Dead End

I knew my luck was absolute trash.

Whenever I played Fight the Landlord with my classmates, I was always the only one covered in paper strips.

So, it was only natural that I'd chosen the wrong path right from the start...

Zhou You took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Still, he wanted to put up a desperate fight.

He hugged the edge of the wall, intending to sneak past this woman just like he would avoid a witch, but what happened next was completely beyond his expectations—the person on the other side didn't pay him any mind at all, letting him walk right past.

"...Has the system grown a conscience? Is it actually planning to let me off this easily?"

Zhou You looked up, but before he could even break into a smile, his expression froze instantly.

Right in front of him, a woman in white was crouching.

He turned his neck to look behind him.

There, another identical woman in white was standing in the exact same spot.

Refusing to believe it, Zhou You tried to circle around again, yet the result remained the same.

The entire street seemed to have been folded into a special space; no matter where he walked, he was bound to encounter this white anomaly.

"...Fine, I knew it."

Zhou You sighed helplessly, then, with a sense of self-abandonment, simply walked up and tapped the woman on the shoulder.

"Um, excuse me, miss, is there anything I can help you with?"

The figure didn't move, only speaking in a wet, strange, snake-like voice.

"I lost something. Can you help me find it?"

Zhou You had already prepared himself to die at any moment, so he went with the flow and replied.

"Then may I ask, miss, what exactly did you lose?"

The woman in white slowly raised her head upon hearing this. And then...

She revealed a blood-drenched face devoid of skin.

She opened her mouth and whispered.

"My father lost my face. Could you please help me find it?"

The next moment, Zhou You felt a sharp, agonizing pain in his face.

He instinctively raised his hand and slowly touched it, but what he felt wasn't the texture of skin, but something far more viscous and rough—it felt like... the texture of blood and muscle.

He looked up, only to realize that at some point, his own skin had been fitted onto the head of the female ghost.

His limbs gradually stiffened, and his vision plunged into darkness.

"You have died."

"Your death was relatively valuable."

"Your remaining respawns: 13."

"You are more than halfway through your journey, and the dawn of victory is near. Please keep up the effort and clear the stage soon."

Listening to that familiar female voice, Zhou You didn't feel much sorrow over his luck; he simply entered the stage once more.

This time, he chose the right path.

Unlike the left side, this road seemed much darker. The lights, already dim, were half-broken, and the road was riddled with potholes, as if it hadn't been maintained for many years.

In these conditions, Zhou You's walking speed was naturally much slower, but fortunately, he didn't encounter any hideous ghosts. However, he didn't feel the slightest bit relieved; instead, his expression grew uglier the further he walked.

The reason was simple.

This road... was too long!

Judging by the route map he had seen earlier, even with his slowed pace, he should have cleared this area in ten minutes or so. Yet, he had been walking for at least thirty minutes now, and he still hadn't seen an exit.

Furthermore, from start to finish, he had the feeling of being "watched."

It was as if something had been following him the whole time, and if he were to turn his head even slightly... it would strike without hesitation.

The conclusion was clear: he had guessed wrong yet again.

"I knew my luck was bad, but to guess wrong twice in a row with a one-in-three chance..."

Zhou You sighed, then turned around in a fit of self-abandonment.

Then, he saw an eye suddenly emerge from the shadows.

A blood-drenched eye.

Then, more and more eyes appeared, filling the entire space within seconds—

The next moment, a sharp pain erupted from his own eyes.

Everything plunged into darkness once again.

"You are dead."

"Your death was completely worthless."

"Your remaining respawn count is: 12."

"You are more than halfway through your journey, and the dawn of victory is near. Please continue to work hard and clear the game as soon as possible."

Perhaps because he had been sent back the moment he stepped out, the system's evaluation of Zhou You had turned into "worthless," and there was even a hint of mockery in that mechanical voice. Zhou You didn't bother to retort—after all, he had realized during this time that getting angry at the system was just making things difficult for himself. So, he simply rolled his eyes and once again chose to enter.

This time, he chose the path in the middle.

Unlike the ones on the left and right, this middle path was much more normal. There were no female ghosts appearing in the scenery, nor were there eyes lurking in the shadows. Everything went very smoothly, but just as he was about to reach the end, he suddenly saw—

An impossibly thin and small old man was squatting there. The moment Zhou You saw it, it also saw Zhou You.

Then, it grinned.

A certain oily, glib voice rang out simultaneously.

"I see you, so I can touch you."

"I touch you, so I can kill you."

"Your eyes can be thrown into the fog, your skin can be gifted to a woman, your head can be built into a wall, and your flesh can be boiled into a pot of good soup."

"Three paths, three seals, but no matter what... you will never be able to get through!"

The moment that voice fell, Zhou You's vision suddenly inverted.

The last thing reflected in his sight was his own headless body, collapsing completely to the ground.

Hm? Why does this scene feel so familiar?

"You are dead."

"Your death was completely worthless."

"Your remaining respawn count is: 11."

"You are more than halfway through your journey, and the dawn of victory is near. Please continue to work hard and clear the game as soon as possible."

Ignoring that mocking voice, Zhou You sat cross-legged directly in front of the page.

Contrary to his guess, this wasn't a "pick one of three" gamble at all; it was three dead ends, with a lethal anomaly waiting for him on every path.

And most importantly, compared to the stall owner and the child in the alley from before, none of these three anomalies had given him a quest.

"In other words, I can't target any of them—or to put it another way, it's possible for me to pass all three of these...

"But there are no clues left at night, so the solution to this puzzle should be the same as the stall owner's: it lies in the daytime."

Zhou You's eyes gradually brightened.

"--Four days and five nights. It looks like the nights are meant to obstruct me with various traps, while the days are the solution provided when I encounter a situation I truly cannot advance through."

"Plus, the plot advances every day that passes. If I enter the daytime again, perhaps I can find the key point that connects all the clues?"

Thinking of this, he didn't hesitate and immediately chose the option on the other side.

"The player has entered the daytime of the third day."

"Game progress will be saved automatically."