Liu Huai sensed Liu Jiayi's unease and forcibly steadied his voice. He pulled her into his arms, gently patting her back as he composed himself.
"No, Jiayi didn't do anything wrong. It's just a game."
"Yes… It's just a game." Liu Huai closed his eyes, as if hypnotizing himself—or perhaps hypnotizing her. When he opened them again, his voice was much calmer. "I'll take you to play a game, Jiajia."
Held in her brother's arms, Liu Jiayi clutched the corner of his clothes and asked softly, "What game, Brother?"
Liu Huai opened his mouth.
He thought of Bai Liu, who wanted to claim Liu Jiayi's soul, and of Miao Feichi, who enjoyed eating children's flesh.
In the end, he only tightened his embrace and forced a helpless smile. "It's a game where everyone except us is a bad guy. Jiajia, you must stay close to me, okay?"
"Okay." Liu Jiayi nodded obediently. "I won't run around."
In the multiplayer viewing zone, the audience began whispering among themselves. It was the first time they had seen a newcomer skip the single-player tutorial area and be dragged directly into a multiplayer instance.
But the core of the game system was desire. If the little girl's desire to see her brother had been strong enough, then the system indeed had the authority to pull her directly into Liu Huai's instance.
Logically, her small TV should have appeared in the newcomers' zone. Yet multiplayer instances were supposed to be logged into from the multiplayer zone. There had never been a cross-zone login before. Perhaps after weighing the anomaly, the system had simply shut off the little girl's small TV.
Still, starting in a level-two instance was far from ideal—even with Liu Huai protecting her. After all, Liu Huai himself would struggle to survive. This instance also included league players Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang. They were already wary of Bai Liu's abilities; it wouldn't be easy for him to manipulate them.
In other words, Bai Liu likely wouldn't have a powerful pawn to shield him this time. The space for him to maneuver was extremely limited.
Some viewers who bore Bai Liu a bit of goodwill sighed. "All we can hope for now is that Mu Sicheng cooperates well. Maybe then there's still a sliver of hope."
A sneer came from another corner. "Mu Sicheng's support is god-tier, sure—but Bai Liu's damage output is like mud slapped on a wall. The Scavenger Zombies' main carry is Miao Feichi, and he has an S-grade panel. How do you compare a primary school student to a graduate student?"
Soon, someone who had scanned all the active small TVs asked in confusion, "Wait… Mu Sicheng isn't among the five active streams."
"What?"
"Bai Liu entered alone?!"
Once it was confirmed that Mu Sicheng truly wasn't in the instance, the entire viewing area froze, whether they were Bai Liu's worried fans, indifferent spectators, or outright haters.
A few seconds later, the collective shout burst out: "Fuck!!!"
_________________________________________________
Bai Liu logged into a dimly lit room on the second floor of the welfare home.
He immediately tried to break the lock and head outside to search for a map. Before long, he was punished for not following the intended game flow. He circled the entire second floor—only to find himself back at the very room where he had started.
Either he had run into a ghost wall, or the game was forcing him to complete this opening plot before allowing him to leave.
Bai Liu reentered the room.
The space was dark and cold. A small bench sat in the center, starkly illuminated by the slanting evening light. The chairs cast long, distorted shadows across the floor. On both sides of the room, benches were stacked haphazardly, like a classroom during the holidays when desks and chairs had been put away.
This only made the solitary bench in the middle seem more conspicuous.
On the podium facing the room sat an old-fashioned radio—at least a decade out of date. A cassette tape inside it spun on its own, emitting intermittent static.
Then came the voice of a little girl singing a nursery rhyme.
"Born on a Monday,Christened on a Tuesday,Married on Wednesday,Took ill on Thursday,Grew worse on Friday,Died on Saturday,Buried on Sunday.This is the end of Bai Liu—"
Bai Liu raised an eyebrow. He had heard this before. It was a dark nursery rhyme from Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes, titled Solomon Grundy, which told the tragic story of a man's life in a week. The final line was supposed to be "This is the end of Solomon Grundy."
Apparently, this time, the name had been replaced with his.
The rhyme repeated over and over. Gradually, within the shadow cast by the sunlight, a figure began to take shape. It looked as though someone was sitting on the bench.
Bai Liu circled it carefully. There was no one there. Only an empty chair.
Suddenly, the shadow rose from the bench and lunged toward him.
Bai Liu didn't dodge. Based on his experience from the previous instance, this was likely part of the opening animation introducing the game's core mechanics.
He watched calmly as the rushing shadow merged into his own.
Under the slanted rays of the sun, Bai Liu's shadow stretched unnaturally long. It slid across the floor, seeped through the crack beneath the door, and extended outside.
Then it stopped.
At that moment, the nursery rhyme cut off abruptly.
Knock. Knock.
"Hello, are you an investor in this welfare home?"
A boy's voice came from outside the door. It was polite, yet carried the faint rasp of adolescence—someone whose voice hadn't quite finished changing.
"I'm the child reporting in today."
Bai Liu keenly sensed the coldness and impatience hidden beneath that politeness.
He knew this voice. No, he couldn't possibly not know it.
He was intimately familiar with it. So familiar that he could perceive every suppressed emotion beneath its calm surface. After all, ten years ago, this was the voice that had accompanied him.
Bai Liu stepped on his distorted shadow and slowly opened the door.
"Hello. I am the newly sponsored child."
Standing outside was a young boy who barely reached Bai Liu's chest. Dark eyes scrutinized him openly, the caution in them only thinly concealed. After a moment, the boy extended his hand with forced courtesy.
"Hello, investor. My name is Bai Liu (6). I'm the new child assigned to this private welfare home."
Let me think, Bai Liu mused as he stroked his chin, studying the overly composed boy before him. In this state… I should be fourteen years old.
[System Tip: Player Bai Liu has successfully met and communicated with his secondary identity line, triggering the child identity storyline. Player Bai Liu has entered dual-line operation mode.]
[System Tip: In Love Welfare Institute, the player possesses two distinct identity lines. One is the adult you; the other is the younger you. The adult identity serves as the main identity line, while the younger identity is the secondary line. You are two halves of the same person.
The secondary identity line is a child NPC generated by the game. Its memories and settings have been adjusted according to the game's background and fully conform to it. Your younger self shares a similar personality and roughly similar memories to your real-life younger self. Please explore and communicate with yourself to uncover the specific details.]
[Name of Bai Liu's Secondary Identity Line: Bai Liu (6)]
[Age: 14]
[Identity: An orphan sponsored by an investor to enter the Love Welfare Institute.]
[Features: Shares 50% of the player's total health. Represents the pure and innocent half of the player. Possesses no future-related memories or skills. Will enter the dangerous welfare institute. Please ensure his protection from monsters.]
[Main Task: Escape from the welfare home (Unfinished)]
-----------------
[Player Bai Liu's Main Identity Line: Player Bai Liu]
[Player Name: Bai Liu]
[Age: 24]
[Identity: A terminally ill investor in the children's welfare institute.]
[Features: Shares 50% of the player's total health. Due to the terminal illness, health will gradually decline over time. Sponsor of the child Bai Liu (6).]
[Main Task: Find a way to continue living and survive (Unfinished)]
-----------------
Bai Liu raised an eyebrow slightly as he read the system interface.
He was the investor.
The child standing before him was Bai Liu (6).
Bai Liu slowly lifted his gaze.
The fourteen-year-old Bai Liu (6) clearly disliked being scrutinized for too long. He shifted subtly, avoiding Bai Liu's eyes with faint impatience.
Bai Liu withdrew his gaze, thinking that this was truly troublesome.
Of all versions of himself, he hated this age the most. Stubborn, prickly, and extremely difficult to handle.
Bai Liu stepped into the corridor outside the classroom and surveyed his surroundings. After examining the layout, he confirmed that this was indeed the same welfare home he had visited before.
There were still three buildings, but now they were brand new and immaculate. The walls were freshly painted, decorated with colorful children's drawings that hadn't yet begun to peel. In the courtyard between the three buildings stood a playground with a large slide—far grander than anything he remembered. A separate cafeteria building stood nearby.
Everything here matched what Bai Liu had seen in the ruined welfare home—except this version was intact.
He glanced at the dates on the children's awards hanging on the classroom wall. After checking them carefully, he concluded that this must be the welfare home from ten years ago.
Just as he had guessed, the main storyline of this instance was set a decade in the past—when the welfare home had first been completed.
Bai Liu (6) noticed Bai Liu scanning the surroundings as if searching for something and offered a gentle reminder.
"Today is Sunday. It's inspection day. The children and teachers aren't here."
"Inspection day?" Bai Liu turned to look at him. "They conduct inspections every week? Inspect what?"
Bai Liu (6) shook his head. "I don't know. I just arrived and haven't been examined yet. But my admission booklet states that every Sunday, all children must leave the welfare home for a full-body checkup. Those who fail the examination must remain there for treatment."
He paused.
"Many children who go every week stay behind for treatment. Their spots in the welfare home become empty." Bai Liu (6) looked up at him. "But empty spots are considered wasteful, so new children are admitted each week. I arrived this week."
Sunday was inspection day. And many of those who left never returned.
Bai Liu blinked. He suddenly recalled the nursery rhyme—Sunday was the day of burial.
It seemed that most of the children who remained behind would ultimately be "buried."
He was still lost in thought when the system notification rang out.
[System Item Delivery: Each investor and their sponsored child will receive a one-to-one walkie-talkie for communication.]
[Walkie-Talkie Rules: Only one-way communication from the child to the investor is permitted. Players are prohibited from purchasing additional communication tools to contact the child. Investors may not initiate calls.]
[Calling Hours: 21:00–24:00 and 6:00–9:00. Outside these hours, children will be occupied and unreachable. Each child may call during these two time slots daily. Please communicate in moderation and allow the child independent growth.]
As the announcement ended, a large, old-fashioned mobile phone with an antenna appeared in Bai Liu's hand.
Little Bai Liu (6) received a palm-sized children's phone. It was half the size of his hand, with a pink Hello Kitty strap dangling from it like a toy.
Bai Liu smiled. "It suits you."
He lifted his oversized phone. "You can call me every night from nine to twelve, and every morning from six to nine. If anything happens, I'll be here."
"I won't call you," Bai Liu (6) replied expressionlessly. "It would be a waste of my time."
Bai Liu had expected that response. His temple twitched slightly before he sighed and offered a solution without hesitation.
"I'll pay you. We'll charge by the minute."
Little Bai Liu (6)'s calm expression wavered for the first time. He hesitated before asking, "How much?"
"By the minute? One hundred yuan per minute," Bai Liu answered smoothly.
Little Bai Liu (6) responded instantly. "Deal."
At that very moment, a bell rang outside.
The iron gates of the welfare home swung open. A crowd of children rushed in behind their teachers, chirping and fluttering like birds returning to their nest. The teachers hurried to shepherd them back inside.
The two Bai Lius—one tall, one small—stood in the corridor, gazing down at the carefree children running and laughing below. Their eyes held the same detached indifference.
Suddenly, Bai Liu (6) turned to him.
"You don't seem to like children. Why did you sponsor me to enter this private welfare home?"
"What kind of investor do you think I am?" Bai Liu asked with mild interest. "And why do you think I don't like children?"
—Though he truly didn't.
"You look like Slender Man," Bai Liu (6) replied calmly. "You're wearing an expensive suit and tie, and your face is pale. I heard Slender Man hates children. He kills them and digs out their organs to eat."
The blunt description made Bai Liu pause.
He looked down at himself and realized that his appearance had changed. He was no longer disguised as a high school girl. Now he wore a proper suit and a tall hat.
Finding a mirror in the classroom restroom, he examined his reflection.
His face was thin and pallid, with dark circles sagging heavily beneath his eyes. His fingers were long and skeletal, as though only a thin layer of skin covered bone. At a glance, he looked like someone on the brink of death. He had grown slightly taller, but his limbs felt awkward and uncoordinated.
He did, in fact, resemble the rumored child-killer—Slender Man.
"All the investors here look like you," Bai Liu (6) added lightly. "They all wear suits and look short-lived. None of them looks like people who would perform good deeds before dying."
"Little friend, your mouth is quite sharp." Bai Liu arched an eyebrow. "Why don't I look like someone who would do a good deed before dying? Isn't sponsoring you considered one?"
Bai Liu (6) remained unmoved.
"Are you sure sending me to a welfare home where children keep disappearing counts as a good deed?"
[System Tip: Inspection Day is ending. The children and teachers have returned. Please bring your sponsored child to the first floor of the Boai Building to register.]
"Come on," Bai Liu said lightly. "I'll take you to register."
They were currently on the second floor of the Boai Building. They only needed to go downstairs.
_________________________________________________
Across the courtyard, in the opposite building's second-floor classroom, another Slender Man-like investor was staring at Bai Liu.
That man held the hand of a boy with soft bangs. The boy was delicate and cute, but the way he gazed downward gave him a gloomy air—strikingly similar to Mu Ke as an adult.
The investor was Mu Ke.
On the floor above Mu Ke stood another investor, gripping a pair of long knives. He stared at the child beside him while dragging the blades slowly along the corridor floor, the scraping sound echoing like a killer pacing with a chainsaw in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Bai Liu stood in front of Bai Liu (6) and smiled at the investor across from them. The slender man opposite noticed that Bai Liu was blocking his child from view. He crossed his arms and deliberately sharpened his twin knives, as if issuing a warning. Then he turned and walked downstairs. It was unclear whether he was heading to register or coming to look for Bai Liu.
Twin knives.
If Bai Liu wasn't mistaken, this should be the famous Miao Feichi. The man was clearly searching for him. After all, all players who logged in shared the same identity and resembled the Slender Man. To find and kill Bai Liu, Miao Feichi first had to determine which of these identical investors was the real one.
And how would he do that?
The most reliable method was to look at the child each investor was bringing.
Bai Liu narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at little Bai Liu (6) standing behind him.
_________________________________________________
Meanwhile, Miao Gaojiang led his teenage self downstairs and saw an investor waiting at the exit of the building. Instinctively, he almost drew his weapon.
Then the man cursed under his breath, "Father, I just saw my teenage self! What the hell is going on?"
Miao Gaojiang paused. "Feichi?" He looked at the other man carefully, still cautious. "Are you really Feichi?"
In a game where everyone had the same identity and appearance, impersonation was far too easy. The only reliable verification was through the child assigned to each investor.
However, Miao Feichi disliked children. He preferred to eat them. He was abnormal enough that he would even eat himself.
At this point, teenage Miao Feichi had only just begun awakening his craving for human flesh. He wanted to eat—but didn't strictly need to. Still, he wanted to nibble on everyone he saw.
After logging in, Miao Feichi's first reaction upon seeing the child was—
"The moment I opened the door, I saw my teenage self guarding it. It startled me," Miao Feichi complained. "The look in that little pervert's eyes wasn't right. He looked like he wanted to eat me. So I told him to get lost."
Miao Gaojiang wouldn't trust someone who approached him so easily, but the words did sound like something Miao Feichi would say. Feichi was frivolous and impulsive. With his overwhelming strength, he often acted recklessly in games.
Seeing his teenage self, Miao Feichi's first reaction would definitely not have been to politely trigger a quest. He would have viciously driven the other away. Naturally, that meant the "investor" and "sponsored child" failed to establish a friendly conversation, and he did not trigger the secondary identity storyline set by the game.
Miao Feichi's temperament always gave Miao Gaojiang a headache.
Still, Bai Liu was also in this game—a player with frightening intelligence. He might exploit the identical appearances to impersonate someone else.
Miao Gaojiang hesitated and maintained his vigilance. He began explaining certain game rules while subtly probing for information that only the two of them would know.
After several exchanges, Miao Gaojiang was mostly convinced—but not entirely.
"I need confirmation," he said calmly. "Tell me something important about yourself."
"For example?" Miao Feichi replied impatiently.
"For example, how we entered the game…" Miao Gaojiang's dull eyes sharpened slightly. His voice paused. "Or who was the first person you ate after discovering you liked human flesh?"
Miao Feichi licked his teeth as if recalling the taste. His eyes narrowed.
"The first person I ate was the woman who gave birth to me."
"She was seriously ill. The family couldn't afford her treatment. After she came back from the hospital, she kept spending money on medicine. Everything that should've been left to me went to that dying woman. One night, she asked me to pour her some water. I poured her a glass of boiling water. After she drank it, her lips and esophagus gave off that scorched smell."
"She died the next day," Miao Feichi clicked his tongue. "Before she was buried, I told you I wanted to eat her. That scared you half to death. But I knew you'd long wanted her to die. I'm your son. She was just someone you slept with. I don't know why you wasted so much money on her."
"After she died, I went on a hunger strike for a few days. Eventually, you cut off a piece of her for me to eat."
He frowned slightly. "It wasn't very good. She was too old. The meat was sickly and dry. It smelled like medicine."
"As for entering the game…" He looked irritated. "It was because of that child. You took me grave-robbing for a while. I only ate corpses. Rotten, disgusting. I wanted fresh meat. Then that child showed up out of nowhere, crying about someone in his welfare home doing bad things. He begged me to call the police."
"I thought no one would notice if I ate a runaway orphan. But you let him go. The police found him. I was monitored. I was starving. So when we entered the game, I bit off that child's finger raw. He screamed so loudly that it drew you over. You actually—"
"Enough." Miao Gaojiang exhaled deeply and cut him off. "You are Feichi."
He rubbed his temples. "Since everyone looks the same in this game, we need a code word."
"Let's use 'finger,'" Miao Feichi said casually, almost nostalgically. "It was the last piece of human flesh I ate before entering."
Miao Gaojiang disliked the choice, but when it came to such matters, he usually let Feichi decide. He was excessively indulgent toward him. Otherwise, Feichi wouldn't dare act so impatiently and recklessly under his watch.
After a moment of silence, Miao Gaojiang asked, "What about the child assigned to you? Where did you send him?"
"He was still behind me after I drove him off. But there are too many children in this yard. All delicate and tender." Miao Feichi's eyes narrowed wickedly. "My guess? He got lured away. The kid hasn't tasted human flesh yet. With all this walking meat around, how could he resist?"
Miao Gaojiang stiffened, about to speak.
Feichi waved him off. "Relax. Isn't it fine to eat children and opponents in this game? I can't do it in reality. Can't I at least eat game data? They're not real people. What, do you want to starve your own son? You're my father. Isn't feeding me your responsibility? Why are you always interfering?"
Miao Gaojiang looked at the lively children running through the courtyard. They didn't look like data.
For a fleeting moment, he felt as if they were real. He opened his mouth—then closed it.
"…Find your child first," he finally said. "Then go register on the first floor."
_________________________________________________
The registration room required players to enter individually.
By the time Bai Liu arrived downstairs, Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang hadn't shown up yet—which was normal. They would confirm each other's identities first.
Miao Gaojiang should be fine. He would remain with his assigned child, making verification easier.
Miao Feichi, on the other hand, would likely have trouble. During the time Bai Liu was upstairs, he had seen little Miao Feichi wandering alone around the welfare home, trailing behind children with glowing eyes like a wolf starved of raw meat.
Bai Liu brought little Bai Liu (6) into the registration room and noticed that two people had already registered.
One was Mu Ke. The other—
Bai Liu's gaze darkened as he read the name.
[Due to blood relations, players Liu Huai and Liu Jiayi have activated the "Brother–Sister Identity Line" and are registered as siblings. They will serve as each other's identity line and activate the special dual-line operation mode.]
[Player Liu Huai (Brother Identity Line): An investor in the children's welfare home who is terminally ill.]
[Features: Shares 50% of the player's health. Due to the terminal illness, health will continuously decrease. Please find a way to restore your life as soon as possible!]
[Player Liu Jiayi (Sister Identity Line): An orphan sponsored by an investor to enter the Love Welfare Institute.]
[Features: Shares 50% of the player's health. As a pure sister entering a crisis-ridden welfare home, please ensure her safety!]
[Note: For players with the Brother–Sister Identity Line, losing 50% of total health results in death.]
The last time Bai Liu saw Liu Jiayi, he had said she would soon enter the game. He just hadn't expected that their reunion would take place inside it.
However, Liu Jiayi was a newcomer. How could she enter a multiplayer game directly? Shouldn't new players begin with a single-player instance?
Was there some special connection between Liu Huai and Liu Jiayi that caused the system to pull the newcomer straight into Liu Huai's game?
Bai Liu pondered this carefully.
These two were clearly different from the others. They had not taken on their childhood forms but instead appeared as an older brother and a younger sister.
On the registration form, Bai Liu saw that Liu Huai had written "blood-related siblings" in the relationship column, while Mu Ke had written "investor and sponsored child." Although they were two different gameplay modes, Liu Huai and Liu Jiayi still only possessed 50% health each. That meant if their health dropped by half, they would die immediately. In contrast, Bai Liu's health had merely been split—his total health was still effectively 100%.
Liu Huai and Liu Jiayi's health, however, had been directly cut in half. That placed them at an obvious disadvantage. From Bai Liu's perspective, the arrangement didn't seem fair.
The system constantly adjusted and weakened players to maintain balance and fairness. After being targeted by the system twice himself, Bai Liu did not believe it would deliberately design an unfair horror game.
Which meant that halving Liu Huai and Liu Jiayi's health should, in theory, be balanced within the broader structure of the game.
And yet, for the two of them, triggering the special Brother–Sister Mode had cost them half their health from the start. Liu Jiayi was also a newcomer—and blind.
The imbalance was obvious.
Meanwhile, Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang were also blood-related, but they hadn't triggered any father–son identity line. Bai Liu had personally seen teenage Miao Feichi, which meant no special blood-relationship mode had activated between them.
This likely had something to do with Liu Jiayi.
This blind child had entered the game for the first time and been placed directly into a multiplayer instance. Bai Liu didn't know what her wish was—but he doubted it was something as simple as wanting to see again.
During his brief interaction with her, he sensed that Liu Jiayi's desire to regain her sight wasn't as strong as Liu Huai's desire for her to recover it. Emotionally, Liu Jiayi seemed more inclined to depend on her brother. It was as if, in her darkness, she could cling to him more tightly.
If her wish was tied to her brother, then a horror game built around desires might logically create this kind of linked identity situation.
Of course, there were other possibilities.
Liu Jiayi was exceptional in many ways, and Bai Liu couldn't draw a firm conclusion yet. He simply noted the inconsistencies that gave him a faint sense of unease.
_________________________________________________
After little Bai Liu (6) completed registration, the dean led him inside.
The child turned back to glance at Bai Liu. With a blank expression, he raised his thumb and index finger and rubbed them together in a subtle gesture.
Bai Liu couldn't help but laugh. It was the universal sign for money.
He had promised payment for phone calls, and the child had remembered it perfectly. He hadn't even made a single call yet, but he was already keeping careful track of the account.
Very prudent.
The child was led into the welfare home, while Bai Liu, as an investor, was escorted by the dean to a nearby building.
The building resembled a hospital ward. There were nurses and nurse stations, but no registration office and no visible doctors' offices. Floor after floor was filled with inpatient rooms.
The dean explained that most investors were in poor health, so they lived here and only visited the children during designated open days.
After observing for a while, Bai Liu concluded that this was essentially a private hospital. Or perhaps not quite a hospital.
It felt more like a high-end rehabilitation center where wealthy individuals retired. Nurses handled daily care, while doctors were merely on call. There was no need for many physicians to be permanently stationed here.
Except the residents weren't healthy retirees. They were terminally ill patients desperately in need of treatment. And yet, there were no doctors in sight. Who, then, was treating them?
The building was filled with patients who all looked like variations of the Slender Man.
Some were thin and frail, lying weakly in bed. Others supported themselves on chairs as they shuffled slowly down the corridor, their faces wrapped tightly in layers of bandages. The wrappings were so dense that even their eyes were covered. It was impossible to tell how they navigated.
Only the faint movement of fabric, stirred by shallow breathing, proved they were alive—and not some urban legend come to life.
The deeper Bai Liu walked into the ward area, the thinner the patients became. Arms and legs stretched unnaturally long and skeletal.
In the ICU, he saw a patient who must have been over two meters tall. His feet hung limply off the bed. His skin was bluish, dotted with small speckles.
It reminded Bai Liu of the mushroom-like skin of the dead children he had seen before.
The stiff, dying investors drifted slowly through the corridors, turning their heads as Bai Liu passed.
Their long, spindly arms dangled at their sides like spider legs.
Suddenly, one grabbed his ankle.
The patient seemed almost playful. After a brief squeeze, it released him and let out a strange, high-pitched giggle.
The sound echoed faintly down the sterile hallway.