Why Were You Still Alive?

A dozen minutes later, Zhou You got his wish and met the woman.

Like her husband, she was in her forties or fifties. She wore a cleaner's uniform covered in dust, and her weathered face was blank, as if the hardships of life had worn away every last edge. She seemed just as confused about what was happening, nervously tugging at the hem of her clothes as she looked at Zhou You, ill at ease.

Zhou You didn't rush to speak. Instead, he glanced between the female cleaner and the fat monster.

The monster had just called this woman over.

But the problem was that she showed not the slightest fear of the monster. Whenever she glanced at it, she looked only uneasy and intimidated, as she might around an ordinary, stingy boss.

So...

Was I seeing something different from them?

Or had their perception been tainted somehow, leaving them unable to recognize what was really there?

Zhou You thought it over for a while, but still couldn't come up with an answer. And with the fat monster right beside them, he couldn't question the woman in detail either. He could only sigh softly before introducing himself.

"Hello. I'm Zhou You, an investigative reporter with the provincial TV station. I'm here because..."

But when the woman heard the word "reporter," the timid cleaner suddenly grew agitated.

"Has my husband's story come up again?"

"Uh... no..."

"Or are you going to come block my door again?"

"Not that either..."

"My child can't take any more harassment. He was already distraught after his father died, and we still don't know where the tuition for next semester will come from. And then you reporters keep showing up at our door to interview us and bother us—"

...Seriously, was ignoring what the other person said just part of the script?

The woman grew more and more agitated—and it wasn't just that. As she sobbed, the head on her neck swelled like a balloon, and she looked on the verge of transforming into another monster—

"Wait! I'm here to give you the tuition money!"

He shouted.

Her transformation abruptly stopped.

"What... did you say?"

Seeing that the cleaner had finally stopped, Zhou You immediately soothed her in the kindest voice he could manage.

"Auntie, don't be afraid. I'm not one of those tabloid reporters. A while ago, my mentor helped solve a case, and the province awarded him a special bonus for it. But we didn't know who he was at the time, so we only just tracked down where he lived."

Zhou You studied the woman's expression. When he saw that it hadn't changed, he continued.

"Unfortunately, by the time we found him, he had already passed away. I happen to be here working on a few interviews, so I thought I'd deliver the money to you while I was at it. I also wanted to see if we could hold some kind of recognition ceremony and memorial service. Please don't worry. I'm really not here to harass you."

His hastily concocted lie had plenty of holes in it, but it was enough to fool an ordinary middle-aged woman. The cleaner's head gradually shrank until it had returned to its original, timid appearance.

"...Young man, is that true?"

"Of course it is." To make his story more convincing, Zhou You even took the thick wad of cash from inside his coat. It wasn't his money anyway, so he didn't mind giving it away. "Look, this is the bonus from the province. You can take it right now. You don't need to worry about anyone extorting it from you, either. The TV station may do a special program on the case in a few days. If anyone tries to pull something like that, they'll be slapping the whole city's leadership in the face."

With that, Zhou You turned and looked at the fat monster.

The fat monster, who had already begun to look greedy, coughed lightly and turned away in embarrassment.

Seeing that, the cleaner finally believed Zhou You. She cautiously took the money, then suddenly spoke in a trembling voice. "Um, I'm sorry. I misunderstood you just now, young man... I mean, Mr. Reporter. Honestly, this money is a huge help. My kid was about to pay tuition for this term, and then his father suddenly... With just me earning money, I couldn't possibly make enough. Now... I really don't know how to thank you..."

"Auntie, you don't need to thank me." Zhou You hurriedly steadied her as she tried to bow. "There is one thing I may need to trouble you about, though. We may need more people to attend the program later, so I wanted to ask: did your mentor have any other immediate family members? Brothers, for example?"

The woman immediately let out a long sigh.

"He did have a brother once, and they used to run a business together. But that poor man died of a sudden illness a few years ago. He didn't have a wife or children, either. My husband was the one who saw him off at the end. After that, my husband was left to keep the little stall going by himself. It's no wonder he came down with that illness..."

Hearing that, Zhou You could finally be certain.

He really had found the right person.

"It's all right, it's no trouble. Oh, by the way, do you have anything that belonged to your mentor? I may need to visit his grave and pay my respects later. After all, this case helped our station a lot, too..."

From beginning to end, his expression had been utterly sincere. There wasn't the slightest hint of deceit.

"Dear player, you have obtained an unknown special item: Old Scarf."

"Keen Observation talent activated. Identification successful."

"Effect: This item was knitted by a wife for her husband long ago, in the hope that it might preserve a little warmth through the winter. When equipped by a player, it slightly increases resistance to cold. It can also be given to certain beings to raise their favorability."

After obtaining the item, Zhou You had completed his task for the day.

Still, in keeping with the principle of seeing a good deed through to the end, he also took the opportunity to warn the fat monster. He told it that the city's leadership was paying close attention to the case, and that it should think carefully about how to improve the sanitation workers' conditions. After receiving an emphatic promise, he finally left for good.

He didn't waste the rest of his time, either. He wandered as far as he could, trying to find more clues about the scenario or scout out the roads ahead of time. Unfortunately, he came up empty.

As he wandered here and there, the sky outside gradually darkened.

Night fell.

The instant the sun slipped below the horizon, the scenery before Zhou You abruptly shifted. The buildings, hazy in the dusk, suddenly tilted and vanished, and a host of familiar things slowly appeared before him.

...In the blink of an eye, he was back in the security booth.

"The player has entered the second night."

"Game progress will be saved automatically."

But before the dizziness from the sudden transition had even faded, he turned and looked at the clock.

Just like the first time he entered, it still read half past ten.

"Just as I expected. Every return happens at a fixed time. What a shame. I wanted to see exactly how this area changed into that nighttime ghost realm, but it's all fixed..."

But just then, behind him, he heard porcelain hit the floor and shatter.

Then a voice rang out, filled with such terror and disbelief that it could hardly be real.

"Y-You! How could you still be alive?!"