"Who exactly are you? What exactly do you know?" Qin Ge sounded more urgent than before.
That was perfectly normal. If there had still been a breeze, the White Qipao Paper Figure's hands and legs might already have drifted onto him. Even a trained professional, as a newcomer, could never have kept a straight face and a steady heartbeat.
Su Bai was in no hurry. What the White Qipao Evil Ghost wanted to consume was Qin Ge's fear and despair. Until his emotions became more delicious, the paper figure would only inch closer, not actually attack.
Besides, that mocking voice at the start of the game had said that as long as there were fewer than ten passengers on the bus, its interior was a relatively safe environment.
Though it was only "relatively" safe...
"I really am just an ordinary student. It's just that my brother was a player in the Nightmare World." Su Bai smiled as he began lying through his teeth. "You mentioned players' 'Traits' earlier, Mr. Qin. My brother's Trait was 'good at playing dead.'"
"Like that writer you mentioned, my brother never spoke about the Nightmare World while he was alive. But his Trait later turned into a pretty useless ability called 'The Corpse Can Talk.'"
"So after my brother died, he often visited me in my dreams at night and told me things about the Nightmare World." Su Bai spread his hands. "That's why I do know about the Nightmare World, but only because of my brother, who died young."
In Su Bai's eyes, his older brother Su Xuan was no different from a dead man anyway, so those words came easily, without a trace of guilt.
"I got off earlier to take a look near the fog because I wanted to verify what my dead brother told me in my dreams." Su Bai thought for a moment, organizing the information in his head that would be most useful to the three newcomers.
Qin Ge had shown his sincerity, so naturally, Su Bai would return the favor.
"My dead brother said that the first game newcomers enter in the Nightmare World is not only relatively easy to clear, but also protects the new players themselves. That fog outside is the beginner game's protection mechanism."
"The fog subconsciously steers us away from the boundaries of a fixed area, and it also keeps more ghosts outside from getting in. But if we leave the bus and walk into the fog, we're guaranteed to get lost. If we accidentally leave the protected beginner area, we're dead."
"But as long as we clear this beginner game, we can obtain a 'Trait' just like that writer and my dead brother. Then, under the influence of the Red Moon, that mostly useless 'Trait' will become an ability we can actually use."
"And starting from the second game, powerful veteran players will appear on our teams. Even if we're still weak then, we can choose to ask those veterans for help."
"In short, we have to survive this first game!"
"Then what about what you said earlier? Why can't we get off at the final stop?" Qin Ge naturally hadn't forgotten Su Bai's repeated warnings before getting off. "Did your brother tell you that in a dream too?"
"How did you know?" Su Bai put on a deliberately surprised expression. "My dead brother's 'The Corpse Can Talk' ability wasn't just useful after he died. Every time he was on the verge of death, he received an important prophecy. One of them was that I mustn't get off at the final stop."
"My dead brother probably learned back then that I'd enter the Nightmare World, which was why he kept so diligently visiting my dreams to give me lessons." As he spoke, Su Bai even gave the empty air outside the bus window a thumbs-up. "Thank you, my dead brother."
"Your relationship with your brother is... a little strange." Qin Ge had already heard Su Bai repeat "my dead brother" countless times. Although he sounded sincere, it always felt as though he was being sarcastic.
It must be my imagination.
"Also, my dead brother said that in games governed by rules, players must find the game's protagonist as soon as possible." Su Bai paused to collect his words, then continued, "Every game is like a story. That story might be brutal, or it might follow rules, but there's definitely a distinction between the protagonist and the supporting characters."
"For instance, aboard the Route 444 Last Bus, we players and the passengers who got off earlier are supporting characters. We might die early, but that won't affect the course of the story or the game."
"Simply put, find the protagonist and deal with them. Especially in games where you have to survive for a certain length of time, dealing with the protagonist early might even let you clear the game ahead of schedule." What Su Bai described had nothing to do with visits from his brother in his dreams. It was the most basic lesson he had learned from ten years of struggling in the Nightmare World.
"My dead brother also told me in a dream that finding the protagonist is simple. The protagonist is the one who fits the entire setting best, just as a castle goes with a princess, a dragon's lair with a dragon slayer, and a kitchen with a chef."
"Use your surroundings to identify the protagonist, then do everything you can to bring his or her story to an end."
After finishing, Su Bai turned to look at Qin Ge in the row behind him. "So, Mr. Qin, who do you think is the protagonist of this game?"
"I know! It must be the driver!" Wan Shasha immediately raised her hand. "We're on a bus, so wouldn't the protagonist who fits this setting be the driver?"
"Ahem." Perhaps it was a coincidence, but a few coughs came from the driver's seat up front, as though he had suddenly choked on something.
"Why couldn't it be the one at the very back?" Su Bai wasn't surprised by Wan Shasha's guess, but in the Nightmare World, the answer sometimes disguised itself.
"Didn't you say the protagonist fits the setting?" When mentioning the Ghost Bride in the last row, Wan Shasha instinctively lowered her voice. "What bride takes a bus to go out?"
"That makes perfect sense. What bride would take a bus?"
"Maybe it is the driver." Su Bai sat up straight and glanced at the driver's seat. "But if we deal with the driver, this bus might go out of control, and we'll have to face all the special passengers aboard."
"Why don't we chat with him and fish for information while he's still here? It would be ideal if we could learn the backstory of this game." Su Bai had no intention of simply giving the newcomers the answer. "For example, where is this bus's final stop? Why can't there be more than ten passengers? Or we could just ask why he aspired to become the driver of the Route 444 Last Bus. Why won't those ghosts attack on the bus?"
"That makes a lot of sense." Qin Ge thought for a long time before nodding in agreement with Su Bai's suggestion. "But I keep feeling that you haven't told us everything. I even feel like you haven't told us the truth at all."
"And when you got off earlier, we tried talking to the driver too, but he completely ignored us." Wan Shasha also looked troubled.
"Maybe the driver was in a bad mood earlier. If we ask now, things might be different." As he spoke, Su Bai smiled at the rearview mirror above the driver's seat. "Isn't that right, Mr. Driver?"
Su Bai knew his own strength was negligible, but he was used to doing whatever it took to survive, so long as his conscience allowed it. Since the driver feared the eerie entity behind him, Su Bai didn't mind borrowing its clout now and then.
"...It's an honor to serve my passengers." The driver's voice sounded somewhat heavy.
Before you continue