On the A4 paper, densely packed words read: “It hurts, it hurts…”
Lin Zizhou broke into a cold sweat. Seeing the latest date written on the paper coinciding with today’s date sent a chilling dread coursing through him, making his hair stand on end.
“Ah, it hurts!”
Suddenly, a pained cry from Lin Xue’er drew everyone’s attention in the office.
“Sorry, I accidentally hit the corner of the desk,” she said, rubbing her elbow, looking both innocent and pitiable.
“Remember hint 1. Don’t speak loudly,” Shen Ruo softly warned.
An awkward expression flickered across Lin Xue’er’s face, and she silently grumbled about how Shen Ruo didn’t know how to show any compassion.
“Got it~” she replied, sticking out her tongue, pretending to be playful.
[Lin Xue’er is so fake. Her face is practically ruined, and she’s still pretending to be cute.]
[Fake or not, at least she knows how to rely on men!]
[But Shen Ruo isn’t buying it at all. Lin Xue’er might as well give up on trying to cling to him.]
The comments in the live chat of Stream Room 92 were ruthless, ridiculing her without hesitation.
This stream room cycled through hosts frequently, and not many were concerned about Lin Xue’er’s fate.
After gathering the clues, the group left the office. Lin Xue’er walked at the back, her heart filled with unease.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but the spot on her elbow where she had bumped the desk began to itch. She couldn’t resist scratching it.
“So itchy… So itchy…”
Lin Xue’er scratched faster and harder. Her delicate, manicured nails tore into her flesh like sharp blades, and soon her elbow was a bloody mess.
“Lin Xue’er, what are you doing?”
Noticing something was off, Lin Zizhou turned and saw her arm dripping with blood, yet she continued clawing at it without stopping.
But Lin Xue’er seemed not to hear him, mumbling incessantly, “It itches. It feels like there are bugs crawling inside. It itches so much!”
“Stop it! There are no bugs inside!” Lin Zizhou tried to stop her.
“There are so many bugs! I can see them. They’re crawling deeper and deeper. I have to pull them all out!”
Lin Xue’er’s eyes were bloodshot, and she tore away chunks of her flesh as if possessed.
“Look! I found a bug!” she suddenly shouted excitedly.
Lin Zizhou looked on in horror. In Lin Xue’er’s blood-covered hand was a wriggling maggot.
“Ugh—”
Lin Zizhou couldn’t help but vomit.
“There are more bugs! So many bugs…”
Lin Xue’er tossed the maggot onto the floor and continued digging for more bugs. The flesh on her arm had already been completely shredded. Suddenly, she said, “My eyes are so itchy!”
Under Lin Zizhou’s horrified gaze, Lin Xue’er plunged her fingers into her eye sockets.
“Let’s go,” Shen Ruo said, grabbing Lin Zizhou by the arm. His expression was equally grim, but this was no time to succumb to fear.
In the dim corridor, as they hurried away, Lin Xue’er’s screams grew more agonized behind them.
“Don’t leave me! Please, don’t leave me behind!”
“It hurts, it hurts so much…”
The final scream they heard was no longer Lin Xue’er’s voice.
“It seems Lin Xue’er triggered it when she shouted about the pain in the office,” Zhou Ya said, still shaken.
Shen Ruo’s face was grave. “We mustn’t speak loudly, no matter what.”
“We only have 40 minutes left. Can we survive this?” Lin Zizhou slumped to the ground in despair, his hope crushed by Lin Xue’er’s gruesome end.
This three-and-a-half-star mission was a hopeless nightmare for them.
—
[Ding! Congratulations, Player 65! Popularity has reached 10,000 points. Hint 2 unlocked.]
[Hint 2: The elder sister is not sick.]
Upon receiving the system notification, Shen Ruo’s expression flickered.
If the elder sister wasn’t sick, then the little boy Mu Qing saw must have been real.
Which meant the boy was—a ghost.
“Bang. Bang. Bang.”
“Big brother, big sister, let’s play a game together, okay?”
Out of nowhere, a little boy appeared before the three of them. He held a red leather ball in his arms. His fingers were mangled, with bloody flesh dangling and the tips of his bones faintly visible.
“Big brother, big sister, let’s play a game together, okay?”
He repeated the words, dark brown blood trickling steadily from his throat.
It was then that Shen Ruo saw it clearly—his throat had been slashed open by a sharp blade.
“Big…brother…big…sister…”
The boy’s voice grew sharper and more piercing.
“Bang!”
Suddenly, his head fell from his neck and hit the cement floor with a sickening thud.
A stench of rot and foul blood filled the air, making them gag.
“Let’s…play…a…game…together…okay?”
The boy’s severed head spoke, his mouth opening and closing, his voice shrill and grating.
The headless body crawled toward them, leaving a horrifying trail of blood on the corridor floor.
“Run… run!”
Shen Ruo’s pupils contracted in fear. He shouted and bolted in the opposite direction.
“Ah!”
Zhou Ya screamed as countless rotting arms burst from the corridor walls, flailing wildly.
In the chaos, one of the arms clawed into Zhou Ya’s arm, tearing it open. Blood gushed from her wound. Lin Zizhou and Shen Ruo weren’t spared either, their bodies covered in scratches and injuries.
“Are we all going to die here?” Lin Zizhou’s voice was filled with despair.
—
Elsewhere, the clamor in the hallway caused Chu Ci to frown slightly. He glanced at Qing Li, whose eyes were closed, and calmly rolled up his sleeves. The gleam of a silver scalpel caught the light as it rested between his elegant, slender fingers.
Just as Chu Ci was about to open the door and silence the chaos outside, Qing Li’s eyes fluttered open. She smiled, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and said cheerfully, “No need to trouble Dr. Chu this time. Those people outside are my companions.”
Hopping lightly off the surgical table, Qing Li strolled leisurely toward the door.
The corridor outside was shrouded in gloom, bathed in ominous red light. Ghostly claws flailed wildly, desperate cries echoed, and terrified figures fled in panic.
In stark contrast, Qing Li remained composed, as if existing in an entirely different realm.
Her gaze swept the scene, but she made no move to help. Instead, a mischievous smile curved her lips as she called out loudly, “Safe house for sale! Room for three more! Hurry up and get in!”
The fleeing group froze in shock.
“You’re… alive?” Shen Ruo gasped as he spotted Qing Li. Without hesitation, he dashed into the surgical room, followed closely by Zhou Ya and Lin Zizhou, both battered and bloodied. Some of their wounds were so deep that bone was visible.
“Bang!”
Qing Li slammed the door shut behind them. Scraping noises immediately followed, the sound of ghostly claws scratching at the door, sending chills down the survivors’ spines.
“Player 100, you…”
Shen Ruo hesitated. He wanted to ask how Qing Li was still alive when they had been certain she’d fallen prey to the ghosts.
“I was lucky,” Qing Li replied with a disarming smile. “I found this safe and secure spot. The ghosts outside can’t get in for now.”
Her tone was sweet and innocent, but her dark, piercing gaze fixated on the group.
Relieved to hear they were temporarily safe, the group let out a collective sigh and began to relax.
But then Qing Li abruptly spoke, her tone casual but direct: “But since I’m the one who found this safe haven, and since you would have died outside if I hadn’t opened the door, shouldn’t you… thank me?”
She left no room for misunderstanding, her meaning clear—she expected payment. It was only a matter of how much.