Infinite spooky game

"I heard that Kanna-sama is very ill and I'm afraid he won't live past this August..."

"Don't talk nonsense... Alas, it's rare to find a patriarch as kind and righteous as Lord Kanna. How could he get such a disease?"

"Let's make this year's fireworks festival a success, pray for Lord Kanna, and hope Lord Rabbit God will bless us!"

The discussions of passers-by sounded at the right moment, as clear and audible as if with subtitles, and poured into Qis's mind.

It seemed that Qi Si had only just fully loaded into the game at this moment and was finally able to speak.

He met Lingzi's scrutinizing gaze and said with a smile, "Because I want to listen to Lingzi's story. It's so boring to always tell yourself stories."

He lowered his eyes again, and said with some frustration: "Besides, the master of the family actually got such a disease. I always wonder if I told the story of the Rabbit God incorrectly and made Him unhappy, which led to such punishment..."

"Don't think too much, Xiaoqi. How could you have said it wrong?" The suspicion in Lingzi's eyes disappeared, leaving only concern and tolerance. "All of us children have to recite those two haikus since we were young. No one will remember them wrong.

"The Rabbit God descended to the northwest, wearing red and colorful clothes and sitting on a high platform, blessing the generations to come; the three families celebrated with fireworks, and drove through the southeast street, buried deep in front of the cave. You, Kurokawa Akira and I all knew this, how could we be wrong?"

The girl's eyes were blurry as she whispered, "Two hundred years ago, the land under our feet was still desolate and didn't even have a fixed name. At that time, our ancestors had not yet established a foundation, had no livestock, no fertile land, and could only make a living by hunting. They lived a very hard life and hoped that a god would come to the world to guide them.

"The Rabbit God was moved by their sincerity and descended on a mountain in the northwest during an autumn hunt. He met with the heads of the three largest families in the area at that time, namely Kanna, Edo and Kurokawa, who were our ancestors. He promised the ancestors that as long as they were willing to worship him from generation to generation, he would fulfill everyone's wishes at the annual fireworks festival.

"But people have too many wishes. If every wish is to be fulfilled, it would be too much trouble for the Rabbit God. Therefore, the Rabbit God will only fulfill the wishes of the most pious families. The family whose child tells the story of Him best is the most pious, and He will fulfill the wish of that family.

"Like you, Xiao Qi, the son of the head of the Kanna family, your wish must be for Kanna-sama to recover, right? My last name is Edo, and I have to ask my mother about my wish, but she always tells me not to think about anything else and just wish for the wish I want to realize the most..."

Reiko's narration gradually became more excited. Qisi listened and memorized carefully, completing the world view background of the game "Escape from Rabbit Town" bit by bit.

He first confirmed that he and the head of the Kanna family were father and son. Given the degree of love the residents of Rabbit God Town had for the head of the Kanna family, he should also be able to enjoy his favor, or at least not be hated or rejected.

Secondly, in addition to the Kanna family, there are the Edo and Kurokawa families, which are in a three-way balance of power. Reiko is the daughter of the Edo family. She seems to be very favored by the family and is allowed to have her own wishes.

Finally, the Rabbit God's criterion for judging whether a family is pious is whether the children can tell His story well. The moment Qis learned this information, the word "pass on" flashed through his mind.

The three major families passed down the story from generation to generation, and the children passed it on from mouth to mouth, so that the story of the Rabbit God was heard by more and more people. Even if it was a false legend, if it was told many times, some people would believe it to be true.

Those people will also become believers of the Rabbit God and spread this belief so that more and more people will know...

Qi Si couldn't help but think of the persuasion given to him by the strange game before entering the dungeon, which also said that if his name and deeds were known to others, he might gain faith.

The Rabbit God lives in Rabbit God Town, probably collecting faith, but I don't know what his purpose is.

Lingzi held Qi Si's hand and said happily, "Xiao Qi, you and I are both good at telling stories. We will definitely be favored by the Rabbit God. In seven days, our wishes may all come true."

The girl's hands were cold, stiff and lacked flexibility, obviously belonging to a dead person.

Qi Si held her hand and asked with pretended concern: "What wish do you plan to make?"

"I can't tell you. If I tell you, it won't work." Lingzi said mysteriously, "It's not a wish that's too difficult to fulfill. The Rabbit God won't pay attention to wishes that are too outrageous."

What is an excessive wish? Is it asking this so-called Rabbit God to transfer his authority?
Qi Si was thinking about it with great interest. He was really curious about the mechanism of the Rabbit God fulfilling wishes. He wondered how it was similar to or different from the Sphinx.

"Xiaoqi, look! They're selling rabbit masks over there!" Lingzi suddenly pointed to a small stall not far away and exclaimed in surprise.

Without waiting for Qis's response, she let go of Qis's hand, lifted her skirt, trotted over, picked up a mask and put it on her face.

She turned her head to look at Qi Si, his protruding rabbit lips and furry face pressed against her white neck, and in an instant they overlapped with the small corpse in the pit.

This rabbit mask is very strange. Its eyes are hollow and sunken, reminiscent of the eye sockets of a skull; the corners of its mouth are stretched into an unnatural arc, revealing densely packed fangs.

The uncanny valley effect has been taken to the extreme, and it is hard to imagine that such a thing would be sought after.

The stall owner also wore a rabbit mask on his head, and because of his fat body, he looked more funny than scary at first glance.

He looked at Reiko and said with a smile, "Is it Reiko from the Edo family? She is indeed the child who looks most like Rabbit God."

Lingzi stroked the mask on her face and replied with a giggle: "Thank you, it would be great if that's the case!"

"Lingzi, if you like this mask, I'll give it to you." The stall owner said with a smile, looking like a kind adult who is generous to children.

"Thank you so much!" Lingzi bowed deeply and ran back to Qis.

The strange rabbit mask on her face trembled slightly as she ran, and her smile became even more sinister and exaggerated, as if she had come alive in an instant.

Qi Si silently looked at the scary rabbit beside him, and then he heard Lingzi's smiling voice coming from under the mask: "Everyone has been so polite to me recently, even though they said before that you are the child who looks most like the Rabbit God!"

"Really?" Qi Si chuckled, his eyes narrowed into a narrow line.

The temporary change of words could not be without reason. The possibility that the "Xiao Qi" he played was suddenly overtaken by Lingzi is very small, and there may be other hidden stories behind it.

"Being like the Rabbit God" and "telling the story of the Rabbit God" are not the same concepts. The former is closer to the God and is more likely to be chosen to undertake some rituals such as the descent of the God.

The haiku in the Rabbit God story says:
[The Rabbit God descends to the northwest, wearing red and colorful clothes and sitting on a high platform, blessing and protecting generations
[Three families celebrate fireworks, the carriage passes through the southeast street, deep in front of the cave]

In the opening CG of the dungeon, Reiko died, her body was dragged to the forest and buried, and her face changed into that of a rabbit, which matched the phrase "buried deep in the cave"...

Is being “like a rabbit god” really a good thing?

Zeiss walked over to the stall selling bunny masks.

When they were two steps away, before he could even open his mouth, the stall owner called out from afar, "Are you Shichiro, the son of Lord Kanna? I heard you're the most pious child to the Rabbit God. I'll give you a mask as well."

He grabbed a mask and handed it to Qisi.

Qiss: "..."

He looked directly into the eyes behind the stall owner's mask and said, "I just heard you tell Lingzi that she is the child who looks most like Rabbit God, but I was clearly the one before." He lowered his eyes respectfully: "The fireworks festival is coming soon. I want to ask what I can do to become more like Rabbit God. Is there anything I am not doing well enough?"

The stall owner panicked and quickly apologized: "Qi Lang has done a good job. We are a small business, so we have to say a few words to please people, just consider it as a good relationship...

"Sacrifices are the business of the family heads. How could I possibly know the specific details? The Rabbit God Festival is coming up at the fireworks festival, and generally the choice will not be changed at the last minute. Perhaps you can ask Lord Kanna."

"Really?" Keith asked.

The stall owner wiped the sweat from his neck and said, "If you don't believe me, I can tell you that Kanna Shichiro is indeed the child who looks most like Rabbit God."

"Forget it." Qi Si took the mask from the stall owner with an expressionless face.

In any case, the stall owner still provided a useful piece of information, that is, a sacrifice to the rabbit god will be held at the fireworks festival, which is suspected to be related to children.

Moreover, the Rabbit God Festival is presided over by the heads of three families, who have considerable power.

The item description of the mask is refreshed on the system interface.

【Name: Rabbit God Mask】

[Type: props (copies cannot be taken out)]

[Effect: Makes you look more like the Rabbit God]

[Note: Don’t do it, we are one family! ]

The first second that Qis got the camouflage props, he began to plan how to impersonate the Rabbit God and steal faith and divine power.

Of course, he didn't intend to put on the mask immediately. God knew what would happen after putting it on, whether it would trigger a curse or something like that.

He held the mask in his arms, turned back to Lingzi, and asked softly: "Lingzi, what kind of person do you think my father is?"

Lingzi came back to her senses from her joy and said in confusion: "Xiao Qi, you are really weird today. How can I evaluate your father?"

Qi Si remained calm and patiently said, "But I really want to know Lingzi's opinion. This is very important to me. Father always said that he got sick because he was not pious enough. Even I am no longer the child who looks most like the Rabbit God... I think the opinions of outsiders may be more believable."

As long as you know a person's personality, you can design a set of effective and targeted rhetoric.

And Lu Ming had just told Qi Silingzi about her personality traits before the start of the second round.

Lingzi fell into the trap and thought, "How could you not be pious enough? There must be something wrong... I think Uncle Kanna is a very good person and always smiles at me, but my mother seems to dislike him very much..."

She paused and rubbed her hair in sorrow: "Mom also told me not to play with you, but don't let her know. I like playing with Xiao Qi the most!"

Qi Si had a vague feeling that Lingzi's mother might know something, so he said calmly, "I think your mother misunderstood me because of some people's unfair comments. Maybe you can take me to see her, and maybe the misunderstanding can be resolved."

Lingzi shook her head in embarrassment: "After my father passed away, my mother didn't allow me to bring anyone else home. Should I go back and persuade her?"

"No need, and please don't tell Lingzi that I said these things to you, so as not to embarrass her." Qi Si said.

A [Save] prompt appeared on the game panel of "Escape from Rabbit Town", and he silently said the word "Save" in his mind.

[Obtain save point ② Reiko's Rabbit God Mask]

[After Lingzi obtained the Rabbit God Mask, you were worried and asked the stall owner and her some questions indirectly, but failed to get more information.

[It seems that there is a conspiracy growing in the dark, which may destroy everything peaceful and happy at any time, but no one knows what it will be...]

After reading the narration, Qi Si realized that something was wrong and there was indeed a conspiracy.

I just don’t know which aspect specifically.

However, the name of the game is "Escape from Rabbit God Town", so could the mission objective be to leave Rabbit God Town?

After all, Kanna Shichiro is also a child, and was also given the Rabbit God Mask. There is a high probability that he will be affected by the conspiracy. Escaping early is the easiest option.

At most, he would take the unconscious Reiko with him and the two of them would escape from Rabbit Town together.

Qi Si made up his mind and turned his head to Lingzi and said, "Lingzi, let's walk along this street and take a look outside Rabbit God Town."

"Why?" Reiko looked tangled. "We have never been out of Rabbit God Town since we were born. Children are not allowed to leave Rabbit God Town. My mother and your father would be unhappy if they knew you had this idea."

"It'll be fine if we don't let them know." Qi Si sighed softly, "Besides, my original wish was to go out of Rabbit God Town to have a look, but I didn't expect my father to be sick at this critical moment... I really want to go out and take a look, just one look. Reiko, are you willing to accompany me?"

Lingzi hesitated for a long time before nodding: "Okay, we'll go out and take a look and come back soon."

Qi Si smiled: "Thank you Lingzi, let's go now."

There is a map of Rabbit Town on the game panel, which has a similar outline to the floor plan of Hope Middle School. Although the buildings and facilities are completely different, they can still be roughly matched.

Following the pointer on the map, Qi Si walked northwest along the street, and Lingzi followed him nervously.

The houses on both sides became lower and lower, and the population became sparser. Only a few adults in black stood on the street, looking coldly at the two children walking slowly.

At the back, the adults put on rabbit masks and stood like statues, their furry rabbit faces following Qis's direction with sad eyes.

I don't know when the fog started to rise between the sky and the earth, blurring faces and figures. The prayer ribbons on my head fluttered down and accumulated at my feet. Each one was tattered, as if it had been beaten by wind and rain.

"Xiao Qi, I'm so scared." Lingzi said, "Let's go back."

"Don't be afraid, keep going." Qis turned around and grabbed her wrist, but he felt a handful of short rabbit hair, which was cold and prickly.

(End of this chapter)