The dust that had gathered into words was still in regular script, the characters clear and neat, making them very easy to read.
The meaning was also very straightforward that the child was hiding in the attic, waiting for them to rescue him.
Now the main question in front of them was: could they trust a ghost?
“The game warned us before—dead children want to follow us out too. They’ll definitely disguise themselves as real children to trick us. I don’t think her words are very trustworthy,” Qi Yu analyzed calmly.
He made sense, and the others nodded along.
Pei Hu gave him an approving glance. What Qi Yu said was exactly what he had been thinking.
“In this game, the intelligence of ghosts is extremely high. You can treat them as humans, they are cunning and vicious. These words all apply to them. When searching for clues, you must be extremely careful. If you trigger their traps, you might end up lying with Guo Yue! I’m sure none of you want that, right?”
The newcomers shook their heads like rattles, Huang Mao vigorously nodded.
“Qi Yu is right. But…” Pei Hu’s tone shifted. “The good thing about a newbie session is that they don’t dig too many traps for us. Also, we already searched these two floors yesterday and didn’t find anything. I suggest we check the attic.”
Pei Hu’s suggestion made sense. Game time was still passing, and since they hadn’t found anything valuable on the two lower floors, they had to follow the clue given by that ghost girl.
In other words, they had to go to the attic whether they liked it or not.
The group exchanged glances and didn’t waste time, heading straight for the attic.
But a small problem arose on the way.
They wandered in circles but couldn’t find a path upstairs. The second-floor corridor ran straight back and forth, with no hint of an upper floor.
Then how did people in this orphanage ever get upstairs?
Did they fly up with invisible wings?
Everyone was completely baffled. They circled the second floor again and again, wishing they could dig through the floor and walls to find the way up.
Qi Yu thought for a moment, then suddenly ran downstairs.
The orphanage’s main door could be opened. But he could only wander a few circles around the small building with thick white fog surrounding it. He could barely get a view of the building’s full exterior.
The small orphanage building was built rather roughly, low but sprawling.
This made the pointed rooftop look flat, like a person doing a split from below, the height probably didn’t even reach half of the two lower floors. No one expected this to be an important plot trigger point.
Qi Yu ran out hoping to see if he could climb from the outside to the attic, performing a risky high-altitude maneuver, entering through a window.
But when he saw the narrow little window in the attic, he immediately scrapped the idea.
It was such a tiny window! Unless someone had extreme contortion skills, there was no way they could fit through. Only a child of seven or eight could squeeze in.
Maybe that was how the child had entered back then?
As Qi Yu pondered this, he suddenly felt a chill, as if someone had been watching him the whole time.
He looked up and just caught sight of a white figure drifting past the small attic window. On that grayish glass window, someone had drawn a crooked little fish at some point.
Qi Yu: “……”
He felt the hairs on his back stand on end instantly.
What does this mean?
The ghost inside even knows his name, deliberately greeting him with this?
How does it know his name? Does this drawing mean he’s the next Guo Yue?
No way, he hasn’t done anything!
He just came out to enjoy the orphanage building a little!
Qi Yu panicked, wishing he could perform a full-floor scramble and hide in a hole.
If only he had that ability.
===
Orphanage attic.
Xie Shao lay on an old rattan lounge chair, legs crossed, holding a jade little fish pendant and slowly rubbing it.
He suddenly smiled.
The little fish was about to take the bait. Should he go grab the pink floral quilt set again?
The dusty floor and the long-forgotten attic entrance were waiting to be opened once more.
The child hiding in the attic would reunite with companions and he would no longer be afraid.
Suddenly, low arguing voices came from downstairs.
Huang Mao, holding a bamboo pole he had somehow found the way to the attic. He excitedly approached Pei Hu.
“Brother Hu, I found it!”
Pei Hu, used to this kind of streetwise nickname, nodded. “You found the entrance to the attic? Where is it? Show us.”
“Just ahead, at the ceiling at the end of the corridor.”
Huang Mao led the others who had come rushing over.
The attic entrance was indeed a bit hard to find. It seemed like it hadn’t been used since it was created. Attached to the corridor ceiling, it was just a dark
The hole in the ceiling had been blocked with wooden planks, and when the walls were plastered, it had been covered over as well.
One layer of cement, one layer of whitewash, perfectly blending with the surrounding ceiling. If Huang Mao’s family hadn’t had a similar attic before, finding this one would have taken a lot of effort.
“I already tried it,” Huang Mao said. “The wooden plank on top has been there a long time—it’s brittle. Just poke it with a bamboo stick and it’ll break. Then put a chair underneath and climb in. Simple, no effort. But…”
He gave an awkward smile.
“Brother Hu, do you think there’s a ghost waiting for us up there?”
“Of course there is,” Pei Hu replied calmly. “Didn’t you see the message left by that little girl? She told us to come to the attic to find someone. Once we get up there, she might smile and greet us, or pull a bunch of ghosts with her to greet us. Anything’s possible. Of course, the best case is we find the mission target directly.”
“The game is unpredictable. Relax a little. Look at Qi Yu! He’s steady, even got a wooden stick ready. Come on, let’s poke this plank open first.”
Huang Mao felt like crying. How could he relax?
A knife at his neck, and if he saw that little girl smile at him, he was sure he’d pee on the spot.
Suddenly, Qi Yu, who had been called over, looked completely panicked.
Steady?
He was just distracted thinking about the little fish on the window. Steady my foot! He was being stared at by a ghost, and he was terrified.
The worst part was, he didn’t dare tell anyone. Everyone else were strangers! Just unlucky enough to be thrown into this game together. If they knew, what if they used him as bait?
Even though Pei Hu and the others seemed okay for now, you never knew. He couldn’t take that risk! He only had one life.
To survive, Qi Yu pressed his lips tight, held back his tears, and pretended to be calm. He jabbed the wooden stick upward.
“Crack!” A crisp sound, and a hole appeared in the sturdy ceiling.
Huang Mao was right: after so long, the wooden plank had become brittle, leaving only a thin shell that was easily broken.
But what he hadn’t said was that there was someone grabbing the stick above!
Qi Yu felt the ground disappear beneath him. A strong force came down the stick. Before he could release it, his body was yanked up like a pulled scallion, fast and precise.
“Bang—”
The sound of his body breaking through the wood rang out. Qi Yu clenched his teeth, eyes shut, thrashing wildly. His limbs hadn’t yet flailed open when he felt himself fall into a cool embrace.
A forest-after-rain scent filled his nose, and someone whispered near his ear, smiling:
“Fishing successful.”
…
“Holy crap!”
“What the hell, he just went up like that?”
“Brother Hu, what do we do? Should we go up and save him?”
The players stared at the dark entrance, dumbfounded, unsure what to do. It was like pulling a radish a one second, and a full-grown human disappeared, leaving no sound behind.
Pei Hu risked a glance up from below. The inside was too dark; all he could see were clouds of dust on the floor and bits of wood carried up with Qi Yu.
No sign of a person!
In just a few seconds, a grown human had vanished, without a single sound.
Pei Hu felt his heart sink. The slight relaxation from starting a newbie session vanished instantly.
This is difficult, definitely didn’t feel like a newbie session.
He ground his teeth, staring at the entrance a few seconds before finally waving:
“Don’t go near it for now.”
“We need to find another way, maybe widen the entrance, or add some light. It’s too dark up there.”
The darkness made it impossible to see anything above. And the boss’s attacks were so strange, there was no chance to buffer them.
As an experienced player, Pei Hu knew that ghost attacks in this game required a trigger.
Like last night with Guo Yue, she was attacked because she panicked when she met the little girl ghost, angering her. Meanwhile, the muscle guy lying still next to her wasn’t harmed.
So why was Qi Yu attacked?
Because he poked the wood? That couldn’t be. Huang Mao had poked first, and several sticks went up together. Why was it only Qi Yu who got grabbed?
Maybe the ghost just randomly picks one?
Qi Yu’s luck was absurdly terrible.
Pei Hu sighed for the unlucky newbie and pulled the others to search for tools. If the ghost was strong, there should be items to counter it, so they needed to find items and light sources.
As for Qi Yu, he would just have to rely on his own luck.
Little did they know, the Qi Yu they thought was doomed was actually enjoying “good fortune”, food, drink, and sleep. **Though this sleep was being slept on by someone else.
(** “被人睡” literally means “slept by someone,” which implies being slept with (sexually).)
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
Coffee is technically a form of emotional support.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Enter the GameChapter 2 · Pick a roomChapter 3 · DeadChapter 4 · AtticChapter 5 · ResponsibleChapter 6 · A bamboo BasketChapter 7 · DiaryChapter 8 · Song QingChapter 9 · Sent to HospitalChapter 10 · Second CopyChapter 11 · Leaking InformationChapter 12 · Special Prop!Chapter 13 · Doctor GhostChapter 14 · Store RoomChapter 15 · Psychiatry HospitalChapter 16 · Things of PastChapter 17 · Second FloorChapter 18 · He’s adorableChapter 19 · You Like Him?Chapter 20 · Kiss meChapter 21 · Group women’s clothing PlayChapter 22 · Where’s my Skirt?Chapter 23 · Wife of Murder Doctor….Chapter 24 · Go to Third floorChapter 25 · You must find me!Chapter 26 · See you in the next dungeonChapter 27 · VideoChapter 28 · Player ForumChapter 29 · Two women vying for one manChapter 30 · The Giant WolfChapter 31 · A Kind and Benevolent FatherChapter 32 · Preparing the change clothesChapter 33 · Red Heart FruitChapter 34 · In what ways do I fall short of him?Chapter 35 · KissChapter 36 · Bald performanceChapter 37 · The Prince Has ArrivedChapter 38 · Prince Song QingChapter 39 · Should we…Chapter 40 · A Kiss of True LoveChapter 41 · BanquetChapter 42 · Snow White KingChapter 43 · KingChapter 44 · I miss you so much!Chapter 45 · LeavingChapter 46 · Wanting to See HimChapter 47 · Resource Type InstanceChapter 48 · The Banquet BeginsChapter 49 · KissChapter 50 · Full-Dive Virtual RealityChapter 51 · Everyone Is a LiarChapter 52 · MegaphoneChapter 53 · Dragon???Chapter 54 · Fire DragonChapter 55 · A powerful Fire DragonChapter 56 · Want Some Barbecue?Chapter 57 · The Characteristics of the GameChapter 58 · A little DragonChapter 59 · Searching for her sonChapter 60 · We’re Going to Tear Up the HostageChapter 61 · Mountain CollapseChapter 62 · DiscussionChapter 63 · Digging for Crystals?Chapter 64 · Making Money Selling LiquorChapter 65 · A KissChapter 66 · I’m the Best LookingChapter 67 · Ghost Ship 101Chapter 68 · Has the Competition Begun Yet?Chapter 69 · LotteryChapter 70 · First PlaceChapter 71 · The Sea Monster ArrivesChapter 72 · CooperationChapter 73 · The Man in the MaskChapter 74 · WarChapter 75 · The Players’ RevengeChapter 76 · ReturningChapter 77 · The End