Chapter 171: Pen Spirit (12)

  It’s not ‘as if’. There really was something approaching.

Even though the classroom lights were constantly flickering, one could vaguely see the dense, visible-to-the-naked-eye gloom, as if it had swallowed up the light.

The entire space gave off a distorted feeling.

At the moment when the temperature suddenly dropped, Qi Muran, without thinking, grabbed the hand of the young man next to him and pulled him into his arms.

And then wanted to leave the classroom.

There was absolutely no concern for the player on the ground.

The audience in the live stream was also very clear of the situation; two unconscious people, one powerless noob. If they didn’t run, they’re as good as dead.

At such a time, God Mu, wanting to save one more person, was already going above and beyond.

However, as soon as the audience in the live stream saw Qi Muran lifting the young man, the screen in the live stream darkened again, and even the sound disappeared.

Exactly like the previous time.

The audience in the live stream was directly confused.

[Did he just die? This is too fast! No, I haven’t prepared yet! I only thought that God Mu would die trying to save someone in this situation, but this death is too sudden! I haven’t seen anything yet!!!]

[Truly a boss. Entering the scene is an instant kill. Oh, I haven’t even seen the entrance and people already got killed, really outrageous to the extreme.]

[Calm down, have you guys not noticed that you can still send barrages? If the streamer dies, the live stream will be closed. A closed live stream can’t send barrages at all, which means, God Mu definitely hasn’t died yet.]

[What the heck! So, is it like the bug earlier? How can a bug appear at a time like this!? Can’t it get any better? It’s really urgent! I want to complain!]

The audience in the live stream room exploded directly. At such a critical moment, bugs appearing was truly agonizing, especially when it’s most crucial time.

Moreover, the streamer might have died when they couldn’t see anything.

That would truly be a mysterious death.

Most of the audience went directly to complain, only a small percentage of viewers knew that even complaining wouldn’t help.

This infinite horror game live stream appeared at an unknown time, and by the time they discovered it, it had already become widely known.

Unknown company, unknown boss, unknown operation.

Mysterious to the extreme.

Even with multiple forces investigating and digging, they couldn’t uncover the forces behind the live stream.

They couldn’t even shut it down because the live stream didn’t rely on the internet or any platform; it seemed to appear out of thin air.

Complaints?

There must be a channel for complaints first to file a complaint.

The main game system could be contacted. Under the livestream, there was a ‘Game Main System’ option.

Click on it, and one could send messages.

However, the game main system had never paid attention to any contact and had not dealt with any complaints.

It’s like a pre-set running program, cold and unfeeling.

That feature seemed more like a decoration.

Some viewers even suspected that the game in the live stream was genuinely real. (T/N: A reminder that the audience of the live stream are mostly not players, but from some other dimension. Anyway, this was probably mentioned in the second arc iirc.)

The players’ reactions inside were just too realistic. Even death felt incredibly real.

Sometimes, even through the screen, they could sense the fear and oppression when facing the dungeon boss, making it hard to breathe.

But no matter how they investigated, they couldn’t find any place related to the dungeon, as if everything was just virtual.

But the inability to find it didn’t necessarily mean it didn’t exist; for example, it could exist in other unknown parallel worlds.

***

Qi Muran originally wanted to leave the classroom with the young man, but it was too late; a terrifying figure had already appeared at the classroom podium.

The figure’s shirt was stained red with blood, holding a bloodied knife, frightening and eerie under the flickering lights.

The whole space became extremely oppressive.

The second floor wasn’t too high, and for most players, jumping out from the window would be easy.

If you couldn’t win, at least you could run.

That’s why Qi Muran chose the second floor.

But...

Qi Muran looked at the terrifying figure and froze, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly.

Soul... remnants?

Indeed, it was undoubtedly a remnant soul, and it seemed to be only a quarter of the remnant soul.

Qi Muran’s mouth curved slightly. He hadn’t encountered a vengeful spirit on the level of a Ghost King yet.

But it seems like he might meet one soon.

Ghost Kings were indeed formidable, to the extent of causing despair.

Unfortunately, ‘he’ was currently only a quarter of the strength of a complete soul.

It’s important to note that a remnant soul’s strength was not on the same level as that of a complete vengeful spirit. Moreover, the figure before them was missing a large portion of its soul, just like a powerful person missing both hands and feet; the strength wasn’t merely reduced by a quarter.

And what Qi Muran excelled at was dealing with vengeful spirits.

Qi Muran placed the young man back on the chair with very gentle movements. 

Worried that the young man might fall, he even pulled the nearby table closer to shield the young man.

Qi Muran did not notice the talisman in the pocket of the young man’s shirt, which had been lost when he was carrying him earlier.

After Qi Muran set up the table, he casually extended his left hand. A book materialized out of thin air, hovering in mid-air above his fingertips.

The book was entirely white, but black mist surrounded it. The mist seemed corrosive, attempting to darken the entire book.

Some parts of the book’s edges were already tainted with black.

It was as if a holy angel was tightly entwined with a demon, giving off an extremely ominous and dangerous feeling.

Qi Muran looked casually at the figure on the platform. The book on his fingertips opened rapidly.

As the book opened, a powerful wind seemed to emanate from it, blowing in all directions, lifting Qi Muran’s hair and clothes.

At this moment, Qi Muran no longer had the gentle and kind appearance. The moment the book opened, strange and eerie black threads appeared from his left fingertip closest to the book.

As if growing along his fingertip, the black threads quickly spread towards his wrist.

Finally, following his neck upwards, they reached his handsome face, forming a bizarre pattern composed of black threads.

The current Qi Muran was completely different from before. His face bore a smile full of malice, as if carrying endless malevolence and wickedness.

With just a glance, one could sense his powerful aura, sending shivers down the spine.

He became dangerous and formidable, as if an evil spirit had crawled out of hell itself.

Moreover, in the depths of his eyes, there was no respect for any forms of life, evoking an involuntary chill in the hearts of onlookers.

Even if a player who was very familiar with Qi Muran stood here, they dared not think that he was the kind-hearted Qi Muran who would use his life to save others.

The atmosphere in the classroom became dangerously intense, and the lights flickering on the ceiling eventually went out.

The entire classroom plunged into darkness, with only some strange collisions and rustling sounds remaining.

In the darkness, Qi Muran covered his chest and spit out a mouthful of blood, staining his clothes red.

Indeed, he was worthy of being the Ghost King with a ghost domain. Even if it’s just a remnant soul, it’s terrifyingly strong.

If ‘his’ soul were intact, he probably wouldn’t even have a chance to escape.

Normally, Qi Muran would definitely choose to take a gamble. After all, this was a rare opportunity, and wealth was often obtained through risks.

If he lost the bet, he would die.

But once he won the bet, he could capture the remnant soul of the Ghost King, and from then on, he could dominate all other instances except those without supernatural entities.

However...

Qi Muran’s gaze fell on the young man still unconscious beside him, and he ultimately gave up on the gamble.

If he died, the young man would die too.

While dying together may sound incredibly romantic, for some reason, he suddenly found himself reluctant to die.

At least not like this.

Qi Muran no longer confronted the situation head-on. Instead, he seized an opportunity, swiftly embracing the young man on the chair, and without hesitation, jumped out of the window.

Trying to escape directly.

However, this action of Qi Muran seemed to have completely angered the remnant soul of the Ghost King, and the gloom in the air became even thicker.

Even ‘his’ figure distorted slightly, appearing even more frightening.

Qi Muran watched the figure closely chasing them from behind and continued to escape without stopping, carrying the young man.

The persistence of the remnant soul surprised Qi Muran. It kept pursuing them as if it wouldn’t rest until he and the young man were dead.

There seemed to be a significant issue with this instance, and it clearly didn’t match the clues he obtained.

The Ghost King boss was not weak at all; rather, ‘he’ had an incomplete soul, missing three-quarters of it.

In this situation, ‘he’ could still possess a ghost domain, which was incredibly terrifying.

One could easily imagine how powerful ‘he’ would become if he regained the other three-quarters of ‘his’ soul, perhaps rivaling certain evil gods in some instances.

If ‘he’ were to retrieve the entire soul, it’s estimated that no one would be able to leave this instance alive.

At this moment, Qi Muran was in a miserable state. He disregarded his image, holding the young man and sitting on the ground. His clothes have long been dyed red with his own blood, and various stains cover his body.

But the young man in his arms was well-protected by him. Only the shirt was slightly stained with some of his blood, as if he’s peacefully asleep.

Ghosts didn’t get tired, but he did, and he had to protect an unconscious person as well.

Continuing like this, being caught up with was only a matter of time.

They must find a place to hide, at least dragging it out until dawn.

As soon as dawn arrived, the ghost domain would disappear, and they could return to the real world.

In the real world, even if ghosts really came over, their strength would be greatly reduced.

But it was obviously unrealistic for both him and the teenager to hide. Being found by the Ghost King boss was only a matter of time.

After thinking for a moment, Qi Muran decided to hide the young man and then lead away the remnant soul of the Ghost King.

Qi Muran stood up, holding the young man, and hid him behind a cabinet in a laboratory. Then he ran in the opposite direction.

Before running, he made quite a noise to attract the attention of the Ghost King.

Then he started running with all his strength.

However, halfway through, Qi Muran suddenly stopped because he could no longer sense the aura of the Ghost King.

Even the terrifying oppression that the Ghost King gave off had disappeared.

Qi Muran looked back.

Why hadn’t the Ghost King chased after him?

Clearly, it was chasing so persistently just now. Why did ‘he’ suddenly give up?

Qi Muran suddenly thought of a possibility, and his heart skipped a beat.

Unless the Ghost King’s target was not him from the beginning, but... the young man he’s holding in his arms.

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