Chapter 177: Spirit Exploration Live Room
A string of red lanterns lit up in the forest in the dark night.
Xu Zhiyan leaned against the glass window, looking at the bright red line winding along the mountain road, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Great, someone finally arrived."
The note on the death tape is that it is a cursed tape and anyone who enters it can never leave.
Considering that he could only digest one person at a time, Xu Zhiyan felt that he needed to take a long-term view.
Although he didn't lose too much mental energy in the past few days, his uncle was frightened by the old ghost and dared not go out, so his activities were limited to the bedroom and the mourning hall. He couldn't go anywhere else. It seemed that he had to wait for the heroine of "Ghost Marriage" to come.
The goal of the mission is to rescue the people trapped inside. It is difficult to get new information without reuniting with the victims.
Thinking that the heroine had not arrived yet, Xu Zhiyan simply lay down and prepared to go talk to the heroine when he woke up.
It can be seen that my uncle is very anxious to hold the wedding.
Less than an hour after lying down, Xu Zhiyan, who was half asleep, was awakened by the housekeeper's frantic knocking on the door.
"Uncle, the person has arrived. Would you like to come out and meet him now?"
There was a hint of tiredness in the butler's voice, and it was obvious that he was woken up in the middle of his sleep.
Xu Zhiyan turned over, buried his head in the quilt, and said goodbye tomorrow.
Anyway, people are here and can't run away. It's dark at night and it's easy to irritate the heroine.
"It's so late—"
But as soon as I said no, the long-lost headache came back uncontrollably.
"Just meet him."
With a gloomy face, he changed the subject in a roundabout way.
After reluctantly crawling out of bed and changing clothes, the dead ghost Bai Jin was already standing obediently in front of the door.
"Go back to the funeral hall. I'm afraid the heroine will need to see the body later."
In Bai Jin's shocked eyes, Xu Zhiyan patted his arm and said, "Be good, if nothing goes wrong, we can go out in the next two days."
He needs to confirm the mental state of the player who needs to be rescued.
However, things were not as simple as Xu Zhiyan thought.
The main hall of the mansion was dark and gloomy.
Xu Zhiyan, who was sitting in the upper seat, acted like his uncle and carefully looked at the heroine in the red dress in front of him.
The heroine had a confused and somewhat timid look on her face, but this expression was probably caused by arriving at an unfamiliar mountain village overnight. She didn't seem to know that she was going to be sold for a ghost marriage.
Taking the teacup handed over by the butler, Xu Zhiyan took a sip and began to ask about the heroine's situation as usual.
After a series of basic questions, the heroine answered fluently.
Xu Zhiyan frowned as he listened, and the atmosphere in the entire hall was made a little heavy by his solemn expression.
Something is wrong!
Why does this heroine look like an NPC?
Thinking of this, he waved away the butler and others, and soon, only Xu Zhiyan and the girl in the red dress were left in the dull hall.
"Have you heard of...the movie?"
He suspected that the heroine had been completely assimilated, which was why she couldn't leave the videotape.
Unexpectedly, the heroine frowned and thought for a while, then nodded: "I know, but what does this have to do with me? My aunt just asked me to come and pay tribute to her..."
Xu Zhiyan stood up, feeling a slight headache.
After these few days of experience, he can now judge whether his character has collapsed in front of NPCs based on the severity of his headache.
Glancing at the panel and seeing his spirit value drop by five points, his eyes went dark and he almost fainted.
The girl in front of him was not the one he was looking for.
The lady in red is a real NPC.
Xu Zhiyan was struck by lightning.
If the heroine isn't the one he's looking for, then who is?
Next, he called the butler, and Xu Zhiyan listened with a gloomy face as the butler handled the follow-up matters.
After the people left, the housekeeper, with his wrinkled face, clenched his fists and kept congratulating Xu Zhiyan: "Congratulations, Master... Ahem, Uncle, the wedding has been prepared long ago. In order to avoid any more trouble, everything will be done tomorrow night."
Upon hearing the urgent time, Xu Zhiyan's face became even darker.
However, the butler seemed not to notice his expression and congratulated him mechanically.
"You can endure it for one more day. Tomorrow night, when the eldest young master and the young mistress get married, you can completely put your mind at ease!" He looked much more excited than Xu Zhiyan himself.
Xu Zhiyan nodded and gave the housekeeper a forced smile.
He had roughly guessed who the person he was going to save was.
Of course, this is the most miserable story in the whole drama. He has to go through all kinds of dangers and difficulties, and several life and death experiences, before he finally arrives at the mountain village and rescues the heroine!
Thinking of the hardships that the male protagonist might be going through, Xu Zhiyan felt strangely calm for a moment.
So he didn't get the male lead role because the death tape was devouring and digesting another person, so that's why this happened?
In the live broadcast room, the audience who had skipped a few days of boring plots perked up, watched the important plot dialogues, understood what was going on, and couldn't help but start making jokes.
[Damn, so that's how it is? No wonder Xiao Baiwan didn't get the male lead role, it turns out that some other lucky E got there first! ]
[Hahahahahaha, fuck, God got there first]
【Let us congratulate Xiao Baiwan for winning the second place in this round of the unlucky competition! 】
[Hahahaha that’s too bad]
[Be careful that Xiao Baiwan will come out to watch the live broadcast replay and beat you up hahaha]
Accompanied by laughter in the live broadcast room.
In the blink of an eye, it was the next afternoon.
Because he was not confident about his luck, he did a lot of preparation in advance. Xu Zhiyan had already memorized what the male protagonist was about to do.
He stood at the back door of the courtyard, gazing longingly into the distance.
"Why haven't you come yet?"
According to the plot, the heroine will get clues about the ghost marriage during the day and become panic-stricken and scared.
The male policeman climbed in through the back door the afternoon before the ghost marriage was to take place, found the female protagonist, and after learning the whole story, he proposed to take the female protagonist's place in the ghost marriage...
But what time is it now? The sun is almost setting!
If the male lead doesn’t come, we have to start preparing for the wedding!
Xu Zhiyan was anxious, so he simply sat on the threshold of the back door, waiting for the male protagonist.
But as time went on, the male protagonist did not show up.
Not sure if it was because the delay in the plot would affect everyone, he found that his mental strength was declining rapidly.
In just over ten minutes, even though I didn't do anything, my mental strength dropped by twenty points.
After drinking a bowl of hot soup that was so sweet it made him sick, Xu Zhiyan shook his head and said with a sigh, "If I continue to drink this much, I'll have to take this soup with insulin."
Put away the bowl and make sure no one is around.
He stood up and stretched his arms and legs. Not intending to sit there and wait for death, he returned to the room and summoned Little Bone.
Start plan B!
He found a decent outfit from the closet and changed into the short-sleeve suit he had prepared in advance. Xu Zhiyan held a can of solid foam spray and started spraying it at the small bone, muttering to himself.
"Little Grit, the organization now has an important task for you."
"This is 3D plastic foam. You don't have to say anything. Just keep a straight face throughout the process."
【Name: 3D Foam】
[Level: A]
[Type: Special]
[Introduction: A related prop dropped from a party dungeon. The user can change the color of the foam according to their own ideas. It will harden when sprayed (normal hardness). It is suitable for various funny scenes. ]
[Notes: The foam lasts for 7 hours and will disappear once the time limit is exceeded. The foam cannot be exposed to sunlight, so it is recommended to use it at night.]
[Mental Threshold Limit: None]
If you were to say what Xu Zhiyan has the most, it would definitely be these weird and useless props.
Although he had not been able to move around looking for clues to the video tape in the past few days, Xu Zhiyan discovered that he was a very stereotyped character. As long as he didn't do anything that would ruin his character, like walking around with a mask on, the housekeeper and servants wouldn't think there was anything wrong with him.
The closer it gets to the ghost marriage, the less talkative my uncle becomes.
This is the character Xu Zhiyan has been creating in front of his servants recently.
As for why it is taken out now, it is mainly because the foam is a disposable prop and its shelf life is too short. The best time to use it is on the day of the ghost marriage.
Xiao Ke Gu was a little dumbfounded.
It stretched out its arms and legs blankly, watched its owner spray it with flesh-colored 3D foam, and then obediently changed its clothes.
Xu Zhiyan used a pen to roughly outline the facial features on Xiaokuigu's face full of hard bubbles. His expression was a little strange. At this moment, he had a deeper understanding of his painting skills.
In the end, Xu Zhiyan compromised.
He found a mask and put it on Little Brittlebone.
After finding a candidate to replace his uncle, Xu Zhiyan sneaked out of the door wearing gray clothes.
He has to find the 'male protagonist'.
At six o'clock in the evening, the sky was dark, and Xu Zhiyan was sneaking through the jungle near the house.
According to the known script, the male protagonist should be nearby...
As a result, after a full hour, when Xu Zhiyan's mental strength was decreasing and he was almost doubting himself, he finally found the real male protagonist - a woman in a police uniform - under a dead tree.
The moment the person is turned over, the side quest is updated.
[Tip: The speed of time flowing inside and outside the videotape is different. Your mission target is on the verge of mental collapse. Please help the target leave the videotape as soon as possible. ]
The other person was still awake, but his eyes were full of fear.
She screamed weakly: "No, no, why haven't I woken up from this dream yet? I want to go home, I want to go home..."
"Can you hear me?" Xu Zhiyan waved his hand in front of the woman.
Unexpectedly, the other party grabbed his hand and said contradictory words: "Who are you? Am I dead? Please let me die, every time I die I will come back here, I don't want to die again!"
Xu Zhiyan took out a piece of candy and stuffed it into the woman's mouth.
The sweetness seemed to calm her frenzied state a little. When Xu Zhiyan asked her what she had experienced, the woman's eyes widened with panic.
What great suffering she went through.
"Please save me, please, please, every time I die and open my eyes again, I will be resurrected in this forest... It's too scary here! There are ghosts here!"
The woman spoke of her experience intermittently.
She no longer remembered her name or why she was here. She only remembered that every time she woke up, she was trapped in the woods and she had no idea what to do.
The first few times she was able to walk around without even realizing her identity.
One time when she was wandering around, she found a house.
When she walked into the house, she wanted to ask the people inside what era it was, but she got a splitting headache and saw her head cracked open, with blood splattered on the spot.
From then on, every time the woman woke up, she would just walk aimlessly in the woods and never dared to go near the house.
These words made Xu Zhiyan understand how this videotape "digests" people.
This is a world of rules.
Everything has to follow rules, and horror videos are no exception.
From the setting, we can see that this videotape is not that powerful. It consumes slowly and singly. The way it consumes humans is to lock them up and, taking advantage of the fact that they have no relevant memories, trap them in the forest until they suffer a mental breakdown.
"No wonder the male lead is always there..."
The videotape is afraid that someone will be able to perform the movie in its entirety.
Because only the male protagonist woke up in an open area, and there were no NPCs around with whom he could communicate about the plot.
If you miss the evening plot, the hero will die and start over.
On the contrary, whether it is the heroine or the villain's uncle, although their identities may not be very good, there are always people around them, and after dying a few times, they will be able to figure out who they are and what they are supposed to do.
Looking at the unlucky guy who was cursed in front of him, after hesitating for a moment, Xu Zhiyan reached out for the other's police badge.
"Identities should be exchangeable..."
Whoever gets the male lead role will be the one to be digested.
The story mentions several times that the hero is wearing a police badge, but his clothes are not described in detail.
He wasn't sure if his guess was right, but if he could take over the male protagonist's identity, then the person digested by the death tape would change, the curse would be transferred to him, and the side quest would be completed.
The next second, the woman whose police badge had been taken away was lying on the ground, falling into a deep sleep.
Without rashly pinning the badge representing his identity on himself, Xu Zhiyan found a tree hole nearby, threw the woman in, and found some dead leaves to cover her to prevent any wild beasts from eating his target.
When we returned to the mansion, it was already getting late.
Looking at his declining mental strength, Xu Zhiyan called up the panel and slowly asked.
"Can I know what level the reward for this side quest is?" Taking the police badge means that he might replace the woman to complete the hero's story line.
But he couldn't judge whether he would lose his memory like the woman after becoming the male protagonist. If he really lost his memory, then the risk factor would be extremely high... He needed enough rewards to make this decision.
“This straight line is not easy to reach, and I hope the game can give corresponding rewards.”
If he worked so hard and got a C-level monster storage device, it would be safer and more cost-effective for him to buy it on the black market!
[Please rest assured, the more difficult the content, the richer the rewards. 】
[We have estimated the reward level for you, which meets your psychological expectations. ]
The game system is like an old Tai Chi player, and everything he says is ambiguous.
Xu Zhiyan raised an eyebrow and didn't ask any more questions.
His psychological expectation was for a minimum A-level prop. From this point of view, it was most likely an A-level prop. After thinking about which monster he would equip from the safe house after getting the prop, Xu Zhiyan finally felt relieved.
He found a piece of paper and started writing and drawing, writing down everything he was going to do next.
[You are an actor. We are filming a scene with hidden equipment. You need to sneak in through the back door, then go through the small corridor on the right, hide in the water tank... sneak into the bride's room. The bride is your girlfriend. You need to complete the ghost marriage ceremony for her. Don't let it get out of your way... Remember, you have to kill the mastermind to complete your script. Don't let your character collapse in front of other extras.]
As for who the mastermind is, he has no way of judging and can only act accordingly when the time comes.
[Young Uncle (wearing a mask) and Young Ghost (a dead man in a shroud) are trustworthy companions. When there are only two or three of you in the scene, you can ask them what to do next and tell them that your memory has been erased.]
He was not allowed to go directly to his uncle's room or the mourning hall because the dead ghost Bai Jin and Xiao Cu Gu couldn't speak. He was not sure how he could bear it mentally after losing his memory, and whether he would be mentally upset when seeing the strange and silent monsters.
In order to mobilize his subjective initiative, he added a sentence at the end.
[As long as the performance is finished, the money you owe to the director (me) will be written off.]
[And I promise, if you can pass it in one go, I'll give you another million in cash.]
Although it is a bit risky, if it is an A-level monster storage item that can bring the monsters in the safe house into the dungeon, this adventure will be completely worth it!
After writing, Xu Zhiyan held the police badge, replenished his mental strength, took a deep breath, and put on the police badge representing the male protagonist's identity...
In the live broadcast room, the audience who were originally sweating for Xu Zhiyan couldn't help laughing when they saw the added content on the note.
【This wave of supplementary content is only 6】
[As expected, only you know yourself best! After Xiao Baiwan added supplementary conditions to his amnesiac self, his combat power increased by at least three levels! ]
[Hahaha, yes! Fighting power is at full strength! ]
[I am dying of laughter. Although I really want to say that it might not be that bad that I would lose all my memories, but when I think of Xiao Baiwan’s luck, I feel that these preparations are necessary.]
[Here it comes! You have lost your memory after all! 】
[Hahahahaha, Xiao Baiwan’s expression when he reads the note is so interesting]
[His face turned green. He probably didn't know why he was in debt.]
Near the back door, a young man in rough shorts was holding a piece of paper in his hand. His expression changed from confusion to solemnity, and then to collapse.
"Owe money? When did I owe it…"
Before seeing the note, Xu Zhiyan, who had lost his memory, felt a little uneasy, not knowing why he appeared in this strange place.
But when he saw the additional content, he was completely torn apart!
What the hell? How could Xu Zhiyan owe money?
Damn, one million is such a lot. For the sake of money, he has to finish this crappy show!
After seeing the one million in cash, Xu Zhiyan instantly became full of motivation, just as he had imagined before he lost his memory.
What script? What acting?
Isn't it just a ghost marriage? There is nothing in this world that Xu Zhiyan can't handle!
The young man, full of fighting spirit, took a last look at the detailed script content on the note, put the note in his pocket, and tiptoed into the back door of the mansion.
The mansion was decorated with red lanterns, which looked eerie and creepy in the night, and there were no servants walking around.
Xu Zhiyan doesn't care about that.
"The small corridor on the right... is here! We still have to look for the water tank." He used the red light to find the correct path and saved the effort of avoiding passers-by.
But I don’t know if it’s because the house is too big or the note wasn’t written clearly.
After searching for two rounds, he still couldn't find the so-called 'girlfriend's' room.
Instead, when he was hiding behind a pillar, he heard the butler and his servants passing by, talking about the dead master and his uncle.
"Where's the young master? How come he's gone again? The wedding clothes have already arrived!"
"Don't worry, housekeeper! It's probably in my uncle's room... Here, should we send all the clothes there?"
A servant answered carefully, and the others echoed him.
"The mourning hall has been demolished anyway."
"Yes, yes, there is no need to bring the young master back to the mourning hall..."
After all the talk, no one dared to take the fake young master back home.
The butler pondered for a moment, nodded in agreement, and ordered the servants to deliver the wedding dress directly to the uncle's room.
Thinking of the contents on the note, Xu Zhiyan simply followed the people delivering the clothes and came to the vicinity of his uncle's residence.
After the people delivering the clothes put the things at the door and left, and made sure that everyone was far away, he secretly moved out from behind the potted plant, walked to the door, and peeked through the crack.
With just one glance, his pupils shrank sharply.
The light in my uncle's room was on and it was quite bright, but the atmosphere inside was tense and not quite harmonious.
A man in a suit and a mask was lifted up by the neck by another guy in a shroud. The room seemed very cold, with cold air constantly escaping from the crack in the door.
“…”
Fuck? As expected, these two are my uncle and my dead ghost, but can these two guys really be trusted?
Just when Xu Zhiyan was about to leave, the door suddenly opened.
Damn it! I've been discovered!
His heart tightened and he quickly took a half step back.
"Bang——" Something fell to the ground.
Just as Xu Zhiyan turned around and was about to run, a cold hand grabbed his wrist and dragged him back. The next second, he was forcefully pulled into a cold embrace.
A hoarse voice came from my ears, as if a saw blade was going in and out of my throat.
"Where...have you been..."
Xu Zhiyan was a little confused, but when he heard the fear in the words, he subconsciously softened his heart and reached out to pat the back of the man who was holding him.
After making sure that the only people in the room were the dead ghost and his uncle who could be trusted, Xu Zhiyan spoke softly.
"I encountered something complicated, and my memory is not complete. Please let me go first. I think this matter needs to be discussed carefully. I have a note here...but the notes on the note look familiar."
He was blinded by the money at first, and after a while, he came to his senses and felt that something was wrong with the note.
The little Kegu, who had fallen on his butt and was squatting, had just recovered from the fear of being threatened by being sliced by ghosts, when he saw his owner appear at the door. He was hugged tightly and the sliced ghost even spoke in a coquettish manner. He was speechless.
A few minutes later, three humans and non-human creatures in different states gathered at the table to discuss the next plan.
"…That's probably it. I seem to have lost my memory."
Xu Zhiyan briefly explained his situation, and then became a little worried about how the ghost marriage would proceed that night.
He looked up at the silent dead ghost, stroked his chin and asked.
"What time are we getting married?"
All I have to do is find my girlfriend’s actor before then and get the clothes, right?
Unexpectedly, after hearing these words, the dead ghost Bai Jin's eyes suddenly widened.
There was actually a hint of blush on its pale dead face.
Little Cubic Bone looked at the shy dead ghost, and his inner speechlessness reached its peak. What a good actor! This Slice didn't look so innocent when he was pinching its neck to look for Brother Xu just now!
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