Unwilling to give up, Xia Chi stopped the student and asked them the same questions Bai Lixin had asked.
Though the student looked at Xia Chi like he was crazy, he still answered smoothly and without any hesitation.
Bai Lixin: “Now go back and ask Li Mi if he remembers someone with a teardrop mole near his eye. Make sure he recalls it clearly.”
‘A teardrop mole?’
‘Wasn’t that the ghost from last night?’
Xia Chi: “I asked last night. He said he often dreams of a man with a teardrop mole.”
Bai Lixin: “Then ask him to remember what the man with the teardrop mole did in his dreams, the more detailed the better.”
Not sure what Bai Lixin was getting at, Xia Chi nodded and went back into the classroom. “Alright.”
Just before the class bell rang, Xia Chi finally walked slowly out of the classroom, with an even stranger expression.
He walked to Bai Lixin, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Li Mi said he dreamed of the man with the teardrop mole cleaning his house.”
Everyone: “…”
After the class bell, the corridor became quiet and empty, leaving only the four of them standing there.
Xia Chi: “Li Mi said his most frequent dream is that he’s a rich young master, and the man with the teardrop mole is an inconspicuous gardener whose daily job is pruning branches and sometimes fixing a lightbulb.”
“Uh…” Xia Chi paused. “It’s a very normal dream.”
So normal that it was almost abnormal.
Xia Chi: “Brother, do you think the man with the teardrop mole could be the author of this campus story?”
“Does Li Mi dream of him because he’s the protagonist created by that man?”
“What are you talking about?” A timid voice suddenly echoed through the empty corridor.
Xia Chi turned around, nearly jumping out of his skin.
Li Mi had somehow crawled out of the classroom without anyone noticing. He was now lying by Xia Chi’s feet, staring up at them with wide eyes.
When Xia Chi turned his head, he was startled by the large face staring back at him, the suddenness almost giving him a heart attack.
‘Come on, buddy.’
‘If you’re going to crawl, at least make some noise.’
‘Give us a warning, okay?’
“This is a book?” Li Mi stretched out his neck and suddenly dropped his chin onto Xia Chi’s shoulder with a “plop”.
Xia Chi immediately froze, his mind going blank.
Li Mi didn’t notice and continued speaking, “That man I’ve been dreaming about… is he the author of this book? So, I’m just a character written by someone else? I’m not real? All the suffering I’ve endured… it was all from that man?!”
Li Mi’s voice became hoarse and frenzied, and his furry hair stood on end, “If I kill that man, will I finally be free?!”
Xia Chi: “…”
‘Has this guy suddenly swung from one extreme to another?’
Li Mi abruptly retracted his head and dropped to all fours, crawling down the corridor. “I have to kill that man, I have to kill that man, I have to kill that man!”
Xia Chi didn’t even have time to stop him before Li Mi’s bizarre figure disappeared, accompanied by that eerie chant.
He crawled… really fast.
In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Things seemed to be getting more chaotic.
[Ding! Congratulations, Player, there is new progress in the side task! Please check promptly.]
The system’s voice rang out in Xia Chi’s mind, and he opened the system interface.
[Hidden Task – The Truth of the World.]
[Progress: 80%.]
[1. The player seems to realize this is not the real world, but a world within a book.]
[2. Li Mi’s state seems a little strange.]
[3. Other classmates’ attitude toward Li Mi seems strange.]
[4. The mysterious man with the teardrop mole seems to be the author of this book.]
The hidden task had progressed a bit, while the other three tasks remained unchanged.
[Main Task – Help Li Mi complete his graduation project, Progress: 0%.
Side Task – Help Li Mi gather materials for the graduation project, Progress: 0%.
Side Task – Help Li Mi find the culprit who sabotaged the materials, Progress: 0%.]
It seemed the man with the teardrop mole really was indeed the author of this book.
[Ding! An important plot point is approaching. Please prepare yourself.]
The sudden system prompt rang out in his mind, and before Xia Chi could even say a word to Bai Lixin, his vision blurred, and when he regained clarity, everything was pitch-black.
“Xia Chi, don’t move, turn around,” Tan Yue’s voice called out from ahead, “Come to me.”
This trick again? After falling for it once, would he fall for it a second time?
Xia Chi scoffed inwardly and took a bold step forward.
‘You want me to turn around? I won’t.’
‘You want me to stay still? I’ll walk forward.’
Confidently, he took a step.
And stepped into thin air.
His body suddenly lost its support and plunged downward uncontrollably.
It happened in an instant.
In a flash, a large hand suddenly grabbed Xia Chi’s, stabilizing his body mid-air as it swayed precariously.
Xia Chi glanced at the seemingly bottomless drop below and then looked up.
In the darkness, he could only make out the outline of Tan Yue’s face. “Tan Yue, save me.”
Tan Yue’s broad, strong hand gripped Xia Chi’s like a giant clamp. “I’ll pull you up now. Didn’t I tell you not to move?”
Xia Chi felt a bit embarrassed. “I thought this time was fake too.”
“You really are…” Tan Yue’s voice sounded speechless in the darkness, “exceptionally smart.”
As his body slowly began to rise, just as Xia Chi was about to be pulled back onto the rooftop, he suddenly felt a weight tugging at his feet.
Something like a rope had wrapped around his ankle, pulling him downward.
His body jerked downward, causing Tan Yue’s upper body to hang halfway off the rooftop.
In a panic, Xia Chi looked down at his ankle. It appeared to be empty, but he could sense something was off.
His pants leg was being unnaturally pressed, and the flesh around his ankle was deformed from the pressure.
Something invisible was dragging him down!
Xia Chi immediately tried to kick with his free leg, but halfway through, his foot stopped abruptly.
That leg had also been tangled.
Both feet were being forcefully pulled downward, trying to drag him down.
Above, Tan Yue clung tightly to Xia Chi’s hand, pulling him upward with all his might.
With forces pulling both up and down, Xia Chi felt like a rubber band being stretched to its limit.
Although it didn’t hurt, but… it was so tight!
Half of Tan Yue’s body was now hanging over the edge.
Xia Chi: “Tan Yue, stop pulling me, just let go.”
Tan Yue: “No, I won’t just watch you die.”
Xia Chi: “…”
“No,” Xia Chi answered in a daze, vaguely hearing the sound of his bones creaking inside his body. “This is just a game. I can’t actually die. Don’t take it so seriously. Let go and give me some relief!”
‘Please, I’m begging you, let me “die”!’
‘If I lose this round, I can just move on to the next. I’m not that competitive when it comes to games, I don’t want to end up twisted like a pretzel.’
“Heh,” Tan Yue’s strength was clearly superior, and he managed to pull Xia Chi up a few inches. “You wish. I’ll make sure you get an S-level perfect clearance.”
“Come up here!” With a forceful tug of his wrist, Tan Yue pulled Xia Chi up, making him spring into the air like a tightly stretched rubber band suddenly released.
He landed in a broad chest with a heavy thud.
But it didn’t hurt.
Because pain was turned off.
Xia Chi touched his ankle to confirm that the thing pulling him had disappeared and let out a sigh of relief. “You scared me, Tan Yue. Just how much do you want me to win?”
Tan Yue: “As long as I’m here, the word ‘lose’ isn’t in your vocabulary.”
A broad hand landed on his back, and with a jolt, Xia Chi finally realized he was still nestled in Tan Yue’s arms. He was splayed out, practically glued to him.
Like a startled rabbit, he quickly leapt up, muttered a quick thank you, and hurriedly pulled Tan Yue up from the ground.
The line Tan Yue said, “As long as I’m here, the word ‘lose’ isn’t in your vocabulary,” sounded so familiar. Where had he heard it before?
[Dear player, now’s not the time for romance,] Xiao Le’s furry little figure suddenly appeared, pointing toward the small door on the rooftop. [Li Mi is somewhere in this building, so hurry and find the important clues and plot points! Time is running out!]
Xia Chi opened the game panel, and the time showed that there were only 12 hours left.
As Xia Chi and Tan Yue headed down, Xia Chi suddenly remembered where he had heard that line before.
In the horror game, his system often said to him, “As long as I’m here, the word ‘lose’ isn’t in your vocabulary.”
Horror game, Tan Yue, the system, AI butler…
Something was stirring in his mind, ready to surface.
Xia Chi shook his head; it felt like he had forgotten something important.
Just like yesterday, the stairwell had no lights.
But Xia Chi today was not the same as Xia Chi yesterday.
Yesterday, the system had rewarded him 50 points, and 50 points were just enough to buy a flashlight.
Xia Chi turned on the flashlight, and a beam of light instantly illuminated the stairs in front of him.
There was a sign with 26 written on the corner of the stairs.
This was the 26th floor.
Still the sixth floor of the art building from yesterday.
Yesterday, the man with the teardrop mole had attacked Li Mi first on the 20th floor, then again on the 15th floor.
This time, his goal was clear: head to the 20th floor.
Since he had already been here once and now had a flashlight, Xia Chi and Tan Yue quickly dashed down the stairs, descending several floors in no time.
Judging they had reached the 20th floor, Xia Chi raised the flashlight to illuminate the sign by the stairs.
The conspicuous red “26” suddenly came into view.
