A large sign reading “Hot Enrollment in Progress” was posted at the entrance of the dance studio.
Yet, for the entire afternoon, aside from Zhou Qi’an and the other players, no outsiders had stepped foot inside.
To be precise, there hadn’t been a single customer spotted on the entire fourth floor.
Ignoring the shy, flickering shadows, Zhou Qi’an refocused his attention on the locker area.
The female ghost had been lingering around that spot the whole time, but he couldn’t see clearly what was there.
The college student noticed Zhou Qi’an’s gaze and whispered,
“On the first night, when I tried to go over there, she stopped me.”
In other words, walking straight over was not an option.
Zhou Qi’an thought for a moment, then stood up, dragging his numb legs toward the long-haired girl.
“Beautiful lady, may I have this dance?”
The Origami Boy was still watching in secret.
Based on the rules they had figured out so far, the closer one got to the long-haired girl, the more likely the curse would flare up.
But not only did Zhou Qi’an approach her—he even suddenly turned his head, looking directly at the Origami Boy.
With a light, teasing motion, he curled his finger, signaling him to keep learning—don’t stop.
The Origami Boy instinctively took another step back, even though he was already at a safe distance.
In his mind, he cursed: Madman.
Just then, a deathly pale hand—as white as a corpse—rested on Zhou Qi’an’s palm.
Zhou Qi’an was not surprised.
After dancing alone for so long, the long-haired girl naturally wouldn’t refuse a dance partner who offered himself.
The moment their skin touched, it felt like thousands of needles piercing through flesh.
Yet, Zhou Qi’an’s expression remained unchanged, aside from a few strands of hair at his temple turning slightly damp.
And so, they began to dance.
Zhou Qi’an controlled his footwork, slowly and casually moving toward the group photo.
Halfway through, he finally caught the melody she was humming—a broken, off-key version of an old song.
It sounded like “The World Outside.”
The rhythm of the old song flowed unevenly.
The cheap promotional announcements blaring in the background did nothing to dilute the eerie chill of her singing—
If anything, they made the entire atmosphere even more disturbingly surreal.
With every step forward and back, the black lines on Zhou Qi’an’s wrist crept along his veins, twisting and stretching—
Like dancing on a blade’s edge.
For some reason, Zhou Qi’an thought this could be a good theme for a mermaid ad campaign.
Using the dance, he maneuvered into the area where the long-haired girl had been lingering.
At last, he caught sight of the photo.
As he led the long-haired girl into a spin, Zhou Qi’an spoke softly midway through:
“The cafeteria chef said they’re hosting a birthday banquet tonight. A lot of people have been invited. Will you be attending?”
Birthday banquet.
The moment she heard those two words, the long-haired girl’s body began trembling uncontrollably.
Zhou Qi’an seized the opportunity—his hand shot out, swiftly pulling out the photo.
The Origami Boy, who had been observing all along, finally saw his chance.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes—
Just as he was about to call out the audacious thief, the college student spoke up in time:
“Brother Zhou said that as long as you don’t cause trouble, he’ll let you see the photo later.”
After saying that, he even raised his hand, making a swearing gesture.
As the dance ended, Zhou Qi’an naturally slipped the photo into his clothes.
“It’s almost time for the rice shop’s shift change. It was an honor to dance with you.”
Though he said it was an honor, his feet didn’t hesitate in the slightest—he strode straight for the door, his white skirt billowing like a comet.
For now, the long-haired girl hadn’t noticed the missing photo.
Ever since Zhou Qi’an mentioned the birthday banquet, her mind had been elsewhere.
Even the air at the door felt a little fresher.
As soon as Zhou Qi’an stepped out, the Origami Boy immediately caught up, his tone carrying a faint hint of threat:
“Let me see the photo.”
Otherwise, they weren’t that far from the dance studio—if he yelled, Zhou Qi’an would be finished.
The college student quickly explained what had just happened.
Zhou Qi’an’s expression remained neutral—neither happy nor angry.
“I see.”
The Origami Boy circled around in front of him, his arrogant and defiant attitude unchanged.
A moment later, Zhou Qi’an seemed to compromise and pulled out the group photo.
In the picture, the long-haired girl and Jin Zhi both looked young and innocent, their cheeks still carrying some baby fat.
Just like the old photo they had found the first night, the long-haired girl’s eyes were empty and lifeless—she had been born blind.
The Origami Boy hid his inner satisfaction.
Following Zhou Qi’an had been the right move—he had gained a vital clue without even lifting a finger, while the others had risked their lives for it.
Behind the photo was a copied song lyric: “The World Outside.”
Unlike the original lyrics, which carried a subtle sadness, there was an extra line of small, firm handwriting beneath:
“The world outside must be amazing! Once I leave this mountain, I’ll take you to the big city too.”
Since the long-haired girl could only write in Braille, this handwritten note clearly belonged to the other person in the photo.
The three of them quickly understood.
This was a promise the girl had secretly made to the long-haired girl before she died.
Unfortunately, it was a promise that could never be fulfilled.
The Origami Boy felt a little disappointed—
So it was just a side clue, merely clarifying the relationships between the monsters in this building.
Zhou Qi’an handed his wig to the college student.
“Hold onto my second head.”
The college student nodded solemnly.
“Brother Zhou, what do we do now?”
Zhou Qi’an planned to return the slim shadow hiding in the darkness back to Mu Tianbai.
But just as he put away the photo, the red cloak appeared from the left, a belt of bones strapped around her waist.
At the same time, a black hooded man approached from the right, and Mu Tianbai was holding a blood-dripping garbage bag.
“……”
The scene was quite a spectacle.
The shadow, feeling guilty, slipped through an unnoticed gap and quickly merged back with its owner.
Zhou Qi’an remained oblivious to how “spectacular” he himself looked.
He, the college student, and the Origami Boy—they all looked like clones of the long-haired girl.
Among them, Zhou Qi’an had always been leaner than most adult men.
Now, dressed like this, he looked even more delicate and pitiful—like a frail little white flower swaying in the wind.
Mu Tianbai first saw Zhou Qi’an, who appeared weak and helpless, and then noticed his shortened long-haired shadow.
For a few silent seconds, no one knew what he was thinking.
Ever since he had seen that creepy shadow in the elevator, the Origami Boy had felt uneasy around Mu Tianbai.
Now, he quickly moved to stand next to the Red Cloak, giving a brief rundown of what had happened in the dance studio.
After hearing everything, Red Cloak frowned.
He had volunteered to be a scapegoat, as if eager for the curse to spread faster—
Yet in the end, all they got was a useless photo.
No matter how you looked at it, it had been a pointless adventure.
Just then, Zhou Qi’an looked up and calmly said three words:
“Just for fun.”
Madman.
At this moment, for the first time, Red Cloak and the Origami Boy felt a rare sense of agreement.
Before their verbal standoff could even begin, a bolt of lightning suddenly interrupted them.
Outside, a heavy storm had begun.
The roaring thunder occasionally flashed through the sealed windows, casting frightening shadows on the ground.
The overhead lights flickered wildly for a few moments—
Then, they went out completely.
There weren’t many people in the mall on a stormy day, and the blackout startled the remaining customers downstairs.
Cursing under their breath, they hurriedly left.
Through the heavy rain and shadows, a towering Minotaur could be seen, locking the mall doors with iron chains.
Due to the bad weather, the building had closed early.
This effectively blocked off any players who had been planning to target customers—
And in these conditions, hunting monsters would be even more difficult.
“Who’s there?” Red Cloak alertly turned toward the side.
In the darkness, a tall, thin figure emerged.
It was their supervisor.
With the elevators down, he had just walked up from the escalator.
“Where the hell have you all been?”
The darkness didn’t seem to affect his vision at all.
He completely ignored Red Cloak and looked straight at his own employees.
Drip, drip.
The sound of liquid dripping echoed endlessly in the silence.
Since the rain outside couldn’t reach inside the building, this thick, sticky splatter could only be blood.
Remembering that the supervisor had come from the dangerous escalator, Zhou Qi’an took a sharp breath.
There was no way the conjoined old woman’s two heads were enough for all three of them—so their supervisor had probably killed another one on the way.
“The initial draft is already written—I was just about to bring it to you for review… I’ll need your guidance after you read it…”
Even in the darkness, everyone could easily picture Zhou Qi’an’s flattering posture—nodding and bowing obsequiously.
You weren’t like this before.
Especially the Origami Boy—his expression was completely twisted.
The madman who had just been talking about how it was all just for fun—was he dead or something?
Zhou Qi’an gestured for the college student to follow and then put on a fawning expression, trailing behind the supervisor:
“It’s dark—watch your step.”
His voice faded into the distance, leaving the rest speechless.
Mu Tianbai picked up his slimmed-down shadow, looking like he was about to settle accounts in private.
Now, only Red Cloak and the Origami Boy remained.
Just as they were about to leave, a light appeared at the emergency exit.
Bai Chanyi and another female player walked up.
Unlike the fearless boss, they didn’t dare take the escalator directly.
Bai Chanyi’s mind was still replaying the scene from earlier.
Zhou Qi’an’s advice had been useful—
That elite man hadn’t attacked them.
Instead, taking advantage of his borrowed authority, Bai Chanyi had managed to question the conjoined old woman about the location of Jin Zhi’s corpse.
“…The body… it’s in Jin Furen’s office.”
The moment they got the answer, the boss instantly snapped one of the old woman’s necks.
His next move was to decapitate her and use her head as a birthday gift.
The conjoined old woman’s eyes filled with terror:
“No, no! I already answered! You can’t kill me—”
The boss was unmoved, gripping her remaining neck like he was wringing a goose’s.
At that moment, not just Bai Chanyi—
Even the other player watching was shaken to the core.
In her final moments, the old woman was so furious and afraid that she cursed them all:
“I curse you all to hell!”
“And that Jin Zhi—she was just a whore! A cheap slut! All we did was gossip about her a little, and even after death, she had to turn into a ghost and stitch us together?!”
She had liked to gossip—so the female ghost had sewn her and her sister’s mouths into one body, so they could talk forever.
The young men in the village who had touched Jin Zhi inappropriately—
She had stitched all their hands together into one person.
Those who had choked her, those who had stabbed her—
She had returned it all, piece by piece.
She had replaced their cold, cruel limbs with icy mechanical parts.
She had flayed their sickening skin, stripping it away layer by layer…
When a person dies, they turn into a ghost.
But when a ghost dies—then what?
Do they just vanish forever?
The lifeless, wide-open eyes of the old woman gave Bai Chanyi a strange feeling.
These ghosts seemed to fear death—just like humans.
As they had suspected, the female ghost’s corpse was in the hands of the building’s owner.
That was how he had managed to survive this long, using it to counter the ghost he was raising.
But something about this felt off.
Carrying a lamp, Bai Chanyi had come specifically to find Zhou Qi’an and discuss it.
Red Cloak sneered coldly:
“He’s busy kissing ass.”
“……”
After 5 PM, all players had to switch shifts.
Zhou Qi’an was the exception—
After getting beaten up by the boss, the rice shop owner no longer dared to boss him around.
In the pitch black, Zhou Qi’an seriously considered whether to spend points on a lighting tool.
Then he thought again—the power outage meant off-hours, time to rest.
Zhou Qi’an cleared his throat:
“No light…”
Bang!
A loud crash cut off the rest of his sentence.
The boss had punched the concrete wall, creating a small hole.
Through it, the dim overcast light spilled in.
His thin lips moved as he spoke:
“Now there is.”
Then, borrowing this newfound light, the boss continued reading Zhou Qi’an’s proposal.
A new generation of “Drilling a Hole for Light.”
The college student couldn’t help but hide behind Zhou Qi’an.
In the dim shadows, the boss acted like he didn’t even notice Zhou Qi’an’s physical changes—
As if, in his eyes, these were just irrelevant trivialities.
The only thing that mattered was the proposal in his hands.
As expected, he criticized a ton of things.
Zhou Qi’an glanced over and silently scoffed—
What kind of garbage feedback is this?
Time ticked away.
Until it was almost midnight, Zhou Qi’an was still working.
Dressed in a white dress, he leaned against the cold brick wall.
In the blurred darkness, his thin frame seemed as if it might melt into the concrete itself.
The college student opened his interface panel, staring blankly at the shadow beast label behind the Ice Sea Angel.
“Yin.” He knew that in the game, this word usually symbolized ominousness and dark energy.
The clock was about to strike midnight.
At that moment, Zhou Qi’an stood up:
“Let’s go. The banquet is about to begin.”
The college student shook his head, pushing aside his previous thoughts.
Whatever he could think of, Brother Zhou definitely could too.
No need to worry about anything.
The plan revision was almost complete, and since the supervisor didn’t stop them, he followed along as well.
Overtime work definitely called for a late-night snack.
The college student reminded the supervisor:
“You need an invitation to get in—”
Zhou Qi’an elbowed him:
“Wherever the boss wants to go is the boss’ business.”
He hurried ahead to open the door:
“After you.”
The college student: “……”
Turns out, he had been worrying for nothing again.
The sterilization suit guard took one look at the supervisor’s monstrous trophy and didn’t stop them from entering.
In the center of the cafeteria stood a multi-layered red velvet cake, its soft, delicate surface adorned with fewer than twenty candles.
At the very top, a figurine in a red dress stood on tiptoe, arms slightly raised, as if trying to grasp something in the air—
But in the end, she simply bent forward, pressing a kiss onto the candlelight.
The sterilization suit still wore chef’s attire, his entire figure deathly pale.
The dining knife in his hand glinted razor-sharp.
Under the flickering candlelight, his entire presence carried an indescribable sharpness.
As Zhou Qi’an stepped inside, his pace instinctively slowed.
Red Cloak glanced at the young man trailing behind the boss like a loyal dog, eyes full of contempt.
Origami Boy sat uneasily in the corner.
As midnight approached, the curse in his blood grew stronger.
He held a small mirror, watching himself slowly transform into another face—
The change wasn’t silent.
Each subtle shift in his facial features felt like countless ants gnawing at his bones, reshaping him bit by bit.
He suddenly regretted going to the dance studio.
Zhou Qi’an had just sat down, resting his chin on his hand, tilting his head as he looked over.
“So? Copycat, is it fun?”
Origami Boy almost had a heart attack on the spot.
The building’s dark energy was getting heavier and heavier, sending a bone-chilling cold through everyone.
Zhou Qi’an glanced around—Where was Mu Tianbai?
The supervisor immediately saw through him.
“Creative inspiration is important. A muse can help you craft something valuable. But you really think that guy—dressed like a pitch-black crow—is going to positively influence your work?”
Zhou Qi’an thought for a moment.
“His eyes are pretty nice.”
“Those eyes… it’s like they can see through everything.”
After all, from beginning to end, he was the only big fish Zhou Qi’an had baited multiple times—but never managed to hook.
Over on the side, Origami Boy, still sulking over being called a copycat, was about to fire back with some snark—
But just as he opened his mouth, a soft footstep interrupted him.
“Zhou Qi’an.”
Mu Tianbai had arrived at the cafeteria, right on time.
This was the first time Mu Tianbai had addressed Zhou Qi’an by name after learning it.
His lazy voice carried no unnecessary weight, yet it sent a subtle shiver through anyone who heard it.
Origami Boy froze.
He turned around, his long, flowing black hair swaying in an arc, and snapped impatiently:
“You got the wrong person.”
From Mu Tianbai’s angle, Zhou Qi’an was completely blocked from view.
All he could see was Origami Boy’s back—and the boss.
With his cursed long hair nearly covering his waist, it was easy to mistake identities.
The shadow, which had just been brutally beaten down, suddenly puffed up with confidence again—
Three seconds later, it tossed a crumpled piece of paper to the left.
The other person with long black hair opened it, utterly confused:
“Why are you apologizing to me?”
Among the three, the college student had the shortest hair—meaning his corruption level was the mildest.
The shadow figured that no matter what Zhou Qi’an had done in the dance studio, given his strength, he must have reduced his corruption by now.
So out of the three long-haired individuals, it unhesitatingly chose the one with the least corruption.
The boss muttered:
“Eyes that can see through everything?”
At that moment, Mu Tianbai finally reached the last black-haired figure.
For once, his cold, stoic face showed a rare trace of awkwardness.
“Zhou—”
Zhou Qi’an’s expression remained stone-cold:
“Scram.”
