Wang Ren

"This is how they make the Rat-Headed Men. It'll be our turn soon... they'll tear the skin off our faces..."

The quiet girl muttered with her head lowered, seeming mentally unwell.

A numb despair permeated the room, as though none of them had any desire to survive.

Yin Chao found this very strange.

He summoned Anna and had her help untie the ropes binding him.

Then he untied everyone else in the room.

Standing before the rusty iron door, he watched the motionless group, the confusion in his eyes deepening.

Anna tilted her head and asked in bewilderment, "Why aren't they running?"

No one answered. They all seemed immersed in their own worlds, unable to react to anything around them.

Yin Chao frowned, realizing how serious the problem was.

He walked over to Liang Chen, crouched down, and gripped his injured cheeks, forcing him to meet his eyes.

"Why aren't you running?"

Liang Chen's eyes were unfocused as he mumbled, "Everyone is guilty. Everyone deserves to die... deserves to die..."

It was as though he had been brainwashed.

Yin Chao continued, "What about you? Do you deserve to die?"

Liang Chen froze, then began to struggle. "I don't deserve to die. I don't deserve to die! I'm going to kill them! They're the ones who deserve to die!"

The familiar light gradually returned to his eyes, like a man sinking into a swamp who had found a lifeline.

Yin Chao released him and leaned against the wall nearby.

A bold suspicion formed in his mind.

Every monster had a different ability, like the Tiger-Headed Man with his Space Rend.

Perhaps one of the monsters could brainwash people.

He came back to his senses and watched Liang Chen, who was drenched in sweat and seemed to be fighting a battle within his own mind.

He had just opened his mouth, yet before he could speak, a familiar voice interrupted him.

"I... I don't deserve to die..."

Yin Chao looked toward the speaker in surprise. It was the quiet girl.

She had broken free of the brainwashing before Liang Chen. Curled up in a corner, she wore a calm expression.

Suddenly, she raised her head and met Yin Chao's eyes.

Her previously placid eyes were now filled with fervor.

Even Yin Chao was a little surprised.

Just a few seconds later, Yin Chao suddenly smiled as the system's voice sounded in his ears.

[Ding. Player: Luo Lingyue. Title: Knife Hand. Level: 10

HP: 10000, stamina: 200, mental power: 85, intelligence: 85

Specialized skills: proficiency with all kinds of knives. A hybrid of monster and human, she is a product that exists between the instance and reality. She can regenerate infinitely. You cannot truly kill her.]

He held out a hand to Luo Lingyue, who was as devout as a believer worshipping a god.

Another monster, Yin Chao thought.

"Tell me, I've killed people. Do I deserve to die?"

She asked.

Yin Chao raised an eyebrow. "I've never killed anyone, but I've played killing games."

He explained steadily, without the slightest change in his tone. "In those games, if I didn't kill them, they would kill me. To me, failure is the only thing that deserves death."

Luo Lingyue's eyes shone with a light that an ordinary person might have found excessive.

But at that moment, Yin Chao was like a god in her eyes.

Images flashed through her mind. Those memories that had haunted her like demons shattered one after another, all on their own.

Yes, only failure deserves death...

She thought.

Luo Lingyue had never seen her parents since the day she was born.

She had grown up in an orphanage.

It was an orphanage in a remote suburb. The director had run off with the money, leaving only a few elderly caregivers.

The facilities were old and worn. The swings, long since rusted and deteriorated, always creaked.

What filled most of her memories was the orphanage's faded, peeling paint.

And the older boy who had always protected her.

"Luo Lingyue! Wang Ren! Get over to the corner and stand there!"

That was the crooked-mouthed old caregiver's favorite line.

The orphanage was poor, and food was scarce. They had to fight for their meals, and whoever grabbed more ate more.

Wang Ren was one of the older children in the orphanage, but he was pretty, thin, and small.

Yet no one dared mock him. The last person who had called him a sissy had a small piece of his ear bitten off by Wang Ren.

Everyone knew Wang Ren fought like he had nothing to lose.

That was why the crooked-mouthed caregiver always made him stand in the corner, along with her, the little shadow who followed him everywhere.

She remembered always going hungry when she first arrived at the orphanage, until one day Wang Ren handed her a dingy steamed bun.

Wang Ren's face was dirty, but his eyes were bright.

"Your name is Luo, Luo Lingyue?" He struggled to remember her tongue-twisting name.

Little Luo Lingyue nodded.

Wang Ren suddenly grinned, revealing a set of little white teeth. "That's a really nice name. Did your parents give it to you?"

Luo Lingyue nodded again. Though she had never seen her parents, she simply knew her name was Luo Lingyue, just as an animal knew how to hunt without being taught.

From then on, the two had depended on each other to survive.

Inside the cold, gray orphanage, two wounded little creatures licked each other's wounds and huddled together for warmth.

Then one day, an investor came to the orphanage.

He wore a black suit and had a bulging belly. All the caregivers treated him warmly.

They gathered all the orphans together, with the man in the suit standing before them.

Luo Lingyue was a little frightened by his gaze and hid behind Wang Ren, afraid to come out.

That night, the crooked-mouthed caregiver called Wang Ren away.

He did not return all night. It was the first time Luo Lingyue had been separated from him.

The moon outside was large and round. She stood at the window, staring up at it blankly, while the wind in the night sounded like someone crying.

It rose again and again, only stopping at daybreak.

Wang Ren did not return until noon the next day. He seemed injured, walking with a limp, and the corner of his mouth was split.

"Are you okay?"

She asked.

Wang Ren shook his head without speaking, then turned and left.

Many more people came after that. The crooked-mouthed caregiver said they were all businessmen who funded the orphanage, and repeatedly drilled it into the children that they had to smile and greet them.

Otherwise, there would be no meat to eat.

For the orphans here, having no meat to eat was terrible news.

Indeed, after the man in the suit came, the orphanage's meals noticeably improved.

Wang Ren never fought anyone over food again.

But he would always return to the corner where they had stood as punishment and stare blankly at the gray cracks in the wall.

There were more cracks now, splitting open to reveal the blood-red bricks underneath.

"What are you looking at?"

Luo Lingyue asked.

Wang Ren shook his head and gave her a long look, but did not answer.

He seemed never to answer any of Luo Lingyue's questions.

Later, more and more injuries appeared on Wang Ren's body, and he seemed to be deliberately distancing himself from Luo Lingyue.

This made her very unhappy.

One day, in a break from routine, all the businessmen came to the orphanage.

They usually came alone, one at a time, but today they had all come, saying they were holding some sort of farewell party.

"What farewell party?"

She asked the little boy beside her.

The little boy said, "Don't you know? The big boss is adopting Wang Ren. I'm so jealous. He'll get to eat big chicken drumsticks every day."

The boy was still daydreaming, but Luo Lingyue's expression suddenly changed.

She looked around but could not find Wang Ren anywhere.

Just then, the businessmen finished speaking, and the crooked-mouthed caregiver led them toward the office.

Luo Lingyue wondered whether following them would lead her to Wang Ren.