Infinite spooky game

May 1, 2014, rooftop of Building 12, Jinjiang Residential Area, Jiangcheng.

Qi Si sat facing Chu Yining, Xiao Fengchao, Fu Jue and others, unusually calm and composed.

The quasi-evil god, wanted by the Bureau of Mystery Investigation, has reached a temporary cooperation agreement with the Ark Guild, the predecessor of the Bureau of Mystery Investigation. Whether this is genuine or not remains to be seen.

In any case, as unfortunate souls trapped in the past, they cannot communicate with anyone, god or ghost except each other, and even the greatest grudges can only be temporarily put aside.

The first to reunite were Chu Yining and Fu Jue. This Fu Jue was not the chief player "God Fu" who was worshipped as a god and occupied the position of "savior" for many years, but just a chuunibyou youth who had just given his body to Lin Jue through the [Fallen Savior] identity card.

Initially, the conflict with Qi Si stemmed more from resentment towards Zhou Ke forcing Lin Jue to sacrifice himself. However, under Qi Si's rhetoric of nine truths and one lie, he quickly concluded that the two had a common enemy, and thus lowered his hostility and vigilance.

Then Xiao Fengchao arrived. This guy somehow unbound the [Doomsday Prophet] identity card and bound the [Forbidden Scholar] card, which allows him to communicate regularly with all players in the River of Time who have bound this card.

Before he could bring any more information, he started rambling on, on the verge of tears: "Are you kidding me? I just sacrificed myself to get my identity token, and then that weird game on the other end permanently shut down. This is definitely targeting me, isn't it?"

The whereabouts of the others are still unknown, but the four of them are enough to accomplish something great.

Chu Yining scribbled in her notebook, biting the pen cap as she deduced, "We've been trapped in this time and space for four months. The Weird Game previously stated that it would permanently shut down once someone cleared the final instance. Theoretically, the time from Lin Jue activating the [Dark Judge] effect to the game's permanent shutdown should not exceed one day."

"But President Xiao only received the news of the game's shutdown yesterday, which means that the time flow in our timeline is more than 120 times that of that timeline. I guess if we can keep waiting until the time on both sides synchronizes, we might be able to return to our original world."

Chu Yining smiled optimistically as she said this: "Looking at it this way, being trapped here is actually a good thing. Before, we had to enter the dungeon every seven days, which was more tiring than going to work. Now we have an extra twenty-two years, so we can treat it as a long vacation."

"Given our current state of not needing to eat or sleep, and not feeling tired, we might be able to travel on foot and explore the world."

"But what if on the day that time and space overlap, what awaits us is disappearance?" Qi Si feigned a worried look and asked with a wry smile, "No one can see us, and theoretically we will all become people who do not exist."

He sighed softly, "Lin Jue really has a good plan."

He spoke in a very low voice, as if he were talking to himself, but the other three could hear him.

A month ago, Fu Jue would definitely have argued with Qi Si out of respect for his senior; Chu Yining would have defended Lin Jue, and then Xiao Fengchao would have smoothed things over and changed the subject.

But now, facts speak louder than words. Lin Jue is indeed the biggest beneficiary in theory. The seeds of doubt have been sown. Even if Fu Jue and Chu Yining, as his loyal followers, are willing to protect him, their favor will be used up one less time after another.

At least Qi Si was confident that he could turn these old Ark crew members into his own people within twenty-two years. At worst, they could be used as hostages, right?

He still had too few chips. He had entrusted Qijia Village, Jiangcheng, the Colosseum, and the Insomnia Germ to Siqi. Although he believed that his crazy self would not waste his hand, he would still reserve the greatest trust for his true self.

If he could truly return to the original timeline, he would naturally want to go back to the gambling table, where he would have to make the most of his limited cards.

It remains to be seen whether Lin Jue, who inherited Fu Jue's identity and has lost all his emotions, will still be moved by these former followers.
Of course, we'll have to wait until we get back to discuss all of this.

“I think everyone has rested enough, since we’re all in a state of uncertainty about whether we’ll live or die. I have a suggestion…” Qiston paused, then said in a consultative tone, “Let’s head west and go back to the snow mountain. Perhaps all our questions will be answered there.”

Xiao Fengchao's eyes widened: "I'm not saying this to be mean, we barely escaped with our lives from there, and now we want to go back to that place? Are we trying to scare people to death?"

Qi Si countered, "Could things get any worse than they are now?" "No," Fu Jue replied succinctly, "I agree to return to the snow-capped mountains."

Chu Yining smiled and winked: "Putting aside the weird game, I've always wanted to travel to the snow mountain. I even did a lot of research during college. Anyway, we won't die now, so let's just treat it as a trip to check off our list."

With three votes to one, Xiao Fengchao, unable to vent his anger, was dragged onto the road to the west.

He looked at Qi Si suspiciously and muttered, "Judging from your appearance, you don't seem like the type to like hanging out in groups... Just tell me, what exactly are you up to?"

Qi Si narrowed his eyes and uttered two words with a warm smile: "Guess."

……

Fragrant city.

Dong Xiwen stared blankly at Alexei, the "Priest of Calamity," who was also another leader of the Balance Church, with lifeless eyes, utterly despondent.

"So, you're a true man who can bend and stretch, you didn't actually lose your memory, you just used props and pretended to be stupid to fool the weird game, and you managed to get to this timeline by tagging along with Lin Jue and the others, in order to avoid Bai Ya's sharp edge?"

Realizing that they, the intruders, couldn't attack each other in this timeline, Dong Xiwen became quite blunt, spitting out whatever came to mind on the spot.

Yuan sighed: "Young man, I can understand your prejudice against me. After all, no one likes to be a pawn in a big game, kept in the dark. But for the future of humanity, I have a reason to do this."

Dong Xiwen had a look on his face that said, "Keep making this up, and see if I believe you or not."

"Yuan" wasn't angry and continued speaking to himself: "The path to godhood requires sufficient sacrifices. Other competitors either sacrifice believers or innocent civilians, but compared to those real, flesh-and-blood people, I choose to sacrifice those who don't exist in this false space-time. The rules are on the verge of collapse. If I can deceive Him once, I can naturally deceive Him a second time."

Dong Xiwen squinted and said, "Isn't it because you can't compete with them in that time and space? Besides, haven't we already tried? We can't even touch anyone in this time and space."

Yuan smiled and said, "But the identity card can still serve its purpose."

A pitch-black card materialized between the man's fingers. The card's surface was composed of elements such as black crows, broken crosses, and skulls symbolizing plague, unlike the other identity cards which had specific shapes.

[Identity Card: High Priest of Calamity]

[Effect: Creates a reasonable disaster for a limited area and controls its occurrence.]

Yuan retracted the card and adopted a commanding tone: "Dong Zixi, your brother and I both hope that you can come with us back to the Snow Mountain."

Dong Xiwen's expression turned serious: "What if I refuse?"

Yuan smiled gently: "This means you've given up the right to decide the future."

The following day, Dong Xiwen and "Yuan" set off for the snow-capped mountains. (End of Chapter)