Chapter 15

Chapter 15 She Showed Off Again.

As time rewound, so did the lives of the dead players, along with the items they had already used.

Everything, absolutely everything, returned to the state it had been in when they first entered this game.

The revived players were first bewildered, then overjoyed. Nothing was more shocking and delightful than coming back to life after death.

None of the players were fools. Very quickly, someone realized what had happened.

One older veteran player who looked past middle age looked at Chi Juan and said with certainty, “You are Tired Tired. Just now you used a rollback skill, didn’t you?”

The name Chi Juan was not unfamiliar to players who often lurked on the forums. Even if they had never met Tired Tired in person, they could infer which one she was from all kinds of detailed traces.

They had never expected their luck this time to be so good, entering the same game as Tired Tired.

But Chi Juan was in a terrible mood right now.

If not for that random player going mad at the end and kicking her down, she would not have activated her skill so early.

She gave that person a cold glance.

Sensing her gaze, the player who had kicked someone stepped forward a few paces and looked at her with a flattering expression. “Sorry about earlier. Your skill is really amazing, super amazing!” At the end, he gave her a thumbs-up, his grin nearly stretching to the corners of his eyes.

His fawning and ingratiating intent was obvious.

Actually, when he kicked her, he seemed to feel his shadow move toward Tired Tired’s side. It was probably just an illusion, right? At first he had been consumed by anger and had not thought much of it, but now he suddenly felt that his item did not seem that powerful, right? It had actually managed to kick even Tired Tired?

Forget it, forget it. He could not figure it out.

[In a certain sense, rollback really is powerful.]

[It’s basically an extra life. How could it not be powerful?]

[Once she levels this skill to the maximum, she should become humanity’s hope.]

[Please no. Her character isn’t that great. Better not let her become humanity’s light.]

[Stop joking upstairs. Once you’ve entered an infinite horror game, ability is what matters most. How much are morality and values worth here? Can being upright and morally sound make someone live longer? Don’t be ridiculous.]

[In the face of life and death, character is the least able to withstand testing. Otherwise why do so many people stab their companions in the back?]

[Tired Tired’s character is bad, plenty of people know it in their hearts. But why do so many still flatter her shamelessly? Isn’t it because they want to bask in her light and live a little longer?]

Stay alive.

Try hard to stay alive.

This was probably the inner voice of the vast majority of players chosen by the infinite game.

But in a horror game like this, how difficult was it to truly stay alive?

—

The older veteran player spoke up with a suggestion. “It wasn’t easy getting another chance at life. How about we cooperate?”

Teacher Dan, as the team leader, stepped forward to state her teammates’ position. “Alright.”

At this moment, the fear from the instant of death still lingered in her heart. Being able to stand here once more was already an extremely fortunate thing. Because she had experienced death once, she understood even more deeply how precious life was.

She glanced at her companions and said, “Let’s exchange the information we obtained in the previous round.”

The fourteen people found a place and sat in a circle.

Just as Tired Tired was about to move toward Zhou Yujing, Gu Yu and Chen Chu each sat down on one side of her.

Chen Chu was used to sticking close to Tired Tired, while Gu Yu had deliberately stepped in to rescue Zhou Yujing.

Seeing that Tired Tired looked somewhat annoyed, Gu Yu smiled good-naturedly. “Tired Tired, let’s clear the stage first, alright?”

Only then did Tired Tired quiet down.

Gu Yu raised his brows at Zhou Yujing, and Zhou Yujing silently mouthed a thank-you to him.

While these players were discussing the key to clearing the game, Zhou Yujing was thinking about something else.

As for how to clear the stage, he already knew in his heart. The reason he had not left the game immediately in the previous round was only to verify a certain guess in his mind.

Every player’s skill was private. Only the player themselves knew the specific method of using that skill, as well as its drawbacks. The national team had always been vague when describing Tired Tired’s skill. They only said she could roll back time, but had never mentioned the limitations of her skill.

The rollback had already been proven real, so what would the limitations be?

No matter what skill it was, it could never be perfect.

From observing over these few game rounds, he could be certain that she could not use this skill in every single game.

Between two uses of the skill was a long cooldown period.

But Chi Juan and Chi Cheng had never told them this point.

The players on the forum also believed that she could use this skill whenever she wanted.

In this game round, she had been forced to use “Rollback,” so in the next game round, she would already have no skill available.

Zhou Yujing lowered his eyes and looked at the red silk thread in his palm. The red silk thread tangled and coiled, writhing and twisting like worms. Within the blood-red color was an obvious trace of ill omen.

This was the most direct manifestation of being struck by a curse technique.

This was also the main reason he did not dare go see Ning Rong after leaving the game.

One month and six days...

They had already gone one month and six days without properly talking, without properly meeting once.

He lowered his eyes, suppressing the complicated emotions in them.

If he could not use an item to remove the curse before the red thread spread over his whole body, then he could only use other methods to solve this matter.

—

With the experience of the previous round, the second round went very smoothly.

Among the fourteen players, one player was extremely skilled at free diving, and his skill was also related to water. After this player entered the water, he easily retrieved the token that had fallen into the mud at the bottom of the river, then returned safely to shore.

The stage that had cost Gu Yu his life in the previous round passed this simply.

After seeing this token, Gu Yu let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

Clearing the stage was secure now.

Sure enough, after they obtained the token and handed it to the Water Demon, all of the Water Demon’s attention went to this token.

Teacher Dan stepped forward carefully and asked, “Then we...”

The Water Demon’s gaze remained fixed on the fragrant pouch, as though reminiscing about something. Hearing this, she said without even turning her head, “There’s nothing more for you here. You may leave.”

The moment her words fell, the surviving fourteen players all heard the system announcement ring beside their ears at the same time.

[Congratulations on successfully clearing the game. We... will meet again next time.]

If possible, many players hoped never to meet the game again.

A relieved smile appeared on Teacher Dan’s face. Although the first round had been filled with deaths and injuries, fortunately the result was joyful.

This time, Tired Tired had once again created the myth of a flawless clear with zero injuries.

[Truly awesome. Another full team zero-injury clear.]

[After this round, she should be able to level up her skill, right?]

[Her prestige among players is about to increase wildly again.]

At this time, a comment with a completely different tone suddenly appeared in the barrage.

[No matter what, it can’t hide the fact that her character is poor. I’m waiting for the little newcomer to punish her!]

The uninformed audience members: ???

—

Players could choose for themselves when to leave the game.

After receiving the clear notification, many players immediately chose to leave. Staying here for even one more second would be disrespecting themselves.

First it was Zhou Yujing, then that player past middle age, then the other random players.

One player after another left.

When Tired Tired realized that the player who had kicked someone earlier was about to leave, she directly stepped forward and approached him.

“Hey.”

The player who had been called stopped, pleasantly surprised. Did Tired Tired call him over because she had something to say? Could it be that she planned to add him as a friend for future contact?

He tried hard to suppress the corners of his lips from rising. He had already prepared himself to exchange friend slots. He asked, “Tired Tired, what is it?”

What answered him was the white light released by an item.

That white light was fierce and swift. It came unexpectedly and vanished just as rapidly.

The next second, a system notification sounded in the minds of the players who had not yet left.

[Player Mo Fan has died.]

[???]

[!!!]

[Ah, this...]

[Fair enough, very fitting for Tired Tired’s character setting.]

[I want to ask, was that necessary?]

[How was it unnecessary? If Tired Tired’s skill hadn’t been powerful, she would have died in the first round.]

[Can only say repayment for repayment. So stabbing others in the back depends on who you target. Maybe you kick an iron plate instead.]

[That item seems pretty strong, and she just used it like that.]

[She’s the pampered darling of the national team. Would she really lack one item?]

[I kind of don’t know what to say.]

Quite a few players shared the same thoughts as that viewer.

After seeing this scene, Teacher Dan and Gu Yu both revealed a trace of shock on their faces.

Only Chen Chu’s expression did not change at all, as if no matter what Tired Tired did, he could unconditionally tolerate it.

Teacher Dan hesitated for a while, then asked with difficulty, “Why?” Everyone could have left here alive together, so why stab a human player at the very end?

Tired Tired said pitifully, “Teacher Dan, he harmed me before! I almost died!”

Hearing this, Chen Chu hurriedly said, “He was actually that bad? Tired Tired, good thing you’re alright!”

After saying that, Chen Chu viciously glared at the fallen player again, spat once, and angrily cursed, “Serves you right!”

Seeing this scene, Gu Yu’s feelings were complicated beyond words.

Chi Juan was beautiful in appearance but dark-hearted, and she always repaid even the smallest grievance.

Trying to get rid of her seemed even more difficult than he had imagined.

—

After leaving the game, Zhou Yujing immediately took out his phone.

While inside the game, these real-world personal belongings were all in a locked state. The items were still there, but there was no signal and they could not be used.

The moment he took out his phone, he discovered more than a dozen missed calls on it, all from Ning Rong.

The last missed call was from three days ago. In other words, after repeatedly bombarding his phone without success, Ning Rong had already gone three days without contacting him.

What did that mean?

It meant Ning Rong was truly angry this time. She was no longer even calling. The matter was serious!

Zhou Yujing pressed his thin lips tightly together and immediately called back.

Very soon, the phone rang with the sound of “beep, beep, beep.” But after half a minute passed, no one answered.

After the call disconnected automatically, Zhou Yujing called again, but this time, no one answered either.

Zhou Yujing’s heart was burning with anxiety. So this was what it felt like when you called someone, but the other side did not answer?

Anxiety, panic, unease.

You would overthink because the other side did not pick up.

You would keep guessing what they were doing at this hour, why they were not answering, whether something had happened.

Zhou Yujing took a deep breath, suppressed the many chaotic thoughts, and sent Ning Rong a message.

“Rong Rong, why aren’t you answering my call?”

“Are you angry?”

“Be good, I can explain.”

“Rong Rong, can you answer the phone?”

Unfortunately, after waiting for quite a while, there was still no reply from the other side.

—

Ning Rong was still negotiating with the old lady. At this time, her already lively livestream room became even livelier.

Quite a few viewers poured in.

[So funny. Next door, Zhou Yujing is crazily bombing the little newcomer with calls at the game teleport point.]

[Oh? Zhou Yujing cleared Absolute Kill?]

[He cleared it. Just now, in fact. The moment he arrived at the game teleport point, he pulled out his phone. I personally saw the change in his expression. It was really too funny hahaha. So his expressions can actually be this varied!]

[Who understands this? When he saw there were many missed calls on his phone, a clear trace of panic flashed across his usually emotionless face. If anyone says again that he has a dead face, I’ll be the first to disagree!]

[Damn it, why did I never watch livestreams to the end before? Every time he cleared a stage, I went to someone else’s stream, so I never saw how he behaved at the teleport point. Today was my first time seeing it, and it was really interesting! That lost and helpless look—hard to imagine it appearing on him.]

[Why do I feel like in this relationship between Zhou Yujing and the little newcomer, he’s the one in the lower position?]

[Normal. Isn’t the big-sister-boss aura on the little newcomer obvious enough?]

[As someone who has followed the livestream from the beginning, I can say it’s super obvious!]

Before Ning Rong had even realized it, she already had quite a few titles attached to her—

Little Newcomer, Future Big Boss, Big Sister Boss...

—

The hostility around the old lady had disappeared, and her intention to attack could no longer be seen for the moment. But she still did not trust Ning Rong very much.

She said she had money, but who could prove she really had money?

Who knew whether she was like that swindler too, pretending to be rich?

The old lady pulled another slim cigarette from the cigarette pack and asked, “How rich are you?”

Ning Rong smiled faintly and said simply, “Finishing the resort villa project won’t be a problem.”

The resort villa was currently only half built, and what remained was a complete mess.

Fortunately, she probably did not lack money.

[She said, finishing, the, resort, villa, won’t, be, a, problem. I can only say, impressive.]

[Beneath that calm tone is absolute confidence. So the question is, where exactly does her confidence come from?]

[Does the little newcomer really have that much money? This is not a small amount! Based on the experience of previous players, fooling NPCs obviously won’t complete side quests. Blindly deceiving them might instead trigger the NPC’s kill condition.]

[Have you all noticed? She really has the aura of a future big shot.]

[Although I might get cursed out, I still have to say it. In a certain moment just now, she was super similar to Domain God. The same confidence, the same arrogance, the same calm expression even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of her.]

[Enough, enough. The person upstairs really knows how to exaggerate. Even though I’m her true-love fan, I don’t dare praise her like that. Why not just say she’ll replace Domain God in the future and reach number one on the overall player rankings?]

[Number one? Don’t dare think it, don’t dare think it. Her game journey has only just begun. It’s really hard to say what the future will be like. Let her survive three games first before talking about anything else.]

[Just slowly follow the livestream. Earlier, the big shot already said this livestream room is very interesting. No idea what kind of interesting it will become in the future.]

The old lady let out a scoff.

“Whether I believe you or not isn’t for this old woman alone to decide. I’ll take you to see the villagers. If they are willing to trust you once, then I’ll trust you too.”

Ning Rong nodded. “Alright.”

—

Perhaps because the main quest had already been completed, when Ning Rong saw the villagers again, they no longer carried that black aura belonging to horror-instance NPCs. What remained was only numbness toward life.

The old lady explained why they had come.

When they heard that Ning Rong wanted to lead all of them to prosperity, the NPCs reacted intensely.

“Impossible! She can’t possibly do it! She’s a liar too!”

“I’ve already been fooled once! I’ll never be fooled a second time!”

“All liars should die!”

Seeing the crowd growing agitated and the NPCs becoming increasingly emotional, Ning Rong activated [Money Can Make Ghosts Turn Millstones] for the fourth time in this game.

She took out the last game coin from her wallet and spoke in a patient, persuasive tone.

“I can do it, and all you need to do... is trust me.”

“As for everything that follows, just leave it to me.”

[???]

[!!!]

[Damn it, I declare it—this time, she showed off again!]