In horror movies or ghost stories, the protagonists who court danger always go to a remote place with ghostly legends and engage in risky activities like Ouija boards or four-corner games.
As a result, they often end up summoning something supernatural, leading to their demise.
When Gu Zhan was young and not yet mature, he had tried similar activities.
The final outcome was that he was caught by the orphanage teacher, beaten, and locked in a small dark room for an entire day, missing two meals.
He never encountered any ghosts or monsters at all.
At that time, Gu Zhan was curious: do ghosts really exist in this world? What does it feel like to summon a ghost using a summoning ceremony?
It was clear that this childhood desire of his naturally faded as he grew up.
Because in real life, there are no such things as ghosts.
Gu Zhan did not attempt anything similar afterward.
But now, an opportunity suddenly lay before him.
The instance is different from reality; it might really summon ghosts or monsters.
Gu Zhan is a person who lacks a sense of fear and has never had any desires. However, ever since he arrived at this place, strange feelings have been continuously surfacing in his heart. For him now, fulfilling his wishes has become very important.
Seeing him agree readily, the others breathed a sigh of relief.
After some discussion, they decided to go to the building they mentioned earlier and stay there for the night.
The large house that Chishima Kei saw was at the innermost part of the village, well-preserved, with intact doors and windows that didn’t let in any wind. It had many rooms, enough for all of them to stay.
Chishima Kei said, “Since there are three men and three women, let’s divide into two rooms. Although there are many rooms here, separating might lead to danger.”
What she said made sense, and the others had no objections.
The summoning ceremony was set for midnight, so they decided to rest in the afternoon and stay awake for the night.
Gu Zhan naturally went to rest as well, but he couldn’t fall asleep. It was strange—ever since arriving at this place, whenever he closed his eyes, he saw the tumultuous sea under the night sky. As soon as he relaxed, it felt as if he would be swallowed by the ocean.
This was a very uncomfortable feeling.
He lay there in a daze until around nine o'clock, when everyone began to wake up one by one.
Once everyone gathered, they sat around the long table in the living room. No one spoke; the atmosphere was tense.
Time passed minute by minute, and around ten o'clock, Miyamoto Satoshi broke the silence: “Should we prepare the venue for the summoning ceremony in advance? Have you chosen a location?”
“Not yet,” Chishima Kei replied. “I saw a closed small room nearby that seems suitable.”
“Right, we also need to record a video for the client. Who will film it?” Takagawa Ayaka added.
After a moment of thought, Chishima Kei said, “I brought a tripod. Why don’t we all pitch in? It wouldn’t be right to let Akiyama do the summoning alone. If we really summon something, it’s better for all of us to be there to respond.”
“That makes sense; let’s do that,” Miyamoto Satoshi nodded.
Chishima Kei got up, “Then… let’s go set it up.”
They all went to the closed small room, where Miyamoto Satoshi and Nakano Makoto carried a table inside.
Chishima Kei placed a mirror and candles on the table, while a tripod was set up on the other side of the room for filming.
Soon it was eleven-thirty, and they entered early to wait for midnight.
Takagawa Ayaka pulled out her tablet’s countdown timer and placed it on the table for Gu Zhan to see.
“Eleven fifty-seven… fifty-eight… fifty-nine… It’s time.”
With Chishima Kei’s soft command, everyone’s hearts raced.
The time had come.
The room suddenly fell silent. The other five pressed against the walls, controlling their breathing and making no sound at all, while Gu Zhan sat at the table, quietly watching the apple.
Time passed second by second, and he remained still.
Miyamoto Satoshi looked a bit nervous, seemingly wanting to urge Gu Zhan, but Chishima Kei pulled her back.
They had agreed to let Gu Zhan conduct the summoning ceremony; they shouldn’t interfere.
Moreover, midnight held a special significance. As long as it was within midnight, it should be fine. A few minutes' delay wouldn’t be a big deal.
Finally, Gu Zhan moved.
He picked up a lighter, lit the candle, and watched the flame gradually grow. He then took the apple and the knife beside him.
It was said that during the summoning process, the apple peel must not break.
If it did, it would mean his life would be cut short as well.
Once he finished peeling the apple, he could summon the ghostly being to inquire about his future.
It sounded absurd.
But Gu Zhan was very curious to know what would happen.
He began to peel the apple.
As he started, the others’ hearts began to race as well.
“I should have known we needed someone experienced for this…” Miyamoto Satoshi complained quietly.
They then remembered that peeling an apple was also a skilled task, but fortunately, Gu Zhan seemed quite adept at it.
There was no incident where the knife suddenly cut through, breaking the peel.
“Chishima, record this,” Miyamoto Satoshi whispered.
Chishima Kei quickly turned on the recording.
The image on the phone’s camera appeared even darker, and everything around them was quiet, except for Gu Zhan, who lowered his head and focused on peeling the apple.
One circle… two circles… still unbroken.
Just as it seemed Gu Zhan was about to finish peeling the apple, his movements suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Miyamoto Satoshi asked nervously.
“Don’t talk,” Tokawa Ayaka scolded softly.
Miyamoto Satoshi looked embarrassed and quickly covered her mouth.
At that moment, Gu Zhan fell into an extremely subtle sensation.
He was clearly sitting in an ordinary house in Haizhu Village, yet it felt as if he were in the sea, his body unconsciously swaying up and down with the waves. The heavy seawater seemed to permeate the air, gradually clinging to him, making his limbs and even his mind feel hazy.
He could even feel something wetter and colder than the waves pressing against him, quietly sneaking under his clothing and spreading over his bare back.
He unconsciously twisted his body, trying to wipe away this sticky feeling.
But he suddenly realized he was still holding the apple, causing his movements to freeze.
That damp, slippery thing seemed to sense his resistance and quickly halted. But after a moment, finding Gu Zhan had made no other movements, it intensified its actions.
From front to back, Gu Zhan felt as though he were embraced by the seawater, that dampness seeping through his pores… almost invading his body.
He had been motionless for too long, and his companions behind him began to call out in hurried whispers. Gu Zhan’s actions faltered, and the apple peel fell to the ground with a “thud.”
“It broke!”
Miyamoto Satoshi could no longer contain herself and exclaimed.
Everyone shot her reproachful looks, but her outburst startled the “thing” that was crouched on Gu Zhan’s back. That entity quickly receded like the tide.
Gu Zhan looked down and saw that his apple was completely peeled.
But it wasn't torn
He held up the peeled apple for everyone to see, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After waiting a little longer, nothing happened.
What nonsense about gods and prophecies? Absolutely nothing occurred.
The room was silent.
Chishima Kei reached out to turn off the phone recording and walked up to Gu Zhan. “Are you okay?”
Gu Zhan shook his head.
The others began to chatter, asking, “Was there something wrong?” “Did you hear a prophecy?” “Why did it suddenly stop?”
Gu Zhan answered each question: “Nothing was wrong, I didn’t hear anything; nothing happened… It suddenly stopped because…”
He paused for a moment, feeling something was off. He wasn’t sure if it was his own feelings that were wrong, so he could only say, “It felt like a bug crawled into my clothes, and I wanted to move a bit to let it out.”
Miyamoto Satoshi said, “Looking on the bright side, it seems this summoning ceremony won’t lead to anything extraordinary. Let’s send the video to the client so they can see.”
“Right.” Chishima Kei took down the phone and contacted the client.
It was late, yet the client was still awake.
After receiving the video, the client replied to Chishima Kei: “Very good, we’ll continue tomorrow.”
Chishima Kei couldn’t help but respond, “What about our payment?”
The client replied, “You’ll receive it when you come back, all together.”
Chishima Kei put away the phone and looked at the others: “I feel like he’s just stringing us along.”
The others were resigned, but at least today was over for them.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound echoed in the quiet room. Nakano Asaka shyly covered his stomach and said, “Sorry, it’s me… It seems we haven’t eaten dinner.”
Indeed, they had been so focused on preparing for the summoning ceremony that they hadn’t thought about eating.
Miyamoto Satoshi said, “We’re already in the instance; every day counts, and we still need to eat. It might be our last meal. Friends, shall we eat?”
Although they had rested in the afternoon, with so much on their minds, few could actually sleep.
Now that the tension had eased, everyone felt fatigue and hunger wash over them.
They replied in unison, “Let’s eat!”
Chishima Kei said, “The long table outside is just enough for the six of us to eat. Let’s go there.”
Though nothing unexpected happened during the summoning ceremony, it still felt a bit hard to eat in the room where the ceremony was held.
As they left, Gu Zhan casually took the apple he had just finished peeling with him.
He took a bite as soon as he stepped outside.
Miyamoto Satoshi happened to see this.
Miyamoto Satoshi looked surprised, but Gu Zhan ignored him and walked past him.
The group headed to the hall, where a table hadn’t been used for a long time, covered in dust, with a uniquely patterned jar sitting in the middle.
Nakano Asaka took the jar from the table and placed it on a nearby cabinet, saying, “Let’s eat here.”
“Sounds good.” The others agreed.
Gu Zhan walked in at the back of the group, just finishing his apple, and casually threw the core into the nearby trash can.
Miyamoto Satoshi saw his action and looked helpless: “Aren’t you afraid at all?”
Gu Zhan replied nonchalantly, “The ghost deity shouldn’t bother with just one apple.”
What he really didn’t understand was why they needed to use an apple for the summoning.
The others began to set up the food they had prepared. Although it was just some instant meals and self-heating hot pots, the table looked quite impressive with all the food laid out.
Miyamoto Satoshi joked, “It feels like we’re throwing a party.”
“Haizhu Village is an A-level Instance and based on the difficulty, it should be quite challenging,” Chishima Kei said. “But from the information we have so far, we can’t figure out much… Do you all want noodles or rice?”
Miyamoto Satoshi replied, “Let’s have noodles.”
The group started eating, and suddenly, Morinaga Shizuko stood up and said, “I’m thirsty; I’ll go grab a cup of water.”
Their luggage was already placed in their respective rooms, so no one paid much attention as she walked away.
However, after more than ten minutes had passed and they were almost finished eating, she still hadn’t returned.
Chishima Kei stood up and said, “Why hasn’t Shizuko come back yet? I’ll go take a look.”
Not long after Chishima Kei left, a startled scream echoed from the room.
Everyone immediately stood up and ran toward that room.
Upon entering, they found Morinaga Shizuko lying on the floor, her face pale and lifeless.
Beside her lay a very familiar jar, standing awkwardly on the ground, starkly out of place.
Chidao Kei stood rigidly beside her, seemingly frightened.
“What happened?” Miyamoto Satoshi rushed to check Morinaga Shizuko’s breath, and his expression changed drastically: “She’s dead!”
Chidao Kei trembled as he said, “I—I don’t know. As soon as I entered, she was lying here…”
“How could this happen…” Takagawa Ayaka was about to step closer when she saw the jar nearby. “Where did this jar come from? I remember we didn’t have it when we packed our things!”
Nakano Asaka exclaimed, “Isn’t this the jar that was on the table? Who… who put it here?”
Takagawa Ayaka said, “The jar on the table? Didn’t you take it away?”
Nakano Asaka felt wronged: “But I put it on the cabinet beside it! How could it end up here?”
He was right; Gu Zhan also remembered the jar being on the cabinet. During dinner, he had caught a glimpse of it sitting there.
At that moment, Miyamoto Satoshi suddenly said, “The body will disappear soon. Let’s check how she died.”
“…”
This suggestion was both cruel and realistic. Everyone crowded closer to examine Morinaga Shizuko's body.
Morinaga Shizuko had no visible injuries; her skin was pale, and her skin had slackened and shrunk noticeably, as if… as if something had drained all the blood from her body.
"How could this happen…” Chishima Kei exclaimed, “Her blood is completely gone…”
This method was clearly not something a human could accomplish.
Perhaps Gu Zhan's summoning ritual had indeed called forth something.
But why did “that thing” not target Gu Zhan? Instead, it went after Morinaga Shizuko, who had nothing to do with this matter?
Nakano Asaka murmured, “Could it be because she was alone?”
“Impossible.” Miyamoto Satoshi quickly refuted, “Leaving aside whether ghosts or monsters need the victim to be alone, there were others who were alone during the food preparations. We all had moments when we were separated. Why didn’t anything happen to us?”
“Then that means…” Nakano Asaka’s face gradually paled, “This jar has some kind of mystery.”
It had appeared here inexplicably and might be a symbol of a mark.
Thinking about how he had touched the jar made Nakano Asaka’s expression even worse.
Was the jar marking a person or a room? Would Chishima Kei and Takagawa Ayaka, who also stayed in this room encounter the same fate?
Everyone fell silent for a long time, and finally, Miyamoto Satoshi said, “Let’s… change rooms. We might need to stay here a bit longer, and this room has seen a death… It’s not good to stay here any longer…”
Chishima Kei and Takagawa Ayaka didn’t know what to do, so they could only follow Miyamoto Satoshi’s suggestion and move their belongings to another room.
They had seen many deaths in the game, so while it was shocking, it wasn’t as dramatic as it could have been.
But just thinking about the fact that someone had already died made them worry that they could be next.
Chishima Kei and the others chose the farthest room.
After the girls left, Miyamoto Satoshi said, “Shall we head back too?”
The jar was left in the center of the room, and no one dared to touch it.
At this point, they still didn’t know how Morinaga Shizuko had triggered the death mechanism. The best course of action was to return to their own rooms and rest cautiously.
However, just as they returned to their room, they heard another scream coming from outside.
Nakano Asaka’s expression froze: “No way! Did something happen again??”
They hurried toward the direction of the sound, and as soon as they stepped outside, they saw Chishima Kei and Takagawa Ayaka standing at the doorway of their new room, looking lost.
Miyamoto Satoshi rushed over to ask, “What’s wrong?”
Chidao Kei panicked, “The jar! The jar… it came back!”
“What?”
Miyamoto Satoshi stepped to the doorway and suddenly froze.
Gu Zhan followed closely behind him and saw the girls’ luggage spread out in the room, with that jar oddly standing among a pile of clothes.
“…”
This time, they could be 100% certain that no one had moved the jar!
It had come back on its own!
Chishima Kei and Takagawa Ayaka huddled together, shivering: “What… what should we do? Should we get rid of it?”
Everyone fell silent for a long time, and Miyamoto Satoshi hesitated: “This… might be related to the trigger of the death mechanism.”
Chishima Kei looked like she was about to cry, softly asking, “Would you… be willing to help us throw the jar away?”
It was too coincidental that Morinaga Shizuko had died with a jar beside her, and now that they had changed rooms, the jar had followed them.
If they didn’t deal with this jar, Chishima Kei and Takagawa Ayaka might soon be in danger as well.
Is this what an A-level instance is like?
Why was the death rate so high… Miyamoto Satoshi frowned.
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to say he’d help throw away the jar; touching the jar could very likely cause them to be targeted by it.
At that moment, Gu Zhan suddenly said, “I’ll do it.”
As soon as he said that, Miyamoto Satoshi and Nakano Asaka looked at him differently.
Miyamoto Satoshi thought he was a bit foolish… Was he trying to show off in front of the girls? But this situation… wasn’t the time for that!
Gu Zhan simply didn’t care; he had already conducted the summoning ritual, so what was one jar to him?
If the ghost deity he summoned really wanted to kill someone, he should be the first to die.
Moreover, Nakano Asaka had already touched this jar. Touching the jar shouldn’t trigger the death mechanism.
If everything went as expected, the jar followed people; unless the target died, even if someone else touched it, nothing would happen, and it couldn’t be thrown away.
Miyamoto Satoshi understood all this but didn’t want to take the risk.
After all, they were just strangers to him.
Now that Gu Zhan had stepped up, he thought Gu Zhan was foolish but didn’t stop him. After all, if Gu Zhan took action, it would save him from feeling conflicted.
Gu Zhan stepped forward and picked up the jar.
The jar felt light, and there didn’t seem to be anything inside; he shook it a couple of times and found it empty.
Seeing him shake the jar so casually, Chishima Kei and Takagawa Ayaka's hearts nearly jumped out of their chests!
Fortunately, nothing happened. After Gu Zhan finished shaking the jar, he held it with one hand and walked outside.
Gu Zhan said, “I’ll put it at the front door; you all come too.”
The others followed him outside, placing the jar at the entrance. Gu Zhan said, “Let’s go back and see.”
He wanted to conduct an experiment to verify his earlier thoughts.
If everything went as expected… the jar couldn’t be thrown away.
The group walked back, and upon returning to the room, just as he expected, the jar that Gu Zhan had personally placed at the entrance was now standing perfectly in the middle of the room.
It seemed that the jar was fixated on someone in the room…
Changing rooms or throwing away the jar had no effect.
The two girls were so scared they started to cry, clutching each other, their voices trembling: “What should we do? Is there no other way… We’ve only been here for one day! How could this happen… Is it because of that summoning ritual…”
Chidao Kei took out her phone to contact the client, but the client, who had replied immediately before, was now unresponsive no matter how she called.
The phone had no signal, and the outside was pitch black. They had no transportation, as if they were trapped on this island-like village… Only the sound of the waves crashing outside filled the air, one wave after another.
“This…” Miyamoto Satoshi said with difficulty, “You asked Akiyama for help, and he did help, but the jar just won’t leave. We still don’t know what’s going on, and we have no way to deal with it…”
Chishima Kei asked with a quivering voice, “Are you saying you’re not going to help us anymore?”
Miyamoto Satoshi felt helpless: “I want to help, but I really can’t…”
“You…” The previously harmonious team atmosphere was shattered in an instant. Faced with the life-and-death crisis, this seemingly united group had been fragmented back into individual members.
Miyamoto Satoshi said, “In any case, I’m going back to rest. We’ll see how things are tomorrow; maybe there will be other solutions.”
But Chishima Kei knew very well that they might not have a tomorrow.
Miyamoto Satoshi left. Nakano Asaka wanted to help but felt powerless as well.
Standing at the door seemed useless… He hesitated for a moment and pulled Gu Zhan, “Let’s go, let’s go.”
After the three left, a hint of determination appeared on Chishima Kei’s face.
Looking at Takagawa Ayaka, who stood there at a loss, Chishima Kei said, “What are you dawdling for? Come here and help!”
“What?” Takagawa Ayaka, who had already accepted her fate of possibly dying, was stunned when she heard Chishima Kei’s words. “What do you want to do?”
Chishima Kei, frustrated, said, “Do you really want to wait to die?”
Takagawa Ayaka had little experience with this type of instance and had no idea how to handle the situation.
Everyone had said there was no way out… Was there really a chance for survival?
---
In Zone A of the Chun Bai Cheng, a bar was buzzing with activity. Yang Lin sat beside Yu Yezhou, both of them watching the same live stream.
The live stream featured an instance called Haizhu Village, with a total of six players, including Gu Zhan.
Yu Yezhou was determined to recruit Gu Zhan into his team.
Although Yang Lin thought it was unlikely, she had nothing better to do, and since she had played this instance before, she decided to check it out.
When she saw the girl being targeted by the jar, Yang Lin laughed, “Instead of pulling in Gu Zhan, you should focus on this girl named Chishima Kei. She stays calm in a crisis and even tries to find solutions. She’s tough.”
Yu Yezhou replied slowly, “Tough is one thing, but she might be a bit too ruthless.”
Having played this instance before, they knew that there was a way to transfer the jar… It simply couldn’t be discarded but could be “gifted.”
To put it nicely, it was “gifted,” but in reality, it was “transferred.”
Many items in instances that carried a death curse worked this way: they couldn’t be “abandoned,” but they could be “transferred.”
Yang Lin said, “Let’s see who they transfer the jar to.”