Chapter 343: Beware the Rabbit (Seventeen) — The Scapegoat

“That’s it? It’s over? Nothing interesting, didn’t even see any tricks, and it just ended like that.”

“His progress is so fast. It’s only the second day, and he’s already completed the main quest… Although this puzzle-solving dungeon is relatively simple, to speedrun it like this?”

“I feel like he entered this dungeon and started streaming mostly for show, probably to promote the Unnamed Guild.”

The bullet comments in the live stream were buzzing with discussion, but the next second, they heard the young man on screen utter the word “No.”

【If you choose to abandon the dungeon, it will continue, and the clear difficulty and death rate will significantly increase.】

【You will not be able to make another choice until all main quests are completed. Are you sure you want to abandon?】

Qi Si said, “Confirmed.”

This dungeon was clearly not over; many mysteries hadn’t been solved, and the plot of “Escape from Rabbit God Town” had only progressed a small amount. Leaving so hastily would likely not result in a high rating.

Moreover, Qi Si had many thoughts about the Rabbit God who wandered between Rabbit God Town and Hope High School. Knowing there were greater benefits, taking the Neutral Ending route to clear the dungeon would be too wasteful.

【Dungeon continues. Good luck.】

Silver-white text quietly floated up, then scattered into strokes that rustled down, merging into the light gray system interface.

Along with it, the previous 【Main Quest Completed】 prompt also disappeared. The quest progress reverted, and the words 【Main Quest: Find Ling Zi’s Corpse (6/7)】 appeared on the interface.

Qi Si still lay supine in the pit, like a fish washed ashore and stranded by the tide.

His field of vision blurred like an ink wash painting. He saw shadowy figures dancing like demons, smelled the cold, stinging scent of blood and mud, and his increasingly vivid five senses poured a jumble of information into his mind, almost suffocating him.

Qi Si blinked, realizing that the corpse he had possessed was still alive. An itchy sensation spread where his skin touched the dirt, followed by a fine, net-like pain.

The biting cold wind whipped across his cheeks, and his perspective was swept up from the ground to mid-air, hovering to overlook the chaotic and frenzied farce below.

The fifteen-year-old boy’s eyes were tightly shut, his bleeding forehead bruised a vibrant purplish-blue, and his slightly trembling lips were as pale as a ghost’s, fragile and near death.

The faceless shadows were tall and flat, like crudely made NPCs in a text-based game, reminding one of the Slender Man from horror stories.

They circled the boy in the pit, their voices sharp and high-pitched.

“It’s almost time, and everything is ready. Let’s invite the Rabbit God together.”

“Pleasing the deity with the person we hate the most among us, in exchange for all our wishes coming true, is truly a wonderful thing.”

“Once he helps us fulfill our wishes, we won’t hate him anymore, because he’ll be dead.”

These dialogues sounded exceptionally familiar. Qi Si had heard them last night during the Beware the Rabbit God Festival held by the girls. Now, with a different protagonist, they were applied verbatim to Lu Ming.

In the silent forest, the mist spread into a vast whiteness, reflecting the dim twilight.

Short rabbit fur sprouted on the boy’s face in the pit, his mouth and nose slowly protruded, and sharp fangs grew.

Qi Si looked down at his item bar; the 【Rabbit God Mask】 lay quietly in its slot, showing no signs of being used.

All other items were also temporarily locked and could not be manipulated mentally.

At this moment, he was merely an onlooker, coldly observing the past buried under layers of embellishment.

“The Rabbit God descends in the northwest, adorned in red and seated on a high platform, bestowing blessings for ten thousand generations…” “Three families celebrate fireworks, carriages pass through Southeast Street, buried deep before the mountain cave…”

Clumps of mud were poured onto the corpse, and a bizarre sacrificial song spiraled between heaven and earth. Everything seemed to become still and solemn, yet a streak of vivid red flowed through the verdant forest, suddenly flying in and plunging into the pit.

It was a rabbit in a red kimono, with blood-red eyes, a ferocious face, and sharp teeth.

The shadows screamed loudly, picking up clods of dirt and stones from the ground to strike the rabbit’s head. The rabbit merely lay down quietly, replacing the boy in the pit, and was buried layer by layer by the mud.

The word “scapegoat” flashed through Qi Si’s mind.

Legend has it that an evil god, to test the loyalty of believers, commanded them to kill their own children as a sacrifice. A prophet told the believers that they could use a lamb instead, so the believers killed a lamb for the sacrifice.

In this Rabbit God Festival at Hope High School, someone always had to be sacrificed, because individual strength could hardly contend with the atrocities of the group, and human desires and greed were eternal.

Who was sacrificed didn’t matter; different choices led to different world lines, ultimately converging on the same ending.

Lu Ming should have died first, or rather, Lu Ming was the target the children originally intended to sacrifice.

However, Ling Zi accidentally stumbled upon this, and by a twist of fate, replaced him as the sacrificial offering on the altar.

The rabbit originally chosen as the sacrifice survived. Another rabbit, who had licked wounds with him, died because of him. The once gentle and timid rabbit finally learned anger and swore to avenge the dead rabbit against the world.

His power was too weak, so he prayed to the gods with his own life. People thought that the report exposing the dark secrets of Hope High School was all he sought, unaware that the true revenge was silent and terrifying.

He transformed the entire Hope High School into a ghost domain. All students and teachers were puppets on a seven-day stage, endlessly performing an absurd farce until the girl was resurrected… “Lu Ming, are you alright?” Li Fang’s voice came from above, growing clearer and clearer. “The teacher shouldn’t have let you know about this, but you and Ling Zi both came from the orphanage, and your relationship is so close…” “The teacher is telling you this just to hope you can protect yourself, study hard, get out of here, and go as far as possible. If you can, never come back…”

The scene of the mountain forest disappeared piece by piece like a shattered puzzle, replaced by an office with stark white lights. Li Fang sat behind the desk, watching Qi Si’s face with a worried expression.

Qi Si handed the death report back to Li Fang, staring at her unblinkingly: “Teacher Li, if I couldn’t leave and stayed at Hope High School, what would happen?”

“You would also die… they would kill you…” Blood tears flowed from Li Fang’s eyes, her lips constantly twitching, overflowing with viscous blood.

Several white threads suddenly appeared between her lips, stitching her upper and lower lips together. Each time she opened her mouth, pale pink thread ends were exposed: “Lu Ming, be careful of them… they’re all crazy…”

The warning seemed to trigger something. The ambient temperature dropped at a perceptible rate, and a bone-chilling cold invaded his body.

Qi Si retreated step by step from the office, closing the door behind him. The light in the corridor had dimmed at some point, and the long strip lights flickered wildly as if in poor contact, illuminating everyone’s faces in alternating flashes of light and darkness.

Students stood against the iron railings at the edge of the floor, their pale faces having eyes as black as if painted on, their lips withered and shriveled, revealing fine, dense teeth behind them.

They stared intently at Qi Si, their gaze following his steps, stiff like clockwork mechanical dolls, their malice-filled eyes overlapping with the shadows surrounding the pit in his hallucination.

Qi Si quickly walked past the classroom of Class 3 (6). An unsettling red light seeped from the windows, accompanied by a strong smell of blood. Dense, bloody handprints covered the windows, and fresh blood flowed down like threads, pooling on the windowsill.

Distorted figures tore at each other in the classroom, flesh ripped off in pieces, internal organs and blood vessels dangling from the window frames. Crying and wailing mingled with maniacal laughter: “I’ll kill all of you, and I’ll be first!”

Freshly severed heads were placed on desks and chairs, grinning joyfully as if they had won. Dismembered limbs covered the floor between desks and chairs, and those that wouldn’t fit spilled out of the door crack, wriggling towards Qi Si as if alive.

Mouths grew on the palms attached to the arms, uttering enticing whispers: “Lu Ming, come and kill us… Kill us, and you’ll get a good ranking…”

Qi Si glanced at the forbidden Cursed Pendulum in his item bar and the long-lost Trident of the Sea God, dismissing the idea of going into the classroom to check the situation.

He silently took out the voice recorder and pressed the switch.

【Four… Two… Nine… Seven… Three… Six】

The boy’s voice, cold and clear, enunciated each number. The dismembered limbs successfully lost their target, crawling aimlessly on the ground. Upon touching the heels of students in the corridor, they began to wildly tear at them.

The dungeon world had undoubtedly descended into chaos, like an illogical nightmare, gathering all the fears and dislikes of school days and presenting them in exaggerated and bizarre forms.

Qi Si lowered his gaze and continued along the corridor towards the staircase on the other side.

In the classroom of Class 3 (7), students sat motionless and withered, their bodies uniformly a ghostly pale marble color, clearly coated with a thick layer of plaster.

The solidified plaster fixed them tightly to their seats. They sat with straight backs, heads bowed, holding pens, their postures so standard as to be indistinguishable, like a group of sculptures in a large art exhibition.

As Qi Si passed, they seemed to sense something, subtly shifting their heads to look out the window. Not finding their target, they slowly turned back to their original positions.

The voice recorder in his hand grew warm, its battery rapidly draining, leaving only two bars. The current consumption in just a few minutes was much faster than in the previous few hours.

Qi Si started to run. Blood began to seep from the edges of the floor beneath his feet. At first, it was just a thin film of blood, but within a few seconds, it reached his heels. Each step left an indented footprint, splashing tiny drops of blood.

In Class 3 (8), students’ faces had been peeled off, exposing the soft flesh beneath. Countless faces were plastered on the blackboard and windows, their hollow eye sockets staring straight at the figure in front.

The flat, mummy-like Dean of Students walked stiffly from the end of the corridor. The students in the hallway scattered, rushing into their respective classrooms. The bodies of the last few exploded, and scattered blood and mud merged into the river of blood beneath their feet.

Qi Si, holding the voice recorder, brushed past the Dean of Students.

Students from Class 3 (9) and Class 3 (10) gathered, loudly discussing terrifying legends.

“Did you know? Hope High School is built on cursed land. Legend has it that an evil god brought down divine punishment during a fireworks festival a hundred years ago, killing all who worshipped Him and cursing their descendants living on this land…”

“I heard that evil god is sealed beneath the lake next to the sports field, luring children who pass by to drown. Every late night, crying can be heard by the lake, and if you get close, you can see ghosts emerging from the bottom of the lake!”

“That sounds so interesting! Let’s make Lu Ming go to the lake late at night and take some photos for us! No one would be sad if someone like him died!”

“Who wants to play Kagome Kagome? Let’s make Lu Ming be the demon. He won’t be able to catch us; he’ll always be the demon among us!”

The Black Sheep Effect: when a few individuals in a group start bullying a weaker person, others will, out of conformity, either stand by or join the bullies.

Lu Ming was such a black sheep.

He didn’t have a happy time at Hope High School. The isolation from classmates, the pressure of grades, the suddenly strict school rules… all caused him pain.

Fortunately, Ling Zi appeared. She shared his plight but was so optimistic and bright, taking his place as the target of malice on the cusp of the storm, saving him from the vortex… The voice recorder in his hand emitted a scorching heat. Qi Si looked down; only one and a half bars of battery remained. The current consumption in just a few minutes was surprisingly much faster than in the previous few hours.

A putrid and damp, fishy smell emanated from the classroom. The gathered students were already corpses, yet they were painted and powdered to resemble living people, performing a puppet show simulating past events.

“Did you hear? The evil god at the bottom of the lake is the Rabbit God who can grant wishes. He’s imprisoned there, and you only need to sacrifice a life to Him to fulfill any wish.”

“I also heard that all the children who drowned were secretly sacrificed to the Rabbit God by the school, which is why our school performs so well every year.”

“But no one has drowned for half a year now. The sacrifices stopped, the Rabbit God won’t grant the school’s wishes anymore, so we have to study hard…”

“They say it’s because someone came to investigate that they had to stop the sacrifices. So let’s secretly make sacrifices ourselves; nothing will happen then!”

“Lu Ming and Ling Zi, the two most unpopular children. Let one of them sacrifice the other, in exchange for all our wishes coming true!”

A more complete truth unfolded before his eyes. Qi Si felt a premonition, raising his eyes to look across the classroom towards the window. A rabbit in red clothes hung outside the windowpane, gazing back at him from afar.

He curled his lips in a greeting, then turned and plunged into the stairwell, descending the steps in the dense darkness.

Every floor was in disarray, sticky blood flowing aimlessly everywhere, hanging down in trickling curtains from the edges of each step.

Qi Si descended all the way to the first floor. The voice recorder gradually cooled, its battery level remaining at one bar.

In the pervasive mist, the streetlights’ glow diffused through refraction, creating shimmering ripples of light. Ghostly figures floated freely in the vapor, not lingering before the unwelcome guest.

In the damp silence, he stopped, his expression a half-smile: “What are you expecting?”

“For me to experience everything you’ve experienced, to empathize with your pain and anger; or to threaten me with terrifying ghosts and the risk of death, to make me serve you?”

The cold wind stirred the white mist. No human voice answered, only the howling of ghosts. Autumn leaves, carried by the wind, rustled down, like blood and flesh.

Qi Si’s smile faded, his eyelids lowered, and he sighed with a lament: “To hope for sympathy from unrelated parties is weakness; a blustering, inwardly weak threat is even more foolish. You have neither the courage for selfishness nor the awareness to take responsibility, yet you still yearn for a perfect ending… When you were lonely and in pain, you sought solace from Ling Zi. When you faced a desperate situation, you prayed to the Rabbit God for salvation. Unfortunately, no one and no god can truly save a useless you. And now, you have nothing, you’ve even given up your life—”

The young man spoke words of understanding, yet his tone was exceptionally playful. The scarlet light swirling in his lowered eyes, like threads, made it seem as if an evil god resided within him.

He lifted his eyelids, and like a merciful and tolerant deity, he asked the humanoid silhouette in the mist:

“Lu Ming, what sacrifice do you plan to offer, and how will you ask me for help?”