Chapter 289 Deception

Lin Chen sat at his computer desk in a daze, his heart unable to calm down for a long time.

He had gathered fragments of useful information from the forums, knowing that there was an official force dedicated to opposing the Eerie Game that would investigate and arrest suspicious players.

But he had never imagined that he would one day become a target of the authorities.

From the attitude of those two police officers, this current crisis had passed, but what about the future?

He had deceived the officials; would there be a day in the future when he’d have his “water meter checked” and vanish from the face of the earth?

The fear of his future fate soon outweighed the guilt of lying. Lin Chen only heard a voice in his heart asking over and over:

What should I do? What on earth should I do?

He also realized in hindsight that Qi Si making him the leader of the Unnamed Guild and telling him about the world-view in the Wraith instance was very likely, as Tang Yu said, an attempt to push him out as a shield… Lin Chen didn’t want to think the worst of someone, but with everything piled together, it was hard not to feel suspicious.

“Lin Chen, sorry, I’ve dragged you into this again.” Qi Si’s voice sounded in his mind, very calm. “Fortunately, they found me first, which gave me time to react and contact you. Looking at it now, the timing was just right.”

So Qi Si was also approached… Lin Chen felt a bit more balanced in his heart.

He said hesitantly, “Brother Qi, they asked me about the Frog Hospital and Wraith instances. I also want to ask, why did I become the MVP of the Wraith instance when I didn’t do anything?”

The voice in his mind went silent for a moment, then let out a sigh. “I didn’t intend to tell you about that, but I guess if I don’t explain it clearly, you’ll definitely think I’m framing you, right?”

Lin Chen wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Qi Si chuckled and said in a tone of pronouncement, “Because I am already a dead person, and a dead person’s name will not appear in any records.

“The Qi Si who cleared the Wraith instance with you was just a wandering ghost spawned by your skill. Isn’t it normal for the performance points to be attributed to you?”

The words were as light as casual conversation, but they struck Lin Chen’s heart like a thousand-pound boulder.

Scenes of his time with Qi Si flashed before his eyes: the dying Qi Si at the end of Frog Hospital, the ghost-like Qi Si in Wraith… He had originally thought Qi Si’s abnormality back then was caused by the instance mechanics, but that didn’t seem to be the case… Qi Si, not yet satisfied, laughed with a mix of lamentation and self-deprecation, drawing out his words: “You might as well think back carefully. After coming out of Frog Hospital, I walked such a long way with you. Did you ever hear the sound of my breathing?”

The answer, naturally, was no.

Lin Chen was startled to realize he had overlooked too many details and couldn’t help but ask sheepishly, “Qi… Brother Qi, what exactly is going on?”

“Isn’t the situation clear? I should have died in Frog Hospital due to skill backlash, but later I was resurrected by the effect of your Identity Card, becoming a living dead man like a walking corpse.”

Qi Si announced the answer weakly, like a teacher frustrated by a student’s dullness. “According to the judgment standards of the Eerie Investigation Bureau or even Jiuzhou Guild, I should be considered contaminated by the eerie and fallen into a Ghost by now.

“If they found out, I expect I’d be in their containment room by tomorrow or the day after.”

Lin Chen had thought of countless answers, but he had never imagined it would be this.

But carefully recalling the fragments of past events, he found this answer exceptionally reasonable.

Resurrecting from the dead couldn’t be without a price. The Identity Card was also a type of eerie, and the activation of its effect was the process of contamination… He had contaminated Qi Si, yet he had naively thought it was over and that he had saved him… Qi Si had been keeping it from him; it must have been because he was afraid Lin Chen would feel guilty, right?

He had caused a huge disaster without knowing it and even suspected Qi Si for some mysterious reason… “What are you thinking about?” Qi Si smiled nonchalantly. “Actually, I’m generally grateful to you. After all, if it weren’t for you, I would have truly died.

“Now I can still open my eyes to see this world. Although I’ve become something neither human nor ghost, at least there’s still hope of clearing the Final Dungeon, isn’t there?”

After finishing his ambiguous speech, Qi Si ignored the still-disoriented Lin Chen and exited the Game Space.

He got up from the bed, walked into the adjacent master bedroom, moved the two skeletons on the bed to one side, lifted the bed board on the other side, and pulled out a cardboard box from inside.

The box contained discarded mobile phones of various models and a dozen SIM cards, most of which had been processed so they were difficult to track when activated.

Qi Si picked out a SIM card and a phone from it and put the box back.

He thanked Ning Xu from the bottom of his heart for self-righteously looking for him half a month ago and startling the snake.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have directly changed his phone number and moved back to Qijia Village for a few days.

In Qijia Village, he had temporarily used the SIM card left by his father as an emergency measure, which led to the Foundation people finding him and causing a lot of trouble.

This made him reflect on the pain as soon as he returned to Jiang City, and he prepared a bunch of SIM cards to hide under the bed for backup.

The phone number he left for Lin Chen was just one of his many numbers. He didn’t know which fake base station the people responsible for anti-tracking in the underworld had connected it to, or where it was positioned.

Even if the Eerie Investigation Bureau wanted to check, they wouldn’t be able to trace it to him.

Qi Si returned to the bedroom and used a wire to lightly poke the phone’s mechanism, causing the SIM card tray to pop out.

Two SIM cards lay on the tray. He picked out the one corresponding to the number he had given Lin Chen, snapped it in half, and threw it into the trash can.

Subsequently, he inserted the newly taken-out SIM card into a new phone.

Before today, for convenience, he would put two commonly used SIM cards in the same phone.

But since he knew he was being watched by the Eerie Investigation Bureau, it wouldn’t hurt to be more cautious in the future.

He could just tell Lin Chen the new phone number through the Soul Contract when they met in the game tomorrow or the day after.

Well, not telling him would also be fine. With his current rate of authority growth, maybe in a few instances, he could communicate with Lin Chen directly in reality through the Soul Contract.

Qi Si calculated in a good mood, turned on the new phone, went into the app store, searched for “happy match” and started downloading it… At Jiangcheng University, Lin Chen held the Team Ring and rambled for a while. After waiting for a long time without a response from Qi Si, he knew Qi Si had unilaterally cut off the chat.

So much had happened in just one morning. Lin Chen felt as if he were in a dream, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.

If he had previously had some complaints about Qi Si’s way of doing things, he no longer had any grounds to criticize him now.

Qi Si had even lost his life to save him. As the beneficiary, what right did he have to be picky and hypocritical?

Lin Chen closed his computer, climbed onto his bed, and lay down, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The problem still wasn’t solved. As the leader of the Unnamed Guild, he had cleared the Wraith instance as MVP at this critical juncture, and his rank had risen to 30 on the rookie rank, putting him in the public eye. One wrong move and he would become a target for everyone.

Today’s events were just the beginning. As long as he remained in that position, investigations from various forces would keep coming.

So, what on earth should he do?

Lin Chen took out his phone and dialed a number.

Soon, a kind woman’s voice sounded on the phone: “Chenchen, why are you calling at this time? Did something happen at school?”

“Mom, I did encounter some things and don’t know what to do,” Lin Chen said carefully. “There’s a very powerful big shot who has helped me many times…”

He used “school” to represent the Eerie Game and “club activities” to represent instances, roughly describing the situation: “That big shot helped me stand out in several club activities, and even almost lost his own eligibility for my sake.

“In an activity that just passed, he pushed another big shot out of the activity just so I could stay. I did want to stay, but he never discussed it with me beforehand… Because of this, many classmates think I’m a villain who likes to play dirty tricks, and some people even came to question me…”

After he finished speaking haltingly, his mother on the phone listened patiently and asked, “That eligibility is very important to you, and you don’t want to give it up, right?”

Lin Chen said, “Yes.”

“Then what do you have to feel aggrieved about? You’ve already gained the benefit. Whatever you encounter because of it is something you should bear; you can’t have it both ways.

“A person must be responsible and grateful. You also said that they helped you. Regardless of their starting point, it’s not right for you to harm them.

“If you don’t like their way of doing things, go tell them and ask them not to do it next time. But you can’t take the benefits and then put on a reluctant face for others to see. They don’t owe you; it’s you who owes them.”

Lin Chen listened to his mother’s slightly stern words and said in a low voice, “But he harmed an innocent person, and everyone else thinks I did it…”

“Then go and make it up to them. Visit them to apologize, bring some fruit, help out with errands or tasks when you’re free, and ask for their forgiveness. Don’t think they owe you anything. You’re not related to them, yet they consider you so much; don’t let them down.

“As long as it’s not illegal or breaking any rules, there’s nothing in school that can’t be overcome. If you don’t know how to say it, invite your classmates to the house for a meal sometime. You’ve been at university for so long, and Mom hasn’t met your classmates yet.”

Lin Chen smiled bitterly in his heart. How could this matter be so simple? Not only was it illegal and broke rules, but people had also died… But in the end, he said nothing. Since it involved the Eerie Game and the Federal authorities, it wouldn’t be good to involve his family in either side.

His parents were ordinary people who hadn’t experienced any major storms in their lives except for unemployment. Knowing too much would only cause them unnecessary worry.

Lin Chen made a few more excuses and hung up the phone, lying quietly on the bed, deep in thought.

Regardless, his mother’s words had cleared his chaotic thoughts significantly.

Yes, he owed Qi Si a life, and he also owed Tang Yu one. He had to repay these two lives.

And the only way to repay those two lives was to clear the Final Dungeon and negotiate with the supreme rules of the Eerie Game.

If the Identity Card really meant Divine Authority as the forums said, he would firmly grasp the Plague Doctor card in his hand.

No more backing down, moving forward until he stepped onto the Stairway to Godhood… At the Jiangcheng Branch of the Eerie Investigation Bureau, in an observation room on the fifth underground floor.

The corruption level meter outside the door was jumping wildly, fluctuating rapidly between 10% and 20%.

Inside, Chang Xu sat on the iron bed in the corner, holding a Rubik’s cube and rapidly repeating the process of solving and scrambling it, his voice calm and organized.

“Qi Si’s skill is related to Contracts and shares the same origin as the Puppeteer’s skill. The skill is unique. The slaughter-path player ‘Cheng An’ in Frog Hospital was him.

“He used Lin Chen and very likely fell into a Ghost, which is why no clearance records were left afterward. I reported the above information, but all reports targeting him were rejected.

“I suspect that the Eerie Investigation Bureau has been infiltrated from within, and a high-ranking figure is protecting him.”

“Chang Xu, your judgment is off by a hair, but a mile wide in consequence.” Ning Xu stood outside the door and said word by word, “We know he’s a slaughter-path player, but we have no choice but to cooperate with him.

“In the last round of the game, we lost everything because we were too focused on the justice of the process; in this round, none of us can afford to lose.

“Using the wrong means to achieve the right result and ending all mistakes in our generation so that more people can live—that is our goal in this round of the game.”

Chang Xu lifted his eyelids and asked, “Is that the latest promotional slogan?”

“This is what we are doing.” Ning Xu said with a smile, “The Jiuzhou Guild has successively expelled a thousand people over the past month. They will hide in the shadows and do things not permitted by the Jiuzhou Guild’s tenets.

“We need people to stand in the light, praising hope and ideals, but we also need people to walk with the darkness, handling the filth and trivialities.

“All actions are just means; right and wrong depend on the ultimate goal and result. You might as well ask yourself, what do you want?”

In the silence, only the “click-clack” of the Rubik’s cube being turned could be heard.

Chang Xu was silent for a long time before saying, “I want to live, to let the people I love live, and to let the innocent people I can see live.

“Just like when I first arrived, everyone was still alive, full of hope, as if death were far away. I didn’t understand anything and felt that being well-fed and warmly dressed was everything.

“Later, many people I had eaten with died, and new people came, all of whom were unfamiliar faces I couldn’t fully recognize.”

Ning Xu was silent for a long time, and when she spoke again, her voice carried a hint of bitterness: “Yes, too many people have been sacrificed. To clear the Final Dungeon and let more people live, there are some things we have to do.”

“Including concealing the evil deeds committed by the Federal Foundation in the past, like that time at the Red Maple Boarding School?”

“Including that.” Ning Xu said decisively, “No matter how much sin and filth there is, it’s an internal matter for humanity and cannot allow the infiltration of the eerie.”

“I understand.” Chang Xu paused for a moment and asked, “Am I in the light or the darkness?”

A smile appeared on Ning Xu’s face. “Fu Jue once wanted to place you in the light to take over his position one day. But now, he believes you should be given the right to choose.

“Let’s go to the Guild Exchange Conference the day after tomorrow together.”