Rose Manor (5): A Visitor at Midnight

Before him lay a European-style graveyard. It was nighttime. Rows upon rows of deathly pale tombstones stood in neat formation, like teeth growing from the earth, with loose soil serving as festering gums.

A towering Idol stood in the center of the graveyard. Its smooth, pearly white exterior had been glazed crimson by the moonlight. Its hands, folded before its chest, cradled a vivid red object—vicious and glaring.

Qi Si strolled over leisurely when a sudden rustling sound came from behind his ear.

He turned toward the sound and saw a ghastly white hand bone burst from the soil, looking remarkably like a bloodstained Rose beneath the faint crimson light.

"How beautiful."

Qi Si held his breath, afraid of disturbing the rare sight before him.

Without blinking, he watched as the hand bone bent its fingertips into the dirt and used the ground for leverage, dragging its entire body out inch by inch like some grotesque, absurd dance at a Bacchanalian feast.

The hand bone twisted and struggled, yet after a long while, it still failed to pull itself free of the earth.

Qi Si kindly stepped forward, grabbed its wrist, and exerted all his strength to yank it out as if pulling up a radish.

A sharp crack of breaking bone rang out abruptly, like the time he had accidentally snapped one of his father's finger bones while making a specimen for the first time.

Everything in the dream was chaotic and hazy. The unpleasant memory failed to stir an equal amount of sorrow and was quickly suppressed by the illusion before him.

The hand bone was smooth as jade, breathtakingly beautiful. Thinking that it would soon belong to him, Qi Si smiled, his eyes curving into crescents.

But the next second, dense gray mist filled his vision. A violent wind suddenly rose and blew him backward.

His back struck something solid, sending a shudder through his body. Qi Si opened his eyes in bed and found himself staring straight at the mottled ceiling above, dotted with sprouting grass and black stains.

"Dong—dong—dong—"

The clock outside the door chimed in an even rhythm.

It was three in the morning.

Qi Si quickly realized that Shen Ming's earlier suggestion to "think of nothing and keep sleeping" was utter nonsense, as absurd as saying, "Don't think of a pink elephant."

He immediately placed his right hand over his left wrist and began counting seconds by his pulse.

Soft footsteps sounded overhead, like the tap of a wooden cane or a tiptoeing dance. The faint, fragmented noise was as unbearable as ants crawling over his heart.

These footsteps differed from Miss Anna's. They were lighter and more unsteady, making one imagine that whoever made them might collapse at any moment.

Was there someone else on the third floor? Who could it be? A ghost or a living person?

Qi Si turned his head and glanced at Lin Chen beside him.

The guy's breathing was even. He was honestly unconscious and would not suddenly start causing trouble—for now, that counted as one of the few pieces of good news.

The footsteps overhead continued for a while, then stopped without warning.

About half a minute later, footsteps in the same rhythm came from the direction of the stairway.

—The thing upstairs had come down.

Qi Si held his breath and stared wide-eyed toward the door.

A faint, muddled sound wandered through the corridor, drawing closer and then farther away. It seemed to be looking for something, yet moved at an unhurried pace, as though taking a stroll.

It suddenly stopped somewhere. Then, in the silence, came knocking. Gentle, slow taps drifted through the floor.

If Qi Si remembered correctly, the door being knocked on belonged to Room 1, where Ye Zi and Zou Yan were staying. It was diagonally across from his own room.

The two of them were probably asleep. The knocking vanished without stirring the slightest response.

After knocking for a while and receiving no answer, the thing outside let out a long sigh.

The footsteps began again, but they changed direction. This time, they seemed to have a destination, closing the distance within seconds.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The familiar knocking landed on Qi Si's door, with precisely the same rhythm as before.

A rich floral fragrance gathered in the air. Hissing sounds came from the gap beneath the door, as though something was forcing its way inside.

Qi Si silently sat up in bed and turned the bracelet around his right wrist.

A cold blade sprang out, and he pinched it between two fingers.

"Knock, knock, knock." The thing outside knocked three more times, then fell into silent wait.

When no answer came, the footsteps gradually receded, and the strange sound at the door crack stopped at once.

Qi Si narrowed his eyes and slowed his breathing until it became long and light, nearly blending into the silence around him.

Sure enough, the next second, the footsteps that should have gone away abruptly returned.

It had doubled back.

"Are you asleep?"

A woman's voice sounded outside the door, gentle and delicate, vague as sleep-talking.

It sounded like Miss Anna's voice, yet it was somehow distorted, carrying an indescribable strangeness.

Qi Si made no sound, his fingertips tightly gripping the blade.

"Are you asleep?" came the question again.

The situation was now clear. Remaining awake at night undoubtedly meant danger, though he did not know how that danger would arrive or whether it would unreasonably force its way through the door.

Qi Si had been silently counting seconds from beginning to end, so even now, he could state the exact time—3:11:27 a.m.

Perhaps that was why the ghost outside could not attack him directly.

"You're not asleep, are you? Let me in, okay?" "Miss Anna" said softly from outside, sounding both coaxing and pleading.

Qi Si swept his gaze across the Rules on the system interface, stopping at the fourth one.

[4. Do not refuse Miss Anna's requests. Try your best to fulfill everything she asks for. Miss Anna dislikes disobedient guests.]

Fulfill Miss Anna's requests? Did that mean he really had to open the door and invite her inside?

But was the one outside really Miss Anna?

[5. Miss Anna likes to wear red dresses. Miss Anna in a red dress can be trusted; if you see Miss Anna wearing black, please keep your distance from her as much as possible.]

There was not even a peephole on the guest room door. How was he supposed to determine the color of Miss Anna's clothes outside?

His violation at dinner could perhaps be excused with the logic that the law did not punish the masses. Violating the Rules now was practically the same as telling heaven, "I want to die, so don't save me."

Qi Si rubbed his chin and considered it for a moment before decisively choosing to keep playing dead.

After all, the person outside was clearly making a request. How could a request and a demand possibly be treated as the same thing?

And didn't "try your best" itself mean it was optional?

Qi Si felt that there was no flaw in his reasoning. It made perfect sense.

Random, unavoidable events like waking during the night were natural disasters. No matter how one responded, it was impossible to be one hundred percent correct. Whether one lived or died depended entirely on luck.

He had been unlucky since childhood, but he was not afraid of gambling. So long as the risk remained acceptable, what did it matter if he lost the bet?

After receiving no response for a long time, Miss Anna's voice turned shrill. "You're not asleep! You definitely aren't asleep! Open the door and let me in!"

Fingernails scraped against the door. Qi Si could picture Miss Anna sprawled against it, clawing furiously.

But this also confirmed something: without a Player's permission, Miss Anna could not enter the room.

Qi Si felt much more at ease. He even found the scratching at the door unusually pleasant.

Wanting to enter but being unable to, raging helplessly outside—just imagining the scene was amusing.

Still sitting with his knees hugged to his chest, he rested his chin on them and looked straight ahead with great interest.

Seeing that she could not open Qi Si's door after all, Miss Anna seemed to give up. Her voice took on a sorrowful note.

"Please, let me in, okay? I just want to see you..."

"You promised me that you'd take me away with you tonight... We already agreed on the time..."

"The time is already here. Why didn't you come find me? I came to find you, so why won't you see me?"

Qi Si, who had remained perfectly composed until then, broke out in goosebumps. His shoulders finally trembled despite himself.

Fortunately, Miss Anna did not continue this script for long.

After muttering and fussing to herself for a while, she gave a faint sigh and murmured, "Looks like he really is asleep."

Light footsteps sounded, heading toward the final door.

Qi Si drew in a deep breath and let it out, forcing the nausea back down into his stomach, but he did not get to relax for long.

From the direction of the French windows came the howling of an illusory wind. Though the windows were tightly shut, the sound swept straight inside.

Without thinking, acting on instinct, Qi Si threw himself backward and squeezed his eyes shut.

The instant he hit the bed, a sudden gale from nowhere blew the curtains open. The stool weighing them down toppled over with a loud crash, producing a clattering series of impacts.

The room key in his breast pocket grew faintly warm, and lines of text refreshed on the system interface floating in the air.

[Name: Key to Room 2]

[Type: Item (cannot be taken out of the instance)]

[Effect: While the holder is in the corresponding room, no other entity may forcibly enter without the holder's permission.]

[Remark: Guests should also have the right to privacy. It's only polite; except when the host is extremely angry.]

Qi Si felt a gaze settle upon him with tangible weight, sticky as it licked over every corner of his body.

He calmly kept his breathing even, as though he had been asleep for a long time.

His fingertips pressed the blade into the bedding, utterly motionless.

The gaze outside the window lingered for a full minute before reluctantly moving away.

A sigh drifted through the night wind, sounding both disappointed and helpless. "Looks like he really is asleep..."

At the same time, unhurried, unceasing knocking could be heard at the door of Room 3, where Shen Ming and Chang Xu were staying...

In Room 3, Shen Ming had opened his eyes the instant the three o'clock chimes rang.

Thinking of the first two Rules, he panicked for a moment, and even his breathing fell out of rhythm.

He was not someone with much initiative. In the real world, he had become a workshop supervisor at the factory by waiting out his seniority, and he usually avoided doing work whenever possible.

For him, stepping forward this time, pretending to be more capable than he was, and seizing the leader's position had been an exceptionally bold move.

But he had no choice. This was his third instance, and if the rumors were true, his chance of dying in this instance would be far higher than everyone else's. One careless mistake, and he would be crushed to pieces.

He had to gain every possible advantage, preferably tricking the other Players into testing dangers for him.

Unfortunately, things had not gone smoothly.

Chang Xu had strong opinions. No matter what Shen Ming said, he merely kept a cold face and gave no response. Qi Si looked gentle and harmless, but clearly had plans of his own. Zou Yan was impossible to read, while Lin Chen was neither here nor there...

Shen Ming could not help blaming the niece who had given him advice. She had told him to "build a reliable and upright persona" and "occupy the moral high ground." Easy for her to say. It was impossible to put into practice, and had only left him roasting over a fire.

He had pulled that stupid niece into the game only because he wanted someone to test death points for him. He had never expected her to bring so much extra trouble.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The knocking had passed the first two rooms. Like a guillotine blade dropping suddenly on an execution platform, it finally arrived together with the footsteps.

Shen Ming's entire body tightened, and cold sweat broke out uncontrollably.

A gentle female voice came from outside. "You're not asleep, are you? Let me in, okay?"

[4. Do not refuse Miss Anna's requests. Try your best to fulfill everything she asks for. Miss Anna dislikes disobedient guests.]

The Rule on the system interface was perfectly clear. Shen Ming sat up and was about to get out of bed.

Without warning, a pair of icy hands covered his mouth from behind and forcibly pressed him back onto the bed.

Shen Ming instinctively struggled violently, then heard Chang Xu's lowered voice from beside him. "If you don't want to die, stay quiet. Don't let Miss Anna know we're awake."

As if to confirm his words, the voice outside turned shrill. "I know you're not asleep! Open the door and let me in!"

She already knows! If we don't open the door, we'll violate the Rules! Shen Ming screamed silently in his heart, unable to remain rational any longer.

He suddenly jerked hard. Though Chang Xu still held him down on the bed, he nevertheless made a loud bang.

As if some switch had been triggered, the door let out a long creak and slowly, steadily opened.

A red figure stood in the doorway. Tangled white hair obscured most of her face, making it easy to think of the red-clad vengeful ghosts in legends that came to claim lives.

Shen Ming was terrified at first, then remembered that Rule Five stated, [Miss Anna in a red dress can be trusted], and calmed down slightly.

But the next second, several vines extended from the darkness, wrapped around the red figure, and dragged her backward amid sobbing cries of, "Why do you still want to see him?"

Several more vines shot straight into the room, lunging toward the bed.

Shen Ming's heart nearly stopped beating, but fortunately, he had not come entirely unprepared.

Before entering the instance, he had specifically donated more than half his fortune to exchange for a life-saving item from the guild.

Trembling, he raised a hand, gripped the talisman hanging from his chest, and activated its effect.

[Name: Disaster Transfer Talisman]

[Type: Item]

[Effect: Minimizes your presence and avoids the gaze of the strange entities (duration: 30 seconds).]

[Remark: If they can't see you, they'll just have to go look for your roommate.]

The talisman in his palm grew faintly warm. Shen Ming watched as the vines that had been coming for him all changed direction and stabbed toward Chang Xu beside him...

Before writing this, I had wanted to use a time trick, but it felt like pulling that in the very first instance would be too likely to flop, so I reluctantly gave up.