My Iyashikei Game C.964: The Ritual

A strange customer arrived at the bookstore in the middle of the village. His eyes were bloodshot like a beast was trapped in his body.

"Han Fei, don't you... need to rest?" Tragedy was dragged by Han Fei to the bookstore. As a player with supernatural talents, he had noticed the problem. When he was close to Han Fei, he could hear the wails of endless ghosts. Han Fei appeared to have killed more people than he had met!

At first, he thought he was mistaken, but as the greed intensified in Han Fei's eyes, he felt like he was staring into the abyss whenever he looked at Han Fei. The scariest thing was his soul felt like it was going to be eaten by Han Fei.

"Rest? Why? I'm perfectly fine." Han Fei came to the shelves where the 'frivolous' books were. In Yao Qiang's eyes, everything unrelated to studying was frivolous. These books were dark and creepy like they hid something dangerous.

"Arms would reach out of the books to drag the readers into the story books. I suspect Yao Qiang said that so that his son would focus on textbooks." Tragedy picked up a random detective novel. Fresh blood splattered his face as a rusted knife fell out of the book. "Damn!"

"Calm down. This is a normal detective novel. You can't say that it's violent because the victim was killed by a knife, right? Plus, isn't blood supposed to be red?" Han Fei took over the book and read through it. "Do you think a child would become a killer in real life after reading a crime novel?"

Tragedy shook his head. "I don't think so..."

"Then, do you think a child's mind would be distorted after seeing his father having an affair?" Han Fei placed the bloody book back on the shelf.

"An unfortunate childhood would indeed affect one's growth." Tragedy seemed to be reminded of his past.

"Some people are too arrogant to notice their mistakes and blame the horrible results on others." Han Fei looked at the books on the shelves. They became ghost stories in Yao Qiang's eyes. "When a person fails to find the reason on oneself, one would blame others. These novels would influence a child, but if he turned out to be a killer, we shouldn't check what he has read but the life he has experienced." Han Fei was like a demon out of the abyss. The shelf trembled, and the books fell. Arms reached out of the books to tear at Han Fei's soul. They wanted to pull him into the book, but they couldn't move Han Fei at all.

"The seventh layer is very special. At this place, desires will turn into ghosts and murder weapons. When the time is up, the real ghosts will consume everyone." Han Fei allowed the hands to pull him. He turned away. "There's a vicious setting in this nightmare. Thirty players entered the nightmare. When the countdown is close to over, people will turn on each other to survive. Survival becomes the biggest nightmare and the scariest ghost."

Tragedy shivered. "The more we want to survive, the scarier the ghost? Then, how much time do we have left?"

"The truth is hidden around the village. If we want to expose Yao Qiang's lies, we need to explore the supernatural events around the village. We mustn't fight them because once we do, we'll align with Yao Qiang's script and prove that these ghosts are dangerous." Han Fei explained the situation. Without him, the players wouldn't clear this village.

"I get it now. That's why you carried the boy out of the well! The boy was Yao Yuan's friend. If we didn't fight the boy, he would help us convince Yao Yuan that his father has been lying to him!" Tragedy said, "I'm shocked to know that this is the way to go around the exorcism."

However, knowing and doing were different. A normal player couldn't do what Han Fei did.

"Leave the exploration of the village to me. Head back to the villa and share my hypothesis with the other players. Tell everyone not to panic." Han Fei was scratched by the hands that clawed out of the books, but he still chatted with Tragedy calmly.

"Don't you need my help?"

"No." Han Fei grabbed one of the hands. "Even God can't shake my conviction." Han Fei used the power of greed. The hand failed to grab Han Fei but was pulled out by Han Fei! "They want to lure me, so I will eat them. That is fair."

Han Fei ignored the stunned Tragedy and headed to the next building. Yao Qiang only showed the players around a small part of the village. There were many places in the village that were unexplored.

Tragedy calmed down after a long time. He hurried back to the villa. As it neared midnight, the atmosphere in the villa darkened. When Tragedy returned, he saw some players wandering in the yard.

"Don't go anywhere else. The real ghost is inside the house." Tragedy whispered to the others so they wouldn't leave the villa to create trouble for Han Fei. The players were shocked to see the player captured by the ghosts return. However, some wondered if Tragedy was disguised by ghosts.

Trust was very important in the nightmare. The players would face many challenges. In the end, the players chose to trust Han Fei and Tragedy and stayed in the village. A small window in the loft was open. The eyes of the person behind the window darkened when they saw the players didn't enter the village to exorcise the ghosts.

"Do not fight the ghosts in the village. Once you do that, they won't help us capture the real ghost." Tragedy entered the villa and found his two teammates. He silently shared everything he had experienced with Han Fei. Hearing the story, even Xia Bing was shocked.

Once the normal players knew the exorcism mission, they started to explore the village. Then, they would encounter the ghosts. However, who could analyze the situation as calmly as Han Fei did?

The seventh layer was Yao Qiang's plan to have the exorcists remove the ghosts from the village for him. However, Han Fei's arrival changed everything.

Yao Qiang returned home at 11.50 pm. When he saw the players in the yard, he was furious. "Did I pay you to clean my yard? Did you not listen to me? The ghosts will possess my kid at midnight! Why are you still here?"

"If you care about your kid that much, why did you leave to answer phone calls when your son needs you the most?" Red Meat said honestly.

"Bunch of charlatans! You're not getting a single cent from me!" Yao Qiang put away his phone. He walked past the players. When he removed his shoes, the temperature suddenly dropped. The chill crawled up the players' spines. The dim lights of the villa flickered. Dark substances leaked out of the corners. They looked like blood.

Yao Qiang's leather shoes creaked on the old wooden floor. When he was on the second floor, Shi Hwa came out of the room. At that moment, the man's face was scary. "What were you doing in my wife's room?"

"I was worried about your wife. After all, wouldn't a mother be worried if their son was haunted?" Shi Hwa ignored Yao Qiang and planned to go down. Yao Qiang suddenly grabbed Shi Hwa. "Don't think you know everything! You have no idea how much I've paid!"

"Let go!" Xia Bing's voice appeared behind Yao Qiang. The other players gathered as well. As the situation was about to go out of control, a strange sound came out from Yao Yuan's room on the third floor. They rushed upstairs. When they pushed open the door, they were stunned.

Blood leaked out of Yao Yuan's face. His body was covered in talismans. With his toes on the ground, he was held up by some invisible power. The bells on the door chimed. The talismans started to bleed. The wind rammed around the wooden boards. The lights flickered. Whenever the house sunk into darkness, a new change would appear.

"Yao Yuan?" Yao Qiang shouted at the door. As he stepped into the room, blood trails appeared on Yao Yuan. Strange patterns ran underneath his skin. Yao Yuan's eyes filled with fear.

"When Yao Qiang entered the room with Han Fei earlier, Yao Yuan was scared of his father and not Han Fei?" Shi Hwa and Xia Bing saw everything. In Yao Yuan's eyes, his father was more horrifying than any ghosts.

"Don't be scared. Dad will save you! You are possessed!" Yao Qiang tried to hug his son, but Yao Yuan struggled madly. He was in extreme pain.

When it was five minutes to midnight, the gate opened. Han Fei walked out of the shadows. Behind him was a whole village of ghosts. Yin energy covered everything. They surrounded the old villa.

"The ritual is starting..."