Chapter 61: Public Call-out: Beware of Chang Xu

Throughout the entire day of March 14th, Qi Si scoured the game Forum for a vast amount of information related to “god-tier npcs,” “Main God,” and “Evil Gods.” After finishing, he deeply regretted wasting his limited lifespan.

Thirty-six years had passed, yet there were still massive gaps in the players’ exploration of the Eerie Game.

Some said god-tier npcs were clones of the Main God; some said god-tier npcs were ordinary NPCs that had evolved; others said god-tier npcs were game bugs… As for the “Main God,” the theories on the Forum were even more outrageous.

Some said the Main God was the rules themselves; some said the Main God had ascended from a god-tier npc; still others said the Main God didn’t exist at all, and the deities in the game’s main background were all long dead… As expected, attempting to find useful information in a low-barrier Forum was no different from hoping to find gold bars in a cesspool; even if you did find something, you’d end up with shit on your hands, making you feel as disgusted as if you’d swallowed a fly… Qi Si rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, “But I have a feeling that once some things are made clear, they’ll spiral out of control…”

Six years ago, after his parents died, his uncle arranged a school transfer for him, sending him to a middle school in the countryside.

By then, he had already learned to masquerade as a normal person. After arriving in the new environment, although he still remained on the fringes of the crowd, he didn’t show any signs of strangeness.

He only wanted to make it peacefully to adulthood so he could cut ties with those messy interpersonal relationships, but unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.

Perhaps because the dangerous aura of an “outlier” had seeped into his bones, or perhaps because human groups often need to pick a black sheep to slaughter together, malice arrived one after another, including inexplicable hostility, utterly boring pranks, and… a botched murder.

It wasn’t that no one had ever shown him kindness; he had always been good at manipulating people’s hearts and using his advantages to improve his situation. But those who treated him well all met with misfortune, dying in one accident after another.

Among them was his first homeroom teacher, Yao Ting, a young woman who had just graduated from a normal university, full of passion and kindness.

Yao Ting died during a class meeting. Halfway through her lecture, she suddenly began to twitch all over without warning and collapsed to the ground, clearly not long for this world, just like the previous several tools.

Qi Si leaned in, inwardly lamenting that he would have to look for a new backer again, while his face showed a hypocritical display of worry and panic.

The young homeroom teacher’s eyes were overflowing with terror, as if she had just encountered something horrific. Her lips trembled, but she only managed to spit out four words.

At the time, Qi Si hadn’t heard clearly, but thinking back now, those four words were clearly “Eerie Game”!

…On the morning of March 15th, officers from the Security Bureau came to his door.

It wasn’t because his past deeds had been exposed; it was just a routine visit.

Because Qi Si’s file looked tragic—in the year following his parents’ death, all his relatives had died off one by one, and he was a suspect in basically every gruesome death—the relevant departments had long since placed him on a list of people whose psychological state needed close monitoring.

Official personnel would call every so often to check on his current situation. Although this was the first time they had sought him out offline, it wasn’t considered unusual.

After sending them away, Qi Si finally felt tired, so he went back to his bedroom and lay down on the bed to rest for a bit.

Unable to sleep, he entered the game Forum once more, aimlessly browsing through those posts filled with chaotic information.

First, he confirmed Zhang Licai’s words: under normal circumstances, items from the game indeed cannot be brought into reality, unless one goes through the wish-fulfillment channel, spending a massive amount of points to exchange for wish-related items.

Similarly, bringing things from reality into the game, other than clothing, was even more of a fantasy; currently, only the Sera Guild possessed such technology.

It seemed that if he wanted to truly understand the matter of the bracelet, he would have to contact the Sera Guild after becoming an official player.

Well, in plain English, that meant capturing someone from Sera and conducting a rigorous interrogation.

Qi Si then searched for the keyword “Identity Card.”

There was very little useful information. To be precise, very few players had unlocked an “Identity Card,” so it was no wonder hardly anyone mentioned it.

It seemed more like a discarded concept from the early design of the Eerie Game; it couldn’t be cleaned out entirely so it was left in—useless to keep, but a pity to throw away.

Qi Si learned that these cards came in sets. His “humanoid evil spirit” card was a Main Card, and each player could only bind one; beneath it were many fragmented minor cards that would appear in instances with identity-faction mechanisms, with no limit on the number that could be bound.

The frustrating part was that only after becoming an official player could one choose whether to bind a certain Main Card. If a novice player obtained a Main Card, they would be forced onto the pirate ship directly, just like him… Fortunately, the effect of 【humanoid evil spirit】 was decent enough that it wouldn’t drive him to commit suicide and restart due to his perfectionism.

Finally, Qi Si focused on researching the new functions that would open up after becoming an official player.

What interested him most was the Player Square, which supposedly refreshed with various hidden missions. Its formal name was the “Ruins of the Sunset.” From the descriptions, it sounded much like a game lobby on the market, with various entertainment facilities, even including those not permitted by law in reality.

But rationality told Qi Si that before he had sufficient means of self-protection, it was better not to go to such a crowded and chaotic place or take the initiative to contact other players.

Still having nothing to do, Qi Si casually searched the name “Chang Xu” in the search bar. Unsurprisingly, he found a post calling him out.

#Sera Guild’s Chang Xu! Dirty hands and a black heart, utterly devoid of humanity!#

This post was likely made by Zhao Feng. At the thought of this guy using his brief time for last words after exiting the instance to call someone out, Qi Si found it amusing.

“It seems this guy really hates me…”

Wait, he hates Chang Xu; what does that have to do with me, Qi Si? If Chang Xu has a habit of searching for his own name, he’ll probably feel like the sky is falling when he sees this post, right?

【Floor 1 (OP): My name is Zhao Feng. I just met that bastard Chang Xu in “Carnivore.”

That bastard looks decent enough, not like someone who would harm people. I thought it was a team instance and didn’t guard against him. Who would’ve thought he’s just a psychopath and a sociopath!

I was unlucky enough to be entangled by Ghosts right at the start, triggering a death point. Two people died on the first night, and I was terrified I’d end up like them. I was desperate, and then Chang Xu came over and lied to me, saying he knew the solution!

He made me cut meat from the corpses and then made me cut my own meat. He said he was from the Sera Guild. I didn’t believe him at first, but I believed him when he brought out a token to prove it. I figured a big guild like that wouldn’t lie to me, so I believed his bullshit!

He took my meat to exchange with the Ghosts for important clues, lied to me saying the others had formed an alliance to harm me, and finally killed me!】

In the text, Zhao Feng intentionally concealed part of the truth, pushing all the evil deeds onto Qi Si, who used the pseudonym “Chang Xu.”

The earlier parts were told with tireless, minute detail, but the end was abrupt. It seemed the person couldn’t hold on any longer and could only wrap things up hastily.

Qi Si inexplicably imagined a scene: Zhao Feng with a mouth full of blood, glaring with angry eyes as he spat blood and pressed the publish button with trembling hands… This image was too comical; Qi Si curled his lips and laughed softly.

He continued reading down.

【Floor 2: It took me half a day to finally understand what the OP was saying. Practice your language skills more (sweating emoji). Condolences and light a candle. Remember to study hard in your next life and watch out for bad people (playful emoji).】

【Floor 3: Bro, it’s useless to just give a name. Who knows if it’s real or fake? Hurry up and post a photo!】

【Floor 4 reply to Floor 3: OP is already gone. Also, you think you can bring a camera into the Eerie Game?】

【Floor 5: Not to be that guy, but he already told you he’s from the Sera Guild, and you still dared to believe him? Is our Tingfeng Guild’s basic knowledge outreach not doing enough?】

【Floor 6: OP is so tragic. From the description, that Chang Xu is completely a heartless bastard. I really don’t know how society could raise such a person.】

【Floor 7: That’s just how Sera is. You’re already in the Eerie Game and you’re still worrying about humanity? It’s mainly that the OP was too stupid.】

【Floor 8: A few people upstairs have values that really open my eyes. The OP was harmed and killed, and yet some people are here being sarcastic. I hope I don’t run into you guys in reality.】

【Floor 9 reply to Floor 8: Just die, you saint (sweating emoji).】

【Floor 10: Hahahahaha, am I the only one who thinks this Chang Xu is awesome? It looks like he tricked quite a few people all by himself!】

【Floor 11: You’re not alone, Floor 10! I’ll try doing that in the next instance to see if I can trick some idiots.】

【Floor 12: What kind of values are these? Do you all think you’re the ones who can manipulate others? If you really met in an instance, every single one of you would probably be cannon fodder!】

It was much as Qi Si had expected; the comments were split into two camps—some expressed sympathy, while others were mocking. The subsequent topics inevitably devolved into a massive discussion on moral values, likely to go on for dozens of floors.

Qi Si held his phone and watched intently, clicking refresh from time to time to see if any new replies had appeared.

He was sometimes bored to a hair-raising degree. Similar to those psychopathic killers who return to the scene to watch their own handiwork, he also enjoyed chewing over and savoring the evil deeds he had committed.

After putting his heart and soul into arranging and performing in an absurd comedy, he needed to garner more audience and applause to feel the trip was worthwhile.

Zhao Feng’s last words undoubtedly put a period on this scam, pleasing him greatly. The only fly in the ointment was… Chang Xu was still alive.

Of course, a mere individual couldn’t make waves against the general trend. The name “Chang Xu” was already linked to the Sera Guild and Slaughter-path players. No matter how he explained, no one would believe him; he could only swallow this bitter pill in silence.

Qi Si read the post back and forth several times and casually gave the OP a like, which resulted in a prompt requiring registration and real-name verification.

Real-name verification was out of the question. Leaving a trail in a place like this was practically asking to die faster.

He directly clicked the ‘X’ and refreshed a few more times. New replies appeared in the post.

【Floor 13: According to the grapevine, this Chang Xu is eighty to ninety percent the one who achieved a te clearance of the “Rose Manor” instance. As long as he can break into the official pool, he’s 100% going to be on the comprehensive strength rankings!】

【Floor 14: Just back from the Player Square, specifically searched the keywords to come in. First, OP is so tragic, becoming a stepping stone for the Child of Destiny; second, Chang Xu is so cool, I’m a fan now; finally, a shout-out to Chang Xu: hurry up and become an official player, I’ll be betting on you from now on!】

【Floor 15: If Chang Xu really achieved consecutive te clearances in two instances, then I think he has the potential to become the next Fu Jue. A battle between the Savior and the World-Destroyer—the thought alone is interesting! (playful emoji)】

【Floor 16 reply to Floor 15: Blocked. God Fu has still saved too many people; the death rate has dropped so much that you guys have no sense of crisis anymore. If you’re so bored, go into an instance. Will you die if you don’t try to clout-chase using God Fu?】

【Floor 17: To the clown upstairs who blocked me, I really don’t need your God Fu to save me. (sweating emoji) I have plenty of points; I haven’t entered a new instance in three years! (tongue out)】

Qi Si knew that after the first clearance of various endings in an instance, an announcement and broadcast would be made in the Ruins of the Sunset—that is, the Player Square.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t an official player and couldn’t enter the Ruins of the Sunset, so he couldn’t know the specific details of the broadcasts related to him.

But looking at it now, the Eerie Game was quite principled; it hadn’t exposed his real name.

Qi Si finished reading all the relevant posts and exited the Forum, still feeling not quite satisfied.

His fingertips slid aimlessly across the screen, and by the time he snapped out of it, he was already on the contacts interface.

Then he realized after the fact that the people on this list were basically all dead, and those remaining were not good candidates for sharing interesting stories.

Qi Si was long past the age of believing in eternal friendship; so-called “friends” were merely reusable tools.

Expressionlessly, he opened a folder labeled “Games,” which contained nothing but single-player minigames, and the most childish ones at that.

He picked for a while and finally clicked into “happy match,” playing with a listless expression.

Until sleepiness finally washed over him.