The Curse

Chapter 5: The Curse

Was this really a ghost?

Zhou Li's choice of words stirred something in Bai Yanliang.

The young woman, whose mental state had seemed unstable all along, widened her eyes too.

"Zhou Li... What do you mean?" Shen Changrong had met Zhou Li once or twice, so he was the first to ask.

Zhou Li nodded and turned slightly, gesturing to the dozens of people standing silently behind him. With a bitter smile, he said, "Just like you, we opened what looked like an ordinary door, only to somehow end up here. And... just as you've guessed, there are people from all over the country and from all walks of life here. Counting you three, there are... forty-nine of us."

Shen Changrong looked grim. Deep down, he refused to believe something so illogical, but... he really had ended up in this bizarre space.

He had already tried calling the police on his phone, but there wasn't a trace of signal here.

Strangely, the young woman wasn't crying or making a fuss anymore. She lowered her head, lost in thought.

The only one whose expression remained unchanged was still Bai Yanliang, but he wasn't nearly as calm inside as he looked.

It wasn't that he was afraid or uneasy. Rather... he had realized that something about him was different!

Neither Zhou Li nor Shen Changrong had mentioned a key just now. They had opened the door of their own accord, and their bodies hadn't suddenly gone out of control!

It seemed... he was different.

Bai Yanliang really wanted to take the key out of his pocket and examine it, but for now, that was all he could do: think about it.

"Then... can we leave this place?" Shen Changrong asked again.

This time, Zhou Li nodded. Looking at the three of them, he said, "After completing its task, we can return to the real world unharmed. But we can't choose to leave on our own. We're suddenly ejected, like a swimming ring pushed underwater. As soon as you let go, it floats right back to the surface."

Zhou Li's explanation was easy to understand, but he wasn't finished.

"However, although we can't choose to leave on our own, we can choose whether to enter."

He glanced at the three of them again and smiled. "But I hope you won't choose to run away. Whenever its summons comes, you'll feel a powerful sense of dread and suffocation. When that happens, you'd better find a door within three minutes and open it."

"What if we don't?" Unexpectedly, the one who asked was the woman who had been so emotional.

"That's what I mean when I say we can choose whether to enter. If you do nothing at that point, it means you've given up on that mission. And the punishment is... something truly terrifying that lasts for a whole month."

Something truly terrifying...

That description was unsettling. What kind of terrifying thing did he mean?

"What happens after a month?" Bai Yanliang suddenly asked.

His voice wasn't loud, but in the stillness of the space, everyone heard him clearly.

"Heh..."

A mocking chuckle came from somewhere.

Then a coquettish woman's voice rang out from the crowd. "If you can last a month, maybe you'll be able to leave this hellhole for good. Who knows? How about giving it a try next time?"

Bai Yanliang followed the voice and saw a young woman step out of the crowd. She looked him up and down, then suddenly covered her mouth and laughed. "Oh, sorry. I forgot—you have to survive this time before there can be a next time~"

"Li Yuejun, that's enough."

Zhou Li looked at her calmly, then turned to Bai Yanliang and explained, "The truth is, some people have chosen to resist this place's summons. But so far, the longest anyone has lasted is three days."

Bai Yanliang nodded, understanding what Zhou Li meant.

Resisting its will was tantamount to suicide. He still didn't know what the terrifying thing Zhou Li had mentioned was, but for some reason, his thoughts turned to his older brother... Bai Yanren.

The key had belonged to Yanren. Had he... always been connected to this place somehow?

While Bai Yanliang was still lost in thought, the atmosphere suddenly shifted.

Even Zhou Li, who had been speaking calmly, looked grave as he stared into the depths of the fog.

"It's here."

As Bai Yanliang and the other two newcomers watched in alarm, something bizarre happened.

The gray mist twisted and tangled in the air, gradually taking shape until it filled a vast stretch of space, packed tightly with forms.

Bai Yanliang looked closely. They were names!

Li Mu, Feng Xiuxue, Du Shangjing, Lin Yan, Yang Xiu, Zheng Jiajia, Yu Hanzhou, Niu Ping, Li Dayou, Zhou Li, Huang Yourong... Qi Nian, Shen Changrong, Bai Yanliang!

Seven names per row, seven rows in all.

The names of all forty-nine people had formed out of the gray mist, floating eerily in midair.

Li Mu was at the head of the list, and Bai Yanliang was at the end.

Bai Yanliang's heart stirred. Could it be that he was last because he had entered this space most recently?

Then... did that mean Li Mu, at the top, was the first of the forty-nine to arrive here?

It was a reasonable guess, but he'd need to find a chance to verify it.

As everyone watched with bated breath, the forty-nine names that had just taken shape suddenly began to change.

Red slowly spread across the gray mist, quickly staining one name after another. One name quietly turned bloodred—Wei Xiu!

As his name changed, five more gradually turned bloodred!

Qin Siqiao, Yuan Pengfei, Jin Wen, Lv Shuang, and Shen Changrong!

Three men and two women, all with different expressions, stepped out of the crowd. Then a sturdy man in his thirties glared at Shen Changrong. "Get over here!"

As the president of Baisheng United Group, Shen Changrong had never been shouted at like that. But he understood that he had no choice when the situation was against him. Without changing his expression, he stepped forward and stood with the five others.

As the six of them stepped out, the next round of changes began.

This time, the first name to turn bloodred was... Yu Hanzhou!

When his name turned red, Bai Yanliang could clearly sense a stir in the crowd, though he didn't understand why.

Then, this time, seven names turned bloodred at once.

Dong An, Hua Xiaoxiao, Lu Guo, Sun Wenjie, Zhou Changfeng, Ma Zirong, and... Qi Nian!

Seeing this, Bai Yanliang was sure he would be in the third round. Did that mean newcomers were always included in the missions?

After two rounds, most of the people whose names hadn't turned bloodred let out a sigh of relief. Usually, the third round was the final mission, and it also had the highest survival rate, relatively speaking. It was better not to be picked, but if you were, you had a better chance of surviving.

After Qi Nian tremblingly joined the other six, the final round began.

Was it my turn?

Bai Yanliang looked at his name at the very end of the last row.

Red quietly appeared, spreading upward in thin strands. In almost an instant, the gray mist had been stained bloodred.

But this time, everyone looked utterly incredulous.

Because the first name to turn bloodred was... Bai Yanliang!