Xin Meng remembered that the Wind Dust Girl, Li Yan, had once said that her mission was to go to the haunted house to kill a “ghost.”
This “ghost” was certainly not a real ghost; it probably referred to a staff member dressed as a ghost in the haunted house.
He got his phone and navigated to a nearby location. To the southeast of Happiness Street, at the edge of the city, there was an amusement park, and as per usual, it was the only one. When he tried to look at the map again, the phone screen went black.
Due to Xin Meng’s bad premonition, the two of them almost ran to the entrance of the amusement park, only to find the iron gate wide open, with various entertainment facilities inside bustling with activity—despite there being no one around.
As soon as they entered through the main gate, a huge map of the amusement park stood before them, marking the location of the haunted house. Xin Meng and his companion memorized the location and headed straight there.
As they pulled aside the black curtain at the entrance of the haunted house, before Xin Meng even stepped inside, he caught a familiar scent in his nostrils—the smell of blood.
He cautiously walked in, and in the dim flickering green light, he saw a body on the ground, cut into six pieces.
Li Yan.
Looking at the method of the murder and dismemberment, it was exactly the same as what Shentu Kou had done to Olivia.
“We’re late,” Xin Meng said with a hint of regret. “It seems he really wants to wipe out his teammates.”
“There’s still one woman left,” You Yi said, pulling him out of the grim environment. “Do you know where her mission is? Hurry up, we might still make it.”
Zhou Shengnan? Xin Meng furrowed his brows, thinking. She hadn’t mentioned what she was going to do…
But Xin Meng blinked and said, “She’s still at the university, to kill a college student.”
You Yi noticed the inexplicable flicker of blue light in his eyes that vanished in an instant and suddenly smiled. “Found it again?”
“Yeah,” Xin Meng said, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I just remembered how to use the system functions.”
You Yi sighed. “There’s no NPC as dumb as you.”
Xin Meng couldn’t agree with that and retorted, “Look at the other NPCs; aren’t they all dumber than me?”
You Yi chuckled and countered, “Can they compare to you?”
Xin Meng was momentarily speechless, facing the teasing gaze of the other. He stubbornly said, “There… there’s nothing they can’t compare to… aren’t we all NPCs…?”
He felt guilty as he spoke, swallowing the last word.
“Oh, you are an NPC,” You Yi said flatly, his tone devoid of emotion.
However, his gaze was anything but neutral, clearly conveying: “Let’s see how you continue.”
“Anyway… I’m just an NPC! I haven’t thought of anything else!” Xin Meng’s eyes darted around. “I really can’t remember anything else, just that I’m an NPC! You can’t blame me… Right, let’s hurry and save her, or that killer will succeed again!”
After saying that, he grabbed You Yi’s arm and ran towards the exit. You Yi had no choice but to follow, his expression one of helplessness.
The two of them rushed back to the university without stopping. By now, the sky was bright, yet the school resembled a giant beast still in slumber, silent and devoid of any human presence, eerily quiet as if it were on summer break.
They searched around and finally found Zhou Shengnan’s dismembered body on the school playground.
The stench of blood was overwhelming, attracting flies that buzzed around the corpse. The woman’s expression was frozen in terror, her eyes bulging, as if she had never expected to die so suddenly.
Although she would revive in the next game, this horrifying experience would likely haunt her for a lifetime.
At this point, aside from the murderer and the two of them, this team was practically annihilated; none of the three women had survived.
What was originally a low-physical-requirement scenario had turned deadly faster due to the variable that was Shentu Kou.
Xin Meng sighed, “Looking back now, the card did have a hint: ‘There is more than one killer,’ which probably meant that besides the mirror ghost, there was also a murderer in the team. However, since it was their first time participating in the game, they lacked experience and were not sufficiently vigilant about the dangers.”
You Yi casually replied with an “Mm,” clearly uninterested in the fates of others.
There was no sign of Shentu Kou around the corpse, but Xin Meng knew he couldn’t be far away; he was just hiding.
He didn’t use the system function to directly locate the other, after all… it was the last game, and he wanted to finish it as a player. Moreover, although Shentu Kou was a psychopath, he was essentially just an ordinary player; he wasn’t a bug and didn’t disrupt the normal operation of the game. Those he killed were merely the losers under the survival of the fittest rule, not the people the game needed. If there were any dark horses among them, they could fight their way out on their own, and their fate didn’t need interference from others.
Thinking this way seemed a bit cold, but Xin Meng had no other choice. “Compassion” was not part of his programmed directives, and even if a tiny bit had developed over time, it was only enough for a limited number of people.
He had a clear goal; since he wanted to clear the game, he needed to analyze the current situation.
“The requirement to clear the game is to meet the demands of each mirror ghost. You haven’t, but mine has already been resolved. There are four mirror ghosts left to deal with. Additionally, Shentu Kou said his mirror ghost’s requirement is to kill us all, but… when it encountered us, it didn’t dare to, and would even try to help us, becoming a hindrance to him. So, we actually don’t need to consider Shentu Kou’s side; the remaining ones are the three women’s mirror ghosts. As long as we complete their tasks, we should be able to clear the game.”
“And there’s a time limit,” You Yi added. “Only two days left until the Ghost Festival.”
Xin Meng nodded, recalling Shentu Kou’s card: “On the Ghost Festival, the hundred ghosts ascend to heaven.”
By the Ghost Festival, all these mirror ghosts would disappear together. If it were the real world, that would be fine; without the threat, they could survive. But this was a game; if the NPCs disappeared, there would be no hope of completing the tasks. If they failed, everyone in the team would be eternally adrift in the game, gradually losing their sanity, their traces of humanity erased, and ultimately disappearing without a sound.
This was the “punishment” for failing the game.
Cruel and unreasonable.
There wouldn’t even be a chance for a comeback.
Xin Meng circled the scene and finally found the mirror ghost that had followed Li Shengnan on the surface of the pond.
The mirror ghost’s expression was grim—of course, this kind of being seemed never to have been happy, and now it bore a hint of impatience. Upon seeing Xin Meng, that impatience slightly receded, and it spoke directly: “I want to kill Li Zhuo; he will pass by here in the afternoon.”
Xin Meng asked, “Who is Li Zhuo? What’s your relationship with him?”
The mirror ghost’s face seemed to darken further, and it growled, “He is my boyfriend, that disgusting scum! Not only did he cheat on me, but he also pushed me into the water for that little bitch! He knew I couldn’t swim, and I died just like that. He did it on purpose! I won’t let him go even if I become a ghost!”
This was merely a game setting, and Xin Meng felt no particular emotion. He bluntly said, “Is there any way you would be satisfied besides killing him? How about locking him up for over three hundred years?”
He proposed this based on the demands of his own mirror ghost, thinking it might be a universal solution. To his surprise, this mirror ghost flatly rejected it: “No way!”
Xin Meng had no choice but to continue asking, “Then what do you suggest?”
The mirror ghost insisted, “I just want him dead!”
Xin Meng was helpless; killing an NPC was definitely not an option, and no one would be able to clear the game then. He thought for a moment and advised, “You see, wanting someone dead is quick, but once he’s dead, he can’t repent for the wrongs he did to you. Isn’t that pain ending too quickly? Would you be satisfied with that? It would be better to lock him up and let him spend the rest of his life in prison repenting for his mistakes. What do you think?”
The mirror ghost gritted its teeth: “That won’t do either; I still can’t let it go… If you lock that bitch up for three hundred years too, then I might reluctantly agree!”
Dealing with two people was more troublesome than dealing with one, and it would take time. Xin Meng impatiently said, “Locking them both up for three hundred years would mean endless generations for them. While they are out there cheating, you still want to put them in prison to continue their antics?”
Upon hearing this, the mirror ghost turned pale, and after a long pause, it compromised, “Fine, just lock that bastard up. As for that woman… I’ll think of a way myself.”
What could it think of? It was nothing more than scaring the other party, hoping to frighten them into a heart attack that would be beyond rescue, but that had nothing to do with the players.
Following the mirror ghost’s instructions, Xin Meng and You Yi dug up the mirror ghost’s bones from the pond, then went to the boys’ dormitory, where they caught the only male college student inside, tied him up, gagged him, and threw him by the pond where the mirror ghost could see him. He could also see the rotting bones he had caused, and while the other looked on in horror, they called the police, waiting for them to come and arrest him.
It seemed that this game was not devoid of people; the necessary NPCs were all present.
While waiting, Xin Meng suddenly felt something was off.
“By the way, where are the female college students?”
At this moment, Xin Meng remembered that so far, the two female college student NPCs who should have been with Li Yan and Zhou Shengnan had disappeared. Because they had such a low presence, and Xin Meng was no longer in the same position as before, needing to sift through clues to solve puzzles, he hadn’t paid particular attention and hadn’t checked through the system functions; he just casually asked.
“Someone took them away,” the mirror ghost in the water replied, its gaze never leaving the trembling “scumbag,” filled with hatred and indifference, yet it answered Xin Meng’s question.
“Was it Shentu Kou?”
Clearly, there was no other answer, but Xin Meng felt something was off. What would Shentu Kou want with the NPCs? He wasn’t stupid; from his overall actions, he also wanted to clear the game, so he could continue killing more people. He shouldn’t do anything to harm the NPCs. From the previous incident where he killed Olivia, he hadn’t harmed the accompanying NPC, allowing her to cry beside him without a scratch, which was evident.
But why did he take two deadweights this time?
To threaten them?
However, the mirror ghost’s next words shocked Xin Meng completely:
“No, it wasn’t him.”
