The Game Begins
"What's the matter?" Feng Xue opened the door and immediately saw the person knocking. It was a man who looked to be in his early thirties. He was rather thin and looked like an ordinary office worker. The only thing that caught her attention was the charred bracelet on his wrist. His clothes were not the eccentric type either. If she was not mistaken, this should be the Possession Item the ghost possessed him.
While Feng Xue was sizing up the other person, he was also sizing Feng Xue up. However, compared to the almost defenseless office worker, the only thing that could be discerned about Feng Xue, who possessed the Hermit Authority, was what he wanted to show.
Hearing Feng Xue speak, he paused slightly, seemingly worried, but still continued:
Everyone else is gathered in the Living Room, waiting for you.
"The Living Room?" Feng Xue looked at the round table, which was once again full of people. Knowing Feng Xue had spent a bit too long [adjusting education] with the Ouija board, she nodded and said:
"Wait a moment, I'll be right there."
As he spoke, he took a step forward, but with a hint of mental pressure, causing the man to take a step back. In that moment of retreat, Feng Xue had already turned around, locked the door, and walked around him to the round table, observing the state of the others.
Because the mastermind (KP) was absent, there were seven other participants in this beginner's game besides Feng Xue.
A corporate slave wearing a charred bracelet;
A woman nearing forty with a noose around her neck;
A middle-aged man with a livid face and clear strangulation marks on his neck;
A frail, overweight man who sweats profusely just by sitting there;
A balding man with a face as red as a boiled crab;
A sallow-faced, thin Student Kid with a beer belly;
The last one was a pretty woman who looked quite young, but the bluish-purple scars that occasionally peeked out from under her heavily covered clothes suggested that she was not innocent.
"These people are no ordinary folks!" Feng Xue observed their expressions and noticed that their attitudes differed somewhat.
The frail, fat man, the blue-faced man, and the woman wrapped up tightly appeared the most uneasy; even Heart of Clear Water could sense their intense emotional agitation.
The office worker who had come to find him earlier sat back down and didn't make any further noise, just like the woman with the noose around her neck, both of them looking rather dull.
The balding man with the Red Face seemed quite calm, like he was sitting on a calm plate, but even without sensing his emotional fluctuations, Feng Xue knew that this guy was definitely pleased with himself for knowing a lot of information.
In contrast, the Student Kid very good at hiding his true nature. If it weren't for the smugness emanating from him, Feng Xue wouldn't have been able to tell that he was anything special.
"You're so slow! Everyone's lives are hanging by a thread, you're wasting everyone's time, do you realize that?!"
As soon as Feng Xue sat down, the Green Face man immediately began to berate her. Only then did Feng Xue realize that this was the same guy who had interrupted the KP earlier.
In response to his question, Feng Xue shrugged indifferently and said:
"We didn't even arrange to meet up. If you think I'm wasting your time, then just leave me alone."
Seeing Feng Xue's appearance, the Green Face man was about to say something more when the woman with the noose around her neck suddenly spoke up:
"We didn't come here to argue!"
After saying that, he turned his gaze to Feng Xue Xuedao:
"I believe everyone has found the information in the room by now, right? To help each other, I hope everyone can share the information they have."
Feng Xue narrowed her eyes slightly, but she couldn't sense any emotional fluctuations from the woman. Either the ghost inside this person had a setting like "shielding mental perception" or "absorbing emotional fluctuations," or this woman simply wasn't human at all.
However, Feng Xue clearly had no intention of being the first to speak up. Before the woman could continue her persuasion, the smug, Red Face, balding man let out a disdainful snort.
"Oh!"
"What do you mean?" The woman glared angrily upon hearing the voice, but the man waved his hand and said:
"Stop pretending. I don't know if you're really so ignorant that you've never even heard of 'Supernatural Game,' but anyone who reveals public information in this kind of setting is either stupid or malicious. So, are you out of your mind, or are you deliberately setting a trap?"
"How dare you speak like that?" the woman retorted sharply, while the weak, overweight man beside her, though nervous and uneasy, mustered his courage and said:
"You should know something about this so-called Supernatural Game, right? If you're willing to share information, just say so. If you need any compensation, you can also mention it."
Hearing the fat man say this, the Red Face, balding man, who had found his straight man, immediately nodded in satisfaction and said:
"That's right. Supernatural Game aren't a secret in some circles. To put it simply, they're a death game where a group of unlucky guys possessed by ghosts struggle desperately. But there's a reward for every effort. Every time you clear a game, you get some rewards that you can use to strengthen yourself or buy various items or even real-world objects."
"Why do you think the horror movie market in recent years has been so repetitive in its settings? It's not because we're following trends, it's simply because the information itself comes from this game. But to avoid panic, we can only use this subtle way to give ordinary people some basic knowledge about ghosts and monsters."
"So, it's like those Infinite Flow novels, where you experience various terrifying worlds and then gain reward points and side quests? Are you someone in the real world who possesses this information and deliberately uses ghost possession to enter this place to obtain opportunities?"
The skinny Student Kid, and the balding, Red Face- faced man raised an eyebrow slightly and replied:
"That's about it. But you should note that there aren't just Human Player in this game. Don't forget, the Keeper said before that if you want to survive for three days, you have to help your partner get a new house. What do you think that means?"
"This is just one method KP mentioned. He also said that everyone can work together to suppress all the ghosts!" The woman with the noose around her neck angrily retorted without any emotional fluctuation, but the Red Face, balding man remained unmoved.
"That kind of talk only fools idiots. Suppress? How do you suppress it? The information we have only shows how to expel ghosts from the possessed person, not how to deal with them. What good is expelling the ghost from the body? Can you suppress it?"
Upon hearing the Red Face, balding man's explanation, almost everyone turned their attention to the woman with the noose around her neck. If she couldn't explain herself, everyone present would assume she was completely controlled by a ghost.
However, amidst this unified sentiment, Feng Xue sensed something unnatural. He glanced at the source of that emotion out of the corner of his eye—it was the beer-bellied Student Kid.
His attitude towards the Red Face, balding man was one of utter disdain.