Staring at a huge "404" on her screen, Ye Shu was left utterly speechless.
She tried several more live streams, only to find that every channel, which had been buzzing with activity just moments before, had abruptly been banned.
Outside, the wailing of sirens sounded at intervals, echoing through deserted streets that had once teemed with life.
Meanwhile, the in-game chat was a torrent of SOS messages and exasperated complaints.
"Rose, Jasmine, I’m your little fool: What kind of world is this?! The army’s out there with guns and cannons, but they can’t harm the guǐ at all. It’s completely immune—don’t tell me it’s the final boss?"
"Long Ba: Bro, just drop the ‘maybe.’ If it’s standing in broad daylight, that must be an advanced guǐ."
"Dian Dong Xiao Taidi: Damn! I was just outside F City. Aren’t guǐ supposed to be afraid of the light? I survived hiding under a car, barely, thanks to my Invisibility Card."
"Xiao Rizi Guode Bu Cuo De Hetong: Baga! What is this game, anyway? Is this some Longguo conspiracy?"
"Sha Guang Xiao Rizi: Uppity Gaijin! I thought only us Huaxia people could join this game. Old Biden’s giving you a rough time, huh? Hope the guǐ crawls through your internet cable tonight!"
"Bingtang Lili: 6!"
And then it was a cascade of +1s after that.
Ye Shu’s heart skipped a beat. Guǐ that could stand in sunlight... A creeping sense of foreboding settled in her chest.
Her skill screen flickered back to normal. As long as she had the rewind ability, it was like having an extra life. So—there was nothing to be afraid of!
She tried to convince herself, but her hand, clenched around her mug, trembled ever so slightly.
Knock, knock, knock—
A knock came at the door.
"Heroine Ye, it's me, Pang Tong."
Cautious, Ye Shu double-checked her phone, confirming with Pang Tong to ensure the visitor wasn’t a guǐ in disguise.
When she opened the door, a plump figure tumbled inside. After a night’s rest, Pang Tong’s complexion had barely regained a bit of color.
"Heroine Ye."
Ye Shu nodded calmly; by now, she was well used to his dramatics.
"Can I follow you?"
He turned beet red before the words were finished, the memories of last night’s terror replaying in his mind, reliving how it was this seemingly fragile girl who had carried him through, with him as nothing but deadweight.
"No."
Ye Shu’s cold rejection was unyielding.
Pang Tong: ...
Failed to latch onto a thigh. Boo hoo hoo— Baby is suffering, but baby will bear it in silence.
"Heroine Ye, please accept my gratitude. It’s the least I can do for saving my life."
With that, Pang Tong produced two Invisibility Talismans and half a bottle of Holy Water, which he had come by through rare luck at Jinshan Temple.
Last night, after returning, he’d fallen ill with a fever. In confusion, he drank the holy water, only to vomit forth what seemed like foul, rotting mud.
[Invisibility Talisman: Intermediate tool. As the name implies, it renders you invisible—a must-have against guǐ.]
Ye Shu eyed the grinning, chubby Pang Tong with suspicion. Wasn’t there a limit of three draws on these in-game cards? His luck was uncanny.
Sensing her confusion, Pang Tong explained, "Ye da lao, I just found the Eight Trigrams bronze mirror at my door, and I bought the Invisibility Talismans from the abbot at Jinshan Temple—wasn’t expecting much... but I've always been lucky."
"Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you for your loot?"
Ye Shu looked at him with a strange expression. Luck like his—who just stumbles over magic equipment in the street? She’d thought landing a rewind card was lucky, but this guy left her in the dust.
"Ye da lao, you wouldn’t! You aren’t that kind of person. I wouldn’t have told anyone else."
Pang Tong might be timid, but he wasn’t stupid. If she had meant to kill him, she’d have done it when they were surrounded by guǐ last night, not risk her own life saving him.
Ye da lao must be a peerless, benevolent soul!!
Ye Shu eyed the loot with no small amount of longing, especially given her current unease. Struggling with herself, she finally decided to accept his offering.
Plucking one Invisibility Talisman from his hands, she smiled lightly, "One is enough."
She had a feeling this talisman would be a lifesaver in the nights to come.
………………
At 13:01 in the afternoon, what had been a clear sky suddenly turned sinister, sun vanishing behind a curtain of clouds.
Deserted streets lay wrapped in shadow, the only sound the dry susurrus of leaves skittering down dark roads—unsettling in its stillness.
It was the height of July’s heat, yet her room felt like a refrigerator. Ye Shu shivered, rubbing her arms and hastily threw on another layer.
She turned on every light in her room, lit a pair of dragon-phoenix wedding candles, and at last, the bone-deep chill began to recede.
Knock, knock, knock—
Another knock at the door.
Ye Shu assumed it was Pang Tong again. She moved to open it but realized there was no reply, not even an acknowledgement. Her hand froze on the doorknob—her messages weren’t getting through at all.
So soon this time? Usually, it waited until the dead of night to knock.
She muttered, "Not listening, not listening, you can chant all you want," and drifted—almost oblivious—into sleep.
She awoke when a ringing phone pierced her dreams. Bleary, she answered the call—instantly realizing her mistake.
Ye Shu felt plunged into an arctic abyss, staring dumbfounded at the grotesque face on her phone’s screen.
They could affect the network directly…
A woman, all bloated and reeking of rot, wormed her way out of the phone screen. Drenched, matted hair plastered half her face, reeking black water pooling in slippery puddles across the floor, eyes pure white, veined with blood.
She muttered over and over:
"You can hear me! You can hear me!"
"Kieh kieh kieh~ You can hear my voice!"
Her massive body loomed, fat and warped as if soaked by brackish water—grotesque and ominous.
"Splat—"
Ye Shu hurled a basinful of diluted dog’s blood. The female guǐ shrieked, slithering and writhing to the shadows, ultimately melting like a salted leech into a mess of pus and blood.
Dog’s blood—another of Pang Tong’s generous gifts. Just a few dozen milliliters went a long way.
The stench of rotting mud filled her room, and Ye Shu braced herself for yet another sleepless night.
By dawn, the eastern sky was aglow with the rising sun.
All the players, Ye Shu included, breathed a collective sigh of relief at its appearance.
Player numbers had plummeted. In one night alone, the million strong who’d first logged in dropped to below one hundred thousand.
Three hundred thousand dead in a single night—an urban massacre. Ye Shu shuddered. Could this world truly be just a game? It felt far too real.
After exchanging safety updates with Pang Tong, Ye Shu hastily ate a simple meal to regain her strength.
The ceiling trembled, then suddenly burst apart, and a wave of cold seemed to descend straight into her bones; a familiar figure appeared in the door, instantly discernible by his distinctive attire and the tear-shaped mole beneath his eye.
Ye Shu would never forget. She’d never forget how her head had been bitten to pieces.
That excruciating pain was still fresh—the fear of being preyed upon still crawling through her nerves.
"You can see me!!"
"You can see me!!"
As their eyes locked, Ye Shu could make out the glee in the male guǐ’s gaze, his jagged teeth splitting wide, ready to devour her whole.
"You can see me!"
Ye Shu considered playing deaf, but the guǐ’s excitement left no room for pretense.
She yanked out the Invisibility Talisman, slapped it onto her forehead, leapt out the window, and clambered onto the wall—all in one smooth motion.
The next instant, the guǐ lunged, its jaws gaping, skittering along the wall like a spider, pitch-black limbs grasping as it moved.
"I can see you! Hee hee~"
Pressed to the wall, Ye Shu stumbled from shock, the red string of her talisman bracelet snapping for the second time, beads scattering.
Ye Shu: ……
"Damn!"
"You damn guǐ—am I the only prey you can hunt? Find someone else for once!"
Even Ye Shu couldn’t stop herself from swearing.
Ye Shu, deceased. Age: twenty.
The male guǐ gnawed on her leftovers, blood soaking his dark sweatshirt—a twisted smile on his face.
"My food..."
…………
She was alive again!
She was back—half an hour earlier.
Panting, Ye Shu scanned her room.
The pain of her last death still lingered, but it brought with it a steely hatred—mostly for herself, for being so powerless. But there was no choice: without strength, all she could do was hide.
That damned guǐ pursued her like a bloodhound on the scent of meat, never letting her go.
But now she knew how it would end. She wouldn’t just sit and wait.
Throwing on her backpack, Ye Shu headed for the door.
"Heroine Ye, where are you going?"
Pang Tong, just stepping out of his own room, saw Ye Shu geared and ready to leave.
"Getting out of here."
"Can I come too?"
"You have one minute to pack."
The look in her eyes startled Pang Tong—she’d changed in just a few hours, grown colder, sharper. Or so it seemed. Must be his imagination.
No time to waste, Pang Tong bolted into his room, grabbed his bedsheet, and tied it to his backpack.
F City had become a ghost town. There wasn’t a soul in sight, not even hotel staff.
Ye Shu found a car outside, the windows crusted with dried blood, broken limbs scattered inside. She cleaned it up without a word.
It was 8:00 AM on Miller Star; there were four hours left before nightfall. Heart pounding, Ye Shu floored the accelerator, hurtling the car into open road.
Pang Tong flicked through radio stations, catching a rare broadcast.
[To all citizens of Miller Star: Our nation faces a grave crisis. Ghosts have appeared in F City, G City, B City, and dozens of others. We call them guǐ. Please listen carefully: Guǐ are classified as low-, mid-, and high-level. Known guǐ cannot survive sunlight; they do not cast shadows and usually lurk in darkness… Do not act alone. Ensure your safety.]
They were everywhere—across the nation already...
How could ordinary people hope to survive?!
Many players, despite being armed with rare items and advance warning, still died in droves that night.