Though they had found a way to avoid the monsters' sight, a more pressing problem now stood before them.
After leaving the room that had held them captive, where should they go?
To the teacher’s house? Or to the mother’s house?
In this twisted world, how could they even find the place where the first cycle's story took place?
"Do you all still remember the first story?" Yu Yezhou asked.
It seemed like they hadn’t left the house much during that cycle. When the loop ended and they went to find the father, they were directly teleported to the teacher’s apartment.
Thinking of this, Yu Yezhou glanced back at the building behind them.
If he squinted, it kind of resembled the teacher’s place.
He suddenly had a bold idea: "Maybe the teacher and the mother live in the same neighborhood? And in the second cycle, the mother and daughter... don’t these buildings look kind of familiar?"
At his prompting, the others began to think.
And, to be honest, they did all look pretty similar.
"Let’s search," someone suggested. With no better plan, they agreed to use trial and error.
They moved cautiously, hiding behind objects as they walked. There were many monsters around, but they were all far off, and none of them seemed to care about moving objects. They truly didn’t perceive these items as people, not even the ones that were moving.
Yu Yezhou said, "Last time, as soon as we stepped outside, they came running from all directions and tore us apart before we even had time to react."
As they moved further from the original building, they realized how unusually large the complex was, but it was sparsely built.
They quickly ruled out a few buildings that clearly weren’t the right ones.
Even so, there were still five potential buildings left, each far apart and difficult to distinguish.
At that moment, the nearby monsters seemed to sense something and began slowly converging in their direction.
"Careful!"
Sang Yue suddenly felt a gaze upon them, and a monster appeared behind them. Gu Zhan and the others, who were hiding under blankets, were relatively safe, but Yu Yezhou and Xu Ke, who were concealed by a table, were now fully exposed to the monster’s line of sight!
There was no way they wouldn’t be spotted. In a panic, Sang Yue threw herself in front of Yu Yezhou and Xu Ke to block them from view.
Thankfully, the monster didn’t notice them.
But it came closer.
Sang Yue said, "Your table isn't good enough to hide behind. We need something better."
Yu Yezhou agreed. He scanned their surroundings and noticed some empty cardboard boxes near a trash can on the side of the road. He opened the bottoms of two boxes, which they could wear like suits while walking.
In case of danger, they could quickly duck into the boxes, which would provide full coverage and shield them from the monsters’ view.
"Get into those."
There were only two boxes, so after Yu Yezhou and Xu Ke took them, they could only pass them to Sang Yue or to An Heyan and Xuyu.
Sang Yue tightened her grip on her suit cover and said, "I’m good with this, you guys use the boxes."
And so, their group now consisted of a blanket, a suit cover, and two enormous cardboard boxes.
If there had been any normal humans around, they would have definitely stopped to take a look at this bizarre team.
But since the monsters lacked any common sense, they just let the group pass by.
After they had walked for a while, Gu Zhan suddenly stopped. "Wait."
Everyone halted and turned to look at him.
Gu Zhan was staring at Yu Yezhou’s large box. It was so huge, the kind you’d only use for refrigerators. Who needed two refrigerator-sized boxes in a normal household?
A thought flashed through Gu Zhan’s mind: Xiao Ming's mother had some strange hobbies. The way she had killed the teacher with such practiced skill—it couldn’t have been her first time.
Perhaps, long before the female teacher arrived, she had already performed that special ritual countless times.
After all, it makes more sense that she grew up in such a strange family and ultimately became a peculiar adult.
“Let’s go back and check the previous floor,” Gu Zhan said. “I suspect that floor is where we can find Xiao Ming’s home.”
“Ah… but…” Sang Yue gasped lightly and turned to look back, only to see they had already walked several meters away. The monsters were gradually closing in, making it nearly impossible to return.
“Are you sure?” Yu Yezhou asked, finding it hard to turn around.
If they weren't certain, it would be better not to risk going back.
However, Gu Zhan said, “Wandering forward is just as chaotic; we have no idea where we should go. If we choose based on the lower difficulty, we might very well miss the correct answer.”
Yu Yezhou fell silent for a moment. Gu Zhan was right.
They should use “Is the answer correct?” as the standard for judgment, rather than “Is the answer simple?”
Convinced by Gu Zhan, Yu Yezhou said, “Then let’s go back and take a look.”
But how to get back was another problem.
Earlier, they had moved instinctively away from the monsters since they had no target.
Now, the monsters had caught up and were close behind.
To return to where they had just been, they would need to approach the monsters directly, crossing through their line of sight.
After observing for a moment, Sang Yue felt a bit desperate: “There’s no way we can just pass right in front of them. They may not view objects as humans, but they’re not stupid…”
That made sense.
Gu Zhan thought for a moment and said, “Let’s distract them.”
As soon as he spoke, everyone turned back to look at him in unison.
They almost spoke in chorus: “You’re not allowed to go.”
Gu Zhan: “…”
He looked surprised. “Why not?”
Sang Yue replied irritably, “Every time you rush off to take risks without saying a word, and we can’t stop you. No, your approach is too reckless. We need someone to draw their attention. Let me go.”
Yu Yezhou added, “I should go instead.”
“What are you talking about?” Sang Yue immediately countered. “You and Xu Ke are both in the same box; it’s easier for me to move. Enough talk—I'm going.”
With that, she stepped forward toward the monsters.
Having already committed, the others could only wait behind.
The monsters outside seemed larger than those inside, towering at least two stories high. Sang Yue’s figure looked so small beneath the shadows of these massive creatures.
It seemed as if the monsters could easily obliterate her with a casual gesture.
Yet, her steps were resolute, undeterred by her own insignificance.
She continued to approach the monsters, step by step.
The fog here was too thick; soon, her figure blurred and became indistinct.
“Will she succeed?” Yu Yezhou asked anxiously.
Gu Zhan shook his head.
Sang Yue’s gait reminded him of a phrase.
Walking on thin ice.
A person on ice must also wonder if they will reach the other side.
Eventually, they completely lost sight of Sang Yue, left waiting in an endless anxiety.
Fortunately, the large size of the monsters still allowed them to see.
They noticed that the monsters seemed to be moving in a different direction.
At first, it was slow, but then, with a sudden roar, they picked up speed!
At the same time, a huge red countdown appeared above them.
“Two hours until the world’s destruction.”
The familiar system voice echoed in their ears once more: “Oh dear, you all managed to come here on your own. This world is already on the brink of collapse, unable to withstand your repeated destruction. I have given you so many chances, and this is your last.”
“Outsiders, give it your all.”
This voice was more emotive, seeming different from the system’s previous tone.
Moreover, the source of the voice felt more specific.
Gu Zhan looked up toward the direction of the voice. In the fog-covered sky, a massive face was quietly watching them.
Its eyes shone like suns, and its mouth spanned the heavens like a galaxy.
Yu Yezhou gasped: “This isn’t the system; it’s…”
A part of this scenario!
The largest monster.
Noticing that the players had seen it, the monster grinned, revealing a strange smile.
It seemed uninterested in dealing with Gu Zhan and the others. After that inscrutable smile, the face disappeared from the sky.
It looked as if it had left this place.
This reminded Yu Yezhou of an old movie, and he murmured, “The Truman Show.”
This film was well-known; almost no one hadn’t heard of it.
An He Yan hesitated, saying, “So what we’re looking for is either Xiao Ming’s home or a way out of here?”
Gu Zhan replied, “No matter, let’s check out Xiao Ming’s place first.”
An He Yan glanced at Gu Zhan. He was always so resolute, unwavering in his pursuit of survival, maintaining the same expression even when facing death.
Such people were rare; one could say he was emotionally stable or perhaps that his madness had reached a point where it also counted as a form of stability.
But right now, they had no better options.
“Alright, let’s go check it out; we can’t waste Sang Yue’s effort.”
The countdown had begun, and this was likely their last chance to reset.
If they died, there would be no resurrection.
Sang Yue was still among the monsters; they needed to hurry, for their own sake and for their teammate’s sacrifice.
There were no monsters nearby. To facilitate their movement, An He Yan and Yu Yezhou decided to exit the box and head downstairs, leaving it at the entrance of the hallway.
As soon as they entered the hallway, they heard the familiar voice of the system—or perhaps it shouldn’t even be called the system anymore, as it was now akin to the monsters outside.
“What a tragic story. Xiao Ming committed suicide due to poor academic performance, yet his mother completely ignored him, intent only on sacrificing the female teacher to revive her husband. Unfortunately, her husband was not dead and had fallen in love with the female teacher who was holding him captive.”
“The female teacher is dead, and the husband is coming to seek justice for her. What a lovely family, right? If the Xiao Ming in the room knew all this, he would probably just hate himself for not dying fast enough.”
Perhaps due to the exposure of its identity, this time the system spoke with a much more lively tone, sounding almost gleeful about the entire story.
Yu Yezhou couldn’t help but retort, “Aren’t you the one who created this story? How can you say it’s tragic...”
“Hehe,” the system chuckled twice. “Created by me? Isn’t this story created by you all?”
It continued, “Think carefully, the identities of these people were all fabricated by you, right? Their relationships, their endings—none of this is unrelated to you. Even Xiao Ming’s death and the female teacher’s death were orchestrated by your hands. Isn’t this your creation?”
The system’s words left everyone speechless; in fact, it did seem to be true.
But...
At that moment, when they answered other questions, would the system have let them pass?
The system said again, “You pride yourselves on being players, but you’re no different from the monsters in the scenario. Once given the chance to control their lives, you wouldn't just kill them; you would also find twisted ways to make them die. Now, this story is about to unfold as you anticipated: the mother kills the female teacher, and the father seeks revenge for the mother. In this family of lovers turned against each other, who will be the last one standing?”
The system seemed quite fond of this ending, its voice rising with excitement during the question.
At that moment, Gu Zhan suddenly interjected, “You’re not the system; who are you?”
“…”
The overhead fell silent abruptly; the system ceased speaking.
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