Alice's Hell (End) - Not Redemption

Putting aside her personality flaws, if we only consider speed and strength, Alice is definitely among the top-tier physical monsters.

Even Yu Xing, whose strength surpasses that of ordinary people, could not truly confront him head-on.

So when Alice, writhing with her limbs contorted and engulfed in flames, crawled toward him at breakneck speed like Kayako, Yu Xing was extremely focused and narrowed his eyes as he dodged her with a wide arc.

Because a small movement is not enough to escape the range of Alice's claws.

The sharp fingernail grazed Yu Xing's nose, creating a stinging gust of wind. Zeng Lai, who was watching, trembled and almost spilled the "water."

Looking at Yu Xing's unchanging expression, he inwardly exclaimed "Wow, that's awesome!" while continuing to pray that Yu Xing could survive the last few seconds unharmed.

His six points of luck had expired at some point, or perhaps they had already expired... In any case, Zeng Lai kept his eyes fixed on Yu Xing. If something really happened, at least he could see Yu Xing one last time.

If Yu Xing knew what this unfortunate kid was thinking, she might throw him in Alice's face.

Four seconds left.

A tremendous sense of crisis seemed to bring Alice back to her senses. She looked at Yu Xing, the annoying thief and the mocker, then at Zeng Lai, the one watering the flowers, and let out a scream.

Yu Xing could see that Alice's teeth were all sharp, like some kind of saw teeth, ferocious and cruel, making one unconsciously think of what it would be like to have one's own flesh rejected... sending chills down one's spine.

Alice still intends to protect her precious rose first.

She turned around with her bloodshot eyes wide open, her limbs tense, as if she were about to leap up at any moment.

In fact, that's exactly what she did.

Three seconds left.

Alice exudes the true nature of a vengeful ghost, creating an immense sense of oppression through sight, sound, and smell.

Her deformed body was already airborne, ready to leap out of the fire and twist Zeng Lai's head off with a single claw.

The ghostly face in Zeng Lai's field of vision suddenly magnified, and he unconsciously took a step back, but his arm stretched out in the process, which did not delay watering the flowers at all.

He gave himself a thumbs up for his outstanding performance.

After praising him, he felt like he was about to die. He didn't know if Yu Xing was watching him, witnessing his final moments...

Yeah?

Alice failed to jump in. Instead, her body froze in mid-air, and she suddenly screamed as she was pulled back by a force and thrown back down.

"Holy crap!?"

After seeing the situation clearly, Zeng Lai, disregarding whether it would attract Alice's attention, stared wide-eyed and uttered a sigh.

This sigh, this sigh for the passing of a second.

The progress bar has reached 28 seconds, with 2 seconds remaining.

What did he see? He actually saw a thin young man grab one of the ghost SS's legs and swing it back!

Shocked, Zeng Lai had a question flash through his mind: How many points had Xing spent exchanging for power? He's almost at the limit! Wait, how come this person is so strong, yet their physique hasn't changed? Everyone he'd seen who exchanged for power had some noticeable muscle definition...

Perhaps I was too nervous; I couldn't stop myself from getting distracted, and my thoughts drifted further and further away.

Unlike Zeng Lai, who narrowly escaped death because of Alice's failed attack, Yu Xing is feeling very unwell.

The physical ghost was much stronger than a human, and he had to use almost all his strength to stop Alice. At this moment, he felt a sharp pain in the muscles of his arm, clearly indicating that he had pulled a muscle.

Her veins were throbbing uncontrollably, and her hands were shaking as if she had Parkinson's disease. Yu Xing was troubled by the cold aura. She glanced down at Alice, who was stunned from the fall but still instinctively wanted to get up and continue killing Zeng Lai, and sighed softly.

Thus, in his utterly bewildered expression, Zeng Lai saw a scene he would never forget for at least three years.

One second left.

He saw Yu Xing, whether unsteady or intentionally, kneel down and embrace Alice.

They hugged each other tightly, ignoring Alice's appearance; it was like a possessive embrace from lovers.

Amidst the raging flames, surrounded by roses, a scene both passionate and decadent, a handsome young man, seemingly divinely blessed, embraced the hideous vengeful ghost. Part of the ghost's flames were extinguished, as if in pity or redemption.

The vengeful spirit was unmoved; its crimson and black filth was deeply ingrained. Without hesitation, it plunged a sharp claw into the young man's chest.

The young man trembled slightly, but did not let go. His expression remained calm, and he even hugged the ghost tighter.

Ah, it's not redemption, it's imprisonment.

It's like a cruel yet exceptionally bloody and beautiful oil painting.

The scene seemed to freeze at that moment. Zeng Lai was in a daze for a moment, and didn't even notice that time was up, the system notification that the rose had been destroyed, all the derivative ghosts had disappeared, Alice was about to be destroyed.

His gaze lingered on Yu Xing's pierced chest. For a moment, he forgot to put down the now useless watering can, feeling only that the scene before him was extremely jarring.

The phrase "blood splattered three feet" is no exaggeration; a few drops of warm blood even pierced through the flames and landed at his feet.

As an experienced divination practitioner, Zeng Lai had seen many people die in divinations, in various forms and at various times, but none were as depressing as this one.

Will I die?

His heart was pierced; he'd definitely die, right?

Although the watering can in his hand was the key to his victory, it was clear that Yu Xing chose to block Alice with his body in order to prevent Alice from touching him while he was watering the flowers.

Zeng Lai felt a wave of suffocation.

Thinking about it carefully, if he hadn't been so unlucky as to fall, Xing wouldn't have rashly followed him down to save him.

If Alice could collect more items, Alice speed and strength would decrease significantly, and she might not have died.

The watering can fell to the ground. For several seconds, Alice didn't move, nor did Yu Xing. Only Zeng Lai approached the ghost.

"Xing... are you alright?"

"It's definitely not good, "Zeng Lai thought to herself.

"How about... you hold on a little longer? As long as you're not completely dead, you can receive system treatment once the simulation is over."

Could he have already lost consciousness? Zeng Lai's fingers trembled.

To be fair, he had finally found a brother whose personality and abilities were very compatible with his own, and he didn't want him to die like this.

"I'm fine."

To his surprise, Yu Xing was clear-headed and had the strength to respond to him clearly and fluently.

Zeng Lai was taken aback and looked at Yu Xing more carefully.

Yu Xing's face was etched with exhaustion and pallor, yet his expression remained calm, as if he weren't the one facing death. After responding to Zeng Lai, he couldn't resist making a flirtatious remark to Alice in his arms. "I regret it. Actually, it doesn't matter what you look like. I quite like you, and I couldn't help but want to hug you."

Zeng Lai: "..." Did I misunderstand Xing's state? Also, if you said those things to any girl, wouldn't you succeed? Why did you have to say them to a Female Ghost?

Then he looked down at Alice again.

The flames on Alice's body had inexplicably gone out, along with the light in her scarlet eyes.

She is already "dead".

As a vengeful spirit born from evil, she seems to have lost consciousness and the ability to act forever in a more thorough way.

So she couldn't actually hear what Yu Xing said.

Zeng Lai suddenly realized the truth and said with difficulty, "You... Alice is dead. You don't need to pretend anymore."

Yu Xing: "Ah... I'm dead..."

He truly didn't know whether Alice was dead or alive at that moment, because everything was pitch black before his eyes, and his visual nerves had been destroyed by the overactive power of the curse.

In other words, he went "blind" for a short period of time.

"Sigh, what a pity, the sarcasm didn't get through." Yu Xing muttered, reaching out to grasp Alice's wrist, which was stuck in his chest, and then pulling it out with a forceful pull.

"Damn it..." Zeng Lai didn't have time to stop him before he saw Yu Xing take a big step toward death.

"Don't worry, I have offerings to heal serious injuries, otherwise I wouldn't dare to be so arrogant." Yu Xing raised her other hand, Zeng Lai then noticed that, out of his sight, Yu Xing had taken out a doll.

At this moment, the doll's entire body was cracked and covered with terrifying fissures. It was being held by Yu Xing with a look of utter despair, radiating an aura of "leave me alone, I just want some peace and quiet."

"This doll can withstand one fatal injury."

This time, Yu Xing wasn't lying. Ability ② happened to be available within its time limit. In order to avoid creating an inexplicable situation, he used the doll's ability ② this time. Now, the doll is completely destroyed in this simulation.

The wound on his chest disappeared quickly; this was due to the doll's ability, even faster than his own recovery.

Zeng Lai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"You should have said so earlier! I thought you were going to die!" He helped Yu Xing to her feet and noticed Yu Xing terrible condition. "You can't see?"

Yu Xing naturally followed up with, "It's temporary, a side effect of the sacrifice's power."

Zeng Lai assumed he was referring to the side effects of using the doll, so he didn't say much. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead before he had the energy to check what notification the system had sent him.

The Cursed Rose has been destroyed, the curse has been lifted, and from now on, all the roses in this castle will return to normal.

[Alice, the castle's owner, will be destroyed along with the Cursed Rose she sold her soul to it.]

[Castle staff will be reverted to death status]

[Alice dies, simulation ends prematurely, estimated time 36 hours ahead of schedule]

[Congratulations on completing the hidden storyline "Greed will ultimately destroy itself"]

Yu Xing calmed down. Although he couldn't see, the system notification panel in his Persona Mask existed directly in his mind. His notification arrived at the same time as Zeng Lai's, but he was distracted by the cursed aura and didn't have time to look at it.

Among them, his hints about completing the hidden storyline were exactly the same as Zeng Lai's. He paused for a while when he glanced at the line about the castle's employees, and then continued browsing down as if he didn't care.

Following the hidden hint is the ghost's notification.

[The ghost notice has been updated. Since you completed the hidden ending, the original nine ghosts will be merged into one.]

[Ghostly Notice (Hidden Version) (Personal Edition, Semi-Shared)]

[Ghost/Monster Type: 1]

[Encountered: 1]

[Resolved: 1]

[Goblin 1: Cursed Rose]

[Corresponding Visitor: Great Wizard]

[Description of origin: A pot of precious red roses, each petal as exquisite and vibrant as a work of art. It was originally just a seed, which blossomed under the continuous nourishment of evil. It came from a mysterious visitor, the Great Wizard, whose true identity Alice doesn't even know. Therefore, the Great Wizard is probably even more troublesome Alice.]

[Special Abilities: ① Absorbs blood to form a sinful demon corresponding to a human. ② Absorbs sin to help the cultivator most closely associated with it obtain a beautiful human form. ③ Influences surrounding humans, causing those remaining within a certain range to grow into rose bushes. ④ Influences the cultivator's mind, making them increasingly addicted to what they pursue, ultimately unable to escape the roses and becoming slaves to the Cursed Rose.]

[Solution: Disrupt the stable state of the curse]

[Notification Progress: 100%]

The complete picture of the Cursed Rose finally appeared before Yu Xing. Looking at the description of the fourth ability in the [Special Abilities] section, he suddenly understood the reason for Alice's drastic change.

Clearly, this was all a conspiracy by the Great Wizard. If Alice hadn't been destroyed today, the Great Wizard would have returned to assess the results when she became a complete slave to the Cursed Rose.

[You have collected all the ghost notices and will receive a "sacrifice" reward.]

[Rewards can be taken out of the deduction phase. Since the deduction storyline has ended, the sacrifices will be distributed during the final settlement.]

[Side Quest completed]

[Task Completion Description: You chose to threaten the tourists (the hostile mission did not fail), tied yourself to the butler (focusing on the plausibility of the plot), and turned the butler against you (gaining a lot of information), stole the butler's lighter (to burn down the thorn wall), and stole the nun guide's watering can (to destroy the Cursed Rose).]

[Task Evaluation: Exceeded Expectations]

[Quest Reward: Title (Rare)]

[Stunning Schemer (Rare): Wearing this title moderately increases the success rate when committing generally bad deeds (including fraud, theft, instigation, and coercion). The method of increase will be adjusted according to the circumstances.]

"Hmm." Yu Xing uttered a meaningless monosyllable, which usually indicated that he was in a good mood.

This title was a pleasant surprise, and its effect was far more satisfying than the other rare title, "[Terrifying Newcomer]".

[The deduction is complete. Alice's Hell will collapse in five minutes. All deducers will leave the deduction process in four minutes and fifty-nine seconds for the results to be calculated.]

[Note (This hint is shared by everyone): Since some players have completed the hidden storyline, the deduction will be calculated based on the hidden storyline. The rewards for the original ghost notices that have been collected will be converted into points and distributed accordingly.]

It must be said that the system has consistently performed well in terms of fairness.

The current system prompts are already quite long, and there's still a long final settlement process to go.

Before the time limit was up, Zeng Lai, supporting the swaying Yu Xing, looked at the mess and felt the flames around them growing stronger, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Awesome, bro, I'm suddenly experiencing the fun of the Mutation Path breaking the rules."

"You can do that next time too. The Righteous Path doesn't restrict people." Yu Xing's vision hadn't recovered yet, so she simply started chatting with Zeng Lai.

Talking helped him distract himself and alleviate the pain.

Anyway, once this simulation is over, he can fulfill all the conditions on his wish list and temporarily escape the bullying from that sinister aura.

Just thinking about it makes me happy.

"Don't even mention it. After this, my Personality Assimilation Degree will definitely rise to a new level. Just look at you hugging that ghost... Damn, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. Just that scene alone will increase my alienation level by at least two percent!" Zeng Lai said irritably. That image had a huge impact on his young mind. The most terrifying thing was that he not only found it a bit creepy, but he also found it quite beautiful.

The latter is definitely the culprit behind the increased alienation!

The two chatted for a while, and soon the system spoke up, sending them out of the scene.

This time, Yu Xing will not witness the collapse of Alice's Hell; all that awaits him is darkness.