Lin Jie calmly raised his hands and surveyed his surroundings.
A girl who looked remarkably like Lin Jie lay on the floor.
At that moment, Lin Jie could no longer stay calm.
"What did you do to my sister?" Lin Jie's voice simmered with anger.
Lin Jie had lost both his parents as a child. His only remaining family was his younger sister, Lin Zhi.
And now Lin Zhi lay on the floor, lifeless.
"Relax. You're my target. I won't hurt anyone uninvolved."
"I only knocked her out."
"Put your hands behind your back and stand against that wall."
With the pistol trained on him, Lin Jie had no choice but to comply.
At the same time, however, he was slowly searching for an opening.
Lin Jie began making irrelevant remarks to distract the man:
"Who are you? Why do you want to kill me? I don't even know you."
The man chuckled. "Oh? The great Lin Jie. You certainly have a short memory for someone so important."
"Still, I can't blame you. The things you did to me haven't happened yet."
"But I remember them perfectly."
Lin Jie couldn't understand what the man was saying at all. "Haven't happened yet? What nonsense are you talking about?"
"You'll understand later."
"Now, say goodbye to this world."
"Next time, don't come back."
The man's finger moved slightly, pulling the trigger.
Lin Jie closed his eyes.
He had already done his best.
After his first death, his powerful obsession with living had brought him to the Realm of the Dead.
He had seen through Fox's lie to swindle him out of the ring.
Then he had solved the mystery of the blank identity card.
After that, he had led all the good players in executing God.
Finally, he had earned a chance to start over.
But fate seemed to have played a joke on him.
No matter how cautious Lin Jie was, that familiar gun barrel had been aimed at him once again.
Could he still not escape the fate of being shot dead this time?
A gunshot cracked.
"No!!!!"
A female voice screamed shrilly.
A small, thin figure lunged toward him.
The pain he expected never came.
Lin Jie slowly opened his eyes, only to discover a shocking sight.
His sister stood in front of him, her arms spread wide and her back to him.
She turned her head, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth:
"Lin Jie, you've always taken care of me since we were little."
"Now it's my turn to repay you."
Lin Jie stood rooted to the spot.
The brutal reality battered his mind.
His sister had taken that fatal bullet for him.
He felt so dizzy he could barely stay on his feet.
Lin Zhi's small, thin frame swayed twice before she finally collapsed to the floor.
The stranger was also stunned by this sudden turn of events, momentarily unsure how to react.
"Aaaaah!!!"
Lin Jie roared and charged at the gunman.
The man couldn't react in time. Lin Jie knocked him down, and the pistol slipped from his grasp.
Lin Jie straddled the man, raised his fists, and hammered them into his face.
Again and again.
The man had initially tried to struggle, but the loss of his family had unleashed astonishing strength in Lin Jie.
The very first punch shattered the man's nose.
The intense pain robbed the man of the strength to resist.
The punches kept falling.
The man's face was beaten to a bloody pulp, but Lin Jie's hands still didn't stop.
Lin Jie's eyes were red, and his knuckles had split open against the man's bones, but he kept pounding down, blow after blow.
"This punch is for me!"
"This punch is for my sister!"
"I'll make you pay with your life!!"
The man's nose had been knocked crooked, his teeth knocked out, and his entire face disfigured. He had no strength left to resist.
Yet he didn't beg for mercy at all. He kept chuckling.
"Go on, hit me! Beat me to death!"
"It's not like this is the first time you've beaten me to death!"
Lin Jie paid no attention whatsoever to the man's nonsense.
"Fine, I'll grant your wish. I'll kill you right now!"
Lin Jie picked up the pistol that had fallen nearby and pressed its muzzle firmly against the man's forehead.
The man opened his toothless mouth, full of blood, in a grin:
"This scene seems familiar."
"Lin Jie, remember? Last time, I shot you dead."
"And this time, you're about to shoot me dead."
Lin Jie didn't answer. He stared fiercely at him.
The man kept talking:
"Your sister isn't dead."
Lin Jie didn't lower his guard. His finger stayed tight on the trigger.
The man continued, "Your sister also has an obsession with living."
"You understand what I mean, right? She'll also go to the Realm of the Dead."
"Whether she can come back alive, though, depends on her luck."
The man lifted his head and chuckled:
"Now that you've heard this much, you understand, don't you?"
"I'm a player in the Realm of the Dead too. You can't kill me."
"I'll come back from there again."
"And you are destined to die today. Whatever the reason, whatever the method."
"Even if I fail to kill you, you'll return to the Realm of the Dead for some other reason."
"This is our curse. The so-called chance to start over is just a scam."
"No one who has died can ever truly escape the Realm of the Dead."
"Lin Jie, let me give you a piece of advice..."
Bang.
A gunshot rang out.
The man's head burst open, his brains splattering.
A faint wisp of smoke rose from the barrel of the gun in Lin Jie's hand.
He blew gently, dispersing the smoke.
"You talk too much."
Lin Jie tossed the pistol aside, then sat quietly on the floor.
He remained in that position, motionless.
Now, this was the bizarre scene inside Lin Jie's home:
A man with his brains blasted out lay on the left.
A girl with a bullet wound in her chest lay on the right.
A desolate young man sat quietly between them.
At his feet lay a pistol that still held a trace of warmth.
The clock in Lin Jie's home ticked away.
Time slowly passed.
But Lin Jie remained motionless.
His eyes were closed, his hair hanging down.
An hour passed.
Lin Jie didn't move.
Another hour passed.
Lin Jie still didn't move.
The third hour passed.
Finally, Lin Jie raised his head slightly.
He took hold of the pistol beside him, long since cold, and looked at the bodies on either side, their blood congealed.
Then he pressed the muzzle against his temple.
Lin Jie had barely survived the ordeal of returning from that hell.
After the dust had settled, he had finally thought it was all over.
He had finally thought that, after bringing down Zheng Yi and Zhou Lan, this dark society could be purged.
After receiving those ten million yuan, he and Lin Zhi could finally live comfortably.
But all of it had been nothing more than a fleeting dream.
Without the sister he had depended on since childhood, clinging to life had no meaning.
Lin Jie smiled bitterly. After sitting in the same position for hours, he spoke his first words:
"Heh. You really did call it. Whatever the reason, I was destined to die today."
He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "Lin Zhi, wait for me."
He pulled the trigger.
At the same moment, the clock began chiming midnight.
"Dong-dong-dong-"
The echo of the gunshot mingled with the chimes, reverberating through the room...
Lin Jie opened his eyes and saw a familiar face.
A long-haired fox's face.
Fox narrowed his eyes and laughed. "Back so soon? I've got a surprise ready for you!"