At the same time, in the real world.
Yu Jiao was lying on the bed with her eyes closed when her phone beside her suddenly buzzed with vibrations.
She opened her eyes in a daze, frowned, and thought, who would be calling in the middle of the night?
She reached under the pillow skillfully, found the phone, pressed to answer, and placed it by her ear.
“Hello?” she greeted instinctively with her eyes still closed.
The next second, a man’s excited voice came through the phone.
“Yu Jiao!! Li Mu is back!!!”
Hearing that long-lost name, Yu Jiao’s eyes flew open, her sleepiness vanished in an instant. She shot up from bed with wide eyes, her voice trembling, “You said… who?”
As if he could guess what she was thinking, the man spoke again, even more excitedly: “Li Mu! That Li Mu! It’s her!! She’s back!! A high-level player saw her through the livestream system!!”
The phone slipped from her hand and landed on the blanket with a dull thud. The man’s remaining words became a blur.
Yu Jiao stared blankly, lowered her head slowly, staring at her trembling fingers. She stayed silent for a long while before clenching them with her other hand. Her hand was already freezing in the cold air, but her heart was pounding wildly. A strange mix of heat and bitterness surged from deep within.
Li Mu… really came back?
Her vision started to blur. She blinked, and a teardrop landed on the phone screen. The screen, which had gone dark, lit up again, and the call was still ongoing.
Yu Jiao hurriedly picked up the phone and placed it back to her ear. She opened her mouth but took a few seconds before speaking hoarsely, “Which instance was it in? When did it happen?”
It was too complicated to explain, and the man couldn’t make it clear over the phone, so he simply said, “I’ll send you the location now. The others will come too. We’ll talk once everyone’s there!”
As if remembering the relationship between Yu Jiao and Li Mu, he hesitated a second later and added:
“But… you’d better be mentally prepared. This time, Li Mu doesn’t seem quite the same as before.”
Inside the instance, night was falling. The pitch-black sky was devoid of stars, and the heavy air seemed to carry a constant damp chill.
In the first-floor lobby, the clock on the wall pointed to eleven. Its ticking echoed through the empty space.
Second floor, room 203.
Chen Zhixia was sitting on the sofa, wringing his hands anxiously. His gaze kept drifting to the two elderly people watching TV beside him, his expression tense.
After hearing what the other players said about identities, Chen Zhixia had searched thoroughly after returning, but he didn’t find any suspicious clues. If anything stood out, it was the fact that he was fired as soon as he got to the company today.
He opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and finally said, “Dad, Mom… I lost my job today.”
Chen Zhixia was the sole breadwinner of this household. Without his income, they’d really be in dire straits.
He had expected such bad news to sadden his parents, but surprisingly, after a brief pause, both elders just smiled and said, “It’s okay, son. So what if you lost your job.”
Mother Chen even handed him a glass of warm water, her eyes gentle. “Your father and I have always known how hard you’ve worked. If that company doesn’t suit you, then just quit. Find another one. You must be tired today, right? Go take a bath and relax.”
Now it was Chen Zhixia’s turn to be stunned. He blankly stared at the water glass handed to him. His eyes misted with heat, and he softly replied with an “Mm” as he took the cup.
When he entered the bathroom and looked at the man in the mirror, Chen Zhixia let out a long breath. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
At least for now, these parents seemed genuinely good to their son. The heavy-handed character setting seemed more like an exception.
Feeling slightly relieved, he turned on the faucet and bent down to wash his face.
But the moment he saw the items on the counter, his gaze froze.
There, among the bottles and jars on the vanity, sat a small white pill bottle—barely noticeable, with all-English labeling.
Still, Chen Zhixia translated the words on the bottle.
It was… sleeping pills.
He froze instantly, and in that moment, he thought of the warm water sitting on the coffee table, the one he hadn’t touched yet.
With mixed feelings, he walked out of the bathroom. When she saw him come out, Mother Chen waved him over with a smile.
“Son, come here. That milk powder you bought me last time—you said it helps with sleep, right? I made you a cup. Drink it and get a good night’s sleep.”
Chen Zhixia stood rooted in place, staring at the three cups of milk on the table, unease creeping into his chest.
But under the expectant eyes of the two elders, he finally forced himself to walk over stiffly, picked up one of the cups, and drank it.
Then, Chen Zhixia’s pupils contracted. His body froze, the hand holding the cup clenched tighter, his fingertips trembling slightly.
His “Poison Immunity” skill… had activated on its own.
【Ding—Detected ingredient in liquid: rat poison.】
Downstairs, the clock had quietly ticked forward ten minutes. It was now eleven thirty.
Fourth floor, room 402.
Rong Fan sat in the room, while Rong Ya was in the living room watching TV, which meant he finally had time to sort through the clues.
He turned back to the page he had seen during the day. Those large words once again came into view. Under the light, the black ink gleamed, reflecting a faint shine. The twisted font seemed magnified infinitely.
Rong Fan flipped back to check the earlier handwriting and confirmed that the content was written by “himself.”
He continued flipping forward. The following pages were still full of despair.
“I really have no way out. I really can’t fight these monsters.”
“Let them all die. Let them all die!!”
“Get out of my house!!!”
“That’s not my sister! Throw her out!! I’m going to kill her!!”
“Everyone’s a monster! There are no normal people left in this world!!”
From desperate pleas for help to deranged rage, the terror and helplessness the writer felt were fully exposed in these lines.
The more Rong Fan read, the deeper his frown became. Until, on the last page, “Rong Fan” wrote a line full of exhaustion and sarcasm.
“The God of Light is fake. The God of Peace is fake too. This world is just one giant cycle. All our efforts are meaningless. We can’t kill these monsters at all.”
Reading this, Rong Fan’s fingertips rested on the page, unmoving for a long time.
God of Light, God of Peace, cycle, monsters…
What did all of this mean?
Before he could come to a conclusion, a sharp scream rang out from outside: “Ah—!!”
Rong Fan’s eyes sharpened, and he immediately stood and rushed out, his voice urgent: “What…”
But when he saw the scene in the living room, his pupils contracted violently. The rest of his words caught in his throat, unable to come out. His hand gripping the doorframe trembled slightly.