Infinite spooky game

Chapter 436 The Covenant of the Gods (Part 8)

The group tentatively entered the inn, where a young man with a full beard came up from behind the counter and gestured in broken Mandarin, saying, "Gentlemen, there is one room available, a double room, enough for everyone."

It's absurd that four people would sleep in one large bed; this person would say anything to make more money. But for players who have struggled for so long on the snowy mountain, having a normal place to stay is already a blessing.

Moreover, this person seemed to have no connection whatsoever with the innkeeper named "Sangji" in the final instance, which undoubtedly reassured everyone. The doubts that had just begun to surfaced lessened somewhat, and the players once again truly felt the reality of leaving the eerie game.

With a broad smile, Shuo Meng clasped his hands in a fist and asked, "Brother, do you support facial recognition payment here? A few friends and I ran into some trouble on the snow mountain. We lost almost all our equipment, including our phones and ID cards. Is that alright?"

The young man waved his hands repeatedly: "No problem, no problem, it'll do, it'll do!"

No one expected that this remote inn would actually have such high-tech features as facial recognition payment; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was a "wonder after despair".

Jiang Junjue chuckled and waved his hand, "It's just a room, no need for the split bill. I'm representing the Tingfeng Guild to invite the vice president of the Unnamed Guild to stay here. If anything happens in the future, you'd better remember my kindness."

Since someone was willing to be a sucker, Siqi was naturally happy to accept. And so, the four of them booked the last room in the inn, and Shuomeng asked the man for some convenience food and clean clothes, paying for them just as readily.

The man had an honest and simple face. Seeing how generous the group was, his smile grew even brighter and more enthusiastic. He quickly packed the things that Shuo Meng wanted into a package, then took out a piece of white paper from a drawer and handed it over: "The four of you, please sign this. It's a federal regulation."

Under the strict federal government, it's practically impossible to get around without an ID card; especially recently, with the arrival of the final copy and escalating tensions worldwide, it's common for suspicious individuals who can't prove their identity to be arrested. Here, however, checking in simply requires a signature—it's incredibly lenient.

The four men signed their names on the white paper one by one. Siqi was the last to sign, and he wrote "Qisi". It is estimated that no one except himself would think there was anything wrong with this.

Shuo Meng bought a pack of cigarettes and followed Jiang Junjue upstairs. Seeing that Si Qi had no intention of leaving, Jin Yusheng shamelessly stayed by his side to keep watch.

Si Qi didn't mind and chatted with the man with a smile: "Brother, have you been running this inn all along? I see you're all alone here, without even a helper."

The man wasn't particularly talkative, but he didn't want to leave his guest hanging. He scratched his head, smiled wryly, and said, "A few years ago, my father was with me, but then he died."

Si Qi raised an eyebrow: "Your father?"

The man hummed in agreement and said, "His name is Sangji, and he's a very kind person..."

Sangji, the old man who runs the inn in the dungeon is named "Sangji", it is definitely not a coincidence that they share the same name.

Is the final instance based on reality, thus using some real-world characters, buildings, and items? Or is it because the world is about to reboot, causing the eerie game and reality to merge to some extent? Or perhaps... the players never left the final instance at all?
Since coming down from the snow-capped mountains, beneath the peaceful and serene exterior, something strange has been brewing in every nook and cranny.

The most direct point is that Siqi and Fujue sacrificed so many people on the snow mountain and manipulated many strange things to cause chaos in reality. The outside world should be in complete chaos, so why do the tourists in Shangri-La Town all look peaceful and happy?
Even if this place is isolated from the world, they should at least have seen the news; moreover, long before the final instance began, the Church of Heaven had already launched wars in various places, causing widespread panic...

What I see and hear in Shangri-La Town right now is too beautiful and dreamlike, like a child's painting drawn by an artificial hand, a sweet dream of self-comfort on the verge of death, illusory and unreal.

Siqi pretended not to notice anything, turned around and smiled at Jin Yusheng, saying, "This strange game is really perfunctory. Not only are the cattle and sheep used as materials, but even the dead are not spared."

Jin Yusheng laughed: "Now that you mention it, it's true. But the theme of the final instance is death and reincarnation, and Shangri-La Town is a real place, so it's quite reasonable to requisition the dead."

After the eerie game was shut down, the information blocking and cognitive distortion effects also disappeared, and the young man heard every word the players mentioned in their conversations about "guilds" and "eerie games."

He looked around at the two men, utterly bewildered, and asked, "What do you mean? Have you seen my father?" Siqi glanced at him, a half-smile on his face, and said, "Why would you think we can see your father?"

Yes, the two never explicitly mentioned meeting Sangji in the final instance during their conversation, so asking this question could only be due to preconceived notions.

The man stared blankly at Siqi, a hint of struggle in his eyes. After a moment, as if he had made up his mind, he stammered, "My father is buried in the snow mountain. Three nights ago, I saw him crawl out..."

Three days ago, around the time the final instance opened, the connection between the instance and reality deepened further. It was as if an invisible door stood in the way, and once you pushed it open, you would be transported to another world filled with demons and monsters.

Players have encountered situations where events in dungeons are replicated in real life, but bizarre intrusions are rare and often become known to the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation as regional paranormal events. This is the first recorded instance of a paranormal event naturally integrating into the lives of ordinary people.

It's easy to imagine that this snow-capped mountain area, as the highest point in the world and the origin of humankind in various civilizations' myths and legends, does indeed possess its own strangeness. The line between the eerie and the real is not clear here; instead, it is blurred by some unseen force, forming a balance where humans and ghosts coexist.

“I see. I understand…” Siqi tapped his chin with his index finger, as if he had suddenly thought of something. He frowned and pointed to the paper on the table with the names of four people written on it. “Right, I suddenly remembered that I once heard someone say that you can’t sign on blank paper, because someone might add new clauses in the blank space.”

He stared into the young man's eyes, full of suspicion: "It's not that I don't trust you, but you run an inn, you can't possibly not understand this, so why did you pull out a blank piece of paper for us to sign?"

The young man was stunned, truly not expecting Si Qi to suddenly make trouble. His inn was located in a remote area and had been deserted for a long time. It was only a rare treat that four generous guests had finally arrived, and he just wanted them to check in as soon as possible, so he casually took a piece of paper as a formality.

His Mandarin was already poor, and now that he was anxious, he opened his mouth for a long time but couldn't utter a single word. Seeing that he couldn't explain clearly, the young man in the white shirt shook his head in self-reproach: "I'm sorry, I was too neurotic. You know, when something like that happens on a snow mountain, I can't help but be nervous about everything."

The young man paused for two seconds, looking conflicted. After a while, he calmed down and looked at the man again with a sincere smile: "How about this, you sign your name on this paper too, so we can both feel more at ease."

This is indeed the easiest way to prove one's innocence. The young man nodded, picked up a ballpoint pen, and quickly wrote a line of Tibetan on the paper, thoughtfully adding crooked Chinese characters next to it.

He introduced himself: "My name is Tsering Dondrup, but they call me Dondrup."

Siqi watched with a smile as the man signed his name, his smile deepening. Suddenly, he took a step closer, pulled a razor blade from a special bracelet on his wrist, and cut his finger.

A drop of crystal-clear blood fell onto the pristine white paper, flowing in all directions as if it were alive. Like a flame, it swept across the entire sheet of paper in just a few seconds, imbuing the ordinary creation with an eerie aura.

The sound of glass cracking echoed in the void, as if a barrier had been broken. On the scarlet pages, the originally black characters gleamed with dazzling gold, and the divine power surged forth from this moment.

In an instant, the phantom of golden vines filled the entire world, waving wildly like the tentacles of a giant sea creature.

[A soul contract has been signed, guaranteed by the rules of this world, and no being may disobey it.]

Si Qi smiled, his eyes crinkling, and waved his hand to tuck the long scroll of the contract into his sleeve.

Deep within the dark hall of thought, the withered crimson vines have come back to life, with four new leaves hanging high, each belonging to Jin Yusheng, Shuomeng, Jiang Junjue, and Ciren Dunzhu.

"Since this place is closely connected to the bizarre game, that's convenient. I think the divine blood can still play a role. At least it shouldn't be a problem to transform certain things into a carrier for skill activation."

Siqi chuckled softly and issued his first command to the newly acquired soul: "From this moment on, believe in me as you would believe in a god."

(End of this chapter)