Rules of the Strange: I Can See Through All the Weird

His voice was gentle, but Qi Tong felt a chill run down her spine.

Because the way he looked at me was exactly the same as the person in charge in the photography studio.

Qi Tong nodded obediently.

The ghost father smiled and patted Qi Tong's head, then slumped wearily onto the sofa.

After a long pause, the ghost mother finally spoke: "You...aren't you at work?"

"My boss gave me time off, and I've decided to spend more time at home with you and the kids," the ghost father replied, pretending to be asleep with his eyes closed.

"No! Absolutely not!" the ghost mother roared, refusing as if she had gone mad.

Seeing this, the ghost father stepped forward and hugged her, saying softly, "You're too tired, darling. Let's go inside and rest."

Something amazing happened.

The ghost mother's anger vanished instantly, leaving her with a blank stare.

Like a machine that has been unplugged, only the lips are still trembling nervously.

She didn't answer, but obediently let her ghost father half-carry and half-lift her into the bedroom.

Liu Qitong was left alone in the empty living room.

Qi Tong immediately began searching to see if there were any useful clues.

Unfortunately, it was even cleaner than her pockets.

Qi Tong opened the refrigerator and was relieved to see that there were indeed many vegetables and fruits.

Currently, it seems that the ghost mother is in a very bad mental state and could go berserk at any moment.

Although the ghost father seemed gentle, he always gave Qi Tong a strange feeling.

Qi Tong walked to the locked room next to her parents' room.

The rules specifically mentioned this room; what secrets does it hold?

There are no clues anywhere, and it seems that this room is the most likely place to find them.

Although the rules stated that one of them was false, she didn't dare gamble that the rule against entering the room was false.

What will happen if I go inside?

And you need to find the key first.

Qi Tong thought that unless absolutely necessary, it was best not to touch this room.

First, you need to find the key; you need to take the choice into your own hands.

Qi Tong searched the living room thoroughly but couldn't find the key. She even searched the bathroom and kitchen.

It's not anywhere else, so it must be in my parents' master bedroom...

What reason could we use to go?

The rules don't say she can't go into her parents' room, so is it okay for her to sneak in?

I just don't know if I'll be in trouble if I get caught.

Qi Tong decided to wait for the right opportunity to go in.

Back in her room, Qi Tong opened her diary again, and words had already appeared on it.

But there are only a few lines of text on the first page.

[Tuesday, July 3, 2063, sunny]

[Today is my first day writing in my diary. Mom dressed me in tight clothes again and is always angry. Xiao Tong doesn't like Mom. Xiao Tong likes Dad, and both Mom and Dad love Xiao Tong very much.]

The date for the prayer ceremony is July 3rd to July 9th. Seven days, one week.

Qi Tong went to the living room and found the calendar. Today is July 3, 2063.

What does that mean? It's looping?

What exactly happened during those seven days?

Why did the ghost mother freeze when she heard news about the ghost father?

Why did the ghost mother, who was on the verge of going berserk one second, listen to the ghost father the next?

Is it fear? ...

Qi Tong returned to her room and carefully considered every detail.

Based on the first day, the monsters are still following the storyline and haven't made things too difficult for the players. As long as you follow the rules, you won't trigger the death conditions.

But what about in a few days?

"Six, are these strange creatures becoming increasingly murderous?"

[Yes, host, do not stay in these timeless instances for too long. Three days is generally considered too long, because the eerie NPCs will become increasingly ghostly and will pollute the player's mental value. You must have purification items to alleviate this.]

Seven days later, the eerie NPCs will become increasingly unable to resist the urge to kill and will gradually lose their minds. However, they will have to follow the dungeon's rules, so they will frighten the players and reduce their mental state.

If you haven't cleared the dungeon within a month, the dungeon will no longer restrict the strange NPCs, allowing them to wreak havoc. Dungeons with time limits don't have this problem, because if you don't leave the dungeon within the allotted time, you'll never get out.

Haha, what a hellish joke.

Seven days... It's been seven days since I first wrote in my diary.

What happens when your sanity level is low?

[Fear and terror will prevent you from interacting with the eerie entities and from completing dungeons normally. The more afraid you are, the more mistakes you will make, and the more mistakes you make, the more reasons the eerie entities will have to scare you. If your mental state drops below 50, you will easily lose your ability to think and experience hallucinations. Countless players have died from fright due to excessively low mental state.]

If you want to know what happened in these seven days, you might have to stay here for seven days to find out.

However, starting from the third day, the mental value will decrease.

She tried to sort out all the clues and find the answer seven days in advance.

She didn't want to see ugly, bizarre things every day.

Qi Tong nodded to indicate that she understood.

Perhaps because I had nothing to do, the sky outside changed very quickly, and it seemed like evening had arrived in no time.

Qi Tong opened the door and saw her ghost father sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, while her ghost mother was already wielding a spatula in the kitchen.

This is a good opportunity to go to her parents' room, but Qi Tong is also afraid that she will be discovered and trigger some kind of death mechanism.

Based on my experience so far, as long as you don't break the rules, and you find a reasonable reason to deal with the supernatural, it can't harm the child.

Qi Tong was trying to figure out what excuse she could use to get into her parents' room when her ghost father seemed to have just seen her.

"Xiao Tong, go to Daddy's room and find a small pink box. Inside is a gift Daddy brought back for you from his business trip."

The man seemed to be saying something casual, without even putting down the newspaper he was holding.

Qi Tong's eyes lit up. Wasn't this perfect?

He then glanced back at his ghost father, nodded, and said, "Okay."

Yeah, this guy's getting a top-tier support this game.

But she didn't notice that when she turned around, the man's gaze followed her until she entered the room and closed the door.

The man then looked away and clicked his tongue impatiently.

Little Tong, you must grow up quickly!

-

Qi Tong entered her parents' room as she wished and began rummaging through the drawer. The pink box was in the drawer.

Qi Tong took it out and placed it on the table, then started looking for the key.

After searching for a long time, I finally found it in a hidden compartment in the wardrobe.

Upon hearing footsteps, Qi Tong immediately put the items back in their original places.

I put the keys in my pocket, picked up the pink box, sat on the edge of the bed, and pretended to admire the gift for a long time.

The door clicked open, revealing the ghost father.

He looked at Qi Tong, his eyes scrutinizing her: "Did it take you so long, Xiao Tong?"

Qi Tong sat on the edge of the bed as if she hadn't noticed someone's arrival. She was startled for a moment before looking up and saying, "Daddy, I love this little pink box so much!"

Seeing his daughter's bright eyes and undisguised affection, the ghost father's expression finally softened.

"Why didn't you open it and take a look? You like what's inside more." Ghost Dad sat down next to Qi Tong and reached out to pat Qi Tong's little head.

Qi Tong then opened it and exclaimed, "Wow, it's a genius phone watch!"

Qi Tong continued to perform what she really liked, successfully making her ghost father laugh out loud.

The ghost father reached out, seemingly wanting to touch her head again, but his fingertips stopped just before touching her hair.

His eyes darkened, his gaze lingering, inch by inch, sliding from her smooth forehead down her neck, finally settling on her fair wrist holding the gift box.

Then, Qi Tong clearly saw that beneath the loving smile on his face, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down suddenly.

The movements were so forceful, as if he were trying to swallow back some surging desire.

Qi Tong's internal alarm bells were ringing: Who likes a creepy, gloomy male ghost as a father? Take him away right now!