[Aren’t we supposed to ask questions? Why keep walking? What’s wrong with the anchor? Is this a scam for rewards? I’m reporting.]
[Exactly, it was interesting at the beginning, but now it’s boring.]
Big Zhuang looked at the upper right corner of the live stream, the viewers had dropped from over ten thousand to eight thousand, and the late-night popularity ranking had fallen to fifth.
Seeing people continuously reporting in the barrage, Big Zhuang cursed in his heart.
‘Do you think I don’t want to stop!
Right now, there’s no one in the world who wants to end this damn dog-like spirit-summoning game more than me!
Damn it, how long does this damn ghost want to play? We’ve gone through ten rounds, and it still refuses to leave?
Damn it.’
Although he was cursing in his mind, Big Zhuang wore a business-like smile on his face. “Family, I’m sorry for the wait. The warm-up is over, and we are now going to ask the ghost questions. I’ll start asking when the ghost approaches me. Let’s see if the ghost will answer my questions.”
Footsteps slowly echoed, and Big Zhuang’s shoulders immediately tensed up.
The footsteps approached, closer and closer, and finally, the sound vanished behind him.
Before the push on his shoulder even came, Big Zhuang knew that the ghost was right behind him.
Even without turning back, he could feel the dead stare on the back of his head.
His scalp felt a bit numb. Recalling his career, Big Zhuang took a deep breath and began the first question.
Afraid of accidentally offending the ghost, Big Zhuang’s opening was very polite: “Respected Ghost Lord, I unintentionally disturbed you by coming here today. I hope you won’t be angry.”
“I have a few small questions I’d like to ask for your guidance. I hope you can help me clarify them. If possible, may the Ghost Lord respond to me?”
Although he said this, Big Zhuang’s heart was roaring: Don’t respond! Don’t respond! Please, please don’t respond to me!
A cold touch suddenly landed on Big Zhuang’s back, seemingly the fingertip of the ghost.
The fingertip began to slide lightly on his back. Initially, Big Zhuang only felt a tingling sensation, but as the fingertip slid, he gradually realized that the ghost was writing something on his back.
He tried to focus his attention, placing all of it on his back.
Although he missed a few strokes at the beginning, Big Zhuang vaguely “read” what the ghost wanted to convey.
—Yes.
‘Yes?
Does this mean I can ask questions?’
Big Zhuang’s heart thumped like thunder. Although he didn’t want to, he had to ask questions. Even if he didn’t, he couldn’t leave. According to the game rules, the person behind had to push the person in front for the front one to leave. Currently, the ghost hadn’t pushed him, so he could only stop in place.
But this bug only applied to the ghost.
If they humans wanted to exploit the bug and stop behind their companion, it would count as prematurely ending the game and invite the ghost’s retaliation.
Yes, it was so unfair.
But they started this game, and they were the first to provoke the ghost.
They deserved it.
After receiving the ghost’s response, Big Zhuang took a deep breath and slowly posed the first question: “May I ask your name? Are you the young man who hanged himself on this floor?”
After asking this question, the cold touch behind him slid again.
Gradually, a few words appeared in Big Zhuang’s mind.
—Xiao Ming.
—Yes.
Big Zhuang’s heart skipped a beat.
Yes.
It was the young man who hanged himself.
But according to the supernatural stories about this building, the young man who hanged himself turned into a vengeful ghost after death. Those workers were just here for a job and weren’t the real culprits behind the construction of this apartment, yet the ghost killed them indiscriminately.
If offended, this evil ghost can take your life.
Big Zhuang was both startled and afraid, and became more cautious in his actions.
After this question, the ghost behind him still showed no intention of pushing him.
Big Zhuang had no choice but to continue questioning. However, due to the ghost’s identity, his mind went blank, and he blurted out a question, “Do you want to make friends?”
After asking this question, Big Zhuang wished he could bite his tongue off.
This was suggested by the viewer with the ID “I’m right behind you”. He always felt this ID was suspicious. Not only the name but also the questions were odd. He never intended to ask this question from the beginning.
He’s not stupid.
Asking a ghost such a question was like hinting to the ghost that he wanted to be its friend.
But how could he become its friend?!
‘Unless I turned into a ghost!
No!
Even if I became a ghost, I don’t want to be its friend! I want to be reincarnated and go to the heavens—I don’t want to linger in this building!’
While Big Zhuang was crazily complaining in his heart, that cold touch moved again.
It slid slowly, writing stroke by stroke behind Big Zhuang.
Big Zhuang didn’t dare show any signs of negligence and concentrated on sensing.
—Want.
Just one word.
As Big Zhuang was about to quickly move on to the next question, that cold touch moved again.
Though horrified, Big Zhuang managed to maintain his expression under the camera.
With the movement of the ghost’s fingertip, Big Zhuang’s mind gradually filled with its handwriting.
When the ghost made the final stroke, Big Zhuang’s heart felt like it was about to jump out of his throat.
The ghost wrote down a word for him.
—You.
Want.
You.
Want you to be my friend
At the moment he made the connection, Big Zhuang only wanted to run for his life.
The calm expression he had struggled to maintain cracked, and his features looked grotesque and ugly due to the distortion.
‘I don’t want to be your friend!
Go away!
Don’t come near me!’
While he was screaming internally, his shoulder was suddenly heavily tapped.
The next second, a force pushed him out.
The game that was paused by the ghost restarted because of the ghost.
The pause and play buttons were now in the hands of the ghost.
Big Zhuang slowly walked behind Red Hair, who was already in despair. In the brief contact with Big Zhuang, she pleaded with a crying tone, “Brother Zhuang, hasn’t the game ended yet? I’m tired, scared, and I really need to use the bathroom. I can’t hold it any longer.”
Big Zhuang had no choice but to comfort her, “Endure a little longer. We can’t leave now. If it didn’t show up, we’d treat this game as a joke. Now that it’s here, it’s better to believe it exists than deny it. What if leaving prematurely really attracts a curse?”
Red Hair: “But I really need to use the bathroom, what should I do?”
Big Zhuang lowered his voice, and advised Red Hair, “It’s pitch dark around here. Even if you’re this close, I can’t see you clearly. When we reach the next corner, discreetly relieve yourself. No one will see it. Just be very quiet and they won’t even hear it.”
Red Hair gritted her teeth, “Alright, I have no choice.”
Big Zhuang couldn’t delay any longer. He pushed Red Hair, and she started walking forward.
Big Zhuang listened intently. Just when the girl was about to approach Mr. Mouse, her voice suddenly echoed in the darkness.
“Game over!”
Big Zhuang froze.
Because that voice didn’t come from in front of him, it came from behind him.
But Red Hair was in front of him, not behind!
“Great, ah! The game finally ended. Damn, scared the heck out of me!”
Mr. Mouse’s voice echoed in the darkness.
Big Zhuang suddenly realized something was wrong. Just as he was about to speak up to stop it, someone else spoke faster.
“Don’t be fooled! It isn’t the red-haired girl who spoke, it’s the ghost confusing us!”
This voice was clear and powerful, instantly silencing Mr. Mouse’s shouts.
Just when Big Zhuang thought Mr. Mouse was saved, Mr. Mouse’s scream suddenly rang out in the darkness.
Surrounded by pitch-black darkness, Big Zhuang could only ask anxiously, “Mouse, Mouse, what happened to you?! Are you okay?! Answer me quickly, don’t scare me!”
His shouts why only answered by the tranquil air and the whistling wind.
“Damn it!” Big Zhuang was furious and anger surged from his chest to the sky.
He rolled up his sleeves, about to turn around and confront the ghost.
The voice that spoke earlier stopped his actions again.
“Calm down, don’t be impulsive.”
“If you turn around, you’ll have fallen for the ghost’s scheme. Just because Mr. Mouse hasn’t responded doesn’t mean he’s dead. If I’m not mistaken, this ghost is even more interested in you, Big Zhuang. It probably wants to be friends with you?”
The sudden words instantly calmed Big Zhuang down. He forced his raised fist down, took a deep breath, and tried to restrain his anger in the darkness. After a long while, Big Zhuang spoke, “Thank you for the reminder. By the sound of it, you must be Bai Lixin, right? Thank you.”
Bai Lixin, who was standing diagonally across from Big Zhuang, stared ahead. “You’re welcome. Continue the game. If you pause for too long, it might be considered forcefully quitting the game, right, Red?”
There was no response from Red Hair. Her position was almost behind him, so he couldn’t look back.
Even if he looked back, he wouldn’t be able to see what had happened there.
After hearing no response from Red Hair, Big Zhuang couldn’t help but call out, “Red, are you still there? Reply quickly.”
Several seconds later, Red Hair’s faint voice came over , “I’m here.”
“ I just suddenly heard my own voice over there, which scared me. My legs were shaking, and I almost lost control. I’m going forward now.”
Big Zhuang reassured her, “If Mr. Mouse is missing, there should be no one in the corner ahead. Red, hurry over and immediately shout ‘game over’ when you reach there.”
End this damn game quickly!
He didn’t want to stay a second longer in this building!
Red Hair’s weak voice rang out, “Okay.”
After receiving the response, Big Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief.
The sounds of walking started again.
“Ta, ta, ta.”
After a minor incident, the game restarted once again.
Red Hair’s footsteps quickly disappeared. As her footsteps faded, she let of a fry of fright.
Big Zhuang became tense again, “What’s going on?!”
Red Hair’s voice was trembling, “In front of me… there’s a… dark figure, but it’s not Mr. Mouse.”
Big Zhuang: “…”
Bai Lixin: “…”
Mr. Mouse went missing, and a mysterious sixth “person” appeared.
Big Zhuang’s thoughts were too naïve; the game didn’t end due to Mr. Mouse’s disappearance. Instead, a new player, another ghost, joined.
The game had entered an extremely bizarre and delicate situation.
Red Hair should have pushed the newly arrived ghost. After a brief pause of a few seconds, footsteps echoed again.
Footsteps slowly approached, heading towards Bai Lixin.
It was the sound of leather shoes on the ground—crisp yet heavy, and each step pounded on Big Zhuang’s heart.
Bai Lixin stood silently.
For now, he couldn’t do anything. According to the current known conditions, he seemed to lack an opportunity to make a move. Because he didn’t know where to start, he couldn’t take action.
The footsteps finally reached behind Bai Lixin. Although the other party hadn’t touched him yet, he had already felt the cold breath from behind.
Time seemed especially long in the darkness. In this lengthy wait, the other person slowly reached out, lightly touching his shoulder.
Then a force pressed on his back, urging him to continue walking forward.
At the same time as that force pressed on Bai Lixin’s back, the voice of the little black-furry monster that had led them to the dare challenge game world appeared.
“Hehehe, you finally reached this step.”
“Dear player, congratulations on successfully passing the preliminary plot. Now, the game officially begins!”
After the sharp voice, the little black-furry monster slowly appeared in front of Bai Lixin.
It hovered in mid-air, its small hands and feet dancing excitedly. “Game content: Please depict the ghosts’ appearance in this game!”
As it spoke, a sketchbook and a pencil appeared in front of Bai Lixin.
There were very few pages in the sketchbook, just five in total. So, it seemed he had a maximum margin of only three mistakes.
The little monster flew overhead at times, ran to Bai Lixin’s side at times, and even approached Bai Lixin’s face.
It pressed against Bai Lixin’s face, its huge almond-like eyes almost touching Bai Lixin’s face. “In the upcoming time, you need to use your imagination to draw all the ghosts’ looks on this sketch paper.”
“Of course, we know players aren’t professional sketch artists, so you only need to draw detailed points.”
“The portrait requirements are as follows.”
“First, a frontal standing portrait.”
“Second, the facial features and body features need to be drawn.”
“Third, I can only give you these five sketch papers, and you can only use one side of each sketching paper.”
“If you use up all five or haven’t drawn it by the end of the game, then the player will have lost in the first level.”
“The player who loses will have to stay here forever.”
“Heeheehee…”
[Aren’t we supposed to ask questions? Why keep walking? What’s wrong with the anchor? Is this a scam for rewards? I’m reporting.]
[Exactly, it was interesting at the beginning, but now it’s boring.]
Big Zhuang looked at the upper right corner of the live stream, the viewers had dropped from over ten thousand to eight thousand, and the late-night popularity ranking had fallen to fifth.
Seeing people continuously reporting in the barrage, Big Zhuang cursed in his heart.
‘Do you think I don’t want to stop!
Right now, there’s no one in the world who wants to end this damn dog-like spirit-summoning game more than me!
Damn it, how long does this damn ghost want to play? We’ve gone through ten rounds, and it still refuses to leave?
Damn it.’
Although he was cursing in his mind, Big Zhuang wore a business-like smile on his face. “Family, I’m sorry for the wait. The warm-up is over, and we are now going to ask the ghost questions. I’ll start asking when the ghost approaches me. Let’s see if the ghost will answer my questions.”
Footsteps slowly echoed, and Big Zhuang’s shoulders immediately tensed up.
The footsteps approached, closer and closer, and finally, the sound vanished behind him.
Before the push on his shoulder even came, Big Zhuang knew that the ghost was right behind him.
Even without turning back, he could feel the dead stare on the back of his head.
His scalp felt a bit numb. Recalling his career, Big Zhuang took a deep breath and began the first question.
Afraid of accidentally offending the ghost, Big Zhuang’s opening was very polite: “Respected Ghost Lord, I unintentionally disturbed you by coming here today. I hope you won’t be angry.”
“I have a few small questions I’d like to ask for your guidance. I hope you can help me clarify them. If possible, may the Ghost Lord respond to me?”
Although he said this, Big Zhuang’s heart was roaring: Don’t respond! Don’t respond! Please, please don’t respond to me!
A cold touch suddenly landed on Big Zhuang’s back, seemingly the fingertip of the ghost.
The fingertip began to slide lightly on his back. Initially, Big Zhuang only felt a tingling sensation, but as the fingertip slid, he gradually realized that the ghost was writing something on his back.
He tried to focus his attention, placing all of it on his back.
Although he missed a few strokes at the beginning, Big Zhuang vaguely “read” what the ghost wanted to convey.
—Yes.
‘Yes?
Does this mean I can ask questions?’
Big Zhuang’s heart thumped like thunder. Although he didn’t want to, he had to ask questions. Even if he didn’t, he couldn’t leave. According to the game rules, the person behind had to push the person in front for the front one to leave. Currently, the ghost hadn’t pushed him, so he could only stop in place.
But this bug only applied to the ghost.
If they humans wanted to exploit the bug and stop behind their companion, it would count as prematurely ending the game and invite the ghost’s retaliation.
Yes, it was so unfair.
But they started this game, and they were the first to provoke the ghost.
They deserved it.
After receiving the ghost’s response, Big Zhuang took a deep breath and slowly posed the first question: “May I ask your name? Are you the young man who hanged himself on this floor?”
After asking this question, the cold touch behind him slid again.
Gradually, a few words appeared in Big Zhuang’s mind.
—Xiao Ming.
—Yes.
Big Zhuang’s heart skipped a beat.
Yes.
It was the young man who hanged himself.
But according to the supernatural stories about this building, the young man who hanged himself turned into a vengeful ghost after death. Those workers were just here for a job and weren’t the real culprits behind the construction of this apartment, yet the ghost killed them indiscriminately.
If offended, this evil ghost can take your life.
Big Zhuang was both startled and afraid, and became more cautious in his actions.
After this question, the ghost behind him still showed no intention of pushing him.
Big Zhuang had no choice but to continue questioning. However, due to the ghost’s identity, his mind went blank, and he blurted out a question, “Do you want to make friends?”
After asking this question, Big Zhuang wished he could bite his tongue off.
This was suggested by the viewer with the ID “I’m right behind you”. He always felt this ID was suspicious. Not only the name but also the questions were odd. He never intended to ask this question from the beginning.
He’s not stupid.
Asking a ghost such a question was like hinting to the ghost that he wanted to be its friend.
But how could he become its friend?!
‘Unless I turned into a ghost!
No!
Even if I became a ghost, I don’t want to be its friend! I want to be reincarnated and go to the heavens—I don’t want to linger in this building!’
While Big Zhuang was crazily complaining in his heart, that cold touch moved again.
It slid slowly, writing stroke by stroke behind Big Zhuang.
Big Zhuang didn’t dare show any signs of negligence and concentrated on sensing.
—Want.
Just one word.
As Big Zhuang was about to quickly move on to the next question, that cold touch moved again.
Though horrified, Big Zhuang managed to maintain his expression under the camera.
With the movement of the ghost’s fingertip, Big Zhuang’s mind gradually filled with its handwriting.
When the ghost made the final stroke, Big Zhuang’s heart felt like it was about to jump out of his throat.
The ghost wrote down a word for him.
—You.
Want.
You.
Want you to be my friend
At the moment he made the connection, Big Zhuang only wanted to run for his life.
The calm expression he had struggled to maintain cracked, and his features looked grotesque and ugly due to the distortion.
‘I don’t want to be your friend!
Go away!
Don’t come near me!’
While he was screaming internally, his shoulder was suddenly heavily tapped.
The next second, a force pushed him out.
The game that was paused by the ghost restarted because of the ghost.
The pause and play buttons were now in the hands of the ghost.
Big Zhuang slowly walked behind Red Hair, who was already in despair. In the brief contact with Big Zhuang, she pleaded with a crying tone, “Brother Zhuang, hasn’t the game ended yet? I’m tired, scared, and I really need to use the bathroom. I can’t hold it any longer.”
Big Zhuang had no choice but to comfort her, “Endure a little longer. We can’t leave now. If it didn’t show up, we’d treat this game as a joke. Now that it’s here, it’s better to believe it exists than deny it. What if leaving prematurely really attracts a curse?”
Red Hair: “But I really need to use the bathroom, what should I do?”
Big Zhuang lowered his voice, and advised Red Hair, “It’s pitch dark around here. Even if you’re this close, I can’t see you clearly. When we reach the next corner, discreetly relieve yourself. No one will see it. Just be very quiet and they won’t even hear it.”
Red Hair gritted her teeth, “Alright, I have no choice.”
Big Zhuang couldn’t delay any longer. He pushed Red Hair, and she started walking forward.
Big Zhuang listened intently. Just when the girl was about to approach Mr. Mouse, her voice suddenly echoed in the darkness.
“Game over!”
Big Zhuang froze.
Because that voice didn’t come from in front of him, it came from behind him.
But Red Hair was in front of him, not behind!
“Great, ah! The game finally ended. Damn, scared the heck out of me!”
Mr. Mouse’s voice echoed in the darkness.
Big Zhuang suddenly realized something was wrong. Just as he was about to speak up to stop it, someone else spoke faster.
“Don’t be fooled! It isn’t the red-haired girl who spoke, it’s the ghost confusing us!”
This voice was clear and powerful, instantly silencing Mr. Mouse’s shouts.
Just when Big Zhuang thought Mr. Mouse was saved, Mr. Mouse’s scream suddenly rang out in the darkness.
Surrounded by pitch-black darkness, Big Zhuang could only ask anxiously, “Mouse, Mouse, what happened to you?! Are you okay?! Answer me quickly, don’t scare me!”
His shouts why only answered by the tranquil air and the whistling wind.
“Damn it!” Big Zhuang was furious and anger surged from his chest to the sky.
He rolled up his sleeves, about to turn around and confront the ghost.
The voice that spoke earlier stopped his actions again.
“Calm down, don’t be impulsive.”
“If you turn around, you’ll have fallen for the ghost’s scheme. Just because Mr. Mouse hasn’t responded doesn’t mean he’s dead. If I’m not mistaken, this ghost is even more interested in you, Big Zhuang. It probably wants to be friends with you?”
The sudden words instantly calmed Big Zhuang down. He forced his raised fist down, took a deep breath, and tried to restrain his anger in the darkness. After a long while, Big Zhuang spoke, “Thank you for the reminder. By the sound of it, you must be Bai Lixin, right? Thank you.”
Bai Lixin, who was standing diagonally across from Big Zhuang, stared ahead. “You’re welcome. Continue the game. If you pause for too long, it might be considered forcefully quitting the game, right, Red?”
There was no response from Red Hair. Her position was almost behind him, so he couldn’t look back.
Even if he looked back, he wouldn’t be able to see what had happened there.
After hearing no response from Red Hair, Big Zhuang couldn’t help but call out, “Red, are you still there? Reply quickly.”
Several seconds later, Red Hair’s faint voice came over , “I’m here.”
“ I just suddenly heard my own voice over there, which scared me. My legs were shaking, and I almost lost control. I’m going forward now.”
Big Zhuang reassured her, “If Mr. Mouse is missing, there should be no one in the corner ahead. Red, hurry over and immediately shout ‘game over’ when you reach there.”
End this damn game quickly!
He didn’t want to stay a second longer in this building!
Red Hair’s weak voice rang out, “Okay.”
After receiving the response, Big Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief.
The sounds of walking started again.
“Ta, ta, ta.”
After a minor incident, the game restarted once again.
Red Hair’s footsteps quickly disappeared. As her footsteps faded, she let of a fry of fright.
Big Zhuang became tense again, “What’s going on?!”
Red Hair’s voice was trembling, “In front of me… there’s a… dark figure, but it’s not Mr. Mouse.”
Big Zhuang: “…”
Bai Lixin: “…”
Mr. Mouse went missing, and a mysterious sixth “person” appeared.
Big Zhuang’s thoughts were too naïve; the game didn’t end due to Mr. Mouse’s disappearance. Instead, a new player, another ghost, joined.
The game had entered an extremely bizarre and delicate situation.
Red Hair should have pushed the newly arrived ghost. After a brief pause of a few seconds, footsteps echoed again.
Footsteps slowly approached, heading towards Bai Lixin.
It was the sound of leather shoes on the ground—crisp yet heavy, and each step pounded on Big Zhuang’s heart.
Bai Lixin stood silently.
For now, he couldn’t do anything. According to the current known conditions, he seemed to lack an opportunity to make a move. Because he didn’t know where to start, he couldn’t take action.
The footsteps finally reached behind Bai Lixin. Although the other party hadn’t touched him yet, he had already felt the cold breath from behind.
Time seemed especially long in the darkness. In this lengthy wait, the other person slowly reached out, lightly touching his shoulder.
Then a force pressed on his back, urging him to continue walking forward.
At the same time as that force pressed on Bai Lixin’s back, the voice of the little black-furry monster that had led them to the dare challenge game world appeared.
“Hehehe, you finally reached this step.”
“Dear player, congratulations on successfully passing the preliminary plot. Now, the game officially begins!”
After the sharp voice, the little black-furry monster slowly appeared in front of Bai Lixin.
It hovered in mid-air, its small hands and feet dancing excitedly. “Game content: Please depict the ghosts’ appearance in this game!”
As it spoke, a sketchbook and a pencil appeared in front of Bai Lixin.
There were very few pages in the sketchbook, just five in total. So, it seemed he had a maximum margin of only three mistakes.
The little monster flew overhead at times, ran to Bai Lixin’s side at times, and even approached Bai Lixin’s face.
It pressed against Bai Lixin’s face, its huge almond-like eyes almost touching Bai Lixin’s face. “In the upcoming time, you need to use your imagination to draw all the ghosts’ looks on this sketch paper.”
“Of course, we know players aren’t professional sketch artists, so you only need to draw detailed points.”
“The portrait requirements are as follows.”
“First, a frontal standing portrait.”
“Second, the facial features and body features need to be drawn.”
“Third, I can only give you these five sketch papers, and you can only use one side of each sketching paper.”
“If you use up all five or haven’t drawn it by the end of the game, then the player will have lost in the first level.”
“The player who loses will have to stay here forever.”
“Heeheehee…”
