Chapter 38

The moment the bell rang, everyone stepped back, and there was frozen fear in each of their eyes.

There is nothing more terrifying than experiencing death.

The scene was completely silent until the bell rang. Li Yiluan suddenly spoke, "Is this why I calculated that no one would die?"

Everyone looked at Li Yuluan with surprise and suspicion in their eyes.

Li Yiluan looked at them. "We all died once, and then we were back to the beginning of the game."

When the topic of death comes up, everyone's face turns grim.

"What the hell is going on?" Lu Shun squatted on the ground, looking like he was about to collapse. "I'm still alive, I'm not dead yet, but wasn't I built into the wall? I should be dead, have I become a ghost?!"

"No, we all still have warmth." Bi Jiayin looked at him. "We're all still alive."

Lan Sicheng's face turned pale. "After everyone dies, the game starts over? Is this what the game field calls an unlimited time game?!"

This kind of playground was simply unheard of. They looked at each other in bewilderment, and finally walked together to the flag-raising platform in front of the school. They were ready to review everything they had experienced.

Yuan Jing looked at Shen Yunzhe cautiously and asked, "Are you dead too?"

"Yes, after you died." Shen Yunzhe nodded, "less than an hour apart."

Li Yiluan spoke first. "First, let's put aside the reasons why we all came back to life before the game began. After Bi Jiayin's death, Shen Yunzhe speculated that our deaths were likely connected to a campus supernatural horror legend. It all depended on who triggered that legend in a specific location."

"Then everyone, tell us what exactly happened? Let's work together to determine what triggered it."

After that, everyone looked at Lu Shun, who was startled. "What, what are you doing?"

"You are the first to die." Bei Chuanchuan reminded him.

Lu Shun's face looked extremely ugly, but this was a matter of life and death, and he had to recall what had happened at that time.

As soon as they entered the game, Lu Shun and Lan Sicheng were assigned to guard the guard room, hoping to meet the guard opening the school gate. The guard room was empty and there was no one inside. The two of them searched inside but did not find anything wrong.

Although the notice stated that a girl committed suicide by jumping off a building and that the teacher attacked with a weapon, it did not mention who the student was or what grade she was in.

"I remember the guard room's radio suddenly turned on and started playing some music. Lu Shun and I thought it was important information, so we started listening," Lan Sicheng said. "But the music soon ended and the radio became a cacophony of noise. That's when Lu Shun told me he saw the guard."

"Yes." Lu Shun nodded. "I'm pretty sure I saw the security guard. He was wearing a security uniform and carrying something like a hoe as he entered the teaching building."

"I quickly chased after him and asked Lan Sicheng to wait for me in the security room."

Lan Sicheng nodded to indicate that what Lu Shun said was true.

Lu Shun was a player of the fourth game after all. He followed the guard to the teaching building, but kept a distance from him.

The three games he had played taught Lu Shun that the game field would not be completely without clues. No matter whether it was a human or a ghost, there would always be one to give them clues. Lu Shun judged that the guard might be the NPC who provided the clues, but when he reached the corner of the stairs, the guard suddenly disappeared.

Lu Shun was startled. He carefully walked out of his hiding place, hoping to find the guard again.

Just then, he felt something hit the back of his head hard, and after the sharp pain he heard a strange and terrifying laugh.

It said, "You are still alive."

When Lu Shun woke up again, he found himself fixed in the wall, leaving only a small space. People in security uniforms were laughing and piling up bricks. He wanted to scream but no sound came out. He could only use his left hand, which was still able to move, to keep hitting the bricks.

But it was of no avail, he could only watch himself being completely built into the wall.

Lan Sicheng silently covered her mouth, horrified by Lu Shun's description. Not only her, but everyone present felt a chill.

Shen Yunzhe concluded: "It seems that the person who killed people and built the wall in this horror legend was a security guard."

Everyone glared at Shen Yunzhe.

"What about you?" Bi Jiayin looked towards Lance City.

"I just feel like Lu Shun's been gone for too long." Lan Sicheng sighed. "I still remember him saying he saw the security guard go to the teaching building, so he went to look for him. But as soon as I entered the classroom, I saw a female student in school uniform walking upstairs. She was humming the same song we heard on the radio."

"I actually knew I shouldn't have followed them at that time. I should have called you guys, but I don't know why, I was like a ghost possessed and followed them alone."

Lan Sicheng's eyes were filled with sadness. "I just followed her up."

By the time Lan Sicheng finally reacted, she had already reached the rooftop. She felt the wind on the rooftop and broke out in a cold sweat.

She knew something was wrong so she turned around and tried to run, but the door to the rooftop was locked tightly from the inside. The moment she turned around, she saw the girl in school uniform jumping down from the rooftop. Lan Sicheng felt a chill all over her body, and she began to knock on the door repeatedly to try to attract attention.

Shen Yunzhe and Li Yuluan were in the teaching building, so they could be heard as long as they spoke louder.

"Then I saw you guys coming out of the side door," Lan Sicheng said. "I wanted to call you up to open the door for me, but as soon as I got to the side, I was pushed back." Lan Sicheng kept rubbing his arms, looking terrified. "I don't know who pushed me, and I don't know what happened next."

Bei Chuanchuan said that she counted the steps in her mind while going up the stairs, and heard someone calling her name. When she turned around, she also heard a piece of music.

Then it felt like something pulled me out and I hit the steps hard.

The remaining four people witnessed this scene with their own eyes, so there is no need to say too much. Then it was Bi Jiayin's turn. Compared with Bei Chuanchuan, Bi Jiayin's situation was much more terrible. At that time, Shen Yunzhe tried to save her but was completely unable to hold her back. She jumped out recklessly and landed on the wall.

"I saw a student," Bi Jiayin said, seeming a little awkward. "At that time, I was thinking about leaving, wondering how to get out of that wall. Li Yulun also mentioned that maybe we could get out from the third floor. I also heard the song you mentioned, and at that time I thought it was the bell for the end of class in the teaching building."

Li Yuluan and Shen Yunzhe looked at each other and knew that they had just said it casually, but Bi Jiayin had remembered it in his heart.

"That student was a girl. I saw her in her school uniform. She tried to climb up the wall from the third-floor balcony and then she flipped over. I even heard her laughter." Bi Jiayin covered her eyes. "I don't know why I was so obsessed with thinking that I could get through it that way."

"I don't even know how I got out of the balcony. At that point, all I wanted was to leave."

"I couldn't hear any sounds around me, and I couldn't see anyone." Bi Jiayin's fingers were trembling. "By the time I reacted, I was already hanging on the wall. The last thing I saw was Shen Yunzhe reaching out to me, trying to pull me back, but by then I was already too late."

Then came Yuan Jing and Li Yiluan, who were the ones who had someone under the bed and the stranger who knocked on the door of the girls' dormitory.

Shen Yunzhe was the last one. No one present knew how he died, and everyone looked at him.

"Ghost photo." Shen Yunzhe said concisely, and as everyone nodded, he added, "I pulled it from Li Yuluan's neck."

Everyone: ...

They looked at Shen Yunzhe with horror.

"How dare you take things from the corpse?!" Lu Shun jumped up and down.

"Why wouldn't you dare?" Shen Yunzhe spread his hands. "That photo is very important. It shows a female student and her teacher. On the back of the photo is a message from the teacher, saying that her student committed suicide by jumping off a building. It's obviously the teacher mentioned in the announcement."

Li Yiluan covered his neck and coughed.

It was really weird listening to another player pull a photo out of his own corpse.

"It's normal for a forensic doctor to look for evidence on a corpse, right?" Yuan Jing whispered.

"Ah? A forensic doctor?" Lu Shun looked at Yuan Jing with a blank look, then pointed at Shen Yunzhe, "Are you a forensic doctor?"

"A former forensic pathologist, now unemployed," Shen Yunzhe added. "Anyway, I was carrying the photo to find the source of the strange music, but when I got to the back of the teaching building, I noticed the image in the photo had transformed into someone else, and then that thing emerged from the photo."

"Open your eyes again, it's now."

Everyone fell silent again. After sorting out everyone's memories, they had to believe this fact.

They have all died once, and after death they returned to the beginning of the game and started over with their memories.

"So what should we do now?" Lan Sicheng looked at them.

Li Yiluan said: "Let's avoid the place where we died last time."

Bi Jiayin nodded, then added: "We can't repeat the subversion. Then, we need to find the location of the female student and the teacher based on Shen Yunzhe's information. This is the only information we can confirm. We couldn't go to the faculty building last time, so we have to go to the Academic Affairs Office as well."

"Right, right, right." Lu Shun nodded continuously, "We must avoid the place where the accident happened last time. This time we will definitely find a way to leave the school!"

Shen Yunzhe watched them regain their confidence, and opened the live broadcast to read the barrage of comments.

Champagne is still being popped in the barrage, as if all the highlights have finally begun at this moment.

The audience doesn't think they can succeed, the audience doesn't think they can do it, the audience is preparing to watch the show.

A game with no time limit, but where all players will die on the first day and have to start over.

Shen Yunzhe slowly smiled.

“It’s so exciting.”

What a strange playground, what an exciting way to play.

【Change the parallel world. 】

"Ah?" Shen Yunzhe asked subconsciously, and everyone around him looked at him.

Shen Yunzhe smiled and said, "It's okay. I just thought I saw a shadow. When I looked closely, I realized it was the shadow of a tree."

Everyone turned around again to discuss countermeasures.

[World C05801, codename Music Composer, syncing in progress, sync rate 20%.]

[Through review, you all heard a piece of music before the accident. Codename Music Creator can easily distinguish the difference in sound.]

At the moment of successful synchronization, the excitement caused by being in an extreme situation dissipated from Shen Yunzhe's mind. He stood there, exhaled a long breath, but didn't know what to do.

The system is a psycho! It never says anything about switching to the synchronized world immediately, not even giving him time to react!

"Shen Yunzhe?" Yuan Jing called his name.

The five old players in front were still discussing how to go to the right place. Shen Yunzhe did not participate, and Yuan Jing could do nothing. Both of them were in a daze. When you are in a daze, time will become very slow. Shen Yunzhe looked absent-minded, so Yuan Jing decided to talk to Shen Yunzhe.

"...Ah?" Shen Yunzhe looked at her, his words a little slow.

"Do you think we'll survive?" Yuan Jing asked, lowering her head. "Can we really find a way to leave this time?"

Shen Yunzhe was stunned for a moment, and after a few seconds he said dully, "Maybe."

Yuan Jing blinked and turned to look at Shen Yunzhe, "Shen Yunzhe? You..."

"It's okay, I'm fine." Shen Yunzhe lowered his head and didn't look at her at all.

Yuan Jing's face was full of question marks.

Shen Yunzhe was also cursing in his heart. He felt that something was wrong, very wrong. His mind was filled with the feeling that something was wrong.

He was a little afraid to meet Yuan Jing's gaze, afraid to speak. Even if he did, he kept his words short. He had absolutely no desire to communicate. This was completely different from the Climber, the guy who lied so easily. Damn it, didn't the system consider personality when switching partners?!

[No, I only choose parallel worlds that are suitable for the current situation.]

The system said quietly: [Codename Music Composer has a pair of sharp ears, but is extremely socially anxious and is most afraid of interacting with outsiders.]

Damn! He knew it was like this!

Help, is it true that he won't be killed by the ghost before being possessed by his teammates?!

"Shen Yunzhe?" Yuan Jing looked at him with a face full of question marks. "Are you really okay? Why are you suddenly so silent?"

Shen Yunzhe carefully moved to avoid her contact, and spoke after a long time, "I'm thinking about something."

"What is it?"

"Exactly. When I died last time, I seemed to see a clock on the birdcage." Shen Yunzhe racked his brains to make up a story. Because he was not good at lying, he spoke haltingly, even though what he said was not a lie. "I seemed to see the clock turning counterclockwise."

"We need to tell everyone about this kind of thing." Yuan Jing said, "Maybe it's related to that."

Shen Yunzhe nodded, "Go ahead and tell him."

"Huh?" Yuan Jing looked at Shen Yunzhe strangely. "Shen Yunzhe, what's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly not like yourself?"

"Actually, I have two personalities." Shen Yunzhe whispered seriously to Yuan Jing, "One is very extroverted, and the other is very introverted. I have now switched to the introverted side, so I don't dare to speak at all now..."

What am I talking about! Shen Yunzhe wailed in his heart.

Even if you can't lie, you can't lie in such an embarrassing way!

Shen Yunzhe tried to find a crack to bury himself in.

You are too big to fit in.

Damn system, still watching the show!

Yuan Jing's eyes were filled with confusion. She quietly pulled Li Yuluan. Although he was a cool guy, they had experienced life and death together, so she unexpectedly trusted Li Yuluan quite a lot.

At this time, everyone had assigned their tasks and was about to go to the faculty building when Li Yuluan was pulled over by Yuan Jing in confusion.

"What?" Li Yuluan asked her.

Yuan Jing pointed at Shen Yunzhe who was sitting there, "Shen Yunzhe, something seems to be wrong."

"Something's wrong?" Li Yiluan walked over and looked Shen Yunzhe up and down. He stared at him for a long time before speaking, "There's no difference in my opinion."

"But... he said he has two personalities." Yuan Jing frowned, "He also said one is extroverted and the other is introverted."

"My fortune telling is very accurate. I predicted that we would not die before, and we did not die." Li Yiluan was very firm. "Now I predicted that he will be fine, so he is fine."

Yuan Jing twitched her lips, not knowing what to say.

"Can……"

"Perhaps this is why he resigned from his job as a forensic doctor." Li Yiluan firmly believed in his fortune-telling results and speculated, confident that Shen Yunzhe was fine. "Otherwise, why would he resign from the forensic medicine profession? He's still so young and full of ambition."

Yuan Jing looked at them and said, "...Okay."

She reluctantly believed it.

Besides, they had only known each other for one day at most. What if Shen Yunzhe’s personality was so changeable?

It's not impossible.

Seeing Yuan Jing's belief, and thinking that the others had only spent a short time with him and probably wouldn't have too many doubts, Shen Yunzhe quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Yuan Jing turned around and caught up with the others, leaving only Shen Yunzhe and Li Yuluan there.

Li Yiluan turned his head and looked at him. He sat in front of Shen Yunzhe and looked at him, staring at him for a long time.

"Who possesses you?"

Shen Yunzhe was stunned for a moment, then he looked up and met Li Yuluan's gaze.

"The first time I saw you, I felt something was wrong with you. Looking at you, it was like I was seeing two destinies, one of which had already ended. Yet, your actions and thoughts seemed normal, and you didn't seem possessed by the ghost from the playground." Li Yiluan spoke at length, a rare moment. "But how could that extra destiny of yours have changed in just a few moments?"

"It became a fate I had never seen before, but it was also a fate that had already ended."

...He knows, he can see?!

"I." Shen Yunzhe opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say, "I, don't know."

"Your destiny has changed and is heading in an invisible direction." Li Yiluan said, "I can't help you because I'm just a fortune teller and I can't change your destiny."

"But fortune-telling costs money," Li Yiluan said, "when we get out, you have to pay me for it."

Shen Yunzhe: ...tsk.