Chapter Content
The butler placed the cutlery before each seat, one by one. Wine the color of fresh blood was poured into crystal goblets and set before the players.
A fruit basket held brilliantly red apples, and serving platters bore cuts of meat crisscrossed with a fine web of blood vessels, all arranged in a neat line down the long table.
Once everything was in its place, he offered a stiff, mechanical bow, then vanished around the corner of the staircase without a backward glance.
With that thing—whatever it was, man or ghost—finally gone, the tension that had been building in the players eased in a collective sigh of relief.
Aside from Chang Xu, who grabbed an apple and started crunching away, no one else showed any immediate interest in the food on the table.
Shen Ming let out a slow breath and surveyed the group. "This instance is similar to a rules-based horror story. You all saw the rules, right? As long as we follow them strictly, we'll be fine. That's why I hope that from now on, if anyone has an idea, they bring it to the table for discussion. Don't try to be clever and act on your own."
Qi Si had heard of rules-based horror, a recently popular subgenre of unconventional mystery fiction online. It typically used a serious, cautionary tone to lay out a series of counter-intuitive and contradictory rules, designed to pique human curiosity and prey on subconscious fears.
He had to admit, the Weird Game was certainly keeping up with the times.
"What do you all make of the second rule?" Zou Yan was the first to speak up. "My watch and phone didn't make it in here, and I'm sure it's the same for all of you. The clock only chimes on the hour, so how are we supposed to know the exact time?"
Lin Chen asked timidly, "So if we all wake up and none of us know the exact time, does that mean we're all screwed?"
"We won't all die," Shen Ming reassured him. "Based on my past experience, these kinds of stories are highly subjective. Generally, as long as you aren't aware that you've broken a rule, you'll be safe for the moment. If you do wake up in the middle of the night, don't overthink it. Just go back to sleep."
Lin Chen nodded earnestly.
After a few seconds of silence, when no one else spoke, he voiced another question. "I saw the main quest tells us to 'decipher the rules.' Does that mean there might be other rules we need to find besides the ones we've been given?"
This was the very question on Qi Si's mind, but given his pretense of being a "second-timer," he had no intention of asking it himself.
Before Shen Ming could explain, Zou Yan answered with a smile. "The fundamental rules are usually the ones they give you at the start. 'Deciphering the rules' generally means we need to explore and find explanations for those basic rules.
"For example, the first rule says 'Time is of the utmost importance.' We need to figure out *why* time is important and how it connects to the instance's lore.
"Completing the main quest is just the baseline. If you want to earn more points, you need to gather more clues and unravel the entire backstory of the instance."
Lin Chen clutched the hem of his shirt, murmuring, "I'm not hoping for any rewards. I've already died once. It wasn't easy getting a second chance, I just want to survive..."
Yezi let out a derisive snort. "You're in the game and you're not even trying to earn more points? Sooner or later, someone's going to screw you over and get you killed in an instance."
Chang Xu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly glanced up at her. "For your 'second time' in an instance, you seem to know an awful lot."
Yezi's eyes narrowed playfully. "What's this? Is Mr. Officer interrogating me?"
Chang Xu said no more. Shen Ming quickly steered the conversation elsewhere. "Let's each share our thoughts on the rules for now. It'll help us be prepared..."
Qi Si had no intention of joining the conversation. With so little information, the more you said, the more you risked a mistake.
He casually picked up an apple and began polishing it with a pristine white napkin, his focus absolute.
When Shen Ming's gaze fell on him, seeking his opinion, he simply put the apple to his lips with a look of pure innocence and began to eat quietly, projecting an air of someone who couldn't be bothered with the affairs of mere mortals.
Amid the players' discussion, the dull chimes of a clock echoed through the hall without warning. The pendulum of the grandfather clock in the corner swung slowly, striking six times in perfect rhythm.
It was dinnertime.
The sound of light footsteps drifted from the shadows, like the graceful steps of a woman dancing on her toes, or perhaps like a stalking animal, back hunched and ready to pounce.
Qi Si put down his apple core at the perfect moment and looked up.
A slender, tall woman emerged from the top of the stairs. Her long black dress trailed along the floor, wrapping her figure into a tall, thin specter.
Her lovely face was so pale it hardly seemed human. Beneath a cascade of dark brown hair were eyes as black and vacant as voids, but her lips were painted a vibrant, blood-like red.
Her gaze swept over each player in turn, and her voice rang out, high and sonorous like an opera singer's. "My dearest guests, welcome to my Rose Manor!"
The woman glided to the head of the table, leaving a rich, intoxicating fragrance in her wake, a scent mingled with a damp, aquatic tang, as if she had just walked in from the rain.
After taking her seat, she laughed, covering her mouth as she modulated her voice to a delicate, soft whisper. "You may call me Miss Anna."
Miss Anna? Qi Si immediately located the corresponding rule on his system interface—
[If you see Miss Anna in a black dress, please maintain your distance as much as possible.]
It was too late to leave the table now. Besides, he couldn't shake the feeling—perhaps it was just his imagination—that Miss Anna's gaze had lingered on him a moment longer than on the others. It was a cloying, slick feeling, like trudging through mud after a storm.
It was deeply unsettling. Miss Anna suddenly turned her face toward Qi Si. "Sir, have I seen you somewhere before?"
Smiling, she elegantly raised her hand in the gesture of a medieval noblewoman expecting it to be kissed.
For a moment, the other players looked at Qi Si with a hint of pity.
Arriving last, he'd been forced to sit next to the head of the table. Now he was being singled out to trigger the next part of the story. It was truly a stroke of terrible luck.
Qi Si seemed unfazed. He replied in a similar tone, "Perhaps we met in a past life, in hell. Who can say?"
He made a joke that no one but him could understand and, taking the opportunity, clasped Miss Anna's hand for a brief shake.
Her skin was warm to the touch. It didn't indent under pressure. By all conventional logic, the hand's owner should be alive.
How boring. Qi Si withdrew his right hand, thoroughly disinterested, and placed it on his napkin.
Miss Anna seemed to have anticipated this reaction, showing not the slightest hint of surprise.
With a faint smile playing on her lips, her long, bony fingers picked up the knife and fork from her plate and sliced into a piece of meat from the platter nearest to her.
The wide black sleeves concealed her wrists, revealing only her crimson-painted nails, which accentuated the pale, gaunt thinness of her hands, making them look like the talons of some monstrous bird.
She lifted the blood-streaked meat to her lips with her fork, chewing and swallowing delicately. When she was done, she extended a scarlet tongue to lick the corner of her lips, an act that conjured primitive images of tearing into raw flesh and blood.
Aside from Chang Xu, who was clearly in his own world and devouring his food, none of the others dared to touch their cutlery.
They watched, mesmerized, as the woman at the head of the table ate. All sorts of bizarre speculations took root in their minds, breeding a deeper, more profound fear.
Miss Anna paused and looked up with a sweet smile. "Please, eat. Why aren't you eating? Is the food not to your liking?"
Qi Si obediently lowered his head, speared a piece of meat with his brightly polished fork, and put it in his mouth.
He had to admit, the meat dish of unknown origin was surprisingly good. The texture was tender, the sauce was flavorful—it could easily meet the average standard of many restaurants.
And judging by the mouthfeel, it wasn't the kind of meat that would give you prion disease.
Qi Si's eyes narrowed in satisfaction. Under everyone's watchful gaze, he used his fork to slide another large piece of meat onto his plate.
With someone leading the way, the others reluctantly began to eat.
After all, the rule [Do not refuse Miss Anna's requests] was displayed prominently on the system interface.
Dinner concluded quickly and in silence. Every dish on the long table had been picked clean.
Miss Anna put down her knife and fork, dabbed her lips with a napkin, and let her eyes sweep across the guests once more. As before, her gaze lingered on Qi Si for a few extra seconds.
She rose gracefully, curtsied to the players, and then slowly retreated into the shadows at the top of the stairs.
Lin Chen, who had barely dared to breathe the entire time, finally let out a gasp of air and tugged on Qi Si's sleeve. "Brother Qi, I think Miss Anna was wearing a black dress..."
A Miss Anna in a black dress was the one the rules warned them to stay away from at all costs...
Qi Si smiled, his eyes downcast. "Mm, I saw. A somber, formal, black evening gown."
"Then why did you..."
Then why did you shake her hand? Are you trying to get yourself killed?
"The moment she sat down, we had all already broken the rule. Eating at the same table doesn't exactly count as 'maintaining your distance'," Qi Si said calmly, stuffing the napkin into his pocket. "What's done is done. We might as well use the opportunity to see if we can find any clues."
There was something else he left unsaid.
He suspected Miss Anna had already singled him out, perhaps because he was seated closest to her, or perhaps because of some shared quality—humans are always good at spotting their own kind in a crowd, aren't they?
At this point, he was in too deep to worry. He might as well be a little more reckless.
Lin Chen looked on, only half-understanding. "So, Brother Qi, did you discover anything?"
"A discovery? Of course, there was one."
"What was it?"
Qi Si smiled mysteriously, bringing a single finger to his lips. "You want to know? Why don't you guess?"