along the way, hasn’t she? We’re all veteran players; she wouldn’t treat everyone else like fools, would she?”

Qi Si lowered his eyes and said, “There’s another possibility: this dungeon’s definitions of Villain and Protagonist are different. When Mr. Charlie or the Puppet wrote this script, they did so with a distorted, resentful mindset. Naturally, what they wrote wouldn’t be a traditional story. Those script fragments also said this story is full of violence and bloodshed. How could a character as simple and weak as He Hui be the Protagonist?”

Dong Xiwen thought about it carefully and felt that what Qi Si said seemed to make some sense. However, that didn’t prove anything; if he were to make it up, he could also come up with a bunch of reasonable excuses.

Maintaining his rationality, he shook his head and argued, “But the logic of your reasoning is flawed from the start. Even if she’s the Protagonist, she might hide her identity—for example, out of fear of being targeted by the Villain.”

This was undoubtedly the truth. Qi Si’s voice remained calm: “Then do you think it’s possible for a play to have two Protagonists?”

Dong Xiwen’s expression sharpened. “What do you mean?”

Qi Si said solemnly, “I am the Protagonist.”

“You? The Protagonist?”

Without waiting for Dong Xiwen to react, Qi Si continued, “You should have received your Role Card by now, and you’ve probably guessed how they are obtained, right?”

“By entering the room where one’s corresponding sin resides?”

Qi Si gave an “mm” of affirmation and said, “He Hui was the first to get a Role Card. It can basically be determined that her sin was in Room 3, which she chose. Just how many heinous things do you think she must have done to have such a great sin?”

Dong Xiwen’s breathing quickened.

From the beginning, He Hui had shown a weak, victim-like face, which naturally triggered his sympathy and protective instinct. But now he was being told that it was all a facade and deception… How could someone capable of performing to such a degree be a good person?

Dong Xiwen thought for a moment and asked, “Is your sin in Room 1? Cynthia targeted you like that because she encountered your sin, right?”

“Yes,” Qi Si admitted frankly. “But I have never hidden my so-called’sin,’ have I?”

Dong Xiwen squinted. “No matter how you look at it, you’re the more dangerous one, okay… To kill and eat people and then describe it with a straight face—your values have long since deviated from the norm, haven’t they?”

Qi Si asked in return, “Aren’t yours as well?”

Dong Xiwen let out an “Eh?” through the door, his rising intonation signaling his confusion.

Qi Si said neither hot nor cold, “In my worldview, anyone who harms even a fraction of my interests deserves a miserable death. In your view, this unfair world needs a revolution. Clearly, in the short term, neither my rationality nor yours can gain universal recognition. By the measure of those conventional rules, how are you and I any different?”

“Your worldview will never be recognized, no matter what, okay?” Although Dong Xiwen felt it was idiotic to discuss good and evil with a psychopathic murderer, he still took the bait. “While universal values are sometimes outdated, it’s undeniable that they truly benefit the survival of the human species…”

“‘Benefit.'” Qi Si chewed on the word Dong Xiwen had used, laughing. “So ultimately, interest is the only constant. Thus, I also hope that for the sake of interest, you won’t harbor such great hostility toward me, because I have no reason to kill randomly for things that don’t benefit me. At least in my view, Cynthia and He Hui deserve to die more than you do.”

Dong Xiwen finally understood Qi Si’s logic, his eyebrows twitching. “You want to instigate me to join forces with you against Cynthia and He Hui? Well, that logic you mentioned does make some sense, but how do I know you’re not lying to me?”

【Danger is about to descend. Players, please return to your rooms and seek the protection of your rooms.】

The cold system voice rang out at the opportune moment.

After two seconds of silence, Dong Xiwen said, “Why don’t you go back to your room first? I’ll think about it…”

“Verifying my words is simple.” Qi Si’s tone left no room for doubt. “Either I show you my Role Card, or I die once and reappear tomorrow in one piece to verify the ‘Protagonist’s immortality law.'”

Dong Xiwen truly hadn’t expected Qi Si to be so willing to go all out.

He hurriedly opened the door. “Big brother, you’re my big brother, okay? I’ll just open the door and take a look at your Role Card…”

He was basically certain that the “Zhou Ke” outside was a player rather than a ghost, and with the “Otherworldly Realm” effect of his Role Card, there wasn’t much risk in opening the door.

Of course, Qi Si didn’t have any ill intent to begin with.

He never placed much hope in killing other players head-on, so naturally, he wouldn’t think of giving Dong Xiwen a test stab.

After Dong Xiwen opened the door, he nimbly fished his Role Card out of his pocket, flipped it over, and showed it to him.

【Players are not allowed to show their Role Cards to others, and peeking at cards is also not permitted.】

The system prompt appeared on both of their panels simultaneously. The black card in Qi Si’s hand was instantly drowned in white light, making the writing on it unreadable.

Qi Si had expected this, but he still froze for a moment. Two seconds later, he gave a regretful, bitter smile. “It seems I can only die once then.”

Dong Xiwen had already believed him eighty or ninety percent the moment Qi Si showed the Role Card.

If he really had something to hide, his movements wouldn’t have been so swift.

He stopped Qi Si: “Brother Zhou, I believe you, okay? How about we find a place to sit and discuss how to handle tomorrow?”

His movements suddenly froze. He saw the Qi Si before him suddenly become flat, as if downgraded from a three-dimensional being to two-dimensional. The colors on his body turned into clumps of red, yellow, and blue, becoming like a paper person that had fallen into a dye vat.

The paper person fell straight forward, sticking to the floor like a poster. Within seconds, it turned into a thin gray shadow and disappeared.

Before the first act ended, Charlie had said: “The room will only protect the first person who enters it.”

Yes, danger had already descended. Since “Zhou Ke” was not in his own room, he would not receive protection.

This information was something “Zhou Ke” had personally asked for. He knew the danger, yet insisted on coming to Room 6, even willing to die once to prove his identity… Dong Xiwen stared blankly at the gray shadow on the floor, dazed for a long time.

He suddenly remembered that during the first act, it was Qi Si who had spoken up to remind him of the existence of the “Novice Pool.”

And then, in the just-concluded game of blackjack, the hand Qi Si gave Charlie in the last round was a 【10】, and his own remaining card was an 【A】. He had actually taken the initiative to break his own 21 points instead of choosing to let everyone else fail together.

This person… didn’t seem as irredeemably evil as he had originally imagined?

…In Room 3, He Hui was completely unaware that she had already been framed by Qi Si as a lie-filled “Villain.”

She allowed sleepiness to overwhelm her and once again had the same dream as yesterday.

A maze built of glass reflected her figure. Countless pairs of eyes watched her from every angle, while she was completely naked.

Trembling, she began to run, stumbling along.

And at the end of the path, several yellowed sheets of papyrus were stuck to the smooth mirror surface, like bruises, like scars.

【Guard (sneering): We are here on the King’s orders to burn those forbidden scripts. Whoever dares to block us, we’ll just have to destroy them as well!】

【Charlie (pleading): I swear I won’t let those plays be performed again. Please let me keep the few remaining manuscripts! I have nothing left but those things.】

【Guard: I see you’re an old man with ill intentions, still wanting to use demonic words to poison the minds of the people! We will destroy you along with them, destroy you!】

【The Guards shouted loudly, charging into the study with torches. Soon, soaring flames rose from the study, gradually consuming the entire theater.】

【End of Act II】

…【Note】 “Resurrection” is a novel written by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, exposing the hypocritical mask of the feudal ruling class and reactionary officials.