Chapter 1993

Kid! You said that crucial camera was here? Are the ghosts here too!?

Where's the stuff!? Where's the ghost!?

In the studio, Qing Kai and the others coldly questioned Lin An, while the archer beside them was even more furious, his eyes locked on Lin An.

Just as their mission had begun, this kid who called himself Lin An acted all high and mighty, as if he knew everything, arranging for them to do things.

If it weren't for the fact that this kid's strength here was indeed somewhat greater than theirs, and that what he said sounded plausible, they and Lin An would have almost come to blows.

Lin An? You didn't say I would die here? And you told me to be careful about the camera screen? Not to see ghosts?

Where's the ghost? Don't talk about ghosts—I haven't seen half a person here! I suspect you're the ghost, deliberately luring us here to mislead us!

Wielding a broken axe he'd found in the apartment, the archer openly showed his hostility, as if Lin An would be attacked the next second if he couldn't explain clearly.

Good thing he'd been nervous to the point of exhaustion along the way, his mind full of images of his own death!

But after entering, nothing happened! Thinking that he'd actually believed Lin An's nonsense, he found it utterly ridiculous!

Lin An? Won't you explain?

You didn't even say at the start how you knew those things, which would have been fine, but when we got there, not only was there no camera you mentioned, there was nothing else either.

However, the diary you mentioned is here? We need an explanation; if it's not clear, don't blame us for suspecting you.

Compared to the archer's anger, which was somewhat better, the Golden Bull warily watched the silent Lin An.

He could see that Lin An, upon entering and discovering there was no camera, had a stunned expression that didn't seem feigned. But to them, no matter what, Lin An had become their biggest suspect!

I don't know.

But if you suspect I'm a ghost, go ahead and try to attack me!

Lin An lifted his head, indifferent to everyone's hostile gaze, and spoke coldly as well.

The shock in his heart was greater than anyone's! If the diary weren't still here, he would even doubt whether his own memory was false!

The camera was gone, the camera ghost wasn't there, and there was no sign of the sign having been trampled.

All the signs indicated that after the restart, some things had been changed—undoubtedly a huge blow to Lin An!

What is the greatest significance of a restart? It's to give him a margin for error, to let him avoid repeating past mistakes! But if even the timeline has been altered, what significance does a restart have!? It could even lead to serious misjudgment!

You!

Swords drawn and bows taut, the Golden Bull, who had originally wanted to ease tensions and was trying to listen to Lin An's explanation, couldn't help but step back, distancing himself from Lin An.

Exactly, if Lin An really had a problem—or even was a ghost—then it should be them who are afraid!

Seeing everyone both shocked and angry, Lin An couldn't be bothered to say more.

He had originally planned to first go find Jiang Haochen, but recalling that he and the others couldn't see ghosts, and that delaying taking the camera might let the camera ghost 'take' it, Lin An thus 'threatened' everyone to come here first, intending to take the camera and then talk.

But the camera was gone, and he couldn't immediately find the source of the problem. So he didn't intend to waste time here; he still had to go find Jiang Haochen!

Without hesitation he turned and left the room; before departing, he thought it over and still turned back to throw out a line:

Qing Kai, if you still want to save your people, then follow me!

Gusman, if you're willing to go, I'll take you with me! Of course, you can also stay here, and I'll return to fetch you!

Having said that, Lin An left without looking back, leaving only a few people with grim faces standing where they were.

Lord Qing Kai, should we follow him?

No way! This guy obviously has a problem—he's just like those 'things' in supernatural missions that mislead people!

Maybe, perhaps there's something in the apartment we haven't found, or maybe there's something wrong here; we need to get out of here quickly!

Everyone talked at once, with Qing Kai as the core; aside from Gusman, who remained silent, lost in thought, at this moment both the archer and the others all voiced their opinions.

Lin An is too eerie; although Lord Qing Kai seems to recognize this kid, he might possibly be possessed by a ghost!

Faced with everyone's various ideas, Qing Kai also furrowed his brow, no matter how he thought, he couldn't figure out what was going on.

If Lin An meant to harm them, they should have run into trouble.

If it was meant to mislead, Lin An didn't actually say anything, and they had their own judgments.

The diary is indeed here...

In Qing Kai's troubled mood, there was one point that differed from everyone else.

Vaguely, he had come up with a certain speculation.

(Lin An, a lowly civilization on Earth, his being able to enter this mission itself is strange. Combined with the fact that another person from their civilization also accidentally entered here...)

(Could it be that the guy named Andre is hiding some information, and he told this Lin An who is a Fourth Stage? Moreover, that monkey's strength is greater than ours—did he already know what's in the mission before entering, and did he prepare something?)

The speculation that best fits logic.

Qing Kai's eyes flickered; after a moment, his heart hardened, and he resolutely made a decision:

Follow him!

That kid definitely knows something!

Follow him? My lord.. this!?

Jiang Haochen, do you mean I'm already dead?

I.. am standing right beside you?

Thirteen minutes later, inside a small building, Lin An looked rather shocked at Jiang Haochen, his right hand unconsciously reaching toward the empty air beside him.

He had found Jiang Haochen and the others, or rather, Jiang Haochen, under 'his' guidance, had directly run into them.

Two people—no, three people—avoided the others and stood on the rooftop, their hearts filled with complex feelings, not knowing what to say.

Through Jiang Haochen conveying another of his own words, Lin An already knew that he had partially merged into the instance, and that the camera had also been taken by 'himself'.

Lin An, don't touch it. You can't reach it.

Zhang Tie has tried this many times already—if you can't see it, you can't touch it. It seems only I can touch it...

Jiang Haochen gave a bitter smile, turned his head to glance at the Lin An on his left, then involuntarily glanced at the Lin An on his right. If he weren't seeing two Lin Ans, he would really think he was hallucinating.

This feeling is truly too eerie.

How about this: you guys chat first, say what you want to do, and I'll relay messages in the middle.

After a long silence, Jiang Haochen cautiously broke the quiet.

Lin An nodded, suppressing the indescribable emotions in his heart, and simply spoke his thoughts first:

Since the camera matter was taken by you, that means the timeline hasn't changed.

Next, the back-head ghost will start hunting us; my idea is to immediately gather everyone and go straight to the exit to try to finish the mission!

While the back-head ghost hasn't appeared yet and we haven't made the mistake of cutting flesh to attract it like last round, let's go for a quick battle! First, test out the final killing method!

Hearing another one of his own ideas, the ghost Lin didn't object; he thought the same.

Testing is fine, but the problem is how to test it.

There are many possibilities for the headless ghost's killing in the final scene; one is to let us see our own heads, think our heads have fallen off, and kill via cognition.

That's easy to test: just close your eyes and rush past.

Who will lead the charge? It's hard for one person; if we all close our eyes, we can't test many times. Plus, it's easy to accidentally hurt others.

Let Jiang Haochen lead alone! As long as he doesn't get close to the final spot, he should be fine! Moreover, you and I can assist him to rush through the first half; in the second half his strength recovers, and he can escort people through!

Okay, then the second logic for the headless ghost's killing is location. It's also possible that when we get close to the final step of the exit, the skull ghost naturally revives and then kills directly!

Under this logic there are two possibilities: one is that the skull ghost appears at that moment, which is also our only chance to kill it! I think the camera might have been used then! One person holds the camera and follows behind, another person goes to test!

As long as the camera captures a second head, just chop it off!

Exactly, this logic is very likely; we finally touched a rotten face, showing the skull ghost's appearance differs from our true form!

But this logic has a problem: when the skull ghost appears, where is our own head?

Have you seen our heads?

Could it be that even if we chop off the skull ghost after it appears, we still need to find our own heads first? Otherwise, no matter how firmly we believe our heads are still there, cognitively we can't bear it.

You're right—no head means no life; Andre already tested that. We can't stay alive after realizing our heads have been cut off. At the very least we need to see them, or even reattach them!

So...

The two Lin Ans converse from a distance, while Jiang Haochen relays messages and feels his scalp going numb.

One person and one ghost discuss other ghosts, then solemnly chat about where their heads are. If a fourth person were present, just listening to this conversation would likely drain their sanity completely.

Seeing both Lin Ans furrow their brows, simultaneously thinking about where their heads are.

Jiang Haochen took a deep breath and weakly voiced his idea.

Um... Lin An, ghost Lin...

You didn't say I saw my head fall off, and also saw my own head?

You didn't see it—maybe you died too fast, as if both logics exist.

When we reach the final exit, the skull ghost appears automatically; within a very short time there are two lethal conditions: seeing your head kills you, and if you don't immediately chop off the skull ghost but instead look for your own brain, you also die!

Your heads are likely nearby as well, and...

Jiang Haochen took a deep breath and spoke an extremely bold guess:

You say, is it possible that I now have dual-head cognition and can restore my strength? I just need to bring your flesh and rush the door, and I could directly complete the mission!?

When I see the head, I will immediately chop off the skull ghost on my neck, then hug my own head and rush the door!

My cognition is complete! At this stage of the mission, I feel the difficulty has become perverse to the extreme!

Think about it: if it weren't for your reboot, and the other ghost version of you hadn't seen the last message on the TV, realizing the dual heads. You two even exchanged the information from three rounds—no, two rounds—on one side! This mission we've already been totally wiped out; there's not even a hint of hope left!

So perhaps the mission difficulty is just like this, with no other logic existing!

After the words fell, Lin An froze, but soon both Lin Ans shook their heads and looked in unison at Jiang Haochen:

There is such a possibility, but we can't be careless.

Our current strongest combat power is us three, especially you, Jiang Haochen. Your strength and ability are the biggest guarantee! Without testing other possibilities first and just letting you gamble, the risk is too great!

Exactly, we still need to test other logics first!

Hearing Lin An refute himself, Jiang Haochen silently sighed, also knowing Lin An didn't want him to bear the risk.

Indeed, if they failed, they would truly all die here.

But watching the two Lin Ans continue their discussion, Jiang Haochen couldn't help but sneak a glance at the ghost Lin.

After one and a half minutes, the plan was set.

Lin An, somewhat fatigued, rubbed his brow and looked toward the air.

The testing steps are roughly like this.

Now there are only two problems: how to persuade them to accept the test, and personnel arrangement.

No matter which round of testing, the person charging the door must carry our bodily tissue; doing so would greatly advance the time the back-head ghost hunts us, meaning we could be attacked at any moment.

Any logic could exist.

Once the door charge succeeds, the mission is considered over.

If the first person can succeed, then as long as that person carries everyone's flesh and blood out, they all count as completing the mission.

Therefore, for Lin An, while it would be best for him to finish the mission first and reap the most rewards, the primary consideration is whether it can be done at all.

If a mishap occurs—say the plan is correct but we fail to rush through afterward—that would be bloody bad luck, wasting an opportunity for nothing.

Strength and time are limited; Lin An dares not guarantee he can repeatedly fight his way to the exit.

As for persuasion...

It's a hassle. Now Qing Kai and the others don't believe us; although that's normal, they definitely won't listen to us.

Let them test first; they probably find it hard to accept being beheaded. Not suspecting us of deliberately harming them would already be good.

But if we let them test later, or even have them follow suit after success, then only Zhang Tie and Gao Tian can go first. Yet who will block the back-head ghost?

Frowning slightly, if the earlier problem was the mission's logic, now the problem is human nature.

Rationally speaking, their current strength is just this much; it's best for Qing Kai and the others to do the first round of testing, then Gao Tian, with Zhang Tie responsible for chasing the back-head ghost.

If Gao Tian and Zhang Tie's side fails the test and dies first, hoping that Qing Kai's side will risk their lives to hold off the back-head ghost is completely unrealistic.

"Perhaps, there is only one way."

"Let the giant demon clan wait to die. They do not participate in the test, nor rush the gate. As soon as the back-head ghost appears, immediately have them commit suicide to divert it."