The temperature inside the coffin was too low, and Zhou Qi’an’s finger joints were red from the cold. After sending the message, he didn’t touch his phone again. This was to prevent the game’s “One, Two, Three” from accelerating after he entered the coffin, and as the time in the coffin extended, he might not be able to hear the gong.
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed, and the reasons were ample: for example, reduced oxygen and weakened sound transmission. After four instances, Zhou Qi’an was increasingly able to grasp the instance’s routine.
The endless darkness easily eroded one’s will. He kept his eyes open and gave himself a pep talk: “Don’t rush, it’s very likely that players will come.” From Wen encountering ghosts, it seemed that being teleported to other places was also quite dangerous. And even if they successfully found the highway, it was impossible for them to reach the bus station smoothly. Since there was a time limit for arrival, the game would try every possible means to delay them. Either they would continue to encounter ghosts, or they would face difficulties like ghost walls.
Some time had passed since the coffin was sealed. Even with controlled breathing, Zhou Qi’an still felt a sense of suffocation. This “Red Light, Green Light” seemed to last a bit long. He thought for a moment, quickly entered the mall to search, and bought an item to enhance his hearing. About a minute after activating the item, Zhou Qi’an vaguely heard a faint gong sound.
“…” Damn game, it really tampered with the sound.
Ignoring the urge to complain, while he could still move, Zhou Qi’an controlled his stiff fingers to type on the screen.
[Missing Two] Group:
[Zhou Qi’an]: If you come too late, I’ll do sit-ups, you know.
[…]
This was to consider that some people might intentionally delay, waiting for him to suffocate before appearing. Zhou Qi’an felt it was necessary to remind them that players who died with strong hatred would turn into ghosts for revenge. After sending the threat of reanimation, he began his second round of playing dead like a salted fish.
However, in a moment, the naturally thin oxygen was about to be completely depleted. Zhou Qi’an’s face turned pale from holding his breath, but he had to control his limbs and not make any instinctive struggles. His head was dizzy, yet the cold coffin chilled his body to the bone. It was a race against time. But he was racing against two clocks: his own and others’.
Every second was infinitely prolonged. Zhou Qi’an thought expressionlessly: Compared to the King of Drama, the true insidious aspect of this instance lies in the players. All these players came with a purpose, causing internal friction from the start, yet many of the instance’s designs required cooperation from inside and out. It was as if they were deliberately trying to trap this group of people to their deaths.
On second thought, as an NPC training base, the instance would naturally ‘recruit’ every possible laborer. Just as Zhou Qi’an was starting to see stars, the entire coffin suddenly sank. The after-effects of oxygen deprivation were somewhat severe; he couldn’t clearly hear the sounds outside, but he could determine what was happening from the vibrations of the coffin.
The vibrations continued, and sawdust sifted down from above. It had started raining outside at some point, and water droplets floated into the originally sealed space through the coffin lid’s cracks. The initial musty smell dissipated, and a familiar face appeared in his field of vision.
“Shen Zhiyi?”
Zhou Qi’an spoke, taking large gulps of air. Their eyes met, and Shen Zhiyi nodded, jumping in. He still carried the dampness of water, but after he entered, the coffin no longer felt as cold.
[Dong]
Before Zhou Qi’an could ask, Shen Zhiyi answered first: “That was the second gong strike.” Assured that fresh air was flowing in, he closed the coffin lid and lay down calmly.
The coffin was clearly spacious enough for two people, with even some room to spare, but after Shen Zhiyi lay down, he kept close to Zhou Qi’an’s shoulder.
“Go to sleep,” he said softly, “you’ll be there when you wake up.”
“…” Zhou Qi’an wasn’t so nonchalant. What if he talked in his sleep or moved around? Wouldn’t that be a ridiculous death?
Shen Zhiyi said lightly: “As long as you’re asleep, there won’t be a problem.” He could plant the subconscious instruction not to move in their dreams.
Zhou Qi’an didn’t know any of this. Now that someone had arrived, his body involuntarily relaxed a lot. As early as the bus station assessment, Zhou Qi’an had encountered a sudden downpour. The rain only stopped after the assessment ended. This current rain indicated that the external environment would become increasingly unsafe, and more players would come looking for the coffin later.
[Dong]
After the third gong strike, the familiar sound of nailing came from outside the coffin. In the coffin steeped in darkness, each other’s breathing was infinitely magnified. Some time passed in a daze, and then there was movement outside again.
Light poured in, and Dong Li and Wen appeared simultaneously. Realizing he could move again, Zhou Qi’an raised an eyebrow: “How did you find us?”
“The gong sound,” Dong Li said. “The gong sounds we heard were very ethereal. We followed the sound source and found the funeral procession.”
Although the coffin was large, if more people came in, they would just have to stack on top of each other. Zhou Qi’an sighed: “It’s a pity we can’t turn into Tetris blocks.” That way, they could save space.
“…” What are you regretting?
Zhou Qi’an considered whether to let these two huddle together at the bottom of the coffin, or for him and Shen Zhiyi to lie on their sides, and the other two to find a way to stack themselves in the corners. What they could stack into depended on their luck.
While he was thinking, Shen Zhiyi spoke: “Let’s cut off their limbs.”
“…” The entire atmosphere instantly tensed up.
Zhou Qi’an didn’t even need to look to imagine Wen and Dong Li’s expressions at that moment. He lightly coughed and said, “Don’t mess around, ‘Red Light, Green Light’ time is almost up.” He didn’t explicitly refuse but implied that the timing wasn’t right.
Shen Zhiyi interpreted Zhou Qi’an’s attitude, understanding that if necessary, these uncooperative teammates could be treated as consumables. So, he calmly changed the subject: “I used an isolation item. You can come in directly.” He lay flat, and under the illusion of light and shadow, his face had a porcelain-white hallucination. The light from his pupils seemed to see through everything.
Dong Li and Wen, being stared at from this angle, felt an inexplicable chill down their spines. They had no time to ponder. Neither hesitated and entered one after another. Something strange happened; there was no feeling of being pressed down, but rather like lying on a wooden board, as if the coffin itself had internal compartments.
Wen couldn’t help but frown. Of course, there were isolation items in the instance. Wen Xi in the church used one to trap Zhou Qi’an, but all isolation items had a very short duration because they were too precious; a normal person would never use them in such a place. Could it be that this man had more than one ability? Like space cutting or something similar. But it didn’t seem to be that either.
It was very cold, the chill almost seeping into their bones. Wen couldn’t describe the feeling, it was as if… as if negative energy had condensed into a solid form, creating a barrier in the middle.
The coffin lid was nailed shut again.
On the highway, the pallbearers’ smiles froze, and their funeral robes rustled in the wind. Damn, so heavy. Their stiff smiles turned into frowns, maximizing the horror effect. Unfortunately, the actors and audience were all inside the coffin, so no one could appreciate it.
Those inside the coffin were suffering even more. Wen and Dong Li were so cold they were almost trembling, relying entirely on their strong willpower to resist the physiological reactions. The funeral procession walked on, paper money flying, the world so quiet as if only this procession remained. Their speed was very fast, moving like ghosts.
Until the next gong sound arrived, the procession uniformly pressed the pause button, motionless.
Sounds came from around the guardrail; it was the long-waiting college student. He had seen the coffin earlier but couldn’t move. Now he finally found an opportunity. The guardrail was like a dividing line; the highway was dangerous, the wilderness had ghosts, and he was just stuck right on the line. This abnormal luck subtly made the college student uneasy. Even if he was a fool, he knew that this luck was too absurd, even feeling like a disaster.
When the travelers stopped, he quickly ran to the coffin. The edges of the coffin lid were full of holes, one could imagine the repeated process of being opened and nailed. Prying out the nails wasn’t difficult; there were many relevant items in the mall. However, during the prying process, he wondered if it was his illusion, but the travelers’ gazes became increasingly terrifying.
After opening the lid, the college student abruptly stepped back. Wen and Dong Li floated on top like corpses, both greedily breathing in the air.
The college student: “I, I’m coming in.” He couldn’t not come in; he was already exposed to the travelers’ sight, and after prying open the coffin, there wasn’t much time left.
“Can it be divided again?” Wen asked. He didn’t hear Shen Zhiyi’s reply. This layer went from lying flat to lying on their sides, with three people in a row.
The lower layer enjoyed ample space, and Zhou Qi’an didn’t feel anything, still lost in thought about Shen Zhiyi’s abilities.
The gong sounded.
This time, the funeral procession didn’t immediately nail the coffin lid shut. They clung to the edge of the coffin, and the pallbearers, smiling falsely, said, “Bitch, don’t go too far.” Due to their side-lying position, the others couldn’t see the pallbearers’ expressions. Every line of an actor was worth scrutinizing. The subject wasn’t pluralized, so they certainly weren’t scolding all of them. As for who exactly was being scolded, everyone had the same answer in their hearts.
Initially, two people carried the coffin, then four, and now six. Ten minutes passed in a flash.
[Dong]
After the gong rang again, the buzz-cut man, who had caught up from behind, opened it and his eyes widened. So many people. He quickly messaged Xia Zhi: Don’t come again, it’s overloaded.
Despite saying it was overloaded, he still squeezed himself in. The buzz-cut man had no choice.
Travelers: “…” Bastard, is it over yet?
When the buzz-cut man entered, the “Red Light, Green Light” time wasn’t up yet. He was so squeezed his face was distorted, and he worriedly said, “It seems there’s still some distance to the bus station. Can we hold on?”
“Are you dreaming?” Zhou Qi’an’s voice came through, his tone steady, with no sign of being squeezed. He had clearly figured out the rules of this play. Although the game scene was different from the rehearsal, the core was the same. The way to escape the baptism ceremony was through cooperation from inside and out, which corresponded to the method of breaking out of the coffin.
Looking at it this way, the next trial should be related to [Judgment], corresponding to the confession ceremony. “Isn’t there often that kind of cheesy scene where, after death, you meet a judge from hell who asks, ‘Do you know the sins you committed in your life?’ Then they list your sins one by one, and finally, your execution.” Sharing sins while alive, and then being publicly executed after death—what a frustrating, beastly life.
The players’ mouths twitched. Someone said speechlessly, “Are you a priest? Your lines are so practiced?”
Zhou Qi’an: “I wanted to be one, but you didn’t let me back then.”
“…”
[Red Light, Green Light]
As soon as the prompt came, everyone stopped communicating simultaneously.
[Don’t move.]
The heavy coffin moved on. The funeral procession didn’t walk for long, a shorter distance than any previous time. In the darkness, everyone hadn’t yet felt the pain of suffocation when the coffin lid was opened. After precisely stopping the coffin in one place, the travelers stopped moving.
The rain fell harder, a downpour pouring in. The coffin accumulated more and more water. Even if they still harbored some uncertainty about whether they could move, the players had to leave the coffin.
A chilling wind swept through every inch of space. On the highway, a toll booth had appeared at some point. A person in a black cloak stood in the center of the road. He was very thin; when the wind blew, the cloak almost enveloped most of his body. The wide hood blew to one side, and his shadow at first glance looked like a scythe.
The buzz-cut man, the first to emerge from the coffin, suddenly saw the grim reaper in the rainy gloom. He should have felt fear. The grim reaper spoke, “Do you know the sins you committed in your life?”
Suddenly, he couldn’t be scared anymore. Even the lines were similar to what Zhou Qi’an had imagined. No, they were exactly the same. Essentially, this judgment indeed corresponded to the confession ceremony in the church.
The guardrail was like the edge of a painting, the entire highway, including the grim reaper, was framed within the picture. The grim reaper, as an important character, spoke in a voice as cold as the weather: “I shall judge thoughts.”
The college student walked out of the coffin. Unexpectedly, there were still people. The grim reaper’s speech slowed by half a beat but remained solemn: “I shall judge speech.”
Wen and Dong Li both sat up and then climbed out of the coffin.
The grim reaper: “…I shall judge actions.”
Zhou Qi’an and Shen Zhiyi silently walked out of the coffin.
“!”
Zhou Qi’an, smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothes, squinted. The grim reaper actually looked at Shen Zhiyi first. This was the first time he had noticed a stronger sense of targeting from an NPC towards someone other than himself. Why would the security guard suddenly pay attention to someone the priest hadn’t even mentioned yesterday?
Zhou Qi’an saw a hint of unconcealed greed in the security guard’s eyes. Greedy for what? The pocket watch. He almost immediately linked it to the center of all the acts. But the pocket watch hadn’t just appeared on Shen Zhiyi today; the previous NPCs hadn’t shown any signs of coveting it. This pocket watch definitely wasn’t ordinary. Its true purpose had only begun to show last night, when players were in the pocket watch’s world, the flow of time had clearly changed, and when they came out, it was just dawn in the ancient city.
Thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind, but on his face, it was only a few blinks. Silently suppressing his doubts, Zhou Qi’an was now a bit annoyed by the rain. His vision was obscured, and he impatiently slicked his wet hair back, revealing a smooth forehead. Everyone automatically made way for him.
The college student, afraid the other person hadn’t heard clearly, repeated softly: “He said he would judge our thoughts, speech, and actions.”
Although shadowed and highlighted, Zhou Qi’an still recognized that thin face. What grim reaper? It was clearly the security guard from the bus station. A trident appeared in his hand, its golden light dispelling the gloom under the dark clouds.
Dong.
The sound was made by Zhou Qi’an. The bottom of the trident lightly struck the ground, splashing water droplets. His sapphire-blue pupils, in the rain, seemed to be veiled in a faint mist. He stared at the security guard playing the grim reaper, his gaze mocking.
“Judge me?” What kind of thing are you?
“…” One, an evil that showed through light; the other, a self-proclaimed light in darkness.
Regardless of their usual perception of Zhou Qi’an, the players had to admit at this moment that, compared to the young man holding the sacred artifact, the grim reaper seemed more like an auxiliary staff member of hell. In terms of both hardware and software, the grim reaper couldn’t compare, and even his voice wasn’t as pleasant.
Zhou Qi’an mimicked the priest’s movements, continuously making the sign of the cross with his other hand, reciting scriptures.
The grim reaper: “…” The other side was indeed more authentic.
Dismissing the absurd thought, the grim reaper approached menacingly. The cold wind blew rain strands, pricking Zhou Qi’an’s bones like needles. The pain made his speech briefly slow. Shen Zhiyi was about to step forward, but Zhou Qi’an subtly shook his head. He wanted the grim reaper to approach him.
As the two infinitely closed the distance, Zhou Qi’an decisively used [Hidden Edge]. The brightness of the trident’s surface gradually dimmed. He timely displayed a surprised expression, anxiously patting the trident lightly, as if wanting it to light up again. His acting made those familiar with him gape.
However, the golden trident completely became unremarkable. The pressure brought by the sacred artifact suddenly disappeared. With this give and take, the grim reaper immediately let out a cold laugh that echoed through heaven and earth: “Crime one, you shall not hold a weapon while being judged.”
Zhou Qi’an reflexively tried to hide the trident behind his back. Seeing this, the grim reaper moved even faster, extending his pale arm from his wide sleeve, instantly grasping the “evidence.”
“Ah—”
The next second, a howl almost shattered the raindrops on the ground. The extreme cold, paradoxically, felt like a burn, causing large areas of skin to ulcerate. His skin!
Zhou Qi’an subtly glanced at the players behind him. After witnessing the security guard’s miserable state, their expressions were not good. Zhou Qi’an, with murderous intent, glanced at the college student, who immediately stepped forward and whispered, “Hello, do you need treatment? Price negotiable.”
The cloak hood had fallen off during the previous agonizing scream. Without the shadowy atmosphere, the security guard playing the grim reaper instantly lost much of his presence. History always repeats itself; just as the security guard was burned in the past, the college student came to collect medical fees. It was a similar scene unfolding now. Thinking of this, the security guard’s face became even more distorted.
Zhou Qi’an looked at the drenched security guard and slowly uttered four words: “Dear, your makeup’s running.”
“!”
The only way to end the downpour was to quickly finish this act. Every time danger ended, the weather would improve.
Having laid enough groundwork, Zhou Qi’an smiled faintly: “How about we happily end the Red Light, Green Light game as payment for this consultation?”
The rain continued to fall relentlessly. There was a peculiar silence between heaven and earth because no one spoke. After a few seconds, the college student mumbled, “Rain makes wounds harder to heal and more likely to scar.” Even he, who was insensitive to rules, understood one principle: for actors, the most important thing was their face. Grasping this weakness, the advantage would be theirs.
During the security guard’s silence, Zhou Qi’an raised his arm, and the trident in his hand once again sparkled. The sudden golden light brought an invisible pressure. He proactively approached the grim reaper in reverse: “Look at my trident…”
Before his words finished, the security guard completely dropped his pretense of cold indifference. The pain in his arm lingered, and he stared intently at Zhou Qi’an. Both sides stood in stiff confrontation.
Zhou Qi’an himself was actually unsure. Rehearsals were meant to prevent mishaps during the official performance. Since he had already cleared the confession ceremony using the sacred artifact, why didn’t the King of Drama modify the script? Was it a rule limitation? Or some other reason, for example… Zhou Qi’an’s heart stirred. What other pitfalls awaited him?
Author’s Note:
The varied joys and sorrows of humanity:
Zhou Qi’an: The more I look at my shining sacred artifact, the more pleasing it becomes.
NPCs: This coffin is so heavy, so heavy, getting heavier! Don’t you dare get in again!
Security Guard: The pocket watch, I want it.
Shen Zhiyi: I should have brought an umbrella for Qi’an before leaving today.
