Everything faded away—sounds, memories, and images alike.
In the darkness, Qi Si lost all sensation, as if suspended in an ocean of dense, churning fog, his entire being enveloped by something formless.
He could see nothing, yet he could feel a gaze roving through the depths of his soul, tangible as a physical touch. It was prying into his most unguarded corners, searching... or rather, seeking.
Yes, seeking.
Qi Si felt like a bale of cotton with a single pearl buried deep inside, and a hand was pulling him apart, tuft by tuft, meticulously searching for that pearl.
Of course, the hand wasn't a hand in the conventional sense. It was more like a convergence of sight, thought, and will—an indescribable polymer of intent, an image his mind conjured to make sense of the imperceptible.
Qi Si could only try to understand what he was experiencing, and what was about to happen, through the chaotic fragments of images flashing through his mind.
He realized this calamity had likely befallen him because he possessed something coveted. Even if that wasn't the whole story, it was certainly a major part of it.
Considering he was already half-dead, he decided to remain perfectly still, diligently playing the part of a useless lump of flesh, letting the other party carry on with its painstaking search.
Gradually, the prodding began to annoy him. "What are you looking for?" he asked. "Why don't you tell me? I'll help you look."
The entity seemed surprised by his offer. The hand paused for a fraction of a second before resuming its silent, methodical search.
Time ticked by. Qi Si wanted to drift off to sleep, but he couldn't rest while under such intense scrutiny.
...If only he had a blanket. Even a straw mat for a shroud would be nice.
As his thoughts drifted aimlessly, a torrent of memories surged forth, unbidden.
From the time he was twelve, when he secretly killed his neighbor's large dog, and then, having practiced his methods, used that experience to deal with a troublesome "friend."
To a few months before his seventeenth birthday, when he sat on his windowsill gnawing on a cold, hard flatbread while watching a vengeful ghost in red viciously slaughter his aunt and uncle.
Unimportant scenes fast-forwarded, blurring into a mosaic of color as the speed increased. Red, yellow, and blue pigments seemed to spill across his vision before separating once more into distinct dots, reassembling into recognizable images.
Entering the Weird Game: Rose Manor, the cannibalistic village, the dialectic game, the Hopeless Sea...
One instance after another flashed before his eyes. Qi Si realized the entity was sifting through his memories.
Every secret, every thought, every experience laid bare, with no way to stop it, no way to refuse...
Qi Si watched, weary, as the images finally settled on Double Happiness Town. He was now a spectator in a misty landscape, witnessing his own actions from an outside perspective.
[This information is locked to you. You do not have permission to access it.]
A line of blood-red text popped up, not on the system interface, but floating in the dark void itself.
The warning was likely meant for the entity searching his memories, because Qi Si felt the probing hand freeze.
So, the rules themselves couldn't stand it anymore and decided to intervene out of a sense of fairness?
The thought struck Qi Si as grimly humorous.
Sure enough, the next moment, the playback of his memories stopped abruptly. All thoughts that could point to specific details were scrambled, making it impossible to piece together the full picture.
A wave of astonishment, not his own, was transmitted through his soul. Qi Si felt an urge to laugh.
He suddenly understood that he wasn't entirely helpless.
The plan he had devised, the one that seemed like a desperate, last-ditch gamble born of a hopeless situation, might have been insane and far-fetched at first, but right here, right now, it seemed to have a real chance of success.
Though he was on the enemy's home turf, at a disadvantage in terms of items, experience, and trump cards, he held an absolute advantage in one key area.
Information.
Yes, he had entered the game thirty-six years late and lacked a great deal of intel. But he still knew things the entity didn't, such as... the location of the very thing it was looking for.
The entity undoubtedly possessed a far greater volume of information, including secrets about the nature of the Weird Game and the origin of its rules. But when you were desperately searching for one specific thing, any information related to it became immensely valuable.
—Valuable enough to decide the outcome.
"Tell me the location of the authority of the contract. It is a fate that does not belong to you," a voice resonated from the depths of his mind, carrying the weight of a divine decree, laced with threat and command.
So that was what it was looking for.
The 'Soul Contract', a skill tied to the fundamental rules of this world, an authority that should belong only to a god, had been bestowed upon him, a newcomer who had just recently entered the game.
And this newcomer was a loner, isolated and without support, possessing no power to contend with a god, and ignorant of many of the dangers around him.
Putting himself in the entity's shoes, Qi Si felt it would be a crime not to try and manipulate him.
Great rewards often came with great risks, but if the prize was tempting enough, it was worth betting everything.
Qi Si smirked. "It seems you gods aren't so omniscient after all. What's in it for me if I tell you where the authority of the contract is?"
The unfamiliar god replied, "You may leave here alive. And I will permit you to worship me and will answer your prayers."
The tone was one of condescending charity, befitting a monotheistic deity. A pity for it, then, that there was more than one god in the Weird Game.
Qi Si thought for a moment. "How about this: you can bid against Qi for it. I'll listen to whoever makes the higher offer. Qi gave me the 'Soul Contract' skill. Do you have anything more valuable to give me?"
"..."
The space began to tremble violently. A pair of golden eyes snapped open in the darkness, their gaze falling upon him.
In that instant, Qi Si was overwhelmed by a terror that clawed at his very soul. It was like seeing the eyes of a cat while he was nothing but a sewer rat.
Excruciating pain erupted, as if countless blades were stabbing into his flesh from every angle, twisting and churning before hooking into his veins and pulling them out. His nerves felt as if they were being ground down by needles, repeatedly pierced and prodded...
Wave after wave of agony washed over him, endless and all-consuming. Yet through it all, a gentle, persuasive voice whispered that he only needed to reveal the location of the authority of the contract, and all this suffering would end.
When the pain reached its peak, Qi Si actually laughed.
If he had been on the defensive until now, the tables had turned. The initiative was now in his hands, and the probability of his plan succeeding had just shot up from 1% to 99%.
His opponent had no better way to deal with him; it had resorted to the most primitive method of interrogation.
And while he was afraid of pain, he was also exceptionally good at enduring it. Especially when he knew that his endurance would thoroughly infuriate his tormentor. He would rather suffer a thousand cuts than let his enemy have its way.
The frustration that had been building since he entered this instance vanished completely. It was like sucking on a mint candy coated in pepper; after all the stinging flavors faded, his tongue could finally taste the sweetness.
Qi Si's laughter grew wilder, escalating into a full-throated roar.
When the question was posed to him one more time, He spat out two words with immense satisfaction: "You guess." ...
Shang Qingbei was dreaming. He was in a void of utter darkness, with only a single, yellowed page floating before him.
Words were written on the page in a language from no known country, yet the moment his eyes fell upon them, he understood their meaning.
[Side Quest: Ruin Xi'er's Wedding]
That was what the page said. In the bottom right corner, Shang Qingbei saw his own signature—his real name.
He remembered it then. On the first night, trapped in a series of nested dreams, he had made a deal with some entity. The entity helped him wake from the nightmare, and in return, he was to complete this side quest.
But the way he had completed the quest was clearly contrary to the entity's intentions. Did this count as breaking his promise?
Now that he was trapped in a dream once more, was the entity here to collect its due?
A cold sweat broke out on Shang Qingbei's brow. Then, he saw the page before him change.
The side with the quest on it peeled away and dissolved into the void. Beneath it, there was another page, and on it was written something entirely different:
[Kill Qi Si]
His signature was there as well, in the bottom right corner.
The deal had two clauses. Shang Qingbei suddenly realized that in last night's dream, the entity had never explicitly told him what it required him to do.
So that was the trick... helping Xi'er had never been part of the deal at all. It was just a misdirection, a clever play on words!
Shang Qingbei sucked in a sharp breath, but he felt no anger at being duped.
He knew the other party held a position of absolute dominance, likely possessing a high level of authority. Arguing with it would gain him nothing.
In fact, he felt a sense of relief. The quest to save Xi'er, which he had botched, was unimportant. He wouldn't be punished for it.
Now, Shang Qingbei's gaze returned to the terms of the contract.
[Kill Qi Si]. Who was "Qi Si"?
Without a doubt, it was the real name of one of the players.
Shang Qingbei recalled the details from the beginning of the instance, including the behavior of Du Xiaoyu and "Qi Wen." He was certain that "Qi Wen's" surname was "Qi"...
A portrait materialized in the darkness, confirming his suspicion.
The next moment, he felt a push on his back. He stumbled forward and shot up in bed, his eyes meeting the darkness outside the window.
He sat there for a while, pulling himself from the disquiet of the dream, and gradually calmed down.
Dreams were creations of the subconscious, capable of stirring one's basest instincts. In a dream, one might see murder as a matter of course, but in reality, a person could not simply abandon their morals.
There were no lights on in the room; it was so dim he could only make out vague silhouettes.
Shang Qingbei turned his head to look at the figure lying on the middle bed, his expression complicated.
It was true he didn't particularly like "Qi Wen"—or rather, Qi Si. Perhaps it was because the latter always seemed to verbally jab at him, or perhaps it was because they were both skilled puzzle-solvers with conflicting viewpoints... but none of that was reason enough for a fight to the death.
Under the "guaranteed death count" mechanic, Shang Qingbei might feel a secret flicker of relief at the death of a companion, but he would never personally harm another player.
At the end of the day, they were all human. Their greatest enemy was the supernatural, and they needed to stand united.
Besides, he was just a high school student. If he killed someone, could he ever return to his normal life?
As he hesitated, "Qi Si" sat up in bed without warning and switched on the LED light of the makeup mirror under his pillow.
The room was finally illuminated, though only by a single, dim light source. It wasn't bright, but it was enough for them to see each other.
Shang Qingbei watched as the young man staggered over to the wall and shook Xu Yao, who was sleeping fully clothed, awake.
He snapped out of his reverie and glanced at Du Xiaoyu, who had drooled all over the pillow next to him. With a look of disgust, he scooted closer and jabbed the boy's back with the English dictionary in his hand.
Du Xiaoyu sprang up from the bed, his face grim, but he was instantly awake. He remembered they were in an instance; the group had agreed before sleeping to go out at night and investigate the "ghost gate" mentioned in the rules.
Once they investigated the ghost gate and found the path to survival, they would be able to clear the instance...
The night was silent as the players rustled, getting dressed under the faint light of the makeup mirror before heading out one by one.
"Qi Si" stood at the front, holding the mirror aloft.
In the courtyard, the blackness of the sky and the ground merged into one. The light from the mirror was like a single drop of water in a pool of ink; it couldn't dispel much of the darkness. Instead, it cast flickering shadows from the scraps of paper scattered across the ground, sparking all sorts of unsettling thoughts.
Shang Qingbei unconsciously edged closer to the young man holding the light, only to be met with a blast of chilling air that made him shiver.
Was "Qi Si" made of ice? Or did he fall into the well and get frozen solid?
Shang Qingbei grumbled to himself but kept moving, following the young man out of the courtyard.
On the first night, he had been resistant to exploring after dark. Now, however, he was eager.
For one, the hope of clearing the instance was right in front of them, and he needed to hurry up and boost his performance score. For another, moving as a group gave him a sense of security—safety in numbers.
The young man at the front pushed open the wooden gate, and a bone-chilling wind rushed in, snatching away nearly all their body heat.
A thick mist hung in the air outside. The tiny water droplets suspended in it reflected the LED light, bathing everything before them in a blanket of white.
For no reason, Shang Qingbei was reminded of the scene from his first night's dream, when he had stood in this very spot with a monster wearing "Qi Si's" face.
At the thought, he gave the young man a thorough once-over, noting the bracelet and watch on his wrist, and the pendant around his neck.
—All his items were there. He could be sure that this Qi Si was human.
The young man seemed oblivious to Shang Qingbei's scrutinizing gaze. He looked left and right. "We don't know the location of the ghost gate. We should be prepared to come up empty-handed tonight."
Shang Qingbei agreed with this assessment and followed up, "Let's split into two teams. One team goes left and turns left at every fork; the other goes right and turns right. Tonight, let's just focus on finding the gate."
He thought of the words [Kill Qi Si] on the page from his dream and added quietly, "I'll team up with Qi Wen and go left. We'll try to cover as much ground as possible."
He had an item, a trump card, that could kill any single person, but he still couldn't bring himself to intentionally harm another player—not even one he had friction with, not even if that person wasn't a good person...
However, as long as he stuck close to Qi Si, the power to kill him or not remained in his hands. He could play it by ear and make a decision later. There was no rush.
Xu Yao had no objection to Shang Qingbei's arrangement.
Du Xiaoyu thought of something and looked at the young man holding the mirror. "Qi-ge, can we split the light source? Otherwise, we won't be able to see the road. I remember that phone with all the fake clues was pretty bright when it was on."
"I left it at the bottom of the well," the young man replied, his face half-lit, half-shadowed by the LED, his expression cold and detached. "If you can't see the road, just walk slower."
"I was just asking! What's with the attitude?" Du Xiaoyu finally lost his temper and muttered a curse under his breath.
The young man, however, seemed completely unconcerned, turning and walking down the path to the left.
In the distance, the wail of a suona horn echoed through the night, a mournful, eerie sound like the whispers of ghosts.