"Young man?"
"Young man?"
"Are you all right?"
Qin Manjiang tilted his head slightly and raised his left hand to shield his eyes. The sunlight was gentle, but its sudden appearance still dazzled him.
After he took a moment to adjust, his blurred vision gradually came into focus.
An elderly man who looked like a sanitation worker stood before him.
Qin Manjiang braced a hand against the ground and sat up, holding his forehead.
"Had too much to drink last night? Go on home. There was a fire here just the night before last. Bad luck!"
The night before last...
A fire?
Qin Manjiang's memories fell back into place. He touched his face. His glasses were gone...
It really hadn't been a dream. It was real.
He thanked the old man, climbed to his feet, and turned to look-
The Threshold Cinema had burned to ruins.
Once he reached the sidewalk, Qin Manjiang was about to wake his phone screen, but hesitated.
After a moment of silence, he turned it on.
The time was 6:15 a.m. on August 13.
"Still not sober..."
The old sanitation worker muttered as he watched Qin Manjiang standing on the sidewalk, staring blankly at his phone, then swept his way down the street.
Suddenly, Qin Manjiang's gaze fixed on the phone screen!
Compared with before, there was one conspicuous new icon on the screen-a black smiling face.
That's it...
That eerie link, supposedly a game, but inextricably bound to the real world.
He glanced around. It was just past six in the morning, and apart from the old sanitation worker, there was hardly anyone on the street.
Qin Manjiang stared at the icon for a moment, then tapped it without hesitation.
Just as before, the screen abruptly went black.
The eerie smiling face emerged from the darkness, then silently faded away.
[Welcome, Ghost Story Player-Abyss] [Solo beginner stage cleared] [Multiplayer mode unlocked] [Challenge mode unlocked] [Exploration mode unlocked] [Rankings unlocked] (Survive until the end, and you will receive an unparalleled reward)
As though they knew Qin Manjiang had finished reading, all the words instantly dissolved.
Immediately afterward, an interface he had never seen before appeared on his phone.
[Player Rankings-Ten Seats] [First Seat-Sun] [Second Seat-Doctor] [Third Seat-Player] [Fourth Seat-Xinxin] [Fifth Seat-Chen Zhiyuan] [Sixth Seat-Evening Primrose] [Seventh Seat-Let Me Out] [Eighth Seat-Dense Forest] [Ninth Seat-Singer] [Tenth Seat-So Annoying]
Qin Manjiang read through them one by one. Were these ten people the longest-surviving players in this so-called game?
Then the rankings melted into the black background as well, replaced by Qin Manjiang's code name.
[Welcome, Player-Abyss] [Joining the game]
Code names appeared on the phone screen, one after another.
Half Mountain: "Another unlucky bastard."
Horsehead with a Sword: "This isn't exactly something worth celebrating."
Farmer: "Male or female?"
Shi Qingshan: "Hope you last a little longer."
Jester: "Abyss? That code name beats the Tenth Seat's."
Jester: "And the Seventh Seat's."
"..."
Qin Manjiang turned off the screen.
Far more people had been dragged into this real-life Ghost Story Game than he had imagined, and the game was extraordinarily strange.
It seemed to have other functions, too, but Qin Manjiang didn't care about any of them right now.
He had an idea he needed to check immediately!
Flagging down a taxi, Qin Manjiang quickly told the driver:
"South Sky Road Branch!"
The driver stole a glance at him and hurriedly started the car.
Perhaps the driver sensed Qin Manjiang's urgency, or perhaps it was because there was little traffic this early in the morning. Either way, he drove fast. When they reached the South Sky Road Branch, only the officers on duty were there; the regular workday had yet to begin.
"Thank you."
After getting out, Qin Manjiang practically sprinted into the police station.
The officer on duty stopped him and asked, "What can I help you with?"
"The Threshold Cinema on South Sky Road-have all the victims been identified?"
The officer looked Qin Manjiang up and down. "Are you a reporter?"
"No. My friend is missing. He went to the Threshold Cinema before he disappeared. I want to know... whether he's among the dead!" Qin Manjiang spoke with intense urgency.
That made the officer believe him a little more.
After all, anxiety that intense was difficult to fake.
"Please wait a moment, young man. We understand how you feel, but first, give us your friend's basic information. The DNA results are back, but our DNA database is incomplete. Many missing people never had samples taken, and the same goes for the victims we found this time. None of the bodies' DNA matches any information in the database. It's as if they appeared out of nowhere. We haven't received any other related missing-person reports, either."
Hearing this, Qin Manjiang immediately gave the officer Li Xijiu's basic information.
After some time, the same officer returned and told him that Li Xijiu's information was indeed in the database.
"Then... was it him?"
During the wait, Qin Manjiang had managed to get his emotions under control.
The officer shook his head. "This should be good news. None of the victims' DNA matches that of the student named Li Xijiu."
Qin Manjiang's heart gave a sudden jolt. "So he isn't among the dead?"
The officer nodded. "We searched every inch of the ruins. There couldn't be any other bodies. Since Li Xijiu wasn't there, he may have left after visiting the cinema."
"Here, fill out a report. We'll continue investigating Li Xijiu's disappearance."
Qin Manjiang was shown to a seat and handed a form.
He filled it out cooperatively, but excitement and doubt mingled in his heart.
Li Xijiu had already become a vengeful ghost, yet his body had never been found.
Even though the chance that Li Xijiu was still alive was practically nonexistent, to Qin Manjiang, he seemed to have become that cat in a box again.
As long as there was even the slightest chance of another possibility, there was hope.
He walked out of the police station and looked up at the sky. After all that, it was nearly noon.
He couldn't say he felt relieved. It was just...
Before Qin Manjiang could follow that thought any further, his phone suddenly rang.
He looked down. The caller was the class representative?
Qin Manjiang's expression changed.
The class representative had only gotten his number yesterday, when he'd asked her to look after his younger sister. Now she was calling already. Had something happened to Qin Manyi?
Qin Manjiang immediately answered and held the phone to his ear.
"Hello? It's me, Qin Manjiang."
On the other end, the class representative sounded excited, with some other emotion he couldn't quite identify. She said in a low voice:
"Classmate Qin, hurry to the hospital. Your sister's awake!"
Qin Manjiang froze for a moment, then immediately replied:
"I'll be right there!"
"But... Classmate... Classmate Qin, please prepare yourself..." the class representative stammered.
Qin Manjiang's hand stopped just as he was about to hang up. "What's wrong?"
"Your sister, she... killed someone!"
The opening volume is over. Now the main story officially begins!
Thanks to temle, purej999, Roast Duckling, Cassia Flower, Borao, No Coughs in Summer or Autumn, and Bun for the tips! Thank you, everyone!
(End of chapter)
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