CH 1

Chapter 1 – Haunted House Vlog (1)

“Zhao-ge, are you sure this is the place?”

“Are you stupid?” The young man standing beside Zhao-ge sneered: “Zhao-ge is from Huaiyang Town, and this house has been haunted since long ago. You’re Zhao-ge’s cousin, yet you don’t even know about it.”

The man who spoke just now lowered his head with a dull expression on his face. A burst of dark yin qi fluttered in the wind and entered Yu Miao’s body, but he felt nothing, and kept his head lowered.

Zhao Yuan glanced at the few people around him. He was their leader, and it was he who had proposed that they explore the haunted house.

The five of them were brought together to summon the pen fairy as a game. Since they shared the same hobby, they played together a few times. Everyone felt that the games went well, so they formed a team to explore haunted areas.

Young people always enjoyed new and exciting things, but some things are impossible to like.

— Because they could kill you.

There were five members of the team.

Three men and two women. Among the team, Zhao Yuan was the leader, and Yu Miao, Wen Feifei, Wang Li, and Li Qun were the team members.

The destination they were traveling to this time was a house on the far left side of Huaiyang Town.

The owner of the house had long since passed away, and the originally awe-inspiring mansion was now deserted and overgrown with weeds.

Not only that, but some people even heard wailing from the house in the middle of the night.

The voice was piercing. It was said that one time someone stayed in the house overnight, and when they left the next morning, the person had gone crazy, constantly shouting about ghosts and spirits.

No one knows what the truth was, but the townspeople didn’t dare to casually approach the mansion.

Recalling that, Zhao Yuan’s eyes flickered with unease, but he immediately covered it.

He had entered the house that time not only to explore, but also for the treasure hidden underneath the ruins.

“Li Qun, how far from the mansion are we?” Zhao Yuan gazed at the tall trees around him. The sun was clearly shining, but he felt a sudden chill. He reached into his pocket and touched his yellow ghost-repelling talisman in his pocket, then felt reassured.

Li Qun was holding the map. Strands of sweat gradually formed on his forehead, and after looking at it for a while, he announced: “It’s close, about a few hundred meters away.”

When Zhao Yuan heard his words, he showed an impatient expression. Wang Li noticed and immediately spoke: “Zhao-ge, there’s a wooden dock ahead of us. Let’s rest a while before moving on.”

Wen Feifei gently agreed: “Right Zhao-ge. The sun is so toxic that my makeup is almost gone.”

Zhao Yuan agreed, then took Wen Feifei’s small hand and walked forward. The two exchanged flirtatious words as they walked, while Wang Li followed behind Zhao Yuan like a servant.

Li Qun, who was behind them, walked slowly as he followed alongside Yu Miao.

Looking closely, the beads of sweat on Li Qun’s forehead had not stopped forming since he looked at the map earlier. There were now even more.

Li Qun was terrified. He opened the map with trembling fingers, and his eyes could barely make out the pictures on the map. At that moment, Yu Miao, who was behind him, suddenly spoke: “You can see that the path is incorrect.”

The whispered words caused Li Qun to freeze on the spot.

His neck stiffened as if it had cement poured into it. With a trembling voice, Li Qun asked: “What did you say?”

Yu Miao’s voice was like a ghost: “I said the path is incorrect, ah.”

Li Qun felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet. He wanted to open his mouth to scream, but accidentally turned toward Yu Miao’s face. Faintly, he could make out a woman.

— The woman was wearing a red dress. Her hair was loose, and her head was slowly lifting.

Finally, the woman’s head was raised, revealing her face through her long hair. The woman’s face was purple, her face was bloody, and her lips were blackened. She looked like she had been poisoned, and her eyes were crazed like a madman.

The woman reached out to caress Li Qun’s throat, and whispered into his ear: “Your flesh is so fragrant, ah……”

Li Qun’s expression was filled with terror. He opened his mouth yet couldn’t make any sound. HE could only let the woman bit his shoulder. The woman wasn’t interested in Li Qun’s flesh at all’ she just drank a mouthful of blood and tossed Li Qun away when she tasted it. Li Qun rolled on the ground a few times before disappearing.

The woman wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. She looked at the unconscious Yu Miao, and in the blink of an eye, was inside of her body again.

After Yu Miao awakened, he picked up the map as if he didn’t notice anything wrong and quickly left to chase after Zhao Yuan and the others.

Zhao Yuan and the others were resting in the woods not far away. Seeing him approach, Wang Li asked: “Where’s Li Qun?”

Yu Miao glanced at him, lowered her head, and said: “He said he desperately needed to pee, so wait……”

“Alright.” Wang Li rudely interrupted Yu Miao and turned to Zhao Yuan with a pleasant voice. “I don’t think Li Qun will be back for a while. Let’s go ahead first. Look at the sky, it seems like it’s going to rain.”

Zhao Yuan looked up at the sky.

The sky was dark, filled with black clouds, and it was about to storm heavily.

Zhao Yuan glanced at Wang Li, and Wang Li immediately understood: “Li Qun is too slow. Let’s go ahead, he’ll understand.”

Wen Feifei and Yu Miao agreed one after another, and Zhao Yuan pretended to hesitate before agreeing.

It was the same as before. Zhao Yuan was pulling along Wen Feifei, and Wang Li was holding a map, chatting and joking beside them.

Yu Miao looked at Zhao Yuan’s back. There were faint traces of the woman’s figure on Yu Miao’s body. There was a rare focused look in the woman’s eyes. She looked at Zhao Yuan and murmured softly: “It turned out to be the descendent of……”

“Injustice has its head, and a debt has its creditor.1 It is the fault of the ancestors, so it falls to you-“

“- to repay.”

As soon as her voice fell, thunder rumbled dully through the sky, as if to warn the woman.

The woman sneered, then disappeared into Yu Miao’s body, and kept pace with them from behind.

The three people walking in front didn’t notice that danger had appeared at their side.

After the few people were gone, a layer of fog formed in the woods. The fog was extremely dense for a moment before it slowly dissipated, revealing its original appearance–

–There were no trees there at all. Instead, there was the infamous haunted house.

The ‘woman’ was walking with a stiff posture, and behind her was the dilapidated gate.

There was also an imprint of an array left by a Daoist priest on the gate, but it was old and the seal was not strong enough.

The ‘woman’ felt the power of the array disappear. Her dark purple lips twitched, and she suddenly burst into an icy smile.

With the disappearance of the array, the ghosts sealed inside the house began to awaken from their slumber.

Even the sky outside sensed their strong yin qi. The sky suddenly darked until it was like night, and the gate that was open slowly closed.

— And those evil ghosts who feed on humans were floating around inside the house, preparing themselves for their moment of revelry.

~ Another quiet time and space. ~

“Welcome to the Escape Game.”

Gu An looked around, but it was pitch black, and he couldn’t see anything at all.

He took a deep breath and spoke calmly: “Who are you? What’s your purpose in bringing me here?”

The cold voice sounded again: “I am an avatar of the creator of the Escape Game. You may call me Lord God.”

“I had no purpose.”

Gu An raised his head and looked at the place where the voice was coming from, his eyes glinting like knives. “Since there was no purpose, please release me.”

“After completing the final level, you may return to the real world.”

Gu An was about to huff in anger. He was just working at home, but then he took a nap and was brought there.

This self-proclaimed Lord God was just messing around there.

But Gu An felt that he seemed to have forgotten something.

At that moment, a voice came from within his mind: “It’s all my fault, wu wu wu wu…..”2

Gu An’s expression froze, and he was shocked for a moment. He reacted swiftly and asked with a cold voice: “Who are you?”

The Lord God announced: “I am the Lord God.”

The voice inside his mind spoke: “An An, I’m system 521. Don’t you remember me QAQ”

Gu An didn’t question it any further, instead turning his attention toward the so-called Lord God, and said: “I didn’t agree to enter the game. Your behavior is that of a savage.”

Lord God: “The game detected that you agreed to enter the escape game. I sent you an email with two options. You selected ‘yes.'”

An apathetic and emotionless voice drifted throughout the dark space.

Gu An didn’t remember that, so he said: “I didn’t receive the email.”

The Lord God was silent for a moment before the space lit up.

Gu An was pierced by the sudden light. He lifted his hand to cover his eyes, while 521 muttered with dissatisfaction in his mind: “This light is too stunning. An An, do your eyes hurt……”

Gu An ignored 521’s chattering as he waited for his eyes to slowly recover. After about a minute, he felt his eyes adjust to the light before he put his hand down to look around.

The first thing that caught his eye was the strange disk floating in the air.

The body of the disk was entirely black, with a hint of dark grey inside. The whole disk exuded a dark, black light, making people feel very uncomfortable.

Gu An took a few glances at the disk, then turned his attention to his surroundings.

No matter where his eyes landed, it was pure white.

521 spoke in his mind: “I also have a space for An An. I’ll show you later, oh~”

Gu An ignored 521. He looked around for a while and found that there was no end to that place. Other than the whiteness and the black disk in the air, he was the only one.

After the dark light around the disk disappeared, it floated in front of Gu An and said: “I found the email receipt. You can take a look.”

Gu An looked at the large transparent white screen that suddenly appeared in midair, and was silent for a while.

He said: “You’re a voyeur. I can sue you for the violation of my privacy.”

The disk, also known as the Lord God, was stunned. That was the first time anyone had told him that. After that reaction, it said coldly: “If you want to go back, you can try.”

Gu An stared coldly at the disk, than cast his gaze toward the bright white screen.

His silhouette was projected on the white screen.

At that time, Gu An was sitting in the study working. The computer originally displayed work content, but as he worked, the computer suddenly blacked out. When it turned back on, there was an email in his inbox.

Upon opening the email, the content contained a game invitation.

The game was called ‘Escape Game’. Gu An pressed the return button, but the computer didn’t respond at all. The content of the email was still displayed.

Just as he was about to switch computers to continue handling his work, the computer suddenly displayed a selection box popup.

“May I ask Mr. Gu An, are you willing to enter the Escape Game?”

“Yes or No?”

Gu An slid his finger down, and the arrow pointed at ‘No’.

Gu An, who was outside the white screen, saw the scene and raised his eyebrows diplomatically. He sent a leisurely look at the disk, as if to say ‘look whether or not I chose’.

The disk did not respond, but instead said: “You did click ‘Yes’.”

Gu An’s mouth twitched slightly, but he didn’t speak. He just stared at the white screen.

The Gu An in the white screen selected ‘No’.

But at that moment, a voice suddenly came from somewhere: “Baobei, come down to eat. I made your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs.”

Gu An responded, but his fingers moved slightly. At the moment when he wasn’t paying attention, the little arrow suddenly changed positions and selected ‘Yes’.

After the selection was confirmed, the email disappeared along with its contents, and the computer returned to normal.

Gu An looked at the computer that had returned to its normal state, and started working with after a slight moment of surprise, not knowing what he had just done.

The disk paused on the moment when the arrow selected ‘Yes’, then looked at Gu An and said: “You chose this yourself. No one forced you.”

Gu An looked at the white screen with his teeth clenched.

He had no impression of the events occurring in the white screen, but he was inexplicably familiar with the voice from the white screen just now.

After taking a deep breath, Gu An’s eyes were cold as he looked straight at the disk. “I don’t have even the slightest impression of the contents within the white screen. I’m not sure if it’s fake, so I won’t play any escape games.”

The disk appeared angry, and it replied coldly: “You are not qualified to quit.”

It didn’t say any more, but got straight to the point.

“The introduction to the escape game is as follows:”

“Escape Game: Each time you pass a level, the player will increase a variety of survival points. Survival points can be exchanged for various weapons or according to the player’s imagination. Different things require different survival points.”

“Passing a Level: According to your quality of task completion, you can be rewarded survival points or money. Additionally, the reward is random.”

“Survival points rewarded can be up to 1,000 or a minimum of 50. Reward points are controlled by the Lord God, and each player has a bracelet than can be used to either exchange materials or store weapons.”

“Money is at most one million, and at minimum one hundred thousand.”

“Point exchanges are as follows:”

“Example: A bottle of water, 20 survival points. A piece of bread, 25 survival points. A machete, 10 survival points.”

“The task rules are as follows:”

“Main task: must be completed.”

“Additionally: Survival points will be deducted for failure. The deduction range depends on the difficulty of the task.”

“When survival points become negative, you will enter the punishment world.”

“Side task: Acceptance of the side task is at the player’s discretion. Those who cannot complete it will be deducted 50 points, while a perfect clearance will be rewarded with 500 points.”

“Additionally: If the risk is too great, please do not try it without consideration.”

“Player Benefit 1: Personal Skills.”

“After each player enters the game, there will be a lottery drawing. The Lord God will grant the plater some special abilities, like physical skills such as physical strength and agility.”

“Player Benefit 2: Bracelet.”

“You can view survival points, exchange materials, etc.”

“Player Benefit 3: If the player clears the final level, they can return to the real world with rewards. They have three wishes to be fulfilled as rewards.”

The disk flickered, and a contract floated in front of Gu An. “Please press your fingerprint against it.”

Gu An took the contract and skimmed over it.

The rules of the escape game are as follows:

Game Rule 1: To enter the escape game, you must sign a contract. After points are deducted in the escape game, you must enter the punishment world with your real body.

Game Rule 2: Through the final level set forth by the Lord God, three wishes can be fulfilled. Additionally: the wishes must be within the scope of Lord God’s abilities.

Game Rule 3: If you kill fellow players, you will be punished.

Game Rule 4: The content of the contract cannot be leaked. Those who leak it will be punished.

Game Rule 5: You cannot quit halfway through the game.

There were only five articles in the contract.

It was all about the rules of the escape game. Gu An sneered and looked snidely at the disk.

Whether it was the game introduction from just now or the contract, there shouldn’t be too many loopholes in them.

But as stated in the first article of the contract, you must use your real body to enter the punishment world. If he was killed in the punishment world, would he also die in reality?

He asked: “What is the punishment mentioned in the contract?”

“That is classified,” the disk said. “Please don’t ask unrelated questions.”

“Please quickly press your fingerprint.”

Gu An did not respond.

He lowered his eyes and held the contract with his slender white fingers. As an unidentifiable light flashed into his eyes, he asked: “What happens if I don’t sign it?”

The disk didn’t seem to expect Gu An to ask such a question. It was stuck for a moment, then said coldly after a few seconds: “If you don’t sign, you can only stay here until you die.”

Not expecting to receive that answer, Gu An’s eyes widened. His fingers clenched around the contract, and he didn’t speak for a long time.

“How cunning.” Gu An’s eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his mouth were raised. He looked at the disk with half of a smile: “If I don’t agree, I can only wait here until I die.”

“But I don’t want to die, so I can only agree to–“

The disk didn’t deny Gu An’s words, instead only flashing the dark light as it waited for Gu An’s answer.

521 anxiously spoke in Gu An’s mind: “An An, hurry up and sign it! Stay in the green hills, and you won’t have to fear running out of firewood!”3

Gu An blinked his eyelashes and couldn’t help but have a revelation. That little thing could recite proverbs.

After a few minutes, he said: “I accept.”

Disk: “Bite your finger and sign the contract with your fingerprint.”

Gu An was stunned for a moment, then looked up at the disk.

It’s just a signature. Why was it like he was selling his body?

Gu An put his finger to his lips.

His sharp tiger tooth bit into the flesh of his fingertip with a little bit of effort, and a bright red bead of blood formed.

He placed his index finger against the contract. The moment he pressed against it, the contract flashed dimly. As he took his finger away, a bright red fingerprint was left on the white contract paper.

The disk drew back the contract and turned into a black cardboard box with a hole in it. It instructed Gu An: “Please draw your skill.”

Gu An stretched out his hand and inserted it into the cardboard box.

He could clearly feel something moving inside the box, and 521 hurriedly said: “An An, good luck, An An, good luck……”

Gu An: “……”

So noisy, ah.

A few minutes later, Gu An suddenly retracted his hand from the carboard box. He held a note tightly in his palm before opening it.

A few words were written on the note.

— Rubbery Bouncing.

Gu An turned to the back and saw the explanation about the function of his skill.

Rubbery Bouncing: It can make the owner’s body soft yet tough. The bouncing power is comparable to that of a kangaroo.

Holding the note, he exhaled slowly, thinking about a kangaroo’s bouncing abliity.

Although the talent didn’t look very good, if he used it well……

Gu An was fascinated, but when 521 saw the words on the note, it began to cry: “My poor An An, ah! What kind of skill did you receive! It’s so useless, wu wu wu wu……”

The veins on Gu An’s forehead twitched a few times. He took a deep breath and decided to ignore the sobbing in his head.

Fortunately, 521 noticed the hint in his eyes and stopped howling after a while.

The disk said: “Player Gu An, Escape Number 7963.”

“Please select the game world.”

Gu An lifted his eyes and stared at the patterned black cards floating in front of him.

There were six in total, each a different card.

Gu An stretched out his pale fingers and selected the card with the rose pattern on the back.

After he grabbed the card, the rest of them disappeared. Gu An lowered his eyes and looked at the pattern on the card. Once he opened the card, there was a large mansion in front of him.

–The door of the house was open, as if the welcome the player upon arrival.

The tip of Gu An’s nose twitched at the scent of blood. His eyes were deep and penetrating, and the card disappeared after Gu An looked at it.

The disk gave Gu An a bracelet and told him: “There are 10 survival points in the bracelet. It’s a gift for beginners.”

“Player 7693, I wish you good luck.”

As the disk’s words fell, a spinning black vortex appeared underneath Gu An’s feet, instantly encompassing his body.

A black light flashed, and Gu An disappeared entirely.

The black disk also left, and the space that was as bright as day suddenly turned dark.

~ The Other Side ~

After the dark light flashed, Gu An’s entire body seems to be imprisoned by something.

After a while, he recovered, and looked up at his surroundings.

It was entirely dark, and weeds were swaying in the wind.

521 sobbed: “An An, it’s so scary here. Wu wu wu……”

Then it seemed to see something shocking and shouted: “Ahhh! How did you turn into a flower, An An?!”

Gu An frowned and asked: “What do you mean turned into a flower?”

He asked again: “Who are you? Why did you appear in my mind?”

521 was bout to explain, but before he could speak, he heard a piercing shriek.

“Aaaaahhhhh–“

“Help, ah! There’s a ghost!!!”

Gu An frowned. He wanted to move but his body couldn’t move at all. He asked 521: “Is there any way you can help me move?”

521 watched Gu An like that, and was silent for a while. He took a few photos, then shared them with Gu An.

Gu An looked at the roses that stood out amongst a mountain of weeds, and fell silent for a long time.

He took a closer look at his surroundings and discovered that his location was a courtyard.

The courtyard looked similar to those of ancient times, but the doors and windows had long been corroded by wind and rain, leaving only mottled remnants to hint at its former beauty.

After a few glances, Gu An frowned.

He saw that not only the courtyard, but also the entire house was filled with black yin qi. The shrieks and words of evil spirits filled his ears.

“This person looks good. It shouldn’t taste bad……”

“This woman, with such thin skin and tender flesh, must taste delicious……”

“Hou! I finally escaped! This laozi4 is starving to death! Laozi will have a full meal now!!”

There were terrified voices of men and women, and the sounds of evil spirits devouring flesh and blood…..

Gu An was intensely uncomfortable listening to it.

After a few minutes, Gu An felt his body grow warm. A white light flashed, and when he opened his eyes and saw the fingers in front of him, he was pleasantly surprised.

Gu An’s bracelet lit up at that moment, showing a light screen in front of him.

“Setting: There is a rich man in Huaiyang Town: Mr. Lin. Mr. Lin has a precious daughter who has been engaged to the son of another prominent family since childhood.”

“But when the son and his family returned home to visit their relatives, they were attacked by gangsters, and the whole family was killed. Mr. Lin found a betrothed for his daughter once more, the son of a friend. The day of marriage is approaching, but the young lady suddenly disappeared. The Lin family was also decimated on the second day after the young lady disappeared.”

“Since then, the Lin family has been haunted. When a Daoist priest who was passing by one year saw it, he sealed a woman with a special fate inside of the Lin family’s well, and the haunting events were alleviated.”

“There are rumors that people often hear sobbing from the house, that passersby go insane after staying overnight, and that there are many skeletons in the house.”

“Please work hard to complete the task~”

“Note: There are five players in the instance.”

Then there was Gu An’s personal panel.

“Gu An: 7963”

“Worlds Complete: 0”

“Survival Points: 10”

“Weapons Purchased: 0”

“Supplies Purchased: 0”

“Main Quest: Please find out the truth surrounding the death of the owner of the house, as well as the missing Ms. Lin.”

“Side Quest: Find the source of the bones and evil spirits in the house, and eliminate all of them.”

There were two options after the side quest, ‘Accept’ or ‘Reject’.

Gu An considered for a while and clicked ‘Accept’.

521 was puzzled: “An An, why did you accept the side quest, ah?”

Gu An said: “Usually, a beginner world would not be too difficult, and it can be used to test your range.”

521 did not understand.

Since Gu An’s original form was a red rose, when he transformed into a human, he was naturally wearing a red shirt.

The flower demon was already gorgeous, and Gu An’s coolness led to a unique charm, which was very attractive.

Gu An looked around and decided to exit the courtyard. Before he could take a few steps, he ran into a baby-faced man.

When the baby-faced man saw Gu An, he was shocked at first, followed by a shrill scream.

“Aaaaaah, a ghost! Wang-ge save me!!!!”

“This ghost looks so human, it must be powerful! Wang-ge, Yang-ge, come save me!!!”

Gu An: “……”

His eyes should be donated to those in need.5

~ Another Place ~

It was dark and cold.

As if smelling a familiar scent, a dark figure gradually appeared.

He took a deep breath, determined that it was the person that he was searching for, and with a flash, floated toward the courtyard.

— An An, wait for me.

TL Notes: Hello all, I’m Sun~ I just started, so thank you for trying out my first chapter of this novel! Please don’t hesitate to point out any issues you see!

For the footnotes, please click the [x] link to return to the story where you left off!