Chapter 85, Chapter Thirty-Two: The Fantasy Mansion
The bullet was fired, and the gun barrel was suddenly pulled aside by Gong Baidie, hitting the wall behind him.
"Be careful." He removed his thumb from the muzzle of the gun. "If the bullet doesn't eject, it'll explode."
Blood gushed from Wen Ting's smashed head, and bits of bone and flesh fell off in a shower.
Wen Ting pulled the gun back, but he didn't hold onto it.
“You won’t live much longer, will you?” she asked.
Gong Baidie smiled without saying a word.
"You said that only with enough power can one break through the supernatural tale. If I kill you, will I have enough power?" She asked point by point in a declarative tone, "If I kill you, can I leave normally? If I don't kill you, will I perish along with you and this supernatural tale?"
Gong Baidie remained silent, avoiding the topic of leaving as always, but a tacit smile graced her face.
With her guess confirmed, Wen Ting lowered her eyes and said, "Xiao Bai, I want to go out."
She pleaded with him, "You don't have long to live either, so please let me go. I'll remember you, okay?"
“Wen Ting, I’ve been played by a lot of scumbags,” Gong Baidie said with a smile and coughed twice, “but this is the first time I’ve heard such utter nonsense.”
“That’s because I love you.” Wen Ting frowned. “I love you so much that I’ve made the bad ending I set for you as gentle as possible. If you lived in the real world, you’d know that this kind of talk is commonplace.”
Gong Baidie covered her mouth and coughed violently.
Blood flowed from between his fingers, and after a moment, he spat out two bullet fragments mixed with blood.
Wen Ting waited patiently for him to finish coughing before asking, "If I don't kill you, will you let me leave?"
Gong Baidie raised her eyes from the blood, the butterfly pattern under her left eye merging into the blood, its shape blurred.
"Of course not, you're dreaming." He laughed venomously, the hatred in his eyes almost piercing through Wen Ting. "I wish I could rip your heart out and cut you in half."
This answer was expected; Wen Ting had guessed that he would try to kill her with him. She just didn't understand, "What have I done to wrong you that you hate me so much?"
The pistol was still hot. It seemed shameless to ask such a question, but she truly didn't understand why Gong Baidie hated her so much.
"Because I left Wanluo? I've already explained to you, that wasn't something I could decide..."
"Because you lied to me."
"What are you lying about?"
Blood spread along the fabric, and a strong, fishy stench assaulted Wen Ting's nostrils.
His hands and face were covered in blood, his whole body was trapped in sticky, thick blood, and even his eyelashes were covered in blood.
“Wen Ting,” he whispered on the crimson bed, “I’ve turned back into Gong Baidie… why won’t you call me by my name?”
Wen Ting opened her eyes.
His expression was just like the sound of a xun (a type of ancient Chinese wind instrument).
"When did you realize it?" she asked.
"It started when I recognized you using the identity of Gong Feibai."
“Impossible,” Wen Ting frowned. “I hadn’t even painted Faiones back then.”
At that time, she thought he didn't like the identity of "Gong Baidie", so she subtly changed her address to "Xiao Bai".
He hummed in agreement: "It's not your fault, you're missing a few memories."
Wen Ting was taken aback. "When?"
Gong Baidie smiled: "In a dream."
A chill crept up her back. More than the missing memories, Wen Ting was terrified that Gong Baidie had the ability to alter her memories.
She guessed that Gong Baidie's program would monitor her phone, so she stopped writing anything in the notes app, but she never thought that even her memories could be modified!
If the information in your mind is inaccurate, then all thinking is meaningless!
Her changing expressions made Gong Baidie laugh out loud. "Shocked? Scared? Then angry, frustrated, and powerless, feeling that this is unfair?"
He laughed loudly, coughing up more blood, and shrugged, "This kind of thing is commonplace in the world of games, Wen Ting."
In real life, Wen Ting showed great joy after confirming that he was Gong Baidie. She was extremely excited, guilty and remorseful, and deeply affectionate.
When they recognized each other in their dreams, she remained calm and composed, only analyzing and reasoning with him.
Because in her dream, she didn't deduce that he was the creator of the ghost stories.
That was her true attitude towards Gong Baidie.
Her excitement, her joy, her guilt and self-blame for regaining what she had lost were all for the sake of survival, for the strange lord who controlled her life and death, not for the palace white butterfly she created.
Gong Baidie discovered this immediately, even faster and more astutely than when she discovered who "Xiaobai" was.
But he closed his eyes.
He accepted the fake kiss.
“It’s my turn to be the planner,” her bloodshot phoenix eyes curved into a smile, malice seeping out like oil. “Get used to it, my wife. You can only get used to it.”
Wen Ting remained silent.
She sighed, "How dare you criticize me?"
Gong Baidie raised her eyebrows.
"Even though I'm lying to you, I won't use violence."
"And the 'wife master' you mentioned is like a countdown. If I can't make you happy immediately after you say those two words, you'll give me a bad ending."
"You reap what you sow, how dare you complain that I deceived your feelings?"
Gong Baidie raised her hand, rubbed her shattered head, and pulled out the remaining bullets.
"you're right."
His damaged head and chest began to heal, with fine, dense gray threads weaving through them, stitching the wounds at a visible speed.
In the blink of an eye, he was completely unharmed, leaving only congealed dark red blood.
"It's ridiculous for us to talk about love."
His head healed, and his face changed before Wen Ting's eyes. The butterfly pattern disappeared, his long hair became shorter, and his features returned to Gong Feibai's appearance.
Wen Ting took a step back, her grip on the gun tightening and loosening repeatedly.
He turned his head and gazed at Wen Ting.
The moment he decided to let go of the past and try to love her, he felt extremely uncomfortable.
He should have realized long ago that this fleeting relationship was not suitable for them.
So many years of wasted time have twisted even the most passionate love into hatred.
Besides, she probably never loved him; she couldn't love any character. Their relationship should be maintained by hatred.
“I’ve played a lot of games with you during this time,” he said, laughing as he sat on the bed of blood. “Before you die, keep me company too.”
Wen Ting swallowed: "What do you want to do?"
"It's a very simple game. As long as you can walk out of the door on the first floor, you can leave here and get rid of me completely."
"It won't be that easy, will it?" Wen Ting said calmly.
Gong Baidie asked with undisguised pity, "What can you do?"
Wen Ting changed the magazine of bullets, turned around and ran towards the door.
Gong Baidie sat on the bed, smiling as she watched her retreating figure.
The moment she pushed open the door, a long-unseen light appeared before Wen Ting's eyes.
She was momentarily dazed, then realized that the light source was the bright moon outside the window.
Everything returned to its original state. The furniture-less apartment became a 13-story office. Although there were no lights, you could still make out the general layout by the moonlight.
At the end of the corridor, a familiar safety sign was lit up. Wen Ting felt a weight on her waist as a small leather pouch appeared, containing an unopened dagger and her own fruit knife.
He gave her all her equipment; a great battle is about to begin.
Even the most difficult games have a solution, because the goal of game design is for players to win;
Given Gong Baidie's attitude, Wen Ting didn't think there was any possibility of passing the level; he clearly just wanted to play with her.
But just as he said, she had no other choice.
Wen Ting composed herself, gripped her pistol, and walked toward the elevator.
The middle section of the corridor had no windows, so the moonlight couldn't get in and it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Having spent so long in the ghost story of the power outage, Wen Ting didn't remember the 13th floor being such a dark place.
Scanning the buildings on both sides, she realized that this was the area where the carousel was located.
After the power went out, the white carousel became the only source of light in the entire haunted house; it used to be the brightest area.
She quickly walked through the darkness and arrived at the elevator.
The elevator car was stopped on the 13th floor, waiting for her.
Stepping into the elevator, Wen Ting turned her head and glanced back.
The bedroom was gone, and everything that Gong Baidie had arranged had vanished, leaving only the director's office at the end of the dimly lit corridor.
The elevator doors closed, and the overhead lighting remained stable and bright; Wen Ting hadn't seen such good lights in a long time.
She pressed the button for the 1st floor, and the elevator car descended for a while before getting stuck on the 12th floor.
bite--
The door opened to both sides.
Wen Ting pressed the close button several times, but the elevator remained motionless.
The time on the display panel changed from 05:02 AM to 05:07 AM, but the elevator remained stopped and could not operate.
After waiting for five minutes, Wen Ting took a deep breath, gave up on reaching the first floor in one go, and followed the game planner's instructions to walk out of the elevator and enter the 12th floor.
As soon as they stepped off, the sound of the door closing echoed behind them.
Taking another step forward, a subtle sense of dizziness arises, much like the feeling I experience every time I step out of the company gate.
When Wen Ting came to her senses, she was sitting at her workstation.
February 7, 10:02 AM, Sunny.
"Sister Windy, Sister Windy?"
A familiar voice came from above. Wen Ting was startled and looked up to suddenly meet the girl's youthful and innocent face.
"Would you like some milk tea, Sister Windy?"
Wen Ting was stunned.
She stared at the girl for a long time until the girl asked, puzzled, "What's wrong, sis?"
"No...it's nothing." Her heart was pounding, and Wen Ting raised her hand to suppress the inexplicable palpitations, forcing a smile. "I just noticed that your hair clip looks really cute today."
"Hmph, you have good taste." Chaochao tilted her head, revealing the hair clip. "This is a limited edition collaboration."
After showing off, she shook her phone again, "We're going to order milk tea, do you want some?"
Wen Ting shook her head, "No need."
"Okay." Chaochao returned to her workstation.
Wen Ting surveyed her surroundings without changing her expression. Chaochao, DD, Dany... all the members of Group Nine were present and in their respective positions.
The bright spring sunshine streamed in through the window, warm and golden.
Having just returned to work, the office was still filled with the lingering laziness of the holiday. Wen Ting listened to several team members chatting together, commenting on the new products at the milk tea shop and complaining about DD's daily Coke and Americano.
This is just an ordinary workday.
It was a rare moment of leisure, yet Wen Ting felt inexplicably out of place.
No, no... something's not right.
She seemed to have forgotten something—the revised requirements? The scheduled meeting? The deadline?
After checking all the important matters, she opened the memo and compared them one by one, making sure nothing was missed.
Exiting the memo app, Wen Ting stared blankly at her phone screen for a while.
After a while, she looked at the bottom right corner of the screen.
Something seemed to be missing there; it looked a bit empty.
Staring at the screen, she racked her brains for a long time but couldn't think of anything to put there. Finally, she shook off her doubts, put her phone aside, took out a stylus from the drawer, and started her work for the day.
Wen Ting was taken aback when she opened the drawer.
Inside was a pink, heart-shaped gift box.
What is this? Who put it here? Was it hers?
A strong sense of familiarity welled up inside me.
She had seen this box somewhere before; it looked extremely familiar.
Wen Ting picked up the box and shook it; it was very light, as if it were empty.
As soon as the box was opened and the lid left the box, it vanished before her eyes with a bang!
Wen Ting was startled and searched the entire workstation but couldn't find the box again.
It vanished completely, leaving no trace or fragment.
What is this?
She should have been horrified and shocked, but after opening the box, she inexplicably became happy.
Unexplained, inexplicable happiness, the elation of receiving a surprise gift.
The strange box bothered Wen Ting all day. She asked around but couldn't find the person who delivered it. She spent the whole night feeling uneasy and decided to just pretend it was a dream.
However, the next day, when she opened her desk drawer, a new gift box appeared again!
Without further hesitation, Wen Ting immediately went out, bought a camera, and installed it in a hidden corner.
In order to catch the person who put the gift boxes, she didn't go home but stayed in the staff break room and watched the surveillance cameras all night.
No one came.
Having failed to catch the person who placed the box, Wen Ting felt both worried and relieved.
She returned to her office at daybreak, hoping the strange occurrence would end there.
The idea came to an abrupt end when the drawer was opened.
She stared in disbelief at the third gift box that had appeared!
The unopened box from the previous day was pushed to the back, and two heart-shaped gift boxes lay quietly in the drawer. The pink boxes, tied with bows, looked like the most basic favor points gift in a game.
In the corner, the infrared light of the camera remained on, its monitoring range never leaving her workstation.
Wen Ting felt a chill run down her spine.
She took out the two gift boxes with trembling hands; they were equally light and seemed empty.
The office door suddenly opened, startling Wen Ting so much that she almost dropped the box.
"Good morning, Sister Windy." DD came in carrying a bag.
"Good morning." This child almost gave her a heart attack.
She examined the two boxes for a moment, then picked one up and walked toward DD.
“DD”.
DD turned around, "What's wrong?"
"Could you open this for me?" Wen Ting handed over the box, smiling apologetically, "The lid is a bit tight."
DD looked bewildered as she looked at her outstretched hand.
He wouldn't refuse such a small favor, yet he hesitated to accept it. Just as Wen Ting was about to add something, DD spoke up, asking in confusion, "Is this some new meme?"
"What?" Wen Ting asked blankly.
The two looked at each other, and DD asked hesitantly, "Could it be the Emperor's New Clothes? I can't see it, so I'm a fool? I thought you wouldn't use such an old joke."
Wen Ting looked down blankly at the box in her hand.
"You...can't see?"
"What should I see?" DD asked, puzzled.
Wen Ting remained silent.
After a long pause, she forced a smile and said, "Oh right, it's just a little test to see how everyone reacts."
"Oh." DD, unsuspecting, said, "Was my reaction a little boring?"
"What's so boring?" As she spoke, Chaochao was the third to enter the office.
She put down her bag and greeted everyone enthusiastically, "What a terrible morning, everyone! Another unlucky Monday!"
DD pointed at Wen Ting and asked, "Did you see what Sister Windy is holding?"
"What, what?" Chaochao turned her head.
Wen Ting handed the box to her, clinging to a sliver of hope that the one who seemed amiss was not her, but DD.
Chaochao was stunned for a moment when she saw the air she was holding.
She rubbed her chin, carefully looking at Wen Ting's hands, and suddenly clapped her hands, "Ah~ so that's what you guys were talking about. DD, how can you be so stupid that you can't even catch this joke?"
DD took out his Coke Americano from his bag, poked open the straw, and watched her perform.
Wen Ting held the box in a half-heart shape, and Chao Chao brought her hands together: "Clang, clang, making a heart shape!"
Wen Ting watched helplessly as Chaochao's fingers passed through the box and touched her fingertips.
DD frowned. "Is that so, Sister Windy?"
"Hmm... there's no standard answer, it's just a test." Wen Ting forced a smile and put the box away.
"What were my test results?" Chaochao asked curiously.
Wen Ting maintained a light tone: "The result is that you are cuter than DD."
"Heh, that's so obvious."
DD shrugged and turned back to work.
Wen Ting pursed her lips, feeling a little breathless.
Looking at the strange gift box in his hand, an increasingly strong sense of familiarity welled up inside him.
She couldn't quite place where she'd seen it before, but if she were asked to draw a gift that would increase favorability, the first thing that popped into her mind was this gift box.
Did she draw this before?
She immediately searched through her computer for a long time but couldn't find the record.
Looking at the two gift boxes on the table, Wen Ting hesitated for a long time before carefully opening the lid of one of them, trying to find clues.
With a soft bang, the box vanished into thin air, just like last time.
Just like last time, she felt happy, as if... she had gained favor with someone.
Wen Ting felt nauseous and disgusted by this association, yet she was also uncontrollably overjoyed.
The happiness wasn't intense and faded in about a minute or two, but the emotional disconnect still made Wen Ting's heart pound.
She stared blankly at the remaining gift boxes, a red dot appearing in her contact list.
The message came from a blank profile picture with the note "Director Gong".
Director Gong?
"Which director's surname is Gong..." Wen Ting was a little puzzled when a pair of phoenix eyes appeared in her mind.
She quickly recalled everything about Director Gong: the intricate butterfly pattern on the wall cabinet, the incense burner with intertwined branches beside the sofa, the thin black gloves covering her hands... These details were like patterns under the dust, which would emerge when the dust was wiped away.
Oh right, Gong Feibai, the art director, how could she forget her boss?
Wen Ting opened the chat and saw a message from the other party:
"Want to have lunch together?"
The previous director, Xu, also frequently asked Wen Ting to have dinner alone, but the new director is, after all, a single woman.
Eating alone might cause trouble, so Wen Ting thought for a moment and typed in the input box, "Would you mind if I brought another girl?"
She glanced at the gift box on the table and suddenly stopped.
That inexplicable joy surged up again, and as if possessed, Wen Ting deleted that sentence and changed it to: "Okay".
At noon, just as lunch break was about to begin, there was a knock on the door of the Character Design Team 9's office.
The employees looked up and saw the new director, dressed in a silver-gray suit, standing outside the glass door.
His cool, picturesque features relaxed as he smiled softly at the deepest workstation.
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Author's Note: This is a huge adaptation of an otome game into a visual novel! [Exaggerated praise]
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