Chapter 31.1 Boundary Layer 3
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Lu Pingping’s mental defenses were inexplicably shattered, and he intermittently recounted why he brought a group of children into this game, risking their lives.
He was also hired, but the person who hired him did not reveal the purpose of entering. They simply instructed him to continuously organize such activities online, bringing in as many people as possible. In exchange for what he desired, they promised him unlimited resurrection even if he died inside.
After a few attempts, Lu Pingping actually didn’t want to continue, but he was already deeply trapped and unable to escape.
“What can you do about it?” Jiang Guan asked coldly. “If you don’t want to do it, can anyone force you?”
“You… you don’t understand,” Lu Pingping trembled. “You don’t understand how terrifying he is… I can’t run away.” As he spoke, his gaze kept darting towards Zhuang Lao, filled with sheer fear.
Zhuang Lao’s smile was ambiguous. “What do you want me to do? How are you connected to him?”
Lu Pingping hesitated, “The phone… I can’t say anymore…” His voice grew quieter. “He will hear…”
“There are only a few people in the room. Who could possibly hear?” Jiang Guan impatiently demanded. “Hurry up and speak!”
Luo Pingping stammered, “The c… computer… Aackhh!!!” In that instant, he let out a piercing scream, followed by violent convulsions. Blood gushed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth uncontrollably.
In just a matter of seconds, Lu Pingping’s breath ceased, and he lay limp on the ground.
Jiang Guan’s bodyguard approached and checked him, shaking his head. “He’s dead, his organs completely shattered.”
Silence fell upon the crowd.
The manner of Lu Pingping’s death reminded Lin Zhaohe of the gruesome sight of the blond-haired person they encountered when they first entered the first layer. However, he refrained from mentioning it and only squinted his eyes slightly.
“If he’s dead, he’s dead,” Jiang Guan said coldly. “Let’s leave this place first.” She took out several room cards from her pocket.
Lin Zhaohe, too, entered the password he had seen in the morgue corner and successfully obtained four cards, securing four spots.
At this point, there were only a few people left in the room. Jiang Guan’s bodyguard didn’t need a spot, and with the room cards obtained by Jiang Guan and Zhuang Lao, they had enough for all the surviving individuals to enter, with a few extras even.
They left behind the remaining room cards and proceeded to swipe the cards one by one, entering the passage to the third level.
As Zhou Ze stepped inside, he silently prayed that the remaining individuals would be lucky enough to find this room within the designated time.
After Zhuang Lao entered, Lin Zhaohe followed closely behind. He felt his body rejuvenated, at least agile enough to climb the ladder and even keep up with Jiang Guan.
The view shifted, and after the darkness, Lin Zhaohe’s sight was greeted by a lush forest.
Countless tall and short trees filled his vision. Due to the dense canopy, sunlight from above was obscured, rendering the surroundings dim even though it was noon. The deep recesses of the forest were difficult to discern.
Not far away, a black table stood with a sheet of snowy-white paper resting on it.
Jiang Guan picked up the paper and read the rules aloud.
Rule 1. Do not enter.
Rule 2. If you enter, leave within three days.
Rule 3. Do not harm it unless you wish to become it.
Rule 4. Trust your teammates.
Adjacent to the rule book, another book lay on the table. Jiang Guan picked it up, expecting some content inside. However, upon opening it, she discovered it was just an empty book cover, devoid of any pages.
The cover of the book displayed bright red letters, spelling out: “Joseph’s Diary.”
“What is this?” Lin Zhaohe had never seen such a thing before. In the normal progression of the game’s third level, players had to locate a few specific candles within a map and light them to pass through. However, during the search for the candles, a notorious killer named Joseph would continuously spawn, becoming stronger with each lit candle.
There were two maps in total, namely the Water Forest and the Rock Quarry. After playing them, he found the difficulty level to be average since the candle spawn locations were fixed. Even with the rules and the hindrance of the monsters, players familiar with the game could easily clear the level.
But now, the current situation before them didn’t seem to belong to the original game.
“It’s from the players’ workshop…” Zhou Ze’s voice sounded dry. When he saw the page of the book, his face turned pale like a ghost. “It’s called Joseph’s Diary.”
“How do we play?” Jiang Guan asked, as the game had undergone significant changes, completely different from what she had played years ago.
“This is a diary of a serial killer,” Zhou Ze explained. “It consists of five pages, each containing different entries. We must find all five pages to progress to the next level.”
“Doesn’t sound too difficult,” Jiang Guan remarked.
“No,” Zhou Ze replied, swallowing hard. “Each entry in the diary bestows new abilities upon the killer who hunts us… These abilities are also random, ranging from instant teleportation to transforming into the appearance of your companions.” Beads of cold sweat covered his face. “Moreover, the locations where the diary pages spawn are also randomized. This patch is incredibly challenging. Unless you have long-term cooperative teammates, it’s difficult to clear.”
Jiang Guan furrowed her brow.
Lin Zhaohe pondered for a moment and whispered to Jiang Guan, “Miss Jiang, can you burn the monsters?”
Jiang Guan shook her head. “No, I can’t.”
“Why not?” Lin Zhaohe couldn’t understand. If Jiang Guan could transform into her previous form, let alone the serial killer, he suspected she could devour the entire Boundary.
“Because each transformation requires enough energy from killing it to maintain my sanity. I’ve already transformed once, and I can’t guarantee a second time,” Jiang Guan explained. “Absorbing human energy is definitely not enough, not even killing the serial killer. If the energy is insufficient, I will go berserk and devour everything in sight.”
She smiled at Lin Zhaohe. “Mr. Lin wouldn’t want that to happen, right?”
Lin Zhaohe: “…” This group of people is truly unsafe.
“Next, we must separate and search for the missing parts of the diary,” Zhou Ze explained hesitantly. “Once found, we need to put the pages back… but each time we do so, the entity hunting us will undergo new changes. It’s best for everyone to agree on a fixed time to come back and place the pages together.”
“Will all the pages refresh at once, or will they appear one by one?” Zhuang Lao asked. This question was crucial.
“I’m not sure,” Zhou Ze couldn’t provide a definite answer.
At that moment, a countdown of seventy-two hours appeared above their heads, with five minutes already gone.
“Then let’s regroup every two hours,” Yun Yuzi suggested. “Those who find diary pages shouldn’t put them back immediately…” This way, they could avoid encountering unsolvable situations without preparation.
The group nodded in agreement and prepared to disperse to search for the lost diary.
Lin Zhaohe naturally teamed up with Zhuang Lao, and he entrusted Zhou Ze to Yun Yuzi, asking her to keep an eye on the young boy. The remaining children were handed over to Jiang Guan’s bodyguards, although they didn’t expect much help from them. Survival was the primary concern.
Yun Yuzi patted Zhou Ze’s head and said that the little boy should stick with his sister because she was formidable. Zhou Ze blushed and didn’t know how to respond.
The countdown continued, and soon everyone dispersed.
The forest was incredibly dense, with the ground covered in thick shrubs. It was thanks to the cane reimbursed by the boss, worth 3,200, that he was able to navigate through it.
Lin Zhaohe asked, “Boss, how big is this place?”
Zhuang Lao walked ahead and replied, “Since it’s a game, the map must be limited. No matter how big it is, it can’t be that vast.” He looked up and added, “There’s a house over there.”
True to his words, not far away stood an old cottage in the middle of the forest, emanating an ominous aura.
“Should we go and take a look?”
Zhuang Lao nodded in agreement.
The two of them approached the vicinity of the cottage and observed it before determining that there was no one inside. They decided to enter. The door of the house was unlocked and easily pushed open.
“Cough, cough, cough, cough.” The excessive dust triggered a fit of coughing from Lin Zhaohe.
“What’s this?” As soon as Zhuang Lao entered the house, he noticed something out of the ordinary. He walked forward and picked up a piece of paper. “Is this the first page?”
Lin Zhaohe leaned over to take a look and confirmed, “Impressive!”
They didn’t expect Zhuang Lao to have such good luck, finding the first page of the diary so quickly.
Joseph’s Diary, Page One.
My name is Joseph, and I am ugly in appearance. They all dislike me and call me a monster. My mother brought me to live in the forest, instructing me to wear a mask and never leave this house. I love my mother, and I’m willing to listen to everything she says. But they still hate me. They followed me into the forest. My mother cried all night and told me that those who came here are not humans but rabbits, despicable rabbits. I enjoy killing stupid rabbits the most.
After Lin Zhaohe finished reading the diary, he felt a gust of cold wind, and as he looked up, he noticed a tall figure outside the door that hadn’t been there before.
The person wore a pure white rabbit mask and held an axe in his hand. Through the door frame, his pitch-black eyes gazed hauntingly at Lin Zhaohe and Zhuang Lao inside the house.
“Bang!” A loud noise echoed as the sharp axe left a mark on the door. The already unstable wooden door was on the verge of collapsing after only a few strikes. This thing was about to come in.
“Run!” Lin Zhaohe shouted.
Fortunately, there was a back door in the house. After they ran out of the yard, they looked at Joseph, awakened by the diary. He didn’t seem to have any intention of chasing them. He held the axe and gazed at them from a distance, sending shivers down their spines.
At the same time, both of them heard a tearing sound, as if a page of paper had been ripped off.
“Oh no,” Lin Zhaohe said, “It seems that returning the diary is not the triggering condition.” The effect on the diary was activated the moment they picked it up, and the second page of the diary appeared simultaneously. If that’s the case, it would be troublesome because only the person who found the diary could know its contents. Without knowing the diary’s contents, they wouldn’t be able to anticipate the changes in Joseph.
“We’ll have to take it step by step,” Zhuang Lao pondered. “No need to worry about Jiang Guan and the others, but those kids…”
Lin Zhaohe sighed.
As one of the children, Zhou Ze felt numb all over.
He initially thought that Yun Yuzi, being a girl, would pace herself and he would be able to keep up. But it was simply wishful thinking. She dashed for an hour straight, only pausing for five minutes when they heard the sound of paper tearing, without even drinking a sip of water.
“Has that thing appeared? Did someone find the diary?” Yun Yuzi communicated with Zhou Ze while maneuvering through the bushes. She knew that this child was an experienced player and would be more knowledgeable about the game.
“Hmm…” Zhou Ze said, “It seems that the triggering condition is not returning it but rather the moment it’s in your hands.”
Yun Yuzi: “So the second page has also refreshed, right?”
Zhou Ze: “Yes, there was a ‘beep’ sound.”
“Keep searching,” Yun Yuzi said. “We’re already five kilometers away from where we started.” She glanced at Zhou Ze and added, “I’ve slowed down. Can you keep up?”
Zhou Ze gasped for breath and reluctantly nodded.
“That’s good,” Yun Yuzi said. “We haven’t reached the game’s boundary but… Who’s that?” Her steps suddenly halted.
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