Heya, we’re back! There will be another chapter coming Thursday or Friday (cause I missed one oop), and then it’ll be back to the normal schedule. Enjoy! ✽-(ˆ▽ˆ)/✽ ✽\(ˆ▽ˆ)-✽
Edited by RinRin!
Shan Ziwei was dragged downstairs soullessly by host to go move the mirror.
It wasn’t easy for the two of them to be alone. So after a while, a certain hypersexual finally couldn’t hold back and said, “In the future… if you want to roleplay the relationship… give me a heads up, ok?”
A couple more occurrences of this and his soul might decide to leave for good.
host glanced at Shan Ziwei from the corner of his eye and nodded silently.
Shan Ziwei’s heart panicked when the black-haired young man stared at him, before finally letting out a subconscious breath when the other party nodded. The more conscientious host was being, the guiltier Shan Ziwei felt. After all, nothing host had done was even a little problematic, instead, he was single handedly helping him solve his skinship problems.
The white-haired young man quickly walked towards the dressing mirror in the master bedroom and awkwardly left a sentence, “Just now… Thank you.”
host’s deep and powerful voice followed.
“You’re welcome.”
He wasn’t sure why, but this “you’re welcome” immediately reignited Shan Ziwei’s anxiety. He felt as if he had planted a rather useless suggestion, the bitter fruit of which would later make him cry tears of regret.
Shan Ziwei and host lifted the mirror and made their way back to the lounge upstairs. As soon as he entered, Shan Ziwei noticed that the girls were all beside the pool table, as if they were passing something around.
“Welcome back.” At first he thought that it was SagoMilkTea who’d spoken, but Sago had been scared away earlier and The Mysterious Garden’s players’ attitude towards males was quite clear. As such, it was up to PearlMilkTea to speak to them. “Come and have a look. We just found a diary page here.”
Diary?
Shan Ziwei couldn’t help touching his nose. The supernatural chessboard this time was as traditional as can be. Simply every cliche was covered: jump scares from time to time, uncovering the mysterious deaths of main plot characters, diary pages and news reports scattered everywhere and a series of keys (find the key for Room B in Room A, then look for the key to Room C in Room B, Room C…), NPCs who need help and assign you puzzles to solve……
These run-of-the-mill troupes evoked some memories for Shan Ziwei. Speaking of horror decryption games, Shan Ziwei was not unfamiliar with them. In the 21st century, if a gamer wanted to make money, they could either become a professional competitive player and participate in all kinds of offline competitions, or they could become a streamer for new and popular games, of which horror games were one of the hottest genres. The audience always loved it when the stream hosts got scared.
A certain hypersexual did not dare to show up in offline competitions, so he mainly took the latter path. As a result, he’d played quite a lot of horror games, and his voice changing skills had also been developed during this time (in order to voice the various characters). Naturally, he was very familiar with these classic tropes. However, it was also these very traditional old-fashioned jump scare segments that got a huge upgrade when holographic games first came out. Take the human headlamp for example. In the past, at most, a picture of the human headlamp would suddenly flash on screen. Those that put a little more effort in would render a 3D model of the human headlamp. Now, however, a lifelike head could fall right in front of a player in full color with an attack on all 6 senses. There was simply no comparison to speak of!
Shan Ziwei sighed about how quickly technology had advanced, when suddenly a fragment of a memory flashed through his mind——he suddenly realized why everything felt so familiar! The layout of this house was extremely similar to a horror game he had once played!
He hadn’t immediately noticed earlier because he’d only played the 2D version before and the fact that they had yet to map out the entire house.
Shan Ziwei watched as PearlMilkTea handed the diary page to host, hesitating about whether or not he should bring it up.
Thinking about it more carefully, it actually wasn’t that similar. The haunted house in the horror game he’d played in the past had had three floors, and the Manda Mansion only had two. Although the room could be roughly matched up between the two games, there wasn’t enough evidence. Shan Ziwei finally decided that he’d wait until he saw more rooms before bringing it up.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
host read the diary from top to bottom once, then turned to pass it to Shan Ziwei. Shan Ziwei’s mind was still mulling over his earlier theory and took the note somewhat absentmindedly.
Dea j rlcuif uijcmf kjr fcbeut ab raec tlw.
【W Gjs bo W Zbcat, W Gjs bo atf Qffx (Jibevs)
Kbvjs lr ws olgra alwf wffalcu atf sbecu wjrafg. P’w rb cfgnber.
P qgjmalmfv j iba, yea P ralii rmgfkfv eq……
Lf kjr kfjglcu remt j rmjgs wjrx atja P mbeivc’a fnfc rqfjx qgbqfgis.
Madam said that he had a strange disease and could not get too close to people. As soon as he got close, he would get a rash, so he usually wouldn’t leave the room, and would cover himself up whenever there were people.
I could tell that Madam and Sir were both a little afraid of him and weren’t sure how to interact with him.
In the future, will I have to serve such a person…… 】
“This should be the servant’s diary ba.” The girls have already begun to discuss the contents, “Turns out that the sick one was the ‘child’. No wonder they had that appearance.”
“Ill, can’t leave the house, lonely.” Hyacinth listed. “Over time, his emotions would have become distorted, his personality turned strange and he’d become filled with hostility towards the outside world.”
“——and hence the reason he attempted to kill his mother.” RoseBlood continued Hyacinth’s words. “From the servant’s diary, we can tell that his relationship with his parents wasn’t very good.”
Listening to their discussion, Shan Ziwei’s heart seems to have opened a gaping wound, a searing pain and agony squeezed at every fiber of his flesh.
Distorted emotions, strange personality……. Of course, it must be because he is lonely, because he does not go out, because he is sick.
But did anyone ask him? Ask him whether he was willing to be lonely, willing not to go out, willing to be sick?
Shan Ziwei fiercely closed his stinging eyes and stripped the shadow of the ‘young master’ from himself.
Whatever the reason, the way “he” harmed his mother was too much.
“Shanzi? Shanzi—— gShanzi?”
Shan Ziwei suddenly returned to his senses, turned to look at the PearlMilkTea and said in a quiet voice, “I apologize, my mind strayed for a moment.”
PearlMilkTea smiled considerately. She glanced at the black-haired young man who was staring at the back of the white-haired one and repeated her words.
“Both the game props and game venues have been assembled. Shanzi, could you explain the rules of ‘ghost in the mirror’? “
“Yeah, ok.” Shan Ziwei organized his thoughts and began to talk about the rules of ‘ghost in the mirror’.
There were many versions of ‘ghost in the mirror’ in the 21st century. Shan Ziwei only explained the one that he was familiar with: everyone was to stand around a big mirror, ensuring that everyone could see one another’s position. After memorizing the location of the mirror and finding a spot in the circle, a girl begins by blowing air down the neck of the person in front……
Shan Ziwei suddenly fell silent. The others looked at him curiously, unsure why he had suddenly stopped explaining.
A certain hypersexual suddenly felt that this so-called supernatural game might be fated to be his death trial.
Why would a supernatural game require blowing air down a person’s neck? Did the GM have nothing better to do, why is neck blowing a thing…… QAQ
“And then?” PearlMilkTea urged. She was very interested in these types of supernatural games.
Shan Ziwei continued with a bitter face, “……the person who was blown blows the next person, and so on. Everyone continues walking around the mirror as this happens. When someone feels that they’ve been blown twice in a row, they must say ‘It’s coming’. Then, everyone looks toward the mirror at the same time. “
Now that it’s come this far, Shan Ziwei might as well finish it. He opened his mouth and revealed the don’ts of ‘ghost in the mirror’ in one breath: “Remember, don’t make too much noise during the game, don’t peek at the mirror, and don’t move when it’s not your turn. Finally, no matter what you see, don’t look away, don’t run away, and stare at the mirror for at least 5 seconds. Then you must say ‘go’ before turning away. “
PearlMilkTea listened with unabated curiously. As soon as Shan Ziwei finished, she asked curiously, “Have you played before?”
Shan Ziwei shook his head. “No, I’ve only heard about it as well.” If he’d played before, he wouldn’t be digging his own grave here like this and worrying to death about his Hearts SP (Joy).
“It sounds like as long as you follow the instructions and don’t violate the rules, you won’t die.” SagoMilkTea was a little relieved, “Originally, I was worried that there would be casualties, since supernatural games are inherently death-seeking.”
Exactly ah, supernatural games really are just a way for an idle group of people to seek death. They didn’t want to be idiots and they didn’t want to die, but they’re stuck in the role of a ‘Supernatural Research Society member’ who were characteristically uncomfortable when not seeking death.
The rules were clear. So the next question was, in which order should they stand?
Four girls tacitly turned to look at Shan Ziwei and host, the threat of the black-haired young man fresh in their minds. Shan Ziwei felt like he was being stabbed by their eyes and so he very self-consciously got up to stand behind host. No matter what, someone was going to have contact with him. The girls looked at each other for a while, and finally PearlMilkTea stood behind Shan Ziwei. When host looked over, it wasn’t clear whether it was a joke or if she was being serious when she raised her hand to show her innocence.
“I know. He’s yours.”
Shan Ziwei: … cries internally.
SagoMilkTea stood behind PearlMilkTea, followed by RoseBlood, and lastly Hyacinth. host stood behind Hyacinth to connect the circle.
“——everyone in position?” RoseBlood looked around the circle to confirm, and issued a start signal, “Well then, let’s start the game.”
Just as the girl’s words fell, the lights above their heads flared intensely. Shan Ziwei had to squint his eyes. The light was too bright and dazzling. The excessively bright purplish red, Fuchsia, light made everyone appear blood red, just like bloody monsters melting in the red light. It was a chilling sight.
In this ghastly setting, Hyacinth was the first to move. She trotted forward, stopped for a moment behind RoseBlood, after which RoseBlood walked forwards.
As soon as he caught a glimpse of the mirror, Shan Ziwei averted his eyes. To tell the truth, he could only tell who was moving by memory. In the blood-like red light, forget the face, even the outline of their body was blurred.
A slight running sound came from behind, and then a small breeze blew on the back of Shan Ziwei’s neck.
Hoo, Hoo——
Perhaps due to nervousness, PearlMilkTea was gasping a bit and warm bursts of air sprayed on the back of his neck. Although mentally prepared, Shan Ziwei’s body still inevitably reacted.
The young man with white hair quickly ran forward like he was escaping, blowing all his haste and excitement onto the black-haired young man.
After a pause, host calmly walked instead of ran to Hyacinth and completed a cycle.
Next, came the dull repetition of the same cycle again and again. Everything was carried out in silence. As it was a matter of life and death, everyone firmly abided by the rules of ‘ghost in the mirror’. However, this silence immediately became a pressure on the people present. They couldn’t communicate with each other. They could only mechanically run forward, blow air, wait, run forward, blow air, wait… and so on.
Everyone was aware of a terrible thought: what if there was no ‘other thing’ to blow that second breath, doesn’t that mean that this cycle will never end?
Time passed minute by minute. No one was running anymore, as everyone was very tired. The blood red light was very uncomfortable, and although their companions were close by, they felt far, far away.
How many minutes has it been now? Twenty minutes? Thirty minutes? An hour?
SagoMilkTea turned her dulling brain and despairingly thought,
How much longer did they need to play? Just how much longer must they play?
The fear of that ‘other thing’ appearing eventually even turned into expectation. She was like a death sentence prisoner with her head on the guillotine. For every moment that the knife didn’t fall, she had to endure a terrible suffering more agonizing than death.
Compared to SagoMilkTea and the others, it was hard to decide if Shan Ziwei’s situation was better or worse. Although he felt tired, it was mainly his heart that was tired, while his body, under the coercion of his hypersexuality, was excited to no bounds. In a sense, his body’s condition distracted him a lot from the hopeless cycle and depressing thoughts that the others were experiencing.
The torrent of sensation on his body combined with the field of red in front of his eyes made Shan Ziwei extremely stifled. Or perhaps it was because his body was too hot, such that the difference in temperature between his body and the cold breath of the person behind him formed a sharp contrast. When the person lowered his head and blew gently, the icy breath made Shan Ziwei shiver.
So cold——
Shan Ziwei suddenly had an ominous feeling. Behind him was PearlMilkTea. The girl’s figure was definitely not so tall that she could bend her neck and blow down on him like she was holding him in her arms.
Shan Ziwei’s hair stood up in an instant. Just as he was about to jerk away, another cold waft of wind surrounded his neck.
Shan Ziwei’s sensitive body trembled.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be called cold wind. It was like there was someone or something, leaning against his neck, smiling as they licked his nape:
Heh
Iz: FKFKFKFKFKFK I SHOULD NOT BE TLing THIS AT 12AM *Screeches in horror*
Rinrin: Rubs back of neck and tells myself nothing scary is behind me nononononooo
Iz: I don’t want to look in the mirror anymore QAQ
Host says: I need to make sure he will thank me more often ^^
Heehee
thanks for the chapter! ♡
thanks for the chapter!! 😀
Aaaa that is so scary, I’d hate to have to wait for a ghost to do that, horrifying.. Thank you for another chapter!
shivers >.<
me who has a mirror in front of the bed: 😱
I literally carried my mirror out of the room. 🙃
(´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ `) I’ll definitely scream if I was Shan Ziwei, ah my poor heart
Also thank chu for your amazing translation Iz-sama and Rinrin-sama XD
Plus the hypersexuality 😫
Glad ya’ll like it X3
My dear izzy, translating and reading in the dead of night is what makes it so fun~ 🙃
P.S The heightened sense of hearing in feeling to the point you can hear the slightest noise and barest of touch is not appreciated. 😣
I would rather not have this fun thankyouverymuchnonono XDD
Hahaha I love your comments at the end, so funny 😂 it’s not long till Halloween too!
I feel so bad for Shanzi, it’s like everything’s set up to get at him