Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1304 - 1300: Mingxi - "No. 23 Hui Bei

From that day on, Su Ming’an finally found the answer to that question.

The way Mom expresses love is to die.

It turns out, the meaning of "love" is...

To die.

...

"...Ms. Lin."

In the woods, that woman still smiled at him, her smile warm yet hoarse, her white chiffon dress fluttering in the night, like the free young woman she once was.

He couldn’t forgive her for the abuse but could understand her pain. So to this day, he still didn’t want to face her. Neither forgiving nor confronting.

She laughed, like a piano key about to break.

"Haha, hahaha..."

At this moment, he heard faint footsteps approaching from behind, Fu Wenwen burning paper was getting closer, and a chill crept over his neck. Su Ming’an stared at Lin Wang’an, knowing this was a pincer attack...

"...Is it you?"

At this moment, a call rang out in the open.

Su Ming’an blinked, horrified to find—Lin Wang’an standing before him suddenly vanished, replaced by a girl sitting in a wheelchair. Her long white hair drifted silently like ghosts in the night. Dew clung to her shoulders; she must have been there all along, and above her head floated: [Number 21·Xi Li].

Was the Lin Wang’an just now... a hallucination?

Su Ming’an glanced at the yellow bar in the top right corner and found it had dropped to [Health Points: 79/100], indicating he had just gone through a dangerous experience. This yellow bar in the game represents the Player’s life and san value; once it depletes, it means death.

He turned back and found Fu Wenwen still sobbing and burning paper by the lake, she hadn’t approached him, just as if the footsteps he heard before were an illusion.

Under his feet there were no dry branches, only flat muddy ground.

"I have been looking for you for a long time." Xi Li wheeled closer, "Did my demonized persona make you suffer? She seemed to have hurt you and tried to imprison you."

A teacher’s badge was on her chest, indicating she was a Chinese Teacher for Class 4 of Grade 12.

Su Ming’an watched her innocent and naive expression; it appeared that her persona was normal at the moment.

"You... you don’t kill me." At this point, Fu Wenwen heard the voices and quickly turned her head, showing fear, and begged, "I’m just an ordinary person, no matter who you all are, I won’t go against you. Please spare me, I beg you..."

She seemed to have understood the law of the jungle early on, her legs softened, subconsciously wanting to kneel to them for mercy.

Su Ming’an’s figure flickered, appearing before her: "Who is your True Friend, who is your nemesis?"

Fu Wenwen hesitated for a moment, knowing she couldn’t hide it: "My... my True Friend is Number 12 Qian Lexin, my nemesis is Number 15 Liu Chongping..."

None of them were important people.

Su Ming’an’s eyes paused briefly, then he asked: "Why are you burning paper here?"

Fu Wenwen bit her lips, lowering her voice: "Today... is my brother’s death anniversary."

Su Ming’an didn’t quite believe it: "Even then, you wouldn’t risk death burning paper in a game, it’s too risky."

He had no desire to kill her, if she was indeed an ordinary person, it was tough to survive as it was.

Fu Wenwen’s eyes widened, seeming like she wanted to explain something but she quickly showed a look of terror.

"Run... run..." She instinctively tried to pull at his arm.

The wind howled, an icy breeze cut through the air as Su Ming’an looked back towards the direction of her fearful gaze—finding nothing in the woods.

Not only Lin Wang’an, Xi Li was also gone, as if everything was just his hallucination.

A few vividly red butterflies suddenly appeared in the woods, their wings flapping as they flew towards them.

A tugging force came from his arm, Su Ming’an didn’t resist, letting Fu Wenwen pull him to run outside, her face filled with panic, coughing as she ran.

The yellow paper behind fluttered, the flames abruptly extinguished with a "whoosh," despite no wind. Such a large flame should have burned for at least half an hour, yet it was snuffed out.

The roadside lights dimmed, the path through the school’s woods became pitch black, darkness like ink-filled his vision, making it impossible to see. Only the warmth of the girl’s hand, pulling him, could he feel.

"Cough, cough..." She ran for a while, starting to cough, a few drops of moist liquid touched him, and Su Ming’an sensed at the corner of his eye, that it was blood.

She was coughing blood, seemingly due to the strain of running and lack of Physical Strength.

The force from her grip loosened, her pace gradually slowed, the darkness behind engulfed them like a shadow, as if to swallow them whole...

Su Ming’an decisively let go of her hand and rushed forward, wrapping his arms around her frail body, bursting forth with mad dog speed in his Bright State, sprinting ahead.

This felt like the experience of sitting in a speeding truck, her black hair danced wildly in the wind, as she held onto his arm in astonishment, quickly wiping the blood from her lips to avoid it falling on him.

At such a close distance, she looked up and could see his faintly glowing eyes, a state of space energy lying in wait. His protective posture reminded her of her own brother.

"...Explain it." Suddenly, she heard a voice.

Su Ming’an focused ahead, feeling the viscous darkness trailing them like a shadow, not daring to slow his steps:

"Whether your reason for burning paper is reasonable depends on if I will drop you."

...So terrifying.

Fu Wenwen finally came to her senses, this was not her kind and gentle brother. Instinctively clutching tight to his shirt, she revealed everything:

"Two years ago, our family received an invitation to the Disciple Game, a family member had to participate. My brother was originally chosen because he was wise and strong, physically fit with Force."

"So, he voluntarily stood out to fight for our family. He trained for a full year. We all believed that once he entered the game, even if he didn’t have great achievements, he wouldn’t die easily. I also focused on working to raise money for our mother’s illness."

"We all believed that he would enter the game, not me. Because if I entered, it would be almost impossible for me to survive; even running is difficult for me."

"But, because he exposed some upper-level darkness, he was killed by them. I had to enter the game. I knew in the first two levels I was lucky, hiding away waiting for the round to end. But this level requires a survival rate, I’m almost not...

Alive anymore."

Speaking such cruel words, her expression was calm, struggling all the way to the end, only to meet with tragedy.

"I entered the instance an hour earlier than you, as the lights in the dorm went out at midnight, I sneaked out using my C-rank ability—[Invisibility], and found a place to burn paper." she continued:

"While I was burning the paper, I thought, brother, if you can see, please take me away. I’d rather you take me away than be humiliated to death by contestants or tormented to death by monsters." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"I’ve seen too many pitiful people who can’t survive. The only reason for their death is their weakness. In the first level, I saw a woman’s corpse without a shred of clothing; in the second level, I saw an infant with all its limbs severed. In essence, there is no difference between me and them, both powerless against this world."

"And then, you appeared, Number 1. You saved me, making me think... that there truly are good people in this cruel and bloody game."

Su Ming’an listened to her words, feeling a slight ripple in his heart. Her mentality was the same as that of an ordinary person. If someone with nothing were chosen for the game, they would have a similar mindset.

"This campus is very strange," Fu Wenwen said. "You must play your role well; the campus is full of strange creatures. For example, the big yellow dog kept by the security guard becomes a three-headed beast at night. And the red butterfly you just saw, if you stare at it for more than three seconds, it will crawl into your stomach and devour you completely... These are things I read on the announcement board. You can check it out if you have time."

"Number 14, you gave me information, so I won’t kill you. I’ll send you to the dorm building. If you have more information later, you can come to me. As long as the information is useful, I can protect you for a while," Su Ming’an said.

Fu Wenwen heard these words and softly responded with an "Mm," her eyes touched.

She almost felt she had grasped a lifeline. In this survival game, this good person not only didn’t harm her but was even willing to help her.

At 1:10 AM, Su Ming’an arrived at the bottom of the dorm building, where a solitary light shone. After he ran into the light, the sticky darkness behind him finally stopped following his back and gradually retreated.

He turned back for a glance, and the road suddenly disappeared, leaving only a dense lawn.

"Thank you..." Fu Wenwen looked at him gratefully.

Su Ming’an nodded at her, watching as she vanished and went upstairs.

In that instant, as he gazed at the girl’s retreating figure, grief suddenly surged over him like a tide. Her steps gradually faded away, and it felt as if something slipped away from his heart.

He clutched his chest, realizing that this game affected emotions and required timely mental adjustment.

He decided to visit the teaching building. Maybe he would encounter other participants.

The enormous building resembled a gaping maw in the night, with window panes reflecting the glow of a blue moon. He walked to the bottom of the teaching building and saw the announcement board Fu Wenwen mentioned.

...

[Mingxi Campus · Announcement Board]

[Teachers traveling at night, please be cautious.]

[At night, the eyes in the photo of Lu Xun on the wall will move from the left to the right.]

[The staircase will change from eleven steps to twelve.]

[The pool at the end of the corridor will flow with blood.]

[If you encounter these phenomena, please leave the teaching building immediately and go to sleep promptly, and do not look back, do not look back, do not look back.]

...

This reminded Su Ming’an of a horror story he read online as a child, which revolved around school kaidan tales.

A group of students, skeptical of superstition, sneaked into the teaching building at night to verify the stories. They found Lu Xun’s eyes stayed left, the staircase remained eleven steps, and no blood flowed from the pool. They scoffed, saying the stories were indeed false, and left disappointed.

What was the ending again?

His memory was a bit blurry, and he didn’t quite remember the horror story’s ending, but it probably wasn’t a happy one...

"...Liujin?"

At this moment, a gentle voice called from behind.

Su Ming’an turned around.

Under the streetlamp stood a blonde youth smiling at him, a ponytail draped over his shoulder, with jade-like green eyes, dressed in a camel-color trench coat, holding a doll.

...It was the Mighty Contact Lens Guy.

Su Ming’an felt as if a thin mist covered his mind... Was Hui Bei one of the 24 people? He opened the system interface and found [Number 23 Hui Bei] among the names.

He raised his head, perhaps the night was too dark earlier, and he hadn’t seen the name above Hui Bei’s head, but now he saw it.

[Number 23 · Hui Bei] floated above the blonde youth, neat and correct, nothing strange about it.

In the night, his camel-color trench coat fluttered, fluttered... Leaves rustled, and the wind picked up. Hui Bei smiled gently and stepped closer: "Are you going into the teaching building? My role is [Lab Manager], let’s go together. You can visit my lab if you have time."

It felt as if a hint of crimson moved over his body for a moment, but it seemed like an illusion.

"Wait, let me finish reading the notice on the announcement board," Su Ming’an said.

"Those are incomplete, and some are incorrect, with no reference value," Hui Bei seemed eager to enter the building with Su Ming’an, taking a few more steps closer: "Look, you’ve finished reading."

Su Ming’an turned back to find that the densely-packed words on the announcement board had vanished, leaving only the few lines he had just seen.

"..."

Hui Bei walked up the steps, offering the doll to him: "If you’re afraid of getting separated, hold onto my doll. I’ll lead the way, and you can follow behind."

Su Ming’an wanted to see what this person was up to, so he reached out and grabbed the doll.

As he grasped it, he felt a sticky sensation beneath his palm, like he wasn’t holding a fabric doll but rather soft, sticky flesh...

"Hui Bei, I previously uncovered some information—did you disappear? Someone is erasing your traces, even erasing your dining hall transaction records," Su Ming’an said.

"Oh? I’ve always been here at the university, never disappeared," Hui Bei confidently replied, with a voice that didn’t seem like a lie: "Maybe someone brought you false information."

They entered the teaching building together, where it was very dark, with rustling sounds coming from all around.

Su Ming’an deliberately counted.

Two, three... nine, ten, eleven.

The staircase indeed had eleven steps, no problem.

He also looked at the photo on the wall, with the eyes to the left. Still no problem.

He recalled playing the game "Exit Number Eight," which required looking for abnormalities in the environment. If Mingxi’s teaching building was similar, the rule would be "if no anomaly is found, proceed normally upstairs; if anything abnormal is seen or heard, immediately descend the stairs."

He shared his thoughts, and Hui Bei suggested trying it.

"Drip-drip..." Sound of water came from the end of the corridor.

In scattered light, their elongated shadows stretched out beneath them like something bloated clinging to their shadows or bodies...

When they reached the second floor, Su Ming’an heard two voices from above.

The shadows lengthened, one tall, one short, forming a sharp contrast.

It seemed to be... Noel and Lv Shu?