The sound of a car engine rang in his ears, waking the sleeping Xin Meng. He opened his eyes and was immediately greeted by a sky full of stars. Is it night already?
He turned over and sat up, realizing he was on a spacious platform. The surrounding space was vast, reminiscent of a train station or subway station, but the platform was lower, more like a bus station. He turned his head to the side and saw a tall bus stop sign, which listed several bus routes and the stations they passed. However, no matter how hard he squinted, it seemed to be shrouded in a thick fog, as if covered by frosted glass, with each character only showing a blurry outline.
“You’re awake?” A familiar voice, You Yi, called from behind him. He immediately turned around and found You Yi sitting on the ground, a little farther away were four others lying on the ground with their eyes still closed.
Their bodies were intact, and their clothes were restored to completeness.
As if they had never been harmed at all.
“Are we at the next game now?” Xin Meng was too lazy to stand up, crawling a bit on the ground to get closer to You Yi. You Yi couldn’t help but pat his head, seeing him crawl like a little kitten just learning to walk. “Yeah.”
Xin Meng stretched his neck to look at the other four, relieved. “This time, no one is missing. That’s great!”
“Scared?” You Yi’s hand slid to his shoulder and gave it a gentle pat.
Xin Meng thought for a moment. “A bit. Eating people and all that is a bit disgusting, and our team members died too tragically. Plus, they even ate… that… it was because the card was with me, and they didn’t see it.”
“It has nothing to do with you,” You Yi said lightly. “It depends on each person’s way of thinking. Even if I hadn’t seen the card, I wouldn’t have eaten their food and thus avoided the trap. For others, if they can’t analyze the hidden meaning of the information or can’t resist temptation, even if they get the card, they will still repeat the same mistakes.”
“Yeah.” Xin Meng nodded. The food in his backpack was actually enough for them to eat for two or three days, and arriving in a remote, impoverished mountain village yet finding so much meat and vegetables was itself very abnormal. If Xin Meng didn’t have that card, he would have found it strange and wouldn’t have touched it.
While the two were speaking softly, the other four began to wake up one by one. As soon as Xiong Jiabao woke up, he immediately started crying, his face smeared with tears and mucus, unable to speak through his sobs. Xin Meng went over and patted his shoulder to comfort him.
“Bro, it’s all my fault for being lazy. If I had gone with you guys, how could I have been… been…” Xiong Jiabao wailed.
Looking at his state, one would think he had been violated.
“Shut up!” Dong Xiu rubbed his temples and glared fiercely at Xiong Jiabao. “You were already unconscious when you died. I was bitten to death while still alive!”
Li Yougen was shivering, hugging his arms tightly, his teeth chattering, his gaze vacant, probably still not fully back from wherever his soul had gone.
However, Qi Xiaokui quietly sat up, smoothing her messy hair, her expression unusually calm.
Xin Meng hesitated for a moment and walked over to ask her softly, “What about you at that time…”
He pondered how to phrase his question appropriately, but unexpectedly, Qi Xiaokui straightforwardly told him, “As soon as I entered the game, I fell into the water. Later, I was rescued by the villagers, drank the water they handed me, and then was cut up and eaten.”
Xin Meng shivered; it was terrifying that a player could die as soon as they entered the game!
Those villagers had indeed deceived them. Qi Xiaokui hadn’t died a year ago; the coffin was so new because it had just been made, and the only thing left inside was bones because the flesh had been…
Xin Meng couldn’t think any further. He didn’t dare to ask Qi Xiaokui about the extent of her psychological trauma, only feeling that if he had encountered such a thing, he would have probably gone mad by now.
“When I woke up again, I had become a ghost, and I already knew in my mind that I was your only escape hint. Actually, every time you were attacked, I was present, but I couldn’t speak or give you any hints; I could only play the role of an NPC. When you discovered me, I would tell you the conditions to clear the game, which was to call my name. If you didn’t know my name or didn’t call it completely, it wouldn’t work. Li Yougen actually saw me when he died, but unfortunately, he didn’t finish speaking before being bitten to death by a ghost, unable to make a sound and just died. Dong Xiu didn’t remember my name at all; you and You Yi were the only two who managed to escape smoothly.”
“Playing NPC…” Xin Meng murmured.
“That’s right, it felt like that at the time.” Qi Xiaokui’s gaze was a bit dazed. “Although my consciousness was clear, I couldn’t control my body. I inexplicably knew what I was supposed to do and had to do it; none of this was under my control. However, I wasn’t a complete puppet; when it was unrelated to you or the mission, I still had brief moments of freedom. I could talk to those ghosts, walk around the village, and the system granted me the ability to be invisible; no one could see me.
“I don’t know how to describe it; this game is scarier than we imagined. The NPCs inside have high intelligence, and the plot changes according to the players’ actions. If I didn’t know I was still in the game, I would have thought all of this was real. In the end, in the small grove, if you wanted to escape, you had to summon me. Originally, only I and those ghosts would perish together, allowing you to survive, but you might have been surrounded and killed by the villagers at the last moment. However, I had talked a lot with those ghosts beforehand, and inadvertently raised my favorability, so at that time, they just watched me and didn’t harm me, letting you go. But the system would automatically correct the trajectory, forcing me to temporarily disappear, and those ghosts went berserk. Although it still caused you obstacles, the degree was different.
“Then, you successfully completed the conditions, and I also survived, allowing you to clear the game at the last moment.”
In this way, everything was connected, and some details that were unclear at the time were now understood.
Setting aside the unusual aspects of this game that defy science, it was surprising that the usually silent girl spoke so much at once. Xin Meng found it hard to believe and asked Qi Xiaokui, “You seem… different from before?”
Qi Xiaokui lowered her head slightly, using her fingers to comb her bangs, and said softly, “I used to think my life was a mess, that no one was more pitiful than me. But after seeing those ghosts, I realized there are many people in the world who are suffering more than I am. They haven’t given up on themselves and are still bravely seeking revenge. So why can’t I?”
But they are NPCs…
Xin Meng thought this in his heart but didn’t say it out loud. It was hard-earned for Qi Xiaokui to have some positive changes, and he didn’t want to discourage her. However, Qi Xiaokui seemed to know what he was thinking and continued, “Even though they are just NPCs, interacting with them feels so real. I have actually seen some reports online; such cannibal tribes really exist. If those who were eaten could become ghosts, would they also desperately seek revenge like them? Drinking the blood of their enemies, eating the flesh of their enemies…”
As Qi Xiaokui spoke, her eyes actually lit up for the first time, and it grew brighter, but Xin Meng couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart. Was their conversation racing toward a strange place?
He quickly interrupted Qi Xiaokui, “Fortunately, it’s all over. This time, the start is good; we’re all together, at least we won’t suffer losses due to information transmission issues.”
Then he walked over to each person, picking up the cards and reading them one by one.
His own card read:
[After transferring three buses, you will reach the next game.]
This was clearly the condition to clear the game. Just transfer three times? He exchanged glances with You Yi and then picked up You Yi’s card, which read:
[Everyone has five chances to resurrect in place. After five times, this round of the game will be judged as death.]
“Damn, five chances to resurrect!” As soon as Xiong Jiabao heard this, he immediately burst into laughter, slapping his thigh. “This is great! It’s like giving us four extra lives!”
However, Xin Meng and Dong Xiu were not so optimistic. Dong Xiu said coldly, “What’s there to be happy about? The more resurrection chances, the higher the difficulty, and the easier it is to die!”
As soon as Xiong Jiabao heard this, he wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.
Xin Meng originally wanted to comfort him, telling him that although it might be more dangerous, as long as they were careful and tried to avoid making the same mistakes, with six people in a team, it was equivalent to thirty lives, and the chances of survival were still quite high. However, thinking of Xiong Jiabao’s reckless nature, he swallowed his words, believing that a little more caution would do no harm.
He continued reading the cards, and the next one was Xiong Jiabao’s:
[The first bus hides a demon; find it before reaching the next stop.]
Li Yougen shivered at once, his lips turning pale, and he stammered, “W-w-we have to get on a bus with a demon, and we have to find it?!”
He rolled back a couple of steps, seemingly wanting to distance himself from the bus stop sign.
His card, which had originally been pressed beneath him, was now revealed. Xin Meng walked over to pick it up and read:
[The second bus has a Medusa; please do not make eye contact with it.]
“Is there a hint for the third bus?” Xin Meng looked at Dong Xiu and Qi Xiaokui and asked.
Dong Xiu adjusted his glasses, with a half-smile, and handed over his card. Xin Meng didn’t even look at him, just lowered his head to read the card:
[The third bus, find the correct one that belongs to you, and you can go straight to the destination.]
“It seems these three cards are both hints and conditions to clear the game, much clearer than the previous game.” After reading, Xin Meng felt relieved, knowing what to do and what to guard against. From this point of view, it was much more comfortable than the previous cannibal village game; at least it wouldn’t make them too passive.
Finally, it was Qi Xiaokui’s turn. This time, the girl didn’t shy away as before but brushed her hair back and actively walked over to hand the card to Xin Meng, dramatically avoiding everyone, even the hem of her dress.
[It is a person, but it may not be a person.]
“Damn! It might not even be a person!” Xiong Jiabao exclaimed, “Does that mean even a broken stool could be a demon?! Are you kidding me?! How the hell do we find that?!”
This was simply the worst-case scenario; the ghost could be anything on the bus?
Even a screw?
While they were all in a headache, a horn suddenly sounded, accompanied by the hum of the engine. The first bus slowly pulled into the station from the void at the end of the passage…
