Chapter 1 The Returning Soul Night Demon Mother
"I want to live, but I don't want to get out of here alive. If only someone could take my place in life."
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In the barren and gloomy mountain village, before the game started, the referee told the players: "The rules of this instance are very simple. You just need to find out the truth and survive. The guide to survival in this instance is the Ghost Mother Goddess in the mountain. You can make a wish to the Ghost Mother Goddess before she finishes eating the Japanese devils. This wish will definitely be fulfilled in this instance."
The referee was a refined man in a brown robe, speaking in a gentle voice. He pointed to a hilltop not far away, indicating to the players that they should look at the temple on the hilltop.
The mountain was shrouded in mist. It was just past seven in the morning, which should have been daylight, but the sky above the village was still a hazy gray. From the players' perspective, they could only vaguely see the eaves of the temple. The Ghost Mother Temple that the referee mentioned was not clearly visible.
One cautious female player asked, "If making a wish at a temple can make it come true, then if we all wish to survive and finish the game, wouldn't everyone be able to leave safely?"
However, the referee smiled knowingly and narrowed his eyes: "Dear players, sometimes we can read more books. Legend has it that the Demon Mother gives birth to ten demon children in the morning and eats them all before nightfall. So, you must make a wish before the Demon Mother finishes eating the demon children. Even if you all go to the Demon Mother's temple, you can only have ten wishes."
There were fourteen players present, meaning that at most only ten could leave safely.
The players' expressions changed; this was tantamount to rejecting their opportunity to cooperate, and they also had to guard against others attacking them.
Suddenly, every player became wary of others, and even the formation that had initially gathered around the referee quietly dispersed. Apart from trusted teammates, there was a sudden increase in distance between them.
The players, who were not very united to begin with, scattered and revealed their factions. Some cooperated, while others were left alone. Wu Wangwang was one of them. She had dark circles under her eyes, wore old clothes with worn edges, and had a numb face, as if the game had drained her of her energy.
The referee was satisfied with the players' reactions. Knowing that there were no newcomers in his group, he skipped the beginner rules and tips and directly announced the start of the game, letting the players figure it out on their own. They only had one day to go up the mountain to make a wish to the Ghost Mother Goddess.
If you miss today, you'll have to rely on your own skills to survive the rest of the game safely. But who wouldn't want an extra life in the game where they can just roam around freely?
The players were afraid to travel with strangers, so instead of heading directly up the mountain, they first dispersed in what appeared to be deserted villages before secretly making their way to the Ghost Mother Temple to avoid being robbed by others along the way.
Wu Wangwang was preoccupied and didn't react for a moment. By the time the referee reminded her again that the game had started, she was all alone.
Looking at the empty village roads, Wu Wangwang glanced up at the referee. The bloodshot eyes indicated that she was in a very bad mental state before entering the game. Perhaps what she needed now was someone who could save her life, not a game that toyed with people's lives.
Finally, Wu Wangwang lowered her eyes, silently bypassed the referee, and walked straight up the mountain without any concealment or precaution.
Just a few steps away, the referee suddenly said, "This player, you may not have been listening carefully. In this instance, all your wishes will be fulfilled. Any wish can be fulfilled in this instance."
Wu Wangwang paused, turned around to look, only to find that the referee had disappeared. In that instant, undeniably, she was moved.
With each step she took towards the Temple of the Ghost Mother, Wu Wangwang pondered the judge's meaning and whether her past life was worthy of using the "opportunity to make any wish" that the judge had mentioned.
Participating in the game was by chance. Wu Wangwang was born in a backward and feudal mountain village. Her family did not welcome her arrival. At that time, she was not called Wu Wangwang, but Wu Wangdi. She had five older sisters: Zhaodi, Pandi, Laidi, Xiangdi, and Niandi. When it came to her, she was called Wangdi.
There were many children in the family, and each child was always hungry and cold. Clothes that the female elders could no longer wear were given to the eldest sister, and then passed down to the next child. By the time Wu Wangwang was born, her clothes were so worn that they could be torn apart with the slightest force.
From a young age, Wu Wangwang was told by her family that she was not welcome and that she was not a boy, so she should be grateful that her family was able to give her food.
From childhood to adulthood, Wu Wangwang never doubted her parents' kindness to her. She even tried her best not to spend her family's money and carefully completed nine years of compulsory education before preparing to either get married and exchange the dowry or go out to work, just like her other older sisters.
Perhaps it was luck, but that year a large company opened a factory in the mountains. Wu Wangwang, who was originally going to get married, was forced to work in the factory because the factory paid more money, with a monthly salary of six thousand yuan. If Wu Wangwang were to get married, she would only receive a dowry of six hundred yuan.
Anyway, Wu Wangwang is still too young to get a marriage certificate. Her younger brother Yaozu was just born, and the family needs someone to take care of them and is short of money. Rather than holding a wedding to raise money, it would be better to let Wu Wangwang work in a factory, where she can earn a steady stream of six thousand yuan every month.
Fifteen-year-old Wu Wangwang's parents changed her age, pretending she was eighteen, and sent her to work in a factory. After less than two years, she heard that the boss was investigated for doing shady business. A woman in the same workshop saw that Wu Wangwang was quick and efficient, so she asked her if she wanted to go to the city to work as a nanny, saying that she could earn a lot of money.
If Wu Wangwang hadn't left the mountains for money, she probably wouldn't have suffered so much later on.
Because she was still young, her mindset was able to be corrected. She knew that her parents didn't keep her because they cared about her, that it was shameful to call her Wangdi, and that she would eventually become the flesh and blood to support her younger brother...
Wu Wangwang went to the city and became a nanny. She worked as a maid in the flower room of a fairly wealthy family. One day, the lady of the house heard the housekeeper call her name and thought it sounded bad, so she had someone take her to change her name. The lady of the house also had a daughter and a son and was worried that the children would have bad thoughts if they heard it.
Besides, what era are we living in? How can anyone still have such a name? The lady of the house must have disapproved of it, otherwise she wouldn't have bothered with this.
So Wu Wangdi changed his name to Wu Wangwang.
Wu Wangwang was very grateful for everything the mistress did, but her wonderful life ended when her parents came looking for her. They heard that Wu Wangwang was working in a wealthy family's house, so they wanted to ask for money. Just like the poor relatives of servants in ancient times who wanted to sell their daughters for money, they thought that by making a scene at the landlord's house, they could get more money.
Then Wu Wangwang was fired, and his family was sent to the police station by the woman of the house and detained for fifteen days on charges of "threats, fraud, and extortion".
However, the woman was kind-hearted and did not file a lawsuit, leaving Wu Wangwang's parents with a criminal record.
Wu Wangwang's life seemed to have fallen apart. After her reputation was ruined, no wealthy family would hire her anymore. She could only do very tiring and dirty work, and her salary shrank to around two thousand a month. She could barely support herself and still had to send money home.
On her twentieth birthday, she starved to death in her cramped rented room. Then she entered a game called "Resurrection." She didn't realize she was dead at the time. After confusedly completing the tutorial level, she woke up again in her rented room. She no longer felt hungry, and there was a new bank card in her hand.
She had a sum of money from her life-risking service in her card; it wasn't much, but it seemed enough for her to survive.
Wu Wangwang didn't really understand the rules of the game "The Return of the Soul". She only knew that every time she entered the game, she was on the verge of death. If she survived in the game, she could get a reward, which might be money or something she needed.
She participated in the game about four more times, surviving each time thanks to the physical strength she had developed from doing farm work since childhood. The fourth time, she received a much larger reward, a full 100,000 yuan, which also came with a cheap and comfortable rental apartment, for which she had already paid three years' rent.
Wu Wangwang transferred the money to her parents and moved into a new rented apartment. However, less than a month later, her parents brought her younger brother over.
Not only did she make the rental house very dirty, drawing various complaints from neighbors, but the landlord also repeatedly stated that if she could not get her parents to leave, even if she had paid the rent, she would violate the contract, refund the rent, and evict them.
Only then did Wu Wangwang realize that the rewards given by the game were not stable, and if she couldn't hold onto them, all the rewards would disappear.
However, Wu Wangwang could not resist her obedience to her parents, and in the end, her family was kicked out by the landlord. Her parents even blamed the landlord for stealing the house and made a scene. In the chaos, Wu Wangwang was pushed to the ground by her parents and hit something sharp, but her parents did not even look at her. They brought her younger brother to cause trouble and wanted more money.
After closing her eyes, Wu Wangwang entered the game for the fifth time. This time, she didn't hear the rules, requirements, or rewards clearly, but she did hear the referee's last sentence, "You can make any wish to the Ghost Mother."
There's nothing wrong with games. Life is so painful, why not live in a game forever? She hoped her night of returning to the dead would be long and endless.
There were only ten spots available. Before they reached the foot of the mountain, the players seemed to be getting along peacefully. But once they entered the forest, the atmosphere suddenly became tense, like a storm brewing. Even the dazed Wu Wangwang felt that many people were eyeing them covetously.
Time was limited, and they didn't know when the Demon Mother would start eating the demon children she gave birth to. All they could say was that the earlier they went, the more spots they would get.
Wu Wangwang had participated in the game four times and had a certain understanding of the Night of Return of the Souls game. She knew that the players must have feelings of competition, fear, and greed. It could be said that when faced with the obsession of returning alive, no one was without a ferocious expression.
But it is often in these times of distrust that as long as she walks forward, she can become the first person to escape—that's how she has survived before. The struggle between people is certainly terrible, but they are not here to fight; they are here to live.
So, while the others were still testing the waters, Wu Wangwang rushed towards the Ghost Mother Temple without hesitation. As long as she ran fast enough, the others wouldn't be able to catch her.
At first, the other players thought that as long as they delayed each other, they could survive to reach the Ghost Mother Temple. Although there were ten spots, who cared about the lives of others? They wished that only they could make a wish to survive.
Who knew a traitor would appear in the middle!
They didn't play by the unspoken rules and went straight to the sprint.
Wu Wangwang was a child who grew up in the mountains, so climbing mountains was very easy for her, as if she were walking on flat ground. She soon saw the outline of the Ghost Mother Temple. When she saw the dark temple, she didn't even feel tired. Instead, she felt energetic.
After a moment of reflection, the other players finally gave up on any schemes, tug-of-war, or tacit understandings. The fourteen players then rushed towards the Ghost Mother Temple like sprinters, turning what should have been a survival game into a marathon.
The referee at the foot of the mountain looked at the players on the mountain with a puzzled expression, unable to understand what the players were thinking. Young people's minds are just so strange.
Wu Wangwang ran to the front of the Ghost Mother Goddess Temple, her eyes bloodshot, and every breath she took was filled with the smell of blood. Behind her, players were scrambling to pull her down. She didn't even have time to look at the temple before risking having her hand broken and falling into it.
The moment she entered the temple, all sounds disappeared. Wu Wangwang gasped for breath in panic, glancing at her hands. They were unharmed, but her clothes were torn. She didn't know if it was because her clothes were of poor quality or because the players had been too rough.
There was no other sound in the temple except for Wu Wangwang's uncontrollable breathing. She composed herself, looked around, and saw an offering table in front of her with a black statue on it.
Wu Wangwang got up, walked to the altar, and carefully examined the statue. He felt that it was a ferocious monster with an indistinct face and long fingernails on its hands, which were in an embracing position as if it were hugging something.
Besides the statue, there are four dishes on the altar. One is empty, and the other three dishes contain three strange black and irregularly shaped objects, as well as an incense burner and unlit incense and matches.
Looking at these things, Wu Wangwang vaguely remembered what the referee had said: the Ghost Mother Goddess gives birth to ten children a day, and will eat all ten ghost children when it gets dark. Players can therefore make ten wishes to the Ghost Mother Goddess. Now there are only nine strange, indescribable black things in the dish, it seems that the Ghost Mother has already eaten one.
There are nine more wishes.
Wu Wangwang was covered in cold sweat. With trembling hands, she picked up the incense, lit it with a match, and put it into the incense burner. Then she knelt down on the prayer mat in front of the offering table. At this moment, she seemed to have calmed down.
"I want to live, but I don't want to leave alive. If only someone could take my place... That's my wish..."
The black statue's hands moved slightly, and it spoke in a gentle voice: "But if I replace you, what will happen to you?"
Wu Wangwang was startled when she didn't expect anyone to speak and respond. Then she realized that it might be the voice coming from the statue. The other party wasn't even human. Was it really feasible to make a deal with a ghost?
But she really didn't want to face the outside world anymore. Every time she survived the night of returning to the dead, thinking that she could live well after receiving the reward, she would still be on the verge of death again for one reason or another. It was like walking on a road with no end, either die or suffer.
Thinking of her parents, relatives, colleagues, and neighbors in the real world, Wu Wangwang finally made up her mind after feeling exhausted: "I am willing... to stay here."
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Outside the Ghost Mother Goddess Temple, thirteen players stood guard at the entrance, cursing and swearing. Each of them looked extremely ugly. They hadn't expected such a scoundrel to appear in their team. Without saying a word, they ran away. Aren't normal people usually on guard and testing the waters because they're afraid of being attacked?
Just like how they've all gathered here now, yet still secretly make moves from time to time, how could anyone recklessly charge forward without considering their own safety?
Even long-distance running in the Olympics requires tactics, yet that woman showed such a lack of sportsmanship!
Just as the players were about to get into a fight, the door to the Ghost Mother Goddess Temple opened, and Wu Wangwang came out.
For a moment, the two sides faced each other, and the players stopped what they were doing, seemingly waiting for an answer, yet unsure of what kind of answer they truly wanted.
Wu Wangwang lowered her head, her dark eyes darting around like wriggling worms, then she raised her eyes again and said, "There are still eight wishes inside. Do you want to line up?"
The human girl said that when humans want to get something, they have to line up. People who don't line up are impolite, and you can't play with impolite people.
As soon as the words were spoken, the players rushed inside, shoving Wu Wangwang aside. They crowded together at the doorway, and because of the intense struggle, they even drew blood. Suddenly, a tooth flew to Wu Wangwang's feet.
Wu Wangwang looked down, blinked, bent down to pick it up, checked the scent, reached out and patted the man whose teeth were almost crushed against the door frame, and handed him the teeth: "Brother, your teeth fell out, here you go, no need to thank me."
Big Brother: "..."
A note from the author:
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[End of this chapter]
Brother: Remember to bring your teeth to the court hearing, thank you!
Wu Wangwang: How rude! I'm not returning it to you (O^O)
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This is just a silly, endless stream of inspiration. If you like it, feel free to save it! Mwah!
The female protagonist's character design in this chapter is based on "Chinese Ancient Myths and Legends" by Yuan Ke. It is only used in the prologue. The female protagonist's character design will be further improved by incorporating folklore and other works. It is not completely fixed.
Essentially, the female protagonist is a fusion of folklore and the game concept of this story. Everything is based on the plot; all references and folklore are for citation only and do not represent the female protagonist's specific image. Please enjoy! ^3^
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Thank you for watching, and I hope you enjoyed the article.
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