Infinite Peculiar Games

The stone walls inside the castle were marred with large water stains, resembling ulcers that slowly seeped through. Withered vines appeared to have grown slightly, deepening the cracks in the weathered and brittle walls.

Qi Si descended the stairs to the first floor but saw no sign of Miss Anna or the butler.

These two NPCs often seemed to vanish into thin air within the castle, only appearing when absolutely necessary. Perhaps they kindly left players with ample freedom to explore, or perhaps they understood that fear stems from the unknown and chose to hide in the shadows, creating an ominous atmosphere.

Pushing open the castle’s grand door, Qi Si was greeted by a vast sea of roses.

The grey-purple overcast sky painted a layer of leaden darkness over the vibrant red roses, while intertwined branches and leaves left large swathes of deep shadows. It was a view of unsettling intuition of something buried, something lurking beneath, and shrouded in mystery and terror.

Qi Si walked along the narrow path, and looking up, he saw Zou Yan standing among the flowers in the distance, gazing in his direction.

Their eyes met, and Zou Yan nodded in greeting before bending down to pluck at the roses before her.

With the warning 【Be cautious of the roses】etched on the system interface, anyone in the right mind would not dare to touch the roses in the garden at this moment.

Qi Si walked over and parted a cluster of roses, clearing a small space for himself to stand in.

Standing in the damp cold air, he turned to face the castle.

The towering structure stood desolate and forlorn, blanketed by an eerie hue of greyish light, its origin untraceable. Ancient vines crisscrossed and climbed the exterior walls, now an integral part of the castle after years of accumulating dust.

The spot where he stood was exactly where Miss Anna had been standing the previous night, her gaze directed towards the window of the second-floor guest room. Through the weathered glass, only the gloomy expanse, as dark and mysterious as a tomb, met his sight.

What was Miss Anna looking at last night?

Qi Si stepped back a few paces to take in the entire castle.

The outer walls were faded in many places, covered with countless tiny fungi and mould spots. Massive stones were cracked and split open, with dried vines growing in the crevices. For a moment, the castle felt like a person—a person bound tightly with layer upon layer of chains.

Zou Yan suddenly spoke: “Qi Si, what are your opinions of Miss Anna?”

Qi Si turned to look directly into her eyes, asking: “What kind of opinions?”

Zou Yan smiled. “Just a casual conversation, nothing more than idle chatter.”

Two scenes flashed through Qi Si’s mind: one of a woman chewing bloodied flesh at the dinner table, and another of a sorrowful figure standing in the rose garden at night…

The human form lingered in his mind for two seconds before quickly breaking down into flesh and bones, arranging themselves into various configurations, including how to dissect, how to create specimens, what techniques to use, and what kind of specimens to make…

A gentle smile crept onto his lips. “From a general human perspective, Miss Anna has quite an appetite and maybe a bit of insomnia.”

“…”

Seeing Zou Yan’s weird expression, Qi Si lowered his gaze and added a more normal response: “Of course, she’s very beautiful. If she weren’t a ghost, she’d be the type to captivate many.”

Zou Yan caught this and asked, “So what about you? If she were alive, would she captivate you?”

If she were a corpse, I might be interested in adding her to my collection.

Qi Si smiled sincerely. “To me, any living creature, once dead, is just a skeleton without skin and flesh.”

“What if her hands were stained with blood?” Zou Yan stared silently at Qi Si, her brown eyes spreading like watercolour as if trying to draw his soul into a vortex. “Sharing the same guilt, she could understand your interests, hobbies, and past. Even a beast accustomed to solitude would feel lonely in the endless night…”

This time, Qi Si did not answer but asked in return, “What do you think of Miss Anna? You seem quite concerned about her.”

Zou Yan pondered and said, “She’s probably a pitiful person too. I don’t know much; after all, I haven’t spoken a single word to her.”

“Yeah, I’ve only spoken three sentences to her.” After these words, Qi Si turned and walked deeper into the sea of roses.

That was a test. Zou Yan had hoped to extract more information without revealing what she already knew, even using some psychological tactics.

But she failed.

From a young age, Qi Si had undergone no less than two hundred psychological counselling sessions and was well-versed in psychologists’ techniques. Eventually, he even gained considerable expertise, curing the mental illnesses of six doctors in succession.

Now, he was long past the age of being susceptible to suggestion, hint, or hypnosis; staying sober even in his dreams…

But is this the stage where we start testing each other? Qi Si mused with interest, rubbing his chin, his gaze falling on Chang Xu on the other side of the garden.

…

The rose manor’s garden was vast and empty, but fortunately, only roses were planted. The tallest plants barely reached waist-high, providing little cover, so one could easily see the movements of the few people in the garden.

Chang Xu, holding a shovel, dug under the castle wall’s withered vines, appearing to have discovered something significant.

Meanwhile, Ye bent over amidst the rosebushes, searching aimlessly. Her soul seemed to be elsewhere, drifting as if she were simply reluctant to stay in the castle and had wandered into the garden.

Qi Si walked along the seldom-trodden path strewn with petals, strolling in the direction away from the castle. In the distance, he spotted a rusty iron gate looming heavily at the path’s end.

Hanging on the door was a clumsy large iron lock, already rusted shut, which, with the players’ strength, was clearly impossible to open.

Qi Si noticed a small barren patch of ground beside the gate, devoid of grass or roses. Instead, a rectangular stone platform was embedded there, with several lines of text engraved in English.

He remembered the butler saying he lived underground, yet the castle had no basement…

The clues were clear. Squatting by the stone platform, Qi Si tapped the ground with his knuckles twice.

A sound of wind, accompanied by suspicious rustling, came from behind him.

Qi Si stood up and turned around, only to find the butler in a black uniform standing behind him, with no indication of when he had arrived.

A flamboyant smile was plastered on the butler’s plastic-like face. “Sir, you can’t leave the manor now. Miss Anna would be very upset.”

Qi Si stared into the butler’s eyes, speaking sincerely, “I’m not trying to leave. I just came here to ask, Where is Miss Anna?”

The butler replied, “Miss Anna is wherever she wants to be.”

“Is that so? What a pity.” Qi Si lowered his eyes, sighing softly, “I see that Miss Anna always avoids us. Except for meal times, we never know where to find her. Could it be… she dislikes guests like us?”

He lowered his voice to a whisper as if expressing regret for Miss Anna’s behaviour, but a hint of threat intertwined within his question, veiled yet discernible.

A flicker of panic crossed the butler’s eyes, and he shook his head repeatedly. “No, she doesn’t dislike you. Miss Anna likes guests.”

The third rule: 【 Miss Anna likes guests and has no malicious intents towards them.】

Indeed, the rules not only bind the players but also the NPCs within the instance. While de facto* fairness is elusive, superficiality is not difficult to achieve.

The corner of Qi Si’s lips hooked upwards. “Then, can I meet her in the garden now?”

Seeing the butler’s hesitation, he gently added, “I won’t take up much of her time.”

With everything said up to this point, the butler could only reluctantly bow to Qi Si and say, “I’ll fetch Miss Anna right away.”

(End of Chapter)

——

*TL’s note: De facto is Latin for “of fact,” meaning “in reality”.

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