Chapter 159: Xu Ning

Estimating that Lin Chen wouldn’t survive, Qi Si posted a ‘6’ as a form of hospice care, just enough to round off his point total once again.

He exited the game space and opened his eyes on the bed.

The orange afternoon sunlight slanted into the room, casting a warm diamond shape that slanted across his white shirt, making it look as if he were being cut in half at the waist.

Qi Si checked the time: two in the afternoon. It was still early for dinner, which counted as a bit of good news.

—At least it meant he didn’t need to drag his body out of bed to prepare survival supplies for the time being.

After lying motionless for a while, staring as the play of light and shadow on the wall shifted by the width of a palm, Qi Si finally moved his fingers, shifted his elbow joint, and grabbed the phone by his pillow.

Considering that holding the phone up to play would be more draining, he reluctantly rolled over and lay on his side to unlock the screen. He went straight to the game forum and searched for the name ‘Dong Ziwen’.

Qi Si had many theories about how Dong Xiwen could enter the official pool as a newcomer, and one of them was… that it was related to his younger brother who had died early.

As for the specific connection, he would need to gather more information to make a judgment. Of course, this didn’t stop Qi Si from looking for clues in the forum first. Although most people would intentionally hide their real names, who knew if he might find some traces?

The search results loaded, showing only a few posts that seemed highly relevant.

Qi Si’s gaze fell on a thread marked in red:

#【Exposing】 A bastard named Dong Ziwen killed us all!#

The post detailed a young man calling himself ‘Dong Ziwen’ who didn’t fit in with the group as soon as he entered the instance. Later, for some unknown reason, he disappeared.

At first, the players didn’t pay much attention, until they found that key items in multiple locations had mysteriously vanished, NPC aggro had mysteriously spiked, and the instance difficulty had mysteriously skyrocketed. Only then did they realize that ‘Dong Ziwen’ had triggered the instance’s TE (True Ending) clear route.

The players had no choice but to find ‘Dong Ziwen’ and propose a collaboration. As it turned out, ‘Dong Ziwen’ not only refused but also designed a trap to lock the NPCs’ aggro onto them, causing them to be chased in a panic.

They finally managed to escape the ghosts and stumbled upon the exit, only to find the door locked from the outside. Needless to say, it was the work of ‘Dong Ziwen,’ who had left first. Predictably, they died trapped in the instance amidst despair and resentment, and unanimously spent the last half hour of their lives exposing him.

The post was from two years ago, which matched the timeline. However, the name ‘Dong Ziwen’ was quite common, so the possibility that someone else used it as a pseudonym couldn’t be ruled out.

Qi Si casually clicked to bookmark it, but a prompt popped up requiring him to register with his real name. He could only use the most primitive method: taking screenshots of the post’s content and saving them to his album.

As usual, the forum was filled with fluff posts, trading threads, strategy guides, and ‘insider info’ of dubious authenticity. A group of people were shouting the name of ‘God Fu,’ foolishly harboring the hope that they could escape the Eerie Game upon waking up.

【’I can feel the game’s favoritism toward Fu Jue more and more. No, to be more precise, Fu Jue is just too suited for this game. No puzzle along the way has managed to stump him, and he possesses all the knowledge required by the instances. He’s practically a humanoid computer!’】

【’What God Fu said at the end of the instance really shook me: “Humans can choose for themselves without the interference of old gods; anyone who attempts to become a god should be slain upon the throne, including me.” What audacity! Truly worthy of being the Chief!’】

【’Making a wish before bed, hoping to wake up tomorrow to news that the final instance has been cleared. I am God Fu’s dog, woof woof woof!’】

Qi Si: “…”

He really wanted to block all posts containing keywords like ‘Fu Jue,’ ‘God Fu,’ and ‘Chief,’ but unfortunately, the game forum seemed intent on filling his eyes with trash and didn’t provide a block option.

He could only spontaneously ignore the heap of anti-intellectual waste on the front page and go search for clear guides and insights for ‘Grand Performance’ on his own.

There were thirty-nine entries in total, all regarding the NE (Normal Ending) ‘Bloody Tragicomedy.’ The method to achieve it was to strictly follow the game rules set by Charlie and survive until the end of the Battle Royale phase to become the sole survivor.

A theoretical player analyzed with certainty:

【’From the instance “Grand Performance,” it’s not hard to glimpse the malice of the Eerie Game. It tries every possible means to catalyze the sins of players, enticing us to abandon morality and alienate our own personalities.’】

【’In every round of the game, if you don’t want to die a miserable death, you must find a way to knock other players out and have them endure the painful death process in your stead. That’s not all; players must further harm others outside the game rules (i.e., using items to kill other players), or they will only fall into an endless loop.’】

【’Survival or death? Die while upholding your morality, or live by abandoning it? The Eerie Game unashamedly lays this question bare before everyone, forcing us to make a choice.’】

【’Those who die aren’t necessarily good people, but everyone who survives is guilty. I’ve actually always had a question: even if we clear the final instance and end the Eerie Game, can we really go back? Will we really still be accepted by the world?’】

Qi Si read on with interest and found that many players expressed a pessimistic attitude as well.

Some said they had already become neither human nor ghost, hanging on only by the Eerie Game’s wish-fulfillment mechanism. Some said that if all the anomalies disappeared and the Federation knew they were once ‘players,’ they would likely be strictly monitored for the sake of maintaining social stability. Others self-destructively proposed that since everyone had already suffered so much and faced the risk of being targeted or marginalized, they might as well drag more people into the game… This thread had unknowingly become a base for the’slaughter-style’ players’ rhetoric. It still hadn’t been banned, likely serving some sort of ‘fishing’ enforcement purpose.

Qi Si gloated for a second over all the idiots who left comments with their real names, then searched the forum for the keyword ‘No. 33 Middle School,’ which again turned up a bunch of NE clear guides.

He skimmed through them and, after confirming that in this instance, one wouldn’t survive after entering the teacher’s office, he left satisfied.

Although he was somewhat satisfied with Lin Chen as a tool, he had left quite a few flaws in the ‘Rose Manor’ instance due to lack of experience. Heaven knew if the guy would suddenly have an epiphany and figure things out… In any case, a dead person was always the most reassuring.

After exiting the game forum, Qi Si suddenly felt like reading a book.

Having done quite a bit of drama-related reading in ‘Grand Performance,’ he couldn’t help but recall his childhood addiction to reading.

For a long time, he was like a two-dimensional creature trapped in a black-and-white world, with all emotions and colors walled off, difficult to understand or grasp.

It wasn’t until he stepped into the realm of reading that he first learned what the world truly looked like from the narratives of others—or rather, what it looked like in the eyes of normal people.

Surging, tumultuous emotions and brilliant, magnificent colors were indirectly funneled into this non-human creature. Although he couldn’t obtain the actual feelings, they stimulated a desire to touch that bordered on the mischievous, much like an animal first learning to stand upright, attempting to steal fire from the gods… Qi Si rolled over again, calculating the distance between his bedroom and the bookshelf in the living room, and ultimately gave up on the idea of looking for a book.

He pulled out his phone and searched for a few book titles from his memory, but as expected, found nothing.

Too many things were ‘forbidden.’ Physical books might still circulate in small circles, but certain e-books had long since had all traces wiped from databases.

Fortunately, Qi Si, who had already acquired color, had no obsession with revisiting old books.

He exited the browser, clicked into happy match, and started playing from Level 1,098.

At five in the evening, Qi Si finally got out of bed.

He glanced at the sky darkening outside the window, dragged his feet into the kitchen, and picked a pack of instant noodles to open.

Unluckily, after he picked up the thermos and poured out half a bowl of water, he discovered that the water inside was no longer hot.

He had two choices: either reheat a kettle of water or turn on the stove to cook a bowl of noodles with the instant noodle seasonings.

Qi Si considered for two seconds, decided he wasn’t very hungry, so he put down the instant noodles, went back to the bedroom, and lay down on the bed again.

Twilight gradually deepened, and the dim yellow streetlights lit up in a row along the road toward the horizon, staining the black sky with a few streaks of the earth’s hue.

His phone suddenly chimed with a notification. Qi Si saw a new message pop up.

【Jin Yusheng】: Old Qi, we agreed to get together tomorrow, you remember, right? If you don’t have other plans, be there or be square.

Qi Si narrowed his eyes slightly and finally retrieved a small, nearly faded snippet of information from his mind.

Jin Yusheng had fallen for a girl and made an appointment to play a Script Kill game together, wanting to drag him along to fill out the group… This would be normal for anyone else, but for Jin Yusheng, it was indescribably strange.

At the time, considering he hadn’t let Jin Yusheng owe him a new favor in a while, Qi Si had casually agreed and hadn’t really kept it in mind. Now being specifically reminded, and with a hint of deliberately hidden solemnity, he couldn’t help but care.

Judging by Jin Yusheng’s tone, the girl he liked should be a ‘normal person.’ If it worked out, Jin Yusheng would likely gradually fade out of the gray area and lead a normal person’s life.

Once a person relaxes, it’s easy to let things slip in the details. Countless pieces of evidence pointing to illegal dealings might be blurted out during jokes or after drinking… More importantly, Qi Si found that many of his affairs were handled through Jin Yusheng. If he left this circle, Qi Si really wouldn’t be able to find a replacement in a short time… “What a hassle…” Qi Si sat up and read through the exchange of messages. His originally calm mood felt a faint, lurking irritability once again.

He was always suspicious and only barely trusted Jin Yusheng among his acquaintances, which was why he had dragged him into the gray area to handle some odd jobs. This also meant that if something went wrong with the Jin Yusheng link, he wouldn’t be far from being exposed.

He had indeed considered not putting all his eggs in one basket and planned to find a few more people as replacements, but he hadn’t had time to implement it. It seemed many items needed to be put on the agenda now.

“As I thought, from the very beginning, I shouldn’t have hoped that a mediocre ordinary person could stay with me for long. I should have realized long ago that there are always a few idiots who damnably yearn for so-called peaceful lives and are keen on the drama of ‘retiring at the height of success’…”

Qi Si threw himself back onto the bed, the thud swallowing his last few words.

He suddenly noticed a sense of incongruity. Jin Yusheng had known him for many years and should have a clear understanding of his ways. Why would he still think of inviting him along?

Qi Si glanced at the calendar; tomorrow happened to be ‘April 1st’… On the morning of April 1st, Qi Si got up at exactly eight o’clock, went downstairs to buy an egg-filled pancake, and took the bus.

At eight fifty-one, an hour and nine minutes before the appointed time, he reached the stop and pulled up the phone’s navigation.

He wandered around for a full half hour to the prompt of ‘You have arrived near your destination,’ yet still couldn’t find that legendary Script Kill shop. He could only find a bench in the plaza to sit down.

This area wasn’t old, but it wasn’t new either. The restaurants hadn’t opened yet; only a few clothing stores had opened their doors, driving away the beggars blocking their entrances while turning on the lights in their shops.

The beggars dragged their bedding to move elsewhere. A few stood with their hands swinging, their eyes darting toward Qi Si, much like scrawny rats in a sewer coveting a piece of stinking cheese.

They quickly made a decision and, with wooden, expressionless faces, wobbled toward Qi Si.

As they walked, they pulled out blue and green payment codes from their pockets, staring at Qi Si with cloudy, lusterless eyes.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Qi Si had to stand up and wander around further away.

At nine forty-six, Qi Si finally saw a familiar figure in the hazy morning light.

The young man in his early twenties had his hair in a small brown braid, had taken off his sunglasses, and had changed into a blue T-shirt, different from his usual attire.

It was Jin Yusheng.

A few steps behind him followed a long-haired woman in a gray jacket and black jeans. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties, and her appearance could only be described as plain.

Jin Yusheng also saw Qi Si and walked over quickly, introducing somewhat awkwardly, “Qi Si, this is… the one I told you about.”

“Hello, my name is Xu Ning,” the woman stepped forward and greeted with a smile. “Nice to meet you.”