Bai Lixin got his food and sat down, asking in one go, “Did Xia Chi not come?”
Glasses shook his head with a bit of confusion. “I don’t know. We’re not on the same floor. But I messaged Xia Chi just now, and he said he’s feeling unwell and doesn’t want to eat.”
Bai Lixin responded with an “Oh” and silently opened a private chat window with Xia Chi: [Xia Chi, are you okay?]
Xia Chi: [Brother, I’m not feeling well. The black is spreading again, and I don’t know why.]
Bai Lixin: [Where are you now?]
Xia Chi: [I’m in the dormitory on the first floor.]
Bai Lixin: [I’ll come find you. When I knock, open the door for me.]
After that, Bai Lixin, who had just sat down, stood up again.
Under Glasses’s puzzled gaze, Bai Lixin explained, “I’m going to check on Xia Chi.”
He was about to leave with his lunch box when a somewhat anxious voice came from behind, “God…God Xin, I’ll go too. I’m really worried about Xia Chi.”
Bai Lixin looked at Glasses and then at Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao had very little food on his plate, still neatly arranged in a square. He lowered his head and ate meticulously, showing no intention of getting up.
“…” Bai Lixin said, “Alright, come if you want.”
——————————–
Two minutes later, Bai Lixin and Glasses arrived at Xia Chi’s dorm on the first floor.
As soon as Bai Lixin knocked, the door opened from the inside, revealing Xia Chi’s face that was carefully wrapped in a bath towel.
He was wearing long sleeves and pants, with a large towel wrapped around his head, exposing only a small part of his face.
The moment he saw Bai Lixin, his somewhat dim eyes instantly flashed with a dazzling light, as if he had seen a savior.
“Brother, you’re finally here. Come in quickly.” Xia Chi quickly made way for Bai Lixin.
After Bai Lixin and Glasses quickly entered the room, Bai Lixin appraised Xia Chi, who was tightly wrapped up. “What happened to your face?”
Xia Chi hesitated for a moment, then pulled down the towel, and gave them a precautionary warning while doing so, “It looks a bit ugly, don’t be scared.”
At the moment the towel was pulled down, Glasses let out an exclamation, “Xia Chi, what happened to your face and neck?”
A large patch of black had spread over Xia Chi’s body, completely covering the areas where he was wearing clothes. However, the neck and face couldn’t be covered by clothes and were still exposed.
The mottled black emerged from Xia Chi’s collar, climbed up his neck, and attached itself to the sides of his cheeks, forehead, ears, and behind his ears. Only a small spot on his face remained untouched.
When Xia Chi lifted the towel, Bai Lixin noticed Xia Chi’s hands. The black had reached the spaces between Xia Chi’s fingers and was about to extend to his fingertips.
The escape system’s urgent voice rang out in Bai Lixin’s mind: [Master Bai Lixin, his curse infection rate has reached 95%. If we don’t save him soon, he won’t last until the end of this copy. Even if he miraculously survives, once the full-body curse reaches 100%, he will turn into a specific monster for this copy, and the system will reject his return to the game lobby.]
Bai Lixin frowned: [Why is it spreading so quickly? When we separated, it wasn’t this severe.]
Escape system: [It’s likely that the culprit transferred his curse to Xia Chi again.]
Bai Lixin: [When? Today?]
Escape system: [Yes, today. In just half a day, Xia Chi has had limited interactions with players. This should help narrow down the list of suspicious individuals.]
Bai Lixin: [If I find that person, how do I lift the curse from Xia Chi?]
Escape system: [Find that person. When a curse is transferred, there will be a special buff mark on their body. Locate that buff mark, pierce it, and the transferred curse on Xia Chi will return to that person. Master Bai Lixin, please hurry, time is running out for Xia Chi. At this rate, Xia Chi’s curse will reach 100% in less than half a day.]
Bai Lixin: “…”
‘Damn it.’
His sharp gaze suddenly turned to Xia Chi. “Xia Chi, do you remember which players you met this morning?”
Xia Chi leaned against the wall, his face somewhat pale. The ghastly white skin and black spots shared the same face, creating a terrifying and eerie appearance.
Struggling to stay calm, Xia Chi replied, “Let me think. From the morning when I woke up until now, I seem to have encountered three players, two of whom were on the first floor. Oh, right, there’s also Lin Xiao. He came to the first floor too, and I greeted him.”
Bai Lixin furrowed his brows. “Why did Lin Xiao come to the first floor?”
Xia Chi: “It seems he was looking for something. I was in a hurry so I just greeted him, and went on with my tasks.”
Bai Lixin: “Did you have any physical contact with him?”
Xia Chi frowned, “I don’t remember, maybe not.”
“You must remember, Xia Chi,” Bai Lixin said in a very serious tone, “I didn’t tell you earlier because I didn’t want you to get anxious. The black curse on you developed rapidly because of someone. They transferred their curse onto you.”
Xia Chi’s expression froze instantly, his pupils slightly trembling in shock. “A player?”
Bai Lixin said in a solemn voice, “Yes, a player.”
Xia Chi’s eyes were dazed for a moment. Just when Bai Lixin thought Xia Chi might be affected emotionally, Xia Chi suddenly clenched his fist and cursed, “Fuck!”
Bai Lixin: “?”
‘How could the little angel use foul language?!’
“I dedicated myself to sharing answers with players, and I got stabbed in the back by a player?!”
“I poured my heart and soul into this, and the bastard not only wagged his tail at me but also bit me in return, intending to kill me?!” Xia Chi’s eyes widened with anger. “Brother, who is that person?! I’ll beat the life out of this troublemaker or my surname won’t be ‘Xia’!”
Bai Lixin pondered, “Actually, finding this person should be relatively easy. You met three players in total today. It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember if you had physical contact. Since it’s curse transfer, theoretically, this person should not have any black curses on their body. Just find an opportunity to strip off the clothes of these people and examine their skin.”
“God Xin, maybe we can use a gentler approach?” Glasses suggested, “After all, undressing someone is a violation of privacy.”
He rolled up his sleeves, revealing a large black spot. “Look at mine. If there’s no issue, when we propose to see the black spots, they’ll likely cooperate and reveal them, just like me. But if someone refuses, it might be that person.”
“Yes, what Song Yun said makes sense,” Xia Chi agreed. “Only three people.”
Glasses: “Who are these three? I’ll go get them now. It’s lunch break so they shouldn’t have an excuse to avoid iy.”
Xia Chi looked at Bai Lixin, “Actually, I can send them a message to come over.”
Bai Lixin contemplated for a moment, “Let Song Yun handle it. Arresting them on the spot is faster. Thank you for your hard work, Song Yun.”
Glasses blushed a bit, “It’s okay. Xia Chi, who are the other two people? I’ll go now, you wait for a moment.”
Xia Chi mentioned a couple of names, and Glasses left the room without saying anything.
In the room, only Bai Lixin and Xia Chi remained. Bai Lixin’s gaze flickered, then he looked at Xia Chi and asked seriously, “Xia Chi, think carefully again. Are these really the only three people? Haven’t you met anyone else?”
Xia Chi sat on the ground with his back along the wall. He thought for awhile, then finally shook his head helplessly, “I can’t remember. It should be only these three.”
Bai Lixin: “Not just today during the day, but also when we returned in the early morning and you came to rest in the dormitory. Did you meet anyone at that time?”
“I didn’t at that time…” Xia Chi shook his head, about to deny, but he seemed to suddenly remember someone. His voice stopped abruptly, “I remember now, there was someone! However, that person was wearing a white coat, a hat, and a mask on his head. I couldn’t see what he looked like at all. I didn’t know if he was a player or an NPC. He suddenly rushed out from around the corner, our shoulders collided heavily, and then he ran off. I was extremely tired at that time, so I scolded him a bit, but didn’t pay much attention. I just went back to the dorm and fell asleep.”
Xia Chi looked at Bai Lixin with wide eyes, “Do you suspect this person? But who is he?”
Bai Lixin: “…”
—————————–
In the live broadcast room.
[Oh my, what’s happening to the little angel? He looks so pitiful.]
[Isn’t Xia Chi the full luck value host? How come his luck turned bad in this copy?]
[Uh, maybe he got tripped up by God Xin’s bad luck?]
[This is not just a trip; it seems more like a direct hit to sensitive areas, okay?]
[God Xin: ???, polite?]
[A curse transfer? I feel Lin Xiao is suspicious.]
[Alright, the guessing game is on? As we all know, the lives broadcast room has an error answer buff now. The more we speculate about who the culprit is, the less likely that person is the culprit. Perfectly missing the correct answer.]
[Hahaha, the live broadcast room’s process of elimination.]
[I guess it’s Yellow Hair. Normally, he doesn’t need to work with Xia Chi for his work, yet he went to find Xia Chi today. Isn’t it just to make physical contact and transfer the curse?]
[Garlic Nose could be a possibility too. He’s always looking suspicious. He has the face of a sneaky person.]
[Since you all have such reasonable arguments, I’ll guess Glasses. He voluntarily showed the curse to Bai Lixin, isn’t it to clear suspicion immediately?]
[But, he does have the curse.]
[I don’t care, I won’t listen. Anyway, I’m convinced he’s the culprit!]
[For one yuan, I bet on Lin Xiao!]
[I bet on Yellow Hair!]
[Three yuan, I bet on Glasses!]
[Ten yuan, it’s definitely Garlic Nose!]
[Ahem, speaking of which, there’s a blind spot. Did you notice?]
[What?]
[If we talk about someone without traces of the curse… isn’t it God Xin? Is it possible that someone transferred God Xin’s curse to Xia Chi without his knowledge? Both God Xin and Xia Chi are innocent, unaware of the truth! There must be someone jealous of their relationship, so they hid in the darkness, scheming to turn these two brothers against each other, taking advantage of the situation! This is truly a white eyed wolf, and everyone knows it! It’s too much, daring to plot against our God Xin! He also dragged Xia Chi, the little angel, into this. We must find the mastermind playing with people’s hearts!]
[Wait, playing with people’s hearts? Fuck, do you remember that Lin Xiao randomly said something about playing with people’s hearts in the corridor that day? Could it be related to this?]
[I got it!]
[The killer is only one! It is—the Merman Big Boss!]
[???]
[???]
[Merman Big Boss: ???]
[Brother, take a break, take a break from thinking; I’m afraid they’ll take you to the mental hospital.]
——————————-
Glasses didn’t take long to return, accompanied by three men.
One was Lin Xiao, whom Bai Lixin and others were familiar with.
Another was a young man with yellow hair. Though he seemed a bit impatient, he obediently entered the room.
The last one had a garlic-shaped nose. As soon as he entered, he rushed up with concern, “Xia Chi, how did you end up like this?”
“Don’t worry, Song Yun has already told me about your situation. I’m not the culprit, but I’ll definitely find that damn person with you. When the time comes, we’ll go together and beat that trash.”
He took off his oversized T-shirt, revealing a black spot on his chest. “Look, this is my curse.”
Xia Chi looked at Bai Lixin.
Bai Lixin nodded at Garlic Nose, “Thank you for your cooperation.”
Garlic Nose: “There’s no need for polite words. If it weren’t for Xia Chi, I might have been kicked out of the research institute to fend for myself. Almost everyone here has received help from Xia Chi in one way or another, so I’m even more furious. Who is targeting him! His approach is simply biting the hand that feeds him! You know how rare it is to encounter such a enthusiastic player in a horror game? If Xia Chi becomes disheartened because of this, all of us who are currently playing the game bear responsibility! Xia Chi, rest assured. Everyone appreciates you, don’t let a rat’s dropping extinguish your beautiful expectations for humanity. Brother supports you!”
Bai Lixin looked at Xia Chi, who was already a bit embarrassed, “Actually, you don’t need to thank me. The answers I gave everyone were all given by my brother, I just borrowed flowers to offer Buddha. But thank you, Brother Lin for your words. With that, my mood has improved a lot.”
Garlic Nose was a spirited man. After putting on his clothes, he didn’t leave but walked quietly to Xia Chi, expressing his intentions through actions.
Seeing this, Glasses also walked to Xia Chi’s side.
Now, only Yellow Hair and Lin Xiao remained unidentified.
Yellow Hair looked at Bai Lixin, then at Xia Chi, and rubbed his hair irritably, “Can I not take it off?”
