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Bonus chapter! Thank you to Winter for the donation! ^^
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Ruan Qing truly hadn’t expected that he was mentally ill—literally ill.
He thought the men forcing him to drink something were making him take memory-erasing drugs, but he didn’t expect that it was actually medication meant to treat his illness.
However, his amnesiac self had no idea. In the end, he didn’t obediently take the medicine but instead found an opportunity to spit it out. As a result, when he walked out of the basement without taking the medication, he was suddenly struck with an intense headache. His vision went black, and his unsteady body collapsed, hitting the edge of the table.
And just like that, he… died.
Not only did he die from the fall, but because he thought this was just a "real-life escape room" game, he ended up killing all the NPCs in the instance by blowing them up.
Moreover, despite spending several days in the instance, he had learned nothing about it. The only thing he knew was that it had some connection to the kidnapping case.
All of his careful calculations had been entirely misdirected.
After death, Ruan Qing remembered everything:
“…”
Ruan Qing remained silent for a long time before speaking in his mind, 'System, didn’t you say that after death, I would lose all memories and become a true NPC?'
Why had he instead regained everything? He had even recalled many of the original Ruan Qing’s memories.
The system was also silent. After several seconds, he finally spoke in a low voice: [Your current situation… is special.]
He hadn’t anticipated that the operational system would handle things this way—unexpected, yet somehow predictable.
But this made clearing the instance even harder, practically impossible.
If Ruan Qing failed to detect the traps in the instance and instead trusted his own judgment, it would almost certainly be fatal.
And this particular trap was now tied to the instance’s core, something the system couldn’t warn him about at all.
Ruan Qing, unaware of the system’s thoughts, realized something when he heard the system's voice. If he failed to clear the instance, the system would no longer exist, right?
Just as Ruan Qing was about to ask a question, the system’s cold, mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind:
[Welcome, players, to the instance <Haunted Building>.]
P… players?
Ruan Qing immediately grabbed the phone beside him. The screen displayed the information page given by the instance—something only players could see.
Only players’ phones could receive this information.
Ruan Qing’s delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. He still belonged to the category of “players,” meaning there was still a possibility for him to clear the level.
...But the problem was, he seemed to have already turned into a ghost.
The basement had a reflective mirror, capable of clearly showing one’s reflection. Ruan Qing looked at the mirror and fell silent.
The figure in the mirror, though still unnaturally beautiful, was clearly no longer human. The figure appeared somewhat translucent, the complexion deathly pale without a trace of blood. On his forehead, however, there was a wound, blood trickling down from it in a meandering path, exuding a fragile, tragic beauty.
He didn’t look as terrifying as other ghosts; in fact, there was a breathtaking allure to his appearance. But the fatal wound on his forehead and the fact that he cast no shadow made it unmistakably clear—he was no longer alive.
He was truly dead. No breathing, no heartbeat.
Even the bullet comments from the livestream had disappeared.
Because he had anticipated losing his memory, Ruan Qing had enabled the livestream's bullet comments in this instance, ensuring he could see them at all times as a way to remind himself of his identity as a player.
But now, even the bullet comments were gone.
Ruan Qing hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. Each time he lost his memory, he left clues for himself. However, his first memory loss had been so sudden that he only had time to leave the word “player.”
He hadn’t anticipated that this would backfire on him.
Ruan Qing silently wiped the blood off his face, but his hand touched nothing. The figure outside the mirror and the one in it were completely different.
The self in the mirror was likely how he appeared at the moment of death.
Ruan Qing’s gaze grew thoughtful. The instance information still appeared on his phone, and the system hadn’t abandoned him. This meant there was still a chance for him to clear the level.
Ruan Qing turned toward the basement door and picked up a wire he had brought in earlier, intending to unlock the door and get out.
But as he approached, he discovered the basement door wasn’t locked. Ruan Qing simply pushed the door.
Yet, no matter how hard he pushed, the door didn’t budge—not even when he used all his strength. The door remained completely still.
Ruan Qing glanced at the unlocked door, then at his still-weak hands, and finally shifted his gaze toward the wall.
If he had turned into a ghost, shouldn’t he be able to walk through walls?
Ruan Qing tried, but he couldn’t.
He even managed to hurt himself in the process.
His strength was about the same as when he was alive. He still felt pain, and he didn’t have any special powers.
After turning into a ghost, apart from not needing to breathe or eat, it seemed that he was still... useless.
After a few attempts, Ruan Qing gave up on pushing the door. He figured he was now similar to a bound spirit, confined to the place where he had died.
But if he couldn’t leave the basement, how was he supposed to clear this dungeon?
And the biggest issue was that he had already become a ghost. How could clearing the dungeon even still be a possibility?
Ruan Qing lowered his eyes in thought. Let alone turning into a ghost, even being corrupted into a non-human entity would disqualify someone from clearing the dungeon.
Unless… he was still alive.
But the fact of his death was already established.
Ruan Qing pursed his lips thoughtfully. In the next second, his gaze froze.
The warm lamp’s electrical cord leading into the basement seemed to be broken.
Ruan Qing crouched down and tugged at the cord. It followed his pull easily.
The cord had been cleanly severed right at the doorframe, though it was unclear what had cut it so neatly.
Yet the warm lamp was still on, which looked incredibly eerie.
As if struck by a thought, Ruan Qing pulled out his phone to check the time.
It was a little after 7 PM, but the time had stopped.
However, it was supposed to be daytime.
Ruan Qing looked at the faint sunlight shining through the window, moved a chair beneath it, and climbed up to peer outside through the gap.
The visible range was limited, but he could roughly make out that the outside was no longer a construction site. Instead, it had turned into a beautiful residential neighborhood.
That was something that couldn’t have been built overnight—especially considering that the building had been destroyed in an explosion. Even with reconstruction, it would take at least six months to rebuild.
The timing wasn’t right.
It felt as though not just one night had passed since his death, but several years.
He had died in the past but hadn’t lost his qualification to clear the game. This meant it was highly likely he was still alive—alive in the present time.
Two... timelines?
After roughly piecing together the current situation, Ruan Qing’s heart sank.
This was bad.
If he could become a ghost, then those five people could absolutely become ghosts as well. If another version of himself from the current timeline had entered the dungeon...
Just the thought of it made Ruan Qing’s scalp tingle.
Under no circumstances could “he” and those five people meet!
Not to mention that those five people had always harbored ulterior motives toward him. Even if their intentions had been pure, they would never let him go once they discovered he was the one who had killed them.
If “he” and those five people encountered each other, he would almost certainly die in this dungeon.
Yet, he couldn’t leave right now.
Ruan Qing had even tried the windows, but he couldn’t stick even a finger through.
The entire basement seemed to be isolated by an invisible barrier, leaving him with no chance of escape.
No matter how anxious he felt, Ruan Qing could only remain in the basement, unable to do anything.
Ruan Qing glanced at his phone again. Its battery level remained permanently at 65%, as though it could be used indefinitely.
However, the phone didn’t have a SIM card and couldn’t connect to any network. Other than being able to play music, it had no other functions.
Ruan Qing tried dialing the emergency number.
It didn’t connect. None of the emergency numbers worked.
An idea seemed to occur to Ruan Qing, and he entered his own phone number. He attempted to call it.
Since his phone could receive messages sent by the dungeon, perhaps he could get in touch with himself.
Essentially, these two phones should be the same phone in nature—it’s just that the phone in his hand exists in the past.
This time, the call went through.
“Beep—”
“Beep—”
“Beep—”
The call was quickly connected, and a somewhat casual voice came through. “Hello? Who’s this?”
Ruan Qing’s fingers holding the phone tightened slightly. The voice on the other end of the line was undeniably his own.
There really was another version of him still alive in this timeline.
Ruan Qing lowered his gaze and his voice, speaking in a slightly hoarse tone, “...Hello.”
The other end of the line instantly fell silent. A few seconds later, the voice spoke again, now tinged with nervousness and restraint, even stammering.
“H-Hello.”
Hmm? Ruan Qing glanced at his phone in confusion, not quite understanding why ‘he’ would react this way.
But in the next moment, Ruan Qing realized—the phone he was using didn’t even have a SIM card. The phone number displayed on the caller ID was definitely suspicious.
Whether it showed as an invalid number or as his own phone number, both were unquestionably eerie.
And since this was a ghost-infested game instance, it was only natural for ‘himself’ to feel frightened upon receiving such a strange call.
Ruan Qing let go of his doubts and continued speaking in a low voice, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”
However, the person on the other end didn’t seem comforted. The voice was still filled with unease and anxiety. “W-Who are you?”
“Why is the caller ID showing my phone number?”
“I am you,” Ruan Qing paused for two seconds, choosing to speak the truth. He knew that with his own intelligence, he’d definitely figure out what was going on.
“I’ll help you clear this game.”
The person on the other end hesitated for a moment, their voice carrying a hint of doubt. “Really?”
Ruan Qing hummed softly in response and gently reminded, “For now, don’t go in the southwest direction, even if there are clues pointing that way. Don’t go.”
"There..." Ruan Qing paused for a moment before continuing, "are ghosts."
He died in the basement, so he couldn’t leave the basement. Meanwhile, those five people died in the southwest direction, making it highly likely that they’re trapped in the southwest direction.
Although the situation outside is still unclear, avoiding the area where those five people died was definitely the right choice.
The system fell silent as it observed Ruan Qing, who completely believed that the other end of the call was himself.
The system wasn’t too surprised. In fact, it had long anticipated this result.
As avatars of that person, everyone could instantly recognize Ruan Qing at a glance.
Except for one person.
That person was... Ruan Qing himself.
Oh boi. Time for my brajn to go mush again.
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