Assuming Lin Chen wouldn't make it, Qi Si sent him a '6'—a final act of charity that also happened to round out his point total nicely.
He withdrew from the game space and opened his eyes, finding himself back in his bed.
The orange-yellow afternoon sun slanted into the room, casting a warm, diamond-shaped patch of light. It fell diagonally across his white shirt, creating the illusion that he had been sliced in two at the waist.
Qi Si glanced at the time. Two in the afternoon. Still a while before dinner, which counted as a small but welcome piece of good news.
—At least it meant he didn't have to drag himself out of bed to scrounge up something to eat.
He lay perfectly still for a while, watching the patch of light on the wall shift a hand's breadth. Finally, Qi Si twitched a finger, shifted his elbow, and reached for the phone on his pillow.
Considering holding the phone up would take too much energy, he reluctantly rolled onto his side. From there, he unlocked the screen, went straight to the game forums, and searched for the name "Dong Ziwen."
Qi Si had several theories about how Dong Xiwen had managed to enter the main game as a rookie, and one of them... was that it had something to do with his brother, who had died long ago.
He would need more information to figure out the exact connection, but that didn't stop him from hunting for clues on the forums first. Most players deliberately hid their real names, but who knew? He might just find a breadcrumb or two.
The search results loaded, revealing only a handful of posts that seemed highly relevant.
His eyes landed on a post highlighted in red:
#[CALLOUT] An animal named Dong Ziwen got us all killed!#
The post described a young man calling himself "Dong Ziwen" who had been antisocial from the moment he entered the instance. Then, for reasons unknown, he vanished.
At first, the other players didn't pay it much mind. But then key items started mysteriously disappearing from various locations, NPC hostility inexplicably ramped up, and the instance's difficulty skyrocketed. Only then did they realize that "Dong Ziwen" had triggered the True End route.
The players had no choice but to seek "Dong Ziwen" out and offer to cooperate. But not only did he refuse, he also engineered it so all the NPC aggression was directed at them, forcing them to flee in a desperate panic.
After finally shaking off the monsters, they stumbled upon the exit by pure chance, only to find it locked from the outside. It was obvious who had done it: "Dong Ziwen," the first one to leave. Predictably, they died trapped in that instance, filled with despair and resentment, and had all decided to spend the last half-hour of their lives writing this post to expose him.
The post was two years old, which matched the timeline. Still, "Dong Ziwen" was an incredibly common name, so he couldn't rule out the possibility that someone else had simply used it as an alias.
Qi Si tried to save the post, but a prompt popped up demanding real-name verification. He had to resort to a more primitive method: taking a screenshot and saving it to his phone's gallery.
As usual, the forums were a mix of fluff, trade threads, strategy guides, and unverifiable "insider tips." Crowds of people were chanting Fu Jue's name, foolishly clinging to the hope that they would wake up one day and be free of the Weird Game.
[I'm feeling the game's bias for Fu Jue more and more. No, to be more accurate, Fu Jue is just perfectly suited for this game. No puzzle has ever stumped him, he has all the knowledge needed for every instance. He's like a walking supercomputer!]
[What Fu Jue said at the end of the last instance completely floored me: "Humanity can choose its own destiny, without the interference of the old gods. Anyone who dares to ascend to godhood must be struck down on their throne—and that includes me." Such conviction! What else would you expect from the top player!]
[My bedtime wish is to wake up tomorrow to news that the Final Instance has been cleared. I'm Fu Jue's loyal dog, woof woof woof!]
Qi Si: "..."
He desperately wanted to block every post containing keywords like "Fu Jue," "Almighty Fu," or "the top player," but it seemed the game forums were determined to cram his screen with garbage and offered no such feature.
He could only force himself to ignore the mountain of mindless drivel on the main page and search for walkthroughs and impressions of *The Grand Performance*.
There were thirty-nine results in total, all about the Normal End: "Bloody Tragicomedy." To achieve it, one had to strictly adhere to the rules set by Charlie, survive the battle royale, and emerge as the sole survivor.
One player, a theorist, offered a confident analysis:
[In *The Grand Performance*, the malice of the Weird Game is on full display. It does everything in its power to cultivate players' capacity for sin, tempting us to abandon morality and corrupt our own humanity.]
[In every round, to avoid a gruesome death, you have to find a way to eliminate other players, to make them suffer that agony in your place. But even that isn't enough. Players have to go beyond the rules and actively harm others (like using items to kill them), or they'll be trapped in an endless cycle.]
[Survival or death? Do you uphold your morals and die, or abandon them to live? The Weird Game doesn't even try to hide it; it shoves this question right in your face and forces you to make a choice.]
[Not everyone who died was a saint, but everyone who survived is a sinner. I've always wondered... even if we clear the Final Instance and end this whole game, can people like us really go back? Will the world ever truly accept us again?]
Qi Si scrolled down with interest, finding that many other players shared this pessimistic view.
Some claimed they were no longer human nor ghost, clinging to life only because of the game's wish-granting mechanic. Others worried that if the supernatural threats vanished and the Federation learned they had been "players," they would be placed under strict surveillance to "maintain social stability." Then there were those who had thrown in the towel completely, proposing that since they had suffered so much and faced the risk of being targeted and ostracized anyway, they might as well drag more people into the game with them...
The thread had unknowingly become a forum for slaughter-focused players. The fact that it hadn't been shut down yet suggested it was probably being used as a honey pot.
Qi Si savored a moment of schadenfreude for all the idiots who had left comments with their real names, then searched the forums again, this time for "No. 33 Middle School." As before, he found a heap of walkthroughs for the Normal End.
He gave the results a quick scan, confirming that entering the teacher's office in that instance was a death sentence. Only then, satisfied, did he navigate away.
Although he was reasonably satisfied with Lin Chen as a tool, he had, due to his own inexperience, left several openings during the *Rose Manor* instance. And who knew if the kid might suddenly put two and two together...
In any case, the dead were always the most trustworthy.
After exiting the game forums, Qi Si suddenly felt an urge to read a book.
Having read so much dramatic literature in *The Grand Performance*, he couldn't help but recall his youthful penchant for reading banned books.
Looking back, he realized he'd simply been craving intense psychological stimulation. But being too young to act on his impulses, he had settled for the next best thing: feeding his mind with books.
But it was undeniable that books offered a different kind of experience than direct action—one of multi-angled imagination and more nuanced depiction.
Qi Si rolled over again, mentally calculated the distance between his bed and the living room bookshelf, and ultimately abandoned the idea of getting up to find a book.
He pulled out his phone and searched for a few titles he recalled from memory. As expected, nothing came up.
So many things were "forbidden" now. Physical copies might still circulate in small circles, but certain e-books had long since been wiped from every database without a trace. Fortunately, Qi Si wasn't particularly fixated on rereading old favorites.
He closed the browser, opened Anipop, and resumed playing on level 1,098.
At five in the evening, Qi Si finally dragged himself out of bed.
He glanced at the darkening sky outside, shuffled into the kitchen, and tore open a packet of instant noodles.
Unfortunately, after he picked up the thermos and poured water into the bowl, he discovered it was lukewarm at best.
He had two options: reheat a kettle of water, or turn on the stove and properly cook a bowl of noodles.
Qi Si considered his options for two seconds, decided he wasn't that hungry after all, set the instant noodles aside, and returned to his bedroom to lie down again.
Dusk deepened into night. A line of dim, yellow streetlights flickered on, stretching along the road to the horizon and staining the dark sky with an earthy glow.
His phone suddenly chimed. Qi Si saw a new message pop up on the screen.
[Jin Yusheng]: Hey, Old Qi. We're still on for tomorrow, right? You remember? If you don't have other plans, then I'll see you there. Don't flake on me.
Qi Si's eyes narrowed slightly as he finally dredged up a faded fragment of memory.
Jin Yusheng had a crush on some girl and had arranged a murder mystery game party. He wanted Qi Si to come along to fill out the numbers...
This would have been perfectly normal for anyone else, but coming from Jin Yusheng, it felt incredibly strange.
At the time, Qi Si had figured it had been a while since Jin Yusheng owed him a favor, so he'd casually agreed without giving it much thought. But now, this pointed reminder—laced with a deliberately concealed seriousness—forced him to pay attention.
Judging by Jin Yusheng's tone, the girl he liked was probably a "normal person." If things worked out, Jin Yusheng would likely fade out of the gray world they inhabited and start living a normal life.
Once people let their guard down, they get sloppy. Countless pieces of evidence pointing to their illicit dealings could slip out during a casual joke or a drunken conversation...
More importantly, Qi Si realized, Jin Yusheng handled many of his affairs. If he left the circle, finding a replacement on short notice would be a real problem...
"How troublesome..." Qi Si sat up and reread the message exchange. The calm he'd felt moments before gave way to a subtle thrum of irritation.
He was naturally suspicious; of all the people he knew, Jin Yusheng was the only one he could even grudgingly trust. That was why he had dragged him into this gray world to handle odd jobs. The consequence was that if Jin Yusheng, this one crucial link, ever broke, his own exposure would not be far behind.
He had, of course, considered the wisdom of not putting all his eggs in one basket and had planned to find several replacements. He just hadn't gotten around to it. It seemed that plan would have to be moved up the agenda.
"I knew it. I never should have placed my hopes in a mediocre, ordinary person to stay with me for the long haul," he muttered. "I should have realized there would always be fools who yearn for a so-called peaceful life, eager to play out their little drama of a 'graceful exit'..."
Qi Si threw himself back onto the bed, the heavy thud swallowing his final words.
Then a sense of dissonance struck him. Jin Yusheng had known him for years; he should have a very clear picture of how Qi Si operated. So why would he invite him to this gathering?
Qi Si glanced at his calendar. Tomorrow was April 1st.
...
On the morning of April 1st, Qi Si woke up at eight on the dot. He went downstairs, bought an egg-filled pancake for breakfast, and boarded a bus.
At 8:51 AM, an hour and nine minutes before their scheduled meeting, he got off at his stop and pulled up the directions on his phone.
He spent a full half-hour wandering around to the robotic tune of "You have arrived near your destination," but still couldn't find the supposed game shop. Defeated, he found a bench in the plaza and sat down.
The area wasn't old, but it wasn't exactly new, either. The restaurants were still closed, and only a few clothing stores had opened for the day, their owners shooing away beggars from their doorsteps as they switched on the lights.
The beggars dragged their bedrolls to a new spot. A few of them stood with their arms hanging loose, their eyes darting over to Qi Si like emaciated sewer rats eyeing a moldy piece of cheese.
They quickly reached a decision. With blank, wooden faces, they began to shamble toward him.
As they approached, they fumbled in their pockets, pulling out the blue and green squares of payment QR codes and fixing their dull, murky eyes on him.
To avoid any unnecessary trouble, Qi Si had no choice but to get up and take another stroll around the far side of the plaza.
At 9:46, Qi Si finally spotted a familiar figure through the hazy morning light.
A young man in his early twenties, his hair tied back in a small brown braid, had taken off his sunglasses. He was wearing a blue T-shirt, a departure from his usual style.
It was Jin Yusheng.
A few steps behind him walked a long-haired woman in a gray jacket and black jeans. She looked to be in her late twenties, with a pleasant, unassuming beauty.
Jin Yusheng spotted Qi Si as well and quickened his pace. He seemed a bit stiff as he made the introduction. "Qi Si, this is... the one I told you about."
"Hello, my name is Xu Ning," the woman said, stepping forward with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."