As night fell, Wei Linglan tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep as she listened to the PITTER-PATTER of the rain outside the window.
If it were possible, she really wished to leave this godforsaken place, to distance herself far away and throw off the oppressive feeling at her brow, like a maggot gnawing at her bones, behind her.
Unfortunately, she was only a low-level player at Lv4.
In the task log, a cluster of small characters was clearly visible.
[Task Type: Regular Task]
[Task Name: Melody in the Rain]
[Task Objective: Uncover the truth behind the supernatural events in Dusheng Village]
[Task Time Limit: 7 days]
[Task Reward 1: Additional 300 Experience Points]
[Task Reward 2: 400 Game Coins]
[Task Reward 3: Random quality Skill Scroll *1]
[Task Failure Penalty: None]
Wei Linglan was a somewhat famous painter. She should have been living a petite bourgeoisie life and considered herself just an ordinary artistic young woman. She couldn't compare with those geniuses who possessed well-rounded development in wisdom, temperament, perseverance, and physical strength. Having been dragged into this sick and crazy game, she could only struggle to survive. One wrong step could lead to plummeting into The Abyss.
"The task rewards are very generous, so generous that it's somewhat abnormal," Wei Linglan silently thought. "Among all types of tasks in the survival game, survival tasks are the most difficult because the System believes that it's already quite a feat for players to simply stay alive. Killing tasks and puzzle-solving tasks are about equal in difficulty, with the latter even being simpler in some cases. This is because puzzle-solving tasks mean the System assumes players can pass without the need for intense combat, allowing for more diverse approaches and relatively ample time."
The relatively simple task requirements contrasted sharply with the generous task rewards. This might mean that the System believed she would face life-threatening dangers matching the rewards during her quest to uncover the truth...
Especially since this evening, when she discovered on the mountain that the graves of the recently deceased in Dusheng Village had all been pried open.
Who did it? Monsters? Passengers? Villagers? Or... other players?
If there truly was a kind-hearted High-level Player here, Wei Linglan would definitely kneel on the ground without hesitation, tightly hug their legs, and perform the act of "Great one, please take me with you, I'm begging you, sob sob sob.jpg".
As she was thinking, Wei Linglan felt a pain in her brow again. Different from the dull ache she had been experiencing, her brow now felt like it was being stabbed by needles, a sharp, intense pain.
This perceptive ability, a form of foreknowledge, not only gave her a secret identity in the real world but also helped her survive several life-threatening moments.
Something was approaching this house, which belonged to the villager Lu He...
Wei Linglan glanced at Tian Yourong and Song Zhen, who were sound asleep on the distant bed. She took a deep breath, threw off the covers, and stood barefoot on the bedroom floor.
For seven months, people had been dying in Dusheng Village, but the victims were always local villagers. Last night, only Shi Derong had died. The three university students inside the house were completely unharmed.
Perhaps, as long as they didn't react too aggressively, they wouldn't be attacked... right?
THUD, THUD, THUD.
Heavy pounding against the wall came from outside, as if someone were hitting the wall with their fists.
Wei Linglan immediately lay back down in bed without making a sound.
She took out a small, delicate crossbow coated with green, toxic poison from her inventory and propped up one leg, positioning the crossbow to the left side of her body where the blanket could hide it.
The relentless thudding against the wall continued. Wei Linglan maintained even breathing, her feigned sleeping eyes constantly on the bedroom door.
A series of guttural whimpers, 'KHEH... KHEH... KHEH... KHEH... KHEH...' came from a throat outside the door. This copy comes from content on *.
Lit by the occasional flash of Thunderbolt light outside the window, Wei Linglan could clearly see a pitch-black, emaciated hand reaching in from under the bedroom door.
The hand was exceptionally thin, its dry skin taut against the bones. Veins, pressed by the skin, resembled the grooves and ridges on desiccated tree bark.
For a moment, Wei Linglan held her breath. It felt as if someone were drilling wildly into her forehead, threatening to split it open. Every organ in her body screamed in terrified shrieks.
Her body wanted to pull the trigger of the crossbow, but her remaining rationality resisted the impulse time and again.
THUD, THUD, THUD. The banging on the wall outside continued.
As if she were truly asleep, she watched the black hand reaching further inside the door, its abnormally long forearm exploring upwards until it finally found the bedroom's doorknob.
CLICK.
The door opened.
Outside the window, a Thunderbolt flashed by, allowing Wei Linglan to see clearly: crouched by the bedroom door was a disheveled, ghostly figure on all fours.
The figure was like a human, yet also like a beast. Shoulder-length hair moved without wind, floating behind its head and swaying freely like seaweed immersed in water.
Behind the figure, Wei Linglan also saw the source of the banging noise—Lu He, the elderly villager who had sheltered Wei Linglan and the couple, was being held up by an invisible force by his neck, hanging in mid-air. His forehead was repeatedly slammed into the wall like a punching bag.
The wall was embedded with numerous red and white fragments of bone. Lu He's entire forehead was flattened, and with each impact, bits of flesh and blood splattered to the ground.
Wei Linglan's heart was seized by extreme fear, her body trembling as she watched the figure on all fours slowly approach, extend a hand, and grasp her ankle.
Just when Wei Linglan thought it would bite down, the body of Lu He outside the door thudded to the ground.
In the shadows outside the bedroom door, something seemed to be standing there, communicating with the crouching figure beside her in a manner that was completely foreign to Wei Linglan.
After a long moment, the crouching figure on all fours released Wei Linglan's ankle and walked out the door. Before its form completely vanished into the darkness, it turned its head and silently gazed at her.
Wei Linglan's body remained stiff and immobile until the first crow of a rooster echoed through the village at dawn. Only then did she regain control of her body.
The bedroom door was still open, Lu He's broken body lay just outside, and on her own ankle, a distinct, livid handprint remained.