From Feng Wenxuan's extremely grim expression, it wasn't hard to guess how he felt at that moment. However, the fact that he had concealed some information caught Chen Mo off guard. After all, every clue provided by the story might be subtly linked to cracking the final killing intent. Missing these clues could create a highly disadvantageous situation for the participants!
But at this point, rather than blaming Feng Wenxuan for his selfishness, what concerned Chen Mo more was the third piece of information—the one that stood out from the other two.
What exactly had Feng Wenxuan done to be judged as violating the rules of this cursed game?
Would there be a penalty from the game for breaking the rules?
Unfortunately, the text message didn't provide any of the answers Chen Mo desperately wanted. Human fear often stems from the terror of the unknown, and the horror radio station repeatedly exploited this, fully amplifying the story's eerie atmosphere.
Could it be that upon receiving this cursed game, one must start playing immediately, and delaying triggers a rule violation?
Or perhaps Feng Wenxuan's rash decision to discard his phone had triggered the story's killing intent?
After some thought, Chen Mo's gaze finally settled on Feng Wenxuan, whose face was full of worry.
"Take out your phone. There's no escaping it now."
The discarded phone had returned to Feng Wenxuan's possession. This outcome wasn't entirely surprising; Chen Mo had never believed this cursed game could be solved so easily.
And Feng Wenxuan was just the beginning!
If they couldn't figure out how to end the game, then all participants drawn into the story would eventually be killed by the curse, one by one.
After a moment of hesitation, Feng Wenxuan finally opened his phone, his face pale, and placed it in front of Chen Mo.
"Look, this is it."
As the phone powered on, the game's signature electronic music began to play.
Yes, it was the same music the three of them had heard in the hallway!
As the music flowed, the screen gradually lit up, revealing the same pixelated game screen from the preview—a tranquil village scene.
But this time, a new pixel character appeared at the bottom of the screen, and it could actually be controlled by the participant.
Guiding the character through the village, with the gentle electronic music and beautiful scenery, who would have thought that this seemingly simple role-playing game was actually a terrifying curse capable of killing people in bizarre ways?
Just as Chen Mo was marveling at this, the character controlled by Feng Wenxuan reached the edge of the village. At the end of the path, two NPCs dressed like villagers blocked his way.
At the same time, two lines of dialogue appeared on the screen.
"No one is allowed to leave the village until the ritual is complete."
"Guest, please go back."
So, the character controlled by the participant wasn't a resident of this village.
And the hint about not being able to leave before the ritual—did it imply that we participants couldn't leave this world until the story was finished?
After talking to various characters in the village, they roughly understood the game's plot.
The village in the game was called Cloud Come Village. In this peaceful village, an ancient legend was said to circulate: the well behind the village connected to a terrifying cave, which was supposedly the entrance to hell. To prevent demons from hell from entering the human world, a ritual had to be held every three years to seal the cave; otherwise, the darkness within would surge out and engulf the entire village.
After learning the game's story from the NPCs, the two guards moved aside, clearing the blocked path. Following this path, the pixel character controlled by the participant finally reached the area behind the village. The atmosphere here was starkly different from the earlier tranquility, filled with many tombstones.
And at the end of the path stood the well mentioned in the story!
Even though it was just a game screen, and an old pixelated one at that, the eerie background of the story still sent a chill down their spines!
Feng Wenxuan was the most anxious, but with no other choice, he gritted his teeth and guided the character to the well.
"This is a bottomless well, exuding a mysterious aura."
After investigating the well, this message appeared on the screen. Soon, Chen Mo's attention was drawn to some stone statues around the well!
Their shapes were completely different from the tombstones, making them easy to distinguish. When Feng Wenxuan investigated one of the statues, his face suddenly turned ashen, and he let out a startled cry.
A new message appeared on the game screen.
"This stone statue has gained its soul."
"Zhou Xiaomi"
Zhou Xiaomi...?!
Not just Feng Wenxuan, but even Chen Mo and the others were shocked when they saw the name on the screen.
Because that was the name of the deceased they had seen in the apartment—the first victim killed by the cursed game!
The name of someone who died in reality had appeared in the game.
"So, does this mean... those killed by the cursed game have their souls pulled into the game?"
At this thought, everyone's faces showed expressions of horror.
Did the dead truly have souls, and were those souls dragged into the curse?
Ding-dong. Just then, a notification sound came from the phone.
"By investigating the Statue of the Dead, you have obtained the item 'Wind Shield'!"
"Huh? What's this?"
Seeing the new prompt in the game, Feng Wenxuan's eyes lit up. But when he tapped the screen a few times, he found that the Wind Shield item could only be viewed in his inventory and had no apparent function.
Of course, it didn't become a usable item for the participants in reality, as he had hoped.
After this segment of the story concluded, the phone screen went black again and automatically returned to the village.
"This game really does seem suspicious..."
-- PS, thanks to Feiyu Ruoqing, the increasingly round dumpling, Ji Ji, and the reader for their tips. Thank you.