Don't close your eyes

[Points credited: ten million]

[Automatically redeeming Revival Card. Please wait...]

Wait... what?

Yu Qing glanced at the system. The corners of his eyes were pitifully red from tears, while the Revival Card above continued its leisurely loading spin, utterly indifferent to whether he lived or died.

But his breath had been stolen. He had gone nearly ten minutes without breathing.

Ten minutes! His brain was severely starved of oxygen, and he could barely feel anything else in his body. One second...

One more second of delay, and he really would die!!

Yet... [System lag detected. Revival Card loading slowly. Please wait patiently, streamer~]

Patiently? Fuck your patience!

Yu Qing's fingertips began to tremble. He struggled to curl up, no longer able to make out what the system was saying. His muddled mind had gone completely blank, leaving only one thought burning bright-

Don't close your eyes. If you do, you'll never wake up!

Don't close your eyes! Don't close your eyes! Don't close your eyes!

So he gathered another scrap of strength. His trembling right hand slowly rose and pinched his left arm viciously, instantly turning the pale skin a vivid red.

It hurt so much that Yu Qing shuddered involuntarily, yet he couldn't make a sound.

His thin body curled ever tighter, trembling and convulsing. Viewed through the livestream, he looked as though he were performing an absurd mime.

Time ticked past, second by second. At last-[Ding-]

[Revival Card issued. Enjoy the game~]

At the announcement, Yu Qing coughed hard twice. His cheeks flushed, and he finally drew the breath he had been denied for so long.

He had pinched several deep wounds into his left arm. Blood trickled down and dripped onto the filthy floor.

His thin shirt had long since been tugged into disarray. The top two buttons had popped open, exposing the flushed skin around his collarbones.

Once his mind cleared completely, Yu Qing slowly sat up and tugged at his clothes. He casually bent one knee, leaned wearily against the pillar behind him, and beckoned to the system screen.

The screen obediently moved beneath his hand, right where he could see it.

Yu Qing lowered his eyes, steadied his breathing, and unhurriedly opened the system shop.

Now that he was out of danger, the tense atmosphere in the livestream vanished, and the chat exploded again.

The viewers seemed to think they had done something truly great, and all began fussing over Yu Qing.

[Nice, nice! This streamer's mental fortitude is incredible. Other streamers cry and bow down in gratitude when they get a Revival Card. Some even get so excited they lose their minds. This streamer... he's so calm!]

[Hah. Is he calm, or does he look down on everyone? We saved you. Can't you say thank you and give us a smile?]

[Could you be any more passive-aggressive? I love how Qingqing barely pays me any attention. Classy!]

[Wait, is the streamer opening the system shop? Is he buying something to defend himself?]

That comment caught everyone's attention. They focused more closely on Yu Qing, watching him open the shop and single out a [Demolition Card] from among the outrageously expensive tools, studying it carefully.

[Item name: Demolition Card]

[Item effect: Can blow up anything you wish to destroy. Simply enter its name. Once the Demolition Card locks onto a target, it will not stop until that target is destroyed.]

[Price: 9000000]

Yu Qing's arm was still bleeding, but he didn't seem to have any intention of bandaging it. Those little wounds wouldn't kill him, but...

Beep-

Yu Qing tapped the screen, and the Demolition Card disappeared from the shop. In an instant, the entire livestream erupted again.

[WTF? Has the streamer lost his mind? Nine million! That's nine million!!! After this instance ends, those points would be enough to rank him as a level-three streamer, and he just spent them? Spent them? Does he have any idea how hard other streamers work to save up points?! Aaaaaah!]

[Could you be any more passive-aggressive? I love how Qingqing throws money around like dirt. Classy!]

[...This is why simps shouldn't watch livestreams!]

After receiving the card, Yu Qing finally looked away from it and glanced at the lively chat. Then he asked, "System, what's your ID?"

The system's cold female voice sounded a little weary as it answered faintly: [TTS1888]

Yu Qing nodded politely. "Thank you."

Then, without hesitation, he entered the system's ID on the Demolition Card.

The livestream:

[!]

[!!!!]

The system: [!!!!!!!!]

Then they watched Yu Qing press confirm without a moment's hesitation, his smile unchanged. "System, if you're blown to ash, can I still stream normally?"

The system, which had been so unhurried that even loading a [Revival Card] took forever, finally panicked.

Its mechanical female voice began speaking faster. By the end, it was even trembling: [After the system is destroyed, the livestream will temporarily disconnect, and your streamer designation will disappear. Other streamers may very well mistake you for an NPC.]

[Please reconsider, streamer. Please recon-]

Bang-

An explosion rang out. Wearing a faint smile, Yu Qing waved goodbye to the livestream.

Then he tore off a relatively clean piece of clothing and hastily bandaged his arm.

Standing up, Yu Qing stretched his limbs, feeling thoroughly refreshed. The little blue light above his head that marked him as a streamer had disappeared, and things were much quieter now.

He walked back to Granny Ghost and reached out.

After feeling around inside the female ghost's empty belly for a moment, he pulled out a severed finger wearing a ring.

She must have swallowed it earlier without digesting it yet. As she walked, a gap had opened in her patched-up belly, and Yu Qing had happened to spot it.

Yu Qing examined it closely. It was a man's wedding ring. Though it had few diamonds, its design was refined. Two English letters were engraved inside the band-XH.

Was that... his lover's name?

His intuition told him it was connected to the instance's story. That was why he had so decisively provoked Granny Ghost, but...

Now the system was wrecked, and nothing could answer his questions.

"Phew-"

Putting away the severed finger, Yu Qing let out a soft breath. He was about to head into the corridor to continue exploring when he suddenly heard a ding.

A blade had dropped from the spot where the system had exploded and vanished.

About forty centimeters long, it was a short blade, but double-edged. It reflected the dim yellow light overhead with an almost dazzling gleam.

It looked... so sharp.

Yu Qing crouched down. Just as he was about to touch the blade, several lines of text appeared above it.

[Reward for blowing up the system]

[Every system that enters an instance contains a rare secret weapon. Streamers can obtain it by completely destroying the system within the instance.]

"Oh?" Yu Qing's eyes lifted. He had only been getting revenge for himself, yet... there was an unexpected bonus.

He began to miss the system he had blown to pieces.

So he lowered his hand and grasped the hilt. The moment he picked it up, the text beside the blade changed again.

[Item name: I'll Cut You Down]

[Item effect: -]

Yu Qing's pupils widened slightly. After reading the blade's effect, his expression returned to normal. As he stepped out, a faint smile lingered in his eyes.

He walked steadily toward the stairwell, toward the mass of black mist that had "tormented" him.

Tap, tap, tap-

His measured footsteps echoed faintly through the stairwell. The black mist seemed to sense Yu Qing approaching, and its earlier stillness instantly vanished.

It began writhing with excitement.