CH 27

Staring at the wardrobe, Lu Yibei was deep in thought.

‘Should I open it?’

‘I hope something doesn’t pop out yelling, “Surprise, motherf*cker!”’

When his fingertips traced along the copper rings of the wardrobe, it felt strangely cold. He held the ring and pulled it gently, and the scarlet door opened with a shriek. It was empty—all that was in it was a rusty pair of scissors stained with blood.

The moment he laid his eyes on the pair of scissors, the room no longer smelled musty but bloody. A chill ran down his back, and he felt somebody laying on his shoulders and blowing into his neck.

A pale figure was stuck on Yibei’s back, and their messy black hair hung down his shoulders. It stretched out a pale hand, resting it on top of Yibei’s own, and guided his hand towards the pair of scissors.

Yibei tried resisting, but the dull pain in his abdomen told him otherwise. The force that was guiding his hand also became forceful, as if it were trying to push his entire body towards the scissors.

The familiar, stinging pain in his abdomen made Yibei shiver, and cold sweat started to drip down his forehead. ‘Damn it, is she trying to kill me?’

As he thought about it, the pain in his abdomen suddenly intensified tenfold, making his body go limp from the pain. He could no longer resist the force pushing his hand towards the scissors and staggered forward.

His legs were like jelly, and he was forced into a kneeling position. His mouth was agape, but the pain was so intense that he was unable to make a single sound.

His vision blurred, and his ears started to ring. In the midst of his losing consciousness, he could hear two men talking.

“Mr Rabbit, tell me, the Night Division is getting closer and closer to you, and yet you are unable to hatch the witch’s egg,” a hissing voice dripped. “If you fail, I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you anymore. I like Huacheng a lot, but if the Night Division catches on to me, then I’ll be forced to leave.”

“Just one more,” a voice responded emotionlessly. “That damned Lu Yibei! Why can’t he just fall into my grasp and surrender? He’d be the perfect sacrifice!”

‘Sacrifice? Absolutely not!’ Yibei yelled in the dreamscape.

The scene before him started to morph into a clear warehouse.

A huge iron hook could be seen within the warehouse, hanging a blackened, unidentified body. Its rancid blood dripped down onto a stone platform where an egg rested.

The object looked like a fossilized egg, but it moved as if it were breathing—alive. It wriggled in place, and every time it wriggled, distorted female faces would be imprinted onto the stone surface.

With each drop of blood, a crimson gleam would flash through the cracks of the egg, and those human faces would elicit screams that would break a human’s mind—inaudible whispers, moans of pain, anxious begging, panic, depression…

Lu Yibei couldn’t avert his gaze from the egg.

Strange emotions brewed within him—lust and greed. The only thing he knew at that moment was that he needed that egg.

“I’ll find a way,” a voice hushed. “I got a target for tonight.”

“Is that so? Then, I wish you luck.”

The sudden conversation snapped Yibei out of his enthrallment, and he looked in the direction of the conversation.

Mr Rabbit was in a black cloak, and his scarlet eyes seemed to be out of focus, staring at the shadow in the corner. His furry, rabbit mouth would twitch from time to time.

On the opposite side of Mr Rabbit was a shirtless man who sat on an old shipping container. His mouth was sewn up with wire, and his exposed chest was covered with hideous scars. Surrounded by those scars was a tattoo in the shape of a blackened sun.

When he saw the tattoo on the man’s chest, Lu Yibei felt his brain tremble in recognition; something fragmented and ethereal surged up within him.

He felt that it was important to him.

‘I can’t remember where I’ve seen that pattern before…’

He tried his best to recall but realized that the mundane conversation between Mr Rabbit and the man had stopped.

He froze and looked up, noticing their eyes on him.

His pupils constricted violently. Was this not a dreamscape? He swore they were staring right into his soul!

In a panic, he wanted to back up but found that he was unable to move.

Mr Rabbit and the mysterious man kept approaching, and a sinister aura orbited them.

He closed his eyes, and all he could hear were their whispers drowning in his ear.

“Die… die… die…”

A few minutes ago…

Outside the suite, in a dimly lit corridor, a girl in a striped plaid shirt held a metal club in her hand. She walked through the corridor cautiously as she was vigilantly kept on guard.

“System.”

“Yes.”

“All right,” she breathed a sigh of relief. Although she had a voice talking to her all the time, she felt as if they should be standing right beside her.

“System.”

“I’m here.”

“Okay.”

…

“System? You there?”

“This is the eighth time you have called for me. As long as you are alive, I will always be here,” the system responded. Amidst its monotone voice, she could sense a hint of sarcasm.

“You don’t have to be so mean,” she pouted. “Besides, I wanted to ask you a real question!”

“Get to it,” the system interjected.

“This is the first time I’m doing a task like this, so… I’m a little scared. How about you start talking to me? Just… talk about anything!”

“I’m afraid I don’t have this function,” the system replied immediately.

“System?”

“…”

Seeing that her system did not respond, she started to panic a little. “Come on, just talk about anything! I’m a little scared over here!”

“Okay, I’m here,” the system said. “Don’t be afraid! There seems to be someone up ahead, behind the corner of the corridor on the right!”

The girl was stunned as she heard this, and she ducked away and immediately yelled-whispered, “N-no! I’m not going! What do you mean there’s someone up ahead?”

She swore she could hear her system sigh, and it spoke earnestly, “Gu Qianqian, you are the protagonist of this world. Do you know what the main character does?”

“Of course, that means my parents are dead, and then my relatives!” And all of them would be dead in a tragic accident, or they could be poor and constantly beg me for money!”

“…”

“System?”

“…”

“Are you angry?” she muttered. “Alright, last question: If I can’t complete this task, you won’t kill me, right? In stories like these, if I can’t complete the mission, I will be killed.”

“Hah!” the system sneered. “How could I kill you? The most I could do is deduct the money on your campus card!”

“Wait,” the system paused. “I shouldn’t have said that. Now, you won’t take the mission seriously.”

“Absolutely not!” she interjected. “I’ll finish the task well; you just wait!”

“Good, good. Work hard, complete the task, and you’ll most definitely win the grand prize.”

“Huh?” She narrowed her eyes. “Didn’t you say the rewards were luck based? Are you hiding anything from me?”

“Ah, no, no. Our lottery system is absolutely fair, open, and transparent. There is no black box behind this operation, absolutely not.”

“What’s the win rate?”

“Ah,” the system paused, not expecting this question. The system scrambled through the list of responses and decided to make up a number.

“Almost… 10%! That’s right! 10%!”

Gu Qianqian’s eyes lit up immediately as she swung her metal club around her and announced confidently, “10%? Might as well be 100%! That prize is mine!”

The system couldn’t believe that she had bought it but kept silent.

She regained her motivation and skipped down the corridor. After seeing the empty corridor before her, her eyes darkened.

“There’s no one here,” she pouted. “You got me scared for no reason…”

Before she could finish her sentence, she saw a human face!

On the walls of the corridor, faces with eyes of rage and ferocious expressions started to appear, exuding an evil, angry aura.

The faces were sunken in as if they had been elongated by some strange force. The faces were distorted, but she could tell their facial features clearly. The faces were trapped in the wall, and painful wailing could be vaguely heard beyond the walls.

“S-system?” she trembled. “I’m… very scared.”

“I… I’m scared, too,” the system replied shakily.