Yan Xiu played with the box, seemingly observing something. Then, he glanced around, locked onto a target, and walked directly to it, crouching down.
In front of him was a protruding stone that looked quite hard. Yan Xiu aimed at the lock on the box and fiercely knocked it against the sharp edge of the stone.
KP: “!!!”
That hit seemed to have landed on the top of Number 75’s head, making him dizzy and bewildered.
Yan Xiu struck twice more, breaking the lock. With a snap, the lifeless body of the iron chain fell.
Yan Xiu easily took out what was inside.
KP weakly asked, “How did you know there was something here…”
Yan Xiu said coldly, “Kids like to hide things under trees.”
KP: “…”
KP wanted to struggle, “Do you know that doing this violates the rules of the game?”
Yan Xiu retorted, “Isn’t this game without rules? Explore freely. Am I not free enough?”
KP: “…” He wanted to cry; oh, he couldn’t argue anymore. He thought of disappearing.
Yan Xiu seemed to be in a good mood and patiently explained to KP, “This game room is your cognitive world. You can create some events and items, but these are prepared by you in advance, like the outline of a drama script. Perhaps the story’s development will exceed the outline, but the set things won’t change.”
He found a more comfortable place with clear moonlight, allowing him to see inside the box. It contained a yellowed paper, folded neatly. Yan Xiu unfolded it layer by layer, saying slowly, “Therefore, relying on experience and intuition, you can find the clues you buried in advance, or disrupt key NPCs, achieving the purpose of solving the event. It’s just that…” He chuckled lightly, “You KPs will be very unhappy.”
KP bluntly said, “It’s not just unhappy; it’s simply infuriating.”
Yan Xiu said, “But it’s not absolute. I’ve said that the experiences from these two game rooms have allowed me to summarize this kind of experience, and intuition has given me many answers. However, the problem is that the predetermined events and clues can’t be modified, but creating new unexpected events is a piece of cake for you.”
KP: “!!!”
From Yan Xiu’s perspective, KP was dressed in a high school uniform, and at this moment, due to excessive shock, his expressions and movements were as stiff as if he had been suddenly called on in class to answer a question while secretly reading a novel.
He was speechless and nervous, sweating all over.
“Do you understand now?” Yan Xiu coldly asked, “Like just now, when I went to find this box, you can’t move the box or change its acquisition method, but you can use other methods to stop me and make me leave.”
“I get it,” KP suddenly enlightened, “I can create some crises for Shen Lin, so you’ll immediately go save him!”
Yan Xiu’s gaze turned cold: “You can’t.”
KP: “…Just kidding, you scared me.”
Yan Xiu emanated an icy demeanor, as if he wielded a sharply chilled sword, making him appear formidable. The sheer cold radiance alone was enough to repel anyone. He issued a stern warning, “I’ll say it again, you can’t.”
KP: “… Okay, I won’t, QaQ.”
Who was truly in control here? Wasn’t it said that the one with the highest status and the loudest voice in the room was the KP ? How could players be so assertive? Bullying the KP – weren’t they afraid I’d just tear up their character sheets?
Number 75 roared expressionlessly; such words could only be said in one’s mind. In this game, tearing up character sheets was a significant judgment, and it needed to be handled with caution. If he couldn’t achieve fairness and justice, he would face punishment.
In that perpetual darkness, filled with wailing and ghostly howls, a dark abyss suffused with suffocating sludge, he no longer wanted to go there.
Yan Xiu withdrew his gaze, spreading out a piece of paper.
KP asked, “Why do you suddenly have such a presence? Wasn’t the silence and dullness before just an act?”
Yan Xiu still exuded a mysterious and silent atmosphere, like a sculpture from an ancient civilization, bizarre and difficult to comprehend.
He calmly said, “Just observing. Some things are unclear, often forgotten. It feels like remembering, yet it might just be my illusion. So, I’ve been trying to sort out these chaotic feelings.”
“Have you sorted it out?” KP asked.
“No,” Yan Xiu shook his head, “I can’t remember a lot. I’ve forgotten why I’m here, but—I feel that I won’t lie. I’ll remember everything sooner or later.”
The paper he unfolded was a torn page from a diary, with an unknown player leaving fragments of their in-game life:
Date, XX month, XX day: That voice came again; it echoed repeatedly in my dreams. I don’t know what he is, but I can hear his mumbled words. He’s calling me, calling for my submission, wanting me to be his slave.
Date, XX month, XX day: Too chaotic! I can’t distinguish between day and night! That voice continues to resonate in my mind, a low whisper from the abyss. I’m being controlled by him; I still retain self-awareness, but I don’t know how much I can remember.
Date, XX month, XX day: My body has undergone a change. What are these—I don’t know what they are. I grew extra hands; my limbs were elongated. My eyes protruded high, and in the mirror, who is that? It’s not me—I’ve become a monster, a fusion of wasps and lizards!
The paper had limited space, and only this information could be recorded. After reading it, Yan Xiu furrowed his brow, putting the letter into his pocket.
Under the cold moonlight, he stood indifferently in the shadows, looking up at the shattered window. Inside, a slender figure was reflected, Shen Lin standing by the window, unaware of Yan Xiu’s presence, focused on searching the room.
The silhouette walked into the darkness in front of Yan Xiu, and Shen Lin’s gold-rimmed glasses flashed a fleeting light under the moonlight. A strange sense of familiarity made Yan Xiu feel as if he had witnessed such a scene somewhere before.
Lowering his eyelashes, leaning against a tree, Yan Xiu tried to make sense of many incomprehensible things and feelings. However, every attempt to recall was swallowed by a dark torrent, leaving only a vast emptiness.
As expected by Shen Lin, the door of the room on the X floor was unlocked, and the room was in a state of disorder.
Visible to the naked eye, this building had experienced a fierce fire, its flames devouring the entire structure, leaving traces licked by the fiery tongues everywhere.
This room suffered the most severe burning; the explosion had warped the door, and the walls were covered in a dark, charred substance. Shen Lin stood in the room, and with just a glance, one could imagine the intensity of the fire at that time.
Standing by the bed, he said to the KP (Game Master), “I want to investigate around the bed.”
Successful throw.
He quickly found an iron plate between the bed boards. The iron plate was damaged, with its edges curled up due to overheating, and its surface oxidized, making the inscriptions even blurrier.
He remembered that a few days ago, a nurse had mentioned that the sealed-off room on the X floor of the building was sealed due to a violent incident. A crazed patient had suddenly attacked the medical staff, causing injuries and even casualties. As the scene of the incident, it had been marked with a yellow caution tape and locked, no longer open to the public.
Yet, this room seemed to be the aftermath of a fire, and it looked like the epicenter of the outbreak. Even the walls and glass couldn’t withstand the high-pressure airflow at the time, becoming distorted.
He put the iron plate into his pocket, curious about the patient who lived here.
Shen Lin felt that there must be more clues here. If he was only given a vague iron plate, it would be too stingy. Taking advantage of the fact that the real world hadn’t dragged him back yet, Shen Lin investigated the twisted and deformed table.
To his surprise, this investigation failed.
Shen Lin: “…”
The KP chuckled with an attitude like, “You also have your days.”
The next moment, the room twisted and deformed, Shen Lin’s consciousness became blurred, and the fire rushed towards him. He saw someone hugging their legs, sitting on the bed.
He had no sense of escape, sitting there like a dry log. The surrounding flames couldn’t harm him; instead, countless grotesque faces entwined around him, expressing emotions of grief, fear, indignation, and madness. Extreme emotions enveloped the man in the twisted flames.
But soon, the scene disappeared, and everything became dark and silent, as if nothing had happened.
“You have never seen such a terrifying scene; your mind has been greatly disturbed. Sanity check: success, decrease by 1. Failure, decrease by 1d6.”
Shen Lin rolled the dice, failed, and then rolled a 5.
KP: “You were frightened by the scene in front of you. Your mind is in chaos. Now, make another sanity check. Success, you fall into temporary madness. Failure, you choose to forget this incident due to your inability to comprehend the scene.”
Shen Lin made a sanity check, failed.
KP: “…You suppressed the thought of madness. You are now entering a period of latent insanity.”
Shen Lin noticed that in the fleeting scene just now, there was a thin notebook scattered at his feet. Somehow, that notebook had not been ignited by the fire.
Shen Lin asked, “Was he holding a notebook in the script?”
The KP was taken aback and asked, “You noticed that notebook?”
Shen Lin nodded.
After a moment of silence, the KP said, “Okay, now you have an inspiration.”
Shen Lin threw the dice, succeeded.
The scene before him changed again.
The room turned into a burnt state, with dark ash floating in the air, creating a layer of gray mist.
He saw a slender figure crawling through the damaged door. His face was dirty, and there were bruises of varying shades on his body.
He crawled under the bed, pulling out a worn-out notebook. He sat there, flipping through the contents of the notebook bit by bit…
The scene disappeared, and that was the end of what Shen Lin could see.
KP said, “Sanity check: success, decrease… No, with a success, you continue in the latent period. Failure, the madness erupts.”
Shen Lin rolled the dice, failed.
KP: “Now roll for the symptoms of madness.”
Shen Lin rolled the dice again and got a 1.
KP: “Now, you are in a state of temporary madness. Your madness symptom is… amnesia.”
Everything went dark, and when Shen Lin opened his eyes again, he was back in the clean and bright doctor’s lounge. He sat up in silence, looked around bewildered, and voiced his question—
“Who am I? Where am I?”
