Free Web NovelChapter 23: Different Timeline
She stared at Shen Yu with pure frustration.
"Why is he leading people?"
"He shouldn’t be alive."
She remembered Sister Sha’s warning.
"Five dungeons."
"Either he dies..."
"Or you do."
Lily’s face turned pale.
Three dungeons remaining.
Only three. Counting this one.
She clenched her fists.
"I have to find his weakness."
Because if she couldn’t...
The contract would eventually complete.
And the idea of becoming Shen Yu’s subordinate made her want to scream.
Back in the hallway...
Shen Yu discovered another clue.
An old man smoking outside a stairwell.
Another memory fragment.
The old man looked toward someone invisible.
"The kid hated cigarette smoke."
"He always came outside for fresh air."
Shen Yu stopped.
A puzzle piece clicked into place.
"The missing child wasn’t kidnapped."
"What?"
Rojo looked confused.
Shen Yu pointed at the memory.
"He left on his own."
"Because of the smoke."
The old man continued speaking.
"Poor kid."
"Always coughing."
Then the memory vanished.
The hallway returned to darkness.
The system chimed.
Clue Acquired
Child frequently escaped apartment due to cigarette smoke.
"Good."
The mystery was progressing.
Shen Yu stared at the corridor outside.
Then at the apartment numbers.
Then at the calendar hanging on a nearby wall.
A date.
Twelve years earlier.
His eyes narrowed.
"I see."
Everyone turned toward him.
"You figured something out?"
Shen Yu nodded.
"We’re standing in two timelines at once."
"What?"
"The building exists in the present."
He pointed outside.
"And in the past."
The players followed his gaze.
The apartment looked lived in.
Bright.
Clean.
Full of life.
Yet through certain windows, shadows flickered.
Broken walls.
Dust.
Decay.
The future overlapped the past.
Like two photographs occupying the same space.
Shiao’s mouth hung open.
"That’s impossible."
"Horror dungeons don’t care."
Shen Yu stepped forward.
"The elevator isn’t moving through floors."
"It’s moving through time."
Everyone suddenly felt cold.
If that was true...
Then this entire dungeon wasn’t about escaping.
It was about reconstructing a tragedy.
From the corridor came shouting.
A man and woman arguing.
The group quietly approached.
"...Cry, cry, cry! That’s all you do!"
A man slammed his fist against a table.
"If you had watched him, he’d still be here!"
The woman burst into tears.
"It was only a minute!"
"I went to boil water!"
"When I came back he was gone!"
"And you expect me to believe that?"
The man grabbed his jacket.
"Go find him."
His voice was trembling.
But not from grief.
From anger.
"Don’t come back without him."
The door slammed shut.
Silence followed.
Shiao scratched his head.
"Looks like their kid disappeared."
"Most likely."
"The dungeon wants us to find him?"
"Probably."
Shen Yu turned around.
"We split up."
Immediately.
Naturally.
The group looked toward him.
Without realizing it, they had begun treating him as the leader.
"Shiao."
"Yeah?"
"Knock on doors."
"Ask neighbors if they saw a child."
"Got it."
"Rojo."
The veteran nodded.
"I’ll check the opposite corridor."
"Look for old photographs."
"Anything that doesn’t fit."
The others received assignments.
Within moments the group dispersed.
Only Shen Yu headed toward the stairwell.
The place most people ignored.
The place where clues usually hid.
As he stepped into the darkness—
A familiar voice appeared.
"You seem busy."
Shen Yu stopped.
A woman sat on the railing.
Ghostly.
Beautiful.
Dangerous.
Lily.
Her long black hair drifted around her like living shadows.
The livestream connection was gone.
No audience remained.
For the first time—
The two were truly alone.
Lily smiled.
"Need help?"
Shen Yu raised an eyebrow.
"You sound unusually friendly."
She laughed.
"You really think I’d help?"
"Fair."
Lily leaned forward.
Golden eyes gleaming.
"I just wanted to know."
"How exactly do you keep obtaining treasures from the Ghost Realm?"
Shen Yu smiled.
"So that’s what this is about."
"Curiosity."
"Suspicion."
"Maybe both."
Lily stared.
The smile never left his face.
That irritated her more than any insult.
"You approached me with bad intentions."
"Wrong."
She crossed her arms.
"Then what?"
"You approached me with bad intentions."
"..."
"..."
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Lily’s eye twitched.
"You’re impossible."
A shadow suddenly exploded from beneath Shen Yu.
A gigantic hand of black hair burst upward.
CRASH!
It crushed him against the wall.
Bones shattered instantly.
Blood painted the stairwell.
Lily stared.
Then frowned.
"That should’ve killed you, but if it doesn’t I will make sure I finish your revivals this dungeon"
The system echoed inside Shen Yu’s consciousness.
Death Count +1
Challenge Progress: 3 / 50
Reward Generated
Attack +148
Experience Card Acquired
Shen Yu reopened his eyes.
Still smiling.
Lily’s expression cracked.
"...You’re mocking me."
"Nice kill."
"What?"
"One step closer to fifty."
The ghost nearly exploded.
"You lunatic!"
Shen Yu stood up.
Dusting himself off.
"Honestly, that one wasn’t bad."
Lilly suddenly felt a headache coming.
Every death made him stronger.
Every death made him happier.
Who enjoyed dying? Even if you can revive?
What kind of monster was this?
Far away—
The investigation continued.
A clue emerged.
The missing child had severe sensitivity to cigarette smoke.
Neighbors remembered him frequently sitting outside the building to breathe fresh air.
Another clue followed.
Then another mother was pregnant again shortly before the disappearance.
Then another.
And another.
Piece by piece.
The tragedy was taking shape.
Meanwhile Shen Yu continued exploring timelines through the elevator.
A maternity ward.
A newborn child.
Relatives laughing.
"Too bad it’s a girl."
"A son would’ve been better."
The words echoed through the hospital corridor.
Shiao looked disgusted.
"What era are these people from?"
Shen Yu watched silently.
Then said:
"Old ideas are like invisible chains."
"They bind parents."
"And eventually strangle children."
For a moment everyone fell quiet.
For some reason, his words felt heavier than the dungeon itself.
Nearby, Shiao suddenly looked at Shen Yu.
A strange expression crossed his face.
"Shen..."
"Hm?"
"Have we met before?"
The question came out unexpectedly.
Shen Yu blinked.
"This is our first dungeon together."
"I know."
Shiao scratched his head.
"It just feels like I’ve heard someone say that before."
Before Shen Yu could reply, the scene began to distort.
The hospital corridor flickered.
The relatives blurred.
Time advanced once again.
The elevator was moving.
Not between floors.
Between memories.
Shen Yu turned toward the others.
"Follow those relatives."
"They’re important."
Rojo nodded.
"Got it."
"Shiao, check the other wards. Look for anything connected to the family."
"On it."
The team split up.
Meanwhile—
A familiar system notification appeared before Shen Yu.
A card materialized inside his inventory.
He glanced at it.
Then smiled.
"Another life-saving card."
Not bad.
His luck recently had been absurd.
Ever since entering the Gold Dungeon, his rewards had skyrocketed.
Perhaps because his death experience had also skyrocketed from the usual.
Shen Yu casually opened his inventory.
A glowing card floated before him.
SSR Grade.
A useful emergency item.
Not groundbreaking.
But valuable.
"What are the odds?" he muttered.
"I’ve got time."
"And deaths to spare."
Elsewhere in the corridor—
A shadow appeared.
Long black hair.
Pale skin.
Golden eyes.
Lily.
Again.
Shen Yu looked up and sighed.
"Oh."
"You again."
Lily crossed her arms.
"You sound disappointed."
"I’m bored."
"Bored?"
"You keep trying to kill me the same way."
Shen Yu shrugged.
"At least vary the methods."
Lily’s eye twitched.
"You’re a lunatic."
The next second—
Her hair exploded forward.
Thousands of black strands erupted from the floor.
They wrapped around Shen Yu’s neck.
His limbs.
His torso.
Then—
CRACK.
His spine snapped.
The world went black.
You Have Died.
Death Count: 4 freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Reward Generated.
Several seconds later—
Shen Yu opened his eyes again.
Alive.
As usual.
Lily was still standing there.
Waiting.
Her expression had somehow become even worse.
"You came back, Doesn’t it hurt?"
"Of course."
"WHY COME AGAIN?"
"Professional habit."
Lily nearly screamed.
Meanwhile, Shen Yu calmly examined his newest reward.
A utility item.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
His grin widened.
"Nice."
"Next time debt collectors block my apartment door, I can send them running in circles."
Lily stared.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Not particularly."
The ghost’s hair began twitching violently.
Her sanity was deteriorating faster than the players’.
Then Shen Yu made the mistake of speaking again.
"You know."
Lily narrowed her eyes.
"What?"
"Lying alone in a coffin all day sounds cold."
"..."
"I could keep you company."
"..."
"Perfect arrangement."
"GET LOST!"
BOOM!
Another explosion of ghost hair blasted through the hallway.
Shen Yu died again.
The system chimed cheerfully.
Death Rating Increased.
Reward Quality Improved.
Shen Yu opened his eyes moments later.
Interesting.
The angrier Lily became—
The better his rewards.
That was useful information.
Very useful.
A thoughtful look appeared on his face.
Lily suddenly felt an ominous chill.
"Why are you smiling?"
Shen Yu rubbed his chin.
"No reason."
The smile grew wider.
"Just thinking."
"I should probably make you angrier."
Lily’s face darkened.
"You are asking for death."
"That’s the plan."
As the investigation continued, more clues emerged.
One of the relatives had been gossiping in another timeline.
The players overheard the conversation.
"Poor Shiao."
"He finally had a child."
"And it was a daughter."
"The family’s male bloodline ends with him."
Laughter followed.
Cruel.
Casual.
The kind of cruelty people never considered cruelty
