Chapter 40: Mission

Everyone was playing for the first time, so whether they were human or ghost, they were all unfamiliar with the map. Jiang Yuran guessed that everyone’s hiding spots were probably pretty rushed.

She quietly walked out of the visitor entrance and was greeted by the aquarium’s main hall. A semi-circular glass wall made up half of the hall, with small fishes swimming among colorful corals.

The best hiding spot here was a shipwreck-shaped decoration in the center of the hall. Jiang Yuran controlled herself to make no sound and approached the ship’s cabin.

Sure enough, as she thrust her harpoon down, an unlucky soul let out a yell: “AHHH!—”

The person jumped out and took off running. As luck would have it, their ID was Jiang Yubai.

As a human, his appearance had changed to match the map: a tourist group polo shirt and a blue baseball cap. His face was the standard default male model.

Jiang Yuran’s eyes lit up. “Big bro, don’t be scared! I won’t hurt you!”

“Like hell I’d believe you!!” Jiang Yubai ran faster than a rabbit.

It was different from playing in a haunted house. The person chasing him wasn’t a staff member just trying to scare him, but a player with the intention of “catching him.” Jiang Yubai was both scared and excited, as if he were really being hunted by a ghost.

After confirming that this game wasn’t a scam, Jiang Yuran and Jiang Yubai turned on the livestream in their fan group. From Jiang Yubai’s perspective, a sharp harpoon suddenly stabbed down from the narrow, dark hiding place. When he looked up, he saw a black gas mask – the face of the ghost. The chat exploded with screams.

[Ahhhh, what a terrifying scene!]

[As expected of Director Shang, even such a simple mini-game can create the atmosphere of a horror film QAQ]

But from Jiang Yuran’s perspective, the chat’s mood was completely different.

[Turns out playing ghost and scaring people is so much fun hahaha.]

[So exciting! Little Jiang, catch your brother!!]

Jiang Yuran hadn’t judged the force correctly just now, and the harpoon had only snagged Jiang Yubai’s clothes. In this game, you had to directly hit a human’s limbs with the ghost’s weapon to freeze them. Then you could grab them.

After being grabbed, the ghost couldn’t directly kill the human. They could only imprison them in a ghost cage and then go catch the next one.

While the humans were imprisoned, their teammates could come to their rescue, breaking open the ghost cage to help their companions escape.

But three strikes and you’re out. Once caught more than twice, the human would become a ghost (a spirit, not the hunter).

On the left and right sides of the hall were entrances, shaped like underwater tunnels. Sharks swam overhead, and there were branching paths in the middle.

Running in the tunnel would create echoing footsteps, equivalent to revealing your location. Jiang Yubai had no choice but to pick a random path. But as soon as he entered, he realized his mistake: this path was very short, open on both ends!

He crouched down, trying to hide in the shadows, his heart pounding. He could hear Jiang Yuran walking along the main tunnel, asking:

“Bro, where are you?… Stop hiding, come out…”

Her voice echoed in the passage, distorted and eerie as it passed through the water. And the masked ghost’s lower body was transparent, making no sound when it moved.

The chat’s tension reached its peak.

[It’s like being chased by a serial killer. So much pressure, my god!]

[You guys have really convinced me. I’m going to buy it now!]

“Bro?… You’ve been exposed.”

“I see you.”

Jiang Yubai thought, Yeah, right. No way I’m falling for that. She’s bluffing!

But suddenly, there was no sound outside. He waited for a while, unsure and apprehensive. He boldly peeked out a little—

The corridor was empty, no sign of the ghost.

The next moment, his shoulder was unexpectedly tapped. The ghostly voice came from behind him: “I’m over here.”

“Aaaahhh!!” Jiang Yubai was so scared he wanted to jump out of his skin. The chat also gasped in shock. But Jiang Yuran had already stabbed his lower back with her harpoon. He was frozen and couldn’t move, and Jiang Yuran dragged him away by the collar.

Jiang Yubai: “…”

Siblings fighting each other, where’s the morality!

After being caught, humans were muted. Jiang Yubai could only express his unwillingness and anger with his eyes.

The ghost cage in this map was also shaped like an aquarium. He was locked inside, and Jiang Yuran even made a peace sign and took a screenshot with him.

Jiang Yubai: “…”

Too much!

The chat was dying of laughter. Even those watching Jiang Yubai’s perspective had defected.

[Go for it! Ranran, lock them all in the aquarium!]

[Hehe, tremble, you weak humans!]

[Ahhhh, it looks so fun! I’ve already ordered it! Who in the group wants to join?]

Jiang Yubai: “??”

Damn it, why are you all on the ghost’s side!

–

At Shang Jingyan’s place, she also gathered her friends to play. Yun Yongxue and Luo Zhiyu were sure to participate. Shang Jingyan also invited Xue Jiang and Zhang Nian. Noel insisted on tagging along, but they were still one person short, so they opened it up to random matching.

“I want to choose Rose Castle!” Zhang Nian was lively, and her spirit body light ball bounced around like a jumping bean.

“Okay.” Shang Jingyan was the developer, and unlike the other initial players, she logged in with her own account, so all the currently available maps were unlocked.

Rose Castle’s exterior was similar to the Eldritch God Castle, but the interior was completely retro. The rose garden outside was actually a wild graveyard, with many tombstones bearing crosses, and a blood moon hung high in the sky.

Shang Jingyan and Yun Yongxue’s spirit body light balls chose disguise mode. Otherwise, if they were fully displayed, they would be several degrees brighter than the others, like glaring, oversized light bulbs.

In the spirit space, stats like stamina and health were all determined by the level of one’s spiritual power. Yun Yongxue was weak and sickly in reality, but here, few could defeat him.

The randomly matched player’s ID was [NoSweets]. The appearance of their light ball was unremarkable.

“Hello, friend. Do you want to play with us? The six of us here all know each other.” Shang Jingyan spoke first, friendly, giving the random player a choice, in case they felt like they couldn’t fit in.

NoSweets was stunned to be faced with a crowd as soon as they entered. Zhang Nian said enthusiastically, “It’s okay, you can think about it. We’re not in a hurry.”

Seeing that NoSweets seemed to be staring at Shang Jingyan’s ID, she chuckled. “Do you recognize our Director Shang? If you’re a fan, you might even get an autograph after the game.”

—They didn’t know that the player with the ID [NoSweets] was actually Hua Feitian.

After Hua Feitian only took second place in the Association Exam, she watched all of Shang Jingyan’s works and had to admit: this person did have some skill.

To study Shang Jingyan’s techniques, she barely even replied to her boyfriend Guan Gaoyang’s messages. Every time he asked if she wanted to go out, Hua Feitian’s reply was: Honey, sorry, I’m busy with work.

It was the first time in Hua Feitian’s life that she had felt such a strong competitive spirit. She stubbornly regarded Shang Jingyan as her rival.

So when she saw that Shang Jingyan had released such a game, she actually felt a bit of inexplicable anger.

Did this person want to go downhill just after becoming famous?

So, she created an alt account, bought the game, and came in to see what Shang Jingyan was up to.

Hua Feitian was playing alone, so she could only choose random matching. Who knew she would be matched into Shang Jingyan’s team right away.

She stared at the name [Jingyan] and fell silent.

It really was Shang Jingyan. Girl, don’t you even use an alias when you play games?

She browsed the game rules and was slightly surprised. It really wasn’t a tourist simulator.

It seemed… not that bad.

Hmph, let’s see.

“Because two of us here are the developers, we’re very familiar with the map. So, to be fair, we can all look at the entire map beforehand.”

Hua Feitian spent three minutes memorizing the map and silently chose [Start Game]. Zhang Nian whispered to Shang Jingyan, “They seem like a pretty aloof player.”

The white light dissipated, and everyone seemed to have traveled back to the Middle Ages of the previous stellar calendar. The furniture in the castle was dilapidated with age, covered in dust and cobwebs.

In this map’s setting, the human side was a group of uninvited guests who broke into the castle and awakened the sleeping duchess.

The duchess’s power sealed the castle. The humans could only hide in limited places, waiting for the duchess to fall asleep again to survive. Otherwise, they would become souls under her skirt.

Shang Jingyan’s initial spawn point was in the castle’s basement. A black coffin engraved with a silver-white cross had been opened, and she was standing beside it.

She flipped over her card – it was the ghost.

Shang Jingyan said leisurely, “Oh my, ask and you shall receive.”

On the other side, Hua Feitian frowned, looking at her outfit, which had changed into a retro shepherd dress look – she had drawn the human side.

Hua Feitian had wanted to draw the ghost. What was the point of being human? It was unchallenging. She didn’t think she would be caught.

Zhang Nian was with her, and the latter let out a low “Wow.” “It’s so realistic!”

Hua Feitian was also observing her surroundings. She was in a bedroom on the second floor of the castle. The once-magnificent bed was now dilapidated, the canopy torn in several places, the sheets stained, the blanket raised, with unidentified dark liquid stains on it. The dressing mirror by the window reflected her current default female model face.

The details were very well done, taking care of sight, sound, smell, and touch… Hua Feitian judged critically in her heart.

Zhang Nian scratched her head, climbed out the window, and hid on the balcony outside – a truly unique approach.

Hua Feitian approached the bed and saw that the bulge under the blanket was a half-desiccated, half-skeletal male corpse, dressed in noble male attire, with a dagger stuck in his neck. Who knows what kind of story had happened.

“Are you all hidden? For your sake, I’ve decided to give you another three minutes…”

Shang Jingyan’s voice came from the corridor. Hua Feitian realized that she had been so engrossed in observing that she had forgotten to hide.

Shang Jingyan actually said she’d give them another three minutes. How arrogant!

Hua Feitian surveyed the room and made a surprisingly bold move: she lifted the blanket and hid next to the corpse.

It was just a game, what did it matter?

The ghost duchess of “Rose Castle” wore a Gothic noble dress, a gorgeous hat, and a veil that covered half her face. Her weapon was a folding fan, each rib of which was a sharp silver knife.

On the stairs, Shang Jingyan walked and fanned herself leisurely. “Little children, are you hidden? The duchess is coming to find you~”

Her voice echoed through the castle, creating a distinct sense of pressure.

X71: […]

Yanyan, you’re really the best at scaring people!

Each ghost’s weapon had special uses. For example, the aquarium ghost’s harpoon could be thrown, while her folding fan had two forms: open and closed. When open, it could send out wind blades to attack humans.

One reason Shang Jingyan spoke was to try to trick players into moving and making noise. But her newbie teammates were all very patient.

She opened the bedroom door, checked the wardrobe, bookcase, behind the curtains, and other places where people were most likely to hide. Finding nothing, she turned her gaze to the bed.

Was it a few inches higher there?

Shang Jingyan yanked open the blanket, and Hua Feitian, who had been prepared, immediately leaped out and ran out the door!

Hua Feitian’s spatial memory was top-notch. The map was all in her mind. She ran wildly along the corridor, remembering that there was a fork ahead. But when she got there, she was shocked.

There were collapsed stones and rubble, blocking the passage. Shang Jingyan had set this up in advance!

No wonder she gave them an extra three minutes. It was actually for her to set traps!

Damn it, this cunning woman!

Humans weren’t completely without survival skills. They could choose to turn into objects to hide in the map, but they would be revealed if hit by the ghost.

Seeing that Shang Jingyan was about to catch up, Hua Feitian, in a moment of desperation, used her skill to transform into an object.

So, when Shang Jingyan turned the corner, she saw a… small cake sitting squarely on the floor at the end of the corridor.

Shang Jingyan: “?”

She said, “Which kid is so stupid? A small cake suddenly appearing in the middle of nowhere – are you trying to fool a ghost?”

Small cake Hua Feitian: “…”

Shang Jingyan knocked with her fan, and Hua Feitian immediately turned back into a human, being picked up by the waist.

Hua Feitian struggled. “Let me go! I’ll tell you where the others are!”

Shang Jingyan: “Bargaining with the ghost? You really are a fool.”

Hua Feitian was furious. “…Don’t call me stupid!”

Shang Jingyan: “Alright then, you’re not stupid. I’m just too clever.”

Hua Feitian: “…”

Argh!

She hadn’t expected to be the first one caught. Remembering how she’d previously thought being human was easy, she felt a burning shame. She pursed her lips, her entire being puffed up like a pufferfish.

The ghost cage in “Rose Castle” was a coffin. Hua Feitian was tied up and laid flat inside, thinking miserably: Might as well be dead!

She lay there pretending to be a corpse for a while, when she heard movement outside. Someone was opening her coffin.

The coffin lid slid open a crack, allowing her to see the situation – it was Zhang Nian coming to rescue her.

Hua Feitian was silent for a few minutes, then suddenly started moving, her eyes anxious, gesturing, but she was muted and couldn’t speak, only able to worry in vain.

“Shh!” Zhang Nian whispered stealthily. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out! Someone went to distract Director Shang. We’re safe here…”

Hua Feitian: “…”

Helpless, she pointed with her chin behind Zhang Nian.

Zhang Nian: “?”

She turned her head and saw the duchess’s pale face, with bloody tears in her eyes, right in front of her. She screamed uncontrollably, “Holy crap, why are you back?!”

“This way of luring you out is even easier than waiting for you to come.”

Shang Jingyan acted quickly, hitting Zhang Nian with her fan and knocking her down too.

And she still had someone hanging from her arm, none other than Yun Yongxue. The latter looked up like a salted fish, and he and Zhang Nian looked at each other in silence: “…”

Clang clang, two coffins were placed side by side. Shang Jingyan simply waited there. The huge castle was in chaos, with screams and yells from time to time.

Since Hua Feitian’s coffin was on the outermost side, she was always the first to be rescued. This repeated twice, and her chances were directly used up. She gloriously became the first human to turn into a spirit in this round.

Hua Feitian… Hua Feitian didn’t want to talk anymore.

When the game finally ended, unsurprisingly, Shang Jingyan was the winner. She had caught all six other people at least once.

“Sorry, little sister, I sent you out first. How about I send you an autograph? Give me your address,” Shang Jingyan said. “Let’s add each other as friends? We’ll play together next time.”

Hua Feitian squeezed out three words: “No need to send.”

She decisively chose to add her as a friend – Just you wait, this account will definitely smash Shang Jingyan to the ground next time!!

–

Meanwhile, on the star network, “Catch Me If You Can” had already caused a stir, and the haters were once again getting cocky.

Including the preparation time, each game took at least 40 minutes. The haters had been scared of being slapped in the face the last few days, so they didn’t dare to mock it openly at first, behaving themselves for a while.

However, they only stayed quiet for half a day – in their minds, half a day was enough to determine whether it was a tourist photo simulator or not, right?

During this time, the comments that leaked out were all vague and ambiguous:

[This game is fun!! It’s a hide-and-seek format.]

[Sounds simple, right? But you’ll know once you’ve played it. It’s not a tourist photo simulator!]

[I think it’s okay. The map is beautifully made, and the music atmosphere is also very immersive.]

When pressed further, these people would say: [It’s just hide-and-seek! But it’s playing ghost and catching humans. I’m not saying anymore, I’m going to play ghost!]

How could this be fun? The people recommending it must be paid trolls!

The screenshots that were circulated also mostly showed only one map, and it strongly resembled the scene from “Moebius Sea.”

There were actually streamers live-streaming it, including some well-known ones, like Lu Zibing from the Gamma Star System. But the haters vowed not to contribute even a single bit of popularity to Shang Jingyan, so they resolutely refused to watch.

[She’s gotten cocky just after collaborating. That impatient, money-grubbing face, tsk tsk.]

[Could it be that the scenes are directly taken from her previous movies? The way she’s milking this is too ugly.]

[She doesn’t cherish her reputation during her rise to fame. What will she do when she’s truly famous!]

[Shang Jingyan, you’re relying on fan support now, but you’re actually overdrawing your credibility!]

[Even a tourist photo simulator is more expensive than usual…]

[And she even dragged down poor Yun Yongxue!]

The fans angrily retorted, but the haters felt they had grasped the truth. But after half a day, the haters felt something was off.

Why were there more and more voices of support?

And when they clicked on their profiles, they weren’t bot accounts, and there were even many casual players.

[It’s a very exciting game, but even someone as timid as me dares to play! And it’s very easy to pick up. No more to say, five-star rating.]

[It’s just the cost of an afternoon tea, and you can play it forever after, hahaha, super worth it, okay!]

[It’s very suitable for friend gatherings. An afternoon passed by without me even realizing it. I feel like this game can even train your spiritual power.]

“Can train your spiritual power” was a very high praise for a holographic game, meaning it required a certain level of operation and effort to play.

But, how could it also be said to be easy to pick up? These were clearly contradictory!

In the evening, a promotional video made by Lu Zibing answered everyone’s doubts.

“…I unlocked all the way to the ‘Ghost Bride Town’ map before reluctantly stopping. This game is simple, but it’s so addicting! If I didn’t have to make a video, I’d probably play until the anti-addiction timer kicked in.”

In the video, Lu Zibing had drawn the ghost of that map, the Ghost Bride, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, with a bridal veil covering her head, her facial features vaguely visible beneath the red silk.

The Ghost Bride’s weapon was her long fingernails, with the special effect of “marking.” Even if a player scratched by her escaped, they would have a peach blossom-shaped mark in the ghost’s vision that followed them everywhere.

Lu Zibing invited his live stream fans, a case of “once in power, looking down on everyone,” a complete change from his timid demeanor in “Building 18.” He chased his fans, making them scream and yell.

[Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter. Lu Zibing: In the past, you all mocked me. Now it’s my turn to scare you!]

[Turns out the most suitable horror style for the streamer is to become the ghost (doge head).]

[This town is so terrifyingly well-made. It feels like it would be very suitable for a haunted house adaptation.]

The town map was larger than the aquarium map, the scenery retro and exquisite. Bluestone pavements, mottled white walls, black tiles with moss and weeds growing on them, clear signs of life in each household, and even some stoves were still burning, but the people seemed to have disappeared in an instant.

In the setting, this town was subjected to the Ghost Bride’s revenge. The people vanished overnight, leaving only the Ghost Bride’s lingering spirit wandering in place.

The ghost cage in this map was a large, dark stone vat. In the video, after Lu Zibing caught a human and locked them in the ghost cage, he returned and secretly hid in the place where that player had previously been hiding.

He crouched in a woodshed of a residential building, looking “weak, pitiful, and helpless.” But when the player’s teammate came looking, he suddenly burst out from a pile of firewood, scaring the other person into running out the door and accidentally falling into the water.

[Streamer, you’re such a genius. Normally it’s the players hiding, but with you, it’s the ghost hiding.]

[Player: Are you a ghost? You’re a dog!]

[I shouldn’t have listened to the rumors… This clearly looks very fun! I’m going to download it.]

[The scenes all have such a strong sense of story. Director Shang, are you really not considering making derivative works?]

[I want to see the Ghost Bride’s story!]

[I’m the player who was scared in the live stream. Damn it, next round I want to draw the ghost and chase the streamer until he screams QAQ]

This video was the best advertisement. In one day, it went viral on the Exile Star System’s major gaming platforms, and it would likely soon become the most popular party mini-game. The haters’ previous comments were once again dug up and publicly shamed.

[How can you not learn your lesson? You were slapped in the face at lightning speed last time, and you’ve already forgotten.]

[Is there anyone who said they’d eat their light brain if Director Shang’s new game was good? Give us a stream link so the sisters can have some fun.]

[Hahaha, I advise you to be more cautious next time. Director Shang’s face-slaps are always top-notch!]

[Keep acting, I love to watch it (doge head).]

The haters were so angry their noses were crooked. Why couldn’t Shang Jingyan just follow the usual path?

An ordinary Dreamweaver, when faced with a situation that might be misunderstood, would definitely release trailers in advance, raise everyone’s expectations, and then release it smoothly.

But with Shang Jingyan, one thing was crystal clear: this kind of mini-game was completely unimportant to her, and she didn’t bother to defend herself in advance.

–

Blue River Moon.

After Shang Jingyan exited the game, she saw that she had more than a dozen missed calls on her light brain, all from You Yao. Her finger paused slightly.

“The eighteenth call, you finally answered! Pan, you have me on special notification, but I, on the other hand…” You Yao’s squawking was about to burst through the light brain, rattling off hundreds of words of complaints. Shang Jingyan tilted her head and soothed him, “Okay, okay, I answered, didn’t I?”

She used a tone to smooth his ruffled feathers. “What’s the emergency?”

“…Are you treating me like a dog?” You Yao’s mouth twitched. He finally got to the point. “I’m calling to inform you, there’s an emergency meeting tonight. Remember to attend.”

Shang Jingyan raised an eyebrow. You Yao was about to say more nonsense: “Did you release a new game? I haven’t played it yet. Director Shang, let me play with you, I’ll invite Wu Rui and the others…”

Shang Jingyan decisively cut off the communication.

You Yao: “…”

What an impatient woman!

That night.

This time, Shang Jingyan had learned her lesson. She didn’t wear her dinosaur pajamas and take a nap. Instead, she got dressed and waited.

At eight o’clock, she was pulled into a mental space. She opened her eyes and saw the same empty space as last time, the long conference table, and the glowing silhouettes sitting at the table.

Shang Jingyan’s position was the same as before, separate from the others. You Yao was resting his chin on his hand, looking bored. He glanced at her, and based on Shang Jingyan’s understanding of him, that was probably a roll of his eyes.

“Pan.”

“The big star is here!”

“Pan, congratulations…”

Last time they had a meeting, she was still unknown in reality. But now, the name “Shang Jingyan,” if not resonating throughout the Exile Star System, was at least a hot topic.

Sitting here, whether she disguised herself or not was actually the same.

Shang Jingyan: Feels like I have a sense of running around naked.

The person at the head of the table cleared his throat, interrupting everyone’s greetings. “Pan, tell us about your recent achievements.”

Shang Jingyan wasn’t intimidated. She focused on describing the haunted house. In her presentation, this move of hers had pulled many people from the virtual world to the offline world, which was very worthy of reference.

This was complete BS, she didn’t even believe half of it, but the person at the head of the table didn’t interrupt her, just listened thoughtfully.

After she finished speaking, a member said, “According to my observations, Pan’s influence is gradually starting to spread in the Main Star System as well.”

Judging from his body shape, it was a somewhat short man, wearing a suit and a top hat, looking very retro. His speech seemed to have a theatrical flourish.

The others agreed with him, nodding.

Main Star System…

Shang Jingyan caught a key piece of information from this: the members of the Reality Matter Society were widely distributed. Just this small branch meeting had at least her and You Yao, who were in the Exile Star System, and the short, stout man, who was in the Main Star System.

The universe’s population was mainly distributed in three major star systems: numbered α, β, and γ. α was the Exile Star System, β was the Main Star System with the capital star, and β and γ were usually referred to together as the mainstream star systems.

Besides these, there were some scattered smaller star systems.

Was the true form of the Reality Matter Society a large, underground organization spanning the entire universe?

The rest of the meeting was mostly meaningless small talk. Shang Jingyan started to zone out. But as the meeting was about to end, the person at the head of the table spoke: “This regular meeting was moved up because there is a recent offline task that needs to be assigned. The task location is in the Exile Star System.”

Shang Jingyan, suddenly called out while she was slacking off, “Pan, stay behind after the meeting. I’ll brief you on the task details.”