Welcome to the Nightmare Game

{cw: mention of miscarriage}

What have you been busy with recently? I havent seen you since our last meal. Youve been away from home for days, and Su He asked me several times.

On this day, Qi Leren wasnt dressed up as Red. He went back to Sunset Island in the Village of Dusk and asked Chen Baiqi about making chargers and compulsory tasks. In ten days, he had to carry out a compulsory task for the first time. Hed heard that it would be very easy, but he was still a little nervous. As a result, he was caught red-handed by Dr. Lu, who brought his own talent of finding people and treasure.

Ive been working on something Qi Leren, of course, couldt disclose what he was doing to Dr. Lu, so he had to play dumb.

This undercover mission was very dangerous. Qi Leren had even written a suicide note and put it in his home in Sunset Island. If he unfortunately died without a corpse and could not be resurrected with the Easter Egg, this letter and other articles for daily use would be left to the next person who lived in his house, and the information about the Nightmare Game and main tasks would be conveyed to them. It was all written in this letter. His mood was a bit complicated. He always felt like a predecessor NPC who had died before being able to achieve his mission. He died before the story started. His lucklessness would serve to provide clues and items to the protagonist.

The reason why he didnt choose to tell Dr. Lu was because he didnt want to bring trouble to him. He couldnt afford such a great event with Dr. Lus character. He would rather bet his hope on an irrelevant stranger. As long as he wouldnt let the secret disappear with his death, he could feel at ease.

Unfortunately, Dr. Lu didnt understand his good intentions at all and he criticized his disappearance. Qi Leren had no choice but to use the ultimate technique: I was wrong, Ill invite you to dinner.

Wow, if you say so. I found a delicious restaurant. Lets go! Dr. Lu forgot his chatter for a second and took Qi Leren to eat delicious food.

Oh, two days ago, Su He and I talked about the Castle Cry task. The tasks true ending is the type that can be interpreted in multiple ways, and I thought of another possibility. On the way, Dr. Lu chatted with Qi Leren.

What possibility? Qi Leren asked.

Didnt you say before that the NPC who played Adeline was a Devil worshipper named Isabel? She seduced John and was killed by the jealous Crazy Lady. All this was premeditated by her. Then she changed her hat and bewitched the crazy lady as a demon, which finally caused the whole tragedy. This should be the true ending in the universal sense. However, weve never considered the position of Ninas role. She had greatly influenced the whole story, but her behavior seems strange. Is it possible that Nina was actually on the Devils side, or at least she was bewitched by the Devil when she caused the Crazy Lady to miscarry? The last Devils Sacrifice we found was nails, but in chronological order, this was actually the first of the Crazy Ladys sacrifices, and it was also the only place where Devil bewitched her. In this memory, Nina, who cleaned up the mirror fragments, cut her hand and blood dripped on the carpet. At that time, there were mirror fragments on the carpet. Is it possible that the person who was bewitched at that time was not just the Crazy Lady? Dr. Lu said.

You mean, Isabel attached the Devil to Ninas soul? Qi Leren asked.

I wouldnt say it was attached, more like it affected her. Su He knows a lot about demons. He said that Isabel is no longer a low-level demon. As a follower of the Devil of Fraud, she represents an original sin, such as hegemony, greed, paranoia, depravity, tyranny, lust, betrayal, or other sins. What do you think Isabel stands for?

Qi Leren closed his eyes and remembered everything about Isabel, and word suddenly poured into his mind.

-I am the ghost who killed Adeline. I am the countless betrayals that Sarah has noticed from the details, and the jealousy that will never burn out in her heart.

Its jealousy, Qi Leren said clearly.

He remembered the underground palace where witches were sacrificed, where countless girls resentments were buried, and the girls who danced in the palm of the Devil of Frauds hands fought each other because of jealousy, and finally made one witch after another.

And the garden at the top of the old castle, burning in the fire and rain, and finally the fire and blood shed by the Crazy Lady herself That flame was the green-eyed monster that never went out in her heart.

Dr. Lu nodded: Yes, she is jealousy nine times out of ten. The Crazy Lady was bewitched by her because she was jealous, Nan Lu was possessed by her because she was jealous. If Nina was also affected, it showed that there was also a flame of jealousy in her heart.

Er You mean Nina may have been Johanns mistress, so she was jealous of the Crazy Lady?

Dr. Lu gave him a blank look: Havent you ever thought that she was jealous of someone else?

Ah? Who? Qi Leren was confused.

She was jealous of Johann because she liked the Crazy Lady, Dr. Lu stated matter-of-factly.

Qi Leren, who was shocked by Dr. Lus train of thought, looked at him incredulously for a while. After a stretch of silence: No way? Theyre both women.

Youve played as a lily* yourself, why are you biased against lilies? Dr. Lu asked with dissatisfaction.

*{E/N: lesbian}

Qi Leren was speechless.

If you read this story without prejudice, Ninas love towards the Crazy Lady explains things. She adored the Crazy Lady and didnt want her to get pregnant, so she helped Johann to drug the Crazy Lady, but later she felt bad because of the side effects, so she disobeyed Johanns order and reduced the mercury powder dosage. She acted aggressively to cause her to miscarry after the Crazy Lady became pregnant, so she was willing to risk her life to let Crazy Lady go at last and advised her to run away, and she became a sacrifice for the Crazy Lady when it became inevitable. Nina was weak, she was just a lowly maid, afraid of Johann - in the story, she was afraid of the armor because the Master who was represented by the armor punished her for her incompetence - and she dared not show her feelings to the Crazy Lady. This mixture of love, jealousy, and fear filled her soul with pain, and was eventually seduced by the demon. Hey hey, arent I smart? Dr. Lu, who talked nonsense seriously, finally couldnt help it and began to boast.

Is there any evidence for this conjecture? Qi Leren asked the key question.

No. Dr. Lu deflated.

So youre just guessing? Qi Leren sneered.

Arent you being unreasonable? What you called guessing should be called reasonable imagination, Dr. Lu argued. If youre not satisfied with the lily direction, Ill tell you a gay theory! Once upon a time, there was a man named Johann who wanted to marry rich Mrs. Sarah for money, but fell in love with her family doctor. He didnt want to expose himself as a homosexual but wanted to break off his engagement, so he pretended to have an affair with Mrs. Sarahs maid Adeline. As a result, Adeline was secretly killed by Mrs. Sarah. He still married Mrs. Sarah, and was ready to wait for an opportunity to kill her to get her inheritance. His lover, Dr. Flajser, assisted him. The cheating dog who drove Mrs. Sarah crazy was finally killed by Mrs Sarah.

More and more bullshit. Although Qi Leren didnt agree with Dr. Lus imagination, he couldnt stop his friends thoughts, but he was interested in the types of demons. Because of his skill Devils Etiquette, he appealed to the Court for some demon crystals, but these crystals were all low-level demons, and most of them were succubi. There was no demon of Isabels level. He was a little curious about what kind of crystals a devil like her would have. The energy inside could possibly make a whole lake boil.

In order to appease Dr. Lu, Qi Leren treated him to a delicious meal and told him to be careful in his compulsory task, so as not to throw himself into the street because he only had the fighting ability of vegetables or chickens.

After saying goodbye to Dr. Lu, Qi Leren went to look for Chen Baiqi. Her sister Sissi was looking after the shop. When she saw him, she called for her sister at the top of her voice. Only then did Chen Baiqi come out of the basement and put a stack of books on her desk, greeting Qi Leren.

Chen Baiqi ran a bookstore, most of which were books about the Nightmare World collected from unknown sources. What was more frightening was that such books as Simple Demon Summoning, Feeding Methods of Lower Demons, Introduction to Theological Prayer, Some Thoughts on the Purification of Demon Crystallization Energy, etc., which seemed like popular fiction at first glance, were not fabricated but were actual non-fiction.

Unfortunately, Qi Leren had little interest in occultism and had no time to study these things, but hed heard that many players were interested in these things and were willing to spend a lot of survival days to buy these books.

I want to ask about the first compulsory mission, Qi Leren said to Chen Baiqi. In addition, I want to find out if anyone in the Twilight Township can make a charger.

Chen Baiqi looked him up and down, took out a contract book, and Qi Leren looked at the numbers on it. It wasnt too expensive, so he signed it.

The players in the Nightmare World come from all walks of life in the real world. I happen to know a few craftsmen. Ill give you a list and their contact information later. You can contact them yourself. If you need me to contact them, Ill charge extra, Chen Baiqi calmly explained and put the contract book away. As for the compulsory task, its very simple. You can pass it with your eyes closed and your hands empty. The difficulty is about equal to a haunted house at an amusement park. Just walk.

Thats all? Qi Leren couldnt believe his ears.

Thats all, Chen Baiqi said.

You con-woman, return my money! Qi Leren said angrily.

Theres really nothing to say. Everyone has different tasks. As far as I know, it seems that no one has died in the first compulsory task, unless it was a multiplayer task and they were killed because of conflicts with other players. Chen Baiqi grinned. As compensation, you can ask me another question free of cost.

Qi Leren sat back in his seat again. It was impossible to get back time. It would be better to ask Chen Baiqi about something else.

After hesitating for a while, Qi Leren pretended to ask casually: Do you know how to produce a half-field?

Chen Baiqi looked at him with surprise, as if wondering how he knew about this thing. Qi Leren became uncomfortable: Whats wrong?

It seems that you know, Chen Baiqi said with some regret.

Know what? Qi Lerens heart jumped, feeling as if he was gazing into the unknown.

A half-field that has not completely condensed into a field is inherently fragile, but dont worry, although Ning Zhous half-field has collapsed, hes still young and has potential. Its not impossible for him to break through the shackles and re-condense the field in time, Chen Baiqi consoled.

Qi Leren looked at her, waiting for her to continue: Half-field collapsed? When? Whats happened?

Instead, Chen Baiqi was shocked: You dont know? Then why did you ask how about half-fields?

Originally, he wanted to ask about the Slaughter Secret Society producing a half-field. However, he had been told about Ning Zhous half-field collapsing. Qi Leren suddenly felt panicked: What did you mean?

Chen Baiqi looked at him with awe, and her eyes were inexplicably complicated: When his half-field collapsed, werent you there?

Qi Leren sat back in the chair and closed his eyes with shame.The ethereal and graceful holy music is getting farther and farther away, the holy white light in front of us gradually fades, and the pilgrims praying in the magnificent church hall become unreal, standing under the cross - the holy nun in a white robe silently closes her blue eyes. Demons are raging, and this enchantment, supported by countless prayers, is crumbling and will die at any moment.

At that time, bathed in the holy light, Qi Leren had been focused on surviving and didnt know the truth. He hadnt known that it was his half-field that Ning Zhou was about to break.