After thinking for a long time, Chen Luren suddenly had an idea and abruptly flipped over from the bed. He then took out a blank notebook from the desk, picked up a pen, and began to swiftly record the known information:
Footbath Street: Suspected to be an entry point to the eerie scenario via mental intervention. Danger level: Low...Midnight Bus: Suspected to be a new eerie scenario. Due to its uniqueness, it's currently unclear whether it can be exploited to farm experience through bugs—needs verification.Psychiatric Hospital: One of the stops of the eerie midnight bus, where eerie beings haunt. Danger level: Undetermined, needs verification.Lin's Mansion: One of the stops of the eerie midnight bus, where a ghostly schoolgirl haunts. So far, no strong malice has been sensed from this entity.
The pen scratched across the paper as Chen Luren listed every detail. This habit stemmed from his cautious nature—since being chosen by the eerie game, he had become extremely vigilant. He once thought he could rely on exploiting bugs to grow stronger, but reality proved more complicated. Documenting this information served as a warning.
He didn't stop until he recorded the details about the water ghost under Xiangyang Bridge.
"Whoosh..." With a heavy exhale, Chen Luren collapsed back onto the bed. Perhaps due to the earlier mental strain, he fell asleep within moments.
.........
"Brother... cold... cold..."
In a daze, a familiar voice whispered in his ear. The surroundings were pitch-black, and Chen Luren struggled to open his eyes. Through the gloom, he saw a vague human figure in the corner—about 1.2 meters tall, with a familiar silhouette.
But the moment he felt confused, the voice made him freeze: it was his sister's, trembling with helplessness and pity. Chen Luren jolted up—only to realize he wasn't in a bed, but a pitch-black coffin. Had he been pulled into the eerie world while sleeping?
His sister was in the corner; he dashed toward her without hesitation. The instant he touched the shadow, a bone-chilling cold surged through him, and the space began to twist. Through the distortion, he finally saw his sister clearly: she was dripping wet, her skin bloodless, as if soaked in water for ages.
Worse still, she wasn't alone. Beside her stood a figure in a Republican-era cheongsam, with short hair—resembling a student from old movies. Though her features were indistinct, her silhouette hinted at beauty.
The distortion lasted only a breath. When the vision shattered, Chen Luren bolted up in bed, gasping for air, sweat drenching his body. It took over a minute for his racing heart to calm.
Only when he regained his senses did he realize it had all been a nightmare.9
With a "snap", Chen Luren turned on the bedside lamp and immediately looked toward the corner from his nightmare. It was empty. Strangely, though, a puddle of water had formed on the floor tiles.
He got out of bed and walked over, touching the water—icy cold, just like the sensation of touching his sister in the dream.
"Did my sister, who entered the eerie world, come here?"
"But... she isn't dead."
"Who is that ghostly girl in the Republican-era school uniform? Is she the one from the ghost bus?"
Countless thoughts raced through Chen Luren's mind, tangled like a knotted rope with no clear thread. After pondering for a long time, he left his bedroom and headed straight for his little sister's room.
By the dim light, he saw his sister sleeping soundly in bed. As usual, she slept restlessly, with the quilt pushed aside and her body fully exposed. Due to the cool weather, her body felt cold. As an older brother, Chen Luren gently covered her with the quilt. But the moment he touched her arm, he recalled the bone-chilling cold from the nightmare. At that instant, he inexplicably felt that the sister in the eerie world overlapped with the real one in some way.
"How do I resolve my sister's crisis?" he wondered, instinctively activating his mental sense. But his intuition detected nothing unusual. After observing for a long time, he finally left the room and returned to his own bedroom—only to lie awake until around 5 a.m., when he dozed off.
..........
In the morning, a shrill alarm woke Chen Luren from his brief sleep.
[You rested in the coffin all night, safely surviving the eerie night. Survival experience +1.]
Bleary-eyed, he dragged himself out of bed. In the living room, he saw his parents bustling about—but his sister was nowhere to be seen.
"Mom, Dad, where's Qianqian?" he asked.
"Your sister has a fever. She just took medicine and is still in bed," his father replied, sounding worried. His mother said nothing, instead entering his sister's room to help her dress.
Chen Luren's expression shifted subtly. As he had done yesterday, he subconsciously used mental sense on the others. His parents showed no signs of danger, but the moment his sense touched his sister, an overwhelming sense of crisis surged.
????
"Little sister... something's very wrong."
"Is the 'Final Destination' setup finally coming true today?"
"But... why didn't it happen last night?"
Chen Luren's face grew grave.