The girl’s reaction sent chills through everyone, but no matter how they looked around, there were no “shadows” to be seen.
The college guy scowled. “Figures. Girls always freak out over nothing. There’s nothing here. Wait—don’t tell me you’re the [Ghost]?”
The girl gasped, chest heaving. “I’m not! I swear there were shadows—dozens of them, everywhere!”
Fu Changxun couldn’t see anything either, but judging by her microexpressions, her fear was real. This wasn’t an act. It wasn’t that the shadows weren’t there—it was that only she could see them.
His heart sank.
That little outburst killed whatever relaxed mood had remained.
Even Lu Qi shut up for once.
“Let’s all introduce ourselves,” said the patient’s family member, stepping forward with the steady voice of someone older. “I’m Xu Zhengyi. I just left the Xinhe Café a few minutes ago and wound up here. Dr. Fu can vouch for me—my daughter’s his patient. That proves I’m not the [Ghost], right?”
Fu Changxun nodded. “Yes. I’m a psychologist. Mr. Xu had an appointment today to discuss his daughter’s situation. I can confirm he’s not the [Ghost].”
Lu Qi immediately cut in, desperate for validation. “I’m his ex. I’m not the [Ghost] either!”
“Can’t confirm that,” Fu Changxun replied calmly. “We broke up half a year ago. I don’t know what you’ve been up to lately—I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Lu Qi: “You—!”
Before he could explode, the tall man—silent until now—spoke in a low, familiar voice.
“Changxun… Do you remember me?”
Fu Changxun looked up, startled.
“I’m Dong Zi,” the man said, eyes a little hurt. “We were on the same cleaning rota in high school. You even bought me lunch a few times.”
Dong Zi…
The name pulled up the image of a scrawny, short boy from his memory—one that slowly overlapped with the handsome, towering man standing before him.
Fu Changxun blinked. “I remember now. You’ve grown so much. You used to only come up to—here.”
He held out his hand to gesture, then looked between them and sighed. Dong Zi was now nearly a head taller.
Dong Zi chuckled. “Yeah, I shot up right after starting college—grew over twenty centimeters… How’ve you been? And what’s the deal with that ex?”
“Alright, that’s enough,” the college guy cut in, clearly annoyed by the reunion. “I’m Wang Fei, a junior at X University. I can’t prove anything, but I’m definitely not the [Ghost]. I’ve read a ton of infinite flow novels, okay?”
He gave Fu Changxun a disdainful glance. “Pretty boys who drag the team down? They always die first in these things.”
Fu Changxun: “…”
Did he just get called a useless pretty face right to his face? Then again… playing the delicate flower might not be such a bad persona.
After all, his fear of ghosts was very real—no acting required.
So, without missing a beat, he shrank into Dong Zi’s arms, putting on his best helpless, pitiful expression.
Dong Zi immediately froze, clearly flustered, while the college guy scrunched up his face in disgust. “Tch.”
After that, the couple introduced themselves and vouched for each other.
Everyone had apparently exited the Xinhe Café shortly before being dragged into the game by the wind chime.
Only the still-trembling high school girl remained. She seemed so traumatized by the “shadows” she’d seen that she couldn’t even speak.
No one pressed her. The mood shifted as Xu Zhengyi spoke up, “I remember the game said surviving for three days counts as clearing it. Since we can’t figure out who the [Ghost] is, let’s just try to survive the three days.”
Aside from the college guy and Lu Qi, who were both clearly dissatisfied, everyone else agreed.
At this point, they had no choice but to accept the miserable fact that they’d been drafted into a survival game.
The group broke off into smaller clusters of two or three and began moving separately.
Xu Zhengyi was just about to approach Dr. Fu to team up when the tall man named Dong Zi stepped forward first.
“Ah-Xun,” he said, leaning in slightly to speak beside his ear, “Can I stick with you? Don’t worry, I’ve got 90 stamina.”
He knew Fu Changxun was afraid of ghosts.
Fu Changxun nodded almost immediately.
He’d forgotten most of what happened in high school, but Dong Zi had left a lasting impression. He remembered this simpleminded kid who was always kind to him—someone who relied on him.
Or maybe… it was just his instincts. On some subconscious level, he trusted Dong Zi. He just knew he wasn’t the [Ghost].
Seeing that Fu Changxun wasn’t repulsed by him, Dong Zi lit up like a six-foot-three golden retriever. He picked Fu Changxun up and spun him around in a circle before setting him back down.
“Alright, alright,” Fu Changxun said, patting him. “You’re not a kid anymore… Mr. Xu, would you like to join us?”
The last part was directed at Xu Zhengyi, who immediately replied, “Yes. My stamina’s not bad—68. I can help if we run into trouble.”
Fu Changxun nodded. He decided not to mention his own miserable 20 stamina points.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the high school girl still shivering. He hesitated, then told his teammates, “Wait here a second.”
He crouched in front of the girl and gently asked, “What did you see?”
The girl clutched her head in anguish. “Sh-shadows… So many shadows… It’s too crowded…”
Fu Changxun took a deep breath, swallowing his own fear of ghosts. In a calm, soothing tone, he said, “Don’t panic. It’s okay. Close your eyes and breathe with me. I’m a doctor—you can trust me, even just a little…”
He had studied hypnosis under a professor, learning how to plant subtle psychological suggestions.
Midway through the process, the girl muttered between breaths, “So many shadows… The game said I’m a Stealth Walker… I have yin-yang eyes…”
[Congratulations! Player has acquired the ability: Cognitive Distortion. Player identity updated: Stealth Walker!]
Fu Changxun’s eyes flew open.
The moment the girl revealed her ability, his own had been triggered too. But because of that, the hypnosis was interrupted and she didn’t say anything further.
He quickly pulled up his game screen. His identity had indeed changed to:
[Player (Stealth Walker)]
And two new entries had appeared:
[Ability: Cognitive Distortion (Upgradeable)]
[Item: Useless-Looking Doorknob (Trash)]
He had already tested it in front of everyone—no one else could see his screen, so he wasn’t worried about being exposed.
If the girl’s ability was “yin-yang eyes,” then the shadows she saw… were all ghosts.
Fu Changxun felt his chest tighten—if they were surrounded by ghosts, then this wasn’t just any house…
It was a fucking ghost den.
He started to stand—only to have his vision go black.
He saw Dong Zi reach for him in alarm, but his hand never made contact.
His consciousness plunged into darkness.
***
Meanwhile, the livestreaming guy and his girlfriend hadn’t moved far. They stayed in the villa’s foyer, finding a place to rest. Their camera just happened to catch Fu Changxun talking to the girl before suddenly collapsing.
The livestream couldn’t be turned off mid-session. Though the guy was starting to regret turning it on, it was too late now.
They couldn’t see the bullet comments, but on the other end of the screen, a barrage of messages was lighting up—each filled with vicious glee from the “higher-dimensional beings” watching:
[Such a beautiful little low-dimensional creature…]
[Fu Changxun. Even his name sounds lovely…]
[I want him as my collectible. He’d make a perfect doll—or maybe a marionette!]
[Ah, he fainted. How adorable.]
[Why isn’t he livestreaming?!]
[Game hosts, turn his livestream on right now!!]
