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Published at 15th of September 2021 12:10:09 PM


Chapter 33

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Chapter 33 ~ Fourth Game Pt.4 ~

Gu Yian’s investigation method was basically conducted through a chat program.

When she had first come to school, starting her first year, the atmosphere in the dormitory was still okay and everyone went in and out together, participating in club activities together, and it was unavoidable that some strangers whose names she didn’t even know would be added.

Gu Yian made notes on the surnames and positions of all the strangers, such as the president of the basketball club or the members of students life in the Student Union.

This time, Gu Yian wanted to know news and so she picked out the people she believed were well-informed among these strangers, sent them an early message, and before the other party responded she immediately sent her thanks.

Her actions could be counted as presumptuously bothering people, so she was already grateful if they replied to her.

After class, Gu Yian slipped into the dense human crowd and came to the library.

She arrived at her designated seat in the library and sat down, checking the replies from those people one by one again, and summarized the information.

The replies of these people were divided into two categories. One was that they recognized who Gu Yian was and some of them hurriedly slipped away, not replying to Gu Yian again, while others said what they knew only after they carefully sounded out Gu Yian.

The other category didn’t recognize Gu Yian at all and they all wondered why they added this person. But most of them replied if they knew something.

Among these responses, one member of the Student Union stood out.

He knew a lot and was willing to share it with Gu Yian. Furthermore, his information was more comprehensive than the others.

And so Gu Yian also closed the other chat windows and intended to begin from this member of the Student Union.

This Student Union member was very well-informed. He recognized Gu Yian and told her that the ex-boyfriend of her late roommate, Zhou Yaling, and his new girlfriend already died the day before yesterday. Moreover, a total of four people died the day before yesterday and they all died without playing Spirit Pen.

The day before yesterday?

Gu Yian realized why her counselor called her over yesterday.

No wonder her counselor even gave her a talisman and called her today to remind her. It turned out it was because those two people died the day before yesterday, making the counselor worry that Gu Yian, as the only person alive between these two dorms, would get attacked out of revenge.

It was also no wonder the school management invited a senior monk over, not only to see her, but also because her former roommate had become a demon.

This demon could also kill people without needing to be summoned by a Spirit Pen.

After the Student Union member revealed these to Gu Yian, he asked with extreme curiosity if Gu Yian had an incredible magical weapon of protection and if she could provide a distributor because he also wanted to buy one.

Gu Yian saw this and guessed that this was reason the Student Union member would disclose information to her.

Actually, Gu Yian’s impression of this Student Union member was stopped on how he was a volunteer who offered volunteer services to freshmen at the beginning of the school year.

He was friendly and loved to help others. He even wanted to pull Gu Yian into the Student Union, but was rejected by Gu Yian later.

At that time, the Student Union member had said that if he pulled Gu Yian into the Student Union he might be able to attract more young men, attracted by beauty, into the Student Union, and this would be in line with the recruiting task assigned to him by the president.

Gu Yian appreciated his candidness, but had no interest in the Student Union and so she didn’t sign up in the end.

Naturally, the Student Union member didn’t force her.

These things made Gu Yian have a pretty good impression of this person; moreover, this time he didn’t doubt her and even helped her, and so Gu Yian replied that a protective talisman was very effective.

Gu Yian couldn’t tell him about the props she obtained in God’s Game.

Luckily, the protective talisman her counselor gave her yesterday really was effective as it was able to detect Lu Zize at her side. So, Gu Yian revealed the protective talisman to the Student Union member.

She didn’t say that it was her counselor who gave it to her, only that a friend gave it to her. She would help him ask where he could buy one later.

This chat took ten minutes before Gu Yian’s gaze returned to the notebook on the study table.

At this time, the notebook had already opened automatically without anyone present, but no one around her noticed its movement.

It was unknown whether it was because everyone was studying and not looking in Gu Yian’s direction or because the notebook blocked their senses.

Gu Yian saw that there was a line of words on the inner page of the notebook.

“He wants to sleep with you.”

Was he talking about the Student Union member?

Gu Yian raised her pen and wrote one word underneath.

“Nonsense!”

The other person had been talking business with her, alright!?

After Gu Yian wrote her word, the notebook seemed a little moody.

It didn’t respond.

In the past, it would always respond to Gu Yian and, in addition, it would respond very quickly. However, this time, it even closed itself.

Before, it was Gu Yian who would close the notebook but now it actually closed itself.

It was inexplicably throwing a tantrum.

Gu Yian ignored the notebook and continued to communicate with the Student Union member through the chat program.

The other person sent another message to Gu Yian.

“The school invited a senior monk today to exorcise evil spirits. They said it was a religious exchange, but it’s actually to hold a ritual.”

Gu Yian knew this piece of knews, she had even met the senior monk.

If she didn’t guess wrong, the old monk she saw before class today was the senior monk who came to exorcise evil spirits.

Gu Yian replied, “I saw that senior monk today.”

The other party immediately sent a message.

“So he actually went to see you, and here I was wondering why you suddenly asked me for news today. You should have come to me for information sooner.”

The Student Union member was quick with his thoughts. From Gu Yian’s act of looking for him, he inferred that Gu Yian’s role in these deaths was an innocent passerby.

Gu Yian didn’t reply to the other party’s words about going to him sooner.

But the Student Union member’s message came again immediately. He asked what Gu Yian was doing and whether or not she was afraid that she might be hurt by the demon.

Gu Yian didn’t want to talk about her thoughts with him and so she directly said no.

After a while, the other person sent another message and asked if Gu Yian wanted to know about other deaths, since he still knew several.

Of course Gu Yian wanted to know.

Once Gu Yian said she still wanted to know about those deaths, the Student Union member did not reply for a long time.

Gu Yian didn’t press him. She played a small game on her phone and occasionally glanced at the notebook.

It laid there quietly, like someone sulking very hard.

Why was Lu Zize’s temper so weird today?

Gu Yian felt it was strange.

She was a little suspicious about whether or not Lu Zize was doing something behind her back.

Gu Yian reached out, wanting to touch the notebook, but the entire notebook slid a distance away, avoiding her hand.

The notebook was deliberately avoiding her. Gu Yian understood this point.

So, she also just put her attention back on her phone.

What Gu Yian didn’t know was what was happening in an office building a few hundred meters away.

The counselor who Gu Yian called Professor Huang looked at the open notebook on her desk and then raised her head to look at her colleagues who completely ignored the actions on her side.

Her colleagues chatted in the office as usual, but they ignored her entirely.

The counselor looked at the notebook with fear and subconsciously lowered her voice to ask, “Who are you?”

A line of sharp yet controlled words appeared in the notebook.

“You can call me a demon.”

The counselor saw the word “demon” and raised her caution towards the notebook in front of her to the highest degree.

Demons were forever linked to evil.

According to rumors, they were hideous, greedy, and loved to devour human souls.

Currently, this demon appeared well-mannered, well-spoken, and communicative.

But this made the counselor even more vigilant.

She was afraid she would be deceived by this demon without even knowing it.

The counselor asked, “Do you have business with me?”

She didn’t believe a demon would come to her for no reason.

A new line appeared in the notebook, which proclaimed itself a demon.

“Let’s make a deal.”

The counselor refused without even needing to think about it. “Thank you, but no need.”

She didn’t need to imagine to know that the result of making a deal with a demon would be bad.

Another line of words emerged, as if the notebook didn’t hear her at all.

“I’ll revive your little sister.”

When the counselor saw those words, her body instantly stiffened.

The notebook actually knew!

It knew her little sister.

It might really know her secret.

The counselor’s lips moved like she wanted to say something, but she held it back.

Her face showed a struggle.

Time passed in seconds and minutes.

In the office, the conversations of her colleagues still steered clear of her.

The notebook didn’t speak and if it had been a person then, at this time, it must be a hunter waiting leisurely for his prey to throw itself into a trap. He was at ease, but there was a hidden murderous intent.

The counselor was alone in this small world.

“Okay.”

She was incapable of resisting the temptation that came from this demon and so she gave up her struggle.

The counselor asked, “How do I believe you can revive her?”

She looked at the notebook.

No words appeared on the notebook.

Her surroundings were quiet, without a sound.

The counselor gradually became suspicious. Was this self-proclaimed demon notebook just boasting?

No, wait.

The counselor saw a shadow cast on the inner pages of the notebook.

It was the outline of a person’s head.

The counselor jerked her head up.

She saw a beautiful girl, who lived only in her memories, standing in front of her desk.

The girl’s body blocked the light behind her, and this was where the shadow the counselor saw just now came from.

The girl looked at the counselor with a grin and said in a cute voice, “Big sister, I’ve been here for a long time, how come you’re only seeing me now?”

The counselor’s body trembled. After the initial shock in her eyes, pain and regret intertwined, and then in the end only the excitement and guilt that the girl could appear before her again remained.

“Qiao Qiao.”

The counselor shed tears without knowing.

She stood up, wanting to touch that person who only belonged in her memories.

But just when her hand was about to touch the girl, the girl’s figure faded and disappeared in front of her little by little.

No one in the office noticed the movements of the counselor’s side.

She stood there stiffly, looking at the place where the girl disappeared for a while, before finally looking at the notebook again.

“What are your demands?”

A new line of words appeared in the notebook.

“Protect Gu Yian.”

~~~

At the library.

Ten minutes later, Gu Yian received a table drafted by the Student Union member.

The events in the table were arranged in chronological order, including the number of deaths, identity of the deceased, and their corresponding method of death.

Every death was recorded, from the death of Gu Yian’s former roommate playing Spirit Pen more than two months ago up to the unidentified male corpse of yesterday.

The level of care in this table was extraordinary and, most importantly, the precise information on deaths that had been sealed by the school was the hardest to obtain.

Gu Yian felt that a simple word of thanks wasn’t suitable for person’s care at all.

But at this time she could only express her gratitude through the chat program.

The other person responded quickly, appearing to joke.

“Seeing as how I made this table, why don’t you treat me to a meal at the cafeteria? I’m a little hungry.”

When Gu Yian saw this message her eyes involuntarily moved to the notebook on the table.

It seemed the notebook was right on the mark.

The men Gu Yian used to meet who would tactfully ask her to have a meal like this generally had an interest in her and wanted to pursue her.

If the notebook hadn’t said those words earlier, Gu Yian might have replied and agreed. The other party’s request was too small.

However, the notebook had said those words and so Gu Yian unconsciously thought in that direction.

She didn’t have any thoughts about getting involved with a man and didn’t want to give the other person a signal that they could pursue her.

Gu Yian thought a little and then sent a message.

“I’ve been dieting recently, so I don’t go to the cafeteria anymore. I’ll see if I can get you a protective talisman.”

The other party had previously revealed their intention to buy a protective talisman, so she would see if she could help buy one.

After a beat, the other person sent a tearful and moved sticker, said he would trouble her then and would give her the money.

What Gu Yian wanted was this sort of direct and simple transactional relationship.

The other person didn’t pester her. Gu Yian gave a hint and he backed away.

She quite liked his sensible behavior.

Gu Yian glanced at the motionless notebook on the study table and inwardly thought that this Student Union member was far better than a certain notebook who sulked at a single word.

She left her seat and went to the corridor of the library to give her counselor a call.

She had always been a person of action and if something didn’t have to be postponed then she wouldn’t postpone it.

Gu Yian had just called and her counselor answered right away.

This speed made Gu Yian a little surprised.

“Oh, Yian, what’s the matter?”

The counselor’s voice, friendly as ever, came from the phone.

Gu Yian said politely, “Professor Huang, this is Gu Yian. May I ask where you bought the protective talisman you gave me yesterday? I felt calm after wearing it yesterday and, compared to usual, much more at ease. I would like to buy some for my family.”

She found an excuse.

Gu Yian was not completely lying, she planned on buying one for her brother, Gu Tianjing.

Gu Tianjing cleaned up in these few years, but he was still the devil incarnate in his bones. Gu Yian was a little worried he would get in an accident.

Regardless of how Gu Tianjing treated her before, right now he was the only relative she was concerned about in this world.

The counselor at the other end of the phone heard Gu Yian’s words and immediately asked if the protective talisman she gave Gu Yian yesterday lost its effect.

When Gu Yian was making the call she had considered that her counselor would discover the fact that her protective talisman had already been ruined.

She calmly narrated, “Yes, Professor Huang, that protective talisman turned into ashes for some reason and I’m afraid I will have an accident, so I would like to buy another talisman. If there are enough there, I also want to buy some for my family.”

The counselor listened to Gu Yian’s words and said, “I bought it at a Taoist temple. I remember you have no classes in the afternoon, but do you have anything scheduled? If you don’t, then I can take you there.”

“Okay, I’ll have to impose on you then, Professor Huang.”

Gu Yian gave her thanks and waited for the other side to hang up.

The counselor, who hung up at the other end of the phone first, looked at the notebook on her desk and said lowly, “You staying farther away from my student would be the best protection for her.”

In the counselor’s opinion, that Gu Yian’s protective talisman had lost its effect was entirely because of the notebook’s presence. She guessed this right by chance.

A new line of words appeared on the inner page of the notebook.

“I want you to protect her, so how could I hurt her?”

The counselor raised her guard even more after seeing these words.

Why did the notebook want her to protect Gu Yian?

It could bring the dead back to life by itself so, with this ability that defied the heavens and changed fate, a small thing like protection would be nothing difficult.

Was there something the notebook couldn’t handle?

That should be impossible.

Then was it because it didn’t want to appear in front of Gu Yian?

The counselor could only think of this possibility for the moment.

The more she thought about it the more she felt she was right.

A demon was definitely not an existence who would not ask for anything in return.

Was it protecting Gu Yian because it coveted her soul?

The counselor felt that the real intention of the demon’s words about protecting Gu Yian was to make her protect its food.

This was according to the counselor’s observation of Gu Yian for nearly two semesters.

Gu Yian was intelligent, hardworking, and a good student in the eyes of all the professors. Moreover, she was sensible, didn’t follow the crowd, and kind because she would firmly stop others from playing Spirit Pen.

Such a kindhearted and beautiful soul would move anyone.

Suddenly, without a sign, the notebook gradually became insubstantial and disappeared before the counselor’s eyes.

The counselor looked at the desk where the notebook disappeared and then moved her eyes past the desk to the place where the girl had existed before. Her eyes were filled with longing and self-blame.

“It’s my fault, Qiao Qiao. I’ll revive you.”

~~~

At the library.

When Gu Yian returned to her seat, she glanced at the notebook first.

The notebook was motionless and didn’t react at all.

Unexpectedly, Lu Zize was still angry?

But he wasn’t that sort of person.

Gu Yian felt more and more that something was wrong and she planned to pick up the notebook.

Just as her hand touched the notebook, her hand seemed to pass through the notebook for an instant but, in the blink of an eye, the notebook suddenly solidified and turned into an open state.

Gu Yian’s hand fell on the inner page of the open notebook.

Wait a minute, was the notebook at the very start an illusion?

Gu Yian was a little doubtful but, at present, it seemed that the instant she touched it the notebook suddenly opened, and so that was why she didn’t touch it at the start.

She only saw an extra line of words on the horizontal line of the page.

“Don’t touch me, I’m unhappy.”

Gu Yian withdrew her hand, harboring suspicions. Was the illusionary notebook she touched at the start just because the notebook didn’t want to be touched by her?

She had thought the notebook secretly snuck out, leaving an illusion here to deceive her.

Gu Yian was about to ask.

But a familiar sentence appeared again on the notebook.

“He wants to sleep with you.”

Without a doubt, “he” was referring to that Student Union member who chatted with Gu Yian.

This time Gu Yian couldn’t respond as calmly as before.

From the actions of that member later, he did seem to have this intention.

Gu Yian wrote a sentence below Lu Zize’s line of words.

“He probably wanted to pursue me.”

The notebook erased all the black letters on the page, including the words Gu Yian had just written.

Following this, letters made out of quick and powerful strokes appeared.

“You refused.”

Gu Yian wrote a sentence below.

“I refused.”

This time the writing in the notebook was a lot more natural and genuine. A new line of words appeared on it.

“He’s lucky.”

When Gu Yian saw this phrase she was speechless at first, but then she raised her eyebrows and thought of a matter.

Gu Yian wrote, “You weren’t here just now. Where did you go?”

If the notebook was here then, according to reason, it should have perceived the contents of her chat with the other person and it would know that she tactfully declined the other person’s invitation.

So, the notebook had been absent just now.

The notebook that had been domineering just now stayed quiet on the table. It chose to be silent.

~~~

The five players, including Brother Zhang, followed behind the senior monk and walked a lap around the campus.

It wasn’t until the senior monk entered a school building that the crowd dispersed.

But right as they left the Spirit Pen, which haunted them, caught up with the five of them again.

On the ground, a familiar pen appeared in front of them. They weren’t able to shake it off and they couldn’t shake it off.

Brother Zhang picked up the pen and felt the dangerous air on it. The Spirit Pen was indeed here.

Brother Zhang said to everyone, “Let’s go, we’re going to find Gu Yian.”

He didn’t let the other players hold the pen because he wasn’t at ease with them holding it. Life was something one had to hold for themselves.

Brother Zhang and the others had already scoped out the side entrance of the library in the morning.

They entered the library in the morning through the side entrance.

Everything had gone well except for one thing. They didn’t watch for Gu Yian in the morning.

The five of them were hiding from surveillance and it happened that, at this time, students were in class and so, when there were no passersby, they smoothly slipped into the library.

With near misses, they arrived at the floor where Gu Yian’s exclusive seat was located.

When they passed through, students glanced at them and just took them to be maintenance workers. But they were still shocked because how come the maintenance workers were dusty and miserable, with bloodshot eyes?

Brother Zhang and the others looked into the study room from a distance and suddenly found that there was no one in the seat that belonged to Gu Yian!

“Strange, she wouldn’t be avoiding us on purpose, would she?” The male player noticed this scene and spoke with disbelief.

Brother Zhang was a little disappointed. He had even thought about how he would act later, but who knew that Gu Yian wouldn’t be in the library at this time.

Not wanting to bump into someone and not bumping into them versus wanting to bump into them and yet not bumping into them were two completely different things.

The forums said that on weekdays, as long as Gu Yian didn’t have class, she would definitely be in the library.

Brother Zhang squeezed the pen in his hand, signalling to the Spirit Pen not to be impatient, and he whispered to the pen, “Something might have come up for her, we’ll look for her elsewhere.”

He thought for a moment. They couldn’t start from Gu Yian’s side for the time being, so it looked like they had to return to the vicinity of the dormitory to look for clues.

He said to the players, “Let’s go to the dormitory where we first came to this world.”

Gu Yian still didn’t know that the players had come looking for her.

She was even kept in the dark about the contents of her fourth game.

After she got the death list from the Student Union member, she quickly determined the direction she was to search in.

She would start from the source of these deaths, the Spirit Pen summoned by her roommates.

Although the table provided by the Student Union member didn’t mention the origin of the Spirit Pen, it was clear that the Spirit Pen was the key object of investigation.

It was the source of everything.

Gu Yian arrived at the school dormitory.

Although the building where she lived before was empty, there was still a housekeeper.

The previous housekeepers were dismissed, but this housekeeper was also an old staff member.

She recognized Gu Yian.

As the sole survivor of two female dorm rooms, Gu Yian was well-known among the housekeepers.

Furthermore, she was beautiful which made her even more memorable.

Gu Yian asked the housekeeper whether there were any deaths in that building before they arrived as new students.

“If someone else asked, I definitely wouldn’t say anything. But if you’re asking, then I’ll tell you.”

The housekeeper knew Gu Yian’s purpose in coming and she sighed before telling Gu Yian, “It’s what you think. Before you new students came, there was a death in this building. It was a girl called Huang Qiao.”

When Gu Yian heard this, she knew that this girl called Huang Qiao was most likely the Spirit Pen summoned by her former roomates at that time.

The housekeeper recalled, “She was a very beautiful girl. I heard that she was driven to death by rumors. I had no impression of her, I only know that she had an older sister. Her sister, after her death, even came to our school and seemed to become a counselor. She probably wants to investigate the specific cause of her sister’s death. I remember that this school never arranged any counselors before, and it was after this matter that they did. Mm, her sister even came to see us before, let me think, what was she called… Huang Ya. Yes, her older sister’s name is Huang Ya.”

The name Huang Ya felt familiar to Gu Yian.

Immediately, she had a reaction. This was her counselor’s name!

In an instant, Gu Yian had a guess. Could her roommates playing Spirit Pen have something to do with her counselor?





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