"Birthday Death": Dying Again

For the fifth time, Xu Xi sat up and rubbed his temple helplessly.

He didn't know what had caused his death this time.

But this death had been less painful. He had simply felt a wave of weakness and then kicked the bucket.

He had restarted anyway, so Xu Xi stopped dwelling on it. He reached under the pillow, pulled out the picture book, and turned to the doodled portrait.

He had already had a vague suspicion, and after he compared it with the conversation at the door, his guess became clearer.

On Tong Binbin's ninth birthday, Tong Guoliang, also known as Dad Tong, had abused Mom Tong. Judging by the mess of liquor bottles on the coffee table, he had most likely done it while drunk. The red-faced man with the vicious expression in the picture might have been Dad Tong beating someone while drunk.

Auntie Wang had used two phrases in that conversation: "every few days" and "every day." That proved this wasn't the first time the abuse had happened. Mom Tong, who had endured it for a long time, had very likely lost all hope and hanged herself. So the stick figure hanging beside the red-faced man was very likely Mom Tong.

As for the childish note at the bottom, Xu Xi guessed that every time Mom Tong was abused, she had fobbed Tong Binbin off with something about Dad working hard. After Mom Tong hanged herself, Dad Tong had also brushed him off by saying Mom would be back soon.

Xu Xi felt he had linked together all the clues he had found in the instance so far. The instance's background probably wasn't much different from what he had guessed earlier. But now that he had worked out the background, what was the condition for clearing it?

He knew most of the background and clues, yet he was still completely at a loss about how to clear the instance.

So far, the instance seemed to have only two relatively important themes: domestic abuse and birthdays.

The abuse had taken place on the birthday, and Tong Binbin's birthday celebration had most likely been cut short before it was over.

Could it be... finishing the birthday celebration?!

Xu Xi was as excited as if he had finally solved a puzzle after immense effort. He had never felt like such a genius!

Time to get to work!

So the viewers who had just entered the livestream saw this rookie player casually pull a picture book from under the pillow. Inside it was a bizarre portrait that was obviously a clue. He then stared blankly at the portrait for quite a while before seeming to think of something. Looking excited, he rushed out of the bedroom, ran over to the dining table, and began looking for something.

[Am I still asleep? Can someone tell me what this rookie is doing?]

[Looking for clues, maybe? (uncertain.jpg)]

[Don't tell me he actually figured something out from one measly picture.]

[It's possible, but why does he look so familiar with this house?]

[It can't be his house, can it?]

[Maybe it is, haha.]

[So what is he actually doing? Don't rookies usually observe their surroundings first, then cautiously look for clues? Why isn't this guy playing by the book?]

[It looks like... he's celebrating a birthday???]

After searching for a long time, Xu Xi finally found a lighter in a cupboard. He lit nine candles, then followed the usual birthday routine, closing his eyes to make a wish before blowing them out.

He hadn't wanted to make a wish at first. It wasn't his birthday, after all, and who would know whether he had made one?

But then he thought, what if making a wish was part of the process for clearing the instance, and the game could tell whether he had made one?

It was only a wish, and it wouldn't take much time, so he tried to imagine what Tong Binbin might wish for and wished for a peaceful home.

After making the wish, Xu Xi blew out the candles in one breath.

He had expected to be greeted by a notification that he had cleared the instance. Instead, a familiar wave of weakness swept through his body, and he lost consciousness once again.

The viewers in the livestream were left utterly bewildered.

When the rookie had found a clue right away, they had thought he was a rising star. Yet he had inexplicably stared at the clue for ages, then inexplicably run off to light candles and celebrate a birthday. Finally, once the celebration was over, he had inexplicably died.

They felt as though they had a few too many question marks hanging over their heads.

When Xu Xi woke up for the sixth time, he was already quite calm.

He leisurely crossed his legs and prepared to review what had happened.

His first death had come after he heard a strange noise from the living room ceiling fan, turned around and walked closer, only for it to suddenly fall and crush him.

His second death had come after he heard chopping in the kitchen and turned to walk out, only to have his head chopped off.

His third death had come after he lost his mind and ran out of the house in a frenzy, only to be swallowed by the darkness outside.

The fourth time, he had wanted to return to the guest bedroom for the picture book, but the moment he opened the door, he had felt a wave of weakness and then died.

The fifth time, he had tried to finish the birthday celebration, but the moment he blew out the candles, he had felt the same weakness and died.

Aside from the third death, which had been completely worthless, the fourth and fifth deaths had been exactly the same.

Though the first and second deaths had been different, there seemed to be some connection between them.

At that thought, Xu Xi slowly began to form an idea.

The first and second times, he had heard a strange noise. The first time, he had not only looked back but also turned around and walked back, while the second time, he had turned around straight away. So one of the death rules was that he couldn't look back and turn around!

As for why weakness had killed him both the fourth and fifth times, he had no idea for the moment.

He had thought he had gathered nearly all the clues, but after sorting through them like this, he realized he had inadvertently overlooked both the cause of the strange noises and the locked master bedroom.

Xu Xi couldn't help sighing.

Even though he had died after blowing out the candles the fifth time, he still felt that the way to clear the instance had to have something to do with celebrating the birthday. Perhaps he was still missing certain conditions, leaving the birthday process incomplete.

But what exactly was missing?

Xu Xi had no direction at all. After thinking for quite a while without coming up with anything, he had no choice but to give up. He reached under the pillow, pulled out the picture book, and left the bedroom once again.

He hadn't noticed it before, but on his fifth attempt he had discovered that as soon as he left the guest bedroom, its door would close. It had probably closed after he went out the previous times too, but he hadn't paid much attention to those details.

After all, once he went out, he wouldn't be able to get back in for the time being, so it was better to take all the valuable clues with him.

Xu Xi didn't dare sit on the sofa. Even though he knew the ceiling fan had fallen on him because he had heard a strange noise and turned around to look back, he was still traumatized by it and feared it might fall on him again. So he sat on a chair beside the dining table.

At a loss for how to break through the situation, Xu Xi found his thoughts wandering as he looked at the birthday cake on the table.

This God Hunt game was pretty difficult. If he hadn't had the ability to revive after death, he would have been completely dead when the ceiling fan crushed him the first time. He didn't think heaven would show him kindness again and let him transmigrate once more.

He had even died five times already, yet he was still helpless against this instance.

Xu Xi didn't dare imagine how players without the ability to revive got through these twisted instances.

Then again, that meant most of the players who managed to survive had to be quite capable and couldn't be underestimated.

As Xu Xi's thoughts wandered from one thing to another, he suddenly felt a familiar wave of weakness.

All right, time to die again.

Before losing consciousness, Xu Xi caught one last glimpse of the clock on the wall.

He suddenly realized something, but unfortunately, darkness awaited him.

Very few viewers remained in the livestream this time. As they saw it, Xu Xi's review while sitting cross-legged and his subsequent daze at the dining table meant he had given up on clearing the instance and was simply waiting to die.

Hardly anyone wanted to watch such a passive rookie player. The two or three people left at the end didn't get a reversal, only a black screen in the livestream. They muttered a couple of comments to themselves and left as well.