Chapter 49

Sorry for the late chapter guys!

Edited by Rinrin!

“Hey!”

The shout called Shan Ziwei’s soul back to return to his body. The girls stood at the gate, gazing over in confusion.

Shan Ziwei’s knees felt weak, almost making him fall onto the grass. His body felt like it was full of liquid ammonia, chilling him to the point where even his teeth froze together, rendering him incapable of speech.

——Absolutely terrifying. Just one glance took out 24 percent of his Hearts SP (Fear).

Though Shan Ziwei didn’t speak, his expression said it all. Instantly, their expressions changed. Pearl and Sago didn’t even dare look up, glancing at RoseBlood uneasily. RoseBlood bit her lip, hesitating for a moment before she raised her head with determination, gazing towards the second floor of the mansion.

The window on the second floor of the mansion was half obscured by tattered curtains. Only darkness could be seen through the gaps between the cloth. The thing that Shan Ziwei had seen was no longer there.

RoseBlood relaxed imperceptibly and started to comfort her fellow sisters in arms. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing there.”

She paused for a moment before adding, “But, we should still mentally prepare ourselves.”

Everyone knew what they had to prepare themselves for. Frightened, NightLily grabbed onto the hem of PaperIris’s shirt. PaperIris’s expression tensed and she turned on Shan Ziwei in anger, “We haven’t even gotten into the haunted house yet! What’s with you, huh? Are you a man or not?!”

Poor Shan Ziwei couldn’t voice his pains at all. He really wasn’t so easily scared, but experiencing a horror game through a screen was completely different from experiencing it personally. Please give a keyboard user like him some time to adapt… Plus, that thing almost seemed to radiate an aura of terror, causing his Diamonds SP to plummet. For a moment, all he wanted was to run away and leave this place behind forever.

“Move aside.”

Host’s low voice interrupted and Shan Ziwei subconsciously moved to the side. But then he realised that host hadn’t directed those words at him. The black-haired youth stood to the left in front of him, facing the gate that the girls were blocking. His tone wasn’t hostile, but it wasn’t amiable either. Coupled with his words, it sounded like a cold command.

“You……”

RoseBlood stopped PaperIris from finishing her sentence, smiling at host, “Sure, a guy should be the vanguard for something like this.”

Then, the girls parted to let the other through. Host didn’t bother engaging in any more small talk, striding forwards. As the second of only two guys present, Shan Ziwei took a deep breath and followed host. Looking around, he felt that the gulf here between men and women only grew in size.

The two arrived in front of the door of Manda’s Mansion. The lock was rusted through, just barely hanging on. It had lost its ability as a lock ages ago. Anyone could get into this rumoured haunted house with just a simple push of the door. Host didn’t give them any time to prepare themselves further, pushing open the door.

“Creeeeeaaak…”

The ancient door made a sound like it was set to fall apart at any time, grating on the ears. The moment the door opened, a chilling, rotting scent leaked out from inside. It was summer right now, yet it made goosebumps rise on their skin.

Their clothes rustled quietly. The girls huddled together in unease. Standing in the doorway, Shan Ziwei felt like he was standing at the entrance to hell. He faced a blanket of pitch black darkness. Though light shone in from behind him, it was almost like it was being restrained to a tiny patch right in front of the door. It was impossible to see what was inside.

A powerful desire to leave welled up in Shan Ziwei’s heart. It was an instinctive, primal urge brought on by the unknown. He couldn’t help but glance beside him, at host, only to find that the other had disappeared from where he’d been before. He turned his head again only to catch sight of the black-haired young man stepping into the darkness.

Shan Ziwei: …. =口=!!!

Bruh… can you not feel fear or something?!

Shan Ziwei could practically feel the system’s disappointment. They did all this just to create a terrifying atmosphere, yet in front of host it was like trying to seduce a blind person by looking sexy. But thank god for host’s composure. It really helped Shan Ziwei with his unease. He steeled himself and then stepped into the mansion without hesitation.

As soon as he was inside, it was like the entire colour tone of his surroundings had dropped by a shade. It was already very dark and drab outside, but inside it was even worse. This drab, grey colour scheme didn’t just come from the lack of light, but also the dust and grime that spread as far as the eye could see. Everything in this old house had a rotting, broken scent to it.

“Ugh…..it’s so dark!”

The girls behind them had caught up. Sago looked around, eyes wide, while Pearl beside her seemed to take issue with the state of the house, holding a hand over her mouth and nose. Her voice was strained as she said, “So dirty…do we have to ‘play’ in such a dirty place…? If only it was cleaner…”

Click.

Though the sound of the door closing was small, it erupted in their ears like a sudden clap of thunder. At a time like this, the slightest movement or sound was startling, striking straight at their hearts. Everyone simultaneously looked around, only to find that the door had closed without anyone touching it.

Hyacinth pushed the door, her voice trembling. “It won’t open……”

Her voice came to an abrupt halt, but not out of fear of being locked in, but shock at the sudden change of the environment. Originally, they had been standing in a filth-ridden mess of an entranceway, rotting shoes haphazardly piled up together, a smattering of eerie marks criss crossed on the broken shoe cabinet to the side. Yet, it was almost like the closing of the door was a signal. The moment the light vanished, no one could see, and when their vision returned, everything had changed…into a tidy and unbroken state. The european style shoe cabinet was standing whole and unbroken to one side of the entranceway, shoes stacked neatly. Not just the entranceway, but the living room diagonally opposite to them had completely changed as well. It was almost as if someone had rewound time. The leather sofa shined, smooth and clean enough to display your reflection.

Compared to the dirty mess it was before, the house now in front of their eyes radiated a comforting warmth, yet this only had their hearts leaping into their throats. It was too warm and nice, it was out of place, it didn’t make sense. The way the door closed just now, blocking out all light, also seemed to sever something…like their connection to the real world. It was like the moment the door had closed, they were locked into a strange, isolated dimension.

Almost like the game didn’t think they had been given enough of a fright yet, a series of hurried thuds came from above their heads – that was, from upstairs.

Thud thud thud thud thud thud…. thud thud thud thud thud thud…

It sounded like there were little kids running up and down the hall upstairs. The sound was deep, heavy, and instead of crawling into the ears, it trod on their hearts. Shan Ziwei’s own heartbeat accelerated with its rhythm. Panic enveloped him, and his feet began to grow numb from it. In front of him, host raised his head, looking towards the floor above. His black hair shifted to reveal his usually hidden eyes, gaze sharp as if piercing through the ceiling to perceive the truth of the situation.

—— What would you do if you heard footsteps in an empty haunted house?

Shan Ziwei watched as host shot forwards like an arrow leaving its bowstring, darting forwards towards the source of the noise. Shan Ziwei immediately followed. It was only after a few steps that he realised what he was doing, and a conflicted feeling began to rise in his heart. No matter what he felt about host, he subconsciously trusted the other, and believed that whatever the other did must be the right thing to do.

Shan Ziwei followed host through the living room and hall, and onto the staircase leading upwards. It was then that he understood why host reacted this way. They were the “screw yourselves over” clu- ah, no, he meant the Paranormal Research club members. They had to go after any kind of paranormal event no matter how small!

The black haired and white haired young men arrived on the second floor one after the other. They stood at the top of the staircase, faced with the darkness of the hallway. A gastly white silhouette stood at the darkest spot of the hall. Shan Ziwei’s brain froze. Th-that was…!

The sound of the girls’ hurried footsteps echoed up the stairwell. Anyone who could become a high level player wouldn’t be an idiot. They all quickly realised what they had to do. The moment Sago and Pearl arrived at the second floor, they raised their heads to see the white silhouette. The two girls immediately hugged each other, screaming.

“Aaaaahhhhh!!!”

The white silhouette seemed to be disturbed by the scream, and slowly began to turn around. Shan Ziwei’s breath began to grow heavy. He knew that looking was bad for his heart, but he couldn’t seem to look away.

First, he saw a stiff face. Shan Ziwei didn’t realise it was a paper white noh mask until his heart had leaped into his throat. Colourless, emotionless brows, and blood red lips…just looking at it made him feel like he was being cursed.

Shan Ziwei heard someone whimper behind him. He was in no better shape. Then he saw that white silhouette with the noh mask fold down at a 90 degrees angle… it really was “fold” and not “bend”. The movement was so stiff that he could practically hear the sound of a spine snapping.

Thunk.

In reality what they heard was the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. After the white silhouette folded itself in half, it disappeared, leaving that foreboding noh mask. Shan Ziwei gasped, breathing heavily like he had been released. It felt like all his blood was rushing to his head, making his head ache. As he tried to recover from this dizzying sensation, a strange thought came to mind.

—— “It” seemed to have…bowed to them?

It was almost like it was welcoming them inside. Shan Ziwei sorrowfully noted that just this short beginning had taken a third of his Diamonds SP (Fear). How was he going to survive the climax?

[Scenario 3: You searched the mansion, finding an appropriate location and the needed items for the games.]

A new scenario popped out in the system scenarios tab, drawing their attention. RoseBlood pulled herself together and gathered everyone. “We just ran from the first floor to the second, passing by the living room, dining room and hallway. Among them, the living room and dining room are connected, and there’s a total of five doors on the hallway that lead to five rooms. We’re an even number of people, so splitting up into pairs is the most efficient way to search.”

Under RoseBlood’s clear and meticulous planning, the others also began to calm down.

“Two of the doors were just slightly ajar. One was a kitchen and the other is, I think, a bedroom,” NightLily added. She was the observant kind. “The bedroom is to the left of the stairwell, while the kitchen is next to the dining room.”

RoseBlood nodded. “Then there’s only one issue left…” She took out the promotional flyer from before, reading out, “Ghost in the mirror, hide and seek, touch the wall, pen spirit… have any of you heard of these games before? Or what they might need?”

The girls looked at each other, chattering amongst themselves in confusion.

“No… I haven’t heard any of these paranormal games.”

“If it’s food ghost, I know that one, and light and shadow.”

“Huh? You played light and shadow, too? What did you see in the light…?”

Shan Ziwei was shocked. He had heard of all of these paranormal games. Why didn’t these girls who were clearly more interested not know?

Seeing that they were about to descend into a paranormal game discussion session, RoseBlood looked to the most knowledgeable in the group, Hyacinth, and interrupted, “Hya, do you not know either?”

“Yeah…” Hyacinth pushed her glasses up uneasily, “These seem to be games that were popular two hundred years ago.”

Alright, now Shan Ziwei knew why these girls were clueless: this chess board was set in the year 2016. If you didn’t go hunting for the information, why would anyone from the year 83 Terra know of games from that era?

He had never thought that his old age would be an advantage. The two-hundred and thirty-three year old Old Man Shan cleared his throat and spoke up, “I know.”

The group of girls all turned around in surprise. Shan Ziwei was a little nervous but quickly said, “‘Ghost in the mirror’ needs a room with a large mirror, ‘hide and seek’ needs a doll and a knife, ‘touch the wall’ needs a closed off empty room and ‘pen spirit’ needs paper and pen.”

“Amazing!” Sago gasped, going up to Shan Ziwei, “Do you really like paranormal games?”

The hypersexual discretely kept his distance and replied noncommittally, “Ye-yeah…”

“Pearl likes them too, how about you go in a group with her? You guys can talk about it with each other~” Sago glanced at host’s handsome side profile, her face blushing, cutely scheming. “And I’ll pair with you!”

This suggestion suited Shan Ziwei just fine. This way, he wouldn’t have to stay with the living reminder of his embarrassment. The hypersexual was just about to agree when he saw host staring at him emotionlessly. His gaze was no different from before but for some reason it made Shan Ziwei’s heart jump. He threw what he was about to say to the back of his mind, now wary.

That was when RoseBlood spoke up.

“If we’re going to investigate this mansion, it’s better to pair with people you’re familiar with. After all, this is an L5 difficulty chessboard, and we’re very likely to use Relationship Scenario Cards. It’s easier to cooperate with someone you know.”

Sago gave a soft “oh” of disappointment and the red faced Pearl dragged her back. RoseBlood continued with her interrupted planning, “A big mirror, a doll, a knife, pen and paper, an empty room, these are what we’re looking for. Other than that, keep an eye out for keys, switches and similar things. From my experience, the closed doors should all be locked and can only be opened with keys or some sort of mechanism.”

“Like I said before, each group can take a place. Since the dining and living rooms are connected, one group can take them both, one can head for the kitchen and another can go for the bedroom.”

One group would search the dining and living rooms, one would search the kitchen and another one the bedroom…yet they had eight people, so they should split into groups of two to search four different places.

So they were really being excluded huh…actually, in the discussion before, The Mysterious Garden had created an atmosphere that the guys couldn’t integrate into. Though RoseBlood had been talking to the group at large, her gaze only drifted between the other girls. Just as Shan Ziwei was thinking this, he saw RoseBlood finally look directly at him and host with a perfect, impeccable smile.

“As for the second floor…..we’ll leave it to you boys.”