As 099’s cheerful voice rang out, the number began dropping one by one, so fast that no one could even react.

So fast it was shocking.

Because every time the number changed, it meant a life had disappeared.

Wen Ruyu’s fingers, clutching the corner of Yang Ruiqing’s shirt, tightened abruptly. His knuckles turned white from the force. It felt as though a large hand had seized his heart in a death grip, and even breathing became difficult.

The number finally stopped at 6.

[Current number of surviving players: 6/20.]

Which meant—

In less than ten seconds, five people had died in succession.

No.

More than five.

When the players followed him to the library, Wen Ruyu had counted them. There had been fourteen in total.

Six had not come.

He had heard a scream back in the dormitory building. Most likely one player had already died there, which meant that five had not come to the library.

Now the number of surviving players was only six.

Including him, that made exactly six.

Which meant that inside this entire library, the only player still alive was probably him.

And he had not heard a single sound.

No screams.

No sound of bodies falling.

Those people had died in complete silence.

But Yang Ruiqing had been standing right in front of him the whole time.

Wen Ruyu trembled as he looked at Yang Ruiqing. His expression was nearly impossible to maintain. He spoke with difficulty in his mind.

"System, are there any other vengeful ghosts in this library?"

099’s voice was still light and buoyant, drifting through his mind.

"Not at the moment."

Wen Ruyu’s throat tightened so much he could barely make a sound.

"It’s... Yang Ruiqing?"

099 confirmed his guess.

"Yes."

Wen Ruyu’s voice trembled, tinged with confusion and disbelief.

"Why?"

"That, 099 does not know. You’ll have to explore that yourself, dear customer."

"Because he wants to leave the library, right?"

Wen Ruyu’s voice was still shaking. Though he phrased it as a question, his tone was certain.

If Yang Ruiqing could leave the library freely, he would not have needed to control him and walk him here.

There was only one answer.

He wanted to leave the library.

But the price of leaving was one fresh life after another.

"That’s correct."

099 did not sound surprised that Wen Ruyu had figured it out. Its voice was crisp and delighted, as if announcing something worth celebrating, cheerful to the point of cruelty.

"The more people who die, the stronger he becomes, and the weaker the library’s restraints on him."

Even though he had already guessed the answer, hearing the system confirm it made Wen Ruyu’s heart contract violently. After a long moment, he forced out the question in a hoarse voice.

"Why the library?"

Yang Ruiqing had not died in the library.

He had clearly saved him back then.

So why was he bound to this place?

099 let out a small giggle, but this time did not answer. Its warm, enthusiastic tone was filled with formulaic politeness.

"Please explore that on your own. 099 cannot provide assistance."

The system called itself a Special Player exclusive system, yet it rarely provided any active help unless the player asked precisely the right question.

Just as Wen Ruyu was about to speak again, Yang Ruiqing, standing in front of him, moved.

Yang Ruiqing paused when he saw the person trembling even harder. His fingers shifted slightly. He withdrew his power and gently pulled Wen Ruyu into his arms.

"Still afraid?"

The moment Yang Ruiqing withdrew his power, the temperature in the air rose slightly. The gloomy library no longer looked quite as terrifying.

Even the lights above seemed a little brighter.

Yes.

Yang Ruiqing had killed them.

From beginning to end, he had never intended to let anyone leave.

Not the people who deserved to die.

And not the person in his arms.

He did not like the idea of anyone sharing a room with him and still being alive.

When he received no answer, he felt the trembling in his arms and spoke in a stiff voice laced with obsessive gentleness.

"It’s alright."

"You won’t be afraid soon."

Wen Ruyu’s heart lurched violently.

A chill crept up from the bottom of his spine.

What did he mean—he wouldn’t be afraid soon?

For an ordinary human, physiological fear in the presence of a vengeful ghost was nearly impossible to overcome.

It was the boundary between life and death.

Unless that boundary was broken.

Either the ghost became human again.

Or the human became a ghost.

Wen Ruyu’s throat tightened once more. He pushed himself out of Yang Ruiqing’s embrace and looked up at him, speaking bluntly despite the difficulty.

"Are you... going to kill me?"

Yang Ruiqing did not answer directly. He simply pulled him back into his arms again, the motion forceful and impossible to refuse. His low, rigid voice felt suffocating.

"Don’t be afraid."

With just those two words, Wen Ruyu understood.

His face turned deathly pale, all color draining away. A mist gathered uncontrollably in his eyes. His voice no longer merely trembled—it carried a faint sob, a plea.

"I... I don’t want to die..."

Yang Ruiqing gently patted his back, the motion extraordinarily tender, as if soothing every trace of unease.

But that tenderness brought Wen Ruyu no comfort.

Instead, his heart sank deeper and deeper.

Yang Ruiqing did not answer.

Silence was the cruelest answer of all.

Wen Ruyu’s eyes were red, tears brimming. He looked so pitiful he seemed about to shatter.

But he still wanted to struggle one more time. His voice trembled so badly it was almost shapeless.

Yang Ruiqing’s low, rigid voice sounded again, gentle in tone yet carrying undeniable certainty.

"It won’t hurt."

Wen Ruyu’s slender body went rigid.

Whether it hurt or not did not matter.

What mattered was that he did not want to die.

But Yang Ruiqing’s tone left no room for negotiation.

Perhaps death was inevitable.

Struggling further would only anger him.

Wen Ruyu closed his eyes weakly, as if unwilling to face reality, and softly changed the subject.

"I’m a little tired..."

Yang Ruiqing looked quietly at the person in his arms, as though seeing through Wen Ruyu’s fear and disguise. But he did not expose him. Instead, he bent down and lifted him horizontally in his arms, carrying him toward the monitoring room on the first floor of the library.

The monitoring room also functioned as the duty room.

There was a bed inside for resting.

It had been replaced the day before. Everything was clean and new.

He placed Wen Ruyu gently on the bed and said in a stiff, calm voice, "Sleep."

As Yang Ruiqing was about to stand up, Wen Ruyu quickly grabbed the corner of his shirt. Though terrified, he still spoke in a trembling whisper.

"Can you stay with me?"

Wen Ruyu did not actually need company, nor did he want to remain with Yang Ruiqing.

But he did not dare let him leave.

He was afraid that the moment he closed his eyes, the number of surviving players would drop to zero.

Only if Yang Ruiqing remained in front of him could he feel even the slightest peace of mind.

Yang Ruiqing’s aura stilled for a moment. Looking at the person with reddened eyes gazing at him pitifully, the darkness in his eyes softened slightly.

"Alright."

Only then did Wen Ruyu let out a breath of relief.

But his mind remained taut, without the slightest hint of drowsiness.

Under extreme fear, a person could not possibly feel sleepy.

Yet for some reason, in less than thirty seconds, he lost consciousness.

When he woke again, it was already afternoon.

Wen Ruyu’s eyelashes trembled slightly as he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was still unfocused, and he looked momentarily dazed.

Yang Ruiqing was still sitting beside the bed.

When he saw Wen Ruyu open his eyes, his expressionless gaze softened a fraction.

"Awake?"

Wen Ruyu’s eyes widened instantly. His rationality returned in a rush, and everything from the previous night replayed in his mind.

Mist rose instantly in his eyes.

His body reacted faster than his mind, instinctively wanting to retreat.

He forcibly suppressed the reaction.

But even though he reacted quickly, even though he tried to appear natural, that trace of fear still slipped through.

The softness in Yang Ruiqing’s eyes faded slightly. The air around him cooled once more.

Wen Ruyu’s lips trembled faintly. He pressed them together anxiously.

He knew very well—

Instinctive fear was difficult to conceal.

He lowered his head under the pretense of sitting up, avoiding Yang Ruiqing’s gaze, and checked his player panel in his mind.

[Current number of surviving players: 4/20.]

The moment he saw the number, his slender body stiffened completely.

Four?

Two more had died last night?

Strictly speaking, perhaps only three remained.

He himself was technically still alive, yet already effectively sentenced to death.

Which meant the truly living players numbered only three.

Wen Ruyu unconsciously clenched his hands. His knuckles turned white from the force.

But he did not dare lift his head.

The duty room was frighteningly quiet.

Yang Ruiqing slowly reached out and brushed aside the loose strands of hair near Wen Ruyu’s forehead. The gesture was tender to the point of intimacy, yet his low voice made the scalp prickle.

"Are you that afraid of me?"

"I..." Wen Ruyu pressed his lips together anxiously, unable to say a word for a long time.

The mask on his face had long since disappeared. His delicate, beautiful features were fully exposed to the air.

Yang Ruiqing’s fingertip slid down along Wen Ruyu’s pale cheek and stopped beside it.

"I’m already dead." His gaze was unfathomably deep, carrying a nearly mad obsession. He spoke each word distinctly.

"Wouldn’t it be good to stay with me?"

His fingers were icy cold, as though he had just crawled out of a freezer, carrying a terrifying chill that made one’s hair stand on end.

Anyone would instinctively want to avoid it.

But Wen Ruyu did not dare.

A layer of mist formed in his eyes. His lips moved slightly. His voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

"I’m just... afraid of dying."

"Don’t be afraid." Yang Ruiqing seemed extraordinarily patient. His tone was gentle, as though soothing something fragile and precious.

"It won’t hurt."

"You won’t feel pain."

"And you won’t die."

"Won’t die?" Wen Ruyu suddenly looked up, a faint spark of hope rising in his eyes.

"Won’t." Yang Ruiqing’s tone was firm.

Wen Ruyu’s heart pounded wildly. He spoke in his mind.

"System, is he lying to me?"

099’s sweet, enthusiastic voice responded almost instantly.

"Dear customer, he should not be lying to you."

"Then—"

Wen Ruyu’s voice carried hope, but before he could finish, 099 cut through it.

"Humans turning into ghosts generally fall into two categories. One is becoming a vengeful ghost after death. That usually requires extreme resentment at the time of death, or external interference."

Wen Ruyu’s heart sank little by little as the system explained. Even though he already knew the answer, he still asked hoarsely,

"And the other?"

"The other is a living human turning into a ghost."

"In this case, the person does not die. Instead, under the erosion of yin energy, they gradually transform from human into ghost."

"The person does not technically die, but cannot be considered truly alive either."

099’s tone lifted slightly at the end, casual and cruel, almost amused.

"A friendly reminder, dear customer. One of the dungeon clear conditions is that the player remains human. This state of neither dead nor alive cannot clear the dungeon."

The system’s words were almost blatantly telling Wen Ruyu that if he wanted to clear the dungeon as a player, it was nearly impossible now.

His only hope of clearing it—

Rested entirely on the three remaining players.

Chapter 38

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