Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 100

In the story world set by Luo Yu, people from the dual world inherently possessed an anchoring function that allowed them to move freely within the 48 dimensional spaces and were aware of all its secrets.

However, why wouldn’t the imposter Zhou Qian dare disturb the author Luo Yu? The only explanation could be the belief that “those who are not of our kind surely have different hearts”.

Luo Yu didn’t realize that he had entered the world of his manuscript. He was deeply engrossed, pondering how to progress with his story. Should he see people from the dual world appearing before him, he might fear harm.

Perhaps he would use the tool of altering the story’s settings to eliminate these intruders. This was probably what the imposter Zhou Qian had thought, leading him to set an ambush near room 1103 but not daring to awaken Luo Yu, not taking even the slightest risk.

This choice exposed several core elements of the story to Zhou Qian—

First, the Luo Yu in the manuscript world was the real Luo Yu. He stood in opposition to the people of the dual world and wouldn’t assist them.

Second, only Luo Yu could alter the story’s settings. Otherwise, the imposter Zhou Qian and his group could just kill Luo Yu, seize the manuscript, and make changes at will.

Third, the love story between the man and woman and the animated killings of Xiong Fei and Li Yuan were all distractions. The real mystery of this story was linked to the page numbers and the elevator. The only clue to the solution was the location of Luo Yu’s room. This signified that finding Luo Yu was almost synonymous with successfully navigating the story.

These three key points dictated how to complete this instance—find Luo Yu, persuade him to change the story, and lead everyone out of this world.

But persuading Luo Yu would take time. Zhou Qian guessed that the situation in the main hall was dire. His best immediate move was to knock Luo Yu unconscious and check on He Xiaowei. Confronting the author and convincing him to lead everyone out would have to wait.

After successfully meeting He Xiaowei using the overlapping space technique and seeing his current dire condition, Zhou Qian felt the urgency to wake Luo Yu, whether to save He Xiaowei or to evacuate everyone.

He slapped Luo Yu several times, splashed water on his face, and then pinched Luo Yu’s pressure point until Luo Yu finally opened his eyes.

Luo Yu looked confusedly at Zhou Qian, instinctively touching his hurting cheeks.

Zhou Qian turned the manuscript to its title page, handed Luo Yu a pen, and demanded, “Write two sentences on this picture of the hotel lobby. First, a potion that can instantly revive the dead appears near the front desk. This potion can regenerate lost limbs, heal all wounds, and restore a person’s health to 100%.”

“Secondly, you decide to give up the story in the manuscript, to abandon the plan of letting the characters in the story act out the plot on their own. You have to make the story in the manuscript disappear entirely. You need to let everyone leave this place and return to reality!”

“I… I… What are you talking about?” Luo Yu replied, clearly baffled.

From a magazine interview, it was evident that Luo Yu wrote crime novels not to teach criminals but to explore their motives. He aimed to reveal these terrifying motives, prompting society to be wary and to improve systems.

His ultimate goal was to prevent such tragedies. Introducing fantasy elements simply made the story more appealing. The same magazine also highlighted Luo Yu’s philanthropy.

Zhou Qian deduced that Luo Yu was fundamentally a good person. He wasn’t finding inspiration and hoped the characters in his manuscript would act according to the story’s setup, guiding him on how to complete the novel.

He wouldn’t actually sacrifice so many innocent lives for his story.

Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes, staring fiercely at Luo Yu, and said, “You can’t find inspiration and are unable to write this story. The fundamental reason behind this is that you can’t discern the motive of the killer. You can’t empathize with them! You fundamentally don’t understand the murderers!”

“Regarding why that man and woman commit crimes, you only have a vague concept of worshiping Satan. You’ve constructed a hell-like secondary world, delusionally trying to probe the humanity of the murderers! You wish to resonate with them on a spiritual level, but this is a gravely mistaken idea!”

“Give up. You don’t need to probe the humanity of killers because, by choosing to kill, they’ve already lost it.”

“Some are born executioners, murderers, monsters, devils. You’ll never comprehend their motives. When you see them, just stay away. Therefore—”

“The thoughts on the first page of your manuscript are both laughable and foolish. You won’t find any answers through virtual deduction. Murderers are inherently evil.”

“Now you’ve dragged living beings, including yourself, into this virtual world. The killer here won’t provide creative inspiration but will only kill us all!”

Concluding his rant, Zhou Qian menacingly picked up an ax, holding it above Luo Yu’s head. The wind from the motion brushed Zhou Qian’s face, revealing his almost reddened eyes.

Staring intently at Luo Yu, Zhou Qian, in a raspy voice, commanded with unquestionable authority—

“Write! Write as I instructed! You have only 20 seconds. Otherwise, I’ll let you die in this world you’ve created!”

“You are responsible for everything that happens here. It’s your duty to bring back those who shouldn’t die!”

……

On the other side.

Wen Bin first disguised himself as “Ke Si” Liu Wansan, then as He Xiaowei, and now he had taken on the face of Hidden Blade. During the chaos in the hall, he fled towards the corridor.

However, the corridor now appeared quite different from before.

Previously, this corridor turned at a right angle and led to the dining hall, but now he seemed to be endlessly running inside a long corridor, as if he had returned to the corridor on the 11^th floor.

Suddenly, he heard rapid footsteps approaching from behind.

Swallowing hard, sensing danger, he stopped in his tracks and turned around—only to see the player called [137] holding a long, straight sword, slowly walking towards him.

Wen Bin was thoroughly panicked.

Initially, he thought everything was foolproof—his gambler had prepared an escape route for him; he could pretend to be a ghost, sneak into the elevator, and escape to some space.

But he never expected the spaces to overlap completely!

There was no way out now. Wen Bin racked his brains, trying to find a way to survive.

He immediately said, “You have a special relationship with Zhou Qian, right? Did you hear what he said? Once you choose to kill, you lose your humanity. So, you…”

Unexpectedly, his words seemed to infuriate Bai Zhou.

Bai Zhou showed no emotion, but Wen Bin could feel a strong murderous intent emanating from his eyes, his footsteps, and even the gleam of the sword.

“You…”

In the next moment, Wen Bin’s pupils dilated in shock. From behind Bai Zhou, another figure approached—it was the swastika serial killer!

Just then, he saw the system’s prompt—

[Key item determining NPC behavior this time: “Swastika” tattoo.]

[Player Wen Bin used the “Identity Copy Camera” item in the exhibition hall’s rest area to photograph player Hidden Blade. He now looks like Hidden Blade.]

[In that photo, player Hidden Blade had no “Swastika” tattoo; hence, in the eyes of the serial killer, Wen Bin now also lacks the tattoo.]

[The killer will have murderous intentions when encountering players without the swastika tattoo.]

[The system announces the judgment to be effective immediately.]

Shivering, before Wen Bin could react, he collapsed on the ground.

At that moment, Bai Zhou turned to look at the newcomer and immediately grasped the situation.

Sheathing his blade, he ignored Wen Bin and headed towards the main hall.

Inside the hall, Chen Dami, Qi Ke, and the white fox were all unconscious.

Chen and Qi were knocked out by the white fox, while White Fox Hidden Blade was knocked out by Bai Zhou.

As for the writer, Luo Yu, he was kneeling on the ground, writing settings.

His first setting was clearly finished, where he creatively turned the potion into a purple color, adding a note—just one drop would take effect.

Zhou Qian was currently pouring the purple potion into He Xiaowei’s mouth.

Only 10 seconds remained.

Then, 9, 8, 7…

With just 5 seconds left, He Xiaowei coughed and opened his eyes.

Zhou Qian quickly lunged at Luo Yu, swinging an axe and then positioning the blade near Luo Yu’s forehead. “Have you finished writing?!”

Luo Yu replied in utter terror, “I’m done!”

The 5-second countdown ended.

The manuscript world collapsed.

Zhou Qian opened his eyes and was back in room 1107.

Zhou Qian felt extremely weak, and as he regained consciousness, feelings of hunger and thirst overcame him. He felt slightly delirious. Amidst the overwhelming hunger, he suddenly felt bizarrely satiated.

Sitting up, he realized he had previously fallen near the window.

Behind him, Bai Zhou lay near the bathroom door.

Zhou Qian now understood. That night, upon returning to the hotel room and watching the dense fog outside while waiting for Bai Zhou to shower, he fainted. Bai Zhou, who had just left the bathroom, also did the same.

Afterwards, their spirits or souls entered the virtual manuscript world, while their bodies lay in the hotel room for four days and nights without food or drink.

Both of them got up, one after the other. Bai Zhou’s first action was to fetch water from his bag and give it to Zhou Qian, asking, “How are you?”

Shaking his head, just as Zhou Qian was about to ask something, the voice of their guide came from outside—

“Dear tourists, how did you enjoy your four days of free exploration? I’m here to pick you up!”

At the same time, a system message appeared.

[The four-day tour of Blue Harbor City’s Saiya Hotel has ended. Players Zhou Qian, 137, Hidden Blade, He Xiaowei, Qi Ke, Chen Dami, and Jian Erdan survived. Congratulations on clearing Hall D.]

[Player Jian Erdan spent all four days in jail and did not explore the hotel, with a storyline completion of 30%.]

[The remaining players’ storyline completion was 100%.]

[Completion affects gold and skill point rewards, which will be calculated when players finally leave the exhibition hall.]

[After leaving Hall D, players should follow the instructions of the staff.]

……

After a while.

At the Blue Harbor City’s Murder Exhibition Hall, inside the public rest area.

In front of the merchandise counter, Bai Zhou was shopping. After a moment, Hidden Blade came over.

Facing Bai Zhou, Hidden Blade seemed like a different person compared to when he was in front of He Xiaowei.

At this moment, he lowered his head somewhat sheepishly. “Um… thank you.”

Bai Zhou simply shook his head, not saying much.

Hidden Blade glanced at him and instinctively rubbed the back of his neck. “My neck hurts so much. I wonder who hit me.”

Bai Zhou: “…”

Suddenly hearing a commotion behind him, Bai Zhou turned around to see He Xiaowei holding Zhou Qian, crying bitterly.

“Wuwuwu, Qian’er, you really saved me!”

“Wuwuwu, Qian’er, I love you! I love you to death!”

“I can’t even express how I feel right now, wuwuwu…”

……

After lamenting for quite some time, He Xiaowei felt his clothes being tugged at the back of his neck.

Blinking twice, he looked up and turned around, only to see Bai Zhou.

To his surprise, Bai Zhou was holding a huge cushion, seemingly offering it to him.

He Xiaowei was almost taken aback, asking incredulously, “Is this… for me? Really? Wuwuwu, thank you so much, big brother! Thank you for buying this stuffed cushion to comfort me!”

“You’re welcome. Just hold it and cry into it.”

Bai Zhou thrust the cushion into He Xiaowei’s arms. Taking advantage of the moment when he was hugging the cushion, Bai Zhou quickly pulled Zhou Qian over to the merchandise counter.

Looking at Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou said, “Given the circumstances, you should eat something. Fruits aren’t enough; shall I heat up some fast food for you?”

“Okay. I’ll make do with it. Then please heat it up for me,” Zhou Qian replied with a smile.

Bai Zhou nodded and went to prepare food for Zhou Qian.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qian approached Hidden Blade.

Upon seeing Zhou Qian, Hidden Blade also sincerely thanked him. But he noticed Zhou Qian’s smug expression.

Hidden Blade: “Hmm… did you want something?”

Zhou Qian, with sparkling eyes, proudly said, “When Xiaowei thought he was going to die, he left 70% of his inheritance to me!”

Hidden Blade: “…That’s… nice?”

“Yes, yes.” Zhou Qian replied with a contented smile. “If both of us fell into the water, Xiaowei would definitely save me first!

“Hmm… Oh, I’ll have to tell Xiao Qi about this. Shows him to turn his elbows outwards*!”

*Idiomatic expression referring to someone who doesn’t help or support their own people or group but instead favors outsiders.

Hidden Blade: “…”

I’m a Rank God player; your money and items are of no use to me. Even if He Xiaowei left 100% to you, I wouldn’t mind. Whatever makes you happy…

After the players had eaten and drunk their fill, the ghostly female staff member in the white dress appeared again.

Zhou Qian’s eyes sharpened, and he stared coldly at her.

However, she eerily said, “Today’s visit has come to an end.”

Zhou Qian asked, “What do you mean? Didn’t you say earlier that our group of players must visit every exhibition hall?”

“Yes. All outsiders who entered the exhibition halls from morning to night are considered the same batch,” the staff member replied with a smile. “Of course, when you leave here, we might meet again!”

Whether from intuition, logical analysis, or the deep implications in the staff member’s words, Zhou Qian knew the story wasn’t over yet.

For example, the significance of visiting the Murder Exhibition Hall.

So far, he had only visited two exhibition halls. Both related virtual games involved survival games—survive a few days, and the player passes.

In the first story, one simply needed to find the trick, avoid the traps that lead to death, and then kill Ruan Mei to pass.

As for the second story, it involved two different serial killing cases. The death risk from the swastika killer was similar to Ruan Mei’s, even easier to avoid.

In the other case, one must avoid being fixated.

The two killers, a man and a woman, responsible for those deaths probably had already died in the history of Blue Harbor City. By the time the players reached the year 1997, they might have been executed or at least were no longer at the Saiya Hotel.

The player’s mission wasn’t to find or survive from them but to find a way out of the manuscript world.

Thus, there wasn’t much to delve into in these two stories since the clearance time was very limited. But the story itself hadn’t ended.

What happened to Ruan Mei, why the manuscript world exists, whether Luo Yu wrote that novel afterward, and if the dual world had any other meanings…

There were still many unknowns about the exhibition hall. Due to the time constraint, players didn’t have the room to delve deeper, and Zhou Qian hadn’t triggered any hidden tasks as he had in previous instances.

Could the moment they “meet again” in this exhibition hall be the time to complete the hidden task? Would he obtain the fourth thing created when God formed the world?

Many thoughts raced through Zhou Qian’s mind, but he said nothing in front of Chen Dami and the others.

He just looked at the staff member. “The visit has ended… but when we left Hall D, you still brought us here to the rest area. You wanted us to spend money here, didn’t you? You’re quite sly.”

The staff member laughed. “You can’t quite put it that way. We were just waiting for the people from Hall E to finish. Now… the door is open. Please leave.”

And so, the players had no choice but to leave the resting area and head outside the exhibition hall.

……

In Blue Harbor City, October 1997. Inside room 1103 of the Saiya Hotel.

The writer Luo Yu sat at his desk for a long time, still in shock. He truly couldn’t tell if everything that just happened was merely a dream of his own. Even when he saw each page of his manuscript pierced with a large hole, he wasn’t sure.

He wondered—did I develop a split personality, and when that personality took over this body, did it create that hole?

Perhaps I should leave this place.

They were right.

This hotel has too much negative energy. If I continue to stay here, I might go mad…

Regardless, I heard what that personality said, and he was right.

I shouldn’t remain immersed in this. If I can’t find the motive of that man and woman, then I won’t look! Not every murderer has a logical, touching motive. Some people simply kill for the sake of killing.

What Luo Yu didn’t know was that a man identical to him silently appeared behind him. He didn’t expect that the man would quickly take out a tie, unexpectedly loop it around his head from above, then tighten it and strangle him to death!

After the murder, the man hid Luo Yu’s body under the bed, opened the wardrobe, changed into a suit that fit him perfectly, and when he sat back down at the desk and took out a blank notebook from the drawer, the desk lamp illuminated a face identical to Luo Yu’s.

“Thank you for bringing me out of the second world.”

“You forgot to get rid of me.”

“So, I had to kill you.”

“You truly are a coward. Then this novel will be finished by me in your stead.”

“You couldn’t discover the motive behind the Pentagram killing group, right…”

“If you don’t put yourself in the shoes of the murderer, of course, you wouldn’t understand. So—”

“I’ll become the killer for you! I’ll personally put nylon bags over the victims’ heads, personally carry out the beating, personally punish them, and personally draw the inverted pentagram…”

“Unlike you, who chose to flee weakly, I will truly understand them and finally complete this novel!”

In the following three weeks, seven murders took place on the 11^th floor of the Saiya Hotel. A month later, writer Luo Yu was arrested. But later, the police received new evidence suggesting there might be other suspects. After Luo Yu was temporarily released, he returned to room 1103 of the hotel.

The body under the bed was gone. Discovering this, he smiled contentedly and began to pack his suitcase. After a moment, he noticed the walls and carpet starting to warp.

The next moment, Blue Harbor City, 2301. The lights in Hall D of the exhibition suddenly lit up, and Luo Yu appeared inside with a twisted, dark smile on his face.

An employee approached and handed him a red ribbon. “Welcome. Please continue your visit. You won’t be disappointed.”

……

On his way out of the exhibition hall, Zhou Qian rolled up his sleeves and found his tattoo was gone. He blinked, remembered the hair salon that also did tattoos, and decided to coax Bai Zhou into getting one with him.

“Zhou Ge.” Zhou Qian nudged him with his elbow. “What’s going on in Blue Harbor City? There seem to be hidden tasks in the exhibition hall. Should we stay overnight here in the game? That issue with your spirit domain…”

Bai Zhou replied, “Hmm, okay. I’ll explain the spirit domain issue to you tonight.”

“Then…”

Zhou Qian seemed to remember something. He looked at He Xiaowei and Hidden Blade. “The fast food there made me sick with one bite. Now that we’re out of the exhibition hall, let’s have a feast in Blue Harbor City. Can you two find a restaurant?”

“Sure, don’t worry, Qian’er. I’ll find the best place for you. What do you want to eat?” He Xiaowei asked.

“How about Hong Kong-style hotpot? Make sure the seafood is fresh.”

After dispatching He Xiaowei and Hidden Blade, Zhou Qian happily dragged Bai Zhou to get tattoos.

However, when Bai Zhou began getting his tattoo, Zhou Qian surprisingly turned and walked out alone.

“Zhou Qian? Where are you going?” Bai Zhou asked.

“No worries. I’m just going to check out something nearby. I’ll be right back.”

After leaving the tattoo shop, Zhou Qian did indeed go to a nearby place—a hotel he’d noticed when he first came to the store.

Entering the hotel, after inspecting the lobby and the style of the rooms at the front desk, Zhou Qian seemed satisfied. He then waved to the front desk and handed over a generous tip. The receptionist, also a player, was ecstatic.

He asked Zhou Qian, “Mr. Zhou, what can I do for you?”

Zhou Qian said, “I’ll leave for a moment and return soon to officially book a room. When I do, you must say you only have one room left.”

“Oh, no, not just that. You must also say that many people have recently come to Blue Harbor City and all the hotels are full. Only your hotel has one room left!”

Front desk: “Alright, no problem!”

After instructing the front desk, Zhou Qian left satisfied and quickly returned to the tattoo shop. With the high-tech efficiency of Blue Harbor City, everything was speedy. He and Bai Zhou soon had the letter “Z” tattooed on their hands.

Ten minutes later, Zhou Qian took Bai Zhou to the nearby hotel.

“I noticed many new players arriving. Let’s book our room first.”

Bai Zhou had no objections and asked the receptionist, “What rooms are available?”

“Hahaha, yeah, what rooms are available?!”

Just as Bai Zhou spoke, this voice echoed from the hotel entrance.

Shocked, Zhou Qian turned to see He Xiaowei and Hidden Blade rushing into the hotel. Following them were Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao. Before Zhou Qian could ask how they managed to upgrade to Rank S to come to Blue Harbor City, he quickly signaled the front desk.

The receptionist shot back a reassuring glance and loudly said, “Sorry, we only have one room left! In fact, in all of Blue Harbor City, only one room remains. Do you six want to stay together?”

Zhou Qian: “…………….”

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The author has something to say:

When I’m procrastinating, I need a Qian Ge holding an ax glaring at me as he fiercely asks, “Have you finished writing?!”

That way, my typing speed will definitely be much faster hahahaha.

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 99

The already narrow hallway was crammed with four people, making it incredibly congested.

Bai Zhou stood tall and slender, holding a longsword in his hand.

With his right hand tightly gripping the sword’s hilt and his back facing the door labeled 1103, Bai Zhou delivered a spin kick to open the door. Afterward, he took Zhou Qian’s hand with his left and pushed him inside.

Looking straight ahead, Bai Zhou directed his words to Zhou Qian. “You go find the manuscript. I’ll handle this.”

“Mm.” Zhou Qian nodded at Bai Zhou and, paying no mind to the fake version of himself, entered the room.

In the hallway, the fake Zhou Qian, dressed all in black, had a gaunt and pale face.

As he looked at Bai Zhou, his expression suddenly became rather pitiful.

Seeing Bai Zhou’s grip tighten on the sword, he asked with a quivering voice, “Zhou Ge, was it you who lured me into this game? Do you not care about my life at all?”

By acting this way, the fake Zhou Qian was undoubtedly trying to buy time—exploiting the special relationship between Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou.

In his view, if Bai Zhou truly cared for Zhou Qian, he’d hesitate to hurt someone who looked exactly like him. If he could just leverage this, he could escape the fatal blade.

He just needed to stall for three minutes, and he’d win.

However, in the next instant, the pupils of the fake Zhou Qian dilated in shock.

Before he even felt pain, Bai Zhou struck swiftly, leaving a deep bloody mark on his neck.

With a thud, his head hit the floor hard. As his life quickly drained away, the tall, indifferent silhouette in his vision began to blur.

At that moment, the fake Zhou Qian let out a twisted laugh. Clutching the wound on his neck, he used the last of his strength to say, “Zhou Ge. I didn’t lie to you. There are only three minutes left. You won’t have time to do much. You chose to stay here to kill me instead of helping Hidden Blade on the first floor.”

“Even if you did this to assist the real Zhou Qian, this proves you’re truly a heartless monster! You’ve abandoned a friend you’ve fought alongside for so many years!”

“Look at yourself, so easily forsaking your friends! Haha, I’m truly disappointed—”

“Growing up, nobody truly cared for me, except for you…”

“I’ve always been searching for a genuine good person in my life. I once thought you were that person. I believed you were the epitome of perfection.”

“But now I realize I was wrong! You’re not a good person at all!”

“Whatever ‘perfection’ you showed? It’s all fake! Just an illusion!”

“I blame you. I blame you for luring me into this game!”

“I truly hate you!”

“You’re an utterly grotesque monster!”

“Hahaha, are you wondering why I’m saying this?”

“It’s because I’m a copy of Zhou Qian. I know all his thoughts! So, all that I’m saying are Zhou Qian’s inner thoughts. Haha… He just doesn’t dare to tell you.”

“Does it hurt? Are you sad?”

“I curse you! You’ll go to hell with him!”

By the end of his tirade, the fake Zhou Qian’s voice had faded away.

Blood continued to gush from his neck, and he uttered these words with a hoarse and raspy voice.

His face contorted in pain, and, towards the end, tears welled up in his reddened eyes.

It was as if, in that moment, he truly was the real Zhou Qian, the one Bai Zhou had killed.

In the hallway, under the light, Bai Zhou remained silent.

His expression was cold, seemingly unaffected by the words of the dying fake Zhou Qian.

Taking out a cloth, he wiped the blood off his sword, then turned his gaze to the fake Wen Bin wearing the guise of “Fake Liu Wansan”.

The glint of the snowy blade flashed—

“It’s your turn now.”

……

At the same time, in room 1103.

Zhou Qian entered the room and found the ceiling light off, but a desk lamp was lit on the desk near the balcony. It seemed as though someone had intentionally created a dim atmosphere to boost their imagination.

In front of the desk sat a person, gazing intently at something in front of him. Even though the door had been kicked open, he remained oblivious.

The reason was simple: he wore a pair of highly effective noise-canceling headphones. As Zhou Qian got closer, he could hear chilling music emanating from the headphones. It seemed that this writer, Luo Yu, went to great lengths to seek inspiration.

Luo Yu was completely unaware of Zhou Qian’s approach. Zhou Qian silently stood behind him, peeking over his shoulder to view the manuscript illuminated by the desk lamp.

The page Luo Yu was looking at was the very first one. He held a pen in his right hand but hesitated to write, seemingly pondering some unresolved matter.

On the title page was a picture of a hotel lobby and a line of text—

[…People from a dual world have appeared in the hotel. They aim to replace their counterparts in the real world. Since they possess the ability to traverse spaces, even if they get lost in a spatial maze, they can easily find their way out.]

[In order to freely travel between the two worlds, each of them has an anchor device inside their minds…]

This setting explained why people from the dual world could sense each other’s locations. Their understanding of space surpassed three dimensions, and they knew methods to traverse various spaces. It was no wonder that the impostor Bai Zhou could locate them so quickly.

Furthermore, Zhou Qian realized that his doppelganger hadn’t lied about the passage of time. The title page also read: [In these three months… I’ve gathered many cases, but I still can’t find any inspiration. I don’t know how to start or finish my novel.]

[If only the characters in my manuscript could act out the story on their own.]

[I’d like to see what surprises they could bring. But to save time, the virtual world created by the manuscript should progress much faster. I want to see the development and ending of the process quickly. Ideally, 80 times faster.]

The system gave players four days—a total of 96 hours, or 5,760 minutes—to survive. If time in this world was 80 times faster, players would have only 72 minutes to clear the game. After calculating, Zhou Qian realized they didn’t have much time left.

He then pondered: Why didn’t the people of the dual world just wait until time ran out? If the players ran out of time and failed, wouldn’t the dual world inhabitants win?

Upon further reading, Zhou Qian found the answer.

The manuscript read: [The dual world inhabitants must kill their counterparts in the real world to truly take their place. Otherwise, they’ll forever remain creatures of darkness, living in perpetual inferiority and fear… because they aren’t considered real people.]

After quickly scanning the entire page, Zhou Qian stood behind Luo Yu, silently raising the Rib of God. The impostor Zhou Qian didn’t dare disturb Luo Yu, unsure of the consequences of angering the creator of this world.

The real Zhou Qian felt the same.

Given more time, Zhou Qian would have used various strategies to understand the manuscript’s world and find the safest way out. But now, there were only two and a half minutes left. He had no time.

Even if he left now to save He Xiaowei, he wouldn’t make it in time.

By pressing “1”, there was a 25% chance he’d reach the lobby, taking about 30 seconds. If he couldn’t succeed at once or encountered the swastika killer or an unexpected event, time would be further delayed. Everyone would perish!

Zhou Qian had to take a gamble. He raised the Rib of God and swung it mercilessly at Luo Yu’s head. Luo Yu fell unconscious immediately.

Zhou Qian quickly picked up the manuscript, made a decision, and his pupils narrowed to a slit.

……

The lobby.

Before Hidden Blade formally entered into his berserk state, he fought with the fake Hidden Blade while explaining to He Xiaowei as simply and clearly as possible how to control himself during his frenzy.

Subsequently, seizing an opportunity, Hidden Blade kicked away his fake counterpart and jumped next to He Xiaowei.

The passive three-tailed white fox wasn’t particularly large in form. At this point, Hidden Blade was highly agile. With another light jump, he landed on He Xiaowei’s shoulder.

He Xiaowei unfolded the white furball in his hand, only to realize that it was actually a small tail.

He couldn’t help but touch the tail, and then he heard Hidden Blade’s instruction.

“Place the tail on your forehead, and you’ll enter my spiritual realm.”

Standing on his shoulders, Hidden Blade whispered sharply into his ear, “Once you’re in, quickly find an ancient well! Through that well, you can control both of our bodies synchronously. You only have 30 seconds!”

“I will continue to deal with them for those 30 seconds. But after that, I will be lost in my spiritual realm. Until I regain consciousness, I’ll be relying on you. Do you understand?”

“I understand!” He Xiaowei gulped. “Through that well, I can control both our bodies and your mind. So that neither of us gets killed in the lobby!”

“Right,” Hidden Blade said seriously. “You can’t make any mistakes!”

He Xiaowei: “Master, the contrast between your voice and your current body is too great. Let me adjust for a moment!”

Hidden Blade, losing his patience, snapped, “Adjust my ass! Act now!”

For He Xiaowei, the next 30 seconds felt extremely long.

Placing the white tail on his forehead and touching the little fox’s shoulder, He Xiaowei quickly entered Hidden Blade’s spiritual world.

But that world seemed very unstable. That was because Hidden Blade, having transformed into the white fox, was fighting multiple opponents in the lobby with intense ferocity!

As the white fox moved violently, its spiritual world also shook dramatically, appearing extremely perilous.

At this time, the situation in the lobby had become very tense.

The fake Hidden Blade’s back had been brutally smashed onto the wooden counter’s fragments, leaving him wounded all over. After a brief rest, he stood up, bloodied and looking very ragged.

Elsewhere, Wen Bin, along with Chen Dami and Qi Ke, had rushed from the restaurant to the center of the lobby.

With wide eyes, he said to the two beside him, “Look! Across from us is the fake He Xiaowei! And beside him is the fake Hidden Blade! I wasn’t lying, right? He’s a monster! A fox demon!”

“Now you understand, right? In this eerie instance, it’s these ghosts causing all the trouble! They transform into us, deceive us, and make us kill each other!

“Attack! Let’s charge together!”

When they first started the game, the once seemingly unreachable Rank S was just the beginning for the players.

Many lower-level Rank S players hadn’t grasped the essence of the game. They had heard the term “Shepherd” but didn’t know what it meant.

Since advancing to Rank S, they spent days not knowing what to do in the game.

They diligently increased their skill points and hoarded gold, but no one knew if they’d actually meet a god, give him the gold, and have their wishes fulfilled.

Most of the time, they were pushed forward by their faction, and the game’s rule that not entering an instance for too many days meant death.

Many lost their sense of purpose in the game, like the current Chen Dami and Qi Ke.

Without the opportunity to access the core instances and secrets of the game, they could easily be incited, mistakenly believing the three-tailed white fox was a ghost in the instance and immediately charging at him with their weapons.

Qi Ke took out a whip and was the first to attack the white fox and He Xiaowei.

The white fox, in the form of Hidden Blade, sat on He Xiaowei’s shoulder, its eyes narrowing, making no attempt to dodge. As Qi Ke got close, the fox leapt up, swinging its tail firmly and precisely, striking Qi Ke’s wrist.

As Qi Ke was knocked to the ground, Chen Dami picked up the ax He Xiaowei had discarded while retreating from Hidden Blade and swung it at the white fox.

The white fox dodged the ax gracefully, its eyes growing redder and its movements more aggressive.

Opening its mouth, it let out a piercing cry, with Hidden Blade now resembling the most terrifying beast.

While Chen Dami was distracting Hidden Blade, Wen Bin silently approached He Xiaowei with a fruit knife.

At this moment, He Xiaowei was almost completely unaware—

He had closed his eyes, entering Hidden Blade’s spiritual world, desperately focusing on finding the ancient well.

He was close, almost there…

Was it that in front?

But how to control it?

How had Master instructed him earlier?

He Xiaowei’s back was soaked in cold sweat, and he was completely unaware that danger was just around the corner.

Suddenly, the white fox closed its eyes. When they opened again, they were green.

This indicated that it had completely succumbed to its berserk state, recognizing neither friend or foe!

At this moment, its actions were swift beyond comparison. With another swing of an ax coming its way, it leaped near the elevator in a split second. Chen Dami couldn’t catch up with him and pointed his ax at He Xiaowei.

Just then, Wen Bin lunged forward with a fruit knife aimed right at He Xiaowei’s throat, the blade almost drawing blood!

Things happened in a flash, and in his spiritual world, He Xiaowei managed to lean into the ancient well. When he opened his eyes, apart from the pitch-black water below, there was also the real world!

This took He Xiaowei by surprise, as he now saw two worlds simultaneously.

In the real world, the white fox narrowed its eyes at the elevator’s entrance, its gaze wicked and cold, as if pondering whom to devour first.

However, in the spiritual realm, the white fox was sinking deeper and deeper into the well, surrounded by layers of water, on the verge of drowning.

Moreover, the spiritual world started to become stable without any earth-shattering events. He Xiaowei felt he could stay in this peaceful paradise forever. But at the same time, he clearly saw a knife and an ax coming straight at him!

At this critical juncture, He Xiaowei quickly snapped out of it. Taking a deep breath and distinguishing between the two worlds, he grabbed the white fox’s neck in the spiritual world and pulled it out of the water.

Gazing into the white fox’s eyes with an earnestness he never had before, He Xiaowei pleaded, “Master! Help me! You must listen to me now! Only if you listen can we survive!”

Being on the cusp of the real and spiritual worlds, after shouting those words, the white fox, who was previously indifferent near the elevator entrance as He Xiaowei was about to be killed, suddenly moved. In less than a second, a white shadow flashed, and it was right in front of He Xiaowei. One of its tails struck Wen Bin’s knife, and the other slammed into Chen Dami’s head.

Thus, Chen Dami’s ax never landed on He Xiaowei, and Wen Bin’s fruit knife only left a shallow cut on his neck.

At this point, Qi Ke, who was previously knocked down by the white fox, got up. With a whip flashing like lightning, he shouted, “Attack the white fox together!”

Quickly adjusting, Qi Ke’s whip, Wen Bin’s fruit knife, and the axe raised by Chen Dami surrounded the white fox from three directions and lunged at it.

Under He Xiaowei’s control, the white fox roared, sending out three tails to counter the fierce attacks of the three men. In this three-on-one situation, the white fox seemed to handle it effortlessly.

However, when fake Hidden Blade recovered and picked up his weapon from the scattered front desk, the situation changed drastically.

He Xiaowei was drenched in sweat. Due to sharing the spiritual world with a Rank God player, his senses were incredibly sharp. He immediately felt an intense murderous intent.

Glancing around, he noticed that in the spiritual world, the ancient well’s water was violently shaking. In the real world, he saw a long, curved blade ruthlessly slashing down at the white fox!

The white fox’s three tails were entangled by the three weapons, and it was now completely isolated.

Without thinking, He Xiaowei, who was in the white fox’s spiritual world, quickly jumped into the ancient well just as the blade was coming down! By jumping into the well, He Xiaowei’s consciousness returned to reality.

Feeling as if his soul had returned to its shell and realizing he could move, He Xiaowei ran faster than he ever had before—

Dashing through the chaotic battlefield to the central position, he raised his hands and forcefully pushed the white fox away, not caring about the sharp light from Hidden Blade’s sword that was already behind him!

……

At that same time, in room 1103 of one of the 48 parallel spaces.

After dealing with the two individuals in the corridor, Bai Zhou didn’t put away his sword. Instead, he walked straight into the room.

Hearing his footsteps, Zhou Qian turned his head and exchanged a glance with him.

At this time, Zhou Qian held a manuscript notebook in his left hand and the pen of the writer Luo Yu in his right.

Seemingly understanding Zhou Qian’s thoughts, Bai Zhou nodded at him.

Zhou Qian smiled. The cold light from the table lamp cast from the side, making half of his face appear bloodless. Yet his smile was confident, with a hint of madness and obsession.

“So, Zhou Ge, do you trust me?” Zhou Qian asked.

“Yes,” Bai Zhou replied. “And I know you trust yourself too. Just like… when you fearlessly ate that apple.”

Hearing this, the corners of Zhou Qian’s mouth widened even more. He swiftly opened the cover of the manuscript and placed the tip of the pen on the first page.

Then, Zhou Qian gripped the pen tightly and forcefully stabbed downward. In an instant, all 48 pages were connected by a single pen.

The walls began to warp, the floor started to shake, and just like flipping through a book, the second page overlaid the first, the third on top of the second… The space collapsed layer upon layer until all 48 parallel spaces converged into one. Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou, and the unconscious Luo Yu all arrived in the main lobby.

The moment the spaces merged into one, the ceiling, walls, and floor all shook violently.

In the chaotic lobby, He Xiaowei had pushed away Hidden Blade in front of him. A shining curved sword was slashing towards He Xiaowei’s head.

He Xiaowei quickly turned and raised an arm to block. The sharp blade mercilessly sliced off his forearm. After slightly slowing down, it sped up again, aiming for his neck.

As the severed arm flew up and then fell, blood gushed from where He Xiaowei’s right arm had been cut.

Pain caused him to sweat profusely, soaking his clothes as if he had been submerged in water. Even though he lost an arm and suffered immense pain, his action was effective—it delayed the blade’s momentum by a few seconds.

In those few seconds, the space resettled.

The pain made He Xiaowei’s consciousness blurry.

He didn’t know what had happened then but silently raised his intact left arm, shielding the white fox behind him, trying to block the fatal slash.

At the moment he closed his eyes, a sharp metallic screeching sound rang out. He Xiaowei snapped his eyes open to see a straight Tang sword slashing across, with a force so fierce that it pushed the curved blade back. In the next moment, the holder of the curved blade was forced back several steps, stumbled, and dropped the sword.

Staring wide-eyed, He Xiaowei saw Bai Zhou gripping the sword and advancing forward, delivering a swift slash from the lower right side to the upper left.

Caught off guard, the fake Hidden Blade was slashed from the right lower abdomen, through the ribcage, sternum, to the left collarbone, almost being split in half.

The fake Hidden Blade was dead, but a new threat quickly arose.

The white fox’s eyes turned green, and its body glowed red. Without He Xiaowei’s control, it had completely gone berserk!

With three tails, it swept away Chen Dami, Qi Ke, and Wen Bin. It then recognized its own sword and darted to the front desk to pick it up. With its sanity lost, it swung the blade at Zhou Qian, who was closest.

“Clang——!”

It was the sound of Bai Zhou’s Tang sword blocking the blow.

In an instant, the two were engaged in intense combat.

The berserk white fox showed no mercy, while Bai Zhou was mainly on the defensive, not using any lethal moves.

Watching the scene unfold, He Xiaowei’s heart raced.

Until he heard a voice that made his racing heart calm down.

It was Zhou Qian’s voice—

“Xiaowei Ge, are you okay?”

Zhou Qian had a strong ability to bewitch others. His words and gaze seemed to carry a certain kind of magic. Moreover, He Xiaowei had life-and-death experiences with him many times and had personally witnessed him turning the impossible into reality.

Hearing Zhou Qian’s voice and then turning around to look into his eyes, He Xiaowei’s heart quickly settled down.

Exhaling the pent-up breath in his chest, He Xiaowei nodded slightly to Zhou Qian. “I’m fine.”

Zhou Qian said, “Alright. Hang in there. Once we get out of this instance, your arm will return. Feed yourself some health recovery potion. I’ll check out the situation over there.”

He Xiaowei promptly nodded. “Okay. Go!”

By “over there”, Zhou Qian was referring to two individuals walking from opposite hallways. Both were dressed as waiters, wearing uniforms like hotel staff. At the same time, they each held a Western-style kitchen knife, seemingly just having come from the kitchen’s direction.

Besides their identical movements and outfits, the two looked exactly the same. Zhou Qian realized they were the swastika killers responsible for the deaths of Xiong Fei and Li Yuan.

From deduction, it was easy to surmise that the serial killings related to the swastika killers involved the hotel staff.

Luo Yu probably also realized this, which was why he included it in his manuscript. Previously, when the spaces were divided into 48 dimensions, no one encountered the killers. But now that the spaces have merged, they naturally appeared.

What Zhou Qian didn’t know was which of the two swastika killers was the real one and which was the fake.

Hall D involved different types of murders with corresponding different murderers. For those related to the swastika killer, the death judgment was simple: it was based on whether there was a “卐” tattoo on their hand. All the players, including Zhou Qian, had this tattoo, so they weren’t afraid of the real swastika killer.

However, this wasn’t necessarily the case for the fake swastika killer from the second world.

As expected, upon making eye contact with Zhou Qian, one of the swastika killers swiftly raised his knife and charged!

Zhou Qian concentrated, trying to lift the Rib of God to resist.

Although he narrowly dodged the knife slashes, he found it quite challenging.

Zhou Qian leveled up extremely fast, thanks to the vast amount of experience from hidden missions. Many players strengthened their skills in dedicated training instances during leveling, but Zhou Qian’s basic abilities were indeed weaker than other Rank S players. In this non-conventional instance where his items and skills were limited, his weaknesses were immediately exposed.

Zhou Qian could only dodge while thinking of a way to handle this fake killer.

Engaging the killer head-on was clearly not a wise move. Zhou Qian surmised that the primary objective of the fake killer was to kill his other self, so he contemplated how to make the two killers fight each other.

Before Zhou Qian could come up with a strategy, another knife slashed towards him like lightning. Bai Zhou arrived just in time, forcing the fake swastika killer to evade. As Bai Zhou was about to finish off the killer, Hidden Blade’s three tails swiftly slashed towards him.

Thus, Bai Zhou’s intended attack on the killer had to be redirected, and with utmost care not to hurt Hidden Blade, he deflected all three tails.

At that moment, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou were both entangled with the swastika killer from the second world and the raging Hidden Blade.

Unbeknownst to them, not far behind, death was slowly creeping up on He Xiaowei.

Having lost too much blood and being drenched in sweat, He Xiaowei was on the verge of passing out. He managed to feed himself some potion, but it was of little help. The sound of fighting echoed in his ears, but he could barely keep his eyes open.

Suddenly, he heard a voice. “Xiaowei, thank you. Everything’s okay now.”

With great difficulty, He Xiaowei opened his eyes and saw Hidden Blade. He mustered a weak smile, expressing genuine joy. “Master, I’m glad you’re alright!”

“Yes, I’m fine. But…” The tone changed. “I’m here to send you to hell! Don’t blame me. Blame Zhou Qian.”

As the words fell, a fruit knife was plunged fiercely into He Xiaowei’s chest. The “Hidden Blade” then quickly rose and ran towards the corridor.

He Xiaowei, barely alive and in utter disbelief, collapsed to the ground. In front of him, the battle raged on. Bai Zhou, with a single swing of his blade, killed the fake swastika killer. Blood splattered his face like rain. Without pausing, he immediately engaged with the raging white fox again.

The real swastika killer indeed seemed to avoid targeting players with the “卐” tattoo, and the fake one had already been killed. Zhou Qian was then freed from his restraints, temporarily regaining his freedom.

Almost guided by intuition, Zhou Qian’s mind raced, recalling a series of events after merging the spaces. He then noticed something amiss—

Wait, during the moment when the 48 overlapping spaces merged into one, among the three people attacking the white fox, one of them turned his back to Zhou Qian. But why did his silhouette resemble He Xiaowei?

The fake He Xiaowei from the second space was clearly dead. So, who was that person?!

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Zhou Qian swiftly turned and ran towards He Xiaowei.

But by this time, He Xiaowei was barely breathing.

“Xiaowei Ge!”

Reaching He Xiaowei’s side, Zhou Qian immediately knelt down, took off his coat, grabbed He Xiaowei’s hand, and pressed the coat against the knife wound on his chest, hoping to slow down the bleeding.

[Warning! Player He Xiaowei’s HP has dropped to 3%!!!]

[The system is offering a luxurious tombstone. Would you like to purchase? We recommend the deluxe version, only 998…]

This message popped up on He Xiaowei’s system panel.

Seeing this, He Xiaowei’s mind went blank.

Due to his low HP value, a warning red light emanated from him.

Zhou Qian saw it but remained steady, looking straight into He Xiaowei’s eyes, and said firmly, “Hang on. I’ll find a way to save you. Trust me.”

At the same time, all players received a system notification—

[Important Notice: The players are currently in a special space where time flows 80 times faster.]

[Objective Recap: Players must survive four days in the Saiya Hotel. If players don’t find a way out of the special space and return to the Saiya Hotel within those four days, the system will close the special space. Those who fail to return will be deemed dead.]

[Note: There’s only one minute left before the special space closes.]

He Xiaowei thought if he ever faced death, he would be terrified. He even worried he might wet himself.

But now, he felt an unprecedented calm.

He just gripped Zhou Qian’s hand and said, “Qian’er, split my gold and items—half for you and half for my Master… No wait, I think you’d be mad about that. Give 70% to you and 30% to my Master, okay? Don’t be mad at me or my Master—”

“Shut up!”

He Xiaowei’s attempt at a final message was abruptly interrupted by Zhou Qian’s stern voice.

“Xiaowei Ge, I told you I’d save you.”

“But there’s only one minute left…” He Xiaowei sighed. “I, right now…”

Ignoring He Xiaowei’s words, Zhou Qian held up his chin and forced twenty health recovery pills into his mouth.

But the health these pills could restore was too minimal.

With a massive hole in He Xiaowei’s heart, this medicine was of little use. The warning red light disappeared, only to reappear a moment later. Seconds after, Zhou Qian witnessed He Xiaowei draw his last breath.

Before dying, He Xiaowei indeed focused all his energy on distributing his assets, and many items appeared on Zhou Qian’s panel, with a significant increase in gold.

Zhou Qian didn’t look at the panel. He just looked at the now closed-eyed He Xiaowei and repeated, “Xiaowei Ge, like every time before, you have to trust me this time too.”

“There’s always a way…”

“I’ll definitely find a way to save you.”

After a few chest heaves, Zhou Qian stood up and circled the hall. His gaze eventually landed on the writer Luo Yu, who he had knocked unconscious.

Lying on his side, Luo Yu was oblivious to what had happened.

Zhou Qian quickly approached, grabbed Luo Yu by the collar, lifting him up, then slapped him three times, demanding fiercely, “Wake up, now!”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Ah, poor He Xiaowei. He didn’t even get the chance to make a commendable last speech, unlike Gao Shan.

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 98

Tonight, ever since the strange phenomenon began, Wen Bin’s watch panel had been constantly popping up with messages. They were all from his gambler—

[I saw you take photos of two people, He Xiaowei and Hidden Blade. That’s a good choice.]

[However, without a clear understanding of what this instance really is, trying to impersonate these two to deceive Zhou Qian and kill him is too risky. It’s inadvisable. You can’t easily fool him, and acting recklessly will only alert him to your intentions.]

[I know you want to kill Zhou Qian to avenge your brother, but you can take your time on this. My advice is to start with the people around him first, like He Xiaowei.]

[Rank God players are different from ordinary players. They can’t always be with Zhou Qian. Killing those who might become Zhou Qian’s teammates in the future is the better strategy.]

[I’ve found out that He Xiaowei’s skills complement Zhou Qian’s perfectly. Without He Xiaowei’s cooperation, Zhou Qian’s ultimate move is easily wasted. So, finding a way to kill He Xiaowei first is a good strategy to deal with Zhou Qian.]

[Ever since you joined the Invincible Legion, I’ve been looking for gambler information about other members of the legion. Thankfully, I prepared in advance and got a handle on the movements of people like Chen Dami.]

[Through Chen Dami’s gambler’s perspective, I learned he’s hiding in a corner behind the hallway of the main hall. The current situation in the hall is…]

[So, you might as well go to the main hall as He Xiaowei and see how things play out, adding more chaos to the scene.]

[Distract the real He Xiaowei, and don’t let him help the real Hidden Blade. By the way, everyone thinks you’re a “ghost” in this instance, so this way, you can hide your real identity. If you’re lucky, you might be able to take out that Rank God player.]

In the dimly lit corridor, Wen Bin silently read all these messages, transformed himself into He Xiaowei, and then cleaned and put away the fruit knife he held. Speaking into the void, he said to his gambler, “I understand. I’ll kill He Xiaowei first. When the real and fake Hidden Blade fight to a stalemate, I’ll appear as He Xiaowei and reap the benefits.”

Gambler: [Right. If you fail, it’s okay. No one knows you’re Wen Bin; they’ll just think you’re the ghost.]

[Then, you can escape by elevator. Due to the special mechanism of this instance, they won’t be able to chase you directly.]

[Now you can go to the main hall. Keep pressing ‘1’, and you’ll eventually get to the real main hall instead of just wandering on the so-called ’11^th‘ floor.]

Wen Bin followed his gambler’s instructions, ignoring the murder cases he encountered on each floor.

They seemed thrilling but wouldn’t actually affect the players; they were likely there to confuse. Players who focus solely on analyzing the countless victims’ deaths would probably just waste time and die in this game.

So, Wen Bin’s next move was to continuously press “1” in the elevator. If he saw the lounge in front of him when the door opened, he wouldn’t get out.

After trying several times, he succeeded—the hotel lobby appeared in front of him.

The moment the elevator doors opened, Wen Bin immediately heard a huge commotion. It was the sound of the reception desk being chopped by two blades simultaneously.

Looking up, Wen Bin saw two identical Hidden Blade figures, both heavily injured, fighting to the death at the reception area. He Xiaowei, looking quite at a loss, was trying to help one and then the other.

He couldn’t distinguish who was real and who was fake, attempting to assist both while trying not to get caught in the crossfire.

At the moment, the three people didn’t pay attention to the situation at the elevator. Taking advantage of this, Wen Bin quickly darted out of the elevator and then ran into the corridor on the side.

The U-shaped corridor surrounded the elevator structure, and Wen Bin quickly circled to the back of the elevator.

Wen Bin came here because he received a new message from his gambler—

[Chen Dami and Qi Ke encountered two others who looked exactly like them, and the four of them are currently brawling in the restaurant.]

When Chen Dami first entered the exhibition hall, he followed Boss Batu Fei to Hall A and was now the only member of the Invincible Legion still alive in this bizarre space, apart from Wen Bin.

As for Qi Ke, he came from Hall D and was very skinny.

Initially, three people came from Hall D to the Saiya Hotel. Now, with Xiong Fei and Li Yuan both dead, only Qi Ke was still alive.

Qi Ke originally stayed with Xiong Fei. After Xiong Fei’s death and the bloody scene, he had to look for other solitary players, hoping to stay with them.

Chen Dami originally stayed with fellow legionnaire Erdan, and they were named the “Egg Fried Rice Duo” by Zhou Qian.

Unexpectedly, Erdan believed Zhou Qian’s words and surrendered to the police, leaving Chen Dami alone. Hence, Chen Dami took in Qi Ke.

Thus, Chen and Qi teamed up and began their adventure in this mysterious space.

When the two stumbled into the first floor lobby, they coincidentally encountered two identical Receptionist Wang.

One was settling accounts at the front desk, while the other was sneaking up behind him with an ax, attempting a surprise attack.

Chen Dami and Qi Ke had no idea what was going on. They hid quietly in the side corridor.

Before long, they witnessed one front desk staff killing the other.

After the killing, the murderer dragged the body behind the front desk temporarily and cleaned up the blood with a mop.

He then stored the bloody mop in a cupboard behind the counter and resumed his position, seemingly doing some accounting tasks.

After a while, He Xiaowei appeared.

The two, hiding in the shadows, witnessed He Xiaowei kill the receptionist. The receptionist’s body vanished into thin air, and two Hidden Blade emerged from the elevator and were fighting their way to the lobby.

Unsure of the hotel’s situation and whom to trust, Chen and Qi didn’t dare approach the lobby. Seeing the prowess of the two Hidden Blade, they feared getting hurt and decided to hide in the restaurant.

The restaurant was located directly behind the elevator. Exiting the elevator and turning right, one would reach it after walking down a right-angled corridor.

Since Wen Bin’s gambler had a connection with Chen Dami’s gambler, it was able to obtain this valuable intel.

Thus, Wen Bin managed to avoid He Xiaowei and the two Hidden Blade in the lobby and quietly approached the restaurant. As predicted by his gambler, as he neared the restaurant, Wen Bin heard chaotic fighting sounds.

However, Wen Bin didn’t immediately enter. He shopped in the system store for clothes similar to what He Xiaowei was wearing in the lobby.

After changing, Wen Bin disguised himself and then opened the restaurant door.

Inside, the restaurant was a mess, with tables and chairs scattered, glass cups, porcelain plates, and chopsticks everywhere.

At first glance, Chen Dami was fighting Chen Dami, and Qi Ke was fighting Qi Ke, making it hard to distinguish the real from the fake.

But with intel from his gambler, Wen Bin quickly identified the real ones.

Still, even after drawing out the fruit knife he’d used earlier to deal with Batu Fei, Wen Bin didn’t rush into action.

On the floor in front of him lay several bananas and apples. The bananas were squashed, and Wen Bin disdainfully turned up his nose when he saw them. He then picked up an apple.

After closing the restaurant door, Wen Bin casually sat near the entrance, leisurely peeling and eating the apple.

By the time Wen Bin finished his apple, the four were exhausted from the fight.

The real Chen and Qi were still holding on, hoping that this “He Xiaowei” was genuine and would help them. Meanwhile, the fake Chen and Qi were also persistent, knowing reinforcements were on the way. They believed they would win in a three against two scenario.

However, they were relieved that the newcomer didn’t seem inclined to intervene.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they thought this, the two “ghosts” were dumbfounded.

Amidst the chaotic fight, they heard the sound of an apple core hitting the floor. The next moment, a flash of a knife revealed “He Xiaowei” had thrown away the apple core and was now standing right before them!

……

Wen Bin swiftly dealt with the two “ghosts” and then turned to Chen Dami and Qi Ke.

At this moment, one of them had fallen onto broken glass, bleeding from the butt, and the other had bumped his head and had it buried in his arm and leg. There was a large lump forming on his forehead.

With their injuries all over, the two of them lay on the ground, gasping for breath. When they saw “He Xiaowei” kill those two “ghosts”, they both heaved a sigh of relief, thinking they were safe.

However, seeing “He Xiaowei” looking at them again, they realized something, and their expressions turned to horror.

Chen Dami immediately knelt before “He Xiaowei,” kowtowing as he pleaded, “Look, Wei Ge! I… I was wrong! I was forced to act against my will! I belong to the Legion. I had no choice but to follow our leader. I shouldn’t have offended Boss Zhou Qian or you. Please, have mercy and spare me!”

Qi Ke quickly added, “I never wronged you. I hold no grudge against you. Besides… I always thought you were a good person, Wei Ge…”

Seemingly afraid that Qi Ke would doubt him, Wen Bin laughed heartily.

As he put away his fruit knife, he said, “I’m sorry, both of you. I didn’t deliberately leave you to fend for yourselves. Please don’t misunderstand. I encountered an imposter at the reception desk and discovered a few tricks and flaws of these beings who can disguise themselves as us.”

“So, I needed time to discern. Pretending to be relaxed and eating an apple was a strategy to observe which of you was fake and to make them let down their guard. As you saw, I did quite well, didn’t I? I got rid of the ‘ghosts’.”

Qi Ke and Chen Dami were exhausted and didn’t overthink the situation. They had clearly seen how He Xiaowei dispatched the imposter receptionist. If these imposters are termed “ghosts”, then one ghost should be aligned with the others.

Since this He Xiaowei was willing to kill a “ghost”, he certainly wasn’t on their side; he must be a real player.

“You both should rest a bit. But not for too long. I don’t have time to deal with past grudges or this Invincible Legion you mentioned. Chen Dami, you’re right. You were just following orders from your boss. I won’t hold it against you.”

“Our top priority now is to join forces and fight the ‘ghosts’. There’s a ‘ghost’ in the lobby disguised as a Rank God player, and he’s as powerful as one. We should deal with him first. Oh, by the way…”

Wen Bin quickly took his knife and slashed a cross-shaped wound on the back of his hand. His sleeve was soaked with blood, but he seemed unconcerned. He simply said to the two, “There’s a fake Rank God player, Hidden Blade, in the lobby, as well as a fake version of me. Hidden Blade is my master; I know who the real one is. So, follow my instructions later. To distinguish between the real me and the fake, look at the cross-shaped wound on the back of my hand!”

Qi Ke and Chen Dami responded in unison, “Understood!”

……

Almost at the same moment, inside the hall.

Both Hidden Blade struck each other’s right arm with a blade, reaching the depth where the bone was visible.

In such a situation, continuing to fight with knives was improbable. Both were hoping for their allies to rush over and help. To avoid killing each other, they tacitly dropped their knives at the same time and immediately started grappling.

The real Hidden Blade landed a powerful punch on his opponent’s face, but immediately received a hefty punch in return. Managing to pin the imposter, Hidden Blade, gasping for breath, said, “Hurry up and help! I estimate these ‘ghosts’ know how to locate quickly. His companion could arrive at any moment. If that happens, we’ll be at a huge disadvantage!”

Unexpectedly, the fake Hidden Blade also yelled at He Xiaowei, “I’m your real master! Come help me! If his companions arrive, we’re done for. Think about it, if the fake Zhou Qian and fake 137 appear, do we stand a chance?”

He Xiaowei was dumbfounded. “……”

This isn’t my fault. It’s really confusing. Can anyone truly differentiate?

“Damn it…”

Hidden Blade couldn’t help but swear. Then, as if he had given up hope, he threw something towards He Xiaowei.

A white, fluffy, ball-like object flew quickly towards He Xiaowei.

Seeing this, He Xiaowei was a bit stunned but immediately jumped up and caught it. “W-What is this?”

At the same time, the fake Hidden Blade rolled over, pinning the real Hidden Blade to the ground, and punched him several times.

After taking a few hits, Hidden Blade, filled with rage, managed to roll over and started to fiercely punch the fake’s cheeks, left and right.

At this moment, Hidden Blade realized that the imposter, who was pretending to be him, didn’t dare to continue the sword fight and, after throwing away the sword, had adopted a delaying tactic because he was waiting for his allies.

If the allies that arrive happen to be the fake Bai Zhou, possessing the same sword skills as the real Bai Zhou, then both he and He Xiaowei would be doomed!

Given the circumstances, Hidden Blade had no other choice. Gritting his teeth, he said to He Xiaowei, “I took in so many disciples just to cast a wide net and then carefully choose one to be my Shepherd. Who would have thought that man’s best-laid plans often go awry.”

“He Xiaowei, take this thing and act as my Shepherd. Follow my commands!”

“All my skills and abilities are restricted; I can’t show you my ultimate transformation. The only thing I can do is use an item that forcibly stimulates psychic power, making it reach a threshold, and enter a berserk state!”

“In this state, these ghost beings can’t mimic me. Thus, you’ll know that I am the real one!”

Not long after Hidden Blade finished speaking, He Xiaowei didn’t see any other changes in his body, but he did see three fluffy white tails sprouting from behind him.

He Xiaowei was taken aback. “Holy crap, Master, are you a fox? Are you really this cute? This contrast is huge–”

Hidden Blade interrupted hoarsely, “Shut the hell up. Get to business!”

“Master, I’m coming to save you! I won’t mistake you this time!”

He Xiaowei took a deep breath, walked a few steps to the spot where he had previously fought with “Receptionist Wang “, gripped the ax handle, and pulled it out.

Raising the ax and turning around, just as He Xiaowei was about to shout “Master, I’m here”, he suddenly saw another version of himself. Behind this duplicate were Chen Dami and Qi Ke, and he couldn’t tell whether they were real or fake.

Immediately after, the fake He Xiaowei yelled, “Come on, let’s kill the fake He Xiaowei together!”

In the blink of an eye, the three charged at He Xiaowei.

Meanwhile, the Hidden Blade, who was lying on the ground, had eyes that had turned crimson!

……

On the other side.

Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou entered the elevator. After pressing the number “7”, they headed straight to 1103.

The 12 numbers in the elevator were one set, and the page numbers of the manuscript space were another set. What players needed to find was merely the mapping relationship between these two sets.

Actually, there was no real need for the system to make the mapping relationship too complicated. Because once players recognized the existence of the mapping, it implied they could find the solution. If the mapping was a bit more intricate, it just meant they’d spend more time figuring it out.

With that in mind, Zhou Qian speculated that the relationship between these two sets was as simple as the formula Bai Zhou previously wrote down. Therefore, he and Bai Zhou directly chose “number 7”.

The first time they accessed a page space through the number 7 and went to 1103, the two encountered nothing. But the second time, they found a difference—this time, there was a sign hanging on the doorknob of room 1103, reading “Do Not Disturb”.

This suggested that the writer, Luo Yu, was very likely inside this room!

Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou exchanged glances and approached the door together.

Zhou Qian then raised his hand to knock on the door. Suddenly, a flash of cold light caught his peripheral vision, and his arm was grabbed by Bai Zhou, pulling him behind him.

Before he could look forward, Zhou Qian first turned to Bai Zhou. He saw Bai Zhou’s lips pursed slightly, his cold gaze fixed intently ahead, and then he furrowed his brows.

Noticing Bai Zhou’s expression, Zhou Qian looked forward.

Two people had opened the door of the neighboring room and were now approaching them. It seemed they had been lying in ambush, waiting in the room next door.

Of these two, one bore the appearance of Liu Wansan from the “Invincible Legion”.

And the other one… looked exactly like Zhou Qian himself.

Zhou Qian locked eyes with his doppelganger.

The other Zhou Qian looked at him, smiling with unmistakable malice. “Oh my, you arrived a bit later than I expected.”

Zhou Qian raised an eyebrow, asking, “You know the author’s location and have some way to locate him quickly. Not only do you know where your comrades are, but you can also accurately arrive at the desired page through the elevator panel.”

“So, in the author’s setting, you people from this secondary world, you know the secrets here, right?”

The other Zhou Qian replied, “Of course. That’s why I was waiting for you here.”

The real Zhou Qian laughed. “So, you are in cahoots with the author? You’re here to protect him?”

“You could say that. It’s not hard to guess,” the other Zhou Qian said. “He created this world, allowing us to come to life. Of course, we have to protect him.”

“Really?” Zhou Qian nonchalantly stepped forward, looking provocatively at his counterpart. “But I suddenly don’t think so anymore.”

Hearing this, the eyes of the other Zhou Qian narrowed instantly.

Seeing his reaction, Zhou Qian laughed. “If I were you and could have ambushed you earlier… I would definitely set a trap. Hmm, in this place, weapons are forbidden, and as for traps, there’s no space in this corridor to set them up. So, I would have to ask the author to change the settings. Right? So—”

“If you really were in cahoots with the author, what you should have done is ask him to change the settings, like drawing a concealed death curse on this 1103 door, the kind where I’d die the moment I touched it. But you didn’t.”

“You didn’t, which means you’re not on the author’s side.”

“You only dared to hide timidly behind the adjacent door, listening for movements in the corridor, acting in hushed tones. Why? Are you afraid of disturbing the author next door?”

“So, thank you, it seems you’ve inadvertently given me the password to clear the game.”

With that, Zhou Qian rested his elbow on Bai Zhou’s shoulder, turned his head slightly, and smiled at him.

Staring at Bai Zhou’s nearly flawless profile, Zhou Qian remarked with an insinuating tone, “Zhou Ge, you took an extra look at him just now. Did you mistake him for someone else?”

“He’s merely imitating me. Come, help me get rid of this imposter.”

Hearing Zhou Qian’s words, the man opposite was visibly angered.

But soon, a smirk appeared in his eyes again.

Holding a bone identical to Zhou Qian’s, he said, “Really? But there’s one thing you didn’t consider.”

“Your game clearance time is four days, right? The system says that as long as you survive four days, you can leave from Hall D.”

“But have you ever thought that the flow of time in this space is different from the outside?”

“Zhou Qian, the other me in this world, it’s a pity, but you only have three minutes left.”

“Haha, what you said earlier was indeed right. I’m not aligned with the author. Once he knows of our existence… it’s true that we might vanish. But as long as we delay you for three minutes, you will die. Then, it’ll be you who will turn to ash, and it’ll be us who’ll survive!”

“Ah no… I’m mistaken, hahaha.”

After laughing raucously, the doppelganger’s smile turned even more malicious.

He glared fiercely at the real Zhou Qian, stating, “I don’t even need three minutes. You’re already finished! Even if you kill me now and find the author inside, then what? You don’t know how to locate. You don’t know how to quickly reach that special lobby.”

“A reminder for you, your friend He Xiaowei and Hidden Blade are currently in grave danger. They are surrounded. Not only that—”

“The swastika Nazi killer believer is on his way to the first floor. He’s about to arrive in the lobby!”

At this point, changing his demeanor, the fake Zhou Qian imitated the real Zhou Qian’s expression and turned to Bai Zhou standing opposite him.

Mimicking Zhou Qian’s voice, he said gently, “Zhou Ge, do you want to stay here to kill me or go save your friends?

“Oh, it seems that no matter what choice you make, you’re going to die.”

“But rest assured… possessing the memories of the real Zhou Qian, I’ll shed a few tears for you!”

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 97

Many people had the experience of gazing up at the night sky. The night was like an ink-splattered tapestry, with countless stars adorning it like dazzling pearls.

Observing the vast number of stars in their company, stargazers often felt a profound sense of loneliness. Yet, they may never realize that in this world, there existed another version of themselves, gazing at the same starry sky alongside them.

Beneath the surface of this perceivable world, there lay a second unknown realm.

This was the story setting incorporated into the new work by the author, Luo Yu.

The new work was in its preparation phase, with Luo Yu meticulously recording his materials in a manuscript. Besides the specific page that had the setting, almost every page described a crime that occurred on the 11^th floor of the Saiya Hotel.

Simultaneously, Luo Yu was also piecing together the story of a couple who were killers, attempting to uncover their motives for their actions. He hadn’t settled on the exact storyline, but whenever an idea came to mind, Luo Yu would jot it down on a sticky note and casually attach it to various pages.

When players entered the world of this manuscript, the elevator became the tool for flipping through the manuscript’s pages, enabling them to jump to different page numbers and witness the corresponding crimes.

The reason rooms other than the crime scenes existed was because the second world was a duplicate, replicating the first world in every detail. Moreover, due to the presence of the sticky notes, players could also glimpse fragmentary love stories about the man and woman.

When the couple committed suicide, Zhou Qian couldn’t extinguish the charcoal fire in the room nor prevent their deaths, as their story was already written.

Why did they vanish suddenly?

Probably because the sticky note fell off the manuscript or Luo Yu removed it.

After understanding the structure of this special world, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou began frequently entering and exiting the elevator, trying to decipher the connection between the 12 numbers in the elevator and the manuscript’s page numbers, aiming to ultimately find Luo Yu and his manuscript.

What they experienced just now, reading magazines and brainstorming, all happened after pressing the number “12”. A couple who idolized Luo Yu were subsequently murdered in room 1111. After brainstorming, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou re-entered the elevator, pressing “12” again, and repeated this action 15 times. Three times, they witnessed the murder of the couple in room 1111. The other 12 times were three different cases.

If they label the murder case of the couple in room 1111 as A and the other three cases as B, C, and D, then Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou pressed the number “12” a total of 16 times.

They viewed case A 4 times, B 3 times, C 5 times, and D 4 times.

Interestingly, cases B, C, and D all occurred in room 1108, which was rumored to be haunted and once sealed with concrete. Because of the room’s unique backstory, when Luo Yu wrote about this room, he had vast creative freedom.

This was probably why multiple cases occurred in room 1108.

After testing the number “12”, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou started trying the number “11”. Including their previous experiences with this number, they pressed “11” a total of 17 times and similarly witnessed four different cases. Specifically, they viewed these cases 4, 3, 5, and 5 times, respectively.

After their many attempts, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou rested in the lounge opposite the elevator.

Zhou Qian took out pen and paper to note down their experiences and said to Bai Zhou, “The 12 numbers in the elevator correspond to multiple manuscript pages. Which number we press takes us to a random page and crime scene. It’s completely random, dependent on probability.”

“Unless we are incredibly unlucky and have pressed numbers 11 and 12 so many times and still missed some cases, each elevator number likely corresponds to four different manuscript pages and cases.”

“This suggests the manuscript has at least 48 pages, and this world has 48 layers!”

“Right.” Bai Zhou nodded. “The first time we went to the 1st floor, what we saw was the lobby, not the 11th floor. We didn’t witness any crimes there.”

“That time, our actions were forcibly directed by the system. The system eliminated all other possibilities we might encounter after pressing ‘1’. This can actually be considered a hint given by the system.”

Based on their findings, the number ‘1’ in the elevator should correspond to four different pages and cases in the manuscript. But the system took players to the lobby the first time they pressed “1”, a clear hint that among the four pages linked to this number, only three detail crimes, while the remaining page probably describes the hotel’s lobby setting.

Zhou Qian remarked, “One of the manuscript pages that details the lobby setting might also have other settings. This page is accessible by pressing ‘1’. I agree with this. Moreover, if I were the author, I would naturally put the settings on the first page. The subsequent pages would detail the crime materials.”

“Agreed. So, the number 1 can actually correspond to page 1,” Bai Zhou said. “If the subsequent numbers strictly correspond to page numbers in order—number 2 corresponds to page 2, number 3 corresponds to page 3… and so on until all 12 numbers are used up, then we have to start over from number 1. Everything would then become very clear.”

As Bai Zhou was speaking, Zhou Qian had already written a formula on the paper. However, in a split second, something occurred to him, and he took the pen to strike out the entire formula.

Afterward, Zhou Qian looked at Bai Zhou and drew a small line at the corner of his right eye with the pen.

In the past, when they were in school doing homework together, Zhou Qian often did this to Bai Zhou. The next thing he would say, always half-jokingly, half-seriously, was, “Zhou Ge, I can’t do this problem.”

Every time he said this, he would intently watch Bai Zhou from the side, as if observing every minute expression on his face.

Often, Bai Zhou couldn’t distinguish whether Zhou Qian truly didn’t know or was pretending not to know.

However, he never really cared. He would just quietly take the pen and carefully explain the problem to Zhou Qian, enjoying the process.

The situation was the same this time.

Taking the pen, Bai Zhou silently wrote a formula: [Y=X+12n.]

Zhou Qian laughed and snatched the pen from him. “Hmm, X is the set of numbers on the elevator panel, Y is the set of page numbers, and n is less than or equal to 3. Well, a simple set mapping problem.”

He didn’t care that this move revealed his feigned ignorance.

Bai Zhou remained unfazed. Looking at Zhou Qian, he added, “If the starting number 1 corresponds to a different page, just adjust the formula slightly by adding the difference, and it will work.”

“Right. The formula is simple. Our problem now is…” Zhou Qian said, “Although we suspect that the author is probably staying in room 1103, there are a total of 48 pages in the manuscript. Excluding the page with the lobby, there are at least 47 other room 1103s. Which one is the author staying in…”

“In other words, if the author entered the world within the manuscript, on which page would he reside?”

After Zhou Qian finished speaking, he heard Bai Zhou say, “31.”

Almost simultaneously, Zhou Qian picked up the magazine in front of him and once again flipped open Luo Yu’s interview.

The interview revealed that the author’s lucky number was “31”.

Zhou Qian quickly did the math in his head. “Hmm, if you want to get to page 31 of the manuscript, press the number 7 in the elevator.”

Bai Zhou grabbed his wrist and stood up. “Mm, let’s go. The probability of success is as high as 25%.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian laughed.

When the elevator door opened, Bai Zhou could easily see his smile reflected in the elevator door.

However, the reflection on the elevator door wasn’t clear, making Zhou Qian’s smile seem a bit dreamy, as if it transported Bai Zhou back to the distant past that seemed so far away.

Staring at the elevator door until it slid open, Bai Zhou turned his attention to Zhou Qian next to him and asked, “What are you laughing at?”

“I’m laughing because, Zhou Ge, you indeed suit my temperament. A 25% probability—if it were Xiaowei or Little Swordsman God, they would think it’s too low. See, only you think like me—that this probability is high.”

Taking another glance at Bai Zhou, Zhou Qian stepped into the elevator. “Let’s go. Let’s see if we can succeed on our first try and find out if our assumptions made before writing the formula are correct.”

…..

Elsewhere, not long after checking into the hotel, Hidden Blade left, saying he had something to discuss with Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou.

Once he left, He Xiaowei never saw him return.

Later, He Xiaowei found himself helping an elderly woman who had fallen, guiding her to the elevator that went down to the lobby.

Of course, he didn’t realize that, from the moment he encountered the elderly woman, he had entered the world of the manuscript. He just thought he had entered a paranormal space, essentially seeing ghosts.

After witnessing the heads fall off the bodies of Xiong Fei and Li Yuan and seeing a couple disappear in the elevator, He Xiaowei was even more convinced of his ghost sighting theory.

His defenses were completely shattered. Finding no safe staircase, his only option was to take the elevator.

From then on, He Xiaowei stayed almost exclusively in the elevator, too scared to venture out.

Every time the elevator doors opened, and he saw the familiar rest area of the 11^th floor, he would frantically hit the close button, then repeatedly press “1”, hoping he might get to the lobby and leave.

He Xiaowei felt his luck wasn’t great. He had pressed the number “1” at least 20 times before finally seeing the lobby.

He didn’t realize that he was actually quite fortunate—in those 20 times, he hadn’t encountered another version of himself or any other people from the second world trying to kill him.

Feeling relieved that he wasn’t seeing the repetitive 11^th floor’s rest area but instead the lobby, He Xiaowei bolted out of the elevator.

Spotting the Receptionist Wang engrossed in his work, He Xiaowei ran towards him like he was seeing a dear family member. When he reached him, he slammed his hands on the desk. “Mr. Wang! Are you still doing your accounting? There’s been an incident! The hotel is haunted, don’t you know? It’s terrifying!”

“Don’t worry.” Receptionist Wang looked up at him and said nonchalantly, “Some people have died in this hotel, so it has a heavy yin aura. But you don’t have to worry. Isn’t that a swastika on your hand? It will protect you!”

He Xiaowei thought, ‘Indeed, if they openly admitted that the hotel was haunted, how would they do business?’

The hotel staff must have known about the ghost disturbances long ago. Telling them wouldn’t help. He just needed to think of a way to escape and not engage in further conversation.

Wait, he wondered how that person called Erdan was doing. Maybe if he had followed him to the police station, he might have had a chance to survive? Anyway, Qian’er wouldn’t harm him.

As these thoughts raced through He Xiaowei’s mind, he reached the hotel’s glass entrance.

Through the door, he could faintly see police tapes outside, but they were obscured by fog, making them look somewhat illusory.

The strangest thing happened when he tried to push the door open: an invisible force pushed him back.

Propelled into the air, He Xiaowei crashed down heavily. After some thought, he decided he needed to seek out Receptionist Wang to open the door for him.

Quickly getting up, he turned back to the front desk. But as he did, he noticed a trail of blood coming from behind it!

“Did… Did you kill someone?” He Xiaowei swallowed hard and asked Receptionist Wang.

Unable to use his qin, he quickly gripped a dagger in his hand.

Holding the dagger tightly, with a wary look, He Xiaowei approached Receptionist Wang step by step. He wanted to see who the deceased was.

The front desk clerk, still seemingly writing something, suddenly looked up, his face contorted by the light and shadow.

For a moment, he looked like a demon freshly crawled from hell.

“No, no… You’re not Receptionist Wang.”

Now close to the desk, He Xiaowei glanced inside, shocked to find the dead body looked exactly like Receptionist Wang!

“What the hell is going on here—”

Before He Xiaowei could think further, the living duplicate of Receptionist Wang suddenly raised an ax.

As the ax came slashing down like lightning, it was so fast that it felt instantaneous. He Xiaowei swiftly dodged to the side and then dove to the ground, skillfully evading the ax. With both of his forearms supporting his weight on the ground, he almost looked as if he were doing a plank.

Receptionist Wang swung the ax and missed, but quickly lifted it again, aiming for He Xiaowei.

He Xiaowei, with his nimble legs, seized the opportunity. Using his hands to push off the ground, he powerfully kicked both of his legs upwards, striking hard towards Receptionist Wang’s lower body.

Caught off guard, Receptionist Wang lost his balance. Both he and the ax toppled next to He Xiaowei, and the ax created a deep crater in the ground.

He Xiaowei quickly jumped up, thrusting his dagger fiercely into the man’s palm. The blade pierced through, pinning the man to the ground. Without any rush to pull out the dagger, He Xiaowei delivered a forceful kick to the man’s head. The man’s forehead hit the ground, bleeding profusely. Taking advantage of the situation, He Xiaowei mounted the man’s head with a forceful sit.

Subsequently, straddling the man’s neck, He Xiaowei pummeled him, all the while panting and interrogating, “When I first came to this hotel, I observed Receptionist Wang and studied his physique. He’s thin and weak, absolutely not a fighter. It seems you’re just like him. You could only succeed in killing him with a sneak attack, right?”

“Wait a minute. Judging by this, you’re not a ghost. What the hell are you?”

The man did not speak, and with his uninjured left hand, he suddenly exerted force, catching He Xiaowei off guard and gripping his waist fiercely. The ticklish spot on He Xiaowei was touched, causing his upper body to go limp instantaneously. As he lost strength, the man took the opportunity to push him away and stood up.

This so-called Receptionist Wang was clearly a tough character. Taking out the ax from the pit was time-consuming, so he simply ignored it. Instead, he extended his left hand, forcibly pulled the dagger from his right palm, and with the bloodstained blade, he slashed at He Xiaowei.

In that instant, blood splattered, and the knife gleamed like snow.

He Xiaowei quickly retreated several steps, narrowly avoiding the blade. As Receptionist Wang was about to swing a second time, He Xiaowei, instead of retreating, lunged forward, aiming his head directly at Receptionist Wang’s waist.

Receptionist Wang was completely caught off guard by this unconventional move. He hesitated for a split second, and in that brief moment, He Xiaowei, with a move resembling an iron-headed skill, collided with his waist, knocking him to the ground again. This time, He Xiaowei didn’t take any chances. He grabbed the dagger and thrust it directly into his opponent’s heart.

He watched him take his last breath and then, to his astonishment, watched him vanish into thin air. He Xiaowei retrieved his dagger, catching his breath, and quickly checked behind the front desk. Now, he saw the real body of the front desk clerk lying there, which confirmed that this was the genuine one.

He was utterly puzzled by the situation, but the weak fake Receptionist Wang had indeed reminded He Xiaowei of something—the strange occurrences in this instance might not necessarily be related to ghosts. With that thought, He Xiaowei felt somewhat relieved. He leaned against the front desk and took a moment to rest.

Little did He Xiaowei expect that before he could even catch his breath, there was another unexpected turn of events—

The elevator doors suddenly opened, and a figure holding a long machete rushed out.

Seeing this, He Xiaowei quickly ran towards him. But before he could shout “Master”, another identical figure burst out.

Damn it!

Why are there two of my masters?

Two Hidden Blade appeared, having completely identical appearances, weapons, and even the same fighting moves. Leaving the elevator one after the other, the two began to engage in a fierce battle. Their combat was tit-for-tat, and for a moment, He Xiaowei was simply dumbstruck.

How could someone be evenly matched with my master? My master’s sword technique is very powerful! He’s a Rank God player! What kind of monster can imitate him so perfectly?

Of course, He Xiaowei didn’t know that in the settings of this dual world, the two Hidden Blade were essentially one person, hence they could perfectly predict each other’s moves.

In this situation, He Xiaowei was clearly uncertain about whom to help.

After he anxiously shouted, “Master,” both of them surprisingly turned to look at him.

One of the Hidden Blade said, “He Xiaowei, come and help!”

The other swung his sword with a clang and shouted, “He’s the fake one. He Xiaowei, help me!”

He Xiaowei: “……”

As the two exchanged another dozen moves in an instant, He Xiaowei thought of a solution and loudly asked, “When did you formally accept me as a disciple?”

Both answered almost simultaneously, “After the ‘Last Wish’ instance ended.”

He Xiaowei then asked, “You originally didn’t want to take me as a disciple, right? Why did you agree later?”

Both again responded at the same time, “Because of 137!”

He Xiaowei: “Damn it, I knew you didn’t really want to, wuwuwu. So, I’m not good enough after all, wuwuwu—”

One Hidden Blade swiftly swung his sword three times, each missing its target, cutting down a lamp, lifting a piece of the wall, and breaking a plant in its path.

Grinding his teeth, he said to He Xiaowei, “Initially, it was indeed because of 137 that I considered trying to take you as a disciple. I gave you the entrance ticket to ‘Last Wish’ as a test for you. Later, I decided to accept you because you did perform well. So, I am sincere! Don’t be stunned. Can’t recognize your own master? Come and help!”

The other Hidden Blade, dodging those three strikes with a nimble figure, also swiftly swung his blade three times. His stance was almost identical to the previous Hidden Blade.

He said, “He Xiaowei, I am your real master. I remember the first thing you said to me. It was at the trading hall, right? You said to me, ‘Boss, do you need a leg accessory*? I can heal, deal damage, and take hits. Plus, I’m very smart!'”

*Referencing hugging a thigh.

He Xiaowei: “……..”

Fuck, don’t do this to me. I really can’t tell them apart!

……

Elsewhere.

The leader of the “Invincible Legion,” Batu Fei, was always seen with Liu Wansan.

Of course, he had no idea that under Liu Wansan’s skin was actually Wen Bin.

Their experience tonight was no different from others at the beginning. The system summoned them to the corridor for some reason, where they encountered an NPC. After helping the NPC in the lobby downstairs, when they tried to return to the 11^th floor, they found they couldn’t.

Sensing something amiss, they entered the elevator. Batu Fei instinctively wanted to press “1”, but Liu Wansan stopped him just in time.

“Why won’t you let me press 1?” Batu Fei asked.

“Something’s off. Maybe someone created this chaos to lure us to the first floor?” Liu Wansan said. “We’d be walking straight into an ambush.”

“You’re… You’re right,” Batu Fei remarked, giving Liu Wansan a more appraising look. “I never noticed before, but you’re quite sharp!”

Liu Wansan replied, “It’s all thanks to you, boss. I’m just glad you’re willing to consider my advice. Just don’t be mad that I overstepped.”

“Don’t be so modest. If you’re right, why wouldn’t I listen?” Batu Fei patted his shoulder. “Am I the kind of leader who fears having subordinates smarter than me? Obviously not!”

“Let me teach you something today. A leader doesn’t have to be the most skilled, smartest, or strongest. The key is to recognize and utilize talent. Look at me. I have an eye for it! It doesn’t matter how I am personally, as long as my subordinates are smart.”

“So, there’s really nothing for you to worry about. If you can lead me to victory, why wouldn’t I listen to you or be jealous?”

“In the real world, I run a business. I might not be particularly talented, but I have capable people under me, and our company continues to thrive!”

What Batu Fei never expected was that he was the naive one.

In real life, he was born into privilege, directly inheriting a small workshop business from his family and becoming the boss.

Given life’s pressures and the need to earn money, people worked for him, naturally doing the tasks he assigned. Moreover, in modern society, there are legal constraints.

But now, he wasn’t in the real world. Without the protection of his parents and other relatives, and without laws and national safeguards, in this survival of the fittest world, what right did he have to be the leader?

So, when the two pressed “2” and encountered another Batu Fei, Liu Wansan didn’t help.

When Zhou Qian encountered a fake He Xiaowei, the fake one still tried to deceive and ambush. But in Batu Fei’s case, with two identical people unexpectedly coming face-to-face, they immediately started fighting.

For a full 30 minutes, they battled on that floor. Regardless of how the real Batu Fei pleaded with Wen Bin for assistance, he remained motionless, casually reading magazines in the reading area.

After 30 minutes, both Batu Feis were exhausted, falling to the ground, head-to-tail. They each had the other’s head pinned between their legs. Both were trying to incapacitate the other without being killed themselves. Neither had the strength to finish the other off.

Finally, after perusing all the magazines, Wen Bin casually approached the two, his shadow making him seem like Death.

The real Batu Fei managed to raise his head and realize something. “You’re not Liu Wansan…”

“It took you this long to realize? But it’s too late.”

Wen Bin drew out a delicate and exquisite fruit knife and, in an instant, swung it twice, each swing taking down one. Both Batu Feis were killed.

Swiftly, the fake Batu Fei disintegrated into ashes, disappearing into the void.

The real Batu Fei, however, died with his eyes wide open, unblinking in death.

Reflected deep within his pupils was Wen Bin’s image—he pulled out a photograph and then transformed himself into He Xiaowei.

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 96

Inside room 1111.

In the dimly lit room, there was a pungent smell of blood. Two fresh bodies lay silently on one side, their grotesquely battered faces covered by nylon bags. Opposite them was a signed photograph of a handsome and elegant man.

It seemed that one of the couple was an ardent admirer of someone named “Luo Yu”. They regarded him as an idol. Their visit to Blue Harbor City and stay at the Saiya Hotel was specifically to meet him and get his autograph.

Luo Yu had an air of scholarly elegance about him, not at all like an idol. He wore glasses, and the eyes beneath them held a smirk, giving off an unnerving sense of insight.

Holding the photo, Zhou Qian felt a strange sensation, as if he was truly making eye contact with Luo Yu. Strangely, Zhou Qian also felt that this man looked somewhat familiar.

The photo was a Polaroid, which meant someone must have taken Luo Yu’s picture on the spot and then asked him to sign it as a keepsake. What particularly caught Zhou Qian’s attention was the banner behind Luo Yu in the photo, which read: [Meeting, July 23, 1997.]

The content before the word “Meeting” wasn’t captured, which left room for various interpretations such as “concert”, “meet-and-greet,” and so on. Due to the obscured portion, Luo Yu’s identity remains uncertain.

However, the date after the word “Meeting” was particularly intriguing. After Zhou Qian entered the hotel, he noted the year was “Blue Harbor City 1997”. However, the players, being budget tourists, checked in in October, not July. This meant that the two victims in this room might have arrived in Blue Harbor City only three months ago.

Something wasn’t adding up.

The male-female pair of killers supposedly committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning many years ago. Those who died at their hands should have existed many years prior, like the family of three in room 1108. So why were these two recent guests of the Saiya Hotel victims?

Initially, Zhou Qian assumed all the deceased he and Bai Zhou had encountered were victims of the male-female duo. They were simply replicated into this alternate dimension, re-living their lives and being killed again, but this time by Xiong Fei and Li Yuan.

This new clue completely overturned Zhou Qian’s previous assumptions. Why were a couple who checked into the Saiya Hotel room 1111 three months ago dragged into this alternate dimension and subsequently killed?

Frustrated, Zhou Qian complained to Bai Zhou, “The plot is becoming illogical. We must have missed something.”

But what did they overlook?

After some thought, Zhou Qian had an epiphany and gestured to Bai Zhou before quickly heading towards the exit, exclaiming, “The lounge!”

Shortly after, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou arrived at the lounge area, right opposite the elevator. The coffee table had several magazines and books.

Zhou Qian remembered flipping through one in a hurry during a previous discussion. Suddenly, he recalled seeing something related to “Luo Yu” in a magazine, which might explain why the man in the autographed photo seemed familiar.

After rushing to the rest area, Zhou Qian quickly picked up several magazines and spread them all out on the coffee table. He then tried his best to recall in which magazine he had seen the name “Luo Yu”.

His eyes quickly scanned the covers of these magazines. In a short while, Zhou Qian had an answer and immediately reached for one of the magazines.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, Bai Zhou also reached out to that magazine, and their hands suddenly touched.

Bai Zhou remained still. He lifted his slender index finger slightly, then let it down, making a soft sound.

Turning his head, Zhou Qian glanced at him but didn’t linger. He was the first to pull out the magazine.

After flipping through the magazine for a few pages, Zhou Qian found what he was looking for—an introduction to and an interview with Luo Yu.

[Luo Yu: Best-selling fantasy novelist, known for “Dual World”.]

[Have you ever heard of this urban legend? One day, when you take an elevator, you might enter a parallel dimension and meet another version of yourself. The parallel space defies your imagination. The “you” in that world might be a monster. Who knows?]

[That’s the story of “Dual World”.]

[The author, Luo Yu, believes that there are actually two layers to this world. We usually can only see the first layer, but not the second.]

[The second layer is a complete replica of the first world. There exists another version of us, identical to us in every way, familiar with every detail of our lives. Unfortunately, while they can see us, we cannot see them.]

[So, if one day you encounter another version of yourself, please be careful. They might be from the parallel world, trying to replace you.]

[In “Dual World”, the male protagonist’s doppelgänger from the alternate dimension comes to the real world, wanting to replace the protagonist and stay in this world. After the protagonist discovers this, he engages in a series of strategic and physical confrontations with his other self.]

[The plot is full of ups and downs, with countless thrilling moments. Want to know if the protagonist eventually triumphs or if he’s replaced by his evil twin?]

[Don’t just be intrigued. Buy the book and find out the ending!]

Frowning, Zhou Qian turned to the next page and immediately saw an interview related to Luo Yu.

Reporter: “I heard you’re going to have a book signing in Blue Harbor City soon?”

Luo Yu: “Yes. Miss, you’re quite informed!”

Reporter: “Haha, it’s because I’m a fan of your books. I really love ‘Dual World’. May I ask, the reason for going to Blue Harbor City is…”

Luo Yu: “I’m going there for inspiration.”

Reporter: “Let me guess, are you preparing for your next book? Oh my god, am I privileged to get some early news about your new book from you? What kind of story are you thinking of writing next?”

Luo Yu: “It’ll still be fantasy-themed. My readers love that from me. I’ve recently taken an interest in murder cases. Blue Harbor City has several famous serial murder cases. I want to go see for myself.”

Reporter: “Ah, are you referring to the murder case at the Saiya Hotel?”

Luo Yu: “Yes, that’s the one. I want to visit the places where the murderer stayed. Maybe they will return from hell to meet me… and provide some inspiration. Who knows?”

Reporter: “You mentioned earlier that the theme is fantasy, so it’s not entirely a detective novel?”

Luo Yu: “It’s not a detective novel. There will be fantasy elements involved. It might even share the same world view as my book ‘Dual World’. I still need to think about the specific setting. Right now, I only have a preliminary idea.”

Reporter: “Wow, I’m truly looking forward to it!”

……

After a while, Zhou Qian closed the magazine.

After pondering for a bit, he looked at Bai Zhou and said, “All the illogical phenomena finally have a clear explanation.”

“This so-called alternate dimension—it’s actually constructed by the author Luo Yu.”

“In a sense, we’ve stepped into the world of a novel!”

“Luo Yu writes fiction, using everything that happens in the real world of Blue Harbor City as his material repository.”

“Now, he’s using a series of murders committed by a male-female duo as a basis for his story. When these serial murders occurred in the real world, they happened in strict chronological order.”

“But when the author writes, the order in which these case materials appear in his mind isn’t linear. There’s no set pattern or logic.”

“One day, Luo Yu might suddenly remember someone he met ten years ago, thinking their character would be interesting to use, so he writes them into the story. Another day, he might pass by the hotel reception and find the receptionist’s appearance unique, so he includes them as well. Moreover—”

“Many details might be fabricated. Because when an author creates, he embellishes and imagines many things. Thus…”

“That’s why the information in this world seems so chaotic!”

Events and people in the real world couldn’t be linked in any systematic way to phenomena in this alternate dimension. There was no logical correspondence between the two.

Unless one considered this alternate dimension purely as the author’s fiction and deliberate arrangement.

Luo Yu was a fantasy author. After getting clues about him, everything seemed to make perfect sense to Zhou Qian—

Many serial killers in the world act alone. Cases involving cooperative efforts, especially between a male and female pair, were rare.

On top of that, the fact that the woman was having an affair and teamed up with her lover made the story even more tantalizing, adding a dramatic twist perfect for a novel.

All the victims stayed on the 11^th floor, and crime scenes bore the symbol of an inverted pentagram, adding a mysterious layer to the murders and fueling wild speculations.

Thus, the murders committed by the male-female duo made the Saiya Hotel famous, causing a huge sensation.

The fantasy author Luo Yu was drawn here because of this.

Looking for inspiration, Luo Yu stayed here for a long time, possibly up to three months.

During these three months, he stayed in the Saiya Hotel day and night, feeling the presence of the male-female duo and enjoying the sensation of being surrounded by the vengeful spirits of the victims…

The hotel’s atmosphere inspired his writing.

He wrote prolifically.

Regarding the serial murders committed by the couple, he combined historical records and archives he found with his imagination to create multiple crime scenes in the Saiya Hotel.

Therefore, there was no time travel or temporal dislocation.

People killed at different times appear in the same space simply because it was a space constructed by the novel.

However, during the creative process, the author Luo Yu obviously encountered some issues.

For instance, the police might release only limited information about victims, and only a few cases might be suitable for turning into fiction.

Moreover, most real-life victims might have been ordinary-looking people with no distinct features.

But the victims Zhou Qian and others saw in this alternate dimension were all handsome men and beautiful women. This was probably Luo Yu’s artistic touch.

In conclusion, based on real history, to enhance the drama, Luo Yu used his imagination to create many new victim profiles.

For example, if he met an impressively beautiful female reader at a book signing three months ago, he might write her into the story as one of the victims.

That was why those who appeared at the hotel three months ago were also present in this dimension. Furthermore—

Zhou Qian looked at Bai Zhou and spoke his thoughts out loud, continuing, “For instance, when he saw that eleven poor tourists checked into the Saiya Hotel, he got a new inspiration.”

“For the nine of us who are still alive, he had a moment of brilliance and thought that maybe the story of the parallel worlds could be applied to us. Hence, all nine of us have doppelgangers.”

“He probably thought that a game of strategy and mutual destruction involving nine original individuals plus nine counterparts from another dimension, totaling eighteen people, would be a fascinating plot for a novel. Furthermore—”

“Xiong Fei and Li Yuan were killed. Luo Yu might have chanced upon their bodies, so that night, when brainstorming for his novel, he created a pair of executioners based on them.”

“The author saw how they were slashed in the throat, so they were portrayed by him as monstrous killers whose heads can fall off and whose necks can spurt blood.”

“Of course, the method of killing by this pair of executioners is based on the real deeds of that man and woman in history! Speaking of that man and woman—”

Bai Zhou took over. “I need to correct my previous speculation. The scenes where that man and woman fall in love aren’t flashbacks from before their deaths but are probably just the author’s imagination.”

“Yes. Wait…”

Zhou Qian continued, “Let me think… monstrous killers, love story, male monster seducing a man… No, that’s not right—”

“What I just said isn’t entirely accurate. This dimension might not exactly be a novel written by Luo Yu, but rather his draft or collection of materials!”

“For the story about Xiong and Li, Luo Yu wrote it quite messily with many illogical parts. The love story of that man and woman isn’t clear either—”

“All of this isn’t a fully-fledged novel yet. The author is likely still in the process of gathering materials and organizing an outline. That’s why I say this alternate dimension is just his draft world.”

“As for the author himself right now, he is…”

“If he can see us, and he saw Xiong Fei and Li Yuan, then in the real world, the author Luo Yu must be staying at the Saiya Hotel, and probably on the 11^th floor. The most likely room he is in—”

Hearing Zhou Qian say this, Bai Zhou looked at him, and they both simultaneously uttered, “1103.”

The room 1103 was where the male and female murderer duo often stayed. It was also the room where they took their own lives.

In the interview, Luo Yu mentioned that perhaps the man and woman would return from hell to converse with him.

Therefore, with the intention of feeling the aura of their deaths and to get inspiration, he might have stayed in room 1103.

When the players checked in, Luo Yu might have been hiding somewhere in the lobby or in a dark corner of the first-floor corridor, watching everything.

He silently heard the front desk say that only the 11^th floor had rooms and silently watched everyone take the elevator up.

Finally, he also went to the 11^th floor, checked into 1103, and included the new people he met and the inspiration he got into his novel draft.

Now, Zhou Qian and the others had entered the world of Luo Yu’s manuscript, which was based on some historical data, combined with his own imagination, sudden insights, and his private settings.

Therefore, because the draft also contains a “dual world” setting, the players might be hunted and replaced by their alternate selves.

After organizing his thoughts, Zhou Qian said, “If we, as mere tourists, can enter the world of the manuscript, is it possible that the author himself might also come in?”

“Possibly,” Bai Zhou replied. “So, maybe when we find him, we can figure out how to leave this place.

“There are countless room 1103s in this space right now. He might be in one of them. He might not even know what has happened and might still be writing.”

“We really need to get out,” Zhou Qian said. “This theory probably hits the nail on the head. The situation is going to get more dangerous.”

“First, the swastika killer who murdered Xiong Fei and Li Yuan might be another serial killer imagined by the author. If the author imagines this and incorporates this setting into his draft, there might be another terrifying murderer hunting us in this space.”

“Second, if the author gets inspired and randomly decides to kill off a character, any of us could be killed off at any moment. This is his manuscript world; whatever he decides is logical.”

By the end of this conversation, Zhou Qian shook his head. “A virtual game from an exhibition hall? This is bigger than I thought. Initially, I believed it was just a time-travel gimmick. I underestimated it.”

“Of course, this theory only explains the plot clearly, but there’s still a fundamental problem we haven’t solved.”

What Zhou Qian was referring to was the issue related to the elevator and the floors.

No matter which number the players press inside the elevator, they always end up on the 11^th floor, but they encounter different murder cases each time.

After a moment, Zhou Qian put down the magazine, and he and Bai Zhou exchanged glances in the dimly lit rest area.

Together, they uttered the same two words. “Page number.”

……

Inside the virtual game hall’s private room.

The gamblers were silent for a long time, completely stunned.

[What exactly is the relationship between Zhou Qian and 137—]

[Why are you asking that? Is that the main point? The main point is, what do they mean by “page number”?]

[It’s a shame that the gambler who previously sent Zhou Qian a reminder message isn’t here.]

[Yes, even though his theory about 137 was wrong, he was right about He Xiaowei being fake! He’s too sharp. If he were here, we could ask for his opinion.]

[Wait, don’t we have Priest? Priest, what do you think?!]

Seeing the gamblers looking at him, Priest began to explain, “Zhou Qian has already analyzed that this world isn’t a complete novel. It’s a world formed by the author’s drafts, written in the hotel for inspiration.”

“The author is writing about a series of murders. So, how do you think an author would organize the drafts for such a complex case for convenience?”

Without waiting for an answer, staring at the screen, Priest continued, “For example, on September 7^th, 1987, a family of three was murdered. I would label it as A1 and place it on the first page. News reports, police disclosures, and crime scene photos are all there.”

“Then, on this page, I would write an outline about this case—”

“The outline would describe how a man, a woman, and a child were killed by a murderer with specific features in a particular way. They lived in room 1108.”

“Next, on January 29^th, 1988, an elderly woman and her granddaughter were victims. They lived in room 1112. I would place this case on the second page of the draft.”

“On April 5^th, 1988, another murder of a couple took place. They stayed in room 1108. This case is on the third page of my draft…”

“In this way, I think you should understand easily.”

Priest said, “A man and woman duo are the murderers, and all the victims are on the 11^th floor. Based on this case, Luo Yu created his novel. Thus, every page of his manuscript has cases occurring on the 11^th floor.

“That’s why, no matter which number is pressed in the elevator, players always end up on the 11^th floor.”

“Upon exiting the elevator, players see different murder cases. It’s not because they’ve traveled to different times, but because they’ve opened different pages of the manuscript.”

“So, the numbers on the elevator panel don’t represent floors, but page numbers in the manuscript.”

[Shit, is that even possible?]

[Wait, the elevator only has 12 buttons, but the manuscript has many pages, right? How does that work?!]

[Bro, that’s the point! Zhou Qian pressed “11” twice and saw different murder cases. Why? This can be explained by the problem you just raised—]

[The elevator only has 12 buttons, but there are many pages in the manuscript. So, the relationship between “elevator numbers” and “page numbers” is “one-to-many” rather than “one-to-one!”]

Priest said, “Yes, the elevator only has 12 buttons. So, when Zhou Qian and the others pressed for the 11^th floor the first time, they might have ended up on page 11 of the manuscript.

“But the second time they pressed for the 11^th floor, they might have been on page 22, which is twice 11.”

“The murder records on these two pages of the manuscript are different, so of course, the scenes they saw were different.”

“Of course, this pattern is just my speculation. How the 12 elevator buttons correspond to different pages of the manuscript is something they’ll still need to figure out. Also—”

Priest narrowed his eyes and said, “When Zhou Qian and 137 met that man and woman, they had already entered the manuscript world. After that, they successfully made it to the main hall.”

“So, pressing the number ‘1’ still gives one a chance to get to the first floor. Players won’t always be stuck on the 11^th floor. It’s just a matter of probability.”

“However… I suspect that the first floor is quite dangerous now.”

The gamblers all asked in unison, “Why?”

Priest explained, “Because when they first discovered that pressing the numbers in the elevator only takes them to the 11^th floor, most people would instinctively press ‘1’ several times. Common sense and past experiences would make them believe that they can exit the hotel from the first floor, thinking it’s the safest.”

“The reason Zhou Qian and his group never encountered other players is because they never pressed the button for the first floor.”

“But it’s different for other players. Most of them will meet on the first floor. And don’t forget, based on the author’s ‘Dual World’ story setting, another group of ‘players’ will emerge from an alternate dimension.”

“So… the current situation on the first floor is probably chaotic.”

At that moment, inside the game,

When Zhou Qian looked at Bai Zhou again, his expression had become more serious. “If the author’s manuscript isn’t very long, by trying a few more times, we can figure out its pattern. What we need to do next is find the author of this manuscript world and find a way back to reality.”

“Yes, we need to do it quickly. Then go to the first floor,” Bai Zhou said.

“We indeed need to hurry. He Xiaowei probably pressed ‘1’ multiple times, thinking he saw a ghost. He might have encountered the fake players.”

Zhou Qian’s expression turned grave. “I just hope that Hidden Blade’s intuition is reliable. At least he can protect He Xiaowei a bit. Wait, can he really handle it? He is He Xiaowei’s master after all.”

“Don’t worry. Under such circumstances, ‘intuition’ will be very useful.” Bai Zhou said, “When I played dungeons with Hidden Blade, his intuition was always accurate. He typically grasped the moves of the boss and the location of treasure chests quickly—”

Before Bai Zhou could finish, Zhou Qian, while pressing the elevator button, interrupted him with a simple “Oh.”

Bai Zhou sensed something but wasn’t entirely sure. “Zhou Qian?”

Zhou Qian walked into the elevator first, then looked at him thoughtfully.

Bai Zhou entered the elevator and looked back at him uncertainly. “Zhou Qian? Do you have something to ask me?”

Zhou Qian: “After we came out of ‘Last Wish’, why did you disappear for seven days and didn’t contact me?”

Bai Zhou: “I went to play some instances. Why?”

“Right, instances.” Zhou Qian asked, “With Hidden Blade?”

Bai Zhou: “?”

Zhou Qian no longer looked at him, just at the number panel. After the elevator doors closed, the number “12” reflected Bai Zhou’s face. Zhou Qian pressed it firmly with his thumb.

“Forget it, let’s go. We have to find the pattern between the page numbers and the elevator numbers, and that author.”

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 95

In less than a minute, Zhou Qian had changed his clothes.

After the two left room 1107, even though they knew the likelihood of anyone being present was low, they still forcibly opened all the doors on the 11^th floor to check the inside before leaving the floor.

Once inside the elevator, they pressed the number “12”. When the elevator door opened, as expected, all the door plaques still displayed numbers starting with 11. They had arrived in a new timeline on the 11^th floor.

As usual, they first saw the murder scene of Xiong Fei and Li Yuan. This time, the incident took place in room 1111, and the victims were still a couple. The murderer’s method was largely similar to the previous times, with no new tricks.

After skillfully killing the couple, Xiong Fei and Li Yuan left.

Next, based on the pattern, it was time for the animation of the second story—the story related to the handsome man and the woman in the red skirt.

However, this time, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou waited for quite a while but saw no sign of it. Neither the woman nor the man emerged from rooms 1103 or 1104.

Zhou Qian wasn’t in a hurry. He and Bai Zhou waited in the corridor for about five minutes when they noticed an unusual burning smell. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was coming from room 1103.

Leaning against the corridor wall, Zhou Qian unconsciously lifted his foot and tapped it on the floor several times. After a while, he looked at Bai Zhou, who was standing opposite him, nodded towards room 1103, and finally said, “Zhou Ge, it’s up to you.”

Hearing this, Bai Zhou gave Zhou Qian a few more glances, seemingly trying to gauge his current mood.

Soon, he nodded without asking any more questions and walked over to Zhou Qian. Turning his body slightly, Bai Zhou gave a forceful kick to the door, breaking the lock.

“It might not be safe inside. You want to go in now?” After taking a quick look inside, Bai Zhou asked Zhou Qian.

“We won’t know if it’s safe unless we go in,” Zhou Qian responded, hinting, “Hmm? This time you didn’t throw me onto the bed after breaking the door, did you?”

“Zhou Qian…” Bai Zhou frowned slightly and reached out to grab Zhou Qian’s wrist.

Zhou Qian dodged and went into the room first.

Bai Zhou’s brows deepened. He stepped forward to follow, but Zhou Qian immediately stopped him.

“Don’t come in. Let me check the situation first. We shouldn’t both be caught off guard,” Zhou Qian said.

Bai Zhou shook his head. “I know what you’re trying to do. You go out. Let me handle it.”

“It’s fine.” Zhou Qian glanced at him, pushed Bai Zhou into the corridor, and then closed the door behind him.

Inside the room, it was just as Zhou Qian suspected. The room, covered in pentagrams, had all its windows and doors tightly shut. A man and a woman lay side by side on the bed, and next to the bed was a basin of burning charcoal. They were attempting suicide via charcoal burning.

Zhou Qian had left Bai Zhou outside, fearing that both of them might succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning. He was still unsure if all the scenes involving this man and woman were merely animations. Therefore, he wanted to test it out himself.

After leaving Bai Zhou outside, Zhou Qian approached the man and woman. They both opened their eyes and looked at him. At this moment, Zhou Qian asked, “Did you kill those people?”

The man was the first to reply. “Yes.”

Zhou Qian then asked, “I guess you don’t feel guilty. But aren’t you afraid of dying?”

This time, the woman answered. Her voice was weak, but she smiled and said, “Of course not! Others fear death because they’ll have nothing when they go to hell. We’re different! Those who die by our hands will be our slaves! They’ll serve us in hell! Death will bring us true wealth!”

The man quickly added, “I’m now filled with boundless joy. I’m about to see Lord Satan! This world is filled with sin, betrayal, and pointless desires. Only Satan can give me… the pleasure and peace I desire!”

“If death pleases you, then perhaps you shouldn’t die.” Zhou Qian smirked, picking up a bottle of unfinished mineral water from the table next to him and pouring it into the charcoal stove.

“What are you doing?”

“Stop! Stop this useless and foolish act!”

“To be honest, I think what I’m doing probably doesn’t serve any real purpose. But seeing the two of you so angry and distorted before death, it seems worth it.” Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and said, “It’s just a shame that this is so much lighter than what you’ve done to other victims. I guess you’ll never get what you want. You’re just brainwashed. There’s no Satan in hell.”

The man and woman could no longer speak because they gradually lost consciousness.

Zhou Qian poured out the entire bottle of mineral water, but the charcoal fire was unaffected. The smoke, mixed with the harmful gasses from incomplete combustion, continued to fill the room.

About three minutes later, the couple was dead. Zhou Qian was unharmed and didn’t even feel any discomfort. He could see the couple and smell the scent of burning charcoal, as if he were in the same space with them. But in reality, it wasn’t the case.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and Bai Zhou entered. His pace was unusually hurried. After entering the room, he immediately grabbed Zhou Qian’s wrist and dragged him to the door. “Do you feel okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Zhou Qian looked straight ahead at the man and woman on the bed, their bodies becoming transparent and then disappearing from the room.

At the same time, the charcoal fire and the pentagrams throughout the room also vanished. The room looked brand new, as if nothing had happened.

Zhou Qian reached into his bag and found something:

[Item: Useless Paper]

[Function: No function; transformed from an illusion, its existence is very short-lived. If not placed in the bag, it would have already disappeared.]

[Note: Keeping it in the bag is a waste of space and has no practical use. It is recommended that players take it out as soon as possible. It will disappear immediately when taken out.]

Upon seeing the note, Zhou Qian took the item out. It was the money given to him by the man in room 1103 as a delivery fee.

As the system said, the money disappeared shortly after leaving the bag, just like the suddenly vanished couple and the marks they left in the room.

“So, things didn’t start to go awry until we returned to the 11^th floor from the lobby. The alternate dimension appeared much earlier. The first time we met that couple, they were already ‘illusions’ and not real. They could see us and talk to us, but they couldn’t interact with us in any substantive way. They had already died in ‘history’ and didn’t exist in this time and space.”

Suddenly, Zhou Qian laughed, turned to Bai Zhou, and held up another item—

It was what they bought from the front desk in the lobby.

“So this thing is useless to them after buying.” Zhou Qian said as he walked to the trash can and threw it away. “What a pity it can’t be used.”

After disposing of the item, Zhou Qian stared at the trash can for a moment. Various thoughts crossed his mind.

How does the system train Rank God players? One would think Bai Zhou spent these years cultivating some emotionless path. 

So does he have feelings for me? 

Especially after tying people up and biting ears… What is he doing?

Taking a deep breath and yawning, Zhou Qian turned around to see Bai Zhou leaning against the door, seemingly deep in thought. When Bai Zhou noticed Zhou Qian’s gaze, he looked back and said, “Everything we’ve seen feels like a flashback*.”

*Revolving lantern (走马灯). It’s a lantern consisting of a revolving cylinder that has cutouts of pictures on its surface. When a light source is placed inside, it projects moving images on the surrounding walls, creating an effect similar to a modern film reel. Metaphorically, it’s used to describe rapid flashing of images or replaying of memories (AKA one’s life flashing before their eyes).

There was a saying that people would recall their most important memories before they die. Could the illusions or animations players saw be the memories of these murderers flashing back before their suicide?

Zhou Qian became serious, taking the lead to leave the room and head towards another. “Remind me, let’s check room 1111.”

Room 1111 was where they had witnessed another murder when they first arrived on this floor. If the traces of the “charcoal suicide case” in room 1103 disappeared, what about the other rooms? And were there any clues they might have missed?

Leaving room 1103, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou quickly headed to room 1111. As they approached, they were hit by a strong smell of blood. The murder scene in this room hadn’t “vanished”.

Indeed, everything inside was intact. Two bodies were tied up, their heads covered with nylon bags, and the room was marked with inverted pentagrams.

The story related to that man and woman is indeed a kind of illusion, akin to an animated existence. Perhaps the story came from the flash of memories like a revolving lantern, or maybe it was the shadow of history cast through time and space to the present.

Regardless, they didn’t really exist in this time and space and wouldn’t have any substantial impact on the player.

However, it could now be determined that the cases committed by Xiong Fei and Li Yuan may not be the same.

Suppressing his disgust at the blood in the room, Zhou Qian said, “The actions of Xiong and Li are indeed closely related to the man and woman. Their behavior is an exact replica of the adulterous killers.”

“The fake He Xiaowei previously claimed that the ghosts of the man and woman possessed the bodies of Xiong and Li after they died. But this claim is untenable. He said that just to clear his name and make me believe he was the real He Xiaowei.”

“So, the question I raised earlier is still unresolved—why did Xiong and Li appear as if they were ‘resurrected from the dead’?”

“Now it’s clear that, unlike the situation with the man and woman, these dead people haven’t disappeared; they are not illusions or animations that vanish after playing. So where did these dead people come from? Where did the fake He Xiaowei and the fake version of you come from?”

As he spoke, Zhou Qian heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed. Turning his head, he saw Bai Zhou holding his incredibly sharp Tang sword.

The Tang sword has a long and straight blade, much narrower than ordinary swords. Compared to a double-edged sword, the single-edged Tang sword was thicker and sturdier. Its hilt was long, allowing for a flexible two-handed grip. But mastering it wasn’t a task of just a few days.

The dim light from the corridor cast Bai Zhou and his Tang sword in two long, narrow shadows. Shifting his gaze from the shadow on the floor, Zhou Qian looked up to see Bai Zhou lifting the sword. Reflected on the slender snow-white blade were Bai Zhou’s shining black eyes.

After a moment, Bai Zhou said, “For a long time, I did nothing but practice with this sword. During that period, every challenge I took on was related to swordsmanship. It took me years to achieve my current proficiency.”

Zhou Qian understood his point. “Yes, I was curious earlier. How could that counterfeit last so long against you?”

Bai Zhou added, “This sword is called ‘Breaking Dawn’. I received it as a reward when I reached god rank. I had defeated the most powerful boss in the game. The system emphasized that it’s unique in the entire game.”

Zhou Qian remembered something and asked, “When I attacked you earlier, you didn’t even touch my weapon. Why? Were you afraid my weapon would get damaged? Is your ‘Breaking Dawn’ so sharp that it can easily shatter the Rib of God?”

“Yes, it can break anything,” Bai Zhou replied. “So, logically, there shouldn’t be another identical sword here. It appears that this instance has somehow duplicated both me and that sword.”

After the word “duplicate” was uttered by Bai Zhou, Zhou Qian pondered on it, piecing together the events in his mind.

The 11^th floor of the Saiya Hotel seemed to be an ominous floor where many had been murdered. The killers were a pair of lovers who ended their lives in a charcoal suicide pact.

Many years later, eleven impoverished tourists checked into this hotel. One of them, likely a hotel staff, murdered two tourists, Xiong Fei and Li Yuan.

After this, an alternate dimension appeared. The birth of the shadows of the man and woman marked the beginning of this dimension.

Suddenly, the hotel seemed off. The 11^th floor seemed to overlap with multiple timelines.

Two killers appeared, replicating the forms of Xiong Fei and Li Yuan. Their actions mirrored the adulterous killer duo.

Meanwhile, the other nine tourists were duplicated, leading to the appearances of another Bai Zhou and He Xiaowei. Victims of the adulterous killers, who should’ve died at different times, were also duplicated, repeating the tragedy.

“So… are the numerous 11^th floors some kind of ‘duplication’ or ‘reproduction’?”

Zhou Qian wondered aloud. He then moved closer to a bedside table in the room. Earlier, they hadn’t found any clues on the deceased, only deducing that they all shared a trait of ‘prone to cheating’. Thus, Zhou Qian had overlooked one detail during his first investigation.

Upon his second entry, he discovered a signed photo with the name “Luo Yu”.

On the back of the photo, written in a different font, were the words: [I finally saw you in Blue Harbor City! You are my most admired idol!]

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 94

Approximately 40 minutes ago.

The players had just returned from the tattoo shop to the Seiya Hotel.

Bai Zhou went to take a shower, and Zhou Qian had just finished blow-drying his hair when he heard a knock on the door.

The visitor was Hidden Blade.

Seeing Zhou Qian, he got straight to the point. “Where’s Bai Zhou?”

“He’s showering.” Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes at him. “Are you looking for him?”

What surprised Zhou Qian was Hidden Blade’s response. “Not exactly. It would be better if all three of us discussed this matter together. However, I feel a mission is about to come. In this game, I have an intuition-related talent, and it’s usually right.”

“So… time is of the essence. Since he’s showering, let me talk to you first.”

[System Notification: Based on real-time monitoring and predictions, the content that the Rank God player is about to discuss involves core game secrets. High/low-level gamblers are not authorized to know. The following dialogue has been muted.]

Seeing Hidden Blade’s expression and the system’s notification, Zhou Qian quickly realized what was happening.

He asked Hidden Blade, “When you spoke with Zhou Ge alone in the exhibition hall’s rest area, was it about this?”

“Yes,” Hidden Blade replied. “We decided it’s time to tell you. Long story short—”

“Bai Zhou’s mental energy is nearing its limit, and he’s about to go berserk. ‘Transformation into a Dragon’ is one of his active skills, with a cooldown. However, when he goes berserk, he might involuntarily transform into… something odd, perhaps a monster in your eyes.”

“In any case, when he starts losing his senses, you need to help him revert back before he completely turns into a monster, or the consequences are unimaginable.”

Zhou Qian asked, “What signs will he show before he goes completely berserk?”

Hidden Blade answered, “The most obvious sign is his eyes. When he’s completely turned, his eyes will be blue. But during the transformation process, his eyes will turn red.”

“When the red is at its deepest and purest, his eyes will turn blue. But that’s the most dangerous moment, as it means he has completely transformed and lost his senses. Also—”

Hidden Blade then inquired, “Has he given you something?”

Zhou Qian nodded. “Yes. A scale.”

Zhou Qian took out the scale, and Hidden Blade gave him detailed instructions on its use. He also asked Hidden Blade many details about Bai Zhou’s transformation into a monster.

Recently, Zhou Qian suspected that the “He Xiaowei” next to him was an imposter. With Bai Zhou showing signs of transformation, he thought he could use this to lure the imposter and identify him. Zhou Qian pretended to be unaware of Bai Zhou’s impending transformation, mistaking him for a “ghost” in the game, thus leading “He Xiaowei” into his trap.

That was the plan.

But before Zhou Qian could think it through, Bai Zhou began transforming. The timing was very different from what Hidden Blade had described, much earlier than Zhou Qian had anticipated.

At this moment, Zhou Qian was in a wrecked room, with only one partially functioning light outside that blinked eerily.

Even weirder, he felt his legs being entwined by something slippery and cold, presumably Bai Zhou’s transformed tail, which was growing and tightening around him, restricting his movement.

Zhou Qian couldn’t see clearly what Bai Zhou had turned into.

Despite the chaotic situation, Zhou Qian remained calm. He recalled the events and then, looking into Bai Zhou’s red eyes, spoke.

“I get it. I said, ‘We need to separate’.”

“Did those words hurt you?

“Zhou Ge, in your delirious state, did you think… I wanted to leave you, and that’s why you wanted to bind me?”

The words “separate” and “leave” seemed to agitate Bai Zhou again. He leaned in, biting Zhou Qian’s ear with his now-sharpened teeth. Zhou Qian knew he was bleeding. He winced in pain, and Bai Zhou loosened his bite but didn’t let go.

Zhou Qian couldn’t see Bai Zhou’s face anymore. He tried to push him away but failed.

“Although I want to wait and see what you will ultimately become, are you feeling very uncomfortable?” Zhou Qian raised his right hand around Bai Zhou’s back, and what he touched with the tip of his fingers was a cold and smooth scale. Gently patting Bai Zhou’s back, covered with scales, Zhou Qian’s expression remained unchanged, and he whispered in his ear, “Zhou Ge, let me comfort you now.”

Lowering his eyelids, Zhou Qian could see Bai Zhou’s shoulders. He forcefully tore off the blood-stained clothes, exposing Bai Zhou’s shoulder area.

Through the flickering light coming in from outside the room, Zhou Qian could see the fresh, bleeding wounds on his shoulder and the scales growing from the wounds.

Taking the scale that Bai Zhou had given him earlier and placing it on his own forehead, Zhou Qian then pressed his forehead against Bai Zhou’s cold and bare shoulder.

Thus, a single scale became the medium connecting the spiritual worlds of two people. When Zhou Qian opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dark world.

This was Bai Zhou’s spiritual realm. But where Bai Zhou was hiding remained unknown.

Taking a few steps, Zhou Qian stepped on something. He didn’t know what it was and wanted to see clearly but couldn’t for the moment. In this spiritual world, he couldn’t access his belongings and couldn’t get a flashlight or similar tool.

Left with no choice, Zhou Qian cautiously continued forward. Wandering in a blood-red world, he could barely see anything and almost tripped unexpectedly.

After a slight stumble, he heard a “ding” sound in front of him. Zhou Qian crouched down, felt around, and found a flashlight.

Turning on the flashlight, Zhou Qian saw numerous blood-colored skulls. It was as if he was in a world made of fresh blood and bones.

Taking a shallow breath, Zhou Qian looked down at the flashlight in his hand, the corner of his lips curling up in a smile.

Then he spoke loudly, in a coaxing tone. “Zhou Ge, you gave me this scale as a key. Now I’ve used this key to enter your world. Why are you hiding from me?”

“Can you feel me entering your world, right?”

“Zhou Ge is the best, even thinking of giving me a flashlight at this time. So—”

“Won’t you stop hiding?”

“Zhou Ge, it’s Zhou Qian. I’m here to find you. Can you come out and see me?”

While exploring Bai Zhou’s spiritual world, Zhou Qian kept talking, trying to get him to appear. After an indeterminate amount of time, he heard some sounds. Following the sound, Zhou Qian saw a light.

It was their classroom in the third grade.

Silencing himself, Zhou Qian walked over with light steps and looked through the window. Third-grade Bai Zhou was inside, and so was Zhou Qian. The classroom was filled with cakes adorned with candles. Watching the scene for a moment, Zhou Qian smiled, recalling that past memory.

The story started from the midterm exams three years ago. After the exams, the class teacher organized a parent-teacher meeting. The meeting was held in a small auditorium and attended by both parents and students.

Zhou Qian’s parent-teacher meeting was attended by his father’s assistant. During the meeting, he noticed that class leader Bai Zhou was sitting alone.

It wasn’t until 20 minutes before the end of the meeting that Bai Zhou’s mother hurriedly arrived. She was dressed like a high-ranking white-collar worker and seemed extremely busy, which likely explained her tardiness.

After the meeting ended, the assistant took Zhou Qian to the school gate, asking him to wait while he fetched the car. Zhou Qian nodded and waited on the small path lined with sycamore trees at the school entrance.

At that moment, he saw Bai Zhou and his mother walking out of the school gate. For some unknown reason, instead of waiting for his father’s assistant, Zhou Qian decided to follow Bai Zhou.

Because of the parent-teacher meeting, the school gate was jam-packed with cars and was very noisy. Zhou Qian followed Bai Zhou and his mother for quite some time before reaching a somewhat less crowded area.

Bai Zhou’s mother’s car was parked by the roadside. She rushed towards it in her high heels while pulling Bai Zhou along. Her face turned sour when she saw a parking ticket on the window. She sternly walked to the trunk, opened it, and hurriedly took something out, shoving it towards Bai Zhou. She was in such a rush that by the time Bai Zhou reached out to take it, she had already let go.

It was a birthday cake.

Due to Bai Zhou’s mother’s haste, it ended up smashed on the ground.

Bai Zhou’s mother paused briefly, then quickly took out a wad of cash and handed it to Bai Zhou. “Take a cab home. I have to rush back for a meeting at work. I’ve already been out too long—”

As she was about to leave, Bai Zhou grabbed her hand. “Didn’t you say if I ranked first in the class, you’d celebrate my birthday with me this year? I’ve never celebrated a birthday before.”

“Who told you that you have to have cake for your birthday? Isn’t that just a formality? I often buy you treats, don’t I? How about this? When I have time, I’ll buy you another cake, okay?” Seeing no smile on Bai Zhou’s face, as if sulking, she got somewhat upset. “Bai Zhou, understand the situation. It’s tough for me. I didn’t become a partner in the firm because I was pregnant with you. All these years, I’ve been overshadowed by others! This case is crucial. I can’t lose again. Be a good boy, go home, have dinner, and do your homework. If it’s that big of a deal—”

“I’ll ask your father to celebrate with you!”

Hmm. So, today was Bai Zhou’s birthday. That was what Zhou Qian thought at the time.

The next day was a weekend. His father wasn’t home, and his mother was listlessly watching TV on the couch. Feeling bored, Zhou Qian thought of Bai Zhou. He suddenly recalled how lonely and pitiful Bai Zhou looked, staring down at his smashed birthday cake on the ground after his mother drove off.

Back then, Zhou Qian hadn’t yet encountered the Zhang Yanjun’s incident and was still mentally balanced. In his heart, he was still a generous rich kid, eager to help less fortunate classmates.

So Zhou Qian arranged to meet Bai Zhou in the classroom, using the excuse that he had a question he didn’t understand and wanted to ask Bai Zhou.

When Bai Zhou arrived at the classroom at the agreed-upon time, he saw, to his astonishment, nine cakes in the room, each with lit candles.

Bai Zhou was stunned.

Before he could react, Zhou Qian was already in front of him, holding a gift box and saying with an expectant smile, “Open it quickly!”

Without waiting for Bai Zhou to take the gift, Zhou Qian took his hand and thrust the gift box into it, saying, “Happy 9^th birthday! Has no one ever celebrated your birthday before? So I got you nine cakes to make up for all those missed years at once!

“Do you think I’m a pretty good person?”

While listening to Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou began unwrapping the gift.

Inside was a trendy electronic watch of that year. The time displayed was precisely 13:07.

Hearing some noise, Bai Zhou shifted his gaze from the watch to see Zhou Qian standing in front of him, holding a cake. Zhou Qian blew out the candle with one breath and then looked up and smiled at Bai Zhou.

Sunlight filtered through the sycamore tree leaves, casting a dreamy light into the classroom.

Beneath this filter, Zhou Qian’s smile was the brightest Bai Zhou had ever seen.

Afterward, Zhou Qian rarely smiled like that, especially after the incident with Zhang Yanjun.

From then on, Bai Zhou often reminisced about that afternoon.

If he could pause time, he would have wanted to press the pause button at 13:07, letting that moment linger a little longer, just a bit more.

At that moment, looking through the glass, Zhou Qian saw two children blowing out candles and starting to eat cake.

The empty weekend classroom was used as their birthday party venue. The two kids even sat directly on the podium, each holding a plate of cake. Unexpectedly, Young Zhou Qian smeared some frosting onto Young Bai Zhou’s nose and forehead.

Bai Zhou let him be, not minding his antics.

Back then, Zhou Qian didn’t think much of it. But now, looking back, he found his younger self childish and pampered.

In short, he grew increasingly irritated with his younger self.

Suddenly, Zhou Qian felt the ground shake beneath him.

Glancing to the side, the distant world seemed tumultuous, filled with countless rustling sounds, as if all the flesh, blood, and bones on the ground were crawling over.

The ground began to collapse, and the mental realm seemed about to shatter.

If he left this unchecked, the only illuminated classroom would be completely consumed by darkness.

Without hesitation, Zhou Qian broke the window with a crash and jumped into the classroom.

Hearing the noise, the two children on the podium looked up, both staring blankly.

Zhou Qian quickly walked over, unceremoniously moving his younger self aside, and took his place next to Young Bai Zhou.

Young Bai Zhou, apparently not recognizing him and thinking he was bullying young Zhou Qian, was ready to throw a punch.

Zhou Qian quickly grabbed his wrist. “Look closely. Who am I?”

Staring into his eyes, Zhou Qian asked deeply, “Can’t you tell which Zhou Qian is real and which is fake?”

After a while, Young Zhou Qian suddenly disappeared, seemingly merging with the present Zhou Qian.

The tremors grew more intense.

The dark sky was illuminated by countless lightning bolts, and as a thunderstorm approached, a loud bang was heard as the roof was pierced by lightning. The ceiling cracked open, and a large rock plummeted down, heading straight for Bai Zhou.

Zhou Qian immediately jumped off the podium, holding nine-year-old Bai Zhou protectively.

Stones brushed past Zhou Qian’s shoulder, tearing away a chunk of his flesh. In pain, he didn’t hesitate, grabbing Bai Zhou and running towards the corridor outside.

With debris falling like rain, Zhou Qian dodged while protecting Bai Zhou. The situation was dire. As they ran, Zhou Qian suddenly stopped, almost tumbling to the ground. A vast abyss had opened up in front of them, leading to an unknown destination.

When he landed, Zhou Qian kept Bai Zhou safe in his arms, ensuring he wasn’t hurt.

Zhou Qian’s face and shoulder bore the brunt of the debris. Without catching his breath, he heard something behind him. Turning around, lightning was closing in, inch by inch.

Behind him was lightning, and ahead was the abyss.

But when another bolt was about to strike, Zhou Qian, left with no choice, rolled into the abyss, holding Bai Zhou.

During their fall, Zhou Qian held Bai Zhou by the waist, raising him and locking eyes. “Zhou Ge, wake up!”

Bai Zhou’s eyes flashed blue, then red, finally settling into a deep black.

He stared intently at Zhou Qian, as if trying to etch this moment into his memory.

At that instant, although his manifested body in this mental realm was only nine years old, there seemed to be a shadow of his adult self overlapping with the young form.

Staring into those deep eyes, Zhou Qian felt as if he was being pulled into some dark world within Bai Zhou’s heart.

Then he heard Bai Zhou whisper, “Aren’t you afraid?”

“Afraid of what?” Zhou Qian retorted.

“Of crashing and shattering into pieces with me.”

Zhou Qian chuckled.

Returning Bai Zhou’s intense gaze, Zhou Qian’s tone, which usually sounded mischievous when tricking teammates, now carried a seriousness and certainty that perhaps even he wasn’t aware of.

“I’m not afraid. Zhou Ge, you wouldn’t do that.”

“I’m here to take you back. Leave with me.”

Zhou Qian laughed.

Matching Bai Zhou’s deep gaze, Zhou Qian’s tone seemed similar to how he would cajole and deceive other teammates usually, but upon closer listening, there was an added seriousness and certainty that he might not even have been aware of.

“Don’t be afraid. Zhou Ge, you won’t do that.”

“I’m here to take you back. Leave with me.”

“You have to leave with me now!”

With that said, Zhou Qian pulled Bai Zhou closer, their foreheads touching.

At this close proximity, Zhou Qian stared intently into those eyes, as if engaged in an invisible standoff. Then he emphasized in a deep tone, “You will leave with me.”

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and another bolt of lightning struck from the sky, bringing with it a rain of shattered rocks.

Zhou Qian watched as the figure of Bai Zhou in his arms began to grow rapidly, morphing into a dragon.

The deep blue dragon tail wrapped around Zhou Qian tightly. The dragon then ascended at an incredible speed, soaring towards the lightning. Like a solitary moon hanging high in the sky—it was the true ruler of this world.

With a flick of its tail, the dragon tossed Zhou Qian onto its back.

Dark clouds gathered from all directions, heralding the birth of another storm.

Yet, the dragon continued to rise against the sky, its tail swiping away the ominous clouds.

Then, as the dark clouds dispersed, daylight broke through, bathing the world in sunlight once more.

Zhou Qian hugged the dragon, feeling it rapidly ascending. The intense speed almost made him dizzy. As the clouds cleared, the blinding light forced him to close his eyes for a moment of relief.

After a while, the brightness faded, and the sensation of flying ceased. When Zhou Qian opened his eyes, he found himself back in the dilapidated room 1107.

The scale had unknowingly returned to his palm, and now pressed against his forehead was Bai Zhou.

The horns on Bai Zhou’s head had disappeared, and the scales on his face were fading away. His eyes were still deep blue, but they were turning darker. Looking into them, Zhou Qian felt as if he were diving from shallow waters into the abyss of a dark ocean.

Their foreheads were slightly damp, either from sweat or perhaps both.

Having journeyed through the mental world of a Rank God player, Zhou Qian felt the fatigue and pain as if they were real. Taking a deep breath, he instinctively leaned backward.

Immediately, Bai Zhou’s not-yet-fully-human hands reached out, supporting the back of Zhou Qian’s head, bringing their foreheads close again.

Forehead to forehead, noses touching.

In this position, Zhou Qian heard Bai Zhou’s hoarse voice ask, “Choosing to use that scale means you’re willing to be my Shepherd. Zhou Qian, so… are you willing?”

“Otherwise, do I have a choice?” Zhou Qian replied with a weak yet teasing tone, making Bai Zhou laugh. “What if you went berserk and tore me to pieces and ate me?”

The fingers on Zhou Qian’s head moved forward gently, barely touching his face. Bai Zhou asked, “Haven’t you ever doubted that I might be fake?”

“You took the elevator alone, so theoretically, it’s possible. But you were flawless. I’d think, at most… there might be a parallel dimension. But the you from that dimension is still you.”

“As long as it’s you, you wouldn’t harm me. Maybe at the end of this instance, the dimensions will merge, and then—”

Bai Zhou interrupted Zhou Qian. “It’s not me.”

“Hmm.” After a moment, Zhou Qian nodded in agreement, emphasizing, “It’s not you.”

Then Bai Zhou went silent.

With Bai Zhou quiet, Zhou Qian said, “Hidden Blade described your berserk form as terrifying. But I think… it seems fine.”

“Really not scared?” Bai Zhou asked.

“No,” Zhou Qian replied.

After a moment of silence, Bai Zhou’s voice deepened. “Don’t you think I’ve become unrecognizable?”

Zhou Qian seemed to suddenly grasp Bai Zhou’s insecurity.

When they were much younger, Zhou Qian often told Bai Zhou, “Zhou Ge, I think you’re really handsome.”

“Yes, definitely handsome.”

“Zhou Ge, in my eyes, you’re perfect in every way.”

……

“Unrecognizable? Because you turned into a dragon and had scales on your face? Too bad—” Zhou Qian feigned nonchalance. “I didn’t get a good look.”

“Zhou Qian—”

“Next time, let me take a closer look at what you believe to be the real you.” After saying this, Zhou Qian felt Bai Zhou lean in, seemingly wanting to get closer.

They were already very close; this movement almost made their bodies touch completely.

Bai Zhou wanted to…

Zhou Qian paused, then gently closed his eyes.

A moment later, he felt Bai Zhou move past him towards the head of the bed.

It turned out, Bai Zhou had only intended to help him untie the restraints on his left hand.

Zhou Qian: “…………”

Two minutes later.

Sitting at the head of the bed, Zhou Qian watched as Bai Zhou held a flashlight in one hand and a cotton ball in the other, cleaning the wound behind his ear and asking if he had any other injuries.

“Was I too rough earlier?” Bai Zhou asked.

Zhou Qian remained silent.

Bai Zhou shined the flashlight on his face, examining it before reaching out to touch his forehead. “Your face is flushed. Do you have a fever?”

Zhou Qian: “…”

After treating Zhou Qian’s wounds, Bai Zhou massaged his wrist and took a clean set of clothes from his bag. “Your clothes are covered in blood; you don’t like that, right? Go change, and I’ll wash my face.”

As Bai Zhou headed to the bathroom, Zhou Qian called out, “Hey, Zhou Ge.”

Bai Zhou turned to look at him. “Hmm?”

Zhou Qian blinked at him. “You don’t see me as… a younger brother, best buddy, or close friend, do you?”

Bai Zhou: “?”

“Never mind. It’s nothing.” Zhou Qian asked him, “What about the injury you had before?”

Bai Zhou: “It’s all healed now. When I transformed back from the monster form, everything was healed.”

“Oh. Alright then. We’ve wasted too much time. Let’s continue with the plot. I bet there’s a surprise on the 1^st floor.”

With that said, Zhou Qian grabbed the clothes beside him and threw them at Bai Zhou.

“Zhou Qian—?” Bai Zhou didn’t dodge and was hit by the clothes.

Zhou Qian said with a hint of annoyance, “Never mind. I’ll just buy from the system store myself.”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Just a note, the cover of this novel depicts Bai Zhou in his mid-transformation.

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 93

Lying on the ground, Bai Zhou’s eyes remained wide open in death. A silent tear slid down his face before disappearing.

Upon witnessing this, Zhou Qian’s heart sank.

He didn’t have time to utter a word before the person in front of him turned into ash and dispersed into the void.

For a rare moment, Zhou Qian felt a pang of anxiety.

However, he quickly suppressed it, clutched the Rib of God, and hurriedly headed towards the elevator.

Sure enough, “He Xiaowei” was desperately pressing the elevator button. He had witnessed the previous scene and knew he was exposed, so he decided to flee.

“Although I don’t exactly know what you ‘ghosts’ are, it seems you too need to use the elevator and can’t just vanish at will.”

Zhou Qian stepped forward. Just as he spoke those words, he felt a gust of wind beside him; a bloodshot-eyed Bai Zhou was lunging at him with a knife.

In the nick of time, Zhou Qian leaped forward, grabbed him by the waist, trying to stop him. “Zhou Ge, wait! Let me ask a few questions.”

Bai Zhou indeed stopped in his tracks. But that didn’t mean he spared “He Xiaowei”.

With a swift motion, he surprisingly didn’t kill with one strike but instead pierced “He Xiaowei’s” shoulder with his blade, nailing him to the wall.

Then, Bai Zhou turned his gaze to Zhou Qian.

Filled with a fierce aura, he said nothing, but his eyes seemed to urge: “Ask your questions.”

Zhou Qian deeply looked into his eyes, then turned his attention to “He Xiaowei”. “Do you know where you went wrong?”

“He Xiaowei’s” reactions were rather perplexing.

At first, he displayed anger, fear, and regret—typical responses when one’s plans are foiled and faced with death.

Yet, in the next moment, he looked at Zhou Qian with sadness, as if he truly was He Xiaowei.

He seemed reluctant to turn against his old friend, hence the reaction.

The previous “Bai Zhou”, when he “betrayed” and died, showed a similar response.

Recalling the tear that slid from his eye, Zhou Qian momentarily drifted into thought.

But his eyes sharpened quickly after. “Can you tell me, what exactly are you?”

“He Xiaowei” didn’t reply but painfully shook his head.

Zhou Qian continued, “Tell me, and I’ll let you know where you went wrong, deal?”

Still, “He Xiaowei” didn’t respond. Zhou Qian raised an eyebrow, then said, “From the moment I met you, I’ve been trying to figure out who you really are by talking to you. You revealed many inconsistencies, but they weren’t enough for me to act.”

“After all, people can change and behave differently under different circumstances. I needed more evidence, so I decided to trap you. It’s no fun trapping just one; the bigger fish had to be lured out.”

“After deciding to set you up, many of the things I said to you were deliberate. I intentionally told you first that I suspect there are two of you, two of me, and even two Zhou Ge here. Based on that, I then deliberately put on a show, pretending to believe that he was fake.”

“Sure enough, you really believed it. You believed it, and then another Zhou Ge emerged.

“So now, do you know where your flaw is?”

Zhou Qian walked up to He Xiaowei and said, “If you tell me what’s going on, I’ll let you die cleanly. How about it? At least tell me… why the fake Bai Zhou would shed tears, and why you occasionally show sadness? Why does the fake Bai Zhou also have a Tang sword and use exactly the same moves?”

He Xiaowei actually responded. But he only said one thing. “I have He Xiaowei’s memories of you. In some sense, I am also the real He Xiaowei. That’s why I feel pain.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian wondered—

Did the “Bai Zhou” shed tears earlier because, at that moment, he truly felt sad as Bai Zhou? Was he a clone of the real Bai Zhou? Did his tears signify that the real Bai Zhou would also feel such pain and sorrow if betrayed by him?

Zhou Qian’s expression changed slightly. Before he could ask further, the figure of “He Xiaowei” turned into ash and disappeared completely.

Zhou Qian suddenly felt a sense of loss, as if he had just personally persecuted Bai Zhou and He Xiaowei. But after all, they were just fakes.

Their feigned concern and real intent to kill him were clear. After all, pretending to protect him while actually wanting to distract the real Bai Zhou in a duel was what the fake Bai Zhou did.

The reason why this “He Xiaowei” was fooled was easy to analyze. He had been lurking by Zhou Qian’s side, looking for a chance to kill him. The reason He Xiaowei hadn’t acted yet was because Bai Zhou was with Zhou Qian. Alone, he couldn’t deal with both of them.

Realizing this, Zhou Qian hatched a plan to trap the “ghosts”.

Upon seeing Bai Zhou acting strange and Zhou Qian considering him fake, without knowing it was all Zhou Qian’s design, “He Xiaowei” believed it was real. The mission of “He Xiaowei” and their group of “ghosts” was probably to kill all the players. They wanted to kill Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou.

At that moment, seeing Zhou Qian mistakenly think the real Bai Zhou was fake, “He Xiaowei” thought it was a golden opportunity and wondered why he hadn’t brought the fake Bai Zhou. Zhou Qian would definitely think the fake was real, and they could team up to eliminate the real Bai Zhou. Once the real Bai Zhou was gone, killing Zhou Qian would be easy to deal with.

So, the fake He Xiaowei brought the fake Bai Zhou, hoping to seize this golden opportunity. In their eagerness to kill, they exposed a major flaw.

No matter how smart a person was, they couldn’t solve a math problem with missing conditions. From the information they had, players still didn’t understand the rules of this instance. They had no idea which number to press in the elevator to reach which time and space.

So far, Zhou Qian only knew one fact: once players enter the elevator and leave, they can’t return the same way as the numbers’ corresponding time-space is always changing.

Given this, it was impossible for the “He Xiaowei” or “Bai Zhou” to find them so quickly.

The overlapping time and space on the 11^th floor turned it into a maze. Their swift arrival could only mean they knew the coordinates and how to get there. Therefore, they knew all the secrets of this space and were “ghosts”, not humans.

Of course, this flaw wasn’t the basis for Zhou Qian’s judgment. He had this plan to further confirm He Xiaowei’s identity, bait the fake Bai Zhou, and eventually eliminate the two “ghosts”. He always knew that the Bai Zhou by his side was real.

After He Xiaowei disappeared, Zhou Qian immediately ran to the blood-covered Bai Zhou, helping him up.

“Zhou Ge, are you okay?”

During the recent battle between the real and fake Bai Zhou, Zhou Qian didn’t intentionally delay, causing Bai Zhou to get injured.

The two “ghosts” came too fast. They might also realize that their approach had flaws and could reveal their “ghost” identities.

However, in their eyes, Zhou Qian might not quickly realize this flaw, so they wanted to test Zhou Qian’s reaction.

Therefore, Zhou Qian had to continue acting as if he was unaware.

In this way, he could ensure that he would succeed in one strike and be able to kill the ghost that was as powerful as Bai Zhou.

Right now, Zhou Qian didn’t get a response from Bai Zhou.

Bai Zhou simply grabbed his wrist and dragged him back into room 1107, which was almost completely destroyed except for a bed.

From the broken furniture on the floor, Bai Zhou quickly pulled out a cloth strip, tied Zhou Qian’s wrist to the bed, and then leaned over to hug him tightly, just as he did before.

“Zhou Ge?” Zhou Qian lifted his other hand and gently touched Bai Zhou’s eyelid.

He watched as deep blue scales appeared on Bai Zhou’s face, one by one, gradually covering his entire face.

At the same time, sharp horns grew on his forehead, and his ears became pointed, completely different from a human’s.

Then, Bai Zhou whispered something in a low voice.

But it was clearly not a human voice anymore; it sounded like a beast suppressing its roar.

However, Zhou Qian actually understood him.

He was asking, “Are you afraid of me?”

“Not afraid.”

Zhou Qian raised his hand and gently touched his horn, which felt very smooth. He whispered, “Even in this state, you haven’t harmed me. I just don’t know which of my words triggered you to transform—”

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 92

“You’re not Bai Zhou. Who are you?”

Zhou Qian shouted out loud, immediately struggling fiercely. He tried to bend a leg, fiercely kicking the person pressing on top of him. However, his strength couldn’t move the person at all.

At the same time, the Bai Zhou from outside had broken into the room, his Tang sword slashing at the man on the bed, the flash of the blade reflecting his cold, murderous eyes.

Suddenly, another Tang sword was drawn. It was pulled out by the Bai Zhou on the bed.

He didn’t dodge or evade but directly drew his sword to meet the attacker’s strike.

As the two blades clashed, a brilliant white light erupted, illuminating two identical faces. One face looked as usual, albeit angry. The other’s face was increasingly off, with its pupils almost completely turning red, contrasting with a pale, bluish complexion, as if some monster disguised as a person was about to lose control and reveal its true form.

Accompanied by the screeching sound of metal scraping, one blade slid past the other, briefly separating before both swung with powerful killing intent. They continuously clashed, creating massive sounds with each impact.

Thus, two identical figures with identical swords began a fierce duel. Within moments, they had exchanged dozens of slashes, seemingly evenly matched. Sofas, coffee tables, and even the door were shattered, showcasing the sharpness of their blades.

Due to the special rules of the instance, neither could use special skills. Both were relying purely on their strength and combat abilities. The two fought their way from inside the room to the corridor. Carpets and walls broke apart, with shards and dust exploding amidst the flashing blades. Lights overhead shattered, dimming the already dark corridor.

While the two fiercely battled, Zhou Qian, with only one wrist bound, discreetly freed himself.

Though the room was in chaos, he wasn’t injured at all. It seemed both Bai Zhous were cautious around him, adjusting their strikes just before hitting him. Zhou Qian also noticed their techniques were almost identical.

All of this suggested as if Bai Zhou had been magically duplicated. Only one detail differed—the Bai Zhou from outside didn’t have a bite mark on his hand.

Zhou Qian took out the Rib of God from his bag and entered the corridor, where the fight between the two Bai Zhous was intensifying. Near the elevator, he saw He Xiaowei had returned, hiding in a public resting area, seemingly scared of being caught in the crossfire.

Raising his eyes, he unexpectedly met Zhou Qian’s, and he showed a terrified expression.

“Thank you for not abandoning me and calling for help,” Zhou Qian said to him.

He Xiaowei swallowed. “Ah… yes. You should come hide too. It’s too terrifying!”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian’s expression remained unchanged, but he felt a sinking feeling inside. His last doubts had vanished, and he now had a definite answer.

“I can’t. I have to help. If they keep fighting like this, they might both end up dead. Thank you for bringing the real Zhou Ge here. I’ll go help him defeat the fake one now!”

“You shouldn’t go. Zhou Ge and I can handle him!”

Having said that, Zhou Qian continued forward, his face full of rage. “I’ve been deceived for so long! I’ll kill him!”

Seeing that he couldn’t persuade Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei simply said, “Be careful then!”

“Mm. I can do it.”

Without paying further attention to He Xiaowei for the moment, Zhou Qian, holding the Rib of God, dashed towards the area where the two were fiercely battling.

At this moment, both Bai Zhou’s bodies were injured, their arms and legs covered with wounds of various sizes and severity.

However, both seemed equally unfazed.

They continued to fight as if they were numb to pain. As they moved, wounds would constantly burst open with fresh blood, staining their clothes completely red.

By the time Zhou Qian arrived, one of the Bai Zhou’s, whose eyes were almost blood-red, was slashing at him with his sword.

The other Bai Zhou, without hesitation, held his sword with both hands and slashed upwards, clashing fiercely with the oncoming blade.

The moment the two blades collided, the screeching sound of metal friction resonated once again. After that, Zhou Qian confronted the red-eyed Bai Zhou with a question: “Bastard, who the hell are you?”

Hearing this, Bai Zhou’s blood-red eyes squinted slightly, revealing a strong hint of restlessness, as if heralding the imminent arrival of an extreme danger, like a volcanic eruption or a raging tsunami.

“You’re not Bai Zhou. You’ve deceived me all along. I’m going to kill you!”

Zhou Qian yelled at him, raising the Rib of God and swinging it hard.

Bai Zhou shifted his body to the side, avoiding the attack from the Rib of God, and retreated half a step.

Seizing this opportunity, Zhou Qian swung his weapon again at him, launching a second attack in quick succession.

Yet, the sword continued to pull back, and the red-eyed Bai Zhou took another half step backward. Like this, he kept retreating, not retaliating. After a moment, he just looked up, gazing deeply at Zhou Qian through sweat-soaked hair with eyes that seemed like they were brewing a storm.

Zhou Qian bravely met his gaze, showing an unmistakable murderous intent.

After a while, he raised the Rib of God in front of his chest with his right hand while holding onto the arm of the other Bai Zhou beside him with his left. Turning his head, Zhou Qian looked at him with concern. “Thank goodness you came. Otherwise, I might have been killed by him. Zhou Ge, thank you—”

“There’s no need for that between us. Zhou Qian, step back. I’ll kill him.”

Bai Zhou looked at Zhou Qian with equal concern, grasping his hand.

While trying to pull Zhou Qian to his side and about to say something, a rapid strike from the opposing sword came swinging at them.

The normal-looking Bai Zhou quickly sidestepped to Zhou Qian’s right, wrapping an arm around him and raising his own sword, striking with lightning speed.

As the blades clashed again over the next 30 seconds, they exchanged numerous blows. Both were ruthless, aiming for vital areas; each strike was fiercer than the last.

In a fleeting moment, the opposing red-eyed Bai Zhou’s gaze slid down to the hand on Zhou Qian’s waist. The blood in his eyes seemed to boil with rage, as if blood would spurt out at any moment.

With hands clasped, he stepped back several paces, then lunged forward, delivering the fiercest blow, aiming straight for the head of the Bai Zhou beside Zhou Qian.

The blade gleamed with unprecedented sharpness, painted with red marks, prominently reflecting the murderous intent in Bai Zhou’s eyes.

Seeing this, the Bai Zhou holding Zhou Qian quickly retreated a few steps. His palm exerted a slight force, perhaps intending to push Zhou Qian away and confront the blade charged with murderous intent.

However, Zhou Qian advanced instead of retreating, swinging the Rib of God horizontally.

As the Rib of God was about to meet the incoming blade, the blade unexpectedly stopped in its tracks.

The blade’s glow dimmed, and the red-eyed Bai Zhou stepped back, spitting out a mouthful of bright red blood.

The normal-looking Bai Zhou, seeing this, immediately pulled Zhou Qian close again, gripping his sword tightly and launching another fierce strike at the opposing red-eyed Bai Zhou.

A new round of combat began, but this time, the red-eyed Bai Zhou seemed to be on the defensive, as if he was holding back something. He retreated all the way to the end of the corridor.

At this end of the corridor, one door was sealed with cement, and the other led to the chaotic room numbered 1107.

Most of the lights here were broken. From the other half of the corridor, a dim yellow light shone, suggesting that this duel was nearing its climax.

Zhou Qian felt the hand around his waist release him. Then he heard Bai Zhou beside him say, “Get behind me. I’ll handle this.”

Zhou Qian shook his head. “You can’t defeat him on your own. Let’s do it together. You distract him, and I’ll seize the opportunity to strike!”

While saying this, Zhou Qian stared intently at the red-eyed Bai Zhou across from him.

His tone was cold, filled with the intent to kill, as if he had made up his mind to put the opponent to death.

After speaking, when he looked at the Bai Zhou beside him, his gaze had softened.

His voice also softened. “Zhou Ge, be careful.”

Zhou Qian’s gentle reminder gave Bai Zhou by his side endless courage. In contrast, it seemed to evoke infinite anger in the Bai Zhou on the opposite side.

Two identical Tang swords were held by two people who looked the same, and they began their deadly duel once again.

Multiple streaks of blade light flashed and then faded. The floor curled up one after another, the wallpaper shattered inch by inch, and dust and smoke spread everywhere. By the time it all settled, both Bai Zhous were drenched in blood.

With a “clang”, the two swords met again.

The two Bai Zhous stood facing each other at the end of the corridor.

At this moment, their physical strength was obviously exhausted, with their sword-holding hands slightly trembling.

At this point, whoever lost stamina first would be the one defeated.

The deadly fight had reached its critical moment!

Zhou Qian whispered to the normal-faced Bai Zhou close to him. “Now is the time.”

Having said this, Zhou Qian gripped his Rib of God and walked step by step towards the Bai Zhou with red eyes. The red-eyed gaze shifted from his opponent to Zhou Qian, a suppressed emotion in them so intense it was suffocating.

Through these blood-red eyes, Zhou Qian felt as if he was witnessing the end of the world. Gripping the Rib of God, Zhou Qian took a deep breath and lifted it.

At this moment, the red-eyed Bai Zhou had to grip his sword with both hands just to barely withstand his opponent, trying to remain undefeated.

Looking back at the entire battle, even at the most dangerous moments, he never harmed Zhou Qian. The reason he was at a disadvantage earlier was because Zhou Qian was held by the other Bai Zhou, making him hesitant in his moves.

Given this, Zhou Qian could easily kill him if he chose to attack. And it seemed Zhou Qian intended to do just that.

He seemingly couldn’t understand all the emotions hidden deep within those red eyes, only approaching with the intent to kill.

Holding the Rib of God with both hands, Zhou Qian raised it high and swung it forcefully towards the red-eyed Bai Zhou. However, in a split second, with a twist of his ankle and a tilt of his body, the Rib of God suddenly changed direction, striking hard at the Bai Zhou originally standing behind him!

Caught off guard, the Bai Zhou took a heavy blow to the forehead and started to tilt backward, losing the standoff. The next moment, the Tang sword from the other side ruthlessly lunged forward, piercing his heart with astonishing speed and precision.

Due to Zhou Qian’s proximity, the gushing blood immediately drenched him.

Regardless of Zhou Qian’s aversion to blood, he couldn’t care less at the moment—he looked into the eyes of the fallen “Bai Zhou” who was lying in a pool of blood.

His expression was strange; initially, it was filled with deep hatred from a broken conspiracy, but a moment later, it was filled with endless pain and sorrow.

Suddenly, his eyes became extremely red, and in an instant, tears slid down from the corners, glistening like dew or stars. However, they quickly merged into the blood, leaving no trace behind.

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 91

Two more people died in Room 1112.

An old grandmother and her granddaughter died here. Both of them died in a similar manner: their heads covered with nylon bags, their faces beaten beyond recognition, and their limbs tied into bizarre shapes. As for the floor and walls inside the room, they were all painted with inverted pentagrams.

Xiong Fei and Li Yuan seemed to have become Satan’s minions, constantly killing in the human world and sending them to hell to serve the devil.

After the murders, they left Room 1112 and headed for the elevator.

While waiting for the elevator this time, a wound suddenly appeared on Xiong Fei’s neck, and blood spurted out instantly.

Xiong Fei quickly held his head, seemingly trying to prevent it from falling off.

Afterward, the two of them took the elevator and left.

After the two left, the door to Room 1104 opened, and a woman in a red dress came out.

Before leaving, she yelled into the room, “That’s right, what you’ve given me has never been what I wanted!”

Perhaps because she was too angry, the woman stumbled as she walked out. Her high heels slipped off, and she twisted her foot.

The opposite door of room 1103 opened, and a handsome man walked out.

When he saw the woman, he looked at her with a hint of pity.

Meeting his gaze, the woman lowered her head, as if feeling ashamed to be seen by him in her current state.

The man, however, seemed unconcerned. He walked over to help her up, and seeing that she couldn’t walk, he simply carried her to the elevator entrance.

In a seductive tone, he said to her, “Being with the wrong person isn’t your fault. You deserve better.”

The woman blushed and buried her face in his chest.

The elevator doors opened, and the man carried the woman inside. A moment later, both of them had disappeared.

“My god, what the hell is going on here?” He Xiaowei couldn’t help but say.

“I have some guesses. Let’s get on the elevator first.”

Having said this, Zhou Qian took Bai Zhou’s hand and walked forward, pressing the elevator’s up button.

Inside the elevator, the digital display still showed they were on the 9^th floor.

Zhou Qian glanced at the number and pressed the button for the 11^th floor.

The elevator soon arrived.

Exiting the elevator, Zhou Qian immediately turned left and walked to the end of the corridor.

This time, at the end of the 11^th floor corridor, there was only Room 1107.

As for the old room 1108 where a family of three had died, it had once again appeared to be sealed off with cement.

Seeing this, Zhou Qian went to the opposite room 1107 and swiped his key card.

The room was still empty.

However, this room didn’t have the lampshade decorated with swastikas and human skin tattoos, nor the cold towel with ice cubes left by Bai Zhou. Clearly, this wasn’t the room they had originally stayed in.

After a quick look around the room and making some kind of confirmation, Zhou Qian left room 1107.

Unsurprisingly, they encountered the third murder.

This murder took place in Room 1110.

The victims were still a couple. However, this time there were no children at the scene.

The details of this case were somewhat similar to the previous one, where a family of three were the victims, only this time the roles were reversed.

Initially, the husband was alone in room 1110 and was beaten to death by the fat man Li Yuan.

Later, the wife appeared, accompanied by the bald-headed man Xiong Fei.

The wife didn’t immediately enter the room but clung to Xiong Fei’s hand, seemingly reluctant to let go.

“Once I go back… I’ll have so many troubles.”

She sighed. “This vacation with my husband was supposed to mend our relationship. We used to argue about our child all the time, so we thought we’d try traveling alone… but it seems it didn’t work.”

“He’s not like you. You’re so considerate. You’re the best.

“Ah… The thought of seeing his face later makes me uncomfortable.”

Xiong Fei’s expression changed slightly, but only for a moment.

He quickly returned to his usual demeanor and said, “Don’t you want to go back? But if he finds out… maybe you should go back first. We have plenty of time in the future.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll go back now.”

She sighed and approached the door of Room 1113.

Perhaps because she no longer had any feelings for her husband, unlike the victims in the previous cases, when she saw the blood flowing from under the door, her first reaction was not to check on him but to turn and run.

However, this didn’t change her fate.

The moment she turned around, a small hammer raised by Xiong Fei from the side knocked her out.

The door to Room 1113 then opened, and Li Yuan came out. He grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her into the room.

After killing the two individuals and leaving behind a room with a pentagram ritual circle, Xiong Fei and Li Yuan took the elevator and left.

After the two killers departed, the story of the handsome man living in 1103 and the woman in a red dress from 1104 played out again unexpectedly. This time, as if on cue, they both emerged from their respective rooms at almost the same moment. The instant they opened their doors, they exchanged smiles, showing a deep connection. Afterward, they walked hand in hand down the corridor.

“Why do you always wear a red dress when you see me?”

“Because the first time I met you, I was wearing a red dress. I bought many identical ones… I want to commemorate that day.”

“I get it. Every time we meet, it’s as if it’s our first.”

“Yes. Every time I see you… it feels like the first time.”

After a brief conversation, the two entered the elevator and left.

Subsequent to this, Zhou Qian and his two companions didn’t make any moves for the time being.

They went to the public resting area opposite the elevator; Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou sat side by side on a couch, while He Xiaowei sat on a single soft-back chair beside them.

Looking at Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei was the first to ask, “What… What does all this mean?”

Zhou Qian replied, “It was a bit confusing at first. But after watching it a few times, it’s actually not that hard to understand. Even though it seems the man and the woman can see us, and so can Xiong Fei and Li Yuan, and they even talk to us, there’s no substantial interaction between them and us.”

He Xiaowei scratched his head. “So, does this mean… we can treat everything they do as just an animation or cutscene?”

“Yes. As to the real situation, it’s hard to tell. But for now, we can treat it as an animation.” Zhou Qian explained, “The hotel has 12 floors, but now every floor has become the 11th floor. So, my theory is—”

“We’re always on the 11^th floor, and the elevator acts as a medium connecting different time spaces. The numbers on the elevator’s panel no longer determine which floor we’re going to, but which time on the 11^th floor.”

“That makes sense! But I can’t find a pattern.” He Xiaowei continued, “I met you guys on the 9^th floor. But before that, I took the elevator in and out of the 9^th floor several times. Every time I got out, the situation on the 11^th floor was different!”

What He Xiaowei said makes sense.

The reason Zhou Qian went back to the 11^th floor was to check the situation there again.

From his perspective, he entered a strange space when he went down to the lobby to buy something and then returned to the 11th floor.

At that time, he encountered Xiong Fei and Li Yuan, who had “resurrected” and “changed their personalities”.

When he returned to room 1107, the ice cubes and towels were still there.

But now, after he went to the 9^th floor and met He Xiaowei and then returned to the 11^th floor with him, the items in room 1107 had changed. Although he was back on the 11^th floor, the situation was completely different from before.

“Yes. The elevator panel leads to different time spaces, but it’s not fixed. We need to find out the specific pattern. However, we can ascertain one thing— “

Zhou Qian added, “As we previously discussed, for now, we can treat Xiong Fei and Li Yuan’s murder story and the love story between the man and the woman as animations. They’re playing out two entirely different storylines. So, whenever we exit the elevator, we see different parts of these two animations.”

The woman in the red dress had a troubled relationship with her original husband, with marital discord likely being one of the main reasons.

Additionally, for some unknown reason, they didn’t stay at home but lived in the Saiya Hotel. At least the woman in the red dress did. Hence, she had ample opportunities to cheat. And indeed, she fell in love with the man in room 1103 across from her.

Now, as players traverse different floors, they witness fragments of their story—their meeting, getting to know each other, and falling in love.

After hearing Zhou Qian’s explanation, He Xiaowei nodded. “I get it. When we go to different floors, we’re actually watching different parts of their story. But, we only see what’s related to the 11^th floor. We don’t know what they did in other parts of Blue Harbor City.”

“Well, about the story of Xiong Fei and Li Yuan, it’s actually quite easy to understand,” Zhou Qian said. “The ‘animations’ we see are actually the system’s way of vividly showing us their methods of killing. So far, from the three cases we’ve seen, their method of killing has always been the same, involving a well-coordinated collaboration. They don’t target individuals who are alone; their targets are always pairs.”

“To kill two people, it would be much easier to use methods like drugging. However, before Xiong Fei and Li Yuan kill, they clearly need to conduct a specific ritual. Not only do they have to physically beat their victims to death, but they also require their victims to recite words swearing loyalty to Satan.”

“So, they can’t use indirect means like drugs; they have to do it bluntly.”

“In such a situation, if both victims are in the room, it might be hard for them to act.”

“Hence, in each case, one killer lures one victim out while the other enters the room to kill the remaining victim.”

In the first case, a family of three was victimized.

It appeared Li Yuan seduced the husband and lured him out.

Thus, it became much easier for Xiong Fei to deal with the wife and daughter alone.

After Xiong Fei finished the act, Li Yuan, timing it perfectly, brought the husband back. Upon his return, he walked into an ambush and was also murdered.

In the second case, the victims were an elderly grandmother and her granddaughter.

The granddaughter was a female athlete. With both present, and a direct approach, the killers might not have had an easy opportunity.

So, Xiong Fei seduced the granddaughter, taking her out on a date, while Li Yuan killed the grandmother left alone in the room.

In the end, the granddaughter was killed upon returning with Xiong Fei.

The third case followed the same logic.

Xiong Fei seduced the wife.

The husband left alone in the room was then killed by Li Yuan.

Finally, Xiong Fei brought the wife back and killed her at the same crime scene.

After a pause, Zhou Qian said, “What I’m wondering now is—if there’s a pattern among the victims of these three cases.”

Bai Zhou took over. “In the first case, the husband had an affair, in the third, the wife did, and in the second…”

He Xiaowei interrupted, “In the second case, I suspect it’s also related to having an affair!”

Zhou Qian asked, “How so?”

He Xiaowei explained, “Didn’t I mention earlier that the system asked me to help an elderly woman downstairs to the lobby? She must be the recent victim. Although she was unrecognizable due to the beating, I recognized her clothes.”

“When I was helping her downstairs, she chatted with me. She mentioned she came to Blue Harbor City to accompany her granddaughter, who was participating in a competition. She mentioned I seemed nice and would have introduced me to her granddaughter if she wasn’t already married.

“So, her granddaughter was married. And if she was out dating Xiong Fei, isn’t that cheating?”

“Hmm… So maybe when the killers choose their targets, it’s related to infidelity.”

Zhou Qian reflected, then self-corrected, “No, if we phrase it that way, the causality is wrong. The decision to target the victims precedes the seduction. It should be said that the victims are primarily those prone to infidelity, possessing a trait of ‘prone to cheating’.”

Take the first case as an example.

Perhaps the husband was already known to be unfaithful and was easily seduced.

The killers targeted this kind of person.

Given the victim’s personality, he was easily lured.

Therefore, one of the killer duo was sent to seduce him, and once successful, they seized the opportunity to kill his wife and even their child. Then, finally, the husband was also killed.

The subsequent cases follow a similar pattern; only the “easy-to-cheat” target switches from male to female.

After hearing Zhou Qian’s explanation, He Xiaowei speculated, “Shh… I might have found a connection between the two storylines! The woman in the red dress also cheated! She’s likely one of the victims!”

Zhou Qian neither agreed nor disagreed; he just listened while shaking his head.

He Xiaowei continued, “But wait. I still don’t get one thing… If the killer hates cheaters, why not just kill the one who cheated? Why kill their family too?”

“This goes into the killer’s specific motive,” Zhou Qian answered. “That’s something we still aren’t clear about.”

“The killer’s motive… Why are the killers Li Yuan and Xiong Fei?”

He Xiaowei pondered, seeming perplexed. “What’s their motive? Oh right—”

“One of the killers seduces and lures the victim out, while the other takes advantage of the isolated victim. I get that. But why Li Yuan… I mean, no offense to heavy people—I’m overweight too. But how can he easily seduce someone’s husband? It doesn’t make sense.”

“And Xiong Fei, to be honest, looks average. Why could he easily lure and seduce a woman?”

After a long silence, Zhou Qian said, “Xiong Fei does indeed look average. But… the man from room 1103 is handsome and charming.”

“Li Yuan is overweight, and being gay is still a minority. So theoretically, he shouldn’t be able to easily seduce men. However, the girl in the red dress is undeniably stunning.”

He Xiaowei gasped. “Wait… are you suggesting…”

Zhou Qian looked at the closed elevator for a moment, then got up and pulled Bai Zhou with him. He pressed the up button on the elevator. “Let’s go. Whether the truth is as I’ve guessed, we might find out after the next ‘animation’.”

One minute later.

Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou, and He Xiaowei arrived on the 12^th floor.

Of course, it was only the number “12” displayed on the elevator’s panel.

They left the elevator, but they were still on the 11^th floor.

At the end of the left corridor, room 1108 was sealed off with cement.

This time, the incident took place in room 1212.

The deceased were still a couple.

The husband was, as usual, seduced by Li Yuan and wasn’t present as he had a date with her.

Seizing this opportunity, Xiong Fei sneaked into the room and killed the wife.

Later, when the husband returned holding Li Yuan’s hand, he noticed blood under the door. Upon entering to inspect the situation, Xiong Fei suffocated him with a nylon bag.

After the murder and drawing a pentagram, Xiong Fei and Li Yuan took the elevator and left.

Shortly after, a man and a woman appeared.

Unlike their previous passionate encounters or their initial reserved interactions, this time the two ran out from room 1103 where the man was staying.

The tall, handsome man looked furious, striding forward with a stern face.

The woman, still in her red dress, fell to her knees as she ran out, holding onto the man’s leg.

“Please, don’t go! Don’t leave me. What happened today… It was an accident. I don’t know why he came looking for me! We are already divorced!”

“No. On reflection, we were both wrong. You were wrong. I was wrong too.”

“I…I didn’t…”

“No. We are both married. We betrayed our spouses.”

“It’s not like that. He—”

“I heard it, your husband was asking you to come back. What’s wrong with him… Why? Why would he indulge a wrongdoer like you? You’re a sinner. I’m a sinner. He, who led you astray and indulged your mistakes, is also a sinner.”

“We’re all sinners. We should go to hell to atone.”

After saying this, the man shoved the woman aside and tried to leave.

The woman lunged at him again, falling to her knees. The moment her knee hit the ground, it made a loud impact noise, indicating she was probably seriously hurt.

It seemed the man had no pity for her. “We have to atone. We did wrong.”

The woman, breaking down, said, “I… I’ll atone with you. As long as you don’t leave me, anything is fine!”

Hearing this, the man took out a badge from his sleeve and handed it to her.

At this moment, Zhou Qian could clearly see that the design on the badge was an inverted pentagram.

The man said to her, “Then atone with me. We have to repay.”

After saying this, the man took the hand of the woman in the red dress and left with her by elevator.

Watching the elevator doors close again, Zhou Qian said, “Hmm. I’m pretty sure now that my deduction is correct.”

“Not long ago, He Xiaowei said that the woman in the red dress had an affair, so she’s also a victim. This connects two storylines.”

“But as you all saw…”

“The woman in the red dress is likely not a victim. She’s probably one of the killers. That’s the real connection between the two storylines. So—”

“I need to correct something. In Hall C’s serial murder case, there’s more than two killers.”

“The killer related to the swastika and tattoos, without other evidence, is temporarily considered as one person.”

“But in the nylon bag and inverted pentagram serial killings, the real culprits are a man and a woman working together. The male killer lures female victims, and the female killer lures male victims, cooperating in the murders.”

“I think they do this firstly to test if the victims are prone to infidelity or making mistakes; secondly, for the convenience of murder; and thirdly, after killing so many, they turned it into a ritualistic act.”

Zhou Qian concluded, “So… the animation of the man and woman is about how two normal people became killers. Clearly, this girl was brainwashed by the one she had an affair with, joining a Satan-related cult.”

“They stayed in the Saiya Hotel, becoming hunters of the hotel, targeting promiscuous or conflicted individuals.”

“I guess, in the end, they might have died. They killed all they could within their capabilities. Before getting caught by the police, they might have committed suicide. After all, the man just said he was going to hell to atone.”

“These murderers worship Satan, not fearing death. They not only want to go to hell but also send as many servants to Satan as possible before they do.”

“Perhaps they even believe that killing is an achievement. After going to hell, they will be praised by Satan.”

“Anyway… I think the two of them are dead.”

“Their existence, like a process animation, is a hint from the system for us to clear the level.”

“Assuming this place is some alternate dimension, they might have turned into ghosts after death. After becoming ghosts and using someone else’s identity, they reenact the story of their past crimes. This might also be a direct hint from the system.”

“The most crucial hint hidden here is…”

“Ghosts can take on the appearance of our teammates, like the Xiong Fei and Li Yuan we see now.”

“After the male and female killers died and turned into ghosts, these two ghosts appeared as Xiong Fei and Li Yuan, repeatedly enacting the crimes on different floors to different victims.”

“Of course, I still don’t understand what this space is. The actual situation might be much more complicated. After all, after killing, Xiong Fei and Li Yuan greeted us. They have the memories of players.”

“But for now, I can’t find another term to describe this unknown entity, so I’ll just call it a ‘ghost’.”

“How ghosts become players and why they have their memories, I still haven’t figured out. However—”

At this point, Zhou Qian gave He Xiaowei, who stood in the dim corridor light, a meaningful look.

“One thing is certain. There might be many ‘ghosts’ in this space. They can take on the appearance of players, appear beside us, and then potentially look for an opportunity to kill us.”

He continued, “So, the reason I’ve been talking to you for so long, explaining in such detail… is to test whether or not you’re a ‘ghost’.”

He Xiaowei was stunned, then burst out laughing. “Qian’er, are you joking? How could I possibly…”

“Yes, how could Xiaowei be a ghost? We’ve been talking for so long, and I feel that you’re still you. A ‘ghost’ couldn’t possibly imitate so perfectly. So, it’s not possible.”

Zhou Qian smiled, raised Bai Zhou’s arm that he was holding, and then looked at him. “Zhou Ge is also one of us. From now on, it’s better for the three of us to act together so as not to give the ‘ghost’ an opportunity. I guess—”

After a pause, Zhou Qian said, “The exhibition hall designs virtual game instances with a function to explain the killer’s motive. Since this male-female killer duo worship Satan… the exhibition hall might really construct a hell in the game.”

“So, this alternate space is probably something like hell.”

“Now that so many people have died, if they all become ghosts, and subsequently take on the identity of players, then that’s troublesome.”

After Zhou Qian finished speaking, he noticed that Bai Zhou seemed lost in thought, as if unresponsive to his words.

He Xiaowei didn’t say anything for a while either, seemingly deep in thought.

Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes, scratched Bai Zhou’s palm, and then noticed a hint of red fleeting across Bai Zhou’s pupils. It was so brief that it seemed like Zhou Qian’s imagination.

Finally, He Xiaowei spoke up. “Wait, that’s not right—”

“How do they obtain these identities?” He Xiaowei asked with confusion, “The two Hall D players, Li Yuan and Xiong Fei, were killed by the swastika killer and died in reality. Were their souls taken over and possessed by ‘ghosts’? Can I understand it that way?”

“That’s indeed a possibility,” Zhou Qian replied. “Hmm… your thought is quite reliable. If ghosts only change their appearance, that doesn’t explain the memory issue.

“The ghosts imitating Li Yuan and Xiong Fei recognize us and can call out our names… The theory of possession is indeed more plausible. They take over the player’s body and subsequently acquire the related memories of the player.”

Upon hearing this, He Xiaowei patted his chest. “From what you’re saying, there won’t actually be a second me or a second you. If I die in reality, only a ghost could possibly possess me. Right?”

“True. That makes sense.” Zhou Qian pondered. “If there isn’t anything like parallel universes, but just spirits possessing bodies to revive them, then yes, that’s the case.”

“So, what we need to guard against next isn’t one of us! What we should really be wary of are those killed by Xiong Fei and Li Yuan. Who knows when they might start a killing spree against us. But…”

“We don’t have anyone here with the ‘prone to cheating’ characteristic, do we?!”

He Xiaowei scratched his head. “There aren’t even couples here. How does this death condition get triggered?”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian smiled and glanced at Bai Zhou, releasing the hand he was holding.

At this moment, Bai Zhou’s pupils looking at Zhou Qian suddenly deepened, his demeanor drastically different from usual.

Yet Zhou Qian seemed oblivious to any change.

He simply said, “He Xiaowei’s idea is quite accurate. That man and woman are the real culprits behind the serial killings. They have now possessed Li Yuan and Xiong Fei. After finishing the animation and the game hint function, they’ll likely make their move on us. So, based on their analysis—”

“Their targets are always couples. We shouldn’t stay together.”

“So, Zhou Ge—”

Staring into Bai Zhou’s eyes, Zhou Qian emphasized word by word. “Zhou Ge, we need to split up.”

At this very moment, the three were right outside room 1107.

Across from them, room 1108 had turned into a wall again.

As for the situation inside 1107, no one knew.

Bai Zhou’s expression changed dramatically, showing an unprecedented level of seriousness and gloom.

He stared at Zhou Qian without blinking, knocking hard on the door of room 1107. When no one answered, he kicked the door open with force.

Seemingly sensing something was amiss, Zhou Qian’s face changed instantly.

His pupils constricted, and he warily looked at the now unfamiliar Bai Zhou.

Taking a few steps back, he shouted to He Xiaowei, “He Xiaowei, something’s off with him. Run! We need to run! Head to the elevator!”

“Okay, okay, I’m on it…” He Xiaowei turned and ran, heading in the direction of the elevator.

Zhou Qian backed up a few steps, quickly turning to follow He Xiaowei.

The next moment, his wrist was suddenly grabbed.

Zhou Qian almost cried out, “What’s going on? Who are you?”

Bai Zhou seemed to ignore him.

He gripped Zhou Qian’s wrist tightly with one hand while swiftly wrapping his other arm around Zhou Qian’s waist, quickly pulling him into the room.

Once inside, Bai Zhou didn’t hesitate, swiftly delivering two powerful kicks. The first one slammed the door shut, causing a loud bang. The second kick sent a sofa, along with a coffee table, crashing against the broken door, effectively barricading it.

In the ensuing struggle, Zhou Qian seized a moment to free his wrist and tried to run.

However, without the ability to use any skills, he was no match for Bai Zhou.

Bai Zhou grabbed him by the waist and shockingly threw him onto the bed!

As the back of his head and spine hit the bed, Zhou Qian, disregarding the pain, sprung up from the bed. The next thing he heard was the sound of fabric tearing.

The next moment, his right wrist was gripped, and he was uncontrollably thrown back onto the bed, his wrist then being tied tightly to the bedpost with a strip of torn cloth.

It turned out that Bai Zhou had torn the cloth with one hand while subduing Zhou Qian.

His speed and strength were almost unbelievable!

Struggling to lift his head and glance in the direction of the room door, Zhou Qian’s expression had changed significantly from when he looked at He Xiaowei in the corridor earlier.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Qian looked at Bai Zhou, his voice somewhat heavy. “Zhou Ge, can you hear me? You—”

Bai Zhou didn’t respond but simply lay sideways on the bed, with one arm pulling Zhou Qian into his embrace while staring intently into his eyes.

Bai Zhou looked at Zhou Qian.

Zhou Qian was also gazing at him.

Zhou Qian could clearly see that deep within Bai Zhou’s pitch-black eyes, a faint redness was emerging, as if they were about to bleed.

“Zhou Ge?” Zhou Qian tried calling his name again.

He then felt Bai Zhou tightly grip his hand, the strength almost causing him pain.

Zhou Qian immediately furrowed his brows and then felt Bai Zhou lean in even closer.

Staring at Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou remained silent. His heavy breathing and the rise and fall of his chest conveyed a deep, powerful heartbeat clearly to Zhou Qian, who was very close.

Holding Zhou Qian tighter, Bai Zhou then lifted a hand and gripped the back of Zhou Qian’s head, pulling him even closer. Accompanied by this movement, Bai Zhou leaned forward, gently kissing Zhou Qian’s earring.

After a moment, a loud banging sound came from the door.

Zhou Qian heard another Bai Zhou’s voice from outside.

“Zhou Qian? Are you in there?”

Zhou Qian remained still, just gazing deeply at the Bai Zhou in front of him, who seemed completely off.

Soon after, the door of the room, along with the sofa and coffee table blocking it, was flung open.

The next moment, there was a flash of silver, and a Tang sword, which Zhou Qian was very familiar with, slashed through the air with endless killing intent!

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