The livestream’s perspective followed only the player, showing the viewers only what the player could see. Thus, no one noticed that the cable that tripped Ruan Qing earlier seemed a little off.
It appeared to be leaking electricity.
The cable’s outer casing was already damaged, and faint electrical currents were flickering erratically, creating tiny sparks that further worsened the damage to the casing.
The sparks grew larger and larger until they resembled a wildfire, quickly spreading to nearby flammable materials.
At the other end of the flammable materials lay… a stash of explosives set up by the group.
“Boom——!!!”
Even with headphones on and music playing, the massive explosion was impossible to ignore.
Ruan Qing didn’t seem the least bit surprised by the sound, nor was he startled. Instead, he looked up in the direction of the explosion, his beautiful eyes narrowing slightly as he flashed a brilliant smile.
It was the kind of smile that made it seem as though everything was under control—a victor’s smile.
At that moment, the system finally understood what Ruan Qing’s act of crossing out the names meant.
Deceased.
All key NPCs were dead. The prerequisite conditions for the dungeon had been fulfilled, and the advanced dungeon <Haunted Building> was officially activated.
But this was also the right timing. At this point, no one could pose a threat to Ruan Qing anymore.
He only needed to survive the remaining days to clear the dungeon safely and unscathed.
At this moment, the system was somewhat doubtful. [You… didn’t lose your memory?]
For the sudden voice, Ruan Qing wasn’t surprised. It was as if everything was completely normal.
"I did lose my memory."
Ruan Qing tilted his head slightly, his tone carrying a hint of amusement. "This game is pretty interesting."
"Making the player lose their memory repeatedly in a game is a bit much, though."
It forced him to retrace the clues he had left behind each time, slowly piecing together his situation.
But this could be considered a unique gaming experience in itself.
The system had seen Ruan Qing write the word "player" on the ground before his first memory loss, but it never expected that single word would make Ruan Qing think this was just a game.
Nor did it expect that just those two words would lead to such consequences.
The system was silent for several seconds before speaking in a low voice in Ruan Qing’s mind. [Why did you kill them?]
Ruan Qing smiled, his expression still innocent and pure. "I just wanted to see if I could kill the game NPCs."
"And it turns out I really can."
The system: “…”
The viewers in the livestream couldn’t hear the system, but they could hear Ruan Qing.
[Wait, I’m kind of confused. Does he think this is an escape room game?]
[It seems like it. And just because he wanted to see if NPCs could be killed, he… killed them.]
[Our amnesiac darling is a bit scary. Smiling like that while taking people out—boohoo, I’m just a clueless little idiot. I was watching the whole time and still couldn’t see through his plan.]
Once everything calmed down, Ruan Qing stood up and walked toward the basement door.
This time, no one would stop him from leaving.
The system breathed a sigh of relief, but halfway through, it caught in its throat.
Because the person who was supposed to walk out of the basement… tripped.
This fall was different from the last. This time, Ruan Qing truly fell, and there was no one to catch him.
The system watched helplessly as Ruan Qing crashed into the corner of the table. Bright red blood immediately began trickling down his forehead, the crimson color stark against his pale, almost translucent skin, making the scene horrifying to behold.
If it were an ordinary person, such a fall wouldn’t have caused much trouble—perhaps just some pain. But Ruan Qing was different.
The intense pain from the fall surged through his brain, scattering his thoughts in an instant. His pupils dilated, and his mind went blank.
It hurt so much…
Ruan Qing pursed his lips in grievance, a mist of tears welling up in his eyes before streaming down the corners. He tried to stand up.
But the pain made it impossible. His strength was gradually draining away, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, threatening to close.
He felt a wave of drowsiness.
The system, panicked by the sight of Ruan Qing slowly closing his eyes, shouted urgently in his mind:
[Don’t sleep!!!]
[Wake up!!!]
But Ruan Qing could no longer respond. Even his breathing was becoming faint and irregular.
And this time, no one would come to save him. All the key NPCs had died in the explosion, including the system's clone Zhou Jinchen, as well as Ren Yanqing, who should not have perished.
Death could indeed turn someone into a ghost, but not at this point in time.
There was no one left to save him. No one who could save him.
No, there was one existence.
A formless shadow approached swiftly as Ruan Qing fell, intending to pick him up immediately.
However, the moment it drew near, the pitch-black, void-like presence began to extend toward Ruan Qing, as if it intended to engulf him completely.
The shadow instantly withdrew, putting distance between itself and Ruan Qing.
The system understood in that moment—when Ruan Qing was on the verge of death, it couldn’t touch him, nor could it even approach.
Otherwise, its power would indeed devour Ruan Qing, and what remained would no longer be Ruan Qing.
The shadow realized this as well and immediately used its strength to isolate the entire basement, sealing off its power to prevent it from contaminating the space further.
It also blocked ‘His’ own path.
This time, there was truly no one left to save him. The system could only watch helplessly as Ruan Qing lost his breath.
At the moment of Ruan Qing's death, the cold, emotionless broadcast voice of the system rang out.
[Player Ruan Qing has died. Instance settlement in progress.]
[Settlement… failed!]
[Instance anomaly!!!]
[Instance anomaly!!!]
[Instance anomaly!!!]
The system’s cold and unfeeling voice repeated this three times, accompanied by sharp, piercing alarm sounds. Then, everything plunged into dead silence, as if even the once resolute and decisive operational system had encountered an insurmountable problem.
The operational system of the infinite game was ruthlessly logical in its judgment processes: alive meant alive, dead meant dead. There were no exceptions.
But the main system of the game was fully aware of what had gone wrong with the operational system.
It was because the point in time when Ruan Qing was uploaded had been incorrect. He had been forcibly sent to the time when the instance had just formed—the past.
However, Ruan Qing's body was loaded into the correct time point.
He died in the past but existed in the future. In other words, Ruan Qing was now in a state of being both dead and alive.
But a person cannot simultaneously exist in a state of both life and death, which disrupted the operational system's judgment process.
The system did not know how the operational system would resolve this. He could only wait quietly for the final outcome.
No one knew how much time had passed before the system's prompt sounded once more. This time, it had returned to its usual tone.
[Ding!!!]
[Welcome, players, to the instance: <Haunted Building>.]
[Mingya Tower is located in a luxurious neighborhood, making it a top choice for many wealthy individuals.]
[However, the building seems a bit… strange. At midnight, residents often hear peculiar noises.]
[Noises that don’t seem… human.]
[Instance Task: Survive for seven days, or find 'It.']
[Friendly Reminder: Each player has only one chance to identify. If you guess wrong, something bad will happen~]
Omg I wasn't expecting this. I'm hyped. Thank you for the chapter!!
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