Chapter Three: Vacation Villa 3

"Besides, how could Zhou Bin be dead? Isn’t this just a game? How could someone die in a game?" The more Hu Meili spoke, the angrier she became. "I’m not playing anymore. I want to go home. How do I quit this game?" She shouted into the air, "I want to go back, send me back right now!"

Of course, there was no way to return.

Su Man’s gaze lingered on her for a moment before turning to Hu Kan, who was staring blankly at Hu Meili. She asked him, "Is what Hu Meili said true?"

"Ah… yes," Hu Kan finally snapped out of it. "We’ve been together the whole time, so it couldn’t have been Meili."

He wanted to ask more, but Su Man nodded, cutting him off. "Then perhaps it was someone who looks exactly like Hu Meili."

"Maybe you saw wrong," Hu Kan tried to defend Hu Meili.

"Impossible, I couldn’t have made a mistake," Su Man said with certainty. "Since we’re not sure about Zhou Bin’s situation, let’s go find him together."

Perhaps everything would be clear once they found Zhou Bin.

There were only a handful of restrooms here. At last, they found Zhou Bin in the bathroom at the far end of the second floor.

"Ah!" The first person to enter was caught completely off guard and screamed, collapsing to the floor. "Zhou Bin… Zhou Bin really is dead!"

Everyone rushed into the bathroom, their faces dark and tense.

Zhou Bin’s clothes were gone, leaving him sprawled naked like a plucked chicken on the floor. There wasn’t a single wound on his body, but a pool of blood had gathered beneath him. His eyes were wide open, and his face wore a blissful smile, as if, in his final moments, he had witnessed the most beautiful thing in the world.

"Zhou Bin…" Hu Kan stared dully at the corpse and murmured, "He’s really dead, Aya. Zhou Bin is dead."

He looked back at Aya, who had barely spoken all this time, his face ashen. "Aren’t you going to say anything? Maybe one of you will be next."

Su Man’s dark eyes fixed on them, well aware that she herself might be the next target. But the others didn’t know that, so her words were particularly forceful.

Hu Kan and Aya were both nervous, though they still tried to deny it stubbornly. "I don’t know what you’re talking about. This has nothing to do with us. Zhou Bin is dead; we need to call the police!"

Their phones still had no signal, so they used the landline to call the police.

"It’s not working. The phone’s broken," Hu Kan swallowed hard, his voice trembling. Every time they dialed, all they got was a busy tone.

"Let’s get out of here," Aya suddenly said, unable to endure the tension any longer. Her face was deathly pale, her hands clenched so tightly they’d lost all color. "Hu Kan, let’s go."

"Let’s go! Right now! I can’t take this anymore, I want to go home! Mom!" Ever since they’d found Zhou Bin’s body, Hu Meili had been too scared to speak. Hearing Aya’s words, she finally broke down and began to sob uncontrollably. "I don’t want to play anymore. I’ll never play any games again. I just want to go home! Hu Kan, help me, please take me away. I don’t want to die."

It seemed Hu Kan agreed, for he didn’t argue. On their way out, he politely turned to Su Man, "Are you coming with us?"

Leave?

Su Man glanced outside. At some point, the bright sky had turned overcast. Could they really leave? Besides, she still didn’t know who had made the mysterious phone call. If she didn’t complete the mission, she wasn’t afraid of the punishment, but could she still claim the money that was rightfully hers?

After weighing the pros and cons, she decided to stay.

When Hu Kan heard her answer, he didn’t try to persuade her further. He only said that if they saw the police outside, they’d send them back here, and told her to be careful before they left.

Before they departed, Su Man asked Hu Kan again about the phone call, but he hesitated and said nothing in the end.

Su Man didn’t force them and let them go. After all, you can never wake someone pretending to sleep. In the end, everything would be revealed.

The spacious room was left with only her—and Zhou Bin’s corpse.

Su Man wasn’t afraid of corpses. An unconscious thing could never be more frightening than a living person, could it?

But reality slapped her in the face much sooner than expected.

Su Man died, and yet she didn’t.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a room, a new identity card in her hand. This time, two more lines had appeared—[Talent Activated: Resurrection].

Su Man was still a little dazed. After a couple of seconds, a twisted, crazed smile crept across her face.

To explain what happened, we must go back an hour.

After Hu Kan and the others left, she searched the villa for useful clues.

And she did find some.

For example, she found a ten-year-long lease agreement in one room; the central villa she was in had been rented out to someone else.

She also found, under the floorboards of another room, a stash of photographs featuring Hu Kan, Zhou Bin, and Aya.

And she discovered that Zhou Bin once had a girlfriend, and they were deeply in love.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with her resurrection. After making these discoveries, she returned to check Zhou Bin’s corpse.

That’s when things took a turn.

She heard noises from the washbasin. Looking up, she saw Hu Meili’s grinning, twisted face. Before she could say a word, she was decapitated.

Yes, Hu Meili beheaded her, and so swiftly that she hadn’t had time to react. Her final sight was the sink and the mirror, both splattered red with her blood.

She’d thought she was dead for sure. But unexpectedly, her consciousness returned to that dark space, where the familiar light screen appeared.

It didn’t mention her death; instead, it asked a single question: [Who made the mysterious phone call?]

Su Man thought for a moment and gave a name.

Luckily, she answered correctly.

The words on the screen changed again.

[Congratulations, player, you have completed the mission and earned 500,000 units of your world’s currency or 5 horror coins.]

Good news—there was actually money to be had.

Bad news—she had to choose.

Normally, she would have chosen the 500,000 without hesitation, but the appearance of the horror coins intrigued her. There would surely be more missions ahead, but whether horror coins would be available again was uncertain. Not knowing their use, she chose the coins.

And apart from that, there was something else to be happy about.

[King Card Identity Privilege: Talent activation condition met. Talent granted: Resurrection.]

The text on the screen shifted again.

[Rule: After the game begins, you are granted one unconditional resurrection. Once used, the talent only triggers again if you possess a resurrection card. The card will activate automatically, and after doing so, the player will revive at a random location within two hours.]