Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 24

In the corridor, in the thick fog, in front of Room 8.

Zhou Qian’s words seemed to completely baffle He Xiaowei. “What the hell does this mean? What do you mean by going to an unsafe room to find a gunman to shoot… No, Zhou Qian, explain yourself.”

[The lowest ranked cannot be kill!]

[Balance of power is the only solution!]

Zhou Qian took out the hints he got from the photos and showed them to everyone. “The keywords in these two hints are ‘ranked’ and ‘balance’… Do you remember the name of this side quest?”

He Xiaowei immediately replied. “I do! It’s called ‘Checks and Balances’!”

“Right, so when the rank of the gunman changes and their power becomes unbalanced, killing ensues. The key to cracking this mission is actually already given to us in the title—balance, to restore the rank of the 12 gunmen to equilibrium.”

Zhou Qian said, “I suspect that at the beginning, the rank of the 12 gunmen was balanced. Do you remember how the first cleaner died? She wore a military uniform with a ‘7’ on it. Why would the game designer intentionally design a plot point about stealing a military uniform? There must be a deeper purpose.”

He Xiaowei seemed to have an epiphany. “Let’s assume that the military unit where Jiang Yuqing belonged is called Unit 7; then these gunmen belong to the S Unit. So, 7 and S might be opposing forces? Therefore… seeing a uniform from Unit 7 triggered the gunfire?”

“Exactly,” Zhou Qian said. “I believe that’s the case. If we had randomly entered any of those 12 rooms at the beginning, probably no one would have been shot. The first cleaner was killed because she wore a uniform with ‘7’, which was an intentional plot point. That uniform triggered the hatred of Unit S and brought the first bullet. From then on, the ranks of the 12 gunmen became unbalanced, and the killings began. Hence—”

Zhou Qian concluded, “The 12 gunmen of Unit S were originally in some kind of balanced state. The first cleaner’s death, based on the hidden plot of S opposing 7, led to the shooting, disrupting the original balance. Subsequently, every time a gunman fires a bullet, the rank of the 12 gunmen changes.”

“After the third cleaner went into rooms 6 and 7 and found them safe, he was killed in room 2. After that, I went into room 7 without any issues, but Gao Shan was killed in room 6. This is because the bullet from room 2 that killed the third cleaner changed the rank of all the gunmen. Now, we need to restore the balance of the 12 gunmen. Only then will all 12 rooms be safe. We can freely enter all rooms and gather the so-called ‘evidence’.”

Beside them, Lu Mengmeng couldn’t help but ask in a whisper, “If shooting disrupts the balance, and S and 7 are opposing forces, can we infer that if a gunman from Unit S kills someone from Unit 7, they gain merit and improve their rank?”

Zhou Qian bluntly replied, “Absolutely not.”

Lu Mengmeng realized his mistake. “Yeah, it doesn’t make sense. After the first death, the shooter in room 12 should have gained the highest rank, making the shooters in rooms 1 to 11 the lowest in rank. Thus, they shouldn’t be able to shoot, and there shouldn’t be subsequent shootings. My hypothesis is flawed.”

Zhou Qian glanced at him and said, “Even so, your guess has its basis. It just doesn’t align with reality, so we have to rule it out. In fact, the game doesn’t provide us with any narrative clues as to why ‘shooting’ would change a gunman’s ‘rank’. From the narrative’s perspective, we have no way to find a solution.”

What exactly is Unit S? What is Unit 7? Who is Jiang Yuqing? What happened between Unit 7 and Unit S? The players were completely in the dark, with no clues to tell them regarding the story of that time.

He Xiaowei pondered over it, increasingly frustrated. “There’s no clue at all! How are we supposed to figure this out?!”

Zhou Qian replied, “If we can’t deduce from the plot, then we won’t. Because the solution is probably unrelated to the story itself.”

He Xiaowei sighed in despair. “I just don’t get it.”

Zhou Qian suddenly changed the subject and said, “After I entered Room 8 just now, I quickly found the evidence. Its location was almost identical to the evidence in Room 7, both near the gunman. The reason I took some time to come out was that I was conducting an experiment.”

“What experiment?” He Xiaowei asked.

“I teased the gunman,” Zhou Qian laughed.

He Xiaowei: ???

Wow, bro, you’re badass.

A moment ago, Zhou Qian entered Room 8.

No gunshots were heard within three seconds. Once again, Zhou Qian noticed that the gunman in front of him had lowered his gun. At that moment, Zhou Qian realized that the position of this gunman was exactly the same as the one in Room 7.

Zhou Qian stepped forward and looked closely at the gunman.

He had no facial features—just a shadowy figure blurred in the mist, and it was the same size as the one in Room 7.

“Can you see me?” Zhou Qian asked.

The shadowy gunman did not respond.

Crouching down and reaching out, Zhou Qian grasped the gunman’s gun.

Yet, the gunman remained unresponsive.

Then, Zhou Qian tried to pull the gun away but found he couldn’t.

Seems like the level has set it so that the gunman’s position can’t be changed and his gun can’t be taken by the player.

This setting undoubtedly reinforced Zhou Qian’s speculation about the “pattern”.

Zhou Qian took out his bone prop and placed it on the gunman’s shoulder. As soon as it touched the gunman, it fell off, and Zhou Qian caught it immediately.

After some thought, Zhou Qian opened the trade window, buying a universal adhesive and a weight. He then applied the adhesive to the weight and tried sticking it to the gunman’s shoulder. But the adhesive didn’t work, and both items instantly fell to the ground.

Having observed all this, Zhou Qian left Room 8 and returned to the corridor.

At this moment, He Xiaowei was utterly baffled by Zhou Qian’s account. “Bro, I don’t get it!”

Zhou Qian explained, “My experiment shows that in this level’s setup, we can’t increase the weight of the gunman but can increase the room’s weight. This indicates that the weight of the gunman is crucial to the game and cannot be altered, but the room doesn’t matter.

“Therefore, the change in ‘rank’ is related to the gunman and has nothing to do with the room.”

He Xiaowei: “So…”

Zhou Qian: “When playing a game, facing certain levels, if the plot doesn’t provide clues, we need to change our thinking. Shooting leads to a change in the rank of the 12 gunmen. Without plot clues, we’ll take another approach—abstract the 12 gunmen.”

He Xiaowei was utterly perplexed. “Abstract? What do you mean?”

Zhou Qian took out a blank piece of paper, drew a circle, and marked it with 12 numbers like a clock.

“The word ‘rank’ has been given too many meanings by us, such as power, merit, wealth… But sometimes, we often overlook the most basic meaning of the word.

“Have you ever thought that at this level, the meaning of ‘rank’ might be straightforward? For instance, whoever stands at the lowest point has the lowest rank.”

As he spoke, Zhou Qian suddenly asked He Xiaowei and Lu Mengmeng. “Have you ever played roulette?”

“Ah… Ah!” He Xiaowei seemed to have a vague realization but couldn’t grasp the key point yet.

Zhou Qian continued, “We abstract the 12 gunmen, imagining them as 12 bullet holes on a roulette turntable. Let’s assume each hole contains an equal number of bullets—let’s say 10 in each hole.

“At first, the turntable is horizontal, with the bullet holes evenly distributed. At this time, the turntable is ‘balanced’, meaning all gunmen are at the same level.

“The center of gravity of this turntable is Room 701, located right at the center.”

In the midst of He Xiaowei’s gaze, interwoven with shock and excitement, Zhou Qian uttered the idea that was slowly forming in He Xiaowei’s mind. “The balance of the horizontal turntable has been disrupted by the cleaner in military uniform. She attracted the shot from Gunman No. 12, causing one less bullet in the bullet hole at 12 o’clock. From then on, the horizontal turntable tilted and spun… When it finally stopped, which point would it be at the bottom?”

Lu Mengmeng took over. “6 o’clock! There are only 9 bullets left at 12 o’clock, it becomes lighter, but the other 11 points are equally heavy; all still have 10 bullets… So, if the turntable is viewed as a whole, its center of gravity will be at the 6 o’clock position! Turn this turntable… It will definitely fall to 6 o’clock in the end, so the position of 6 o’clock is the lowest!”

The sensation of cracking a tough problem excited him. At this moment, his voice was much louder than a mosquito’s, and he seemed to completely forget that he had killed someone not long ago.

Zhou Qian glanced at him and said calmly, “With one less bullet at 12 o’clock, the turntable’s center of gravity shifts to 6 o’clock. 6 o’clock becomes the lowest point, which is what is meant by the ‘lowest rank’ in the literal sense. At this point, the gunman at 6 o’clock should not fire, and room 6 is safe.

“Then, the second cleaner entered Room 1 and died. The bullet hole at the 1 o’clock position also lost a bullet. Thus, 12 and 1 both reduced the weight by a bullet, and the turntable’s center of gravity shifted again, falling between 6 and 7.

“As a result, at that time, both 6 and 7 had the lowest rank and were on the same horizontal line. So, rooms 6 and 7 are safe. The third cleaner entered these two rooms and was not killed. But he was killed when he entered room 2.”

For some reason, He Xiaowei felt a shudder down his soul, repeatedly murmuring, “Holy crap… Holy crap? Holy crap!!”

At this moment, the delicate footsteps of a girl approached from the distant corridor. Zhou Qian squinted slightly but continued talking. “After the third cleaner died, the 2 o’clock point was lightened by one bullet. Now, 12, 1, and 2 all reduce the weight of one bullet. The focal point of the turntable falls on point 7. Therefore, Room 6 is no longer safe. Only Room 7 is safe.”

As the footsteps grew closer, Zhou Qian’s narration did not pause. “For this reason, I entered Room 7 and was unharmed, while Gao Shan entered Room 6 and died.”

“With Gao Shan’s death, the bullet hole at the 6 o’clock point lost one bullet. The overall center of gravity of the turntable changed again.”

“At this moment, in this abstract turntable composed of 12 gunmen, the center of gravity is between 7 and 8. Both 7 and 8 have the lowest rank, so both rooms are safe.”

By now, He Xiaowei had fully grasped the situation. Currently, points 12, 1, 2, and 7 all had a reduced weight of one bullet, making them lighter than the other eight points, causing the turntable to be imbalanced. To make every room safe, players need to restore the center of gravity of the turntable to the center position—that was, room 701. Only then could all 12 points possibly return to the same level.

However, a new problem arose. How could the turntable’s center of gravity be restored to the center? With four rooms each missing a bullet, should they go to the remaining eight rooms one by one? If this was the case, probably no one except a nine-lived cat demon could pass this level.

Should they just give up on this side quest?

As he pondered, He Xiaowei took the pen and paper from Zhou Qian’s hand and began to deduce, but he remained puzzled. “I graduated from high school so many years ago… This is a physics mechanics problem, right? Isn’t it about torque balance? I can’t solve it! Besides letting eight more people die, I can’t find a way to clear the level.”

Lu Mengmeng seemed to understand something. “Actually, we don’t need to do specific calculations. We just need to find symmetry points. Look… currently, points 12, 1, 2, and 6 are light, right? Let’s look at it symmetrically. Points 12 and 6 are two points on the diameter of the circle and have a center-symmetry relationship. So…”

“Both of these points have one less bullet, so their effects on the turntable actually cancel each other out.

“In this case, we can temporarily ignore points 12 and 6 and just consider 1 and 2. With 1 and 2 reduced in weight, the overall center of gravity will shift to their center-symmetric points, 7 and 8, making 7 and 8 the safe rooms…”

Eyes shining slightly, Lu Mengmeng said, “So, to restore balance to the turntable, we just need to get the gunmen in rooms 7 and 8 to each fire a bullet, right? Then the whole turntable will be balanced!”

He Xiaowei shook his head emphatically. “That’s the contradiction! We can’t get these two gunmen to fire. They are at the lowest position now. How can they shoot? We can only run once in each of the other rooms… You’d need the nine lives of a cat to clear this!”

“If you can’t cheat a bullet out of the safe room… then this problem has no solution! Even if you had nine lives, you couldn’t solve it.” Lu Mengmeng took He Xiaowei’s draft paper, connected 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock, 11 o’clock to 5 o’clock… and so on, drawing a total of six diameters across the circle.

“Even if you won’t get shot and can keep going to the unsafe rooms to get the gunmen to fire and reduce bullets, there will always be one remaining at the center of gravity—the lowest safe point. To balance the turntable, you have to get the lowest-status safe room to lose a bullet. But at that moment, the gunman wouldn’t fire… This contradiction will always exist!”

Lu Mengmeng was out of ideas, and his brows furrowed in frustration. Beside him, He Xiaowei suddenly became excited. “No! I’ve got it! I’ve found a way!”

Looking at Zhou Qian, he said smugly, “Not long ago, you said your solution was to go to the unsafe rooms and get shot, right? You were wrong! I’ve thought of the real solution!”

He Xiaowei’s eyes were so red with excitement. “You all forgot something. Although the gunmen can’t shoot when they’re at their lowest rank… there’s an exception! The exception is that ‘7’ uniform! We’ve already figured out that as long as Rooms 7 and 8 each lose a bullet, we can clear the stage! But how can we get the gunmen to fire in a safe room? Hahaha, of course, by wearing that uniform!”

Contrasting with He Xiaowei’s excitement, Lu Mengmeng’s voice trembled slightly. “So… we just need to wear the uniform to enter these two rooms and lure the gunmen to fire to clear the level? But who will go? Does this mean… to clear the level, we have to sacrifice two players?”

Lu Mengmeng’s words, like a bucket of cold water, doused He Xiaowei’s enthusiasm.

He was stunned. Indeed, do they have to sacrifice two people to clear the level?

Beside them, a thickening fog slid past Zhou Qian’s cold, beautiful eyes. He quietly watched He Xiaowei without saying anything, waiting for his answer.

After a moment, He Xiaowei sat on the ground with a sigh. “That won’t work… Let’s give up this side quest. We’ve already lost one player. How can we let more die? This level is so hard; the rewards must be significant… but no matter what, we can’t sacrifice our teammates. I have principles…”

Hearing this answer, the corner of Zhou Qian’s mouth twitched. After a pause, he finally spoke, further disappointing the already disheartened He Xiaowei. He said, “You’re wrong. The uniform can no longer trick bullets out. The blood on the corpse has completely covered that ‘7’. This was deliberately done by the game designer to block that solution. I guess the bloodstains are also hard to wash off completely. Otherwise, the solution would be too simple. Try it if you don’t believe me.”

“Damn it, I’ll try.”

Feeling defeated by Zhou Qian’s rebuttal, He Xiaowei was a bit unconvinced. But as he got up from the ground to try and take the uniform from the body, he stopped.

“Damn, why would I try? If I really tried, I’d be the one sacrificed! Zhou Qian, you must be tricking me!”

“I’m not tricking you. That solution will absolutely not work, so you’re definitely safe. I found a bullet marked ‘S’ under Jiang Yuqing’s pillow, and that’s the real solution to clearing the level. Now, let me tell you the answer.”

Zhou Qian said, “The method you were thinking of was to trick the gunman in the lowest safe room to fire, reducing its weight to balance with other points. But there’s another way, and that’s to give the bullet back to the gunman across from it, who is one bullet heavier.”

“We assume that the last remaining safe point is 10, and its corresponding point is 4. In other words, points 4 and 10 are centrally symmetrical. Connecting these two points results in a diameter passing through the center of the circle.”

“At this moment, except for points 4 and 10, the other points are balanced. The remaining pairs of centrally symmetric points, when connected by their diameters, have their center of mass back at the circle’s center. So, we only need to balance points 4 and 10 to restore the equilibrium of the entire turntable.”

“Now, the lowest point on this turntable is point 10, because it has one more bullet than point 4. Therefore, if we return a bullet to point 4, the problem will be solved.”

“Of course, the bullet found on the corpse is not usable. I’ve checked. The cartridge has separated and is severely damaged; some small fragments are nowhere to be found. We can’t piece them together into a complete bullet and give it back to the gunmen. Fortunately, I found this intact S bullet under Jiang Yuqing’s pillow.” With a faint smile, Zhou Qian held up the bullet in his hand. “We just need to return it.”

Even though He Xiaowei was rugged, at this moment he looked into Zhou Qian’s eyes, almost sparkling.

For an instant, in his eyes, Zhou Qian’s figure seemed to grow immensely tall, shining brilliantly as if radiating a holy light.

But a few seconds later, the light in He Xiaowei’s eyes dimmed.

It was because Lu Mengmeng made another discouraging remark, “So, your method indeed works, but…”

“But now Rooms 7 and 8 are equally low! To balance them, we need to return a bullet each to their opposite points, Rooms 1 and 2! But we don’t have two bullets; we only have one S bullet!”

“We… We still need to make adjustments and go to other rooms to continuously dodge bullets until there’s only one room left as the center of mass. But this means… we still have to sacrifice many people!”

It seemed Zhou Qian didn’t hear Lu Mengmeng. He just said, “I’ve already calculated it.”

Taking back the paper he initially drew the turntable on, Zhou Qian quickly wrote down the solution.

[The first step is to enter Room 4, let the gunman in Room 4 shoot, decreasing the mass at point 4. The center of mass will then be between points 8 and 9, leaning towards 8, making Room 8 the only safe one.]

[The second step, enter Room 7, and the center of mass shifts to point 9.]

[The third step, enter Room 8, and the center of mass moves to point 10.]

Zhou Qian explained, “After these three steps, that is. After the gunmen in rooms 4, 7, and 8 each shoot a bullet, the remaining diameters will all be balanced, returning to the center, room 701, except for the diameter connecting points 4 and 10.”

“At this time, the turntable’s center of mass is at point 10. Returning the bullet to the gunman at point 4, opposite point 10, will allow us to pass.”

He smiled and concluded, “In summary, we just need to enter rooms 4, 7, and 8, have each of the three gunmen shoot once, and then return one bullet to the gunman in room 4. Of course, when returning the bullet, some skill is needed. Xiaowei, what’s your skill? Can you remotely return the bullet to the gunman without opening the door?”

He Xiaowei’s expression transitioned from confused to stunned to shocked.

He then said, “Wait, never mind my skill for a moment. Your method… doesn’t that still mean three people will die?! What the hell?!”

“Brother Zhou Qian… sacrificing me, Situ Qing, and Lu Mengmeng, so you can return the bullet to the gunman in room 4, right? We three are just stepping stones for your success, aren’t we? Look, Gao Shan is dead, and you win the beauty? Fuck, Zhou Qian, are you trying to be the biggest winner here?”

“Oh.” Zhou Qian seriously pondered for a moment, then nodded. “Good idea!”

He Xiaowei: “…”

Zhou Qian then shook his head. “But I won’t let you guys die. We still have the main quest ahead. I’ll need you.”

He Xiaowei: “…”

Giving He Xiaowei an up-and-down look, Zhou Qian said earnestly, “Also, I don’t seem to like girls.”

He Xiaowei took a step back. “Could it be that you…”

Zhou Qian quickly interjected, “Don’t get the wrong idea.”

He Xiaowei: “What do you mean? I think I look okay. I was once considered the most handsome guy in our department!”

Zhou Qian, surprised, said, “Really? You rated yourself that way?”

He Xiaowei: “………”

“Let’s get back to business. I want to clear this, but I don’t need to sacrifice any of you.”

Zhou Qian held up the [Rib of God] and approached Room 4. “My weapon has the power to slow down time.”

“The bullets are fatal in one shot because the shooter is accurate and ruthless. A bullet that directly hits the heart can’t be stopped by any defense, no matter how strong. Its speed is so fast that at our current level, no one can escape. But what if—I slow down time?”

Did Zhou Qian intend… to slow down time and thereby reduce the bullet’s speed to dodge its attack?

He Xiaowei was a bit stunned.

He immediately said, “But it’s still very risky! Even if you slow down time, there’s no guarantee you can dodge it. Didn’t the level description say the bullet has a 100% hit rate? What if it’s programmed to always hit you?”

“Moreover, even if you can successfully dodge, your powerful skill must have a cooldown and consume a lot of mana, right? Can you enter three rooms and use it three times?”

“That’s why, Brother Xiaowei, I need your help,” Zhou Qian began. “Regarding your first point, I’m not sure if it’ll work; I have to try.”

“Look at the trade box and remember to approve. My friend gave me the [Tick Tock Clock]. Then I’ll trade it to you. If I die, you can use it to revive me. Of course, this would mean my method isn’t viable. We might have to give up this side quest.”

“On the other hand, if my test is successful, then I can definitely dodge the bullets from the other two rooms in the same way. Don’t worry about my skill limitations. The Rib of God I have was awarded for an ultimate hidden achievement. It’s a rare gift from the gods and extremely powerful. It does consume mana, but just enough to use it three times in three rooms.”

Without wasting any more time, Zhou Qian walked towards Room 4.

Suddenly, a voice stopped him.

It was Yun Xiangrong, her voice shaky and tearful. “Zhou Qian, wait.”

Zhou Qian halted but didn’t turn around. In that moment, he seemed to guess what Yun Xiangrong would say. But with his back turned, no one could see his expression.

“If the ‘bullet hit rate is 100%’ is a compulsory setting for the level, then going into Room 4 now will be a waste of the Tick Tock Clock. This hidden achievement is optional. There are countless other levels waiting for you.”

“But Gao Shan only has one life!”

“I just tried contacting Qi Liuxing but couldn’t. Since he gave you the Tick Tock Clock…”

“I hope you use it to save Gao Shan. I beg you.”

As she spoke, Yun Xiangrong kneeled down, tears streaming down her youthful face. Her plea for her lost boyfriend touched everyone.

Especially He Xiaowei, who approached Zhou Qian. “Forget it. I can give up the hidden achievement. Just… save her boyfriend! And about that transaction, I haven’t—”

Zhou Qian cut him off, whispering in his ear, “Watch over Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong for me.”

Without further delay, Zhou Qian was about to push the door open.

He Xiaowei reached out in a desperate attempt to stop him. “Wait, you—”

But his voice was drowned out by another piercing scream—

“Zhou Qian—!!!”

Yun Xiangrong, who had never raised her voice, shouted with all her might.

But it was in vain.

With tears in her eyes, she watched Zhou Qian, who seemed ready to push the door open. Her eyes, swollen from crying and filled with hope, hurt immensely. It seemed as if her vision was clouded by blood. As her anguish reached its peak, it appeared as though her eyes were bleeding.

The blood-red haze spread, painting everything in its hue, until her vision narrowed down to Zhou Qian’s resolute back.

He never looked back.

“Zhou Qian… I hate you. I’ll hate you for the rest of my life. You’d better kill me. Let me die with Shan Ge. Otherwise, I swear. I’ll never let you go in this life. I’ll kill you!”

“It’s a pity, Yun Xiangrong. You should know that in life, things often don’t go as planned.”

After Zhou Qian finished this sentence, in Yun Xiangrong’s eyes, his action of pushing the door became infinitely slow.

That was because he activated his skill, slowing down the flow of time.

At the same moment, outside the game, in front of a phone screen.

Yu Xian became very excited because Zhou Qian was incredibly strong. He found the sensation of effortlessly winning delightful.

However, Zhu Qiang’s face suddenly turned a bit pale.

His voice somewhat parched, he said, “Lao Yu… I can’t see the description of Qian Ge’s skill. What’s going on with that time skill of his?”

Yu Xian replied, “Ah, the mana consumption of his skill is related to how much power he wants to exert. The greater the power, the faster the mana is consumed. Like when Gao Shan died earlier, Qian Ge almost made time stop completely. At that level, his mana consumption was massive! But if he just slightly slows down time, then the mana consumed will be less.”

“This skill comes with his weapon and isn’t one of his personal skills, so there isn’t much of a cooldown limitation. But then again, if he wants to maximize the power of this skill, he’ll nearly deplete all his mana. Given that, there’s actually no need to limit the cooldown… After all, if he runs out of mana, he can’t use the skill… Oh shit—!!”

“Eh?!! I just checked, and Qian Ge only has 30% of his mana left. That’s not enough to use his time-slowing skill three more times! What is he trying to do?”

Zhou Qian only had 30% mana, and it was still decreasing. If he wanted to clear the game using his stated method, he would have to enter three rooms and slow down time three times.

But given the rate at which his skill consumed mana, he simply couldn’t achieve that.

Yu Xian was stunned. “What the hell is Qian Ge trying to do? Is he tricking everyone again and pulling some strange move? This is so weird…”

“Eh, Qiang Ge? Why aren’t you speaking? Hey, why are you running to the bathroom? Do you also have diarrhea?!”

Zhu Qiang, while rushing to the bathroom, shouted back, “There was something wrong with today’s hot pot! I feel terrible… I need to go for a bit!”

Upon reaching the bathroom, Zhu Qiang quickly took out his phone and, with a trembling voice, reported Zhou Qian’s current situation to a mysterious man on the other end.

A few seconds later, inside the game, Situ Qing glanced downward and saw a message from the gambler.

But due to the slowed-down time, every word on the system panel appeared extremely slow.

So she watched the message appear, word by word: [Beware of Zhou Qian. He might be planning to kill Lu Mengmeng.]

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 23

Time resumed its flow, and the lingering frost in the air brought a cold chill.

Zhou Qian felt the fog in front of him thicken. He could see a silhouette weaving through the fog. Pushing him aside, it rushed directly towards the body on the ground.

It was Yun Xiangrong, tightly hugging Gao Shan’s body. She must be in utter despair and sadness now, but due to the fog, Zhou Qian couldn’t discern her expression.

Putting away the bone in his hand, Zhou Qian stood up and said to Yun Xiangrong in a very indifferent tone, “Time is of the essence. You can cry for five minutes. After that, please move aside. I need to extract the bullet from his body to see if there’s an ‘S’ engraved on it.”

He Xiaowei, standing nearby, found this comment utterly absurd. He couldn’t help but rush over and say, “Dude, are you out of your mind?”

“He’s already dead. The body is of no use now,” Zhou Qian responded. “For the smooth progress of our mission, I need to verify the bullet in his body.”

“It’s impossible.” Yun Xiangrong’s voice trembled. Crouching down, holding Gao Shan’s hand, she didn’t even look at Zhou Qian. “If you dare touch Shan Ge, I swear I’ll go all out against you. I’m contacting Qi Liuxing right now. He… He will bring the clock. Shan Ge will be revived; he’s not dead… He’ll wake up soon! Stay away from him! I won’t allow you to touch him!”

“Actually, you should be more rational. In this game, you can use gold coins to exchange for what you want, right? So you can totally revive him. Now that he’s dead and useless, if you clear the level faster, you can revive him sooner. You should make full use of his body.” Zhou Qian crouched next to Yun Xiangrong, unexpectedly pulling out a small knife and attempting to make an incision on Gao Shan’s body.

Yun Xiangrong swiftly pushed him away, angrily slapped him across the face, and then grabbed him by the collar, glaring fiercely. From this close proximity, Zhou Qian could clearly see the redness and bloodshot eyes. Her hands were shaking, and her voice was trembling to the extreme. “If you dare harm a hair on his body, I swear, I’ll make your life a living hell!”

The fog thickened so much that Zhou Qian couldn’t even clearly see Yun Xiangrong’s reddened eyes anymore. The hallway seemed to stretch endlessly. Room 6, which had witnessed Gao Shan’s death, was slowly drifting away from him.

At this moment, facing Yun Xiangrong, Zhou Qian turned his head slightly, constantly glancing behind. A swift shadow moved through the fog without making a sound. After being pushed away by Yun Xiangrong, Zhou Qian stepped back several paces, stopping only when his back hit the wall beside Room 6.

Pretending to glance unintentionally, he noticed that the room number had changed back to “6”.

Everything he said to provoke Yun Xiangrong was deliberate. Their argument, combined with He Xiaowei’s intervention, provided the perfect opportunity for Lu Mengmeng to switch back the room number.

Zhou Qian quickly looked away, acting as if he knew nothing, his attention seemingly still on Gao Shan’s body. His tone was cold and mocking. “Honestly, Yun Xiangrong, there’s no need for you to be so upset. Why did Gao Shan go to Room 6? The game’s clues clearly indicated one thing—the safe room isn’t constant. If he couldn’t figure that out, it’s his own foolishness to blame.”

As Zhou Qian continued, He Xiaowei couldn’t bear it any longer. “Dude, are you messed up? It’s a life we’re talking about. Why are you saying such things, especially in front of his girlfriend—”

Interrupting Zhou Qian, Situ Qing stepped forward, her voice raised due to the fog, “Interesting. I think you’re the one who got Gao Shan killed. And now you even want to touch his body.”

This statement made He Xiaowei recoil in fear. He immediately stepped back, distancing himself from Zhou Qian. “What do you mean? Why is Zhou Qian responsible for Gao Shan’s death?”

Situ Qing said, “Because Zhou Qian came out of room 7 very early, but he has been hiding and not making any sound. I guess he indeed found some patterns, confirming that room 7 is safe. However, he’s not sure if his pattern is valid, so he needed someone to test it.”

“After he came out of Room 7… No, we don’t even know if he ever went into Room 7. He might have pretended to enter Room 7, but he never did. We can’t confirm this. This thick fog makes it really convenient for him to hide.”

“Anyway, when we called him, we didn’t hear his voice. We thought he was in Room 7, but he wasn’t. He was hiding in the corridor, watching us like a lurking killer. But he couldn’t escape my sight. So I used my skill on him.”

He Xiaowei immediately said, “Hiss! No wonder I felt like it was snowing.”

Situ Qing continued, “When I found out he wasn’t in Room 7 but in the corridor, I guessed his malicious intentions.”

“That’s why I used my skill on him—to force him out of hiding. Once he ran, he would definitely be exposed, and he couldn’t continue lying in front of everyone.”

“I used my skill only to expose him, but… I don’t know why Gao Shan ran into Room 6. Anyway… He might have been influenced by Zhou Qian, thinking that if 7 is safe, then 6 is definitely too.”

What Situ Qing said didn’t deceive Yun Xiangrong. She probably didn’t intend to deceive her.

She revealed her murderous intent early on, even deliberately attracting Yun Xiangrong’s attention. From the beginning, her plan was to attract all the guards and hatred, letting Lu Mengmeng deceive them in the dark.

They just didn’t succeed and changed their strategy halfway through.

Since Situ Qing couldn’t deceive Yun Xiangrong, she had two main reasons for saying such things:

First, she wanted He Xiaowei to doubt Zhou Qian and not form an alliance with him.

Second, she bore all the hatred, not exposing Lu Mengmeng and letting Zhou Qian believe that she was his only enemy.

So, on one side were Situ Qing, Lu Mengmeng, and He Xiaowei; on the other side were Zhou Qian and Yun Xiangrong.

In her eyes, it was at least a three against two situation.

Of course, through Zhou Qian’s deliberate creation of conflicts, Situ Qing now believed that Zhou Qian and Yun Xiangrong probably wouldn’t form an alliance.

Zhou Qian was happy to let her continue thinking this way, hoping she would think even Yun Xiangrong would turn against her, making it four against one.

Zhou Qian pretended not to know that Lu Mengmeng had exchanged the numbers. He didn’t seem to mind being accused by Situ Qing at all. He didn’t even bother to defend himself and just stood there arrogantly.

He walked up to Situ Qing and looked at her contemptuously. “There are only 35 minutes left for this level. Do you want to waste time playing murder mystery, pointing fingers at each other over who killed Gao Shan, or focus on clearing the level?”

“I’ve said it, I’m not interested in the side quests.” Situ Qing replied coldly.

“Really? But I don’t believe…” Zhou Qian stared into her eyes, trying to peer into her soul. “Everyone here has a wish, but who could fulfill it? Have you ever doubted that a god created this game? Have you thought that only by digging through the hidden achievements of each instance can you get closer to him? For instance…”

Lifting his hand, Zhou Qian showed off the Rib of God he had.

Flaunting the bone, Zhou Qian said, “Even if we don’t talk about such mysterious things. You shouldn’t ignore side quests and hidden achievements. Just for the experience points, what you can get from hidden achievements is not comparable to quickly completing the main quest. You might not match one hidden achievement even after completing 20 normal instances. Not to mention the special rare skills, items, and lots of gold that can be obtained through side quests. So, if someone suggests you only play the main quest…”

With malicious intent in his eyes, Zhou Qian sneered at Situ Qing, “Have you ever thought that the person giving you this advice might just not want you to become stronger?”

“I once raised a cat. I wanted it to be smarter—even learn to use the toilet. But I didn’t want it to be too smart. Because if it was too smart, it might have its own thoughts, become disobedient, and not be controlled by me.”

When Zhou Qian finished saying this, Situ Qing’s face turned pale.

Seeing her expression, Zhou Qian laughed. He knew he had probably guessed right.

From the moment they entered Room 701, when they tried to talk to Jiang Yuqing, Situ Qing stood by the window without speaking, just occasionally glancing at her watch. When they tried to find clues from the photos, Situ Qing stood outside the door, still occasionally glancing at her watch, then suddenly said she didn’t care about the side quest at all…

Furthermore, looking at her personal situation, she had a strong ability to act, but her intelligence and strategies were clearly average. Under these circumstances, if she wanted to kill and took the smart approach, it could only be because she was being instructed by someone. She was like a gun, firing whenever she was pointed at.

Lastly, her seamless coordination with Lu Mengmeng was so perfect that even if they communicated privately through the system, it would be hard to achieve this effect. Because communication and discussion actually take time.

Judging from the incident of trying to kill Gao Shan, when their initial plan failed, they immediately switched strategies and collaborated on a second plan. One immediately used a bell to interfere with Gao Shan’s judgment of distance and pretended to target Zhou Qian, while the other stealthily swapped the room signs at the perfect moment…

It seemed more like they were both under the command of a third party, executing the orders without hesitation.

Since there were gamblers in this game who could send messages to the players, the one directing Situ Qing was likely her gambler.

Through probing, Zhou Qian realized that, unlike his relationship with Yu Xian, the relationship between Situ Qing and her gambler seemed unusual. The only thing Zhou Qian didn’t know was why Situ Qing’s gambler could also direct Lu Mengmeng simultaneously.

Due to the thick fog, Zhou Qian bent down, getting closer to Situ Qing. As she looked up, she saw his mesmerizing eyes. Zhou Qian whispered, “Birds in cages usually don’t end up well. He doesn’t want you to get stronger; why don’t you resist? Don’t you want to know what rewards we could get if we solve this side quest?”

Situ Qing took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, her expression was back to normal. “Zhou Qian, you might be too full of yourself and have misunderstood something. Things aren’t what you think.”

“Is that so?” Without saying anything more, Zhou Qian walked away, passing He Xiaowei and Lu Mengmeng.

Pretending to be oblivious to Lu Mengmeng’s actions, Zhou Qian said, “I don’t accept Situ Qing’s accusations. I also think she has no reason to kill Gao Shan or me. Perhaps the fog blurred her vision, causing her to mistake someone else’s shadow for mine and creating a misunderstanding. But I don’t have time to clear my name right now. I’ll prove it with my actions.”

“I wanted to examine the bullet in Gao Shan’s chest to understand the story behind this level and prepare for future ones. But that has nothing to do with the current puzzle. I’ve already found the solution and have the evidence from Room 7. I don’t need others to test it for me. So next, I’ll personally open another safe door.”

“It’s not easy to get into an instance with hidden achievements. So even if you have many judgments against me, why not wait until the end of the side quest?”

“Hey you…. You…” He Xiaowei pointed at Zhou Qian speechlessly. To him, both Situ Qing and Zhou Qian seemed to have valid points. Even if Zhou Qian was wrong and intentionally or unintentionally harmed Gao Shan, currently, only he knew how to clear the level.

He asked Situ Qing, “Do you know the pattern?”

Situ Qing didn’t answer. It seemed she didn’t know.

With a mocking tone, Zhou Qian laughed. “See, Situ Qing. Your clever gambler didn’t tell you the solution. He truly doesn’t want to see you grow stronger.”

Having said that, Zhou Qian headed towards a corridor. He Xiaowei quickly followed but kept his distance, as if fearing Zhou Qian might push him into a room.

However, Zhou Qian didn’t. He Xiaowei followed him to Room 8, watching as he swiftly entered. The door opened and closed, and Zhou Qian’s figure vanished. Three seconds later, no gunshot was heard.

At that moment, He Xiaowei, who had been nervously waiting outside, almost jumped in excitement. Zhou Qian seemed to have really found the pattern. With such a difficult level, there seemed to be hope, making He Xiaowei quite thrilled.

About three minutes later, Zhou Qian came out.

He said, “Both Room 7 and Room 8 hide a bullet with the number ‘7’ on it. This is the evidence we are looking for.”

“If I’ve guessed correctly, there are 12 rooms and 12 bullets with the number ‘7’ on them. If we gather them all, we’ll pass this level.”

“Which room should we go to next?” He Xiaowei couldn’t help but ask.

Lu Mengmeng followed closely behind, and his constant innocent act apparently didn’t arouse He Xiaowei’s suspicion.

He Xiaowei pulled Lu Mengmeng closer and said to Zhou Qian, “Bro, I now fully believe that you have figured out the pattern. We can help you. If we all search for the evidence together, it will be easier!”

“Do you really want to help me?” Zhou Qian looked at He Xiaowei and Lu Mengmeng as if he wanted confirmation.

“Of course!” He Xiaowei nodded emphatically.

Lu Mengmeng also nodded. “Who doesn’t want to clear the level? I’m willing.”

“Good. Because this level requires cooperation to complete. I can’t do it alone,” Zhou Qian said.

“How can we help? Which room is safe now?” He Xiaowei asked.

“At the moment, except for rooms 7 and 8, no room is safe,” Zhou Qian said. “But we’ve already found the bullets marked ‘7’ in these two rooms.”

He Xiaowei was taken aback. “What…?”

Zhou Qian suddenly said something that stunned He Xiaowei. “If we want to find other safe rooms, someone must first enter an unsafe room and let the gunman shoot.”

On the other side.

After watching the three men leave, Situ Qing remained still for a long time. A moment later, her gaze landed on Yun Xiangrong.

With a cold and ruthless expression, Situ Qing seemed to feel no remorse and wasn’t afraid of Yun Xiangrong seeking revenge.

However, Yun Xiangrong’s next move intrigued her.

In Situ Qing’s eyes, Yun Xiangrong was a gentle girl. She chose to practice healing arts for her boyfriend without considering any backup plan. In a situation like this, where she had lost her boyfriend, she should have been devastated, probably crying beside Gao Shan’s body until she passed out…

But to Situ Qing’s surprise, Yun Xiangrong stood up and headed in the direction Zhou Qian and the others had left.

As she watched Yun Xiangrong’s figure disappear into the fog, Situ Qing received another message from that person.

[Sister, don’t trust Zhou Qian’s divisive words.]

[You can’t handle this side quest. To clear it, you need to sacrifice players—at least three of them.]

[I’m stopping you for the sake of your main quest later.]

[Be careful and don’t fall for Zhou Qian’s tricks.]

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 22

Approximately seven minutes ago.

He Xiaowei shouted, saying that he had found two bullets. After Gao Shan and Yun Xiangrong failed to find anything in Room 701, they went to the corridor to look, leaving Zhou Qian alone to search the room.

After seeing the bullets, Gao Shan noticed that Situ Qing raised her hand, holding a bell, and approached the door of Room 3.

She seemed to be constantly tapping and knocking in the corridor, checking every tile. Now, she was inspecting the gaps between every two rooms. Finally, she focused her attention on the doors of the 12 rooms themselves.

Approaching the door of Room 3, Situ Qing took a sniff and then asked, “Do you smell anything unusual?”

He Xiaowei was the first to respond, “Huh? What smell? All I can taste in my mouth is the stench of a corpse and cleaning agent… It’s so pungent. I won’t be doing this job again. I feel like throwing up!”

The door of Room 701 faced Rooms 12, 1, and 2.

Three corpses entered these rooms and died, respectively, and thus all were piled up on this half of the circular space.

So Situ Qing turned and walked to the other half of the corridor.

“I noticed that all 12 room doors have a strange smell. There are corpses here; if you can’t smell it, then come with me and sniff there. Actually, this clue I found… should be related to the side quest. Even though I don’t want to solve math problems and can give up the side quest at any time, it seems we’ve already found a way to clear the side quest, so let’s give it a try.”

He Xiaowei wiped his hands and, without hesitation, followed Situ Qing.

At this moment, Lu Mengmeng stood up, imitating Situ Qing’s actions, and approached the door of Room 3.

He gently held the door and carefully leaned his hand over. He made a sniffing motion and then said, “The cleaning agent on the floor is indeed very pungent, affecting our sense of smell. But my nose is quite sensitive, and the smell at this door is indeed different.”

Leaving Room 3, Lu Mengmeng went on to smell the doors of Rooms 4 and 5.

At this point, the fog in the corridor became a bit thicker. Gao Shan and Yun Xiangrong wanted to get a clearer view of Lu Mengmeng’s exploration, so they clasped their hands and followed.

Within those two minutes, the corridor hadn’t grown as long as it would later. The five individuals split up and quickly circled around Room 701 before gathering back at its door.

He Xiaowei blinked and said, “There seems to be a scent, quite different from cleaning agents. What do you all think?”

Lu Mengmeng confidently replied, “There is a smell. Every door has a strange odor.”

After discussing briefly, the dense fog started to thicken, and the corridor began to stretch, making the entire circular space grow larger.

At this point, footsteps could be faintly heard near Room 701’s door. He Xiaowei quickly inquired if Zhou Qian was coming out.

Zhou Qian responded, saying he wanted to check Room 7.

Upon hearing this, He Xiaowei immediately followed.

Once both of them moved away from the vicinity of Room 701, Gao Shan realized he couldn’t see them anymore.

The fog obscuring the view was unsettling.

With this thought, Gao Shan gripped Yun Xiangrong’s fingers even tighter. “Rongrong, be careful.”

Despite being so close, he could barely see her clearly and felt comforted only by holding her hand tightly.

Moments later, after discussing with Yun Xiangrong, the two followed Zhou Qian’s direction to see his results in Room 7.

During this, they could hear faint footsteps from behind, likely Lu Mengmeng and Situ Qing following.

In this order, with Zhou Qian leading, followed closely by He Xiaowei, and then Gao, Yun, Lu, and Situ, all six players moved in the same direction towards Room 7.

Due to the heavy fog, even though they knew it was harmless, the psychological burden on Gao Shan and the others increased significantly.

No one took any chances, and they all moved slowly.

Shortly after, while on their way to Rooms 6 and 7, Gao Shan heard Situ Qing’s voice.

The strange dense fog in the corridor seemed to muffle sounds. Even though Situ Qing was just a few steps away, Gao Shan had to focus intently to hear her clearly.

Logically, Zhou Qian should be nearby, but Gao Shan couldn’t discern if he had opened the door to Room 7 or if he had already entered, as he couldn’t hear any sound from Zhou Qian’s direction.

Situ Qing’s voice came in a distant, ethereal manner. “This is just the first side quest of the second-level instance. Actually, deciphering the so-called ‘pattern’ is quite simple. I feel that this whole floor is just full of smoke and mirrors—I suspect the method to pass through is directly written on the door.”

Yun Xiangrong’s voice rang in Gao Shan’s ears. “Do you mean… there are symbols on each door made with some chemical agent, and when the temperature rises or falls, words will appear on them?”

“This floor seems to be a mental space related to Jiang Yuqing. Isn’t Jiang Yuqing a scientist? I think this guess about the chemical agent matches his identity. Moreover, haven’t we all played escape room games? This is a very common trope. I can help you all out.”

As Situ Qing’s cold words fell, Gao Shan felt the sound of crisp bells ringing.

“Jingle jingle jingle…”

” Jingle jingle jingle…”

With the sound of the bells, the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped.

Snow suddenly began to fall in the corridor. Gao Shan spread his hand and watched a snowflake land in his palm, then melt away. However, he couldn’t see the other snowflakes clearly. As soon as they landed, they disappeared into the fog.

The temperature rapidly dropped, and soon after, from the direction of Room 6, faint sounds from Lu Mengmeng could be heard. Even though he wasn’t far away, the weird fog made the sound seem as if it came from the clouds.

Gao Shan, holding Yun Xiangrong’s hand, followed the sound and saw Lu Mengmeng standing in front of a door not far away. Due to the thick fog, only when they approached the door did Gao Shan realize that there was a symbol on it that hadn’t been there before—an “S”.

“I am an assassin, and I’m very fast. To save time, I will check all the rooms for you.” After saying this, Lu Mengmeng drew a short dagger, and in a flash, he disappeared from Gao Shan’s sight.

“He’s really fast,” Yun Xiangrong couldn’t help but exclaim. Just after she spoke, a shadow approached, stopping in place. To their surprise, it was Lu Mengmeng, who had returned. Although he seemed not very strong in attack and appeared weak in defense, holding the dagger made him move faster than Gao Shan and Yun Xiangrong could imagine.

Lu Mengmeng quickly said, “I found it! On the 12 doors, each door has a secret! Rooms 3 4 5 6 7 all have an ‘S’ on the door, and the other seven rooms all have a ‘7’. So, so…”

“I get it! Even though we haven’t found a specific clue related to status or the story plot, we can find the answer from the demonstrations of those three janitors!”

“Firstly, rooms 6 and 7 are definitely safe! Didn’t Zhou Qian say that Room 7 is safe? He’s going to Room 7! I just searched and didn’t find him, which means he’s already in Room 7, searching for evidence. But he didn’t die! So, Room 7 is safe, and so is Room 6!”

Lu Mengmeng’s voice became excited. “Rooms 6 and 7 are safe; their doors have the ‘S’… Since 3 4 5 6 7 all have ‘S’, but other rooms have ‘7’, we can infer from this that the squad with the ‘S’ rank is lower in status than the squad with ‘7’. So, 3 4 5 6 7 are safe rooms! Zhou Qian has already entered Room 7. Let’s go into Room 6 now!”

With that, in the fog, Gao Shan faintly saw Lu Mengmeng turn and head towards Room 6. He was about to push the door but hesitated and seemed to turn his head, possibly looking at Gao Shan. “I’m a bit scared on my own, how about we go together—”

“No, stop!” This voice was Yun Xiangrong’s. She said seriously, “This symbol on the door is strange, it’s definitely a trap!”

Not understanding his girlfriend’s meaning, Gao Shan immediately asked her, “What’s wrong?”

Yun Xiangrong explained the conditions set by the system for the players. “…So, Shan Ge, the safe rooms change. They can’t be constant. We need to find what will cause the gunman’s status to drop; only then can we solve the puzzle.”

“I see…” Gao Shan’s eyes sharpened, and he immediately took a step towards Room 6, saying in a stern voice, “Lu Mengmeng, stop! Don’t go in!”

“Ah, ah, oh… okay… so that’s how it is…”

From in front of Room 6’s door came such a voice from Lu Mengmeng.

After that, Gao Shan couldn’t hear anything.

Gao Shan felt that what Lu Mengmeng said was strange.

Logically, he almost died when he nearly entered Room 6; his voice should be filled with relief from having a narrow escape from death, or maybe filled with fear and afterthoughts. Yet, for some reason, Gao Shan sensed a hint of disappointment and hesitation in his words.

After this, for a long time, Gao Shan didn’t hear Lu Mengmeng speak again.

Concerned about his situation, Gao Shan, holding Yun Xiangrong’s hand, took a few more steps forward and saw the frail figure still in front of Room 6, which reassured him. He shouted, “Lu Mengmeng, are you okay?”

“Cough cough…” After a while, Lu Mengmeng’s voice came. “I’m fine! I was just pondering a question… If everything just said was a trap, then someone is plotting against us? Could it be that the S and 7 were drawn by someone?”

Hearing this, Gao Shan leaned close to Yun Xiangrong, their foreheads almost touching.

In the thick fog, at such a close distance, they could see each other’s eyes.

Their understanding was impeccable, and Gao Shan grasped Yun Xiangrong’s meaning—the one who plotted against everyone is probably Situ Qing. After all, she had been wandering the corridor from the beginning, had ample time to fabricate clues, and was the first to claim that there was a chemical smell on the door.

Gao Shan replied, “That’s probably it. Someone wants us dead.”

Then he heard Lu Mengmeng say doubtfully, “But… who is it? Who would do this? What is their purpose? But… regardless, I’ll look for clues. This space is getting bigger. You’re too slow. I still have MP, so leave it to me. I’ll quickly run around the corridor and check all 12 doors to see if there are any traces that reveal the identity of the plotter. Someone so malicious… I must find them!”

After saying this, Lu Mengmeng used his skill again; his shadow flickered and disappeared in front of Gao Shan.

Holding Yun Xiangrong’s hand tightly, Gao Shan frowned and said, “This is really strange. Why does Situ Qing want to kill us? What does she gain from killing everyone?”

At that moment, they heard a faint noise from the side.

However, as the entire space was continuously expanding, standing at the entrance of Room 6, they couldn’t immediately determine whether the sound was coming from the adjacent Room 7 or somewhere farther away.

Yun Xiangrong, sensing something, pulled Gao Shan in the direction of the noise and whispered, “Killing us doesn’t make sense; maybe Situ Qing is targeting Zhou Qian.”

Gao Shan frowned. “Why?”

Yun Xiangrong said, “Our game video can be seen by Rank S players and high-level gamblers. I believe we didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know about He Xiaowei and Lu Mengmeng, so let’s not discuss them. But Dong Xiang’s death had something to do with Zhou Qian. Maybe someone hired the Rank C Situ Qing to kill Zhou Qian for revenge on behalf of Dong Xiang. Otherwise, why would she, a Rank C player who claims to have no interest in hidden instances, come here?”

“Right! That’s probably it! She wants to kill Zhou Qian!”

Gao Shan immediately became serious and pulled out his shield. “Zhou Qian wasn’t fooled by the traps she set on the doors. So, she might use direct force. Now, with this thick fog, it’s a good opportunity for her to act!”

“Jingle jingle jingle…”

“Jingle jingle jingle—”

The bell rang again.

Gao Shan felt Yun Xiangrong grip his hand tighter. “The previous snowstorm was a smokescreen by Situ Qing. Based on her previous actions, we might think her bell is continuing to lower the temperature using a skill. But her real intention is to kill with her skill. This is a bell that can kill!”

Listening to his girlfriend, Gao Shan felt the bell ringing all around; its continuous “jingle jingle” sound was so distracting that it could drive someone mad. Meanwhile, snow seemed to be gathering, forming a visible shadow in the fog.

After a glance at Yun Xiangrong, Gao Shan took her hand, and together they followed the sound of the bell and the snow, moving through the fog.

After a while, a massive snowball formed from the swirling snow, directly hitting the direction of a door. Approaching quickly, Gao Shan noticed a “7” carved on that door.

That was Zhou Qian’s room!

He should be searching for evidence inside right now.

The Ice Queen Situ Qing had unleashed a powerful attack on him; she was trying to kill him!

Thinking of this, Gao Shan released Yun Xiangrong’s hand and raised his shield with both hands. “I’ll rush into the room and unleash my power, helping Zhou Qian block some of it!”

“Wait, Shan Ge, I…”

Yun Xiangrong felt something was amiss, but her thoughts lagged behind her instinct. She couldn’t immediately articulate her concerns.

In truth, she couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.

No matter if the other rooms could be entered, Zhou Qian just said he entered Room 7. Room 7 should indeed be relatively safe…

“Rongrong, we need to save him. First, it’s in my nature not to stand by and watch someone die. Second, we genuinely need his help to move forward.”

Turning back to Yun Xiangrong with a smile, Gao Shan said, “Sorry, I’m not smart enough to guide you smoothly all the way to the end by myself. Fortunately, we met Zhou Qian. I believe he can lead us all the way, achieving hidden accomplishments, earning gold coins, and eventually… obtaining what you desire most.”

“Shan Ge…”

Yun Xiangrong’s eyes widened.

The next moment, a giant ice ball fiercely smashed towards the door of Room 7.

Fearful that the Ice Queen’s powerful attack would harm Yun Xiangrong, Gao Shan pushed her aside and quickly charged into Room 7 with his shield raised—

“Bang!”

The sound of a bullet firing.

……

Time rewound to that moment.

Zhou Qian quickly pulls open the door and looks to the side.

Through the dense fog, he vaguely saw a figure rushing out. The situation resembled that of the previous three cleaners. The shadow fell heavily onto the ground. What followed was an ear-piercing, heart-wrenching cry of despair from a woman, which sent shivers down one’s spine…

Without the time to identify the face of the figure, the combination of his silhouette and the despairing cry echoing in the corridor made Zhou Qian’s heart skip a beat. He roughly inferred what had transpired.

Reacting swiftly, his first action was to draw out the [Rib of God], utilizing the unique ability of this weapon.

Yun Xiangrong’s crying became incredibly elongated, but her pace towards Gao Shan never arrived.

The corridor, walls, and ceiling all began distorting in the thick fog, and both the corridor’s lengthening and the fog’s thickening became exceedingly slow.

Zhou Qian had decelerated the flow of time.

Everything was slowing down, including Gao Shan’s impending death. The blood from his gunshot wound almost stopped flowing.

Within this space, the only person seemingly standing outside of time was Zhou Qian himself.

His first move was to raise his left hand, enter the system’s trading interface, and attempt to contact Qi Liuxing.

He needed Qi Liuxing to send over the [Tick Tock Clock], which had the power to resurrect, to save Gao Shan.

However, after waiting for a while, there was no response from Qi Liuxing. Given that the ability of the Rib of God had a time limit, Zhou Qian quickly shifted his attention from the system and, clutching the bone in his hand, quickly approached Gao Shan.

Crouching in front of Gao Shan, Zhou Qian held one end of the Rib of God, placing the other end in Gao Shan’s hand.

In this way, Zhou Qian temporarily pulled Gao Shan out of the normal timeline.

Everything around them came to an almost complete standstill.

The only ones who could move and speak were Zhou Qian and Gao Shan.

Lowering his head and peering through the fog, Zhou Qian immediately saw the blood oozing out from Gao Shan. This color, which he despised so much, mixed with a strong scent of iron, made his temples throb uncontrollably.

Some restless element deep within his bones and blood, after repeatedly seeing blood and especially realizing it came from Gao Shan, seemed unable to be suppressed any longer.

The dense fog in front of him was no longer white but appeared blood-red.

Zhou Qian didn’t feel anger or sorrow, only intense irritation.

It felt as if millions of ants had crawled into his bloodstream, causing every nerve in his body to ache. He needed to vent this frustration forcefully.

Previously, when he fell ill in reality, it was always Li Xuehai who rushed over to inject him with a tranquilizer.

But now, inside the game, he didn’t have that tranquilizer.

He could only rely on himself.

Closing his eyes and forcing himself to exhale a long breath that tasted almost like rusty blood, Zhou Qian managed to suppress the surge of discomfort.

Then he quickly spoke to Gao Shan. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t grant you a quick death, making you suffer and talk to me through the pain. But I need to know what happened to you. Tell me everything. I’ll help you take revenge.”

Exhaling slowly, Gao Shan lay on the ground, one hand weakly holding the Rib of God that allowed him to stand outside of time. He spoke softly, recounting everything that had just transpired to Zhou Qian.

Then he said, “I was sure I went to room number 7, why would…”

Zhou Qian quickly looked behind Gao Shan.

The door there had closed again, and the number plate indeed showed a “7”.

But Zhou Qian knew he had entered the real “Room 7”.

The room Gao Shan entered was the deadly “Room 6”.

Someone had swapped the number plates for these rooms!

In that moment, Zhou Qian immediately understood what had happened.

He had previously suspected that Situ Qing had collaborated with someone. Now it seemed that person could only be Lu Mengmeng.

Situ Qing and Lu Mengmeng conspired to deceive Gao Shan and Yun Xiangrong, leading them to the so-called safe Rooms 3 4 5 6 7.

However, Yun Xiangrong was alert and wasn’t fooled.

So the two quickly changed their strategy.

Using the thick fog that obscured vision and affected hearing, and the rooms that changed position because the corridors kept lengthening, they swapped the plates of adjacent rooms 6 and 7, luring Gao Shan into room 6, where a gunman would shoot.

The faint, distant “jingle” sound was made by Situ Qing.

Yun Xiangrong had previously judged that Situ Qing was ringing the bell to kill Zhou Qian.

But she was wrong.

Situ Qing’s real intention was to simply distract Gao Shan and Yun Xiangrong, disrupting their sense of distance.

The fog and the elongated corridor, combined with the distant and near bell sounds, led Gao Shan and Yun Xiangrong to believe they had walked a similar distance in the fog. When they saw a room with a “7”, they didn’t doubt its authenticity and mistook it for Room 7.

The only one who could swap the numbers of these two rooms so quickly was the assassin Lu Mengmeng.

With his exceptional speed and the cover of the fog, he moved swiftly, swapping the numbers, making it incredibly hard to notice.

In the end, the two of them succeeded.

They successfully lured Gao Shan into what he believed was room 7, which was in fact room 6, where he was shot.

However, originally, Gao Shan and Yun Xiangrong wouldn’t have been deceived.

Deep down, Zhou Qian knew—the reason Gao Shan went to room 7 was to save him.

A brief pause in his gaze, looking through the bleeding Gao Shan, Zhou Qian seemed to see someone else.

Then, looking deeply into Gao Shan’s eyes with utmost seriousness, Zhou Qian said coldly, “Do you know what I hate most? Owing someone a life.”

Struggling to lift his head to look at Zhou Qian, Gao Shan sighed. “Zhou Qian, you said earlier… you would take revenge for me, but I don’t need it. This was my mistake. It has nothing to do with you.”

Zhou Qian stared coldly at him. “What? Even now, you still want to play the good guy?”

The agitation inside him was becoming unbearable.

Zhou Qian’s feelings about joy, sorrow, love, and hate were usually subdued, but now he felt a surge of irritation and anger.

If this continued, his condition might flare up again.

Staring intensely at Gao Shan’s eyes, Zhou Qian said through gritted teeth, “Most people in this world are villains. There are hardly any true good people. In my life, I’ve only met two genuinely good people. One was Bai Zhou, and the other is you.”

Earlier, what Zhou Qian had said to Zhi Liuxing was incorrect.

During the “Apple Paradise” instance, he did try to threaten Gao Shan and Yun Xiangrong with a deal. If they didn’t help, he would lure the cultists to them and let everyone die together.

But before he sent that message, he received one from Gao Shan.

Gao Shan said he was worried and had convinced Yun Xiangrong to help. They would be there soon.

At this moment, in this frozen time, even death seemed to have paused.

But Zhou Qian knew it was an illusion, like a fleeting dream.

Soon this brief pause would end.

And the inevitable death would eventually arrive.

Looking at Gao Shan, Zhou Qian said in a very hoarse and deep voice, “I’ve only met two good people in my life. But Bai Zhou is dead, and now you’re dying. It seems that in this world, good people die young, while the wicked live long. So I—”

Gao Shan interjected with a bitter smile, “So, you want to become one of those wicked ones?”

“Right.” Zhou Qian’s fingers clenched the Rib of God so tightly that his veins nearly popped. “So I want to become a bad guy, a villain. I…”

Gao Shan waved it off, immediately cutting him off. “Zhou Qian, I don’t need you to avenge me. Nor do I want Rongrong to seek revenge.”

“Thank you for buying me some time. Using this time, I’ll leave part of my gold and items for you and the rest for Rongrong…”

Taking a deep sigh, Gao Shan continued, “I’m giving you these gold and items to ask you a favor. Rongrong might seem gentle on the outside, but she’s more stubborn than anyone. You must persuade her not to seek revenge for me. Otherwise, I’m afraid she’ll go astray…”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian’s eyes went dark and deep.

After a moment, he stared at Gao Shan with emotionless eyes. “I’m afraid I can’t convince her. You’re right. She’s very stubborn deep down, and she’ll definitely seek revenge.”

Faced with his impending death, Gao Shan was calm.

But now, he became anxious.

Enduring the severe pain, he reached out and tightly gripped Zhou Qian’s wrist, almost trembling as he spoke, “You… You try to persuade her for me. I know you’re good at convincing people; you have a knack for it…”

“It’s impossible to try and convince Yun Xiangrong to give up on avenging you. So—”

Before Gao Shan could interrupt, Zhou Qian shifted his words, saying something that left Gao Shan stunned.

“Then, let her hate me.”

Zhou Qian said this emotionlessly.

He calmly continued, “Your and Yun Xiangrong’s analysis is wrong. For a scum like Dong Xiang, I don’t believe someone would set up such a scheme for revenge on his behalf. Or rather, someone of his caliber can’t afford to hire Situ Qing.”

“Situ Qing and Lu Mengmeng are eerily in sync, suggesting someone else might be pulling the strings.

“So, behind all this, there might even be an organization that’s best not to mess with.”

“Of course, regardless of the truth, the assassins were definitely targeting me.”

“You and Yun Xiangrong got involved because of me. If Yun Xiangrong tries to avenge you alone against such an organization, it’s very risky. So, I promise you, I won’t let her get involved.”

“First, Gao Shan, I’ll try to contact Qi Liuxing to get the ‘Tick Tock Clock’ to save you.”

“If that doesn’t work, I’d ask you to sleep a bit longer and wait for me. I’ll definitely make it to the end of this game and find a way to save you. In the meantime—”

In a tone that sounded utterly indifferent, Zhou Qian said, “Let Yun Xiangrong hate me and come after me.”

After a long pause,

The effect of the Rib of God wore off.

Time resumed its normal pace.

In a pool of blood, Gao Shan closed his eyes forever.

And the moment Zhou Qian pulled the Rib of God from Gao Shan—

A faint white shadow floated out of Gao Shan’s body, eventually being absorbed into the bone.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Well, they do say, nice guys finish last.

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