Chapter 12: The Unchangeable Ending

Qin Dan barely slept all night, and when he woke in the early morning, he was utterly listless.

First, it was the soul-shaking scream from Wei Congxin, then the incessant banging and crashing sounds from the neighboring room, and finally, the knocking on his own door that continued all night long.

Knocking, my ass!

Did that stupid, monstrous thing outside get stuck on a loop at my door? Did it refuse to leave, or did it get so riled up next door that it had to come vent its anger at my doorstep?

Even Qin Dan, who had remained remarkably composed, was beginning to grow irritable.

He might call himself a veteran player, but that was only compared to the few pure newbies experiencing their first game. Within the broader player hierarchy, he was still a beginner who had just stepped over the threshold.

However, his naturally cautious disposition and his ruthlessness had given him a modicum of self-preservation skills.

But in this instance, he felt completely at a loss for how to proceed.

It was said that players dragged into the [Sinless Abyss] game would face a particularly unique instance around their third to fifth one. The difficulty would spike, but the rewards would be greater. He wondered if this was what he was experiencing now.

Qin Dan went straight to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, trying to jolt himself awake.

“This mirror… why does it feel a little strange?”

He looked up, staring at the mirror with a nagging feeling that something was off.

But if you asked him what was strange, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Was the mirror surface a bit blurry?

Qin Dan frowned. He didn’t simply dismiss it as a hallucination born of mental fatigue; he filed the observation away in his mind.

Forgoing the rest of his morning wash, he returned directly to his room and sat on the bed to wait.

Thump, thump—

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. “Guest, it’s time for breakfast.”

Qin Dan, whose nerves had been frayed by a whole night of knocking, nearly leapt up on the spot, ready to slap the talisman clutched in his hand onto whoever had arrived.

After a moment, he regained his composure and forced a stiff smile. “Alright, I’ll be right there.”

“Sorry for the disturbance.” The person outside departed.

Qin Dan took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions. Today was the second day of the instance, and he needed to be even more cautious.

The instance had probably undergone some changes. The woman’s voice that had just knocked was clearly not the same housekeeper from yesterday. He had no idea if she was human or ghost.

“Wei Cong! Wei Cong! Are you still alive in there?!”

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Yan Shanque frantically hammering on Wei Congxin’s door. Zhang Bing was also there, standing beside her, seemingly poised to kick the door in.

It made sense; Wei Congxin and Yan Shanque were close in age and had likely investigated together yesterday, building a rapport.

Thinking this, Qin Dan’s expression turned sorrowful as he walked over. “Ah, Brother Wei, could it be that he…”

He trailed off, but everyone understood his implication.

After all, Wei Congxin’s bloodcurdling scream last night had been loud enough for the entire floor to hear, and it had been followed by dead silence. Everyone present understood the likely outcome.

“You lived next door to him. What did you hear?” Zhang Bing asked.

Qin Dan shook his head. “I’m not entirely sure. I was afraid of hearing things I shouldn’t, so I sealed the window and door cracks. Aside from his scream, I only heard crackling sounds, like something burning, and the knocking on my own door. Did any of you have someone knock on your doors?”

Yan Shanque, still in a state of shock, nodded. Zhang Bing shook his head.

Yan Shanque was in the first room, Qin Dan in the fourth, and Zhang Bing in the sixth.

Could it really be happening in order?

Qin Dan decided to ask Lin Yujing and Zou Zihao to get the full picture.

“Should we… check Wei Congxin’s room first?” Yan Shanque still clung to a sliver of hope.

“Let’s take a look. If he can be saved, we’ll save him. But be careful when we open the door, and remember to stay far back,” Qin Dan cautioned.

Zhang Bing took the lead. Without much hesitation, he slammed his foot against the door. Despite his considerable strength, it took several powerful kicks before the door budged open a crack.

“This…” Zhang Bing, the first to enter, froze, his face a mask of unconcealed shock.

“What is it? Is Brother Wei…” Qin Dan’s question died in his throat as the scene inside the room petrified him.

The solid wood door that had appeared flawless from the outside was completely carbonized on the inside from intense heat. A single touch left a hand blackened and crumbling. The floor, walls, and furniture were all charred pitch-black, unrecognizable.

There were even some residual ashes of unidentifiable objects, still radiating heat. The entire room was filled with a choking, noxious gas.

No one could have survived a fire like that.

Yan Shanque’s eyes widened, her voice trembling. “No way… how could this be…”

“Sigh, may the departed rest in peace,” Qin Dan sighed. “For now, the only thing we can do is ask Lin Yujing again and see if he has any information. At the very least, we can’t let Brother Wei’s death be a complete mystery.”

He was deeply saddened but forced himself to rally. He steeled his nerves and went to knock on the neighboring door belonging to Lin Yujing.

Thump, thump, thump—

The first series of knocks met with no response.

The three exchanged glances. Qin Dan knocked a second time.

Still no response.

A terrible premonition settled over Qin Dan. Just as he raised his hand for a third knock, before his knuckles could even land, the door was yanked open violently from within.

“Um, do you know if Brother Wei…”

Wei Congxin, closest to the door as the one with the lowest status and the one forced to open it, was stunned. “Huh? What about me?”

Qin Dan blurted out, “How are you still alive?”

Wei Congxin was baffled. “What, am I supposed to be dead or something?”

As soon as he said it, he seemed to remember something. He brought his index finger to his lips, but before he could shush them, another gloomy voice sounded from within the room.

“You’re all so noisy!”

The key copy figure Pearl, looking extremely displeased, walked out from behind him. “If you’re this noisy, why didn’t you do it last night?”

Perhaps it was the result of being rudely awakened, but an aura of frosty chill radiated from him from head to toe, as if he were a walking air conditioner.

Qin Dan was forced to swallow the many questions on his tongue.

The final boss hadn’t appeared, and they had no clue about the side quest. No one present dared to offend him.

With that, the black-haired youth finally felt like he was in his own home. He gave a cold humph, feeling a bit more at ease.

“Alright, alright, don’t be angry, little friend. I gave you my bed and slept on the sofa all night. I’m not even angry. Now, go brush your teeth and have breakfast, you.” Lin Yujing emerged last. He had likely just washed up, as the ash-gray strands of hair framing his forehead were damp.

With a casual push back, the gesture revealed cool, sharp features bordering on severe.

Driven by the faintest twinge of guilt, Yin Luo reluctantly gave the man some face. He stopped taking his irritation out on the other players and went off to find Aunt Jing. The four remaining players then followed a servant to the dining room.

With an instance NPC present, the players couldn’t easily discuss information and could only wait for an opportune moment.

Trailing behind the group, Wei Congxin glanced at his door, which had been kicked open, puzzled. He remembered the door being broken since last night. How could he explain this?

“Where’s Zou Zihao?” It was only when they sat down in the dining room that Qin Dan realized someone seemed to be missing.

“There he is.” Zhang Bing jutted his chin out.

A short, stout man appeared from around the corner, his face dark. He looked exceptionally haggard after surviving the first night of the instance.

“Brother Qin, Brother Zhang.” He offered a greeting, then clammed up. His entire demeanor was a mixture of daze and dread for the unknown future.

His mental fortitude was worse than the two younger newbies.

Qin Dan mused to himself, but his expression was perfectly amiable as he asked, “You don’t look well. Did something happen last night?”

“Nothing, really. I just heard that silly kid yell his lungs out, and then there was that knocking on your door, Brother Qin. It kept me up all night.” Zou Zihao scratched his hair, releasing a cascade of dandruff like snowflakes. “I don’t know when this damn game will end. It’s making me more and more panicked.”

Qin Dan suddenly felt a loss of appetite and had no desire to ask him anything further.

Today, aside from the initial housekeeper, Aunt Jing, and Pearl, several other NPCs, seemingly servants and cooks, had appeared in the villa. But no matter how much the players probed, they gleaned no useful information.

The group realized that the instance world during the daytime was indeed a perfectly normal life of luxury in a manor. The bizarre and terrifying events only started at night.

The meal was eaten with everyone harboring their own hidden agendas, unable to swallow. Not only had the housekeeper not appeared, but even Pearl was nowhere to be seen. After their meal, the group found an empty, small meeting room and began to exchange information.

Upon learning that Lin Yujing had been the one to save Wei Congxin last night, the group fixed several scrutinizing glances on the ash-haired man.

“Looking at what?” Lin Yujing said lazily. “Getting me to lift a finger comes at a price.”

“What price?” Zou Zihao immediately pressed.

The ash-haired man gave him a slow, raking glance from head to toe and grinned. “A price you can’t afford.”

“You—!” Zou Zihao was instantly infuriated.

He just knew it. A dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory. He detested people like Lin Yujing, who used their wealth and a modicum of ability to look down on others.

And that Wei Congxin was an idiot too. A problem that could have been solved by unlocking a window, and he had to go and sell his life to someone else.

What rules, unbreakable windows, fire—it was probably all just excuses he made up to save face because he was such a coward.

Zou Zihao grew increasingly agitated.

“Alright, alright, let’s put this aside for now. Let’s talk about the main quest first.” Qin Dan felt like he was back on the first day, with Lin Yujing sarcastically provoking everyone, and his role was again that of the mediator. “I might have a lead on the main quest, [Investigate the Past of this House].”

The ash-haired man stretched out his hand in an inviting gesture. “Do tell.”

“I suspect that in the past, a fire broke out in this villa for some unknown reason. No one escaped; everyone burned to death here. So, the further time progresses, the closer we get to the incident point. For example, on the first day, there was only the housekeeper and the little young master. Today, more ‘people’ have appeared.” Qin Dan looked around at everyone. “If we can’t clear this instance beforehand, we will inevitably face that great fire.”

As soon as he finished, there was no movement from the main quest, and that irritating quest notification didn’t appear.

“It seems it’s not complete enough. As expected, this game won’t be that simple.” Qin Dan hadn’t held much hope anyway and sighed. “But a connection to a fire is almost certain. We’d best start making preparations early.”

A riverside villa, burned to the ground with everyone inside—it was quite ironic indeed.

Wei Congxin remained shaken, reminded of last night’s flames and his own charred-black room. “Can we prevent it in advance? Like, find the source, prepare fire extinguishers, or just stay in the swimming pool?”

“These are the game’s rules,” Qin Dan shot him down. “Game rules can never be changed, just like the laws of physics. You can alter how the rule affects you, like leaving this place early to avoid a death trap. But you can’t change its essence: that great fire will inevitably ignite when the time comes, and it will burn everyone still inside the villa to death.”

“This…”

It was completely unchangeable?

“And most importantly, our goal is to complete the main quest. Only by finishing it can we leave this world. Even if we survive the fire, it’s useless otherwise,” Zhang Bing added.

“Then what about the others here? The key copy figures, that Pearl… we know so much now. Can’t we tell them and help them survive?” Wei Congxin still refused to give up.

“Can’t you just mind your own business? Why do you have to stick your nose into everything?” Zou Zihao was growing annoyed.

“It’s impossible, or rather, it can’t be done,” Qin Dan stated. “They might currently wear the memories and instincts of a person, but unfortunately, the side quest prompt has already told us what they are—’Special Ghosts.’ They died long before our arrival. Telling them anything ahead of time could trigger unpredictable changes and end up dragging us down with them.”

“Do not empathize with any NPC, especially these kinds of figures who have already died. Because you can’t change the outcome of their deaths, and you can’t stay here yourself.”

Zhang Bing swept his gaze past Lin Yujing, finally resting his eyes on the now-pale Wei Congxin. “In my last instance, I had a teammate who felt sorry for an NPC child who had been tortured and killed. He protected that child for days. But when we reached the final moment of the main quest, that kid remembered the fact of his death, suddenly underwent an Aberration, and went on a crazed killing spree, murdering every living person he saw. I was the only one who survived.”

“Have you ever considered that this little young master… might just do the same?”

Wei Congxin’s mind was a churning mess. He couldn’t find the words to respond for a moment.

He turned his head, looking at Lin Yujing, who had interacted the most with Yin Luo, wanting to see his reaction.

He found that the man’s face showed not a single trace of sadness.

It was as if he hadn’t heard the conversation, or as if he had long been thoroughly familiar with these matters and simply didn’t care.

The ash-haired man was still observing a ceramic ornament in his hand, no different from the moment they had first met him.

So… this is what it means to be a player?

Is this a true player?

Wei Congxin’s mind was a complete blank.