Zhou Qi’an, having been trained by his superior, was a genius in the art of language, questioning everything with a perpetually wounded expression.
A strand of hair near Mother Zhou’s ear stopped twisting for a moment.
Zhou Qi’an generously waved his hand: “It’s fine, I don’t blame you.”
“…”
This performance went even more smoothly than Zhou Qi’an had imagined.
He wasn’t sure if the deceased player would immediately attack him after he arrived at the office. If not, he would have to try to convince his mother to hold a wedding on the spot and invite NPCs to attend, then provoke the security guard by demanding gift money, forcing him to kill.
This process would involve much greater risk. Who knew if his mother, in her killer state, could be reasoned with?
He reached out to help the woman smooth a strand of hair behind her ear. The tiny snake, fearing the holy artifact’s light, did not immediately bite.
Zhou Qi’an looked at those familiar yet utterly strange eyes and fell silent for a moment: “I don’t blame you.”
Only this time, there was no pretense of a joking tone.
Even now, Zhou Qi’an could feel that his mother’s pursuit was tempered with restraint.
A flicker of conflict and suppression flashed in Mother Zhou’s terrifying vertical pupils.
This complex emotion was fleeting. Her gaze towards her son finally softened slightly: “You get acquainted with your fiancée first, Mom’s going to kill someone.”
“…” Zhou Qi’an, with his arms full of a rice cooker: “Get certified first.”
He spoke according to her wishes: “Once you enter the examination hall, maybe you can even complete the killing role-play there.”
Of course, the possibility was almost zero.
Players who had already taken the exam would definitely have entered a separate assessment scenario by now.
Mother Zhou hadn’t taken the qualification exam and wasn’t aware of the regulations like examination hall lockdowns.
She didn’t say whether she would take the exam or not, and simply left through the window.
In just a few minutes, the King of Drama’s once tidy office was covered in foul-smelling blood, fresh white bones, and terrifying snakeskin.
Zhou Qi’an, sitting alone in his unique way, vaguely sensed that the faceless portrait in the picture frame on the wall seemed to carry a hint of faint anger.
Rocking on the swivel chair with the holy artifact, Zhou Qi’an stared intently at the painting.
“Are you angry?”
“If you’re angry, blink.”
A face without features naturally couldn’t blink.
Zhou Qi’an smiled, “So you’re not angry then.”
On the background, hundreds of palm-sized human faces suddenly blinked simultaneously, creating an indescribably terrifying and eerie scene.
This was no longer just anger; it was fury to death.
Zhou Qi’an’s smile froze.
It’s good that he’s furious. The King of Drama likes to exploit actors. Monsters have no sexual desire, which means actors who die at the hands of the King of Drama are like leeks in the field. Since he’s already shown himself, the King of Drama will certainly target him next.
Making him more angry will be good for maintaining his mental health later.
Ancient City
On a desolate, remote path in the ancient city, with hardly any trees along the roadside, the college student, following Shen Zhiyi, was as jumpy as a frightened bird.
Behind them was a maze composed of countless intricate paths.
The college student had just emerged from there. The sheer size of the maze was beyond imagination, even giving the illusion of being larger than the ancient city itself. Throughout, his nerves had been taut, mechanically following Shen Zhiyi through the intricate, eerie passages.
In the silence, broken only by footsteps, there was no single crisis.
This, paradoxically, made him even more nervous.
When a bird flew across the sky, the college student immediately tensed up.
Shen Zhiyi glanced at him, his brow slightly furrowed at his skittish and obviously problematic demeanor.
He didn’t particularly like this person, who was full of incongruities and clearly had issues. If it weren’t for Zhou Qi’an’s sake, such a burden would have been thrown aside on the road long ago.
“No ghosts,” Shen Zhiyi said coldly.
According to the setting of this play, players generally only face murderous intent from the killer.
Not speaking definitively was Shen Zhiyi’s way of guessing that Zhou Qi’an would specifically go back to “seek death,” performing an alternative “death before rebirth” scenario.
The danger of finding clients itself isn’t high; the game will only try to delay the players’ time. If the plot doesn’t progress within the given time, they could easily miss the chance to trigger the fourth act.
The college student opened his mouth, about to say something, when he suddenly looked at the roadside in shock: “It seems we’ve been here before.”
There were only four or five trees along the way, and he remembered each one.
Judging by the outlines of the canopies, they had clearly already passed this spot.
Shen Zhiyi’s pupils seemed inherently dim, with only a sharp glint visible upon close inspection.
He was visually dissecting the abnormal nodes in space, breaking through the ghostly illusion.
“Next, there will be puzzles and illusions, these little tricks.”
The college student was astonished by his comprehensive knowledge, and by the second time, he had no excess astonishment to express: “Your shadow is gone!”
Shen Zhiyi nodded indifferently.
His shadow was immune to low to mid-level ghost spells, so to save time, it was sent to solve the puzzles.
Time passed by, and the college student remained silent like a quail. When he was with Zhou Qi’an, the pressure mainly came from the instance itself, but when active with Shen Zhiyi, most of the pressure came from Shen Zhiyi himself.
Their communication throughout the journey could be counted on one hand.
That’s why he couldn’t understand why Shen Zhiyi chose to check in at the address on the shopping receipt he had chosen first.
The shadow was blazing a trail ahead, and the two walked unhindered.
Shen Zhiyi suddenly stopped.
The college student quickly stopped too, following his gaze, but saw nothing.
Shen Zhiyi simply reached out his hand, and the void seemed to tear away a layer of mist. Behind the illusion, an ordinary self-built house appeared within sight.
“Knock on the door.”
The college student hesitated for a moment. The instant the door opened, he didn’t even get a clear look at the person opening it; his gaze was completely fixed on the cabinet by the door.
On the white cabinet, scattered items like keychains were placed, but the most eye-catching was a large box.
It was the packaging box for a rice cooker.
The packaging box had not yet been opened, clearly not having been used since its purchase.
“Who are you, what do you want?”
“Hello,” the college student composed himself and said, “The batch of rice cookers you purchased has been found to have problems. We are here to collect them.”
He took out the treatment fee given by the security inspector, offering a price much higher than the rice cooker’s selling price.
However, the customer, seeing him reaching into his pocket for money, had a glint of greed in his eyes.
The actors in the entire ancient city were oversupplied, and ordinary extras lived a meager life.
The college student’s palms began to sweat, a foreboding sense washing over him.
He remembered that all the projects they had encountered so far involved no substantial danger, only frantic delays. He instantly understood that no matter what method they used, the customer would make things difficult.
He shouldn’t have wasted his breath.
If it were Brother Zhou, he would have picked up the rice cooker and run the moment he entered the door.
Just as he was considering whether to scatter some money and grab the item and run, the college student suddenly found his shoe soles seemed to be glued to the floor—no, not like, they were glued.
The customer in front of him smiled.
The curve of his mouth caused a crack to open directly on his face.
The customer heartbreakingly tore off a small, blood-stained piece of thin skin: “Just put it on.”
Skin care was too expensive; it was much easier to copy and paste other people’s skin.
“Don’t worry,” the customer approached the college student step by step. “My audition is tonight, so I won’t hurt you now.”
The college student quickly translated: He would be imprisoned until after this act ended, then peeled.
Actually, using a small explosive prop at this moment would be very effective, but the floor had a special suction, he couldn’t move, and if the explosion went wrong, he would be the one to die.
The customer, whose face was constantly shedding skin flakes, approached, his drooling eyes fixed on the fair-skinned, tender-fleshed college student, and on the other side, the quiet Shen Zhiyi.
Upon closer inspection, this man’s skin suited his taste even more. It looked thin and fair, with a peculiar sense of eeriness.
Just as the customer was about to reach Shen Zhiyi, he too seemed to be glued, completely stuck to the floor.
A sound emanated from the ground.
The instant he looked down, the customer realized in horror that his own shadow had split, no, that an extra shadow had appeared, and the man opposite had no shadow.
“You’re tired,” a cold yet alluring voice sounded.
The customer’s eyes gradually became dull, like those children in Fengshui Village had been, a hint of blankness appearing in his expression. At the same time, the college student was surprised to find that he seemed able to lift his feet again.
This time, without Shen Zhiyi’s prompting, he quickly opened the box.
The college student actually didn’t have much hope; there were twelve customers in total, so he expected a long trial-and-error process.
Click.
The lid of the rice cooker inside was easily opened, and an oval, vintage pocket watch lay quietly within the inner pot.
One in twelve chance, and he actually hit it!
“What are you surprised about?”
A calm, unruffled voice came from behind him. Shen Zhiyi said, “Last time Qi’an asked you to pick a female teammate, and you meticulously chose a cross-dresser for him.”
Now, it’s just picking one out of twelve receipts; it would be strange if he didn’t hit it.
“!!!”
When the college student recovered from the shocking truth and looked back, the customer’s face had become full of holes.
The customer seemed unaware of this, standing dazedly in place, as if he had fallen asleep standing up.
Shen Zhiyi put the rice cooker back into the box.
College student: “Are you taking the rice cooker too?”
“To return it.”
The money from the return would be given to Qi’an.
“…”
Shen Zhiyi glanced at the ornaments in the house, recalled whether there was a pawn shop in the ancient city, and, confirming there wasn’t, then left.
Smoothly returning to the electronics store, Shen Zhiyi said, “The customer found a pocket watch inside and thought it was a refurbished machine, so they requested a refund.”
The boss didn’t seem to suspect much, muttering, “Why do things always get misplaced here? We’ve had such mix-ups before.”
[Congratulations! You found the pocket watch before the killer found you, escaping the fate of malicious murder.]
[You have completed this performance.]
[Scoring your performance…]
Shen Zhiyi paid no attention to these things. He extended his hand to the still-muttering boss: “The money.”
Bus Station, Office
“If all goes well, he should have found the pocket watch by now.” Zhou Qi’an took out his phone and checked the time.
A unique prodigy who successfully picked a scapegoat among over eighty shops, and chose a cross-dresser from hundreds of photos, let alone a one-in-twelve chance, even a one-in-one-hundred-and-twenty chance, the college student might still hit it.
The painting on the wall hung directly opposite, hundreds of eyes blinking non-stop, making one feel uneasy.
Smelling the murky scent of blood in the air, Zhou Qi’an finally couldn’t take it anymore. He put away the holy artifact and left the office.
He went directly to the first floor. He didn’t see his mother or any other players on the way.
This actor qualification exam should not be taking place inside the bus station, otherwise, as an irrelevant person, he would have been cleared out long ago.
The bathroom lights were on even during the day.
Through the somewhat murky mirror, Zhou Qi’an saw a slightly fatigued face, with blood spots on his cheeks that stood out particularly against his fair skin.
These were the bloodstains from when You Ma tried to bite back.
He thoroughly washed his face, then carried the rice cooker back to the familiar waiting hall.
After sitting down, Zhou Qi’an first looked at the speed props given by Xia Zhi and Wen.
[Arrow on the String: Must be Fired.]
[Usage Guide: Aim at the kidney and stab it in. Infuses the kidney with power, increasing speed by three meters per second.]
[Quality: Four-star]
[Note: Lasts for five seconds, single-use item.]
“…” This item should be called “Arrow Through the Kidney.”
Judging by the pattern, the arrow was semi-transparent, so there shouldn’t be much of a problem after it passed through.
“Arrow Through the Kidney” was an item given by Wen. Xia Zhi’s item was three and a half stars, close to four stars, and had a very unique name: [Little Wing].
After use, it increased speed by two meters per second, lasting for four seconds, also a single-use item.
After reading, Zhou Qi’an didn’t forget his new fiancée and opened the rice cooker to check.
Hiss.
Without any surprise, there was a snake hidden inside, suddenly exposed to the light and reflexively hissing at him.
Zhou Qi’an calmly said, “There’s no harm in listening to your mother.”
His old mother had told him to keep the rice cooker safe before leaving. If he hadn’t taken it to heart, then his earlier explanations in the office would have been dismissed as insincere.
He might have even been celebrating his seventh day after death tonight.
But with this snake here, he could finally rest properly for a while, without worrying about the passengers in the bus station.
“I’m tired…” From a heart-pounding, desperate flight in the ancient city, to a frantic rush to the office, and then battling wits with players in between. Both mentally and physically, he had reached his limit.
Zhou Qi’an tilted his head and, under the watchful eye of the terrifying sea snake, blissfully fell asleep.
He slept for a full two hours.
He was woken by the sound of rain. When he woke up, the players had just returned, drenched, bringing in a rush of cold air.
The scene at the entrance had a complete sense of detachment; everyone seemed to be on a different wavelength.
Xia Zhi had returned to the ancient city once more, entering with the steady man’s team, and had been talking the whole way.
Wen was curiously conversing with the foreigner.
Mother Zhou was holding hair care products she had just bought, and seeing the rice cooker still there, she was slightly pleased. The college student was foolishly waving to the resting area, and Shen Zhiyi, with his long legs, was walking towards them.
Zhou Qi’an was fully awake and asked, “Done acting?”
Shen Zhiyi nodded: “After finding the pocket watch, this act ends.”
Zhou Qi’an closed the rice cooker, the snake was trapped inside: “So everyone else acted for nothing?”
Shen Zhiyi: “Their score is based on participation.”
Zhou Qi’an stared at him for two seconds, making sure he wasn’t joking.
He moved a little closer.
“There’s dust.”
Zhou Qi’an lightly brushed off Shen Zhiyi’s shoulder.
Shen Zhiyi had made the same gesture just last night. While slightly startled, Zhou Qi’an, under the pretense of brushing off dust, leaned close to his ear and whispered a few words.
Shen Zhiyi nodded.
Dong Li suddenly walked over at this moment, his voice, like his steady appearance, was amiable: “Mr. Shen, we’re going to take the exam, why don’t we go together?”
Xia Zhi had already explained about the qualification certificate. Dong Li said, “For multi-person assessment, the difficulty will…”
“Will it decrease a bit?” Zhou Qi’an glanced at Xia Zhi: “Otherwise she wouldn’t survive.”
Xia Zhi’s ears had been bandaged in the city. Her expression was ugly when she heard this, but she didn’t deny it: “Miss Qi said we participated in the second volume assessment, and you were in the first, so the content is harder.”
Zhou Qi’an calmly accepted this fact.
The game emphasized fairness; a reduced difficulty meant a disadvantage in terms of information. In the hide-and-seek game, he had learned a lot about the King of Drama.
Shen Zhiyi readily agreed: “Okay.”
The college student next to him subtly shifted his gaze. Given this person’s cold personality, he didn’t refuse, probably because there was something fishy going on.
Zhou Qi’an: “You go take the test too.”
Qualification certificates were very important, as they could naturally increase a player’s performance score.
As the group turned to find Miss Qi, Zhou Qi’an glanced at the darkening sky: “Haha, Miss Qi has to work overtime again.”
“…”
“Hahaha, the King of Drama has to work night shifts too.”
“…”
Can you please shut up! Can’t you see Miss Qi’s smile has completely vanished from her face at the entrance?
Only four people remained in the waiting hall.
Because of the afternoon’s chase, Xia Zhi deliberately stayed far from Mother Zhou. Wen, however, acted as if nothing had happened, and as usual, asked if they wanted a bottle when he went to buy water.
Zhou Qi’an didn’t stand on ceremony with him: “I want the kind with a ‘win another bottle’ cap.”
He was very satisfied with the current situation.
Mother Zhou had a tag hanging around her neck, apparently having finally taken the advice and gone to take the exam.
Zhou Qi’an chatted casually: “What were the exam questions?”
Mother Zhou, applying the newly bought essential oil to her hair, said disinterestedly, “Something about summoning a pen spirit. I chopped off the ghost’s claws.”
Zhou Qi’an shivered slightly, hugging the rice cooker on his lap tighter.
…
At 10 PM, the players, exhausted from their qualification assessment, returned. The bald man had a bloody hole on half of his shoulder and terrifying bruises on his wrists, while the short-haired woman also had varying degrees of injury.
The excitement of escaping death slightly collapsed when they saw the young man sleeping in a chair.
Miss Qi congratulated them formulaically: “When I come tomorrow morning, I’ll bring your qualification certificates.”
As with the previous two days, she did not spend the night in the waiting hall.
After Miss Qi left, no one mentioned You Ma, as if the person had never existed.
At this moment, everyone was more concerned with how to trigger the fourth act.
The end of today’s act left no loose ends. As the person who found the pocket watch, apart from the boss’s complaining, the plot for Shen Zhiyi and the college student only had an extra line compared to others: [After much wandering, the pocket watch once again welcomed a new owner].
Everyone briefly discussed it, but due to limited information, they didn’t come up with anything valuable and could only wait until the next day to figure it out.
As midnight approached, the bald man stood up and asked, “Anyone going to the restroom?”
Several people joined him, hurrying to take care of their physiological needs before midnight.
Shen Zhiyi also stood up, but not to go to the restroom.
He walked over and sat down next to Zhou Qi’an, saying, “It’s pretty much what you thought.”
Before the qualification exam, Zhou Qi’an had asked Shen Zhiyi to observe the steady man’s team and see if Dong Li protected the bald man fiercely during the assessment.
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Zhou Qi’an fell into contemplation.
From the first day’s performance, it was clear that the players weren’t very invested in the mission itself, focusing primarily on self-preservation.
One thing was now certain: the bald man was the steady man’s team’s trump card.
Otherwise, Dong Li should have sent the bald man to follow him this afternoon, leaving Xia Zhi, who had better psychological resilience and condition, which would have increased the probability of getting the pocket watch.
While thinking, his gaze met Shen Zhiyi’s.
His expression was gentle, and he mouthed: “Kill them.”
Nip the variable in the bud.
Zhou Qi’an feigned not seeing.
No matter what others’ goals were, he just wanted to finish the task quickly and leave the instance early. That way, he could rest for two more days before going back to work next week.
If others don’t offend me, I won’t offend them. If they do offend me…
I’ll repay it a hundredfold.
After midnight, they took turns on watch as usual. Zhou Qi’an was scheduled for the third shift tonight.
Half-asleep, he faintly heard a sound. Zhou Qi’an was sleeping with the rice cooker in his arms, at first thinking it was the snake hissing, but then he felt it wasn’t. When he opened his eyes, he found everyone else was awake.
At this moment, including Mother Zhou, everyone was staring in one direction… towards Shen Zhiyi.
The sound was coming from him.
Shen Zhiyi sat steadily on the iron chair, taking out the pocket watch from his pocket. It was the one found from the customer.
The moment the pocket watch appeared, Zhou Qi’an quickly scanned everyone’s expressions, keenly catching a hint of greed, but lacking excitement and frenzy.
Seeing that no one was probing about the pocket watch’s use, it ruled out the possibility that they simply wanted the item for the sake of getting it.
The pocket watch was exquisite and beautiful.
Its golden casing showed some erosion from time, and the patterns were slightly faded. Inside the dial, a blurry building was visible, and one could vaguely see a white dove holding a flower branch standing at the center of the hands.
Dong, dong.
Every tick of the second hand was accompanied by a sound, and this sound seemed to be getting louder.
“A normal pocket watch… doesn’t sound like this, does it?” The bald man nervously licked his dry lips.
Tick, tock. That’s the sound of a traditional clock ticking.
This sound now was more like a bell.
The rhythm was slow, long, and inexplicably caused the heart in one’s chest to vibrate along with it.
Dong—
As time passed, the bell reverberated through the entire bus station.
“Look,” Wen lowered his voice, returning to his usual timid demeanor.
The passengers in the bus station had, at some point, all changed into white clothes. It wasn’t just a simple pure white, but a stark white, looking incredibly pale under the lights.
At first glance, it was as if a procession of ghosts in mourning clothes was busy sending someone off.
A sense of panic uncontrollably began to spread.
The second hand’s movement sped up. The long, lingering rhythm transformed into a clear, distinct beat. Dong dong dong, dong dong dong. The dense, rapid drumming caused Xia Zhi, who was already injured, to clutch her chest, trying to control her heart’s beating frequency.
She said in a deep voice, “This pocket watch has a big problem. Don’t forget the true name of this play is ‘The Bell Tolls’.”
This death knell seemed to be ringing for them.
Just as everyone was staring intently at the pocket watch, a neatly jointed hand deftly opened the watch case and removed the battery.
Ignoring the slight, superficial chill emanating from the battery, Shen Zhiyi calmly said, “Alright, go back to sleep.”
“…”
There seemed to be no other way but to sleep. So many passengers in white made one feel anxious just looking at them.
After a brief moment of surprise, everyone simply decided to ignore what they couldn’t stand, closing their eyes and resting again.
After a few minutes of silence, their pounding hearts finally returned to their normal rhythm.
The pocket watch was on Shen Zhiyi. Even if there was a problem, the one who disassembled it would be the first to suffer. With someone else taking the brunt, the other players naturally weren’t as nervous.
Dong!
Before half a minute of peaceful calm had passed, a powerful tremor nearly made their hearts jump out of their chests.
They opened their eyes wide, staring at the opposite side.
Shen Zhiyi’s palm held a silver oxide battery, separated from the pocket watch, but the bell still resonated, centering on the pocket watch.
When the bell abruptly stopped, a notification suddenly appeared:
[Congratulations! All participants have passed the qualification assessment.]
[A mature actor should learn to film night scenes. With your qualification certificates, you are about to embark on your first night scene career.]
[Act Four – Last Stand Frenzy, coming soon.]
[This is an entertainment venue.]
[Loading scene, One, Two, Three, Red Light, Green Light…]
[One, Two, Three, Red Light, Green Light game introduction: What is there to introduce? It’s just like the way you played it as a child.]
[Warm reminder: No transportation is allowed during the game.]
Zhou Qi’an: “I didn’t have a childhood, so what game is it?”
He even looked at Bertram, do they have it abroad? Is the gameplay consistent domestically and internationally?
Everyone actually knew what this game was, but they all pretended not to understand, wanting to see if the game would provide more details.
It turned out they had thought too much.
[The destination for this Red Light, Green Light game is the ancient city.]
[Please arrive before dawn.]
[A major play will be staged in the ancient city tomorrow. Please do not miss your first day on the job as an official actor, arrive as early as possible.]
[A message for all actors—]
[Sleep my ass, get up and party!]
Zhou Qi’an, who had just mocked the King of Drama for working night shifts: “…”
Filming a night road scene, walking all the way to the ancient city, and then participating in a play after dawn—doesn’t that mean working non-stop?
A twenty-four-hour work system.
Realizing this, Zhou Qi’an instantly plunged into darkness, muttering incessantly, with no light reaching his head.
“Qi’an, calm down.”
Shen Zhiyi, who had disfigured a customer without a second thought that afternoon, was now calmly trying to persuade him.
Mother Zhou’s hair stirred silently, the snake-like shadows within her strands deepening, causing all the players to shiver.
Zhou Qi’an subconsciously tilted his head to look at the gradually uncontrollable hair.
Mother Zhou stroked her hair, repeating softly, “Sleep my ass… who is he cussing out?”
Zhou Qi’an: “…Mom, you calm down too.”
__
Author’s Note:
Zhou Qi’an: Maintain a calm mind.
Shen Zhiyi: Maintain a calm and steady mind.
Mother Zhou: Bristling with anger.
