Omens everywhere you looked

"I hope you find what you're looking for."

The middle-aged woman turned and shut the door. As the red security door closed, the plush doll crawled over to the chair and wolfed down the cold noodles.

Was there someone hidden inside that plush doll?

"Gao Ming, don't look back," Xuan Wen warned quietly. She walked another ten meters before stopping.

"Is someone watching us?" Gao Ming was glad he had asked Xuan Wen to come. The atmosphere inside this apartment building was far too eerie.

"The ghost story game here has probably already spread and entered a stage of rapid growth." The smile vanished from Xuan Wen's face. "That middle-aged woman is living with a Ghost! The Ghosts in this building can break free of the Shadow World's restrictions, just like me, and move around freely in daylight."

"Is the Ghost hiding inside the doll?" The more Gao Ming thought about it, the more unnerved he felt. "Wearing the doll's skin to hide from the light."

"I can't be sure. I can only sense certain presences." Xuan Wen looked at Wan Qiu. "He seems to have been the first to notice something wrong."

"Wan Qiu, what did you see?"

"There's a pair of eyes inside the doll. There were three children on the bed, and one was tied up. There was incense ash and rice on the floor, and talismans stuck behind the door. The hair clogging the drain was yellow, but the children and their mother had black hair..." Wan Qiu counted on his fingers, struggling to speak. "The plastic bag in the cabinet had strangers' ID cards in it. There was blood around the rim of the rice cooker. What was cooking inside wasn't... wasn't rice."

Standing behind Gao Ming, Wan Qiu raised his hand again and pointed at the corridor leading to Building A. "Over there. It's very dangerous over there!"

Stammering, Wan Qiu told them everything that had frightened him.

"It's daytime, and the shadows haven't shrouded everything yet, but this building is still this terrifying. That means the Strange Tale has broken free of the Shadow World's restrictions and become reality." Xuan Wen offered a suggestion. "Why don't we leave for now? Find some Strange Tales that haven't fully formed yet?"

"Someone in the East District is feeding Strange Tales. If he's already created a completely Uncontrolled Strange Tale at this stage, we'll lose all initiative." As a game designer, Gao Ming knew exactly how terrifying Strange Tales could become once they went out of control.

"Triggering a Strange Tale ahead of time is difficult enough, and then feeding it takes an unimaginable price. There's seriously something wrong with this guy's head." Xuan Wen stepped in front of Gao Ming. "If we get involved here, Strange Tales won't be our only enemies tonight. We'll also be up against whoever's feeding them. He can mobilize resources and feed living people to Strange Tales. He must have enormous influence in the East District, at the very least. He might even be one of the higher-ups in your Investigation Bureau."

"I thought of that too."

"Anomaly Events first appeared in Xinhu, and the Investigation Bureau has already gathered enough information. They must know that once an Anomaly Event spreads, all kinds of abnormalities will manifest during the day too. But look at the Security around here. The Anomaly Event broke out in Building A, yet living people are still staying in Building B right next door." Xuan Wen's reasoning was clear. "Do you think this is meant to prevent panic, or lure more living people into the Strange Tale?"

Normally, once a Strange Tale reached this stage, all of Sishui Street should have been evacuated. Yet only Building A had been sealed off, and there were no patrols from the Investigation Office responsible for this area. Everything about this was suspicious.

"What do you think our best option is now?" Gao Ming wanted to hear Xuan Wen's opinion.

"If I were an Investigator with the Investigation Bureau, I'd first find out who was feeding the Strange Tale and kill him in the real world. Cut off its food supply, then send the most elite Investigators into the Anomaly Event. Once they established exactly what was happening inside, I'd concentrate every available resource on bringing it under control." Xuan Wen changed tack. "But in your position, the best approach would be to quietly spread word through various channels that the games that have become reality contain hidden boss stages with incredible rewards. This time, the hidden stage is in Building A on Sishui Street."

"Getting players who've cleared my games to tackle it is a good idea. But this Strange Tale has gone out of control too early. Even the 'Reaper' hidden in Nightlight Studio probably wouldn't risk coming here." Xuan Wen's suggestion opened up new possibilities for Gao Ming, but putting it into practice would be much harder than talking about it.

"The last option is to act ourselves." Xuan Wen lowered her voice. "Who knows how many people this Ghost Story Game has devoured? There's bound to be some good 'stuff' inside. If we can claim it all for ourselves, we'll have the power of an uncontrolled Strange Tale!"

"What are our odds of winning?"

"Thirty percent." Xuan Wen held up three fingers. "Our odds of winning are almost nonexistent. Thirty percent is our chance of escaping alive. But as long as we get out alive and gain a thorough understanding of the Strange Tale, we'll have a chance of winning next time."

"You're certainly precise." His sleeve hanging down, Gao Ming clenched his left hand and walked toward the Building Corridor between Building A and Building B.

The corridors on the other floors had been sealed with concrete. Only those on the fifth and ninth floors were blocked by barriers, with seals and strange Talismans pasted on them.

Looking through the gaps in the barrier, they could see that Building A was noticeably darker.

"Stay away from the barrier." Xuan Wen stood beside Gao Ming, while Wan Qiu didn't dare approach at all.

"It's only been a few days since the Ghost Festival, and a Strange Tale is already showing signs of going out of control. We underestimated people's greed and madness." Strange Tales spread at an exponential rate. Gao Ming reached out and gripped the barrier. The shadows in the corners of the Building Corridor seemed drawn to him, and faint footsteps sounded in his ears.

"Is someone running?"

The sound grew clearer and closer to the bend in the corridor. All three of them looked down its length.

Clutter toppled over as a blood-soaked Investigator ran desperately for his life!

Strange writing had been carved into his well-proportioned body. Though he was gravely injured, his movements remained completely unhindered. Torn skin stayed connected to skin, broken bone to bone.

"Bai Xiao!"

Gao Ming's pupils flickered, and he kicked the barrier hard. "Get ready to go in!"

Bai Xiao seemed to have lost his mind as he fled through the Building Corridor. He couldn't see Gao Ming at all, only slowing slightly when he heard someone call his name.

After pulling down the barrier, Gao Ming and Xuan Wen followed the footsteps. But once they ran into Building A, the footsteps vanished completely.

"Did you see that Investigator just now?" Gao Ming asked quietly.

"Yes. He's probably trapped inside the Anomaly Event." Xuan Wen nodded. "He's remarkably tenacious to have lasted this long in there. If this were an ordinary Anomaly Event, he would have held out until dawn and escaped long ago. Unfortunately, he ran into an Uncontrolled Strange Tale."

"O-over here!" Wan Qiu suddenly shouted from behind them, waving both hands.

Before he could finish, the door beside him suddenly opened, and an arm covered in scars dragged him straight into the apartment.

A muffled scream sounded behind the door. Gao Ming and Xuan Wen rushed over.

Blood seeped through the gap beneath the door. They smashed the lock and pushed the door open to look inside.

Wan Qiu sat alone beside a large round table. Eight sets of bowls and chopsticks had been laid out on it. Every bowl held cold rice, with wooden chopsticks stuck upright in it.

"Wan Qiu! Get out of there!" Xuan Wen motioned for him to come out, but Wan Qiu didn't move.

A few seconds later, Wan Qiu slowly raised his head. His beautiful eyes had grown cloudy, and his tightly pressed lips slowly curled upward.

He smiled at Gao Ming and Xuan Wen, then suddenly grabbed a bowl and chopsticks from the table and frantically stuffed rice into his mouth.

At first, the rice was white. As he kept eating, it turned red. Wan Qiu's mouth seemed to be bleeding.

(End of chapter)