Sorry for the late chapter… was dealing with some family issues last week. We should have another chapter out tonight after this one!
Edited by Rinrin!
Just as Shan Ziwei was experiencing a hell of fire and ice, someone noticed the white-haired young man’s predicament and quickly came over from behind.
With their arrival came a glittering white powder, scattering all over Shan Ziwei – it was salt.
Some of the salt landed on the hand inside Shan Ziwei’s chest. Some kind of chemical reaction seemed to occur between the two, and that glittering salt instantly became charred and blackened, clinging onto that bloodless arm like ashes. Though it didn’t seem to do any real harm, the owner of the arm clearly didn’t enjoy it, releasing Shan Ziwei and trying to shake off the stains.
The moment the ghostly hand retreated, all his sensations returned and Shan Ziwei used all his strength to pull away. Overexerting, he ended up stumbling a few steps and landing on his ass.
Ow…
Shan Ziwei felt tears gathering in his eyes. He quickly lowered his head, rubbing forcefully at his reddened eyes. One reason was the pain, and the other was his damn hypersexuality. Without the ghostly hand’s icy attack, his body couldn’t maintain its pretense of dignity, soon starting to tremble.
This damn hypersexuality! Shan Ziwei did everything he could to calm his body down, feeling utterly exhausted. Destroying my purity, tainting my spirit, and violating my morality!
To the average onlooker, it seemed as if the white-haired young man was curled up on the ground, trembling and utterly terrified.
“You alright?”
Shan Ziwei wiped the last hints of desire from his face, and looked up. It was surprisingly PearlMilkTea who had saved him just now. Seeing that the young lady was bending over, seeming to intend to help him up, Shan Ziwei hurriedly pushed himself up and straightened his still weak body to avoid her. “I-I-I-I’m fine…! Thank… you!”
PearlMilkTea nodded back in response. Shan Ziwei took a deep breath to try and soothe the heat inside his body, but accidentally ate some of the salt still on him. He hurriedly dusted off the salt crystals on his body and curiously asked PearlMilkTea, “Why salt?”
Surprise flashed through PearlMilkTea’s eyes. “You should know that salt is often present in horror games. It’s said that salt can purify the impure, so many games use it to assure the safety of participants.”
Shan Ziwei remembered SagoMilkTea saying that PearlMilkTea really loved horror games. Compared to a casual like him who only read a few forum posts, SagoMilkTea clearly knew a lot more.
“I just wanted to try it.” PearlMilkTea looked towards the hand, her mood visibly darkening, “Yet, it doesn’t harm the ghosts here…”
As the two talked, the ghost hand opposite them had managed to shake off the rest of the tainted salt and stopped moving. Lying pressed against the wall, its fingers and purple gold coverings making it look like a resting jade spider.
Shan Ziwei felt his heart squeeze, like being constricted by spider silk. He knew this was just a trick of the mind, from the intense experience of being, literally, in the palm of that hand. Even with all the distance between them, Shan Ziwei couldn’t help but take a big step back.
There was a disappointed sigh, coming from thin air, and that bloodlessly pale hand silently disappeared back into the wall, like a thin layer of snow exposed to the sun.
The others had heard the commotion and came running. RoseBlood and Hyacinth stared at the salt-covered Shan Ziwei in surprise.
“What happened?”
Shan Ziwei briefly explained how he had been attacked. When he got to the part where the ghost hand grabbed his heart, Hyacinth was clearly shocked by it. The hand she was holding her glasses with jerked, and they reflected the white-haired young man and the person behind him.
“!!”
Shan Ziwei whipped his head around so fast he felt like his neck was about to break. Seeing host’s familiar handsome face, fear and frustration lodged in his throat. Bruh, could you not suddenly appear like that? It was downright terrifying!
“You were touched by that?” Host’s voice was lower than usual. He raised his gaze, as if he wanted to use his gaze to imprison the white-haired young man. “I’m going to ‘monopolise’ you.”
Shan Ziwei instantly felt his hair stand on end. Though host had adhered to their deal, warning him before roleplaying, he still felt a looming sense of foreboding. From an emotional point of view, he wanted to refuse, but his rationality made him unable to say anything in refusal. His diamonds SP (fear) was near its limit. He really needed to be “monopolised” to recover it.
“… What do you want to do?”
Shan Ziwei’s voice came out from between his gritted teeth. He was about to step away to put some distance between him and host, but host’s left hand came around his chest from behind, barring his way.
“He touched you here.”
The ruler said, exercising his right to monopolise, “I will erase the marks he left behind.”
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.
These suggestive words had the hypersexual dizzy with shock. Before Shan Ziwei could comprehend them, the hand in his way had moved up, slowly cupping his face in a way that brook no resistance.
“Gb P ilxf sbe…?”
Ktf tfjns, ibk afcbg oibkfv lcab Vtjc Ilkfl’r fjgr ilxf j reyafggjcfjc glnfg. Lbra’r nblmf kjr rb ibk, rb tfjns, jr lo la tjv yffc ifoa ab ujatfg obg j ibcu alwf, wjxlcu la rffw ilxf j ibnf rbcu atja agjcrmfcvfv atf jufr.
“Ofa wf ibnf sbe, bxjs?”
Shan Ziwei’s eyes went wide, his heart beating almost tragically fast. These words… they were…
As if disappointed in the white-haired young man’s lack of response, the black-haired young man slowly lowered his hand, instead grasping Shan Ziwei’s hand and entwining their fingers over the white-haired young man’s heart.
“If you give me your heart, would I love you then?”
Shan Ziwei’s heart gave a sudden jump, slamming against the hand on his chest. The other person embraced him from behind, and though the hand at his chest didn’t put any pressure down, it felt like a ton.
In that bloodied, humiliating memory, the white-haired young man held up his own heart like a sacrifice, begging for the black-haired young man’s love.
——Please like me.
Shan Ziwei’s expression twisted as he clutched his heart. His heart had been freed from that phantom grasp, and what replaced that feeling was an inescapable phantom pain and palpitation. God, that was too intense. He remembered the frustration, anger, embarrassment, relief of his spiritual breakdown… All these emotions came from the man behind him.
The man who had killed him, and was now monopolising him.
RoseBlood and Hyacinth watched on in surprise as the white-haired young man furiously threw the other off. The atmosphere around them sunk to a strange point.
After relieving one of his most embarrassing memories, Shan Ziwei’s face seemed to change colours rapidly, his expression twisting. In comparison, host, opposite to him, was calm and almost satisfied. He didn’t seem to realise at all how much he had shaken Shan Ziwei, leaning forward like a predatory beast and pointing to Shan Ziwei’s heart as he closed the distance between them.
“It’s already mine.”
He declared his claim towards the owner of the heart.
“…”
Shan Ziwei wasn’t the only one rendered utterly speechless, so was everyone else.
——Your body doesn’t belong to you.
This intense motion ate away at their minds. This logic was irrational, near tyrannical to the point that it struck them dumb. After RoseBlood realised, Hyacinth and PearlMilkTea also noticed it was all strange.
Th-this wasn’t just roleplay…
Only the inexperienced Shan Ziwei was oblivious. After experiencing monopolisation twice, he thought this was how roleplaying was supposed to work. The recovery of his diamonds SP stopped him from complaining despite those suppressed memories being uncovered.
After a long pause, RoseBlood broke the silence.
“You two…” She seemed to want to warn them, but gave up when she couldn’t figure out what words to use. “Let’s continue discussing what happened just now.”
PearlMilkTea explained what had happened for Shan ZIwei. After hearing what had occurred, RoseBlood stared at the wall opposite with a frown.
“Though we can confirm that there’s rooms and stairs behind that wall, we don’t know how to get in… and we don’t have any hints regarding the cupboards…”
The reason they wanted to enter the hidden room was because they wanted to figure out the situation with the three cupboards. Clearly, that wasn’t possible now, and they were back to square one.
Did they have to rely on luck and take a chance for the cupboards?
Compared to the others and their uncertainty, Shan Ziwei was hesitant on another subject: Should he use the mystery game from his past to solve this one?
“Let’s open the cupboards,” PearlMilkTea spoke up, “I’d rather take a chance than continue dawdling.”
“… Okay, which one?”
Hyacinth and PearlMilkTea both chose the second cupboard. When met with three options, most people would take the middle option.
Seeing that the others were about to enter the second room, Shan Ziwei threw his worries to the side. Compared to taking a random guess, even relying on his superstition was better!
——Which cupboard in that mystery horror game had the doll again? Back then he had been scared out of his wits… If he remembered correctly… it should be… the third room!
“I think… we can try opening the one in the third room first.”
RoseBlood and the others looked back to see the white-haired young man leave their group and go towards the third room as he emphasised, “I want to open the cupboard in the third room.”
“Why?” The girls were rather confused. It wasn’t like they all thought it had to be the second one, but they couldn’t understand Shan Ziwei’s determination, as if he suddenly knew something they didn’t.
The white-haired young man’s expression was a little odd. “Three is my lucky number.”
Seeing that Shan Ziwei was already inside the third room, RoseBlood and the others naturally followed. If they were lucky, opening the cupboard could give them the doll, but if they opened two at once, that was certain death.
Outside the room, RoseBlood saw Shan Ziwei pull open the shaking, rattling cupboard under the watchful gaze of the four pupils inside.
All the girls inhaled sharply. The white-haired young man had pulled open the cupboard so resolutely, they hadn’t had the time to mentally prepare themselves. It was too late to say anything now, so they could all only stare at Shan Ziwei’s back, apprehensively waiting for the possibly fatal result.
Thud.
It wasn’t the sound of a human head hitting the ground, or the sound of flesh being rendered. The white-haired young man stepped to the side, completely unharmed, revealing the wooden doll inside the cupboard.
It was like going from hell to heaven in the blink of an eye. Roseblood couldn’t tell if the sudden fluctuation in emotions left her with joy or shock. She didn’t look at the doll that they had spent all this time trying to obtain, but at Shan Ziwei. “How did you know?”
Shan Ziwei’s eyes flickered to the top right of his field of vision for a moment. The reason he was so certain was because there was a system scenario now lying there quietly.
[Scenario 7: You know the doll is in the third cupboard, but you can’t say why exactly you know this.]
Was this because the game dev had known that his inspiration would be found out sooner or later, so he left this scenario to shut up whoever found out? Or perhaps, this scenario was there just to answer this multiple choice question, and chose to appear for him for some reason?
If it was the former, then that was great. It meant he could use this loophole. If it was the latter… that was terrifying to think further about.
In response to RoseBlood’s question, Shan Ziwei gave her three letters, “OOC.”
Unsurprisingly, RoseBlood didn’t pry. She came towards the now calm pear blossom cupboard, It was like the previous violent rattling and double pupils were nothing more than a mirage.
The doll lay quietly at the bottom of the cupboard, as uncanny as it was in the memory. RoseBlood picked it up with a frown, and discovered with surprise that there was a piece of paper under it.
[X Day of X Month X, Day of the Week (Cloudy)
The young master is isolating himself more and more.
His personality was rather gloomy and silent in the first place, he didn’t like speaking, but ever since he got into those legends about gods and monsters, he’s been coming out of his room less and less.
Every time I see the young master, he’s always completely focused on researching those evil things. It’s almost as if this is the only way he can survive.
My greatest fear each day now is bringing the young master his food. If I don’t be careful, I might accidentally step on one of those creepy trinkets.
I should take a day to go to a temple and pray for protection.]
This was another diary entry from a servant, lying at the bottom of the cupboard. Shan Ziwei stared at the words, the corner of his lips becoming tight and his breath growing short.
Why would he become so absorbed in games and useless things? Because… he was just so lonely…
These experiences seemed to isolate him from the other people. Shan Ziwei watched blankly as RoseBlood and the others discussed the diary entry. They were outside, but he had sunk into it.
“Let’s go and check the other cupboards.” RoseBlood held the diary entry, but instead of discussing the contents, this is what she suggested instead. “Now that the riddle is solved, they should be safe now. They might’ve left similar clues.”
No one argued against that. Just like RoseBlood had said, now that they had obtained the doll, the other cupboards let them close without any reaction.
In the other two cupboards, they found other servant diary entries. The contents written were even more terrifying.
[X Day of X Month X, Day of the Week (Sunny)
Today was such a bad day.
The Master’s favourite Earl managed to get into the young master’s room. Not only did it go crazy, barking at the young master, but it triggered the young master’s condition.
I only found out today that it isn’t that the young master can’t get close to humans with his condition, but that he can’t get close to any living being.
It’s as if the young master was born to walk that path.
Even his very name was about the impure.]
[X Day of X Month X, Day of the Week (Rain)
Earl died.
Everyone says that it died from sickness, but I know that isn’t true.
Because I saw it.
The night Earl died, I saw the young master light his room full of candles, creating flickering, ghostly shadows across the walls.
He took off his mask, calling out with delight: Ghostie, ghostie, did you kill it…?]
It was as if the teen’s dark, chilling cries leap out of the paper, echoing in the darkness, so loud it shook their eardrums.
RoseBlood sighed softly. Then she began to speak quietly, as if afraid of disturbing anything. “I think the ‘king’ of this chessboard should be that young master. He can control ghosts, and is clearly the ‘master’ the shadow was talking about, and the source of all this misfortune.”
Shan Ziwei felt his heart tightened and couldn’t help but say, “I don’t think so. From the message on the dining table, it sounded like they weren’t familiar with the Wei family. It sounded like an outsider commenting on them. Perhaps, there’s a fourth outsider apart from the family of three.”
“No, that’s exactly why the ‘master’ is the child.” RoseBlood quietly recited the message. “The men of this family are too tough, the women of this family are too thin, I wonder how you would taste. Thank you for your hospitality… The man is tough and the woman is thin, don’t you think there’s something missing here? The family of three died, then where is the child?”
“It only makes sense that the child was the one to write this; that’s why there’s no comment on the child.” RoseBlood continued, her words calm and logical. “From the diary and memories, the child has a bad relationship with his parents, to the point where he killed his own mother. This unfamiliar, disrespectful description isn’t strange.”
Shan Ziwei was speechless, unable to refute her. In reality, he agreed with RoseBlood’s logic deep down inside, but the empathy he had felt before made him want to argue for the child, like he was protecting his own. It didn’t have anything to do with being wrong or right.
What interrupted this argument was the sentence that then appeared on the system scenarios tab.
[Scenario 8: Your nerves are drawn too tight, making your will weak. You get angry easily.
After the system scenario started attacking their Clubs SP (Sorrow), it followed up with hitting their Spades SP (Rage).
Instantly, it was like they were all clubbed over the head, suddenly realising something.
——Even if they found the boss, with them possessing nothing out of the ordinary, nor having any extraordinary talents, they couldn’t do anything to the boss. What they should be doing now was completing these paranormal games, and getting through the chessboard!
The group hurried to the living room and Hyacinth turned on the static-filled tv while RoseBlood set the doll on the counter and reminded everyone, “Remember to fulfill your duties. Whoever is next to pick up the phone, you have to give everyone a warning even if you’re being stalked by the ghost.”
Shan Ziwei’s eye twitched. He was up next. He could only pray that the phone wouldn’t ring until hide-and-seek ended.
Host took out the florist knife they obtained from the kitchen and everyone stood in a circle around the doll, the knife suspended above.
Shan Ziwei made sure to dawdle as long as he could to put his hand on the hilt of the knife, so that he wouldn’t be pincered by other people’s hands. After being wrecked by terrifying enemies and friends alike, his poor Hearts SP (Joy) only had less than 10 percent remaining.
Hurry and get this going. Shan Ziwei tried his best to endure the touch on his hand as he looked at the doll below. The doll’s long arms and legs lay limp against the counter, its chillingly pale head turned to the side with its bloody smile. It seemed helpless and exposed, but Shan Ziwei felt like the ones about to be hunted down and killed were them instead.
It wasn’t just Shan Ziwei who was nervous, even RoseBlood’s voice was trembling.
“Let’s start.”
In the crackling static of the television, the five people held the knife and stabbed it into the doll.
“You will be the ghost, come find me.”
I hate hide and seek in horror story (´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ `)
Thank you so much for your great translation!!
I know this one, played this one, almost died of a heart attack because of this one, have a great day.
🕯️🕯️🕯️
what! why? what happened?
Why?
thanks for the chapter! ♡
ooh shan ziwei has to get angry easily. makes me imagine him sticking up for the child in a heated argument and blurting out “I” instead of “they”.
can you tell i was scrolling through writing prompts on tumblr just now
Thank you for the chapter! Hide and seek seems like it’ll be exciting, especially since we know our mc will be forced to pick up the phone at some point
Thank u for the chapter~
“ Why would he become so absorbed in games and useless things? Because… he was just so lonely…” i hate when i can relate to sad things, because then it makes me cry. i wish everyone had a good person next to them, no person is bad the experiences they go through changes them. if only everyone was kind.. but no, without bad in this world there cannot be good. i just wish people would all be equal.
Thank youuuu for the chapters.
I wonder where would they hide in the next chapter.
Hide and seek traumatised me as a child so this is freaking me out 😣