In the early morning, the light pink, deep orange, and magnificent misty purple twilight spread a veil over the sun like a tapestry veil. Marianne was sitting inside the house, and now she no longer needed to hide her ghost identity in front of players. She was sitting in front of the fireplace, letting the raging firelight penetrate through her hazy body.
When they returned here last night, the torn mansion had returned to its original state under the moonlight, and it had lost nothing except the magic circle that had been burned to ashes.
“The pickup wagon will be here at noon today.” She said softly, “Take out your tickets and let me sign them.”
Although the departure time was much earlier than expected, everyone knew that this was the result of completing the task ahead of time, so they didn’t raise any objections.
Wen Zheliu rubbed the thin ticket in his hand. He watched his companions step forward one by one, asking Marianne to sign their player names, and he gradually fell to the end. He Qin stood beside him, his warm palm gently brushing against his back like a wordless reminder.
“Go, baby,” he said slowly, “You’ve done a good job; now it’s time to go.”
His strength was extremely gentle, but Wen Zheliu’s body was unstable, and he staggered from this push. He Qin hurriedly grabbed him and found that the skin in his hand was as cold as snow.
“What about you?” The young man turned his head, his lips were pale, and his eyes were staring at him with a somewhat fierce glare: “You… what are you going to do?”
Marianne by the fireplace stopped writing and looked at the two in amazement. The players in the room also turned their gazes to this pair of brothers, who seemed to have a secret, with different expressions.
He Qin’s expression was cold as he looked around the room. This action was like a declaration of claiming the territory, which made everyone’s hearts tremble. They turned their eyes away, wisely and tacitly, and went to do their own things.
He Qin walked out of the room with Wen Zheliu. The pale golden sunlight in the early morning shrouded his face, casting a soft glow on his deep and sharp facial features, like a golden tulle covering the edge of a peerless knife.
Wen Zheliu sniffed, unwilling to look at him.
He Qin stared at the stubborn side profile of the young man. His eyelashes were long and thin, and his eyes—these eyes were as clear and agile as those of a deer, but they had a sharpness that a deer did not have. The young man has a handsome silhouette, and his skin is suffused with warm light. This flexible and youthful body wraps an equally flexible and youthful, but also kind and persistent, soul.
This child has a smile that is as warm as the sun, he thought. The warmth radiating from his whole body is inviting the attention and approach of a monster like himself that grows in the darkness, strives forward in battle, and marches in blood and fire. He is incomparably warm, and the contrast with a kinslayer and regicide like himself is equally stark…
“Do you think killing me will stop the plan? You are dreaming, He Qin, you are dreaming!”
The mad tiger had been locked into a deadly cage, its body covered in blood, its fangs broken, and its sharp claws splintering in struggle with splashes of blood, but it was still roaring with unwillingness and rage, slamming its fierce and strong body against the bone-chilling cold shackles—
“You think you’re doing this to me for some great and honorable cause, my good brother?” In his ears, the former monarch’s roar still echoed wildly from the blood-stained throne: “You did it for the inheritance, for your s**t, your power, and your selfishness!”
“You and I shed the same cruel blood—no, no, you are a hundred times more hypocritical and vicious than me. If you sit in this position, you will only follow in my footsteps! I’ll be right here watching you, watching your ultimate end!!!”
The mad king’s crazy laughter gradually faded away, and he stepped on the blood, on the fire, and on the tip of the knife—
“Baby.” In the illusion, he heard his own voice, as if separated by a layer of misty fog, but at the same time it was so stiff and clear that it was terrifying, “It would be great if I could still accompany you for the next eight worlds. But if not… it’s also my fate.”
This is also my fate.
After a long silence, only such a sentence came.
Wen Zheliu nodded haphazardly, then turned around without saying a word and walked towards the room.
“Baby, baby!” Unable to explain why, He Qin was a bit flustered. He hurriedly grabbed Wen Zheliu’s hand and said, “Listen to me…”
“I don’t need to listen to you!” The young man glared back at him brazenly. His body and his dark brown pupils trembled slightly; it was unknown whether it was due to anger or anxiety, “I will find a way myself!”
He Qin let go of his hand. Wen Zheliu took this opportunity to stride into the house with his long legs, running as fast as a real deer.
He refused to give up on himself because of such a hypocritical, vicious, and lying person. He Qin thought.
Thinking of this, He Qin couldn’t help feeling a kind of bitter sweetness in his heart. He followed the young man’s footsteps, and unexpectedly, he saw the other party half-kneeling in front of Marianne, holding the ticket in his hand, and begging her for something.
“Get up!” His heart suddenly flared up at this sight. He pulled Wen Zheliu up and then stared at Marianne viciously.
“My brother doesn’t need to kneel to anyone.” He gritted his teeth, his voice soft and venomous, and his last sentence was like a snake whispering in the dark, which only Marianne could hear, “—especially someone like you.”
Marianne was so frightened that her face went a shade paler, and she trembled, “Your brother ……he, he just asked me to write on……”
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.
“P pera jrxfv tfg ab kglaf sbeg cjwf ja atf fcv bo atf almxfa.” Qfc Itfile qeiifv yjmx tlr tjcv jcv gfabgafv. Lf abbx j vffq ygfjat, jcv ktfc ojmlcu Zjgljccf, tlr abcf rboafcfv jujlc: “Pr atja bxjs? P’w kliilcu ab erf Afccs’r qfcvjca lc fzmtjcuf.”
Cr tf rjlv, tf rqgfjv bea ybat tjcvr, jcv lc tlr qjiw kjr j rtlcs biv qtbab ogjwf qfcvjca.
But Marianne only gave it a glance, as if her pupils had been stung by some poisonous insect. She quickly looked away and replied softly: “This is a gift from my sister, so it already belongs to you; I can’t take it.”
That… “Wen Zheliu was at a loss. He thought for a moment and said in distress, “But I don’t have anything worth exchanging with you…”
“It’s okay, it’s just a name.” Marianne smiled reassuringly at him. When she spoke to He Qin, her tone became cautious and meager: “May I ask your name?”
He Qin didn’t think this would work, but he couldn’t bear to refuse the opportunity that Wen Zheliu fought for him, so he replied with a forced smile, “He Qin.”
What he said was not the player’s name, but his real name.
“Can’t write? Do you need me to teach you?” He Qin had a smile on his lips, but there was no smile in his eyes. He leaned over and held Marianne’s cold palm, using his ring finger and thumb to guide the movement of her wrist, and taught her to write the two characters “He Qin” on the tiny ticket, stroke by stroke.
Everyone else, including Wen Zheliu, had their player IDs entered by the system, so Marianne doesn’t have to worry about it, but to write real Chinese characters, according to her nationality and settings, it would be much more difficult.
While writing, she whispered to He Qin: “I didn’t insult your brother; you don’t have to act so repulsive toward me…”
“Although it is said that good is rewarded with good and evil is rewarded with evil, not all evil deeds can be judged, can they?” He Qin interrupted her, his brows slightly raised, and his peach blossom eyes rippled: “Why bother pretending in front of someone who saw through you long ago. It’s better to save your breath.”
Marianne’s complexion turned blue. She opened her mouth, but in the end she said nothing and finished writing the name in silence.
He Qin straightened his body and handed the small ticket to Wen Zheliu with an extremely gentle expression, “Satisfied?”
Wen Zheliu took the ticket and muttered while walking out. He Qin huddled beside him like a clingy big cat, “Not angry anymore?”
Wen Zheliu’s anger had already melted away. He only gave him a sideways glance and asked, “You have a problem with Marianne? Why?”
Although he didn’t hear the conversation between He Qin and Marianne, he could detect something sensitive based on his attitude.
He Qin didn’t answer this question directly. He thought for a while and said with a smile: “I will also go on the carriage with you. Before leaving, you bid farewell to Marianne and say something to her.”
“What is it?”
“I know everything you’ve done; don’t try to deny it.” He shrugged, “That’s all. Remember to say it.”
That afternoon, the purchased wagon arrived as scheduled, and the players bid farewell to Marianne one by one. Wen Zheliu was the last to get on, still hesitating to say those words. When embracing this cold-skinned ghost, he opened and closed his lips, but ultimately followed He Qin’s advice and whispered: “…..I know everything you’ve done; don’t try to deny it.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the click of the lock suddenly came to his ears. Marianne’s body shook hard, as if she had been electrocuted. She hurriedly pushed the young man away and fixed him with an incredulous stare, but the coachman’s whip snapped crisply in the air, and the wheels of the carriage turned immediately. Their eyes met briefly, and soon the contact was broken off by the dense fog.
Wen Zheliu sat back in his seat and then asked He Qin suspiciously, “Why do you want me to say this?”
He Qin held up a finger: “Shh, look carefully.”
The carriage was moving forward, and at the same time, the system’s prompt suddenly sounded.
[The customs clearance achievement has been accomplished. You’ll be rewarded with a post-credit scene.]
“Hey, there’s a post credit?” Zhou Qing wondered.
The narrow space and the rickety interior of the carriage were gradually obscured by the fog. When the fog cleared, what appeared in front of everyone was the peaceful town of Arlington in 1740.
“Are we back in time?” Mu Tuo rubbed his eyes and said, “This is the original appearance of the town…”
The old town was bustling and lively, with children chasing and playing in the streets and alleys, making giddy, playful noises. The smell here is humid and hot, with a sweet, fruity aroma and a fishy smell filling the nose. In front of a dilapidated house, they saw two blond girls who looked like twins struggling to carry the jug.
“Marianne, Jenny.” Zhou Yao couldn’t help saying.
Marianne, who walked ahead, was a little older than her sister. Her appearance was delicate and slender. Her curly blonde hair fell in strands from the white headband she wrapped her hair in.
Behind her was Jenny, the radiant girl. Sometimes humans can’t help but marvel at the wonder of God. These two faces are of great similarity, but simply by making the pupils of the eyes on the other face clearer, the skin fairer, and the lips rosier, the sister has ten percent more radiant beauty than her sister.
Marianne was jealous of her sister, no doubt about it.
Their father passed away very early, so the mother and daughters depend on each other for survival. Jenny was the youngest daughter and an especially outstanding one, so her mother was inevitably more pampering and loving to her but treated her sister, Marrinne, with more discipline. The mother used the surplus money from spinning fabric to buy Jenny’s clothes, and she dressed her little girl up like a rose at dawn.
Marianne and Jenny gradually grew up, and they both admired the son of the town’s wealthy merchant. However, this handsome young man only had his sights on Jenny because she is the most beautiful girl in town.
“…Wait,” Du Zijun was smoking a cigarette, “Where’s this story going? It doesn’t seem right, does it?”
“I smelled triangular love… It really doesn’t seem right…”
With her mother’s neglect and her beloved’s indifference, Marianne has lived as Jenny’s shadow for a long time, just carrying the water jug in silence, day after day, between the small stream and her family.
Until one day, the new sheriff traveled thousands of miles and came to this remote town to take office. On the first day he came here, he brought his slovenly nephew and a group of equally unscrupulous and indolent young men.
The event soon became a hot topic among the residents of the town, but after they became the town’s guards, this dissatisfaction was forced to become a form of gossip that they dared to exchange only in private.
Zhou Qing scratched her chin and wondered: “We already know all this, so what’s the point of showing us this now?”
The pictures in front of everyone flowed rapidly, and soon came the second year, when the young believer girl was victimized.
In front of them was darkness, with only a faint flame flickering beside the straw pile. The obscene whistles and laughter of the drunks were piercing, while the young girl’s torn white dress flew in the wind. Her intermittent screams pierced the night and lasted until the next day.
The look on the players’ faces changed all at once.
As soon as this incident occurred, despite the angry protests of the priest, the sheriff only promised to punish them on the surface. Upon seeing this, the priest had no choice but to leave Arlington overnight with his troops, leaving behind this small town that was previously a paradise.
The atrocities continued, and everyone in the town was in danger. One evening, Jenny was really thirsty, but there was no water in the house, so her mother asked Marianne to take her to the stream across the town to fetch water.
Before leaving, Marianne suddenly said to her sister: “Dear, you haven’t worn the new dress that our mother made for you during the day, have you?”
Jenny looked at her trusting sister in ignorance and shook her head slightly.
Marianne smiled.
Her seductive smile disappeared in the dim candlelight, and she whispered: “Anyway, there’s no one on the road; can you wear it and show me?”
Jenny in her new dress was as dazzling as the moon, yet her radiance did not attract the gaze of her admirers, only bringing her a humiliating death.
Except for He Qin, everyone was dumbfounded. They all had a “WTF” expression on their faces. Mu Tuo murmured: “I… f*ck…”
Wen Zheliu was at a loss for words. He looked at He Qin dumbfoundedly: “You, you know again?”
“Never give up thinking until the last minute,” he said with a smile on his lips, his finger nudging Wen Zheliu’s head, “because secrets always come in a chain.”
Years passed like flowing water, and after her mother’s death, Marianne had to bear the burden of the family alone. Fortunately, her family is basically just herself, but her struggle still lasted for a long time.
The dictators guarded the entrance and exit of the town, turning it into a miniature kingdom with only a few thousand people. Every night, women were forcibly dragged into the sheriff’s mansion. Most of them became lying corpses the next morning and were thrown out of the gate in a bloody mess. Marianne prayed day and night, terrified that it would soon be her turn.
She gritted her teeth and clutched her hair in the night, muttering accusations into the void. She now remembered her sister who had died tragically, her mother who had passed away, her defenseless self, the tragic situation she needed to face in the future, and finally, unable to restrain herself, she broke down and burst into tears.
—The players’ eyes were once again plunged into pitch black.
An indistinguishable female voice whispered in Marianne’s ear: “O lost sheep, why not throw yourself into the arms of My Father? My Father is as powerful as the sun and the stars, and his light is as brilliant as the moon. Write down the language that calls out to him and come to the other side…”
A drop of black blood spilled into the River Styx, and a drop of molten silver glistened under the eye of the Virgin Mary’s statue.
Marianne got the method of drawing the magic formation from nowhere, and with selfishness and hypocrisy, she summoned the tragic soul of her sister back into the world.
“Jenny, my beloved sister… ever since your death, I have been thinking of avenging you all the time. I feel sorry for you, but you are my favorite relative. This magic formation can give you great power. Let me guide you on how to retaliate. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!”
As the day and night rotated, the players’ field of vision suddenly switched to the scorched town, with corpses lying all over the ground. The bodies of the eyeless monsters scurrying and looking around flashed by. The flag with the symbol of an eagle holding an ear of wheat was fluttering and falling on the flames and ashes. By the end, the lush green forest conjured by illusion covered the horizon, and the world…
The sheriff’s mansion was rapidly dilapidated and rebuilt in the flow of time. Countless travelers came and went until the next frame was frozen, and they saw their own panicked figure running and panting.
Marianne watched them warily and cunningly as she opened the door, turned her body sideways, and whispered, “Please come in.”
The sun rises and sets on the horizon, and the camera freezes at the moment when all the secrets are revealed and the soul imprisoned here for a hundred years dissipates into the sky. Facing the snow-white skeleton of her sister, Marianne couldn’t stop her transparent tears from splashing down.
In the next second, the scene paused and switched again to the part where the crowd bid farewell to her one by one. Wen Zheliu saw himself on the screen, gently hugging and whispering to this woman, who’s a beast adorned with a human face, “I know everything you’ve done; don’t try to deny it.”
The carriage rumbled away.
Marianne pursed her lips tightly, her face pale and frail under the hood. She stared intently at the outline of the carriage disappearing into the thick fog, with a sarcastic and malicious curve slowly forming at the corner of her mouth.
She turned around, and the doors of the mansion closed with a bang, shutting all the untold past into silence and darkness.
Carried by a gentle breeze, a tattered and crumpled flag with the symbol of an eagle holding an ear of wheat fluttered over the desolate ruins of this place and soared into the high and boundless blue sky…
[Congratulations to player Wen Di for successfully clearing the first world. The system is settling the reward.]
[Clearance Type: Escape Mode]
[Evaluation of the ending achievement: perfect]
[Your strength increases by 9 points, your stamina increases by 9 points, your agility increases by 10 points, your spirit increases by 9 points, and the upper limit of authenticity increases permanently by 4 points.]
[Items and equipment obtained during the quest: Jenny’s pendant (level unknown and not activated)]
[Main quest completed: 22]
[Completed side quest: 01]
[Completed hidden quest: 11]
[Unlock Plot Achievement 1: Sharp Eyes Like an Eagle]
[Unlock Plot Achievement 2: The God of Interpretation]
[Unlock Plot Achievement 3: All-seeing, All-knowing]
[Unlock Personal Achievement 1: There is only one truth]
[Unlock Personal Achievement 2: The Truth is Not Always One]
[Unlock Personal Achievement 3: You two, why not just date already?]
[Rewards received: 5500 experience points, 23 gold, 53 silver, and 22 copper coins. The rewards have been distributed to your inventory.]
[Obtain item reward: an ordinary iron rod. The rewards have been distributed to your inventory.]
[You have unlocked all the plot achievements in the first world and obtained an extra item reward: secret black box b. The reward has been distributed to your inventory.]
[The settlement has been completed. I wish you a pleasant journey.]
Hua: Did you see the plot twist coming because I didn’t. 
And we’re done with arc one! The next arc is [Midnight Fun Show].
Golden finger wow! Thanks for the update! 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
What kind if an achievement is “You two, why not just date already”?😁
“why don’t you dare already” is this Theresa’s plot to ship it and then have the dog tag more easily huuum ?
Thank you for the chapters !
Oh no, Marianne is a bad bad girl
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
That plot twist wasn’t that unexpected imo. So look, it is common in horror instances that a group of people comes to a place and the owner lets them in, but they’re hiding a big secret. Therefore, it can be expected that Marianne is the Big Bad Evil Guy. More unexpected were Jenny and her multiple identities.
But those achievements, seriously… That “just date already” is really… hahahah! Them being all touchy-feely, even Sister Theresa noticed!
Personal achievement 3 is 😂😂😂
lol I feel like Theresa’s abusing her position to share her thoughts.
I somewhat expected that plot twist unfortunately
When she looked at her sister’s clothing, there was nothing but hatred, until their mother was mentioned.
Counter, mislead: She was enraged at the assaulters.
Note: Nothing but hatred, making it less likely. If it was primarily because of the offender’s, her eyes would likely also contains traces of regret or misery. None was mentioned, none was shown.
The song had a line- ‘kissed my sister instead of me.’ This brings to mind that she felt something was off or unfair, since it mentioned ‘instead.’ Not only that, but during the entire song, only the last part seemed to be sorrowful(or I’ve gotten the part wrong). This suggest jealousy.
Counterpoint: She could have been regretful and sorrowful due to wanting to help her sister, but being unable to.
Note: Also unlikely, there were no regret in the tone(though, that could be misinterpreted as well should there should be, though that would also likely accompany a tone of resignation).
During the fight: She did not help her sister- instead, she somewhat aided the players, though she didn’t exactly help them either. If she was willing to commit such atrocities to keep her sister with her, it would be logical to assume that she would be willing to fight against the players as well for her. However, she did not do that.
Counterpoint: Perhaps she found error in her ways, and figured that helping putting her players to rest would be better.
Note: She did not really aid the players, just watched the show. Her words and phrases also seems to enrage her sister instead of coax or appease her sister, though that could be due to bad social skills or bad communication skills.
Conclusions: It is possible to figure out the conclusion from the clues given, but it would be rather hard to link them together all at once.
Why I like to reread before the finale. Amazing what you see reading a second time!
Oh shhttt, so is there a way so Marianne can rot in hell with the rpists? She’s also considered as a mastermind/ the cause of her sister’s demise. Can she like, die a miserable death or smth. No remorse, she doesn’t feel guilty based on how she acted in the end, she doesn’t deserve happiness, she’s just as bad as the rpists, also I wish they added more detail on how those disgusting shts di3d, would’ve been more satisfying.
Yoooo?? System rlly just inserted “You two why not just date already?” As a prompt 😂😂😂