Lin Jie returned to the Werewolf room.
He cut Fox off before he could speak:
"I don't want to hear about your surprise!"
"Just give me an honest answer to one question!"
Fox looked slightly shocked at Lin Jie's reaction, but still bowed gracefully.
"Ask away."
Lin Jie glared at him. "Did you know all along that I'd come back?"
"Is everyone who goes back destined to die, with no way out?"
Fox nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad, Lin Jie. You figured it out so quickly."
"Then wasn't all my hard work clearing your game a waste of effort?"
Fox grinned. "How could you call it a waste? You all got to enjoy life in the world of the living for a little while."
"Actually, both I and Canglang made it perfectly clear. Clearing the game would only give you a chance to start over. We never said you could come back to life."
"Oh, right. Canglang was the God you executed. He was a dear friend of mine, you know, and you just killed him like that."
Fox lowered his head and sobbed, pretending to grieve, but Lin Jie didn't see a single tear in his eyes.
"You hypocrite. Just how much else haven't you told me?"
Lin Jie remembered what Chen Li had told him before leaving:
Before entering the Realm of the Dead, there would be a guide who explained the basics of this world.
Lin Jie's guide should have been Fox.
But Fox hadn't told him anything back then. Instead, he'd tried to trick him out of his ring.
Fox put on an exaggerated look of surprise. "Oh, right! There's one more thing!"
"We've actually arranged countless games! And they all have different difficulty levels!"
"If you take part in more games, and harder ones, and survive, you'll accumulate more and more lifespan in the world of the living!"
"After you cleared Werewolf, the system awarded you six hours of lifespan. That's why you came back here."
Lin Jie looked up. "Only six hours? I went through all that trouble in a life-or-death game, and that's all the lifespan I got?"
Fox sighed. "That's because the game you joined was too low-level! It was only rated white."
Lin Jie recalled the rules of this world that Chen Li had explained to him.
The levels in this world were distinguished by color.
White was the lowest rating.
"Oh, right, I just remembered. There's a green-rated game available right now. What do you say? Want to join?"
Green was one rating above white.
Lin Jie asked, "How much lifespan do you get for clearing a green game?"
Fox lowered his head. "Let me think. A week, I believe? What do you think? That's so much more than six hours!"
"There's only one spot left in this game. If you don't join now, you'll miss your chance!"
Fox had thought Lin Jie would agree on the spot.
But...
"I refuse."
Lin Jie turned and walked away.
Fox froze in shock.
"You refuse? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! So many people want to join a game but have no way in!"
Yet Lin Jie didn't stop walking.
Even a week was still far too little.
Lin Jie didn't want a brief stretch of life. He wanted to come back to life permanently.
Besides, Fox had told nothing but lies before. What he'd just said might have been nonsense too.
Right now, Lin Jie had something more important to do.
Find his sister.
That man had said his sister also clung to the desire to live and would come to the Realm of the Dead.
He'd chosen to kill himself to return here, all so he could find his sister.
If he couldn't find her, he'd keep looking.
Even if it took a month, a year, or ten years, he wouldn't give up.
"By the way, Lin Jie, remember the surprise I mentioned at the start?"
Fox's shrill shout suddenly came from behind him.
"The surprise is..."
"A newcomer named Lin Zhi arrived in the Realm of the Dead not long ago. Any idea who that might be?"
"And she agreed to join that green-rated game I just mentioned!"
Lin Jie stopped.
He looked back to see a cryptic smile on Fox's face.
He'd known all along that Lin Zhi was Lin Jie's sister.
Lin Jie's voice was icy. "What exactly are you doing all this for?"
"Didn't I tell you? I want you to stay here and join us! It would be such a waste for someone as talented as you to stay in the world of the living!" Fox's eyes narrowed to slits.
Lin Jie sighed. "You said that as long as we win this game, you'll give us a week of lifespan. Is that right?"
Fox nodded. "Of course! If you perform exceptionally well in the game, your lifespan reward will even be doubled!"
"I'll join."
Looking delighted, Fox stepped aside, revealing a small door behind him. "Right this way!"
Lin Jie steadied himself and stepped through the small door.
The room was very dim, and it looked even more cramped than the Werewolf room he'd just left.
There were no lights around them, only a few dark red torches.
A red fire burned in the center of the room as well.
The flames crackled.
Beside the fire sat a rabbit person.
More precisely, someone with a human body and a rabbit's head.
Seeing Lin Jie enter, the rabbit person opened her mouth, and a cool female voice rang out:
"Welcome. My name is White Rabbit. I am the host of this game."
"Everyone, please take a seat around the fire."
Lin Jie sat down and quietly observed the other participants.
Besides Lin Jie, there were five other players.
Lin Jie looked over them one by one.
The first player was a short, fat man with stubble all around his mouth, looking unkempt.
He didn't look as nervous as the others, as though he was already used to games like this.
Lin Jie noticed that the ring on his hand was already green.
That meant he was no longer a newcomer.
The second player's appearance was the exact opposite of the first man's.
He was tall and thin, with a clean-shaven face, a buzz cut, and glasses. His eyes seemed somewhat bewildered.
He also seemed to know the first player, and the two occasionally leaned close to whisper in each other's ears.
His ring was green too.
Lin Jie looked farther along and couldn't help being startled when he saw the third player.
This man was burly, with scars on his face.
Wasn't this...
Chen Li?
Noticing Lin Jie's gaze, Chen Li raised his eyebrows in puzzlement.
He didn't seem to recognize Lin Jie.
What was going on?
Lin Jie remembered how Li Xin, Zhou Lan, and Zheng Yi had reacted back in the real world. None of them had seemed to recognize him.
Could Chen Li have forgotten too?
Lin Jie looked at his ring. It was still white.
The next player was another familiar face.
Xia Qu.
She still looked shy, huddling against her knees and glancing around cautiously.
She showed no reaction to seeing Lin Jie either.
Her ring was white too.
Lin Jie shook his head and looked at the final player.
!
She was...
The final player was slight and very short.
She wore plain clothes and didn't seem to know how to dress herself up.
But on closer inspection, her features were delicate. If she took care to tidy herself up, she would surely be a beauty.
And her brow and eyes bore an extreme resemblance to Lin Jie's.
The girl lifted her head and met Lin Jie's gaze.
In an instant, she looked as though she was about to cry.
"Big brother!"
She stood and threw herself toward him.