Chapter 38

"Can I also be a 'god'?"
Gu Yi'an looked at the floating black text and asked in confusion.
The content of the black text just now had felt too much like a control panel, one that, as long as one understood how to operate it, could be used to manipulate many people.
Gu Yi'an even began to suspect that the god wasn't a single entity but many, collectively referred to as "god."
The black text heard Gu Yi'an's question and changed its content.
[You're overthinking it. How could you possibly be a god? Don't use your foolish mind to recklessly speculate about the divine.]
Seeing the familiar tone of the black text, Gu Yi'an knew this was undoubtedly the black text's response.
When it came to matters involving the god, the black text always adopted a condescending and subtly mocking attitude toward the players.
The god was unique.
At that moment, the notebook on the desk, which had been playing dead, seemed to stir slightly.
The black text in mid-air trembled faintly and was instantly altered by an external force.
[If you wish, I can refer to you as the god's agent, just this once.]
Gu Yi'an didn't notice the movement of the notebook on the desk, as the sound was too faint, and her attention was entirely on the black text.
"That won't be necessary."
After reading the black text, Gu Yi'an felt there was no need to give herself an additional title. She assumed this would be the only time she would serve as a key clue character in the game. Her identity was still that of a player.
The black text reassembled into new content.
[Do you have any messages for Player Zhang Feng or Player Han Qiu?]
The black text was asking if she had anything she wanted to say to the players.
It seemed these two players were the ones who had cleared the game.
Was Brother Zhang's real name Zhang Feng?
Gu Yi'an glanced at it but didn't bother to remember. She probably wouldn't run into Brother Zhang again in the future.
Gu Yi'an said, "No."
Their time together had been too short, and she had nothing she wanted to say to them.
The black text dissipated like smoke.
Gu Yi'an thought the game summary had ended just like that, but the next moment, new black text appeared in mid-air.
[The god has something to say to you.]
Gu Yi'an lowered her head to look at the notebook.
Wasn't it part of the god?
Perhaps not?
Never mind, let's see what the god wanted to say to her.
Gu Yi'an raised her head again.
The content of the black text changed.
[The god says to you: Do not arbitrarily increase the difficulty of the task.]
Upon reading this sentence, Gu Yi'an's first reaction was that the god's words were not as bizarre as usual this time.
He had finally spoken normally for once.
Then, she quickly grasped the meaning behind the words.
The malicious hint given by the god referred to her roommate's malice toward her. However, she had mistakenly assumed there were two types of malice: one from her roommate and another from the counselor toward her sister in the past.
In reality, the players only needed to resolve the ghost of her roommate to clear the game.
But Gu Yi'an, who essentially served as a plot character in the game, believed the meaning of "malice" extended beyond that.
The god adjusted the game's difficulty based on Gu Yi'an's thoughts.
Gu Yi’an believed they could only pass the level if she deemed it so.
"Seems like I’ve kind of screwed over Brother Zhang and the others. Though it wasn’t for too long..."
Gu Yi’an felt a rare twinge of guilt. "Brother Zhang probably won’t find out, right?"
In the pure white space belonging to Brother Zhang.
Brother Zhang stared at the black text floating mid-air.
[Game Clear Status: Excellent. Your interpretation of malice has satisfied the God.]
[Reward: God grants you ten days of peaceful time. Do not hesitate, praise God from the bottom of your heart.]
[God says to you: (God has nothing to say to you.)]
Looking at the first paragraph, Brother Zhang felt somewhat different from usual. This was a rare instance where he hadn’t relied on deception to clear the level, and he hadn’t even needed to use the backup plan involving the male player. Yet, he had still passed.
However, Brother Zhang was well aware that a large part of the credit went to Little Gu. Without Little Gu, they wouldn’t have been able to defeat the ghost!
He continued reading the reward section and noticed that the wording differed from previous times.
God grants ten days of peaceful time?
What exactly is peaceful time?
The pure white space tore apart from the middle, and Brother Zhang suddenly realized he was beginning to forget certain things.
In an instant, it dawned on him, this was meant to make him lose his memories in the real world!
If he couldn’t remember the game experiences, it would mean his life would be peaceful.
How was this a reward?
This was clearly a punishment!
That damn God,
Brother Zhang’s furious emotions abruptly ceased as his memories faded.
He felt bewildered. What is God?
Female player Han Qiu stood dazedly in the pure white space.
She had just been cleaning her knife when, suddenly, she found herself empty-handed in this place.
This was her second time here.
She looked up at the black text in the air.
[Game Clear Status: Acceptable. Your madness has pleased God, who looks forward to your next game.]
[Reward: God mercifully grants you ten days of lifespan and one item. Do not hesitate, praise God from the bottom of your heart.]
[God says to you: (God has nothing to say to you.)]
Han Qiu had overheard Brother Zhang and Gu Yi’an discussing the game about God.
She had a rough idea of what this game required.
Tentatively, she spoke into the pure white space, "Praise God? Praise the merciful God?"
The pure white space remained unchanged, but Han Qiu felt a chilling sensation coiling around her eyes.
Han Qiu instinctively covered her eyes.
That ghost had followed her!
Her hands unconsciously clenched. She wanted to grab a knife, to slash something to intimidate the ghost in her eyes.
Han Qiu lowered her hands from her eyes.
She suddenly noticed that the black text in the pure white space had changed its content.
[Item: Ghost Eye. This is not your eye. Remember, you are a ghost, not a human.]
She was a ghost, not a human?
Seeing this line of text, the madness in Han Qiu's heart could no longer be suppressed and began to spread wildly.
She directly stabbed her fingers into her eyes but felt no pain at all.
Han Qiu heard the female ghost's voice again.
The last time she heard the female ghost's voice was when Gu Yi'an wanted to ask the ghost a question, but the ghost proactively told her it didn't want to speak with Gu Yi'an.
The ghost said it was now a reward item given to her by the god, and it was her companion.
Han Qiu pulled out her fingers, there was no blood on her hands.
Han Qiu couldn't trust the female ghost.
"Do you even know the meaning of 'companion'?"
The female ghost knew what Han Qiu was alluding to.
It said, "Do you really think she's good? She's the most heartless person. No matter what we do, she won't care because she doesn't care. She's a complete cold-blooded creature!"
Han Qiu said coldly, "Because you're not worth it."
They were all human. Why should someone, after being hurt, continue to grieve over those who aren't worth it?
Han Qiu actually envied Gu Yi'an's decisiveness, the moment she discovered others harbored ill intentions toward her, she immediately withdrew. Han Qiu couldn't do that.
Han Qiu asked again, "Why were you killed by the spirit of the pen spirit? What request did you make to the spirit you summoned?"
The female ghost didn't answer.
Han Qiu said, "You wanted to harm Gu Yi'an, right? Little did you know the spirit of the pen spirit ended up killing you instead."
"You brought this upon yourselves."
After confronting the female ghost, Han Qiu looked up and saw that the black text in mid-air had changed.
[The god is pleased with your words. The god mercifully grants you a new item.]
Han Qiu was stunned. This god was so capricious, giving out whatever it wanted whenever it wanted.
Immediately after, Han Qiu saw a new item.
A familiar kitchen knife hovered in mid-air, accompanied by its item description.
[Item: Kitchen Knife. This is just an ordinary kitchen knife, but the one holding it can be a madman.]
Han Qiu seemed to understand something.
The male player was confused.
He woke up to find himself in a completely pure white space.
Black text floated in mid-air.
[Game Clear Status: Failed. The god finds your narcissism somewhat amusing and has decided to grant you a reward.]
[Reward: You will arrive at the next game in ten seconds. Remember, this is the god's mercy. Praise the god.]
[The god says to you: (Stop dreaming; the god has nothing to say to you.)]
The male player stared at the text and uttered a questioning sound, "Huh?"
What the hell was this?
Weren't they supposed to survive for seven days?
How did this round end already?
He had been planning to ask Little Sister Gu Yi'an out tomorrow to comfort her for having her heart broken by those ghost roommates. With the game over, how was he supposed to date the beauty?
Before he could figure it out, the pure white space before him split apart, and a new world appeared before his eyes.
As for Gu Yi'an, who was being thought of by others, she wasn't too upset.
Her roommates used to be good people, but times had changed, and so had their hearts.
She missed her former roommate, but that didn't mean she would grieve over the actions of her current roommate's ghost.
Gu Yi'an ate the candy Tang Jiu had given her last time, clutched the protective talisman, and drifted off to sleep.
The moment she fell asleep, the notebook's location trembled almost imperceptibly before falling completely still.
The entire room was utterly silent.
Just then, the small coffin-shaped pendant on her phone shifted slightly, its lid pushed open a crack to reveal the face of a little girl.
The two-centimeter-tall girl peeked toward the notebook's direction, her expression strained. She then turned to look at Gu Yi'an sleeping peacefully, and her expression softened slightly.
After a moment's thought, the little girl turned back toward the notebook and stuck out her tongue in a playful grimace.
Then, she froze.
Her eyes filled with terror as she realized she was locked in that pose, sitting in the coffin, making a face, unable to move.
It was over. The deity had anticipated her actions before leaving and set up a countermeasure.
Despair flooded the little girl's eyes.
Meanwhile, Gu Yi'an, deep in her dreams, remained unaware of the events unfolding around her.
She was meeting with Tang Jiu.
Tang Jiu greeted her with a big hug as soon as they met.
She was extremely enthusiastic.
"An'an, why do you look so haggard? Did you enter a new game again?"
Gu Yi'an replied, "Something like that."
She recounted her entire experience in the latest game, explaining that her role this time might not have been as a player but as an NPC providing clues to the players.
Tang Jiu stroked her chin thoughtfully. "That sounds interesting! I want to be an NPC too! I'd love to mess with the players!"
This mindset likely stemmed from having suffered so much herself that she now enjoyed seeing others struggle.
Gu Yi'an offered no comment on Tang Jiu's idea and instead handed her the protective talisman.
"I just tested it and found that this talisman can enter the dream with me. See if the game might recognize it as one of your items and let you bring it in."
Tang Jiu took the talisman with a grin. "Thanks, An'an. My world has ghosts and monsters too, so your gift will be really useful."
"I'm glad it helps," Gu Yi'an said, pleased that her gift would be of use to Tang Jiu.
Tang Jiu carefully tucked the talisman into her pocket, then said to Gu Yi'an with a hint of disappointment, "An'an, I asked around, but I still haven't managed to get the item that would let us enter the same game together."
Gu Yi'an comforted her, "It's fine. Items like that are rare and hard to come by."
Tang Jiu pouted. "I’ve seen people use them before. In that game, I forgot to ask those two how they got their hands on it."
Gu Yi’an wondered if Tang Jiu had forgotten to ask because that particular game had been too difficult.
She asked, "Was the game you played with them hard?"
Tang Jiu thought for a moment. "Not really. It was about the same difficulty as the one where we met. I failed and had to rely on an item to save my life. Honestly, the god is pretty generous when it comes to giving players life-saving items."
Hearing this, Gu Yi’an thought of the coffin she had received, the one that would bury her if she died. It had indeed been useful.
Were there really that many life-saving items given out by the god?
Gu Yi’an wasn’t too sure about that.
Noticing Gu Yi’an’s thoughtful expression, Tang Jiu knew she tended to operate alone and didn’t have many sources of information. She explained, "You haven’t met many players. Usually, if a new player clears a game smoothly, the god gives them a life-saving item, those are the best. After that, the items you get depend on luck. Some are good, some are bad, and some are just useless junk."
Gu Yi’an understood now. No wonder veteran players seemed to have so many hidden cards up their sleeves, it turned out they all received a life-saving talisman of sorts during their early days.
Tang Jiu, now on the topic of items, couldn’t help but complain to Gu Yi’an about the god’s ill intentions.
"I don’t think the god gives players life-saving items out of kindness. It just wants to watch us struggle desperately in the games. If we died too quickly, it wouldn’t be any fun for it."
Gu Yi’an agreed. That sounded exactly like the god’s malicious nature.
The two of them chatted a bit more about the rewards given by the god.
Then, an unusual sound echoed through the space where they were talking, a sound like the roar of a monster.
Gu Yi’an was certain that such a noise couldn’t possibly come from the place she was renting.
She looked at Tang Jiu.
Tang Jiu, recognizing the sound and seeing Gu Yi’an’s puzzled expression, said in a light tone, "I’m in a game right now. That sound is from the ghosts and monsters outside, they’re coming."
Gu Yi’an was shocked by Tang Jiu’s boldness.
Even with ghosts and monsters outside, Tang Jiu had still come to chat with her in a dream.
Gu Yi’an hurriedly urged, "You need to get out of here, quick."
Tang Jiu brushed it off casually. "It’s fine, it’s fine. Take this candy. If anything happens, contact me. If I manage to get the item for us to enter a game together, I’ll come find you then."
Gu Yi’an took the candy and insisted, "Hurry and leave."
"Don’t be like that," Tang Jiu said, reluctant. "We haven’t even talked for long."
But in an instant, darkness engulfed them both.
The space collapsed.
Gu Yi’an woke up from the dream.
She first stared at the ceiling, her memories slowly returning.
She had used a one-time item, the candy, to see Tang Jiu again. She had given Tang Jiu a talisman, they had chatted for a while, and then something had happened on Tang Jiu’s end, so she had returned.
Overall, the exchange had been pleasant, except for the fact that Tang Jiu was worryingly reckless.
Gu Yi'an pressed the light switch in the room and got up to rinse her mouth again.
As soon as the light turned on, the room brightened, and Gu Yi'an inadvertently glanced toward the other side of the pillow.
A notebook, a phone, and a small charm hanging from the phone.
Gu Yi'an’s gaze lingered on the small charm.
The tiny coffin was half-open, and a doll resembling a little girl sat inside, making a face toward the notebook.
Well... this was interesting.
With the notebook nearby, Gu Yi’an didn’t worry about anything unexpected happening. She picked up the phone charm directly.
As she lifted it, Gu Yi’an noticed that the little girl hadn’t moved at all from start to finish, as if frozen in place.
When Gu Yi’an’s eyes met the little girl’s, she unexpectedly sensed a feeling of sorrow and despair emanating from the tiny doll.
Seeing how sad she looked, Gu Yi’an poked the little girl’s cheek.
The little girl’s eyes looked at Gu Yi’an pleadingly, but paired with the face she was making, it seemed oddly mismatched.
Gu Yi’an also vaguely felt a sense of familiarity with the little girl’s appearance.
It was as if she had seen her somewhere before.
Gu Yi’an glanced at the coffin holding the little girl, it was a prop she had obtained in her first game. She had only used it in her second game to eliminate the little girl demon in that scenario.
Could this little girl be the one she had trapped in the coffin during her second game?
Gu Yi’an studied the little girl’s completely motionless posture and recalled how she had seen her making a face at the notebook when she first woke up. She roughly guessed why the little girl was in this state.
Making faces at the notebook meant having to face its punishment.
“It’s so petty, and you still provoked it.”
Gu Yi’an teased the notebook.
As soon as the doll heard this, her gaze instantly shifted to sympathy, sympathy for Gu Yi’an.
Daring to mock the notebook would inevitably lead to its retaliation.
Gu Yi’an understood the little girl’s expression.
She had just teased the notebook herself and would probably be added to its list of grievances. The notebook was, after all, a book itself, no wonder it held grudges so well.
Gu Yi’an fell silent. She placed the phone charm back in its original position, deliberately adjusting it so the little girl’s face was still directed at the notebook. Let the two of them torment each other.
As the object of sympathy, Gu Yi’an remained unfazed, acting as if nothing had happened.
Gu Yi’an went to wash up, leaving the little girl inwardly calling out her name in agitation.
"Gu Yi’an, come back, come back. I won't look at you with that kind of gaze anymore.
I also want to report that the god has slipped away. He's not here!"
However, the little girl's inner thoughts remained unknown to anyone.
The notebook that the little girl was thinking of was currently floating in the void with the counselor.
Together, they looked down at the buildings below.
A new world gradually transformed from a phantom into solid reality.
People came and went, bustling through the streets, and soon each found their own destinations.
The counselor stared in awe at this scene that seemed like a divine miracle.
She murmured, "This is the city from a year ago. That abandoned cinema hasn't been demolished yet. You've reconstructed a parallel world..."
She looked at the notebook, and this time, her eyes were filled with deep fear of the unknown.
Above the notebook, a line of black text floated in mid-air.
[You should call me God.]
God?
The counselor couldn't quite grasp the meaning behind this word.
She looked down again, and this time, she saw a familiar young girl's figure on the sidewalk below.
She would never mistake that figure.
"Qiaoqiao."
The counselor gazed at her greedily.
The young girl didn't notice the counselor above her. She was chatting and laughing with several female classmates as they walked toward the teaching building.
Watching this scene, the counselor felt as if she had entered a parallel world, a parallel world where time was still a year ago, before everything had happened, before her mistakes were made, and Qiaoqiao was still alive.
The counselor looked at the notebook and asked, "God, what do you need me to do?"
She used an honorific. The other had reconstructed a world for her and resurrected her sister. She must pay the corresponding price, protecting Gu Yi’an was merely a precondition.
On the notebook, the previous black text had already faded, and new black text appeared.
[Maintain this game world.]
Maintain the game world?
The counselor frowned slightly, feeling confused.
Suddenly, a string of information appeared in her mind.
That information told her that the world before her eyes was not a parallel timeline but a game world constructed by God.
God would periodically send players into this world to play the game.
She only needed to do as she had done before, cause her sister's death. Then, after some time, players would arrive in this world to uncover the truth behind her sister's death.
If the players killed her, or if she killed all the players, this game world would restart, returning to the moment before she killed her sister, repeating the previous events, killing her sister and welcoming new players.
The counselor looked at the notebook and said hoarsely, "You knew all along."
The notebook had said it knew her secret.
It knew that she was the one who spread the rumors about her sister, that her jealousy had caused her sister's death. It was making her repeat what she had done, causing her sister's death over and over again.
But only in this way could she see her sister alive again. Killing her was the price to see her once more.
The counselor asked, "Have you given this game world a name?"
New black text appeared on the notebook.
[Malice]
"I can feel your malice toward me as well."
The counselor watched as the girl below disappeared into the entrance of the teaching building.
She said, "This is my sin."
As long as she could see Qiaoqiao alive again, she would uphold the world as the god desired, either let herself be killed by the players or kill all the players.
The counselor thought of something and asked, "God, are those few individuals of unknown origin who appeared these past couple of days... players?"
[You guessed correctly.]
The counselor stared at the black characters floating in mid-air, then glanced at the notebook and asked, "God, aren't you worried that I might give up on protecting this world after going through repeated cycles?"
Above the notebook, new black characters replaced the old ones.
[That would be a new game called Despair.]
The counselor hid her sweaty hands behind her back and praised the notebook.
"You really are a demon."
Gu Yi'an returned after freshening up.
She glanced at the notebook lying quietly beside her pillow and suddenly sensed something amiss.
The little girl in the small coffin was still making faces at the notebook.
Lu Zize didn't seem like the type to tolerate someone making faces at him for so long. He appeared gentle and mild, yet could kill someone in the next second.
Gu Yi'an reached out to touch the notebook.
The moment her fingers made contact, the notebook shattered like a bubble at the slightest touch.
The notebook wasn't here.
That certain notebook had clearly gone out to cause trouble again.
Gu Yi'an raised an eyebrow and decided she wouldn't sleep tonight. She would wait for the notebook to return and see how it explained itself.