Chapter 9: An Unfortunate Day

In Chu Fu’s compiled text, the post already gained a mountain of replies.

After having survived this disaster and under the influence of adrenaline, Chu Fu’s typing speed was outstandingly quick, and she didn’t let everyone wait for long. After a short while, she promptly uploaded a new post.

[Reply 13: Some of you asked what this psychopath looked like. Listen well everybody, because this poster will tell you! This person had golden hair and death-like pale skin, but this person looks like a regular Asian! (Thinking back to it, now. This person not only has a mental problem, but his body is surely sick.) Based on his appearance, he was in his twenties. Readers who encounter this psycho make sure to be vigilant at heart. Don’t be like me and be fooled by him!]

“…” Bai Yan remained silent.

Amid Bai Yan’s wordless silence, Chu Fu’s post was being constantly updated.

[Reply 14: I’ll continue this explanation as to the OP. In short, after the brother pointed something out for me, everyone fell into silence and focused on working on their puzzles. After several minutes had passed, the junior high student was the first to complete his puzzle, and when he put the last piece in place, the puzzle’s ghost was released and murdered the student. He then abruptly disappeared after that.

When the ghost took the student away, everyone else lost their heads from fear. The puzzle-stealing man threatened me and that brother, forcing us to give him the food and clothes we grabbed earlier. Then, the next thing everyone did was continue with solving their puzzle.

Down to the last few minutes, that brother and I were almost done with ours, there was only one piece left that we didn’t dare move. By this time, the man told us that his puzzle was one piece short, questioning the brother if he had hidden it away and planned on harming him. The brother swore that he didn’t. Because of his previous actions, I also thought that he was a good person and believed his words, so I firmly stood by him and helped appease the middle-aged man. 

Luckily, I was returned to reality and the injury I sustained during the game was nowhere to be found, letting me temporarily keep my life. (Additionally, the brother’s clothes also weren’t enough. After the clothes were gone, both he and the ghost were out of sight. Did he die? I didn’t see if the female ghost devoured him with my own eyes.)]

[Reply 19: I am afraid that everyone might not completely understand, so I’ll be posting something to fill in the gaps. 

When I returned from the game, I scrolled through this thread the entire morning and while reading various strategies in this forum, it made me recall this incident, and not long after, I finally realized something. In the game’s rules, it was required that ‘The jigsaw puzzles need to be solved on the table. When solving the puzzle, leaving the table is not allowed.’ If the brother had told us this earlier, the puzzle-snatching man could have kicked the chair far away, we could also have stood up and thrown away the chairs, perhaps, this way, he wouldn’t have died for naught. 

What I posted was most probably true. Is there an expert that can help me analyze this? I also felt that this was very strange, did the brother deliberately hide something???]

[Reply 20: Very convincing. You wouldn’t know at all whether your teammate is a man or a ghost! As expected, random teammates cannot be trusted. You wouldn’t know whether he’d dig a pit for you. You’ve made me stand firmly on my decision on finding teammates myself!]

……

[Reply 24: After reading this, based on my extensive game experiences, newcomer, your thoughts are correct. 

You said that he grabbed a pile of clothes in front of the puzzle and even told you that the food you were eating is for the starving ghost. It can be deduced that he had withholding information from you. (Also, I just wanna say. To have dared eat something there as soon as you entered the game, you must have a lot of guts.)

Also, when you said that he pulled out a jigsaw piece from the ‘diary’, I felt that there was something amiss here. 

Generally speaking, even if he were an author, it would be less likely for him to be carrying around a diary. Because of this game’s ‘splendid’ nature, the diary and the other props were most likely helpful clues. I am 80% sure that the diary was found within the game’s world.

Besides that, you were all newcomers and this was an easy level. Compared to the later levels of the game, the easy level’s difficulty wasn’t hard. Its purpose was to let the players adapt to the process of the game. So, this diary must have contained major clues—— For example, the cause of the whole ordeal and the way the ghosts died, but he hid it from all of you, keeping it to only himself. To a certain extent, he probably was responsible for the people’s death inside the game, mmmm. 

(About sister’s doubts, I think that this person is most probably still alive. You just need to find the right clue. That person is not a fool. At the easy level, people won’t be pushed towards their deaths. At most, it will only cause them a bit of mental pressure.)

Lastly, I wanted to warn you. If this person is not dead, it’s extremely dangerous for you to expose him to this forum! Although I don’t think I’ll ever meet this person, however, since you, the original poster, know information about this man to bluntly expose him. You should tell the player community to remember this person and to help eliminate this person as soon as possible. Otherwise, if you, by any chance, encounter him again within the game, that scene would simply be too beautiful…Sister take care of yourself!]

[Reply 25: Thank you for your analysis, expert. I finally understand! Due to a mix of fear and fury, I couldn’t sleep a wink last night. Now, my under-eyes are still dark! 

Oh right! This person’s name is Wang Ze! Similar to a renowned martyr with integrity. To have the same name, don’t you think it’s ironic how there’s a huge difference between these people? 

In short, when you meet this person, please take extreme caution! God bless me to never meet this person again. He’s as terrible as a ghost!]

……   

Below the post, there were numerous replies.

Bai Yan ran through the whole thread but couldn’t find any more relevant information. He left it alone and carefully thought about what to do next.

Since this poster had exposed him to the forum, he was certain that most of the people inside this ‘Frontline of Hell’ were going to be careful about this person. During the future levels, when he willy-nilly goes out like this, he will surely be excluded. Later on, if there was a need for the role of a cannon fodder, he would be put forward first. As such, his future looked bleak, the bar of clearing harder games were going to be set much higher. 

Just thinking of those people who have been empathetic and virtuous in the forums. To be truthful, he didn’t want to deal with people and put most of his focus on guarding himself against them while he was dealing with ghosts.

However, his yellow hair and pale skin were too distinct. Although there wasn’t any function in the forum that could share photos and the original poster also didn’t have photos of him, his Asian appearance, golden hair, white skin, and 20-year-old descriptions plus the limited conditions that players have, once he goes out like this, an eagle-eyed person could blurt out with just a glance, “I know you! You are that perverted Wang Ze!”

Until now, the only thing Bai Yan was most glad about, was that he was modest and didn’t say his real name at that time. Otherwise, if there was a system that showed real-names in the game in the future, even getting plastic surgery would’ve been for nothing.

After putting his emotions in order, Bai Yan put on a long-sleeved jacket and brought with him an umbrella, stuffing his phone into his pocket and leaving out the door.

Originally, he was going to go out for a meal before buying the paint. But right now, he didn’t go to those places. Instead, he directly headed to the nearest barbershop and dyed his blond hair to pitch black.

In China, blond non-mainstream youths were rare, but ordinary black hair was everywhere.

After changing his most conspicuous attribute, Bai Yan decided to put on some foundation to improve his skin color, aiming to deceive the majority of the forum’s onlookers.

Bai Yan wasn’t in the mood to eat after dying his hair. He bought paint and paintbrushes, ate some food from a street vendor, and went home to clean the bloody handprint on the wall.

In addition to the walls, yesterday’s blood-stained clothes that were thrown into the washing machine still had yet to be cleaned. The stubborn blood stains grabbed tightly onto the shirt.

These bloody clothes had been soaked in the rancid bathtub, so Bai Yan could never wear these clothes again.

However, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Bai Yan tossed the bloody clothes into the washer again along with a piece of clothing that was easily discolored. When the piece was completely discolored, he put the articles of clothing into the trash, intending to throw them away when he took out the trash.

After having been preoccupied the entire afternoon, Bai Yan finally put his room back in order and even had the time to read the diary he had hung out in the morning.

Unlike the wall that could be cleaned, this diary… also couldn’t be saved.

The diary’s paper was completely wrinkled, even if it were drying under the sun, it was still sticky to the touch. Bai Yan used a small knife to attempt to separate a page but finding out that the handwriting and the bloody water had mixed, it left behind a completely incomprehensible mess.

Without another choice, he could only throw the diary out along with the clothes into the rubbish bin downstairs.