Chapter 96: Hopeless Sea (20) Trick

Angela knew she wasn’t a good person. She always considered herself smart, and smart people often knew how to leverage advantages to seize benefits, inevitably doing things that weren’t entirely moral.

As the family’s illegitimate daughter, hidden from view, she was brought to her father’s home at sixteen. She was astonished by the surrounding extravagance but knew clearly she could never touch that wealth.

This was unfair. She was unwilling to accept it. Why should she, gifted and intelligent, be destined to lose against those pampered idiots, simply because her mother lacked status?

Thus, she began using the family’s prestige to build her own power base, maneuvering through social circles, entertaining and networking, and for a time, became a widely sought-after princess.

Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last. The family soon publicly denied any relationship with her and had people restrict her movements, claiming it was to prevent her from shaming the family name.

Powerless to resist, she could only accept, losing everything and becoming notorious.

Just when she thought her life would fade away so dimly, the Eerie Game appeared.

In the Eerie Game, real-world money, fame, and accumulated status were all reset. It didn’t look at background or ask about the past; everyone was a passerby, starting everything anew.

—Since no one knew who she was or what kind of person she used to be, she could pretend to be anyone she wanted, then recklessly deceive and harm others, venting all the injustices she suffered in reality.

She absolutely loved this game.

At this moment, the Hotel was in chaos. Almost all the players had sprouted numerous feathers on their necks and backs, tearing through their clothes, and looked from a distance like a flock of messy white geese.

Although this was clearly a terrifying development, the players all wore brilliant smiles.

They tore the feathers from their bodies, seemingly knowing instinctively what to do, using the golden blood as adhesive wax, spreading it evenly on the feather pieces, then interlacing and sticking them together to form wings.

They naturally knew their condition was strange, and using wings to fly away from the island might not be the optimal way to clear the instance.

But life was paramount. As long as they could clear the instance and survive, what did it matter if they became neither human nor Ghost?

Even the most twisted method of clearing the instance was more ethical than killing others and triggering the minimum death count mechanism.

—This is humanity: people who care about their reputation yet are utterly hypocritical.

“Shall we go look at the Altar together?” Angela heard the young man who had previously refused her ask, a polite smile on his lips.

The whole world was putting on a show, but some were posturing without realizing it. Angela sneered inwardly, but on the surface, she blinked, feigning confusion: “Si Qi, didn’t you say approaching the Altar might actually kill you?”

“I was lying to the fool,” the black-haired young man stated bluntly. “He’s not good at rule-based horror instances; he’d just hold us back.”

So you just sent him away? Angela felt speechless.

However, the current situation suited her perfectly. Two people were difficult to deal with, prone to variables, but one person was just right.

Immediately, she smiled and said, “Then let’s set off quickly. As far as I know, the Altar is quite far, and if we don’t leave now, it will be too late.”

The coconut grove was lush, and the vegetation dense. Fortunately, with the Clock Tower and the Hotel serving as two fixed reference points, the Altar’s location was not hard to find.

Neither of them was willing to turn their back on the other, so they quickly formed a tacit understanding, walking side-by-side, stepping over fishbone-shaped feathers scattered everywhere, making a “shasha” sound as they trod on the sand.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the coconut groves on both sides thinned out, and they could faintly see a circle of white arc in the distance, seemingly constructed of marble.

Massive fish bones crisscrossed and interlocked like jagged teeth, surrounding the central stone platform like petals, casting alternating light and shadow.

They had reached the Altar.

The massive ground structure was lonely and solemn, as if it had long merged with the longest life between heaven and earth, transcending time and space, sinking into a death-like slumber in utter solitude.

No one had visited for a long time, yet no one would think it had been neglected for too long. It resembled an ancient, colossal creature, patiently and kindly waiting for its subjects to awaken it.

A call that seemed to span the river of life echoed between heaven and earth, accompanied by meaningless whispers behind his ears. Qi Si walked step by step toward the center of the Altar, like a species at the end of the evolutionary chain making a pilgrimage to the cradle of primal life.

A sudden chill struck his neck as a Dagger swept in from behind, resting against the side of his throat.

Angela had silently dropped half a step behind him, her hand gripping the Dagger steadily, resting on his shoulder: “If you don’t want to die, tell me every clue you know. What exactly is in the Clock Tower? What’s the deal with Yuna’s missing Idol?”

Qi Si tilted his head and asked, “If I don’t agree, you’ll use this Dagger to kill me, right?”

“I wouldn’t want you to dirty my knife,” Angela sneered. “You’ve entered the Altar’s range. Without my help, you’ll quickly die here as a sacrifice.”

Qi Si asked, “You have more than a thousand in cash on you, don’t you?”

Angela shrugged: “Congratulations, you guessed correctly, but unfortunately, there’s no prize.”

“You dared to enter the Altar because you were certain that with sufficient cash, the instance’s power couldn’t kill you, correct?”

“That’s right.” Angela raised an eyebrow. “I don’t believe you have sufficient cash on you. After all, your life is much more valuable than mine, Mr. Aristocrat.”

Qi Si sighed leisurely: “Yes, I’m a pauper. Coming here with you was simply to steal some money.”

He said it as if it were obvious, his tone like someone repeating common sense, such as “people need to eat and sleep.”

Angela was amused. She lifted the Dagger in her hand, drawing a line of blood on Qi Si’s neck: “In this situation, who do you think is robbing whom?”

Qi Si remained silent, and Angela laughed unrestrainedly.

Blood beads dripped down the pale neck, silently splashing spots onto the white Altar. The spreading bloodstains crawled outwards like Threadworms.

“Whoosh—Whoosh—”

Without warning, countless streams of black smoke shot out from under the stone platform, converging into Ghosts with Fish-Headed Humanoid bodies, surrounding the two people in the Altar.

Angela felt a faint sense of foreboding. Her right hand, gripping the Dagger, tightened involuntarily, ready to stab Qi Si’s neck with a backhand motion.

The next second, her premonition came true: an invisible force heavily pushed the Dagger away.

【In this instance, you cannot kill a player whose identity is “Merchant”】

【Violation of instance rules, one warning! Accumulating three warnings will result in failure to clear the instance!】

What is going on? How could “Si Qi” be a Merchant?

Angela looked at the silver-white text that appeared before her, understanding the entire sequence of events in barely a second.

However, it was already too late. Several wisps of black smoke wrapped around the Dagger in her hand, rendering her momentarily immobile.

Qi Si raised his hand, gently pushed her arm aside, and smiled coolly: “How do you know I didn’t crack the World View before you did?”

…About four hours ago, after settling Liu Yuhan and Zhang Hongfeng in their rooms, Qi Si descended the stairs, holding the Recorder and the Sea God Idol, followed by a vast, bewildered procession of Ghosts.

The skeletal remains at the top of the Clock Tower proved well that there was a way to avoid damage from the Ghosts. The Fishmen’s faith in Yuna was not unshakeable, as they had clearly worshipped another deity—the one mentioned in the Ballad—when they were alive.

Qi Si guessed that players could use the Ballad to stir the Fishmen’s memories and temporarily dismantle their faith in Yuna.

The conclusion, “use faith against faith,” could not be definitively 100% correct. The Lyrics carved at the top of the Clock Tower might be a benevolent hint or malicious deception.

But if one wasn’t willing to gamble just because there was a chance of failure, there was no need to attempt cracking the World View.

Facts proved that Qi Si had gambled correctly.

With the song, he could soothe the Fishmen and roam freely during the period when they were required to sleep.

But this alone wasn’t enough. Qi Si had always been a person dissatisfied with the status quo and full of ambition.

Given the same level of risk, he was happy to pursue greater benefits.

He wanted to control the Ghosts for his own use, and the clues in the Clock Tower happened to tell him that Yuna had a way to control the Ghosts.

Therefore, he traversed the island covered in feathers and fish bones, stopping on the beach by the coast.

The perpetually daylit sky was orange-yellow. Yuna leaned against a pristine white Statue, gazing at the shimmering waves on the sea before her, quiet and beautiful like an oil painting.

Qi Si walked over, handed the Sea God Idol back to her, and smiled: “I know you made a certain wish to the Sea God, using the lives of others as payment. Since you are still trapped on this island, you probably haven’t finished paying the full price yet.

“I don’t care what your wish is, nor do I intend to condemn your actions, but I can tell you that my companion and I already know how to leave this island, while others do not.”

Yuna turned to look at Qi Si silently, seeming to merge with the Statue.

Qi Si looked at her, smiling maliciously: “If I reveal the solution, you won’t be able to harvest another life, but that gives me no substantial benefit. However, if I choose to, I can use strategy and inducement to make most people perish in the ocean.”

He paused, adopting the tone of an Evil God tempting a follower: “So, let’s make a short-term trade. I’ll exchange the Sea God Idol for partial control over your Ghosts, how about that?”

…The moment the Ghosts pinned her down on the Altar, Angela’s mind raced, and her breathing quickened, just like years ago when her family members had whisked her away from the ball without explanation.

She reviewed everything since entering the instance: first, searching the corpses of those killed by Hans to collect a large amount of cash, then risking a test at night to confirm the Ghosts couldn’t kill her, only then daring to trick Qi Si into coming to the Altar… Where exactly did she go wrong?

“If I haven’t guessed wrong, you originally intended to kill me, didn’t you?” Qi Si lowered his eyes, a smile playing on his lips. “Then it shouldn’t be too much for me to kill you, right?”

He said this as easily as talking about eating and drinking. Angela quickly put on a terrified look, pleading incoherently: “With Jiuzhou present, how could I possibly kill you? I just wanted to scare you, I never intended to actually hurt you… I’ll give you all my money! I also have points, I can transfer items to you… just don’t kill me!”

In the past, she had faced life-or-death crises from players. By showing appropriate weakness, others would inevitably soften and drop their guard.

This time seemed no different. Qi Si lowered his head, a thoughtful expression on his face, likely weighing the value of her proposal.

After a long moment, the young man said softly, “Alright. Promise me you won’t reveal any information related to me after we leave, and I will let the Ghosts spare your life.”

Angela breathed a sigh of relief and nodded pitifully: “I promise, once I leave the instance, I absolutely won’t reveal any information…”

Blood mist steamed in the void, condensing into scarlet paper, and golden vines, the embodiment of the rules, shimmered faintly. A Quill wrote gilded text on the paper, clearly outlining the terms of the Contract.

Angela saw scarlet prompt text appear on the system interface, accompanied by a cold electronic voice softly reciting:

【Contract signed. This Contract is guaranteed by the World Rules, and no entity may disobey it】

Astonishment filled her heart: What level of Skill must this be, to directly affect the system interface and even touch the supreme rules?

However, with the rules as a constraint, she should be safe, after all, “rules cannot be defied”… Then she saw Qi Si silently draw a Blade from his wristband and slash toward the side of her neck, his movement so resolute it wasn’t mere intimidation.

She could no longer remain calm, glaring furiously at Qi Si: “What are you doing? Killing me won’t benefit you at all! If you violate the rules, you’ll die too!”

“Did you forget? You have sufficient cash on you, so the Ghosts can’t kill you,” Qi Si sighed. “The only ones who can kill you are players—I only said the Ghosts wouldn’t kill you, I never said *I* wouldn’t kill you.”

A spatter of blood bloomed on her pale neck. The intense pain and rapidly dropping body temperature signaled the arrival of death.

Angela lay prone on the Altar, watching her blood soak the pristine white bricks, seeping along the stone platform’s patterns like a winding stream into the edges, turning into crimson rootlets.

The Clock Tower’s roar vibrated at this moment, echoing away without any specific melody, near and far, layer upon layer, just like a Hymn suddenly sounding before mass in a church.

Qi Si inhaled the fresh scent of blood, smiling pleasantly as he reached into Angela’s pocket and retrieved all the Banknotes.

A total of 1,800. Adding the 900 he had on him, the grand total was 2,700, which meant two lives.

He casually tossed ten Banknotes onto the Altar, watched them vanish into the air, and then silently put the remaining cash into his pocket.

The first rule, 【Please ensure you always carry a certain amount of usable cash】, already hinted that the Banknotes were closely related to the players’ lives.

Later, Yuna had said a sentence to the players: “Health, personality, conscience, life… anything you perceive as exchangeable for money can be used as payment.”

In other words, life and money could be exchanged for one another.

And the phrase “The money you receive matches your intrinsic value” explained the amount required to buy the life corresponding to each identity.

Players died at the hands of the Ghosts simply because their initial cash amount, after paying the room fee, was no longer enough to buy their lives back.

“Another word game,” Qi Si realized suddenly, his smile brightening. “As long as the money on your person isn’t consumed, nothing bad will happen even if you don’t check into the Hotel.

“But the rules deliberately preset the premise that’sleeping in a room in the Hotel is safe,’ misleading players into thinking it’s the only safe solution.”

Even truth can deceive people, and incomplete truths are sometimes scarier than lies. The Eerie Game undoubtedly mastered player psychology well.

Qi Si was not a god; even the most precise logical deduction would have flaws, and the most meticulous thinking could unintentionally fall into blind spots.

All he could do was remain cautious at all times and adjust his judgment according to changes in the situation.

At this moment, Qi Si stored the lesson learned into his memory, slowly bent down, and used the Blade to sever the little finger of Angela’s right hand.

He squatted beside her, silently examining the girl’s corpse, patiently waiting for a change.

Time passed minute by minute. That finger seemed to be just a normal finger; it did not show a wooden structure, nor did a ring precipitate out.

“Wasn’t Angela a Puppet? Then… who could the other Puppet be?”

Qi Si tapped his chin intermittently with his index finger, his eyes gradually narrowing into thin slits.