Chapter 63: Dialectical Game (I) Solo Puzzle

Not all evil deeds will be judged as sins,

Nor will all sins be punished.

— “Volume II: Crime and Punishment”

A pitch-black, lightless night shrouded the Graveyard. From time to time, a few red-eyed crows flew over and perched upon the tombstones.

Qi Si sat leaning against a small burial mound, fiddling with a skeletal arm he had just pulled out as if holding a freshly picked bunch of Ghost Pipes.

One by one, skeletal claws burst from the earth like grass sprouts, arranged in a wild, flickering pattern. White flowers soon bloomed all over the dark grave soil.

“Qi Si… we died such a miserable death…”

“You must pay with your life… pay with your life…”

The wind carried the wails of the undead. Qi Si stood up and looked around.

In the distance stood a pure white Idol, bathed in cold moonlight and shrouded in a thin layer of pale red. Its gaze was slightly lowered, appearing both pitying and mocking.

Qi Si walked toward the Idol step by step, crushing fallen leaves beneath his feet.

The flock of crows was startled, taking flight like an evil wind. They circled overhead with chaotic caws, their fluttering wings making strange “hula hula” sounds.

“Crack!”

Lightning struck without warning, illuminating half the sky and startling away a tree full of demons and monsters.

A cracked tombstone lay across the path ahead. The epitaph was clear for a brief moment under the flash of lightning; Qi Si could only make out the character “Qi”.

A shrill female voice screeched in his ear: “You killed me, you killed me… I want your life in return…”

Qi Si tilted his head. A face obscured by long hair pressed against the tip of his nose. Blood and tears welled from hollow eyes, flowing down with resentment and hatred.

“First, you committed suicide,” Qi Si’s memories were in disarray, but he kindly corrected her anyway. “Second, I fulfilled your last wish.”

“Third, I cleaned up any evidence that could link back to me. I don’t believe they could find me after five years… So, why should I pay with my life?”

The woman in the red dress was covered in bloody knife scars, appearing at first glance as if pieced together from fragments.

She raised her hands and tightly choked Qi Si’s neck, blood constantly spitting from her mouth.

“I’m going to kill you… I’m going to kill you…”

Why can’t she understand human speech?

Qi Si looked at the woman in front of him with distress, his throat moving as he sighed. He grabbed the woman’s hands and snapped her fingers one by one with audible cracks.

The woman let out bursts of venomous shrieks. Qi Si, bearing the brunt of it, suddenly remembered something; he bent over, clutching his stomach, and laughed out loud.

A frantic mood saturated the entire scene. The dark night glowed with an eerie red light, and cracks spread from the edges of the image, covering the whole thing in the blink of an eye as if it would collapse at any moment.

【The countdown has ended. Entering the next instance soon.】

A cold electronic voice snuffed out the chaotic nightmare. After a moment of vibration, his vision settled. Qi Si found himself standing under a giant golden tree surrounded by black smoke.

The giant tree’s branches and leaves pierced the clouds. Heads hung from the drooping vines, and gnarled roots like blood vessels were buried deep in the mud. The corpses of various creatures crawled upon them—some had just begun to rot, while others were already bleached bones.

“That dream again… It’s been a long time since I dreamed of that incident. Is it hinting at something?” Qi Si gave a faint yawn, his expression listless.

Over the years, he either didn’t dream at all or had lucid dreams; it was almost impossible for him to be hypnotized or induced.

Yet, dreaming of “that incident” again after all these years, he still lost his ability to remain “lucid,” led into confusion and bewilderment by the illusory situation.

Even though he quickly regained his self-awareness, a faint, hidden irritability still arose. He felt it was necessary to return to his hometown’s ancestral graves and dig them up to take a look.

Of course, that wasn’t important.

Clearing more instances and bringing more powerful items into reality was the top priority.

All fear stems from a lack of firepower. If he could possess enough power to contend with the authorities, he naturally wouldn’t have so many worries… The scene shifted, and a faint light appeared before him. A full-length mirror appeared in his line of sight, with hint text slowly refreshing on its surface.

【This instance is your third instance.】

【After clearing this instance, you will become an official player and unlock all game functions.】

Qi Si watched for a while with his head tilted, but what surfaced in his mind was the final scene of the “Carnivore” instance.

The god-tier npc had told him: “In the next game, you will gain symbols and revelations from the puzzles.”

A divine oracle is likely to be ambiguous, but the information it contains is not necessarily without value.

Many things happened six years ago, creating quite a few problems that Qi Si still hasn’t been able to figure out; his recent encounters made him feel even more like he was part of a larger scheme.

He was very curious about what kind of answers he would get in this instance.

【The countdown has ended. Please enter the instance immediately.】

The electronic voice sounded again, carrying a hint of urgency.

Qi Si stepped into the mirror, as if plunging into a pool of stagnant water.

Overwhelming darkness pressed down on him. Lines of silver-white text flew through the void, accompanied by an emotionless broadcast voice:

【Randomly generating instance…】

【Loading instance… Loading complete.】

…【instance Name: “Dialectical Game”】

【instance Type: Solo Puzzle】

【Pre-hint: This instance focuses on examining individual ability. All your items will be locked.】

…The darkness around him was boundless, almost swallowing his consciousness. His body felt as heavy as a corpse, unable to move.

Qi Si felt himself falling.

In the midst of chaos, he lost his sense of direction and could not even perceive the existence of his limbs. It was as if he were an abnormal creature with only a head left, encased in the nutrient solution of a culture tank or some other invisible substance.

He didn’t know how much time had passed before the darkness slowly dissipated. Through his eyelids, he could feel the faint light leaking through the cracks.

Sleep was hard to maintain. Qi Si struggled a couple of times and finally opened his eyes.

An orange-yellow shadowless lamp shone directly into his eyes. Even though his vision was somewhat blurred from being closed for a long time, he still felt discomfort the moment he opened them.

He instinctively raised his hand to cover his eyes.

There seemed to be some kind of slime on his arm, which transferred to his face upon contact, bringing a sucking sensation that was not entirely unpleasant.

Qi Si sat up and looked down, seeing that his entire body was covered in a layer of transparent liquid. It was colorless and odorless, seemingly some kind of nutrient solution for preserving specimens.

He was only wearing a white shirt with a giant number “9” written on the cuff. It clearly wasn’t what he had been wearing before falling asleep in reality; instead, it looked like a common hospital surgical gown.

Beneath him was a smooth operating table. The slime outlined a light gray humanoid shape against the dark background. The cold metal had become warm from absorbing his body heat.

“The background of this instance looks quite advanced…” Qi Si felt his right wrist; it was empty, with no sign of the special bracelet.

“They said items would be locked, but they even locked this? Or did the Eerie Game find a bug and decided to fix it now?”

As his thoughts touched upon the term “Eerie Game,” Qi Si realized something was wrong.

The corners of his vision were completely empty. There was no system interface, no Identity Card, and no hint text. There wasn’t even… a countdown.

“Did it crash? Disconnect? Or did the Eerie Game delete my account?”

Qi Si guessed aimlessly, yet he still leaned toward believing he was still in the game, rather than having inexplicably transmigrated or woken up in a mental hospital only to find that everything in the past was his own delusion.

The reason was simple: there was no point in considering unsolvable possibilities, so he might as well not.

The troublesome part was that no one on the Forum had ever mentioned this situation.

Either this situation was extremely rare, belonging to a game easter egg; or, all players who encountered this situation were dead… and in all likelihood, these two possibilities were overlapping.

The room Qi Si was in wasn’t large, only about thirty square meters. The four walls were clean, with no visible dirt or stains at first glance.

On the wall directly opposite was a tightly closed iron door. In the left corner stood a giant glass jar, large enough to fit a person.

The glass jar was open, and about three-quarters of the space was occupied by a colorless, transparent liquid. A large number “9” was written on the surface in red pen.

In the right corner was a pile of objects covered by black canvas. Through the canvas, he could only vaguely see their outlines; they were probably similar glass jars.

Between the canvas and the operating table was a low table. The tabletop was very clean, but the drawer was slightly open, revealing the items inside.

Alone in a closed space, Qi Si felt he would be doing himself a disservice if he didn’t search the place.

He rolled off the bed, pulled open the drawer, and took out everything inside, lining them up on the operating table.

He didn’t find any scalpels or other tools that could be used for self-defense. Aside from paper, the drawer contained only more paper, which looked like medical records.

Clear black characters were printed on the pages:

【Qi Si, Male, born January 1, 2014. First exhibited ‘Soul Weightlessness’ symptoms on January 1, 2035, and was diagnosed on February 3 of the same year. On March 15, 2035, the patient entered a persistent vegetative state, possibly due to Soul Dissipation.】