Close your eyes

August 20, northern Fu City, an abandoned murder mystery game venue.

One round table, five wooden chairs, and five people seated together, surrounded by darkness.

[Ghost story: Close Your Eyes].

The five summoned players were Xingqiu, Thousand Miles, Lemonade with Ice, Horsehead with a Sword, and Fragrant Grass at Sunset.

The five met in the north of the city and found the venue at the location specified by the game. The moment they stepped inside, they lost consciousness.

Horsehead with a Sword woke first. He had suffered terrible luck since childhood, but after this game selected him, his fortunes had finally begun to improve. So far, he had played three games and narrowly escaped death each time.

This was challenge mode. All five knew exactly what that meant: the ghost story called [Close Your Eyes] had wiped out an entire group of players before.

This was a real horror game.

Looking around, Horsehead with a Sword discovered that the others were in the same predicament. Each was secured to a wooden chair, two meters apart, around a small black round table.

The place was indeed an abandoned murder mystery game venue, perhaps closed because business had been poor. Black-and-white tiles covered the floor, and the pictures on the walls and the room's decor were full of imaginative touches.

Simply put, the decor was so bizarre that no ordinary household would ever choose it.

[Close your eyes. The game begins.]

As those words appeared, five additional people materialized eerily in the gaps between them, separating every pair of players.

[The rules are as follows.]

[Seats are numbered one through ten.]

[There is one malevolent ghost among the ten people present. Each round, the players will take turns speaking, giving one piece of information about themselves. Lying is forbidden.]

[Determine which person is the vengeful ghost based on the ten statements, then each vote for one person.]

[Once voting is complete, the eyes-closed phase begins.]

[The person with the most votes will be designated as the ghost.]

[The vengeful ghost's identity will be verified. If the vote is correct, the game ends in victory for the players.]

[If the vote is incorrect, the person with the most votes dies, and the vengeful ghost executes one additional person.]

The rules were simple enough to understand at a glance, yet after actually going through one round, everyone's mind went blank.

The oppressive atmosphere was simply more than a human could bear.

The five players could not communicate outside the speaking phase, and even when their turn came, they could only state one true fact about themselves.

That left them unable to share any thoughts or discoveries. Everyone had to guess-not only who the ghost was, but also who their fellow players would vote for.

Besides, only the five of them had come from the outside world. Strictly speaking, the other five "people" who had abruptly appeared between them were all ghosts!

Of the five players, Thousand Miles and Fragrant Grass at Sunset were the calmest.

As veteran players, both had exchanged for single-use items to protect themselves during this extremely difficult challenge.

Fragrant Grass at Sunset glanced at the "strangers" who had appeared beside him. None of these suddenly manifested "people" had distinguishable faces, as though they were unimportant, merely there to fill the seats.

Could the real vengeful ghost be among the original five actual players?

Fragrant Grass at Sunset looked at the other four. Right... that's possible too. It has happened before. This damned game planted a vengeful ghost among the players during the gathering phase, and everyone ended up dead.

Wait. In that case, can we start by confirming the people we know?

The same thought occurred to everyone.

Fragrant Grass at Sunset and Thousand Miles had worked together before, as veteran players often did. When Fragrant Grass at Sunset looked toward Thousand Miles, he found Thousand Miles looking back.

With an almost imperceptible nod, the two agreed to cooperate.

Right... we need to stick together in this game.

Though they could not speak to one another, they could still communicate through glances and subtle movements.

Their immediate priority was to concentrate their votes and ensure they were not voted out themselves.

Meanwhile, Horsehead with a Sword and Xingqiu also knew each other. They had experienced a ghost story game together once. Though they had gone their separate ways and barely met throughout it, they had at least seen each other during the gathering phase.

The atmosphere around the table suddenly grew strange.

Fragrant Grass at Sunset, Thousand Miles, Horsehead with a Sword, and Xingqiu all fixed their eyes on the only player none of them knew.

Lemonade with Ice.

Was this person really a player?

Lemonade with Ice had not expected this situation either. She had already played three ghost story games, and this was her fourth. She had never imagined she would encounter challenge mode on her fourth game, which left her especially terrified.

Moreover, every player here was someone she had never met.

Combined with this peculiar format, that made her realize at once that something was wrong.

She kept shaking her head slightly, so anxious she was on the verge of tears, but the others remained unmoved.

As things stood, everyone knew someone else in pairs. Lemonade with Ice alone was someone none of them had ever seen.

They had indeed seen that username during game gatherings before. At least... the name was real. Whether she was actually its owner was another matter.

The first round of statements began.

"My name is Ma Junzhe," Horsehead with a Sword said.

One sentence each, stating a true fact about themselves. The first round was very simple.

"My name is Xu Qianxing," Thousand Miles said.

"My name is Du Bi'an," Xingqiu said next.

"My name is Xu Tingfang," Fragrant Grass at Sunset said, following the others' introductions.

Lemonade with Ice seemed to have realized what awaited her. Her voice thick with tears, she shook her head slightly and said, "I... my name is Yang Yiyi."

Seeing her like this, the others all felt some measure of guilt.

Yang Yiyi looked like an ordinary college student. There was nothing strange about her manner or her words.

But... she was indeed the most suspicious person present.

Voting for the "five people" added by the game would mean risking a split vote. They could not even make out the faces of those five "system people," so which one were they supposed to choose?

Once the round ended, the mysterious voice abruptly sounded!

[Select the seat number you wish to vote for.]

They picked up the placards and markers on the table before them. Yang Yiyi... Lemonade with Ice was in seat nine.

I'm sorry...

All four wrote down nine.

[Verifying the vengeful ghost. Close your eyes.]

This time, the voice was particularly horrifying, raising goosebumps on everyone's arms.

An icy draft stirred behind them, as though something was approaching...

They dared not hesitate and hurriedly shut their eyes!

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Then came the tenth second!

Ma Junzhe suddenly heard something fall to the floor. Immediately afterward, a great quantity of warm liquid sprayed onto his face. That smell was... blood?!

[Verification complete. Vote incorrect.]

[The game continues.]

The room suddenly lit up. Ma Junzhe stared straight across the table. A young woman's head lay in front of seat nine.

Yang Yiyi's headless body still sat rigidly upright in her chair, blood continuously spilling from her severed neck.

Besides her, one of the "system players" next to her had also died. It left no corpse, simply vanishing without a trace.

Ma Junzhe, Xu Qianxing, Du Bi'an, and Xu Tingfang felt chilled to the bone.

It wasn't her... it wasn't Yang Yiyi!

The real ghost was still among them.

The game continued...

Xianyang Village.

He Jian met up with Qin Manjiang's group of three, and they ran toward the square at the center of the village.

"A red, human-shaped pendant?" Zhong Xueran asked after hearing He Jian's description.

She understood what had happened almost immediately.

"It wasn't your fault. You were missing crucial information. That's a single-use item called the [Evil Curse Pendant]. You can use it as soon as the game's gathering phase ends. It lets you share the body and soul of a key figure in the next ghost story game for a while. During that period, the user shares everything with that person. You can think of it as possession. It's a very useful item for gathering information. I think he wanted to possess 'Chen Ping' to obtain crucial information." Zhong Xueran also found it rather incredible. "But his luck was terrible. During the possession, Chen Ping was killed and turned into the next Immortal Sheep after Li Rong."

"When the Evil Curse Pendant's time limit expired, his soul returned to his own body. In fact, he was already dead by then. He had no idea whether he was Chen Ping or someone else, and he didn't even know he was dead."

"It wasn't until he was in the Ancestral Hall that he suddenly realized he had already died."

So that was what had happened...

Understanding dawned on everyone.

Then they heard Qin Manjiang murmur:

"There have been three now..."

Thank you to Xia Qiu Doesn't Cough, Chloe Strange, Yuan Yuan Yuan Yuan Yuan, Bun, Eating Noodles, and Lü yeah for the tips. Thank you, everyone!

This scenario is almost over. Good night!

(End of chapter)