A bizarre resurrection: I, Yang Jian, am bound by a contract with the school beauty!

"No--!"

He let out a desperate roar and turned to run away.

But it was too late.

The instant his name was written, his body, like Pierre's, instantly turned to ashes.

the second.

……

the other side.

A player from the Sakura Kingdom is hiding in a dilapidated thatched hut.

He huddled in the corner.

He covered his mouth tightly with a rag, barely breathing.

He believed.

As long as you hide well enough and don't make any noise, you'll definitely be able to get away with it.

"rustle……"

A very faint sound of footsteps came from outside.

The players' hearts jumped into their throats.

He peered through a crack in the wall.

To my horror, I saw the figure in official robes walking slowly past the door with stiff steps.

It didn't stop, but went straight into the distance.

The player let out a long sigh of relief, and his whole body went limp.

"It's gone...it's gone..."

He was overjoyed, thinking he had escaped a terrible fate.

however.

In that very instant when he let his guard down.

The mud wall behind him suddenly became as transparent as water ripples.

That figure in official robes.

It actually passed right through the wall!

The player's relief froze instantly, replaced by utter horror!

He wanted to run away.

I want to shout.

But my body wouldn't obey me.

The ghost messenger had already opened the book.

After a while.

Inside the thatched hut, only a pile of clothes and dust remained.

The third.

……

A player from South Korea, he was a bit smarter than the others.

He did not choose to hide.

Instead, he kept moving through the fog, believing that as long as he didn't stop, the ghost couldn't lock onto him.

He even found a strange item left behind after a previous player died.

—A small mirror that reflects reality.

He ran.

While using a mirror to observe what's behind him.

Sudden.

He saw that figure in official robes in the mirror!

It was following me less than five meters behind!

The player was terrified. Without thinking, he hurled the mirror behind him!

"Go to hell!"

however.

The mirror, imbued with eerie power, appeared the instant it approached the ghost messenger.

It was as if it had hit a phantom.

It passed right through, crashed to the ground, and shattered into several pieces.

like water off a duck's back.

The player was utterly desperate.

He watched in the mirror as the ghost opened the book and wrote down his name.

next second.

His world descended into darkness.

the fourth.

……

Death is happening all the time.

The dozen or so players that Jack brought were being eliminated one by one at an alarming rate.

And from beginning to end.

They couldn't even figure out the ghost's rules for killing.

Is it making a sound?

Should we stop?

Or will it see it?

Neither seems to be the case.

Its killings seemed so random, so unreasonable.

……

Kyushu Command Center.

The atmosphere was extremely tense.

On the huge screen.

One by one, the signal sources representing the players are going out.

Each time the fire goes out, it represents the passing of a life.

"This is the fourth one..."

An analyst's voice trembled slightly.

"From the time the ghost messengers appeared until now, less than ten minutes have passed, and four of Jack's men have already died."

"Their deaths were exactly the same; after the ghost messengers wrote down their names, they instantly turned to ashes."

"We analyzed the entire process of the four deaths, but... we still couldn't find a common thread that triggered the murder rule."

Commander-in-Chief Li Jian frowned.

He stared intently at the replaying death videos on the screen.

"The first one, Pierre, is running away and is about to approach Qin Taotao's group."

"The second one is the player from the United States. He is hiding and in a static state."

"The third one is a player from the Sakura Kingdom. He is also hiding and thinks he has escaped the ghost messengers' detection."

"The fourth one is the South Korean player. He's moving and trying to fight back."

Li Jian's fingers tapped repeatedly on the table, producing a dull sound.

"They ran, they stood still, they hid, they fought back... they tried every behavioral pattern, but they all died."

"The only thing they had in common was that they were all separated from their teammates and died without any companions by their side."

A young staff officer couldn't help but speak up:

"Could it be... that the rule for killing is 'being alone'?"

"Uncertain."

Another senior analyst immediately retorted:

"This may just be a result, not a cause."

"They scattered in panic, and as a result, everyone was left alone."

"We cannot treat results as patterns."

"Exactly, what if the real rule is 'whoever opens the coffin dies,' or 'whoever betrays the team dies'?"

"Any wrong judgment we make now could kill Qin Taotao and the others!"

A heated debate broke out in the meeting room.

The appearance of the ghost messengers.

Its methods of killing are too bizarre and too unsolvable.

Even seasoned analysts like them were at a loss.

time.

Time is passing by, second by second.

On the screen.

The fifth and sixth signal sources also went out one after another.

"We can't wait any longer!"

Li Jian slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly, his eyes bloodshot.

"We can't finalize the rules, but we must tell the players on the front lines everything we've seen!"

"Connect with Qin Taotao!"

"Tell her everything about the deaths of all the victims—the circumstances of death, the manner of death, and their state at the time of death! Let her make her own judgment!"

"yes!"

……

In the thick fog.

Qin Taotao and the remaining players.

They stood back to back in a circle, warily watching their surroundings.

They didn't run around.

In the instant when the fog filled the air.

Qin Taotao immediately ordered everyone to gather together and not to leave each other by more than three meters.

It was this decision that temporarily saved them from disaster.

Just then.

Qin Taotao heard the urgent voice from the command center through her earpiece.

"Qin Taotao, emergency!"

"Jack and his companions encountered a vengeful ghost from a dungeon, codenamed 'Ghost Messenger'."

"The enemy is hunting down all lone players; six have already died."

"A common characteristic of the deceased is that... they died without any companions by their side."

The command center quickly described the deaths of Pierre and the others in the most concise language.

As she listened to the message coming through her earpiece, Qin Taotao's expression grew increasingly serious.

Alone...

All the victims were killed while alone...

An idea.

It flashed through her mind like lightning.

She suddenly remembered the ghost driver.

It once said something in a completely emotionless tone.

"Don't get out of being single."

then.

No one took that statement seriously, dismissing it as just another scare tactic used in the supernatural world.

But now...

Qin Taotao's pupils suddenly contracted!

Shadows are the most docile among people...

crowd!

Combined with the intelligence from the command center—all the dead were alone!

A crystal-clear answer instantly formed in her mind!

She took a deep breath.

Looking at his tense teammates, he spoke slowly in an unprecedentedly solemn tone.

"I see."

"I understand this ghost's rules for killing."

All eyes.

Everything focused on her instantly.

Qin Taotao's gaze swept over everyone, and she said, word by word:

"The ghost driver's hint, coupled with the way these people died... there's only one rule."

"Being alone means certain death!"