Si Nan ran back to his room, cursing. After a minute of Yu Sen and Si Xuanyang staring at each other, he ran back out, cursing again, this time holding a laptop.

“Help! This clock is a central control system! It can control my laptop!”

Yu Sen was stunned. “How is it controlling your laptop? Did it broadcast all the nude photos you have stored on your C drive?”

“Go to hell!” Si Nan shoved the laptop at him. “I was trying to look up the school Luo Yu mentioned earlier, and suddenly a domain address popped up. I clicked it, and then this happened.”

“You clicked a random link without worrying about a virus attack…”

The computer screen was covered with a gray-black background, which looked eerie at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it was evident that this was a hidden forum. The page was simple, with the top right corner showing 141 users online.

Yu Sen guessed that they were probably all people who had similar experiences, and the purpose of this website was to facilitate their communication and information exchange.

There were no pinned posts, and no way to find out who the administrator was. Yu Sen clicked on the post with the most replies, titled “Has anyone contacted the owner?”

The number of replies had already exceeded ten thousand. After quickly browsing through them, it was clear that the answer to the question was no.

From some of the replies, Yu Sen could see that the person they were all looking for was the same—the owner of the second-hand market in Bangkok who sold the clock to Si Nan.

After surviving the first game, many people specifically flew back to Bangkok, going to the exact same place they remembered. However, no matter how much they checked and searched, or even asked for help from the Thai police, it was as if that person had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

But how could someone just disappear from such a large market?

Moreover, some of the forum posts were made even before they bought the clock, and when Yu Sen and Si Nan were in Bangkok talking to the shop owner, they knew that the person had always been there, doing business on weekdays as usual. How could they not find him?

Yu Sen turned around and asked Si Nan, “Do you still have the contact information of that shop owner?”

“Yes, yes… I have his phone number!” Si Nan perked up.

“Try calling and see if you can get through.”

Si Nan responded quickly, rushing back into the room to get his phone. Yu Sen glanced at Si Xuanyang and asked, “Do you want to take some fever medicine and get some sleep?”

“Why sleep right after waking up?” Si Xuanyang shook his head. “The fever isn’t that serious. I should be fine after a while.”

“Really? Let me check.” Yu Sen moved swiftly, catching Si Xuanyang off guard, and placed his hand on his forehead.

“What the hell are you doing?” The cold fingers on his forehead felt like a cluster of icy flames, making Si Xuanyang’s skin feel even hotter and more flushed.

He had to clarify things this time!

After a moment of panic, he made up his mind, grabbed Yu Sen’s wrist, and forcefully pulled his hand down, putting on a stern and cold expression, and said harshly, “Can you have a little decency!”

Yu Sen was stunned for a few seconds. In fact, he was just unsure how to respond, but in Si Xuanyang’s eyes, this expression looked like he was shocked by his sudden outburst, his jade-like face looking somewhat innocent and aggrieved.

Only Yu Sen knew that he was neither innocent nor aggrieved; any hint of these emotions was mostly due to his good looks.

Taking a deep breath, Si Xuanyang calmed himself and decided to speak more gently, “I… I might have spoken harshly, it wasn’t aimed at you specifically, but that’s pretty much what I meant. As long as you understand, it’s fine.”

He was self-reflecting inside; being with someone like Si Nan, who was quite naive, wasn’t exactly a good match. Plus, being dragged into such a deadly game was bad enough. Now, being yelled at by his boyfriend’s younger brother felt a bit too much…

The more he thought about it, the more he felt he was in the wrong!

He really needed to control his temper, Si Xuanyang sighed.

But as long as he could maintain proper boundaries in the future, it would be fine. Thinking this, he finally felt a bit relieved.

However, Yu Sen seemed a bit different from his initial impression when they first met, not appearing too clever.

“Huh? I don’t understand, what are you talking about?” Yu Sen looked confused.

“…”

I said stay the hell away from me! — Si Xuanyang really wanted to shout that out loud.

Just then, Si Nan came downstairs sluggishly with his phone in hand.

Yu Sen glanced at the sullen-faced Si Xuanyang from the corner of his eye, his lips twitching uncontrollably, yet his expression remained very serious, showing no signs of anything unusual.

“What’s up, Si Si? Did you get through?”

“I can’t find the number at all!” Si Nan flopped onto the sofa, tossing his phone aside. “I’m sure I saved his number and even followed his Instagram account. I didn’t delete anything, but now there’s nothing.”

Having anticipated this, Yu Sen was not surprised: “Can you still find him online?”

Si Nan paused for a moment. “No.”

That was it. Yu Sen quickly skimmed through several related forum posts, roughly understanding the strangeness of the situation.

— Anyone who bought something at that second-hand market would be transported to different alternate worlds, one after another, to complete tasks to clear the stages there. And the market and the owner could only be encountered by those completely unrelated to the incident, by ‘chance encounters’. Those who looked for them with purpose would find no trace at all.

“In other words, even if we ask someone else to go search for him for us, it would still count as creating a ‘connection,’ and those people wouldn’t be able to find the market or the owner. It’s a dead end,” Si Xuanyang said.

“That’s right, and the items can’t be destroyed,” Yu Sen said. “No matter what methods are used, these second-hand goods will follow us like shadows. Even if people split up, the items will target the ones who initially entered the game, sending them in one by one at specific times.”

“What rotten luck…” Si Nan groaned weakly, lying on the sofa.

“What about those who died in the alternate worlds?” Si Xuanyang suddenly asked.

Yu Sen glanced at him and clicked on a forum post with the latest replies, saying, “If they die there, they die in the real world too.”

The main post was a continuously updated news thread. He saw one news article reporting that a real estate developer from a neighboring province died of food poisoning last night. Another one mentioned a newlywed couple returning from their honeymoon, where the husband died of a brain hemorrhage in his sleep, and after being sent to the hospital by his wife, he could not be saved.

Yu Sen recognized the real estate boss as the man who set the fire, and the young couple were the ill-fated pair they saw before leaving.

However, it seemed that the woman ultimately drank the antidote they left behind and chose to live.

This is a real-life game of life and death. Si Nan felt a chill in his heart: “Oh my god, I’m so sorry to all of you.”

“Yeah, you should be sorry to me, so be nicer to me in the future.” Yu Sen smiled sinisterly and patted his thigh. Si Nan was used to it and didn’t react, but Si Xuanyang, seeing this, imagined all sorts of things and quickly turned his eyes away in embarrassment.

Yu Sen let out a light snort and scrolled down the forum page again with his mouse. He frowned and said, “These games shouldn’t be endless; otherwise, no one could endure living like this. Some people, like us, have bought things like clocks. They said that when the hour hand completes a full circle and returns to 12 o’clock, that will be the end.”

“How did he know?”

“Maybe he’s been in a few times and figured out some patterns we’re not aware of,” Yu Sen speculated while rubbing his chin. “Or maybe it’s something else? Perhaps the owner spread some information to guide them?”

At that moment, the page on the forum scrolled, and a new post popped up at the top.

—‘Looking for the handsome guy who pulled me into the elevator in Zombie City’s Eternal Life Technology Company!’

Yu Sen: “……”

Si Xuanyang: “……”

Yu Sen blinked, finding the development quite interesting. He looked up at Si Xuanyang, who was also staring at the screen with a worried expression, as expected.

Tsk, so young, yet so many concerns!

He rolled his eyes and gave a mischievous smile, shoving the computer into Si Nan’s arms, and teased, “Stop playing dead. Your Little Angel Luo Yu posted a missing person notice looking for you.”

Si Nan immediately jumped up in a state of panic: “Where!?”

Si Xuanyang’s eye twitched: This is… so…

Is this how relationships are these days?

In contrast, his in-law’s attempts at flirting… was that even flirting!?

That was at most just a clingy nature or perhaps a case of touch deprivation. It wasn’t malicious at all.

Unlike Si Nan, who clearly harbored blatant and inappropriate thoughts about another man!

Si Xuanyang grew increasingly annoyed, finding it hard to bear the sight of his older brother grinning foolishly at the screen. He used to think he was just dumb, but now even his behavior is problematic?

Yu Sen, seeing this and feeling quite satisfied with the situation, hummed a cheerful tune in his mind. He expressionlessly ruffled Si Xuanyang’s hair.

“Come on, Yang Yang, I’ll get you some cold medicine.”

Si Xuanyang’s anger hadn’t dissipated yet. He turned and looked at Yu Sen with a frown, perplexed: Amazing, isn’t it? In this day and age, shouldn’t the signs of being cuckolded be nipped in the bud? Letting it grow freely?

Yu Sen lazily glanced at him with half-closed eyes: “Hmm? Do you want to drink it? I want to prepare it.”

Si Xuanyang: “……”

Alright, alright….. He was so drained from anger, might as well go along with him. If he wants to mix it, let him mix it. If he wants him to drink, he’ll drink. It’s not poison, so it won’t kill him!

“Let’s… let’s go.”

Yu Sen’s eyes curved into a satisfied smile.