Gu Jiu and the others kept watch from noon until dinner time, yet the ghost in the room still did not appear.
The ghost-like landlord once again brought out bowls of blood-streaked mush from the kitchen, calling the players over for dinner. Even if the players didn’t eat, he still served them all the same.
The players ignored him, looking toward where Gu Jiu was sitting.
The two were sitting in the hallway in front of the empty room. The hallway was connected to the living room, so from the living room, one could easily see them.
The landlord walked over with a gloomy expression and asked, “What are you doing?”
Gu Jiu was most annoyed with him. If the timing had been right, she would have wanted to beat him up.
She immediately snapped back, “What does what we’re doing have to do with you? Can’t we even sit here if we want? Even if you’re the landlord, you can’t control where we sit, right?”
The landlord was left speechless.
Even in an illogical game world, certain rules had to be followed. The rules indeed did not state that the landlord could forbid players from doing such things. But the landlord found Gu Jiu displeasing; no matter what she did, he was unhappy.
The landlord had to say, “It’s time for dinner. You should go eat.”
“I can eat here, too.” Gu Jiu didn’t forget to retort, “You’re not going to control where I eat dinner too, are you?”
In this game world, there was no rule stating that players had to sit at the dining table to eat. Players could even choose not to eat at all; otherwise, the landlord would have forced them to eat long ago, rather than throwing the food bowls around in the kitchen and making a racket.
He was clearly an NPC with no authority.
The landlord stared at her darkly, then, as if thinking of something, said cheerfully, “Suit yourself. I hope you sleep well tonight.”
“As long as you don’t show up in front of me with that lowly face, I’ll sleep just fine.”
The sharp-tongued young lady once again drove the landlord away in anger.
Seeing this, the other players could tell that she was deliberately looking for trouble. She just couldn’t stand the landlord, and whenever he appeared, she had to provoke him.
After the landlord left, Gu Jiu took out some bread and water, eating while keeping watch.
The food and water in Gu Jiu’s pack had already been distributed; this meal was shared by Ying Tong.
Fatty came over with his brother, squatting nearby, chewing on bread. He asked, “Hey, so that ghost hasn’t shown up all day?”
Gu Jiu gave a casual “Mhm,” then asked if they had noticed anything unusual today.
“Nothing,”Fatty said helplessly. “In previous game worlds, we’d be glad if the ghosts didn’t show up. This time, we actually want them to appear, but only a few did… Oh, by the way, do you think there are seven ghosts in that room, corresponding to the seven sheeps?”
The players weren’t foolish; they had already realized that the “seven” in “seven sheeps” likely corresponded to seven ghosts.
As for the “sheeps,” it might be related to the monster with a sheep’s head and human body from the dream.
So this instance had nothing to do with the story of The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats that Wen Xiuxiu had mentioned earlier.
“Maybe,” Gu Jiu didn’t give a definite answer. After all, they only knew of a few ghosts so far, and nothing was certain yet.
“We’ll see what happens tonight. Maybe then we’ll know.”
Fatty asked with interest, “How are you going to figure it out?”
Gu Jiu was drinking water and didn’t respond.
“Is it in the dream?” the thin guy suddenly spoke up. “Miss Gu, do you suspect that the creature with a sheep’s head and a human body in the dream is the key?”
Gu Jiu swallowed her water and answered seriously, “It’s not a suspicion. It is the key.”
After dinner, Gu Jiu checked the time and told Fatty and his brother, “We’re going to take a shower. You stay here and keep a close watch.”
Fatty and his brother agreed in unison.
The other players were a bit taken aback, surprised that she still had the mind to take a shower at a time like this.
For the meticulous young lady, since the conditions allowed it, why not take a shower? She was used to bathing every day and didn’t want to compromise her comfort, even in a game world.
She took Lu Ji along and called Ying Tong and Wen Xiuxiu to go shower with her.
Since the ghost in the bathroom had been swallowed by the paper frog, the four of them had an uneventful time showering. Once they were done, they let the male players go for their turn. Maybe it was Gu Jiu’s influence, or perhaps the guys felt assured knowing that no ghosts were lurking in the bathroom, but tonight, all the male players decided to take a shower too.
After they finished, the evening bell rang, signaling that it was time for players to return to their rooms to rest.
Seeing Gu Jiu and Lu Ji still standing guard by the door, Ying Tong asked, “Aren’t you two going back to your rooms?”
Gu Jiu replied, “I’m waiting for that ghost to come out. I don’t believe I can’t catch it!”
Everyone else: “….” Miss, it’s already dark. Don’t be so stubborn.
In a D-level game world, there was an unspoken rule: if an NPC specifically warned the players, it was best not to leave their rooms after dark, or they risked triggering a death mechanism.
The other players weren’t about to gamble with their lives and quickly returned to their rooms.
In the end, only Fatty and his brother stayed out, loyally keeping the two girls company. But Fatty was still quite scared, pressing his hefty body close to his skinny brother, his plump hand gripping his brother’s arm.
Skinny wanted to kick him away. “Don’t you have any sense of your own size?”
Fatty defended himself, “It’s not like I wanted to be this way. It’s because of too many hormonal medications. I can’t help it.”
Gu Jiu suddenly asked, “You two are brothers, so why is there such a big difference in your body types? Is it due to illness?”
Fatty and Skinny were full-blood brothers. The chubby one, Lin Bufan, was the elder brother, and the thin one, Lin Buqi, was the younger. They were only two years apart in age, but their body types were starkly different, which was clearly abnormal.
“Yes,” Fatty didn’t mind sharing. “We were perfectly normal as kids. But one time, we got into a car accident. Our parents died on the spot. After receiving treatment, we ended up like this because of the side effects from the medications…”
The brothers’ expressions were calm as they spoke about it.
“Sorry,” Gu Jiu apologized, realizing she probably shouldn’t have asked about something so personal.
Fatty waved his hand dismissively, smiling warmly. “It’s all in the past; it’s been more than ten years, and we’ve pretty much gotten over it. We originally thought the two of us would go through life like a bun paired with chopsticks. But then, out of nowhere, we were dragged into this game world. While it’s dangerous, if we can one day make it into a higher-tier game field, our bodies will return to normal. So, in a way, it’s a bit of luck…”
In reality, their physical condition was nearly impossible to restore, but the game world offered them a chance at recovery.
Gu Jiu thought to herself that their situation seemed similar to hers. Once they entered higher-level game fields, they might have the chance to return to normal.
The games of the multiverse brought despair but also offered a sliver of hope.
As Gu Jiu was lost in thought, the world around her grew silent.
This silence wasn’t just an absence of voices—it was a creeping, oppressive darkness, forcing the entire world into stillness.
Gu Jiu looked up and found that only she remained; Fatty, his brother, and Lu Ji had all disappeared.
She was still seated in front of the empty room. Beside her was another empty chair, and though the lights in the living room were still on, they seemed distant and unreachable.
Gu Jiu took a calm look around, remaining seated without making a single move.
Tap, tap, tap!
A sharp sound of footsteps echoed—like the distinct click of high heels on the ground—clear in the quiet darkness.
Gu Jiu glanced toward the stairwell where the sound came from, though she still didn’t get up, guarding the doorway.
The footsteps in the stairwell lingered, sometimes distant as if coming from the stairwell or even the first floor, and sometimes near, as if right beside her, hauntingly close.
Gu Jiu’s face remained calm, a faint smirk playing at her lips, unmoved by it all.
Suddenly, a soft creak came from the empty room. Only then did Gu Jiu rise slowly, stepping into the empty room.
The room, uninhabited, had its window wide open, and a gust of night wind blew in, stirring the debris scattered on the floor.
Gu Jiu looked disgusted, her eyes fixed intently on the eerie red glow hovering by the window.
This ghost hadn’t revealed itself, but her clairvoyant eyes could see the supernatural red glow it emitted. Whether it appeared physically or not made no difference to her.
“Are you coming to me, or should I come to you?”
Gu Jiu smiled as she spoke to the ghost. Her fingers, hanging by her side, grew long and sharp, red as blood, and her smile, cold and sharp, made her look even more like a deadly spirit than the ghost at the window.
The ghost whipped up another gust of wind, blowing trash toward Gu Jiu’s feet.
Gu Jiu’s face instantly darkened. She kicked away an empty plastic bottle rolling toward her and strode purposefully to the window, reaching out and grabbing the ghost wrapped in red light, yanking it down.
The claws of the Banshee’s Armor dug into the ghost’s form, dispersing the red glow as the ghost’s true shape was revealed.
The ghost was a young child, looking better than the other ghosts encountered today. If you ignored the pale face and poor complexion, it could almost pass as a normal, adorable kid.
However, Gu Jiu didn’t spare it just because it was a child ghost. She grabbed it and carried it out of the room.
Still, she didn’t hurt the little ghost. The Banshee’s Armor only forced it to reveal itself, and once the ghost realized it couldn’t escape, it resigned itself to being carried along by her.
As she stepped out of the room, the previously vanished Fatty, his brother, and Lu Ji stood there, perfectly fine.
The two brothers looked at her in confusion at first. Then, when they noticed the little ghost in her hand, they were shocked and puzzled. “Sis, what’s going on? How did this ghost suddenly appear?”
Gu Jiu handed the little ghost to Lu Ji, letting the paper frog swallow it, and asked them, “What did you experience just now?”
Fatty quickly replied, “We were just talking, and suddenly you all disappeared. Then, I started hearing footsteps from the stairwell—it was terrifying.”
He scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. “I figured we were probably in some kind of ghost trap, so we didn’t dare to wander around. We just stayed put, and sure enough, you didn’t disappoint. Soon, we escaped the ghost’s domain.”
Fatty sincerely praised Gu Jiu, believing the scene was orchestrated by the little ghost in the room as a diversion.
Gu Jiu shook her head, “There was indeed a ghost in the stairwell, but it wasn’t the same as this little one.”
Fatty grew anxious and nervously asked, “Then… should we go hunt that ghost?”
“No need.” Gu Jiu took out a bottle of water to wash her hands and replied while cleaning up, “It’s too late. Let’s head back to sleep.”
“Sleep? What if that sheep-headed creature shows up again while we’re asleep?” Fatty looked dismayed and exchanged glances with his brother, deciding they’d try to stay awake all night and avoid sleeping.
They didn’t have enough Red Vine Seeds left to save themselves again.
Gu Jiu didn’t say much in response, simply wishing them a good night before heading back to the room with Lu Ji.
Once back, Gu Jiu took off her shoes, climbed into bed, and patted the spot beside her.
“Come on, Lu Ji. Let’s do a test tonight.”
Lu Ji followed her lead onto the bed, puzzled. “What are you going to test?”
Gu Jiu smiled, “I want to test how to defeat the sheep-headed creature! Each player only has four Red Vine Seeds. Last night, all the players were unprepared and ended up using two each. With only two left, it’s barely enough. Plus, tonight is the second night, so the creature’s strength must have increased, and the seeds probably won’t work anymore.”
In the game world, there was a pattern: the longer players stayed in the game, the stronger the ghosts and monsters would become, making them increasingly hard to deal with.
Lu Ji frowned, concerned. “Just be careful.”
He didn’t try to dissuade Gu Jiu from taking the risk. He knew this was the path Gu Jiu was determined to take. All he could do was stay by her side, watching over her as she quickly drifted to sleep.