Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 10 Harvest and Re-entry

Half a day later, at a hospital in the city.

—The doctor in front of me was pulling out clumps of hair.

They were pulling very hard.

To prevent his already receding hairline from shortening further, Zhou You kindly offered a reminder: "Um, doctor, how is my condition?"

"Your condition? Oh right, your condition!" The doctor quickly put the CT scan aside and said, "Mr. Zhou, your condition is nothing short of a miracle! We originally estimated, even with the most optimistic calculations, that you only had about two months to live, but now the lesions have stabilized! Although the effects on your brain haven't completely disappeared, you can at least hold on for a while longer."

Zhou You didn't listen to the rest of what was said; he simply leaned back in his chair, his entire body suddenly relaxing.

—So it wasn't a dream after all.

After saying goodbye to the doctor who was so enthusiastic about wanting him to stay in the hospital again, Zhou You returned home.

It was called a home, but it was really just a small, dilapidated rental room. Apart from being a little cleaner, the overall environment was no less than that haunted building—and some of the infrastructure was even worse.

This is quite normal, since ultimately he has no money.

His grandfather, Old Zhou, who recently passed away, was not wealthy. It was already a struggle to support him through university. He had planned to work and earn some money to help support his family, but the old man died in an accident. The funeral and other expenses had already depleted his savings, and the terminal illness he was diagnosed with later became the last straw that broke his back.

To put it more simply, Zhou You was already at his wit's end before even entering the game.

"Fortunately, things have finally taken a turn for the better."

Zhou You wiped the black and white portrait on the sandalwood clean, then looked at the aged yet dignified face, and suddenly smiled and said.

"Old man, I don't know if you left this book for me on purpose, but thanks to this thing, your poor grandson can finally manage to survive, albeit with some stumbles—and he won't be able to visit you for a while. But knowing your personality, you probably don't want to see me so soon anyway."

Zhou You shook his head, then carefully straightened the portrait again before sitting back down at the wooden table. He rummaged around for a while and then took out a book from the corner of the drawer.

It was that black-covered book that led him into that old book of "bizarre games".

Now there are no traces left on it, and the pages are all blank. It looks like an ordinary old object, but just as Zhou You placed his hand on it, a few lines of text suddenly appeared in front of him.

"You have completed the beginner's mission: Escape from Building 4".

"You killed the 'cause' of this instance: the landlady, and used the chain reaction to destroy the main body that constitutes the ghost story: the Corpse Gate. You will receive an additional reward."

"You have received 100+100 (bonus) Soul Stones."

"You currently have 240 Soul Stones."

"You have obtained a special blue item (killing the landlady's reward upgrade): a bronze bell."

"Effect: It needs to be worn on the wrist when in use. When 'something' acts maliciously towards you, there is a certain probability that this bell will shake rapidly to warn you."

"This item carries a curse: when the bell rings, it will occasionally startle enemies and reveal your location."

"This is a common car decoration, usually symbolizing good fortune, but after a horrific car accident that killed the entire family, this bell is now stained with indelible blood." "You have obtained a special quest item of unknown rarity (bonus reward for killing 'Corpse Gate'): Bones Inside the Gate."

"Effect: This is an extremely special set of remains, which was once contaminated by a trace of malevolent spirit's yin energy. Later, the landlady used it to form the foundation of the entire building. When you obtain this item, your next game scenario can be replaced with a special scenario, and you will have 5 more resurrections."

Zhou You was stunned.

—A special script? What's that?
But after thinking for a while, he decided to leave it for the time being—he figured the answer could only be found inside that space, so he continued reading.

"You currently possess two temporary talents: Observant Insight (white) and Shattered Existence (white). Do you wish to spend Soul Stones to retain them? Please note that any temporary talents that are not retained will disappear upon your next entry into the game."

He hesitated only for a moment before choosing to observe closely and fix the image.

Although this is only a white talent, it is still quite valuable in terms of being able to detect the effect of the Dead Soul Wax. At least for now, it is worth dedicating a fixed talent slot to it.

As for the other broken existence.
The limitations are too great. Only those with physical disabilities can increase their movement speed. What kind of person can make good use of this talent?

Yang Guo?
"You have spent 50 Soul Stones to fix this talent."

"This instance has been fully resolved. Please note that you must enter the next scenario within thirty-five days, or you will be punished with death. Furthermore, you are not allowed to inform anyone of the existence of this game in any way, otherwise..."

Zhou You didn't even listen to what was said afterward, and instead chose to enter ahead of time.

After all, he had only extended his life by a month, and now that he finally had a chance to live, he didn't want to waste any more time.

Besides
Zhou You suddenly had an idea.

If a beginner's dungeon can achieve this level of improvement, who knows if, after completing higher difficulty levels, there might actually be a chance to completely cure him?
A few seconds later, Zhou You's figure gradually disappeared from the room, but just as he completely vanished, an old-fashioned television in the corner suddenly turned on.

This is a common plot in horror movies, but there are no demons or ghosts in it, nor are there any dry wells or Sadako with long flowing hair. Instead, a live news report is being broadcast.

"The fire at Building 4 of the Garden Residential Complex in XXX City has been extinguished. The preliminary determination is that the cause of the fire was a natural gas explosion. Due to its remote location and the fact that it occurred during working hours, there was only one fatality. After identification by the police, the deceased was confirmed to be the landlord of the building. Let's interview the surrounding neighbors."

"—You mean that old lady? I know her. She's a wicked person, always trying to cause trouble for others. The neighbors are constantly disturbed by her."

"Her? Isn't she the one who withheld tenants' deposits a few years ago, driving one of them to commit suicide? This woman is greedy to an extreme degree. She's doing rental work, but she doesn't even maintain the basic facilities. It's perfectly normal for something like this to happen."

"...I was just backing into the neighborhood, I didn't even bump into her, but she insisted that I ran over her foot and tried to extort 8000 yuan from me! That's two months' wages!"

"Sigh, I won't say anything else, it's just a pity for that young girl. It's already hard enough for her to come to the city to work alone, and to have to suffer from the bullying of people like that, she couldn't think straight and jumped off. And this guy hasn't even been punished yet, it's really..."

"."

"."

"What? You're asking me? Well, I only have one comment on this matter."

"Pah! Evil people get their just deserts, good riddance!"

(End of this chapter)