Chapter 68

On the day those people were captured, crowds flooded the streets, celebrating their victory.
They had triumphed over evil.
Over the past days, the hotel's deeds had spread across the entire internet. They trafficked in human flesh, sold videos captured by hidden cameras at high prices to those with peculiar fetishes, and were implicated in multiple murders, disappearances, human trafficking, and organ trade.
Faced with such a massive criminal enterprise, the people of this world could not tolerate it. They united, determined to dismantle it.
Under the pressure of public opinion, the highest echelons of this criminal network were finally exposed.
Other factions, seeking self-preservation, severed all ties with those individuals, leading to the arrest of the top figures.
Gu Yi'an watched the live broadcast from her room in the seaside hotel.
Her phone rang, it was Dai Qi.
Dai Qi asked, "Why haven't we cleared the level yet?"
Though his tone was as calm as usual, the question betrayed his impatience.
Gu Yi'an watched as one criminal after another was escorted into police vehicles on screen.
She, too, felt they should have cleared the level by now. Their conviction was a foregone conclusion, no unexpected twists could occur.
Yet, they were still in this world, meaning the deity had not yet declared the game over.
Perhaps they just needed to wait a little longer.
Gu Yi'an replied calmly, "Because we still have to wait for the legal judgment. It won't be long now. No one can protect them anymore."
If she guessed correctly, they would clear the level on the day those people were sentenced.
Dai Qi realized he had been too hasty. After a moment of silence, he said, "The players in your round are quite good."
A faint smile touched Gu Yi'an's lips. She knew Dai Qi was no longer hiding his identity, he wasn't a player from their current round but a survivor from a previous game.
Gu Yi'an responded, "We're all just trying to clear the level. They probably don't have the time to send monsters to attack us now. You can rest a bit."
If she wasn't mistaken, it was Dai Qi who had persuaded the previously silent players to unite. Their collective effort had brought down the criminal organization.
Now, those forces were too busy saving themselves.
Those who hadn't been caught were busy trying to rescue their higher-ups, they had no time to retaliate against the players.
For the next few days, while awaiting trial, the players could finally get some rest.
Upon hearing this, Dai Qi remembered something. "I heard from Daring Fool that you went on a seaside vacation."
Daring Fool referred to the newbie male player.
Just as he had claimed, he successfully used his foolishness and boldness to evade attacks from the ghosts.
Gu Yi'an readily admitted, "I am at the seaside. But I haven't stepped out in four or five days. I plan to rest for a while."
Gu Yi'an had been busy with online matters these past few days. She had set her laptop aside and ignored it, even ordering room service for meals.
Dai Qi was shocked by Gu Yi'an's words.
He never imagined someone would actually take a vacation in the game world.
At first, Dai Qi was surprised, but then he quickly realized that some players had even married and started families in this world. Compared to that, Little Gu just going on vacation was nothing to make a fuss about.
The two of them ended the call.
But Gu Yi'an was soon bombarded with calls from the newbie male player.
"Senior, what should I do? That ghost that keeps sighing is clinging to me. It's sighing beside me again."
The newbie male player felt particularly distressed.
Hearing this, Gu Yi'an didn't know what to say.
Neither she, Dai Qi, nor Xiao Ling had encountered any more ghosts.
Why was the newbie male player so unlucky as to be haunted by one?
Could it be that the ghost held a grudge against him?
Did it only want the newbie male player as its replacement?
Gu Yi'an suggested, "Whenever it sighs, just say 'Pah!' to annoy it and drive it away. Make sure you keep the Buddhist scriptures with you."
Under normal circumstances, if a ghost couldn't win, it probably wouldn't want to be constantly cursed at.
The newbie male player found this advice very much to his liking. After thanking her profusely, he ended the call.
With the players' matters temporarily settled, the little girl sitting on Gu Yi'an's shoulder, watching the news on TV, tentatively asked her,
"An'an, shall we go out and play?"
Gu Yi'an glanced at her and said, "Alright. We'll go in a bit."
She really had nothing else to do.
Gu Yi'an thought for a moment and logged back into the private chatroom where she had been posting tasks these past few days.
The chatroom was lively, with everyone celebrating the arrest of the people behind that hotel.
As soon as Gu Yi'an logged in, she was spotted by these sharp-eyed individuals, who immediately began showering her with praise for her leadership over the past few days, claiming she was far better than their previous boss.
Ever since Gu Yi'an appeared, their original hacker boss had basically gone silent.
The administrator role had also been transferred to Gu Yi'an's account.
These people flattered Gu Yi'an without the slightest hesitation.
Gu Yi'an glanced at the notebook she had set aside.
Ever since she had told it not to move the other day, the notebook had truly stayed put.
With the game matters now handled, Gu Yi'an finally had some free time to settle accounts with the notebook.
"Lu Zize."
She called out the name.
The notebook immediately floated into mid-air and opened on its own.
A line of flamboyant, flowing script appeared on the paper.
"An'an, is this a date?"
Date, my foot!
Gu Yi'an smiled slightly and asked, "I haven't had the chance to ask you a question all these days."
The notebook trembled, and the words on its paper vanished instantly.
Seeing this, Gu Yi'an said coldly, "No whining."
The entire notebook shuddered.
It appeared aggrieved, and two words surfaced on the paper.
"Wuwu."
The little girl sitting on Gu Yi'an's shoulder suddenly realized that trouble was brewing.
She cast a sympathetic glance at the notebook, silently flew down, and returned to her little coffin.
Noticing the little girl's departure, Gu Yi'an turned her attention back to the notebook and asked, "If you can take human form, why do you still cling to this notebook?"
If the notebook could transform into a human, why did it insist on staying in notebook form, lingering around her every day?
It was just too much.
Hearing this, the notebook replied in a pitiful tone.
"Because I want to see you."
Gu Yi'an: "..."
She suddenly found herself at a loss for words.
Lu Zize was always like this, saying things that left her with no good response.
Gu Yi'an averted her gaze.
She remembered that night when they checked into the hotel, she, Lu Zize, and the Hanged Ghost each got their own room.
The Hanged Ghost had initially been reluctant, wanting to revert to its sunny doll form and stay with Gu Yi'an.
Lu Zize gave it a cold look.
The Hanged Ghost immediately changed its tune, expressing a desire to room with Lord Lu.
But Lu Zize had no intention of sharing a room with a Hanged Ghost.
He smiled gently at the Hanged Ghost.
The Hanged Ghost instantly backtracked, declaring it preferred to have a room to itself.
Once the rooms were settled, the Hanged Ghost floated up to Gu Yi'an's window late at night, begging to be taken in.
At the time, Gu Yi'an was communicating with her subordinates via the chatroom. She happened to look up and saw a long-necked man floating outside, his head poking through the open window, his blank white eyes fixed directly on her.
Before Gu Yi'an could react, a notebook suddenly appeared outside the window and smacked the Hanged Ghost's body away.
The notebook then tried to fly into Gu Yi'an's room, but she mercilessly shut the window.
For the next several days, Gu Yi'an didn't leave her room, and Lu Zize in human form couldn't see her at all.
Only the notebook-form Lu Zize, which had somehow appeared nonchalantly by Gu Yi'an's pillow that night, remained and never left.
Gu Yi'an looked back at the notebook and changed the subject. "What do you think about disbanding the chatroom?"
She felt it was time to dissolve that chatroom.
They had already taken down that hotel, and withdrawing now could be considered a successful retreat.
As for what would happen if this chatroom continued to exist, Gu Yi'an wasn't sure.
She thought it would probably turn into something she herself wouldn't want to see.
The chatroom wasn't created by Gu Yi'an but by Lu Zize.
To be more precise, it was established by one of the alternate identities of this world's god.
Although she had successfully united these people and step by step manipulated public opinion online, these things weren't accomplished by her alone, Lu Zize had been pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Gu Yi'an was only responsible for providing ideas; the one who truly made these people willingly take action was still Lu Zize.
Therefore, Gu Yi'an had to consult Lu Zize's opinion first.
The notebook was completely indifferent.
"Whatever you say is fine."
She shouldn't have asked the notebook.
Gu Yi'an picked up her phone and entered the chatroom again.
This time, she was announcing the dissolution of the chatroom.
After Gu Yi'an sent her message, the chatroom fell silent for a few seconds before the others processed what had happened.
Most of them didn't understand Gu Yi'an's decision. They felt the chatroom could continue to exist, following the lead of Gu Yi'an or the boss, and keep upholding justice in their own way.
But this was precisely why Gu Yi'an didn't want the chatroom to continue.
Gu Yi'an said, "Our methods are actually extreme. We can't always stand on the side of justice. When that time comes, we will become the perpetrators."
The tactics she had used this time to guide public opinion were, strictly speaking, illegal.
The reason they weren't pursued by this world's law enforcement agencies was because the law couldn't punish everyone, too many people had joined the protest.
Moreover, they had acted from a standpoint of justice, which allowed them to escape legal consequences.
If the chatroom continued to exist, sooner or later, law enforcement agencies would catch on and send them to prison.
So it was better to quit while they were ahead and just be law-abiding citizens.
The darkness had already been eradicated; they shouldn't become the new darkness.
Ten minutes after Gu Yi'an made the announcement, Lu Zize's hacker alternate identity disbanded the private chatroom.
Gu Yi'an put down her phone.
She glanced at the television, where the news anchor was reporting on another story.
The incident at that hotel had temporarily come to an end.
Gu Yi’an looked at the notebook, then at the small coffin beside her pillow.
It was time for her to rest with her companions.
Gu Yi’an said, "Let’s go out and have some fun."
As soon as she finished speaking, the notebook snapped shut, flew toward the door, and passed right through it.
Half a minute later, someone knocked on Gu Yi’an’s door.
She didn’t need to think twice, it had to be Lu Zize in human form.
The small coffin flew over on its own and settled into the pocket of Gu Yi’an’s coat.
Gu Yi’an opened the door, and a bouquet of bright red roses suddenly appeared before her eyes.
The color red always made Gu Yi’an think of unpleasant things.
For a moment, she almost thought it was dyed with blood.
Gu Yi’an looked at the flowers, then at Lu Zize, who had given them to her.
The handsome young man stood under the soft light, his gaze filled with anticipation as he watched her.
Few could resist such a scene.
"Thank you."
Gu Yi’an calmly accepted the flowers and thanked the giver with composure.
Then, she turned around and placed the flowers inside the room.
When Gu Yi’an came out again, she saw Lu Zize still standing outside the door, waiting for her with a gentle expression, but there was a hint of grievance in his eyes.
It made anyone who saw it feel guilty.
Gu Yi’an sighed helplessly.
She said, "It’s inconvenient to carry them."
At this, Lu Zize’s eyes lit up.
Gu Yi’an pretended not to notice and glanced behind Lu Zize, asking, "Where’s the Hanged Ghost?"
She missed the little expert at lightening the mood, the Hanged Ghost.
Lu Zize heard that Gu Yi’an wasn’t asking about him.
He sighed softly and said, "I don’t know. I only pay attention to you."
The little girl had just flown out, and upon hearing this, she wanted to retreat again.
But Gu Yi’an’s gaze had already shifted to her.
The little girl said, "An’an, it disguised itself as a human to lure prey, but the woman it encountered was a female ghost doing the same thing. It lost the fight."
"Who lost!"
A sharp, unpleasant voice suddenly filled the entire hallway.
Gu Yi’an followed the sound and saw a flattened white ghost sliding out from under the crack of a door, then inflating back to its original form.
The round-headed white ghost, seeing Gu Yi’an as if she were its savior, immediately said indignantly, "Your Highness, don’t believe her nonsense. I’ve never lost a fight."
The little girl glanced at the white ghost and said to Gu Yi’an, "An’an, look, it can’t even maintain its human form anymore."
The Hanged Ghost glared at the little girl but didn’t refute her.
Seeing it like this, Gu Yi’an knew without a doubt that the Hanged Ghost was truly injured.
She thought for a moment and asked, "Where do you all want to go?"
Gu Yi’an wasn’t sure where to go herself, so she decided to ask for their opinions.
The little girl immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Surfing!"
The Hanged Ghost glanced at Lu Zize behind Gu Yi’an, its small black eyes blinking as it racked its brains for an idea. It suggested, "Your Highness, we could watch a movie."
Gu Yi’an hadn’t seen a movie in a long time, and the Hanged Ghost’s suggestion seemed acceptable, more so than surfing.
She turned to Lu Zize and asked, "Do you want to watch a movie?"
Lu Zize smiled, his gaze filled with tolerance, and said, "Alright."
An hour later, Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize were seated in a cinema screening room with only the two of them and two ghosts.
There were many movies available at the cinema, but the hanged ghost and the little girl had their eyes on a horror film highly recommended by the staff.
According to the staff, this horror film had terrified many people, especially women.
Since the two ghosts wanted to watch it, Gu Yi'an ultimately chose the horror film.
Having encountered plenty of real ghosts, why would she be afraid of the ones in the movie?
As the film began, the title flashed across the large screen: Cinema Terror.
The white ghost doll and the little girl, who had inflated to four centimeters tall, sat on top of the popcorn bucket. The two ghosts munched on popcorn while watching the movie.
The hanged ghost glanced at Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize, who remained completely silent, and said, "Princess, Lord Lu, you should have some too."
Gu Yi'an kept her eyes on the screen and replied, "Watching the movie."
Lu Zize looked at the hanged ghost in the popcorn bucket, his gaze carrying a meaningful expression.
The hanged ghost shivered, realizing it hadn't been fulfilling its role and was even disrupting the princess's movie-watching experience. It quickly shut its mouth.
Cinema Terror began with a man who didn't want his cinema to go bankrupt. He tried every promotional method imaginable to attract audiences, but all ended in failure.
Finally, the man decided to take a risk and focus on improving the quality of the films to draw in viewers.
Thus, he settled on a genre: horror.
To ensure the final product would be genuinely terrifying, the man deliberated and decided to base everything on real events.
He planned to commit murder himself and record the process.
As for whom to kill, he intended to randomly select customers from his cinema.
The plot progressed to the point where the man finalized his choice of victim, and suddenly, the large screen went black.
Instantly, the entire screening room was plunged into darkness, with only faint lights along the steps to guide anyone heading to the restroom.
Gu Yi'an remained calm in her seat. Though she couldn't see at the moment, she felt that with the hanged ghost, the little girl, and Lu Zize by her side, she shouldn't be the one to fear.
Suddenly, a male voice echoed through the screening room.
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a tone of excitement.
"Today's two lucky ones, congratulations on becoming the leads in my film.
Don't worry, I'll kill you slowly."
The voice laughed maniacally.
Listening to him, Gu Yi'an almost felt like laughing too.
Why pick a fight with them, of all people?
As the arrogant laughter faded, an even more insolent voice rang out.
"Come on, come at me!"
The new voice was gratingly unpleasant.
Gu Yi'an immediately recognized it as the Hanged Ghost.
The Hanged Ghost was even more excited than the man. "I just happen to need some food to replenish myself."
Two minutes later, the sound of the Hanged Ghost tearing into a human body echoed from the darkness.
Gu Yi'an frowned slightly.
Then, the noise faded into the distance.
Lu Zize's gentle voice spoke up, "Shall we get out of here first?"
Gu Yi'an hesitated for a moment before nodding.
In the darkness, her hand was suddenly grasped.
The next second, a new scene appeared before her.
It was another large screen, but this one displayed a campus setting.
Scattered viewers sat in the seats ahead.
The dialogue between the male and female leads in the film played through the speakers.
All the audience members were engrossed in the conversation, completely unaware that two new viewers had appeared in the back row of the screening room.
Gu Yi'an realized that she and Lu Zize had entered a new movie theater.
This time, the little girl and the Hanged Ghost were nowhere to be seen.
She watched the unfolding plot on the screen for a while, but since she hadn't seen the beginning, she couldn't quite follow it.
Just then, Lu Zize's voice chimed in softly, audible only to her.
"That's the female lead on screen now. She has a crush on the male lead, but her best friend likes him too."
His voice was warm, his pace unhurried, and it was pleasant to listen to.
Hearing his voice, Gu Yi'an found herself momentarily lost in thought.
Suddenly, she noticed her phone screen lighting up.
In the surrounding darkness, the glow from the screen stood out.
It was a call from Dai Qi.
Gu Yi'an declined the call and sent a text instead, asking what he needed.
Dai Qi replied quickly.
His message said that the veteran players who had stayed in this world were planning to hold a celebration party that evening. If she had time, or if the ghosts she was raising needed food, she might consider joining the celebration.
Gu Yi'an understood the purpose of their party.
These players intended to use themselves as bait to lure the people behind the hotel, those who could control ghosts, into making a move against them.
If the players remained scattered, those people might not act.
But once they learned that the players had gathered together, they would seize the opportunity to eliminate them all in one go.
After some thought, Gu Yi'an declined and reminded Dai Qi to be careful, warning him not to get killed by those people at the last moment.
Dai Qi didn't press further and didn't contact her again.
The movie soon ended.
Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize left the screening room.
As soon as they stepped out, the Hanged Ghost and the little girl, who had been waiting, caught up with them.
Neither of them dared to complain about being abandoned by Lu Zize and silently slipped into Gu Yi'an's coat without a word.
They looked both aggrieved and pitiful.
Their pitiful state lasted all the way until evening.
Because Lu Zize was always around, the two of them didn’t dare come out at all, afraid that Lu Zize would seize another opportunity to take Gu Yi’an away.
Gu Yi’an had originally planned to find a time to let them out, but as soon as they left the movie theater, they headed straight into the arcade.
The arcade was crowded, so Gu Yi’an felt it wasn’t appropriate to let them out.
She followed Lu Zize as they tried out one game after another.
Lu Zize had quick reflexes and excelled at every game. Combined with his good looks, it eventually drew a crowd of teenagers gathering behind him to watch him play.
At first, Lu Zize didn’t see anything wrong with it, until he helped Gu Yi’an win five plush toys and turned around to find her standing outside the crowd.
Gu Yi’an had always been good-natured. Even though she had been pushed aside, she wasn’t upset and simply stood at the edge, watching Lu Zize’s back.
However, she unintentionally became a sight to behold in others’ eyes as well.
A boy noticed Gu Yi’an and shyly approached, mustering the courage to ask, “Do you want me to show you around?”
Gu Yi’an withdrew her gaze and glanced at the boy’s face. He probably wasn’t even eighteen yet.
She shook her head and politely declined the young boy.
The boy seemed about to say something more, but he suddenly noticed someone standing nearby.
A handsome young man was staring at him with a dangerous look in his eyes.
Startled, the boy didn’t wait for the man to speak and immediately took off running.
The boy ran so fast that even Gu Yi’an was surprised. She glanced at Lu Zize beside her, who looked gentle and amiable, and thought it couldn’t be because of him, especially since he was holding several plush toys.
As the boy’s figure vanished in an instant, Lu Zize handed the toys he had won to Gu Yi’an and said, “It’s getting late. Let’s find a restaurant.”
“Mm,” Gu Yi’an nodded.
It was already evening. Lu Zize didn’t need food, but she did.
She had just taken a step when she suddenly realized her body was disappearing.
Had the game been cleared?
What had Dai Qi and the others done?
Gu Yi’an abruptly realized she had guessed wrong. Dai Qi and the others hadn’t used themselves as bait for others to kill them at their celebration, they had gone to ambush and kill the high-ranking officials captured at that hotel.
Gu Yi’an immediately turned to look at Lu Zize beside her. He smiled gently and said, “See you soon.”
Gu Yi'an was taken aback.
See you later?
Pure white invaded the space where Gu Yi'an was.
She returned to the pure white space.
"Those people are dead!"
"Someone killed them."
Countless photos circulated online.
Everyone enthusiastically celebrated the deaths of those individuals.
Many who had participated in exposing the hotel incident took pride in their actions and, in the future, carried out such exposés to the extreme.
They aimed to expose all darkness and eliminate all criminals.
They didn’t realize that what they sometimes perceived as darkness wasn’t darkness itself, but rather innocent people who had been wronged.
Several months later.
This world once again welcomed several new visitors from other realms.
Among these visitors from other realms, two were utterly confused.
They hadn’t yet grasped what the "Game of the Gods" was, nor did they understand why they were here.
Looking at the people around them, they wondered what the so-called "novice tip" about "perpetrators" meant in that inexplicable white space.
What is a perpetrator?