Infinite Weird Game

Lin Chen had never seen such a tiger before.

The two-story-high behemoth walked slowly in the bamboo forest with its head raised. Its angular texture like rocks was clustered into the shape of a tiger in common sense, but the hair on its surface grew wildly like needles, emitting a sacred golden light.

The patterns on its hair faded with the passage of time, and its body was damaged in many places, revealing the eerie white bones beneath its flesh and skin. However, this did not diminish its majesty in the slightest, but instead made it even more terrifying.

It walked towards the players step by step, and the originally dense bamboo forest around it retreated to both sides, leaving a path wide enough for it to pass through.

Even the mist huddled into the corner, afraid to touch its body in the slightest.

The ferocious tiger demon stopped in front of the players, slowly lowered its head which was three people wide, and proudly looked down at the four people below.

On the towering cheekbones were two pools of green flames, forming huge tiger eyes. The air exhaled from the nostrils drew the mountain wind, scratching the players' skin and bringing a dull stinging pain.

It was no longer just a ferocious animal, but more like a tool for carrying out divine punishment, or a natural disaster born from the wrath of nature.

The mighty power of the mountains and forests is condensed in the most terrifying creatures in the mountains. Individuals are like ants trying to shake a tree in front of them, unable to resist or be touched.

At this moment, everyone truly understood the meaning of the word "Mountain God".

Calling the tiger demon a mountain god is not a respectful term, but an objective description.

He controls the entire forest under his feet, enjoys bones and flesh in his belly, and thousands of dead souls are steaming behind him. Such a being living in this small mountain is truly a god.

As soon as the players saw the tiger monster, they gave up the idea of ​​dealing with it. Their instinct to seek profit and avoid harm told them that escape was the only option to save their lives.

"Run!" Someone shouted, and someone quickly grabbed Lin Chen's sleeve, turned around and ran along the way he came.

Lin Chen staggered and woke up as if from a dream. He raised his feet and tried to run, but found that he could not move.

The person who pulled him was Tang Yu. Seeing that he didn't move, he shouted angrily, "Run! What are you still standing there for? Are you feeding the tiger?"

Lin Chen tried to lift his foot again, but still couldn't move.

He raised his eyes and looked up, and saw the shadow of a blood-red vine hanging down from the sky, passing through the barrier of the flesh and burying deep into the soul. His thoughts were swallowed up by invisible things in the process of transmission, and ultimately failed to turn into actions.

What is this? Is it a mechanism that triggers something? There is no clue about it...

Lin Chen felt a chill in his heart, and said to Tang Yu as calmly as possible: "Brother Tang, I may not be able to leave, look at my head..."

"Bullshit! Nothing at all!" Tang Yu cursed, ignored Lin Chen, and ran away.

After all, everyone's life is their own. In times of crisis, no one is obligated to take the risk to help others.

Except for the initial moment when Tang Yu dragged Lin Chen a few meters away, he never moved again.

As the tiger approached step by step, he calmed down and looked carefully at the bloody vines that entangled him.

Its appearance is similar to that of the World Tree in Sunset Ruins, and it cannot be seen by Tang Yu. Its effect is similar to that of "Puppet Thread", acting directly on the soul...

Could it be...

Lin Chen was shocked by his own thoughts and looked in the direction of Qis with wide eyes.

The latter, dressed in red like a ghost, stood quietly in the depths of the white fog, with his face and body outlines blurred, like a dream that would disappear with a blow.

Such calmness, such control and nonchalant attitude are the best proof.

It's a soul contract...

Qis activated the effect of the soul contract to prevent him from leaving...

Zeiss wanted him dead...

But...why?
Countless bubbles of thoughts flew and exploded in his mind, and after the chaos, Lin Chen's brain was left blank.

He suddenly remembered a sentence he had heard before -

"If you encounter a bear in the woods, you just have to make sure you run faster than your teammates."

So, did Qi Si want him to be a scapegoat?
"Brother Qi..."

Lin Chen called out in his heart, but ultimately did not continue speaking.

The words of Qisi echoed in my ears: 'You can't trust anyone, including me.'

Is this what the sentence means? But which ones are true and which ones are false?
Lin Chen was unwilling to believe that the young man who patiently analyzed clues for him and lent him weapons and props in Rose Manor would deliberately harm his life.

But the facts are before us. Has Qisi been alienated in one copy after another, or has he never known the real Qisi?

Lin Chen laughed at himself.

After all, his life was given by Qis, so there is nothing to be dissatisfied about returning his life to him now.

It’s a pity that he couldn’t take care of his parents until their death.

There are still some points left in the account. I wonder if I can exchange them for something and leave them for my parents at the last moment of my life.

But forget it, nothing good will come of being involved in weird games.

In the last half hour of life, it is too late to rush home. Call your parents first, and then find a place where you can die quietly without disturbing anyone...

Lin Chen considered his final affairs in a second, smiled bitterly and closed his eyes.

The stench from the tiger's mouth enveloped his head, and an intense pain as if his soul was being torn apart spread from his neck. It was probably because the tiger had bitten off his head.

Lin Chen closed his eyes, waiting for the final death to come.

The light grey system interface quietly emerged in the darkness, with drops of blood of varying sizes seeping out from the edges, wriggling and converging towards one place.

[Your faction has changed]

Silver-white prompt text slowly emerged, and blood drops condensed into an exquisitely carved card, hanging in the upper right corner of the field of vision.

On the card, a skeleton with blood-stained clothes hanging to the ground grinned at Lin Chen, with two pools of green flames in its eyes dancing with a teasing light.

[Your identity: Ghost]

[Identity Effect: ① When you are in the same room with a single person and the distance between you and the person is no more than three meters, you can choose to kill the person;
②You can kill someone by touching their shoulder anywhere.
③You must kill one person every day, otherwise your soul will be scattered and you will turn into Xiyi;

④ If you mistakenly kill a player in the same "Ghost" camp, you will be killed by the mountain god. 】

Silver debris flowed out from under the line that originally said the main quest, and within two seconds, it re-formed into new text:

[The main mission has been updated]

[Main Mission ②: Eliminate all humans among the players]

Lin Chen opened his eyes and saw that the tiger and the bloody vines had disappeared. Only broken bones and bleeding corpses remained in the bamboo forest.

What's going on? Is he not dead?

No, he is already dead, he just turned into a ghost and can continue to participate in the game.

Moreover, in addition to the original main task of killing the tiger, he had an additional task of eliminating humans... The bamboo leaves fluttered rustlingly, and a few of them fell lightly on Lin Chen's shoulders.

Lin Chen squatted on the ground exhausted, staring at a place in front of him in a daze.

Qi Si walked silently to his side, bent down slightly, and brushed the bamboo leaves off his shoulders: "What are you afraid of? I said, I will definitely let you live."

Seeing that Lin Chen did not respond, he sighed and said in a joking tone: "Look, you don't believe me this time."

Lin Chen looked up at the young man in red, who seemed to be completely unaware of how bad his behavior was, and said as a matter of course: "Now we are all accomplices, and I can tell you the subsequent plans.

"But judging from your current state, you probably aren't in the mood to think about anything. Let's talk about it when you calm down."

There is no emotion, no mercy, it seems that they are just executing the established plan precisely, and everyone is just a chess piece that can be calculated.

Lin Chen felt inexplicably frightened, as if he was living between the teeth of an inhuman creature, and his whole body was cold.

He still had some illusions, and said hesitantly: "Brother Qi, were you transformed into a ghost later? I remember that we deduced that Qiu Xin was a ghost yesterday, and the side quest of finding the ghost was completed..."

"Well..." Qi Si smiled, "Do you still remember the time when I patted your shoulder?"

"Remember, you said there were leaves on my shoulders."

"Well, at that moment you were frightened and had a flash of suspicion about me in your mind, which was just captured by the weird game. Therefore, the side quest is considered completed." Qi Si said with a smile, "As for that bamboo leaf, I picked it casually in the bamboo forest earlier. Thanks to its barrier, I didn't kill you with that blow."

Lin Chen squatted with his knees hugged, silent for a long time.

He suddenly realized that Qis had been planning this from the very beginning, including going out last night and Qiu Xin's return to the team this morning, which were all part of the plan.

He is the one involved in the game. He is reasoning aimlessly in the absence of information and his thoughts are affected by a few words.

Qi Si must have already thought about it. He wanted to gather the players in front of the tiger's den and turn him into a ghost...

"Why?" Lin Chen clenched his fists and asked in a low voice.

Why did they use such radical means to turn him into an accomplice without even consulting him from the beginning to the end? Why did they plot against him like this?
"The reason... you should have seen the main quest, right?" Qi Si touched his chin and answered patiently, "The mission of the ghost camp is to eliminate all humans among the players. I think converting humans into ghosts should also be a kind of 'elimination'.

"The next step is a classic game problem: everyone must choose between red and blue. If more than half of the people choose blue, then everyone will survive; if less than half of the people choose blue, then those who choose red will survive, and those who choose blue will die.

"Many people think this is a psychological question that tests one's outlook on life, but it is not. As long as everyone is rational, the outcome will inevitably lead to everyone surviving - do you understand?"

Lin Chen was not stupid. He figured out the logic in a second: "As long as everyone chooses red, everyone will survive. Correspondingly, as long as everyone becomes a ghost, everyone will survive..."

He was silent for two seconds, then asked in a hoarse voice: "But Brother Qi, why didn't you tell us earlier? This plan is obviously beneficial to all of us. If you just tell us directly, we will definitely cooperate..."

Hearing this, Qi Si smiled coldly: "I remember I told you on the first day that I don't trust you or anyone else.

"The 'Ghost' camp is located on the opposite side of Yanghua Town, and has a very low margin of error. Once the townspeople know our identities, even I cannot guarantee that I can escape unscathed.

"I also said the next day that I suspected that those invisible Xiyi were not as they claimed, unable to see and hear our actions and conversations. I didn't dare to take the risk of revealing my identity and being tipped off by them.

"Let's take a step back. Even if the information won't be leaked, I can't guarantee that everyone will agree with my plan. For the players in the 'human' camp, no one can guarantee that they will become a ghost after dying once, rather than being directly reduced to ashes. Since we can just wait and see, who would be willing to take the risk?

"Considering these points, if I announce my plan in public, I will most likely be caught by the townspeople in the next second. So, I have no choice but to do it myself."

There is some truth in what he said, and rationally it is indeed in line with the interests of the group, but emotionally, Lin Chen still finds it difficult to accept.

Are you sad because you realize that you are not trusted?
Or did you become disillusioned by discovering that Qisi wasn't as wonderful as you had imagined?
Lin Chen couldn't figure it out.

He was silent for a while, then asked in a low voice: "So, Brother Qi wants me to take the risk of becoming a ghost, right?"

Reason told him that the result was good, and there was no room for pretentiousness in the dungeon; but he was uncontrollably overwhelmed by a strong sense of fatigue and exhaustion...

"What are you thinking about?"

After a long silence, Qi Si grabbed Lin Chen's hand and lifted him up from the ground without saying a word.

"I'm not asking you to take risks." The young man took back his hand and said seriously, "If something goes wrong with you, I will activate the time reversal effect of the Destiny Pocket Watch. You won't die."

He paused, then smiled and said, "I'm afraid if Tang Yu was there, I wouldn't be willing to spend the props to save him. This would undoubtedly be very uneconomical, wouldn't it?"

A very ill-timed joke.

Lin Chen didn't laugh, and asked: "If it turns out that humans can't transform into ghosts, and we are in different camps, will you kill me?"

Qi Si shook his head and nodded again: "If I still have a hope of winning, then I will do my best to survive. If I am destined to lose, then I hope you can survive.

"Anyway, once we clear the final instance, maybe we can make a wish to bring all the dead back to life—that's what the Kyushu Guild promotes, isn't it?"

He spoke sarcastically, no longer paying attention to Lin Chen, and walked out of the bamboo forest with messy footprints.

It would be best if Lin Chen could figure it out, but it doesn’t matter if he can’t. His soul has been mortgaged through the contract, and the extra freedom is just charity from the creditor.

As long as he is still alive and his camp is a lackey, it will be enough to count as a kill; in the next few days, following the procedures will ensure the maximum chance of passing the level.

Lin Chen couldn't help but stand there in a daze when he saw Qi Si walking away without looking back.

"Huh? Don't you want to explain a little more? Is it possible that there is nothing wrong with what he did, and I am just too sensitive and naive?"

Lin Chen doubted his life for a second, and suddenly realized that in the copy of the weird game, too much entanglement would only cause internal friction.

Staying alive is the first priority. Does the process really matter?

After all, his life was saved by Qi Si, so even if Qi Si really let him die, he had nothing to complain about.

What's more, as they were in different camps, Qis not only had no intention of killing him, but instead tried his best to find a way to make him change camp. He had already done his best.

He still has too many unrealistic fantasies, so greedy that he feels inexplicably unhappy...

Lin Chen barely convinced himself and quickly caught up with Qis, half a step behind.

He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

Listening to the approaching footsteps, Qi Si knew that Lin Chen had not yet resolved the knot in his heart. He was just deceiving himself and letting go of the grudge for the sake of the overall situation of the copy.

He remained calm, raised his hands to push aside the bamboo leaves on both sides, and continued to move forward step by step.

After walking a few more steps, I saw the road in front of me widen.

A scholar in green stood outside the bamboo forest, acting as an anchor and landmark.

Tang Yu was held down by the neck by Qiu Xin, standing next to the scholar, with a look of despair on his face.

——This was also part of the plan, and Qiu Xin executed it perfectly.

Qi Si walked over with a smile and patted the scholar on the shoulder.

The scholar fell to the ground with a thump, leaving behind a waxy scarecrow.

Qi Si lowered his hands, turned his head and grinned at Tang Yu: "Now, you are the only 'human' here." (End of this chapter)