Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 48
Another ten minutes passed.
The entire study had been practically turned upside down.
Books from the shelf were taken down one by one, and no one could understand their content. They were filled with various symbols, and the writing consisted of unrecognizable letters, as if they were some sort of celestial text. They felt like magic books, all used for exorcism.
In the end, the entire bookshelf was moved by the players. After dismantling the wooden panel behind it, they discovered a hidden compartment containing a leg.
This leg was equally eerie. Its skin was a bluish-purple, crisscrossed with web-like structures, appearing as if the leg’s capillaries had swollen several times in size.
Moreover, like the hand they found earlier, the skin of the leg was also wrinkled, with numerous pus-filled blisters on it, making it look incredibly disgusting.
The leg from the bookcase, the hand from the windowsill, the head from the fireplace, were eventually placed next to the black box in the center of the room.
Along with them were the first-found finger and some hair.
The monstrous hand was missing a finger. This incomplete hand seemed to perfectly match the previously discovered finger, making a complete hand. However, unlike the grotesque hand, this individual finger appeared almost human, with normal-looking skin, even adorned with nail polish.
After thoroughly searching the study, this was all they found.
This confirmed Zhou Qian’s earlier suspicion—parts of the little girl’s body were scattered throughout the house, not just in the study. The study only contained a hand and a leg. The house’s main doors and windows were probably all sealed by the witch mother. However, the doors to the internal rooms weren’t sealed. The players couldn’t leave the study simply because the ghost of the little girl blocked the door.
Zhou Qian then went over to the leather chair in front of the desk and began to peruse the photo album. The album’s first page had the little girl’s name. She was called “Lily”.
Page by page, there were photos from her birth, babyhood, pigtails for school, learning the piano… Lily looked like any normal person.
The change seemed to occur around when she was 8 or 9 years old. There was only one photo of her at this age, and the rest of the album was blank.
In this photo, her face was blackened, making it impossible to see. But the brown wavy hair in the photo matched the hair placed on the floor, indicating that the limbs in the house indeed belonged to Lily.
Moreover, her neck in the photo appeared slightly green, but her arms, revealed by her short sleeves, seemed normal, not monstrous like the hand outside the window.
From this, one could infer that by this time, her entire body hadn’t fully transformed into a monster, but her face must have shown significant changes, which was why she blackened it.
After going through the album, Zhou Qian looked at the diary opened on the desk. The opened page mentioned the “flower of evil” and “grand fireworks”. Both entries were quite ambiguous, providing no immediate clues.
Other than that, the diary didn’t contain much useful information. Its content was quite detailed but consisted mainly of everyday events. From the start to the end, one could observe that the little girl’s handwriting improved over time.
From the protagonist’s name to the room’s background, everything seemed western. But it appeared the game might have automatically adjusted according to the player’s nationality since all the clues so far were written in Chinese.
At this moment, Situ Qing, who had been quiet for some time, approached.
She asked Zhou Qian, “I’ve read this diary, but there’s a detail I forgot, so I came back to confirm. On which date was the ‘fireworks’ entry written?”
Zhou Qian replied, “March 13th, XX92.”
“Look at this—” Situ Qing handed over something like an [admission ticket]. “I just found it in a book.”
Zhou Qian took it and saw that, while the ticket was old, the promotional image on it was beautiful. It depicted an open area in front of a valley, possibly a park, with a picturesque lake and mountains under the moonlight.
Even more dazzling than the moon were the fireworks in the night sky, aligning with the “fireworks” mentioned in the diary.
The stub of the admission ticket had been torn off, indicating that it had been used.
Only the main ticket remained and was tucked between the pages of a book, likely as a keepsake.
It seemed that the event related to this admission ticket left a profound memory for someone; hence, it was treasured this way.
Written on the ticket was a line of text: [March 13th, XX92, Strawberry Concert Admission Ticket, specially prepared for children. All children from the town are welcome!]
March 13th, children, grand event, fireworks…
The ticket seemed to match perfectly with the diary of the little girl Lily.
Therefore, the text recorded by Lily—[We chased and played under the meteor shower… That night, I made a secret wish]—may be referring to her experience at the “Strawberry Music Festival”.
A diary, an admission ticket, grotesque severed limbs, shattered or blackened mirrors, and photos with blackened faces.
These were all the clues players could find.
Time was ticking away. It had already been a full hour since the players had been here.
Zhou Qian sat on a leather sofa, expressionless.
He only glanced at Wu Ren, who currently had the lowest life points. Indeed, Wu Ren looked extremely pale, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead.
Could his life points be that low? Maybe just one hour left?
Regardless, even after Zhou Qian gave him an extra hour… he still looked this anxious. His life points must be very low.
Zhou Qian looked away, pretending not to notice.
At this moment, he saw that Li Buhui seemed anxious as well.
He looked at everyone else and said, “I mean, we can’t make any judgments right now! You’re all overthinking. We just need to leave this study; it doesn’t mean we’re helping the evil spirit or releasing her or anything.”
“Furthermore, even if we do release her, we still have to do it. You all claim to be smart, but you’re not thinking broadly. I’ll tell you how to play this game—”
Ordinary Face Lu Buhui looked slightly smug.
He said, “We can’t just stay in this study or this house. We have to go out and trigger additional storylines. Otherwise, we’ll just waste life points.”
“Life points will keep decreasing, which means we have to ‘move on’. If ‘moving on’ will release the evil spirit, then we have no choice! Our next task might be to eliminate that evil spirit!”
“That means, ethically and logically, we shouldn’t help the evil spirit. But from the game’s perspective, we need to continue the story. What happens afterward is for later!”
After this speech, Li Buhui walked directly to the study door.
He touched the doorknob but didn’t force it open. Instead, he shouted out in a random direction. “I get it. The one who killed you is your mother. She’s a witch!”
The same scenario unfolded.
The translucent little girl appeared hanging upside down, wrapped her arms around Li Buhui’s neck, and whispered, “That’s not right. It doesn’t seem like she hurt me… No, she wasn’t there that night!”
[Player Li Buhui was embraced by “?”. Life points decreased by 2.]
“Fuck…” Li Buhui went pale, quickly turning to other players. “Do any of you know her mother’s name? Or maybe… I need to say her mother’s name!”
Yin Jiujiu replied, “I saw a signature in a book that looks like an adult’s handwriting. Her name is ‘Eva’, probably her mother’s name.”
Swallowing hard, Li Buhui tried again, touching the doorknob. “I know, Eva hurt you! Am I right?”
The same thing happened again.
[Player Li Buhui was embraced by “?”. Life points decreased by 2.]
This time, Li Buhui sat down on the floor. His forehead was instantly covered in sweat. He seemed too terrified to try again.
Time continued to pass, minute by minute.
The atmosphere seemed to grow increasingly tense.
The decrease in life points put immense pressure on the players, making it difficult for them to concentrate on any single thing.
At this moment, it seemed everyone had their own hidden agendas.
Yin Jiujiu took out a piece of paper that listed everyone’s names and their life point rankings. In the column for Li Buhui, there were three consecutive [-2] marks. Including the one point that Zhou Qian gave to everyone, his total was reduced by 5 points… However, the system didn’t announce any ranking changes.
Did the system not announce ranking changes at all… or did it mean that even after losing so many points, he was still in second place?
It seemed that everyone was focusing solely on the game itself and not on solving the current level. But Yin Jiujiu was calm and unhurried, as if she wasn’t in a rush about anything.
Perhaps she just wanted to make some other observations, so she was holding back for the time being.
On the other side, Qi Liuxing seemed to have thought of something and whispered to Ke Yuxiao in the corner.
He then asked Zhou Qian something through his headphones. Zhou Qian shook his head at him, signaling him not to say anything for now.
Situ Qing observed the actions of her three teammates.
But she seemed to have no idea how to get out of the study. She wasn’t deeply pondering the situation or worried about the life points decreasing with time. She simply held a bell in her hand and stood solemnly near the door.
For the powerful her, the only concern seemed to be about combat.
Among them, the most anxious were Li Buhui, who had lost 5 points, and Wu Ren.
With a sidelong glance from Zhou Qian, their eyes met.
If they didn’t get out of this room soon… He might be forced to kill.
Yet, the act of killing itself might open Pandora’s Box. The hidden life-and-death game among teammates was tense like a taut bowstring, and if Wu Ren indeed made his move, it would undoubtedly be the most dreadful arrow released from this demonic bow.
Facing Wu Ren’s gaze, Zhou Qian walked up to him and said, “You and your gambler are caught in a life-and-death struggle, focusing on ‘whether or not to kill me’ rather than on the instance itself.”
“Let me reiterate: you can be the king. Do you want me to tell you how to get out of this study?”
On the other side, near the door.
A man drenched in sweat sat, observing Zhou Qian’s every move.
This man was none other than Li Buhui.
In a corner where no one noticed him, his previously ordinary, even somewhat naive eyes, suddenly gleamed.
He then raised his left wrist to check the system.
In the top right corner of the system interface that only he could see, instead of the name “Li Buhui,” it read—”Zhu Qiang”.
Kinky Thoughts:
For those that forgot, Zhu Qiang was Lu Mengmeng’s gambler and the one who killed Yu Xian, Zhou Qian’s previous gambler.
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Kinky Translations 
thanks for the remainder i really forgot who that was…
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