I picked up a boyfriend in the infinite game

Song Guicheng's gaze slowly swept around the room. Li Laosan's room was cramped, like an overturned broken jar. The earthen walls were blackened by smoke, and large chunks of plaster were falling off, revealing the yellow soil mixed with wheat straw inside.

The only window was covered with a layer of yellowish plastic sheeting, which rattled loudly in the wind. Sunlight leaked in, casting a few dappled patterns on the ground, but it couldn't illuminate the shadows in the corner of the room.

There was nothing special inside the house. A chipped earthenware jar sat beside the kang (a heated brick bed), a bundle of moldy hay was piled in the corner, and the only wooden table had a missing leg, which Zhao Xiaoyun had used to block the door earlier.

But the putrid smell at the tip of my nose grew stronger and stronger, like rotting meat trapped in a jar in the summer, with a sticky, fishy odor that swirled around my nasal cavity.

Song Guicheng stopped by the earthen bed, his gaze falling on the pile of tattered cloth. The cloth was black and smelly, and the edges were rotten to the bone.

"Tell me, what are you hiding in your room?" Shi Sui sat on the table, gently kicking Li Laosan's side with one foot. He bent down and reached out to pull the mask off Li Laosan's mouth, his tone carrying a nonchalant yet ruthless edge.

Li Laosan grunted and turned his head to the side, his eyes full of stubbornness. Even though he was tied up and unable to move, he kept his lips tightly pursed, as if he had made up his mind never to give in.

Shi Sui straightened up and smiled. His pupils were pure black, like black grapes soaked in clear water, and he looked at everyone with a harmless cunning. But now, a layer of coldness remained in his eyes, like the surface of a frozen lake in the depths of winter.

His smile was devoid of warmth, and when his gaze fell upon Li Laosan, it was filled with undisguised disgust.

He was already hoping all the residents in this instance would die, and Li Laosan's stubbornness just happened to be the target of his gun.

Li Laosan was tied to the ground, his back pressed against the cold earthen wall, the mask in his mouth was wet and sticky, making it hard for him to breathe.

He glared at Shi Sui, his deep-set eyes filled with resistance. Despite trembling all over, he refused to show the slightest sign of submission. His eyes clearly stated that even if he were killed, he would never utter a word.

Shi Sui chuckled and raised his foot to stomp on Li Laosan's chest, already thinking: Anyway, this instance is going to be destroyed sooner or later, so it doesn't matter if one more resident dies. Maybe it can even force out some clues.

But just as his toes were about to touch Li Laosan's clothes, his wrist was suddenly gently pressed down.

It was Song's return journey.

He had somehow moved to the table, blocking Shi Sui's view. His fingers were light, yet firm, and his tone remained gentle: "Don't be impulsive. Making a move now will cause too much noise."

Shi Sui paused for a moment, turned to look at him, a hint of struggle flashing in her eyes, then smiled and slapped Song Guicheng's hand away: "Alright, I'll listen to you."

He jumped off the table, kicked the hay on the ground, and muttered, "Only you would spoil these monsters."

Song Guicheng didn't reply, but sighed softly in his heart: Who exactly is the Extinction Team and who is the Redemption Team? He, a member of the Extinction Team, was stopping people from killing, while Shi Sui, a member of the Redemption Team, couldn't wait to expose the truth. No one would believe it if they told others.

Sun Zhida, standing by the door, witnessed the entire series of subtle movements made by the two. The fierceness with which Shi Sui was about to attack, the naturalness with which Song Guicheng stopped him, and the unspoken understanding between the two all made him frown slightly.

The way these two acted seemed inconsistent with their apparent identity as members of the Redemption Team, especially Shi Sui. What Redemption Team member would so eagerly want the residents to die? He quietly began to question their allegiance.

Song Guicheng ignored Sun Zhida's gaze and focused his attention back on the earthen bed.

The contents of the room were immediately apparent: the earthenware jar was empty, and the haystack contained only ash and scraps of cloth—there was no way it could conceal anything that could emit such a strong smell of decay. The only suspicious element was the earthen bed.

He squatted down and gently tapped the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) with his fingertips. The edge of the kang was made of old wooden planks, and when tapped, it made a "thump-thump" sound, not like it was solid.

Song Guicheng reached out and pushed aside the tattered cloth piled on the head of the kang. The surface of the kang under the cloth was ice cold. Normally, even if the earthen kang wasn't heated, it should still have some temperature, but this kang surface was as cold as ice, and it might be hollow underneath.

Song Guicheng ran his fingertips along the seam of the wooden board on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and sure enough, he felt a tiny groove, as if it had been deliberately carved out.

He looked up at Li Laosan on the ground, meeting Li Laosan's terrified gaze. Li Laosan's body was stiff, making urgent "mmm" sounds in his throat, his eyes fixed on his hand, as if pleading, or perhaps warning.

It seems the item was indeed hidden inside the kang (heated brick bed).

Song Guicheng gripped the groove on the edge of the kang with his fingertips, and without the slightest hesitation, he used a little force with his wrist to lift the heavy old wooden board upwards.

The wooden planks creaked and groaned against the kang (a heated brick bed), a jarring sound that jarred the cramped room. The rising dust, mixed with an even stronger stench of corpses and damp mold, assaulted Chen Wenyu's nostrils like a poisonous fog with sharp thorns. He abruptly covered his mouth and nose, took two steps back, and nearly bumped into the wall.

Sunlight streamed through the holes in the plastic sheeting, slanting into the depths of the kang (heated brick bed). In the light swirling with dust, the contents inside were clearly exposed to everyone.

Song Guicheng's pupils suddenly contracted, and his fingertips subconsciously gripped the edge of the wooden board in his hand, his knuckles turning slightly white. The stray hairs on his forehead obscured the fleeting shock in his eyes.

A layer of blackened, dry straw covered the kang (heated brick bed), and on the straw lay a curled-up corpse. The coarse cloth clothes it wore were exactly the same as those worn by Li Laosan, who was tied to the ground. The corpse had begun to decompose, but its sallow skin, sunken eye sockets, and high cheekbones still allowed one to vaguely recognize that this was Li Laosan!

Before lifting the wooden board, Song Guicheng considered countless possibilities: it was a heart they had dug out, a resident's corpse that had been hidden, or even the remains of members of previous medical teams. But he never expected that what was hidden in the kang hole would be Li Laosan's own corpse.

He lowered his eyes and stared at the corpse in the kang hole. His gaze swept over a faint scar on the corpse's wrist. The scar was crooked and twisted, like a cut left by a sickle when he was a child. Li Laosan, who was tied to the ground, also had the same scar on his wrist.

Song Guicheng ruled out the possibility of twins almost instantly. Even if twins look very similar, such a wound cannot be replicated 100%.

The wind inside seemed to have completely stopped, the plastic sheet covering the windows no longer swayed, and even the air seemed to have solidified, leaving only the stench of decay swirling wildly around the nose.

The whole world seemed to have been put on pause, leaving only the dimness of the room, the sticky smell of decay, and the solemnity that could not be hidden in everyone's eyes.

"Damn, this is pretty fancy," Shi Sui's voice broke the deathly silence in the room. He frowned, took half a step forward, and stared at the corpse in the kang hole. "Hiding his own corpse? Or is this Li Laosan not even human?"

Sun Zhida also came over, glanced at the kang hole and Li Laosan on the ground, and said in a deep voice, "The body has been dead for at least three days."

His gaze fell on Li Laosan, who was now bound. Li Laosan had given up his previous resistance and was lying on the ground, staring blankly at the hole in the kang (a heated brick bed), making whimpering sounds that sounded both frightened and desperate.

Chen Wenyu clenched his fists, his face pale, but he forced himself to look into the hole in the kang (heated brick bed): "How could this be... He... He's still alive, isn't he?"

Zhao Xiaoyun patted Chen Wenyu on the back, but she also pursed her lips and asked, "How did he die?"

Song Guicheng slowly put down the wooden board in his hand. His long white hair was a little loose and fell behind his shoulders. The shock in his eyes gradually faded and was replaced by deep doubt.

He crouched down, his gaze falling on Li Laosan on the ground, his tone a few decibels deeper than usual: "Who is he?"

His gaze lingered between the corpse in the kang (heated brick bed) and Li Laosan on the ground, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing his cuffs.

That familiar heart palpitation returned, and Song Guicheng recalled the half-starry sky temple pattern on the paper, and the mysterious shrine. He had a vague guess in his mind, but it was too blurry to grasp.

Li Laosan, who was tied up, seemed to finally break down. Tears mixed with saliva flowed down from the edge of his mask, his body trembled violently, and his eyes were fixed on the corpse in the kang hole.

Song Guicheng stood up, his long white hair gleaming softly in the dim light. He looked at Sun Zhida, his voice still gentle: "Take the mask out of his mouth and ask him what happened."

Sun Zhida nodded, stepped forward, and carefully pulled the mask out of Li Laosan's mouth.

As soon as the mask was removed, Li Laosan gasped for breath, his hoarse voice trembling with sobs, repeatedly muttering, "Why... I just wanted to live... Why are they all alive..."

The stench of decay still lingered in the room, the plastic sheeting flapped in the wind, and Li Laosan's sobs mingled with the noise, sounding particularly chaotic and sorrowful.

He looked up at Song Guicheng, who was standing by the kang (a heated brick bed). Song Guicheng's long white hair was now draped over his shoulders, gleaming softly in the dim light, like a layer of snow.

Li Laosan seemed to remember something, or perhaps forget something, his eyes filled with a deep and sorrowful longing.

"Who's alive? Who's dead? Why can they live, but you have to die?"

Song Guicheng's voice was very soft and his pace was steady, as if he were asking about something very ordinary. He did not raise his voice or deliberately put pressure on anyone, but every word was like a pebble falling on a calm lake, creating a heavy sense of oppression in the room.

His gaze fell on Li Laosan's face, without any fierceness, even with a hint of pity. But deep within those light brown eyes seemed to lie a bottomless sea, making Li Laosan feel inexplicably that all his concealment and struggles were transparent in front of him.

Li Laosan, who had just caught his breath, stopped again. Tears still clung to his sallow cheeks, but he dared not cry out loud. He just cowered and looked up at him. This oppressive feeling was all too familiar.

The person was so familiar that even though he couldn't remember who was in front of him, his soul was trembling.