It's late at night.

After leaving the hotel, Xia Yao returned home first.

Then, he sent a message to Ms. Liu.

[Ms. Liu, please accept my condolences for this tragedy. I will refund your deposit to the account you paid. Please take care of your child and get well soon.]

Xia Yao hoped that the other party would call back when they were done with their work, so that she could subtly inquire about the horror game.

But Ms. Liu remained silent, offering no response whatsoever.

He decided to go to the address Ms. Liu provided in a few days; surely he could find her there.

So, Xia Yao asked her boss for a week off.

The boss was his college classmate, a second-generation rich kid who started his own business and was very tolerant of his employees.

I just replied with an "okay," without even asking why I took the leave.

While packing at home, a bright yellow Meituan delivery uniform was unfolded, and a small silver object fell out from inside.

One glance was enough to make Xia Yao feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

The silver object is square and about the size of a palm; it is an old-fashioned camera.

That's right, it's the one in the Tingsen Hotel that can project images of things invisible to the naked eye.

Xia Yao took a deep breath and picked up the camera.

After starting the camera, I looked around the room and took a picture. Fortunately, there wasn't anything strange in the blurry photo.

This thing inexplicably appeared in my luggage; it must be a reward for completing the game, right?

But what use is this thing to him? Is he going to switch careers and become a ghost-hunting livestreamer?

Her experience was too bizarre, and Xia Yao felt that her mind was in complete chaos, as if many tangled lines were intertwined, making her feel upset and confused.

When your mind is in a jumble, you're more likely to get hungry.

Food is the most important thing for people. Instead of thinking about random things now, you should have a good meal.

Xia Yao took out her phone to order takeout to fill her stomach.

But suddenly a black app icon appeared on my phone.

Judging from the icon, it is a closed black eye.

The slits in the eyes were pierced by thin red lines, as if they were sewn together.

The art style is bizarre, grotesque, and terrifying.

The note below the icon reads "Late Night".

I've never downloaded this strange software before, and I don't know if I've been infected with some kind of virus.

Xia Yao didn't even bother to click on it; instead, she long-pressed the icon, preparing to uninstall it.

But after pressing and holding for a long time, no operation prompts popped up.

Helpless, Xia Yao had no choice but to click in and see who this thing that was taking over the screen was.

Upon closer inspection, a sudden chill ran through me, seemingly penetrating the screen and seeping into my fingertips.

A dark red pop-up window appeared on the phone screen, with winding text that looked like flowing blood.

[Congratulations on clearing the Listening Forest Hotel level! You have earned 700 points. The points have been credited to your account. Other rewards will be distributed randomly; please check your account.]

He remained silent, never imagining that the supernatural would invade his world in this way.

After clicking "confirm," he began to carefully study the software.

The software interface is clean and simple, mainly divided into three sections.

The homepage that appears is the message bar, but right now there's only the message bar that was there before.

The middle column is the late-night forum.

There were some notices posted inside, but all the users' nicknames were just a string of obscured gibberish, and their profile pictures were the default small eyes that were hard to recognize.

The rightmost column is the personal center, which displays your points and a points mall.

However, when he clicked into the points mall, it showed that he did not have enough permissions and it was not open yet.

Xia Yao felt a chill in her heart, recalling what Zhou Ze'an had said before they parted: "You'll get used to it."

This roughly means that from then on he will be endlessly struggling in a bizarre game.

I gasped, feeling both absurd and powerless.

Xia Yao exited the interface and tried various methods to uninstall the app, but all to no avail.

He gritted his teeth and simply changed his phone.

As a result, the eerie eye icon reappeared on the new phone.

It is ghostly in shape and follows you like a shadow.

Xia Yao tried to take a screenshot or use another device to photograph the software interface.

But screenshots are not possible; other cameras only capture images of his phone's desktop background.

Xia Yao began to wonder if this thing was only visible to those who had entered the strange game.

Thinking about it, he actually tried it, taking his phone to the community security guard and the old man at the restaurant for help.

As he expected, in other people's eyes, this late-night app simply didn't exist.

What ordinary people see is only his phone's home screen.

Xia Yao originally wanted to wait a few days until Ms. Liu's mood had calmed down before bothering her.

But ever since this software appeared on his phone, he has been restless and unable to eat or sleep.

That same day, he drove to the address provided by Ms. Liu.

As soon as I entered the building, I saw one of the apartments with its door open, and there was a lot of noise coming from inside.

Everyone seemed to be in low spirits; even the air smelled of depression.

"Hello, excuse me, I'd like to speak with Ms. Liu Lan."

Xia Yao approached the door, knocked, and politely explained her purpose.

A haggard-looking young woman walked to the door. "That's my sister. What do you need her for?"

Upon closer inspection, the woman appeared to have been crying; her eyes were red and her voice was somewhat hoarse.

This gave Xia Yao a bad feeling, but he still asked anyway.

"I run a training institution. A couple of days ago, Ms. Liu came here to enroll her child in an extracurricular class. She filled out the form, paid the deposit, but the child didn't show up, and we can't contact her anymore. That's why I came over to check on her. Is Ms. Liu here?"

He dared not say that he was investigating someone's extramarital affair, so he used a more euphemistic way of putting it.

The woman choked up as she spoke, tears streaming down her face.

"My sister, my sister passed away in a car accident this morning. Our child probably won't be going to that class anymore."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Please accept my condolences. I've refunded your registration fee."

It seems that so many people are gathered here to discuss how to handle the funeral arrangements.

To Xia Yao's surprise, Lan Yuanshan died, and so did this Ms. Liu.

He had initially suspected that he had been drawn into a bizarre game, and that the mastermind behind it was definitely related to the couple who had asked him to investigate.

As a result, Lan Yuanshan died suddenly, and Ms. Liu also died in a car accident, causing him to fail in his enemy search.

I originally thought I could find some clues by coming here, but it turns out I have to pay a gift instead.

Are these two people cursed and even more unlucky than me?

However, Lan Yuanshan's tragedy made Xia Yao even more wary. If she died in the bizarre game, would her family also be targeted by an accident?

Or was it because Ms. Liu discovered something about the strange game that she suffered this undeserved misfortune?

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became.