Infinite spooky game

The post Siqi made on the Weird Games Forum on May 11th continued to gain traction.

The player community represents only a tiny fraction of humanity, but they are distributed across all levels and industries, including high-ranking officials in the federal government and directors of monopolistic groups, giving them the power to exert extraordinary influence on the world.

The global unrest of the past week has left them shaken. Although they have managed to survive thanks to their past savings, if another bizarre invasion of similar scale were to occur, even if they had ways to survive, they would have no way to protect their friends, family, and assets.

Furthermore, Siqi clearly stated that the supernatural beings in his possession would kill unconditionally once they went out of control. This meant that the ensuing crisis was unpredictable, unavoidable, and endless, and might even develop into a man-made disaster similar to nuclear contamination, causing enormous economic and population losses.

No one wants to see such a future happen.

Players with resources have already mobilized their remaining forces in the real world to put pressure on Fu Jue through multiple channels.

A chairman of the Federal Council called the Jiangcheng branch of the Bureau of Mystery Investigation, demanding to speak with Fu Jue. After learning that Fu Jue was still on his way, he also threatened to charge Fu Jue with crimes against humanity if he did not stop all his actions.

The conglomerate, which has close ties to the gray area, spent huge sums of money hiring all sorts of people to track down Fu Jue's whereabouts. It would be best if they could control him and reach a consensus with him. If he did not cooperate, it would be fine to kill him on the spot.

Most of them are ordinary people struggling and barely surviving in the current situation, who can only appeal to Fu Jue through game forums.

#Fu Jue, your Kyushu faction has been targeting the Unnamed Guild, instigating a civil war that could have led to the destruction of all humanity. Your intentions are despicable!#
#Fu Shen, I used to be one of your admirers. Could you please consider our situation and put aside your personal grudges for now? We can talk about it later.#
#Even if Siqi is a massacre-style player, so what? Hasn't Fu Jue ever harmed anyone? Ultimately, this is just an excuse for factionalism and exclusion in Kyushu!#
#A letter to Fu Jue: Fu Jue, stop! Stop targeting Si Qi! We shouldn't be the victims of your struggle!#
Of course, some people have questioned Siche, believing that he is like a terrorist who kidnaps hostages to threaten the authorities, and that his statements are only to achieve his own ulterior motives.

So the account named "Siqi" posted another thread, roughly saying that he had been looking for a way to die before even entering the eerie game, and seeing that many people wanted him to die, he wholeheartedly agreed. As for what would happen if the eerie things he controlled went out of control after his death... well, good luck to him, of course.

If the previous post was somewhat vague about the number of strange items he possessed and their potential impact, blurring the lines between fact and fiction, then this post is the absolute truth. Anyone who has watched Siqi's game livestream knows that this person is an unpredictable madman with a significant self-destructive tendency.

Suddenly, some players who were originally focused on denouncing Fu Jue also started attacking those who questioned Si Qi: What are you doing, trying to be so quick-witted? What if you provoke this lunatic and he explodes?
No one knows how many supernatural entities Siqi actually controls, or whether the claim that he can cause hundreds of millions of deaths is just empty boasting or genuine. But life is only once, and no one can afford to gamble with it.

Moreover, judging from the content of the post, Siqi, who possesses a divine name despite being a mortal, is very likely to be the winner of the final instance. Even if it's just to have a place in the new world, it's never wrong to worship him and actively take sides as soon as possible.

Lin Jue and some of his direct subordinates knew the exact situation. Si Qi not only did not obtain the authority of the Ancestral God, but the only strange things he controlled were the Rose, the Colosseum, the Insomnia Germ, and Qi Family Village. Even if they all broke out, the Strange Investigation Bureau could end their influence within six months based on its past experience.

The problem is, being in the eye of the storm, no one will believe what they say.

Ever since before the final instance began, when Lin Jue used all the supernatural beings he had previously contained as leverage to coerce the entire Bureau of Supernatural Investigation into obeying him, the Federation's high command has defined him the same way they define Si Qi: "a madman who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals"—who would believe the madman's one-sided story?

This is the most outspoken and flawless scheme. Even if a clever outsider could see through the trick, they wouldn't dare gamble on the truth of Si Qi's hand or the veracity of Lin Jue's words.

"That's humanity for you. Swept up in skepticism, they think themselves clever and never give their trust. They'd rather bow to violence than follow justice, begging for a moment of peace. A few casual words are all it takes to make them abandon their long-held beliefs and turn against their former heroes..."

Siqi sat in the back seat of the SUV, fiddling with his newly acquired smartphone, repeatedly refreshing posts on the game forum, while making a hands-free call: "Lin Jue, if nothing unexpected happens, a considerable number of people now wish you dead. I'm curious, as a savior who has always touted himself as 'saving all of humanity,' would you choose to commit suicide when all of humanity is demanding your death?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then spoke again, calm and undisturbed: "No matter which round of the game, the ending I've written for myself is death. After killing you, I will quell the impact you've caused as quickly as possible, and commit suicide when the dust settles, ending the disturbance that this bizarre game has caused to the world for the past thirty-six years."

“A wonderful idea, as expected of Lin Jue.” Si Qi laughed. “But unfortunately, you may need to worry about your personal safety more than killing me. I hope you are still staying in Shangri-La as you said before, instead of being on the plane back to Jiangcheng. Otherwise, a bomb could obliterate you.”

"By the way, I might need to remind you that you won't be so lucky this round. There are only a few chuunibyou teenagers like Fu Jue who are willing to give their bodies to their seniors. The effect of the [Fallen Savior] card has already been activated once. The next time it will probably require you to exchange your death for someone else to be resurrected in your body."

"I know." Lin Jue hung up the phone in an unassuming long-distance bus.

The phone screen displayed an internal communication software. A message came from someone with the contact name "Tingfeng": "Fu Jue, the helicopter that carried you was bombed over Shancheng. It was a bomb launched from the Shancheng military base. There are quite a few people in the Federation who want you dead. You'd better be careful, or you might ruin our investment."

Lin Jue typed a line of text quickly and pressed send: "Some of them have bad memories and have forgotten what I told them before entering the final instance. I will remind them again."

The moment Lin Jue saw Siqi's first post, he foresaw what would happen next. It wasn't that he was particularly adept at understanding people's hearts, but rather that he had dealt with the high-ranking officials of the Federation for a long time and knew the true nature of those incompetent and useless people.

So the helicopter secretly stopped at an air-raid shelter in the mountain city. Lin Jue and Tingfeng, disguised as ordinary refugees, chartered a bus, explaining that they wanted to return to their hometown to handle their assets, seeing that the situation had improved.

The driver wasn't a player of the game and naturally didn't know Lin Jue's identity. It would take some time for the news to spread from the game forums, and he also didn't know that a madman named "Si Qi" was threatening his life.

They'll certainly make exorbitant demands, but Lin is certainly not short of money; if they want to rob and kill, the Listening Wind gang also has guns and ammunition.

The group embarked on their return journey once again. To avoid suspicion, the helicopter that had carried them to the mountain city took off again using unmanned technology, and as expected, it was shot down by the mountain city army after receiving the news.

It will take them some time to find the body and realize what's happening. This time difference is enough for Lin Jue to reach Shanghai, which borders Jiangcheng, and then transfer to a helicopter to land in Jiangcheng.

This explains why, even though the direct flight from Shangri-La to Jiangcheng would only take ten hours including rest time and unforeseen circumstances, Lin Jue informed Mu Dongxu of the landing date as May 12th.

……

Early morning of May 12, outside the Jinjiang residential area in Jiangcheng.

The once bustling streets are now overrun by wildly growing roses. Thick vines entwine the leaning houses and broken walls, and the dark green stems are covered with sharp, dagger-like thorns, with the scattered carcasses of small animals hanging from them.

Investigators in the Bureau of Paranormal Investigations uniforms were suspended high up, surrounded by flower petals, half their bodies embedded in the flower stamens, their lower bodies corroded by a yellowish-purple sap. Some of them had been dead for a long time, their corpses emitting a putrid stench; others still clung to their last breaths, uttering intermittent, painful groans.

Five days ago, the Bureau of Paranormal Investigations realized that the proliferation of the Rose Paranormal was closely related to the Jinjiang Residential Area. The mastermind behind the Paranormal, Siqi, or rather Qisi, was a resident of Jinjiang Residential Area, and Qiu Lihua, the infected person who first planted the Rose Paranormal, often ran a stall at the morning market outside the area. Based on their past experience dealing with the Paranormal, they rashly believed that finding the source of the Paranormal and suppressing it with all their might would stop its spread. Therefore, the action teams from the First and Second Bureaus mobilized and surrounded Jinjiang Residential Area.

It all felt like a nightmare. They parachuted down from the helicopter and saw the back of a young man in a white shirt and black trousers standing in the middle of the neighborhood. In a daze, they forgot that Qi Si was in Shangri-La participating in the final instance and assumed that the man was the culprit who caused this disaster. They subconsciously chased after him.

The young men started running, and they followed closely behind. When they came to their senses, they found themselves deep inside a casino overflowing with roses, where they saw Shao Qingmin, the director of the Second Office of the Northern Capital Bureau, hanging upside down from the ceiling.

The man had been dead for some time, a large patch of blood spreading across his chest, his ribcage hollowed out to expose his heart, clearly pierced by a sharp weapon. Even so, he was still alive—no, he was actually dead, merely maintaining basic reflexes in a bizarre state.

Hearing someone approach, his rose-covered heart, encircled by his ribs, pounded wildly, emitting a phonograph-like buzz: "Run...it's dangerous here..."

As if a warning before disaster struck, the moment the words were spoken, the once perfectly sealed ceiling shattered, and a deluge of vines poured into the casino from outside, wrapping around the investigators' necks and ankles.

The lead investigator reacted quickly, pulling the trigger on the young man in the white shirt in front of him. The gunshots rang out incessantly, and the young man's body was shattered by the hail of bullets, and he was thrown into a frenzy of flailing about by the impact.

The young man turned around, and it was an unfamiliar face, not Qi Si's; half of his face was covered with vines, and a rose was growing in the eye socket, undoubtedly an innocent person corrupted by something strange.

"It's a trap! We've fallen for it!" an investigator shouted.

But it was too late.

The rustling sound of snakes moving echoed between heaven and earth. The vines caught their prey and returned along the same path. In an instant, all the investigators were hanging outside the Jinjiang residential area, like shrikes showing off their spoils.

Yang Yao's back view is very similar to Qi Si's. Even his biological mother, Qiu Lihua, sometimes thinks so. Whenever she sees Qi Si, she can't help but think of her good-for-nothing son. So she always adds the most filling to the egg pancakes she sells to Qi Si.

She was very grateful to Qi Si, because ever since the young man gave her that pot of roses, good things had been happening in their family every day.

The son returned safely and, having seen the error of his ways, stopped gambling altogether. He started doing odd jobs, working diligently and earning a good amount of money. Not long ago, he gained the trust of a benefactor, and the two partnered in a business, making a fortune.

The son was incredibly filial. The first thing he did after receiving the money was to buy his mother a bunch of health supplements. He also built a four-story villa in their hometown with high steps, which made her feel proud in front of her friends.

Her son has a family, a well-behaved wife, and an obedient grandson. The whole family lives with her, showering her with care and concern every day. Everyone envies her for enjoying such a blissful family life...

That day, Qiu Lihua saw a helicopter land outside Jinjiang Residential Area during her morning walk. A man in a black suit and frameless glasses got off the helicopter with several people, who seemed to be carrying guns.

Qiu Lihua inexplicably knew that this person was there to deal with her son.

Kill him... He must be killed... Killing his son will solve everything...

Qiu Lihua roared and charged at the man, brandishing her rose vines. The next moment, she saw the man raise his pistol and point it at her.

A sudden pain shot through her chest, followed by a chill that spread throughout her body. Life, along with a strange influence, seemed to ebb away. Memories that had been buried in the past flooded back into her mind like a tidal wave. She felt as if she were a person trapped in a nightmare who had suddenly woken up, and her vision finally cleared up in the last instant.

She was horrified to realize that she had no daughter-in-law or grandson, and her son had only been back with her for a week and a half before going back to gambling... And then, she knew nothing more.

Looking at the blood-soaked ground and the enormous roses writhing like living creatures, she suspected she was witnessing the end of the world. Overwhelmed by fear, she could only manage to form a single thought: Where is my son? Where is he?

She turned around with difficulty and saw a corpse in a white shirt and black trousers lying on the ground, its back riddled with bullet holes, and the blood beneath it congealed into a brown stain...

Lin Jue put away his gun, his gaze cold and fixed on the civilians whose heads were bowed in disgust by the strange contamination. His usually indifferent expression showed a rare change.

The crowd remained silent, holding their breath as they took in this horrific, hellish scene. Never before had they so directly grasped what this strange invasion meant for the world.

The investigator, barely clinging to life, was awakened by the gunshot. He opened his eyes and saw the expressionless Lin Jue, his eyes lighting up with surprise: "Director Fu... are you here to save us?"

But soon, he denied it to himself: "No, it's all fake... You're all hallucinating, stop lying to me..."

The investigator was young, in his early twenties, and looked like he had just graduated from university and had only recently started working. Rose vines climbed up his neck, but he never gave up struggling, his eyes wide open as he stared at the horrifying scene around him, his face covered in snot and tears, still unwilling to immerse himself in the beautiful dream created by the roses.

Lin Jue stepped forward, looked up to meet his gaze, and said seriously, "I am Fu Jue. I just came back from clearing the final dungeon. I'm sorry I'm late. I can't save you. The Bureau of Paranormal Investigation currently has no way to remove the paranormal contamination. Even if you survive, your final destination will be the containment room on the fifth basement level."

This was undoubtedly a cruel but truthful answer. Upon hearing it, the investigator's face lit up with ecstasy: "You really are God Fu! You...you will end all of this and save all of humanity, right? Just like you said before..."

"I will," Lin Jue said. "Is there anything else you need?"

For twenty-two years, he had always handled official business like a cold, precise machine; this was the first time he had made a promise to grant someone's request outside of the rules.

"Chief, I can't take it anymore..." The investigator's eyelids slowly drooped. "Kill me...please kill me..."

The next second after he closed his eyes, a bright red rose burst from his mouth and hurtled toward Lin Jue's face.

Lin Jue dodged to the side, raised his pistol, and pulled the trigger. (End of Chapter)