Free Web NovelFrom the standpoint of livestream value, it made perfect sense. Killing Bai Liu personally and then assembling the Ghost Mirror piece by piece would create a far greater shock factor and a stronger sense of satisfaction for the audience, making them more willing to spend money on it. It was the same kind of spectacle as Miao Feichi personally devouring his opponent on stream.
If the goal was hype and support, this was exactly the sort of plan the Carrion Zombies would choose.
In previous years, there had also been guilds that liked to kill promising rookies before the league officially began in order to build momentum. Put more elegantly, it was called “Sacrificing the Dark Horse for Guild Supremacy.” It happened every year, usually to unaffiliated rookies with explosive popularity. During this support season, Mu Shicheng had originally assumed he would be the sacrifice, which was why he had been desperately collecting escape-type items like the Siren’s Amulet.
What he hadn’t expected was for Bai Liu to appear halfway through the season, even more high-profile and reckless than he was, directly taking down the top-ranked Zhang Kui. Bai Liu’s momentum completely eclipsed Mu Shicheng’s and stole away his “qualification” to be sacrificed.
Mu Shicheng recalled the Carrion Zombie guild announcement he had seen.
In the promotional video, Miao Feichi wore a muzzle around his neck as he grinned into the camera and announced that he intended to kill Bai Liu and put on an “eating show.”
“It’s just that I don’t really like older meat. Younger people taste better,” Miao Feichi joked lazily. “Standard procedure. Just a sacrifice. How much I eat depends on how hard you all charge. For your sake, I can force down a few extra bites. Judging from the current support numbers, it’ll be at least three catties, not counting the organs. But it’s fine if I can’t finish him.”
Miao Feichi licked his lips and sneered. “His meat isn’t worth much anyway. Even if I throw the leftovers away, it’s not much of a loss.”
Bai Liu looked at Mu Shicheng oddly. He had no idea what the other man had suddenly remembered, but his expression had become terrifyingly ugly, as though he wanted to kill someone.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.” Mu Shicheng ground his teeth. “Just remembered something irritating.”
But he quickly forced his twisted expression back under control and looked at Bai Liu again.
“I’m following you this time. Two people are better than one, no matter what.”
Earlier, Mu Shicheng had already argued with Bai Liu for quite a while about entering the game together, but Bai Liu had refused to give in, insisting that he go train the rookies instead.
Mu Shicheng clicked his tongue irritably.
“If something happens to you, what’s the point of me bringing those two rookies out alive? Fuck.”
“You can start by assuming nothing’s going to happen to me,” Bai Liu replied calmly. He patted Mu Shicheng on the shoulder, once again putting on that polished professional smile to placate him.
Mu Shicheng abruptly turned his head. His gaze passed over Bai Liu’s shoulder toward the rear of the crowd.
“They’re here,” he muttered with a frown.
Following his line of sight, Bai Liu saw two players approaching—one tall, one short. The man in front walked with blatant arrogance and aggression. The ordinary players gathered near the entry point hurriedly moved aside, instinctively creating an empty circle around him.
The players weren’t retreating simply because the pair were the Carrion Zombie father and son. In the lobby, players couldn’t directly attack one another. The real reason was the system notification that suddenly rang out:
[Warm System Reminder for Players at the Entry Point: Red Name player (Miao Feichi) has appeared. Yesterday, this player killed 12 players in a fifty-player multiplayer dungeon. Ordinary players are advised to keep their distance and avoid entering the same game as him in order to ensure personal safety.]
At the announcement, Miao Feichi smiled faintly, utterly unconcerned. He was obviously accustomed to this kind of warning. There was even a trace of pride in his expression—the smug satisfaction of someone who enjoyed holding other people’s lives in his hands and watching them fear him.
Miao Feichi was handsome, tall, and long-legged, with the appearance of a refined pretty boy. He was undeniably attractive. The hazy, bloodstained image of him lowering his head to devour human flesh gave off the eerie elegance of a vampire. The visual impact drove a large number of viewers wild. His support value had always remained high, and he was a frequent fixture in the Beauty Area Top Twenty on the small TVs.
Bai Liu gave him a brief glance and made an objective assessment. In terms of bone structure and facial proportions, Miao Feichi was nowhere near Mu Ke’s level. Bai Liu also found him excessively performative, as though he were constantly posing for attention. There was something greasy and frivolous about him.
Walking behind Miao Feichi was a taciturn middle-aged man. He was broad-shouldered and powerfully built, with dark skin and a string of Buddhist prayer beads hanging around his neck. Two ivory-like tusks curved from the corners of his mouth. His eyes were sharp, his steps steady, and his entire demeanor calm and grounded. Compared to the flamboyant Miao Feichi, this middle-aged man seemed far more difficult to deal with.
This was likely Miao Feichi’s father and partner, Miao Gaojiang.
Miao Feichi swaggered toward the game wall at the entry point. Several people trailed behind him, scanning the surroundings in every direction. Clearly, members of the Carrion Zombie guild were searching for Bai Liu on his behalf. They also seemed deeply afraid of Miao Feichi himself—a primal, instinctive fear lower creatures felt toward predators higher up the food chain.
No one liked the way Miao Feichi looked at people. Even when facing his own guild members, he narrowed his eyes at them as though evaluating cuts of meat, deciding which part would taste best.
In Bai Liu’s eyes, it resembled a herd of herbivores trembling behind a carnivore.
And those herbivores were desperately trying to flatter him.
“Miao-ge, are you really coming personally just to deal with Bai Liu? You didn’t need to bother yourself with this—we could’ve handled him for you.”
“It’s all because those idiots on the forums offended Miao-ge by talking nonsense. Didn’t somebody say Bai Liu and Mu Shicheng’s coordination would definitely be one of the highlights of this year’s doubles tournament? Hah. Even if the two of them entered together, Miao-ge and Miao-shu would still crush them effortlessly!”
“Mm.” Miao Feichi half-closed his eyes, clearly pleased by the praise, though he pretended to modestly stop them from exaggerating further. “You’re overpraising me. Still, I do hope Mu Shicheng enters with him. Two adults in one game means I won’t be able to finish them in a single meal.”
“Fuck.” Hidden in the crowd, Mu Shicheng cursed under his breath and nearly rolled up his sleeves to charge over. Bai Liu quickly grabbed his wrist and shot him a warning look, signaling him to leave.
“Damn it,” Mu Shicheng hissed. “Miao Feichi is seriously the pettiest league player I’ve ever seen. Somebody on the forums just said our coordination was good and that we could beat them this year, and now he’s targeting you over it. He can’t stand the idea of a rookie duo outperforming him.”
But harsh as those lackeys sounded, their opinions reflected the mainstream view across the forums.
Aside from Bai Liu’s and Mu Shicheng’s own fans, most bystanders were pessimistic. If Bai Liu and Mu Shicheng really went up against Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang, the consensus was that they were doomed.
After all, in The Last Train to Blast Off, Zhang Kui had been the only truly skilled player. Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang, meanwhile, were professional league players—an entirely different level from Zhang Kui. Cynical forum users had already started posting “R.I.P.” threads for Bai Liu and Mu Shicheng, lamenting that this promising rookie duo wouldn’t survive long enough to compete in this year’s league and should try again in their next lives.
It wasn’t particularly surprising.
Bai Liu had offended a great many people recently. Guild fans during support season were notoriously fanatical. He had killed Zhang Kui, a rumored reserve player for the Kings Guild, and had even received the evaluation of being “second only to Spades.” At the height of his popularity, he had effectively antagonized the supporters of the two strongest guilds in the game.
For many players, the Carrion Zombie guild using Bai Liu’s death as promotional material was, if not satisfying, then at least deserving of a “like.”
Bai Liu lowered his voice.
“Go train the rookies. Don’t stay here watching the show.”
Mu Shicheng glared at him resentfully.
“So you really won’t {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} let me follow you?”
“No.” Bai Liu admitted it without hesitation. “Train the rookies properly. Take Xiang Chunhua and the others to grind Level 1 multiplayer dungeons.”
Mu Shicheng still refused to give up.
“I can train them and run a dungeon with you at the same time! That still counts as leading rookies!”
“The only new game on this wall is a Level 2 dungeon,” Bai Liu said evenly. “And with Miao Feichi watching me, I can’t choose an old game. I can only enter a new one.”
He paused briefly before continuing.
“I don’t think you and I are capable of carrying three rookies through a Level 2 dungeon. Bringing Mu Ke already carries a huge risk, but at least he’s cleared two dungeons on his own and follows instructions well enough that we can try. But Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu? You want to drag them in with us just to die together?”
Mu Shicheng was furious and anxious at the same time, like a monkey about to explode from frustration. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
“But if I’m there, at least I can counter that bastard Miao Feichi! My personal skill counters him! If I collect all five Black Finger items, I’ll at least have a chance against him. What are you supposed to do alone against two S-rank players?!”
“And what about Liu Fu, Xiang Chunhua, and Mu Ke?” Bai Liu asked calmly, meeting Mu Shicheng’s gaze directly. “If you drag the rookies into this dungeon to help me, can you guarantee their survival? And if you leave Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu alone without practicing with them, how are you supposed to build teamwork?”
Mu Shicheng pressed his lips together and said nothing.
But his silence was answer enough.
He didn’t really care whether those three lived or died, nor did he particularly want to coordinate with anyone besides Bai Liu.
“I have serious objections to that attitude toward your future teammates, Mu Shicheng.” Bai Liu’s tone remained mild. “In the future, you won’t only coordinate with me. You’ll have to work with others too. I’m not just training Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu. I’m training you as well.”
He wasn’t lecturing him harshly. Instead, he simply raised his eyes and looked at him steadily.
“I won’t die. Last time, I faced the Ghost Mirror alone and survived. I won’t die so easily this time either. You should at least trust me that much.”
“I’ll come back alive. We’ll still compete in the league together.” Bai Liu’s voice was calm and unwavering. “I keep my promises. Have I ever lied to you, Mu Shicheng?”
Mu Shicheng ground his teeth. In the end, he responded hoarsely and unwillingly.
He truly couldn’t win against Bai Liu in an argument.
After sending Mu Shicheng away, Bai Liu used his unremarkable height to blend quickly into the crowd. Before long, he found Mu Ke standing in a corner near the entry point.
Mu Ke froze briefly when he saw him. Then he remembered that appearances could be altered inside the game. Combined with the unmistakable sound of Bai Liu’s voice, there was no way he could mistake him.
After all, it was that voice that had saved him.
Bai Liu briefly explained the situation.
“We’ll be hunted after we enter. Are you sure you still want to come with me? This is your last chance to back out.” Bai Liu glanced sideways at him. “I just saw someone with worse looks than yours become a Beauty Area frontrunner by relying on a grotesque eating show. With your face, you could develop very well here. You’d probably do even better than him.”
“...I’m going with you.” Mu Ke’s gaze was unwavering.
“Good.” Bai Liu spoke quickly. “Since we’re being pursued, we can’t enter old games. The other side has definitely cleared them already, so we’d have no advantage. The safest option would normally be a single-player game, but the rewards are too low, and all the single-player games on the wall are already full. That leaves only new multiplayer dungeons.”
He lifted his eyes toward Mu Ke.
“And there’s only one available.”
“We may have seen this game before.” Bai Liu looked directly at him. “Its name is Love Welfare Home.”
Before entering the game, Mu Shicheng had once asked Bai Liu how the “real world” could exist as a fixed and inevitable outcome if parallel worlds truly didn’t exist. After all, if Bai Liu simply never chose the welfare home game, then he would never die there or leave any traces behind.
But now, it felt as though some invisible hand had already arranged everything.
The pursuit order. The robbery. The sudden attack from high-level league players.
Every event had linked together into a single chain, forcing Bai Liu down the exact inevitable path he had already glimpsed.
Just like now.
The only option before him was the welfare home game.
Lu Yizhan often liked to say: “Heaven’s will hides in the shadows.”
If the so-called Will of Heaven intended for him to enter this game, then escape was impossible.
Not that Bai Liu had ever intended to run.
He looked up at Mu Ke.
“We enter separately. Don’t go in at the same time.”
—
On the game wall, the icon of a silent, deathly children’s welfare home gate suddenly lit up.
[Game Dungeon Name: “Love Welfare Home”]
[Level: Level 2 (Games with a player mortality rate above 50% and below 80% are classified as Level 2)]
[Mode: Multiplayer Mode (0/6)]
[Comprehensive Description: This is a horror game featuring puzzle-solving and dual-line operations. In this game, players possess two identity lines, and each identity line is equivalent to a portion of your body. Protecting the children means protecting yourself. Killing the children also means protecting yourself. In the end, what will you choose? Will you become a child... or remain a filthy adult?]
[The game “Love Welfare Home” has gathered two players. Four more players are required before launch.]
[System Notification: The player you followed, Bai Liu, has entered a game! Please proceed to watch!]
The notification sharpened Miao Feichi’s eyes.
“So you thought entering a game would let you hide from me?” he scoffed. “There are only so many games available.”
Miao Gaojiang spoke calmly beside him.
“If Bai Liu is choosing, it will definitely be a new game. He has no advantage in old ones.”
His gaze swept slowly across the game wall before finally settling on a neglected icon in the corner.
The icon depicted the dark entrance gate of a children’s welfare home. Several children could vaguely be seen playing inside. It was a new game Miao Gaojiang had never seen before. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
“Love Welfare Home?” Miao Feichi stared at the children in the image and slowly licked the edge of his teeth, which had begun to itch. His eyes turned bloodthirsty. “That name suits my appetite perfectly.”
“Miao-ge, it’s confirmed. Aside from Love Welfare Home, all the other games on this wall are either full or old games. This is the only one with just two players inside.”
“Two players?” Miao Feichi sneered. “Looks like Mu Shicheng went in with him. Fine. Since it’s only a Level 2 dungeon, there’s no need to drag extra people along. Taking care of them would just be annoying. My father and I are enough. The rest of you can leave.”
With that, Miao Feichi pulled the taciturn Miao Gaojiang into the game.
[The game “Love Welfare Home” has gathered four players. Two more players are required before launch.]
[System Notification: The players you followed, Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang, have entered a game! Please proceed to watch!]
The players at the entry point watched as the father-son duo followed Bai Liu directly into the dungeon.
Everyone stared uneasily at the Love Welfare Home icon.
Ordinary players already lacked the courage to casually challenge new games. Now that two league players clearly intended to massacre people inside, the crowd instinctively backed away even farther.
Yet one player continued staring fixedly at the welfare home icon from the moment Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang entered.
Liu Huai’s eyes were locked on the gate.
It was identical to the gate of the welfare home where Liu Jiayi lived.
Liu Huai had also survived The Last Train to Blast Off. He knew about the Jingcheng Explosion Case, though he had never connected it to anything before. Earlier, however, Bai Liu’s words had subtly guided his thinking. And now a game seemingly modeled after a real location had appeared—and that location happened to be his sister’s welfare home.
As for what Liu Jiayi had experienced there, she had always said she didn’t know.
Because she was blind.
But there had been strange mottled bruises scattered across her body, like fungal marks blooming over the little girl’s pale, fragile skin. When he asked her about them, she seemed genuinely confused, unable to explain where the wounds—resembling bite marks—had come from.
The official investigation in the real world had concluded it was food poisoning.
Liu Huai had never truly believed that.
Unfortunately, there had been no other clues.
But if reality offered no answers... perhaps this game, which mirrored reality, would.
Liu Huai gritted his teeth, equipped his skills, glanced at the points he had borrowed from other players, and took a deep breath before entering the game as well.
[The game “Love Welfare Home” has gathered five players. One more player is required before launch.]
The instant Liu Huai entered, a little girl in a hospital gown suddenly appeared in a remote corner of the entry point.
She seemed unable to see. Her empty eyes turned blankly in confusion as she felt around herself, not yet understanding where she was. She touched her arm and softly called out, “Gege?”
Then, as though dragged into the game by an invisible force, she vanished from the bustling entry point in an instant.
[The game “Love Welfare Home” has gathered all players. The game officially begins.]
The moment the six-player game officially launched, five small televisions in the multiplayer viewing area lit up simultaneously.
Among the audience members rushing over after hearing the notification, someone spoke in confusion.
“Wait, isn’t this a six-player game? Why are only five screens on? Did one of the high-level players disable their livestream?”
Players ranked within the top one hundred of the overall points leaderboard were granted one opportunity per month to disable their small-TV livestream. Among the players in this dungeon, the highest-ranked was Miao Feichi, but he was only ranked 107th and technically lacked that privilege.
Still, for players close to the top hundred like him, it was possible to purchase temporary stream-closing privileges from the system at an enormous cost.
But someone like Miao Feichi, who relied heavily on livestream popularity and had deliberately created massive hype for this event, would never willingly shut off his broadcast.
So if it wasn’t Miao Feichi, who was it?
The others weren’t even close to the top hundred. None of them possessed the qualifications to disable their streams.
The answer soon appeared on one of the active screens.
Bai Liu’s fans quickly recognized the player on the TV as Liu Huai, who had previously cleared a game alongside Bai Liu.
Liu Huai stared at the suddenly appeared Liu Jiayi with a face drained completely white. His legs nearly gave out beneath him.
He collapsed onto the ground, looking at the little girl sitting blankly before him, his voice trembling with uncontrollable fear.
“Jiayi... why are you in this game?!”
Liu Jiayi looked equally confused. She hugged her knees tightly, still dressed in her hospital gown. Frightened by Liu Huai’s reaction, tears gradually welled in her clouded eyes, and her voice began to shake.
“I-I don’t know either... I think I just fell asleep. Before I slept, I really, really wanted to see you, Gege.” Her voice trembled softly. “Then a voice told me it could grant my wish and let me see you.”
“So I agreed.”
She lowered her head uneasily.
“Gege... did I do something wrong?” Her voice carried a faint sob. “Did I agree to something I shouldn’t have?”
