"Mountain God"

"Were those two people called... Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie?" Su Bai vaguely remembered Lan Xingchen mentioning that those two disliked newcomers. Later, Sister Yao had said they were students: one was an utterly faultless nice guy, while the other had a sharp tongue and a bit of a spoiled young lady's temper, and would torture people's ears with a Violin...

It was hard for Su Bai not to make the connection.

The very next second, Su Bai saw unmistakable changes in the expressions of Sister Yao and Lan Xingchen, who were sitting there, when they heard the names "Ning Yan" and "Fang Xiujie." Lan Xingchen in particular, whose face had remained ashen and whose eyes had been as lifeless as stagnant water all along, began trembling all over at the sound of those two names.

Even the repeated attacks and blows from the physically formidable Butcher Ghost, which had sent him flying again and again, had failed to make Lan Xingchen tremble. Yet now, just two names had him shaking uncontrollably. He even hung his head low, so low that he resembled the Hanged Ghost with the rope around its neck.

"And you still claim you're a newcomer." Lan Xingchen hung his head. "There's no way a newcomer would know those two names, is there?"

"Really?" After a moment's thought, Su Bai did not explain to the others how he had learned those two names. He merely spread his hands, a complicated look on his face. "But I really am just a newcomer who only recently finished the beginner game. A very, very new one."

The reason Su Bai was even newer than a newcomer was that, after finishing the game exclusively for beginners, he had barely stayed in the real world at all before turning around and returning to the Nightmare World for his second game.

Whatever the case, as far as the information he could disclose was concerned, Su Bai had not lied.

Besides, even he found it a little strange that he had suddenly mentioned Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie. It was as though some instinct told him this game's story should not have unfolded this way.

But if Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie really were connected to Lan Xingchen, it would give Su Bai the creeps, as though a pair of eyes had deliberately arranged this game's plot just to watch an indescribable spectacle.

That was an utterly twisted sense of fun.

"Whatever." Sister Yao shook her head, unconcerned. After all, she had not been there when Su Bai was "pretending" to be a newcomer. The moment she regained consciousness, she had seen him kill the Butcher Ghost with an umbrella. "It is strange, though. Lan Xingchen has always kept to himself, hiding away in some corner of the Nightmare World all day without seeing anyone, so that's one thing. But since you know Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie, you should be a player who entered the Nightmare World around the same time we did. Yet I don't think I've ever seen you."

Was Sister Yao from the same cohort of players as Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie?

Three years ago?

An old hand at keeping layer upon layer hidden, Su Bai held an informational advantage while also drawing more of the information he wanted from Sister Yao and Lan Xingchen's words.

"I told you, I'm just a newcomer. This is only my second time entering a game, including the beginner one." Su Bai looked utterly innocent. "Before entering the Nightmare World, I was just an ordinary student who hadn't even graduated from high school."

"Forget it..." Sister Yao shook her head and stopped dwelling on it. "I can't be bothered to work out how you know so much. Since you say you know those two names, do you know what Lan Xingchen did?"

Su Bai shook his head. That was precisely what he wanted to know.

"The young lady over there looks like she wants to know, too. Do you know Lan Xingchen? Are you friends in the real world? Whatever the case, once you've heard his story, please persuade him not to keep going." Sister Yao looked around, pausing briefly when she saw the digital clock on the wall. But after confirming that the lobby of Building 1 was safe for the moment, she began recounting what she knew.

It was actually a very simple story, but Lan Xingchen truly should have died in it.

A little over three years ago, Lan Xingchen had still been a newcomer who had only recently entered the Nightmare World, hardly any better off than the Qiu Family sisters or Su Bai. In one particular game, newcomers like Lan Xingchen and veterans like Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie had been sent to a mountain together.

The survival condition for that game was simple: find the correct route down the mountain through its winding trails.

Although Ning Yan seemed like a spoiled young lady who was not particularly tactful, she had the calm, good-natured Fang Xiujie by her side. She was always saying she disliked and hated newcomers, yet she would still look after others without even realizing it herself. Their descent had therefore gone very smoothly at first. Fang Xiujie, who attended a prestigious university, had even analyzed the newcomers' and other teammates' Traits and suggested directions for further investigation.

According to Sister Yao, this account came from the other survivors of that game.

Only later did the other survivors learn that Lan Xingchen had fallen under the influence of an evil ghost in the mountain right at the start of the game. The ghost had whispered in his ear, claiming to be the Mountain God. Since no residents remained on the mountain, and there were no longer any believers who worshipped the Mountain God, it wanted to choose followers from the group descending the mountain. According to the evil ghost, it would share the mountain's divine power with its followers, and that power would remain with them even after they left.

At first, Lan Xingchen had thought he was the chosen follower. But he soon learned that the people favored by the "Mountain God" were not him, but Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie. According to this "Mountain God," even though Lan Xingchen was the only person in the entire group who could hear its voice, it still preferred Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie as its followers.

However, the "Mountain God" said that if Lan Xingchen was willing to help it lure those two into the cave where the "Mountain God" was worshipped, then light a stick of incense before it himself, it could make an exception and recognize Lan Xingchen as a follower, sharing its power with him.

Perhaps the evil ghost's beguilement carried some unspeakable power, or perhaps it was simply the kind of person Lan Xingchen had been three years ago. Either way, he accepted the "Mountain God's" proposal.

Perhaps, just as Qiu Man had said earlier, Lan Xingchen had been selfish and self-serving three years ago, willing to use any means necessary to climb the ladder at his job in the real world. Even then, while he was still young, he had already attained a relatively high position there.

Having only recently entered the Nightmare World, Lan Xingchen could not even accept that he had gone from a capable professional who handled everything with ease to a powerless weakling whom supernatural horrors could slaughter at will. Coupled with his refusal to lose and his willingness to do anything for his own benefit, this drove him to envy Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie, whom the "Mountain God" had chosen from the outset, with a mad intensity.

To Lan Xingchen back then, he unquestionably possessed both potential and ability. After all, he was the only person in the entire group who could hear the "Mountain God's" voice. As he saw it, the Mountain God favored Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie for no reason other than that those two had been "lucky" enough to enter the Nightmare World before him and become veteran players sooner.

So Lan Xingchen believed that, as long as he possessed the "Mountain God's" power and had enough time, he could surpass Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie and become one of those legendary seasoned players the two veterans spoke of.

Perhaps what remained of Lan Xingchen's reason had once sensed something wrong with the "Mountain God." But the evil ghost's beguiling power, the jealousy in his heart, and his selfish drive to win left him unable to hear reason's cries for help. He followed the "Mountain God's" plan and became wholly enslaved to the evil ghost.

The evil ghost posing as the "Mountain God" must have discovered Lan Xingchen's character flaws during their descent. Every thought that passed through his mind had been within its expectations.