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

Their obsessions have been resolved, but their lives will never be relived.

Shen Zhiyi will never have another manuscript, Xiaoqin will never have a husband who loves her again, and Xiaoyi will never have a normal childhood again.

She helped them, but she couldn't change the past.

The more Qi Tong continued clearing the dungeon, the more tired she felt.

She carries too many emotions.

She knew everything, but she could only be an observer of everything.

Each instance of the game is ultimately connected by a tragedy.

She couldn't stop it when it happened; she could only help them let go of their obsessions one by one.

Qi Tong was unusually uncomfortable.

My heart felt like it was being pricked by needles, a dense, tiny, stinging pain.

She knew she was not a saint and could not save everyone.

When the takeout arrived, Qi Tong opened the box and found that in addition to the porridge and side dishes she had ordered, there was also an extra dessert of unknown origin.

She looked down at the order details, and the dessert section read "Exclusive Gift for New Customers".

"Rokuko. What's with this free gift?"

[Someone helped you apply for the new user benefits! Although you've already cleared three dungeons, this is your first time ordering takeout in Wanwu City, so the system has identified you as a new user.]

"...You can even figure out the rules of the system?"

[It's a dating system! It's really good at figuring out the rules!]

The tone of "666" carried an unconcealable pride after being praised.

[Although we always had to study the dungeon rules when we were clearing levels with the host before, and this is a little different... the underlying logic is the same.]

Qi Tong opened the dessert; it was a red bean paste.

She took a bite; it was sweet.

She suddenly remembered that in the mental hospital, she didn't even dare to touch the meat in the cafeteria, and could only rinse the vegetable leaves with mung bean soup every day.

At that time, she felt that as long as she could survive the dungeon, she didn't care what she ate.

Now she's sitting on her sofa at home, covered with a blanket the system bought for her, and eating the desserts the system helped her obtain as a gift.

This contrast gave her a strange sense of disorientation.

It was as if she was living two completely different lives, and the only connection between these two lives was a little idiot chattering in her head.

"Six sons".

【Um? 】

"Your dream, the one where you were grabbed by a woman, could you tell me more about it?"

666 remained silent for a while.

Qi Tong could sense that it was trying hard to recall, like a machine that wasn't very good at storing data struggling to retrieve information from its memory.

[It was... a very dark place, with iron railings, and the ground was cold. The woman, her hand was sticking out from between the railings. I was just passing by, not intending to go near her. But suddenly she grabbed me, with surprising strength.]

Its voice began to tremble. Qi Tong was all too familiar with this frequency; it always used this tone when talking about things it was afraid of.

Her hands were so cold, like blocks of ice, penetrating my body. She said... she said...

"What did you say?"

She said, "You shouldn't be here. You have other things to do." Then she pushed me out. Not pushed, but like she was shoving something inside me.

Qi Tong slowly chewed the red bean paste, letting it melt on her tongue.

The Time and Space Administration, the prison, the woman, and what was stuffed into her.

These fragments of information were like scattered puzzle pieces in her mind, and she hadn't yet found their edges.

But she knew at least one thing.

666 had been tampered with before she was bound to her.

Are you afraid of that dream?

[I'm scared. But not really scared. Because every time I finish that dream, I feel a strange, indescribable feeling inside.]

Qi Tong placed the empty dessert box on the coffee table, covered it with a blanket, and closed her eyes.

She still didn't know who the woman was, nor why the male voice appeared when 666 lost control.

But she was certain of at least one thing.

Her system is not useless.

It never was.

"Liu Zi. We're going to support Coach Qin's new class next Wednesday."

[Okay, host! We'll prepare some sports drinks for you!]

"No need. You just need to do one thing for me."

【What is it?】

"I'll continue being my system," she said. "I don't need to get stronger. I can still act cute and cry when I need to. I'm used to it anyway."

My mind was quiet for a long time. Then came a very soft, nasal response.

[Okay, host. I'll always treat you like a useless little brat. This is my area of ​​expertise.]

------

Qi Tong woke up again when she heard the doorbell ring.

Qi Tong adjusted her expression and pulled the corners of her mouth upwards.

Turning the doorknob, it was Xu Ning.

Upon seeing Qi Tong, Xu Ning asked her if she was feeling better.

"I'm fine now. I slept for a couple of days and the pain is gone."

Qi Tong made way for Xu Ning to come in.

As usual, I brewed a pot of flower tea and took a shower in the bathroom.

Xu Ning sat on the sofa, sipping her flower tea.

She squinted her eyes happily. Delicious!

This flavor can only be achieved by Qi Tong.

She tried cooking it at home many times, but none of them tasted as good as Qi Tong's.

When Qi Tong came out again, she was wrapped in a bathrobe, holding a phone in one hand and a towel in the other, drying her wet hair.

"Chen Jie exposed the disgusting actions of that Dark Palace member on the forum. Now he's probably going to become the Dark Palace's target."

Xu Ning nodded. "I saw it last night. The Dark Walker on the forum is him."

"His decision not to stream the dungeon and then suddenly to start streaming was also his doing. I was wondering why I was getting donations even though there was no stream when I came out of the dungeon."

"He also admitted on the forum that he had used the rules to kill a player, but said that the player had tried to assassinate him first in order to take the top spot on the newcomer leaderboard."

Qi Tong clicked her tongue, recalling Chen Jie's fearless actions in the dungeon. Given Chen Jie's personality, he probably wouldn't try to whitewash himself with such an excuse.

Such a high-level item, capable of directly influencing the livestream operation of the dungeon, should be a reward from Chen Jie's newcomer ranking.

"I've only heard of Dark Temple, which is ranked third among guilds. It seems like they're always popping up in my field of vision. I haven't heard of any others. What are the top two guilds?"

"The top player is called the Sanctuary. It is said that there are not many members, but they are all the best players, and some members even have a history of clearing the game."

"The second-ranked person is called..."

Seeing that Xu Ning was a little slow to react and her face showed undisguised embarrassment, Qi Tong pressed her for an answer.

"What's your name?"

"Say... say 'Walk the Paw Patrol' and you'll be a hero."

"?"

"Seriously?"