Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Setting Fifty-Two

Setting Fifty-Two: Supernatural Research Club (Part 5)

Shan Ziwei’s breathing faltered. His palms were sweaty, his nerves stretched to the breaking point. What made him so tense wasn’t a ghost or anything frightening—just a painting.

The oil-paper umbrella, dripping black water, had turned halfway, about to reveal the figure’s profile. At that exact moment, a bloodcurdling scream came from downstairs.

“AAAAHHHH—!!!”

His taut nerves snapped. Like a rabbit caught in headlights, he bolted.

Panting—panting—panting—!

He ran for dear life, not daring to look back, sprinting from the second floor to the first in one breath—nearly crashing into Paper Iris, who’d also rushed over.

“What are you doing?! Did a ghost chase you?!”

Arriving at the master bedroom door simultaneously with Paper Iris showed how fast he’d run. Still shaken, he looked at Paper Iris—his voice seemed to lag behind, not quite caught up. She only made a small jab before rushing into the bedroom—that scream had been Night Lily’s.

He steadied himself and followed. Inside, Paper Iris was frantically calling: “Xiao Ye! Xiao Ye! Where are you?”

He scanned the room—when he saw the wedding photo on the wall, he froze. The bride was the “mother” from the flashback!

“What happened? What happened?”

The other girls arrived one by one. Crimson Rose stepped forward: “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” Paper Iris cried, nearly hysterical. “I found the mirror! I went to get you! Xiao Ye was right behind me—she’s gone!”

Her account was jumbled with emotion, but the gist was clear. As they processed Night Lily’s disappearance, Milk Tea gasped, pointing at something.

“Look at the mirror—!”

Everyone looked at the tall, prominent mirror—but Milk Tea was pointing at the corner: “No—the vanity mirror!”

He looked—and his blood ran cold.

In the vanity’s smooth surface, Night Lily stood—not leaning on the vanity, not pressed against the mirror, but inside it! The girl pounded frantically on the glass from the other side, her mouth opening and closing silently, as if trapped in the mirror.

Everyone was stunned. Paper Iris, closest to Night Lily, was first to react. She rushed to the mirror: “Xiao Ye! Xiao Ye!”

Seeing Paper Iris, Night Lily’s expression brightened with relief, then grew more frantic. She pounded the glass soundlessly, trembling as she looked over her shoulder. Following her gaze, they saw a dark figure in the bedroom behind her—staggering closer.

Night Lily moved aside, letting them see clearly.

In an instant, Crimson Rose and Hyacinth paled; Tapioca and Milk Tea gasped; even Shan Ziwei was horrified.

It was a headless man. Blood gushed from the severed neck, staining his suit, running down his arm to the axe in his hand. He dragged the axe, leaving a trail of blood, lurching toward Night Lily.

The mirror was blocked by Night Lily again as she cried and pounded, her silent screams unmistakable.

…I—
…Save… me—

Save me! Save me! Save me—

“X-Xiao Ye!” Paper Iris was crying too. “What do I do? How do I save you?”

Night Lily was nearly insane with fear, just screaming for help. Paper Iris scratched and clawed at the vanity mirror, but could only touch cold glass. Hyacinth trembled, pushing up her glasses, looking pleadingly at Crimson Rose—but their leader looked just as helpless.

Scrape—scrape—

The axe scraping the floor cut like a knife through their hearts. Night Lily didn’t look back, pinning all her hope on her friends. But from their angle, they could see the headless man had reached her, raising its bloodied axe higher and higher.

“AAAAHHHH!!!”

Just as the axe was about to strike Night Lily’s unsuspecting head, Paper Iris acted on instinct—grabbing the vanity’s chair and smashing it into the mirror.

“CRASH!”

The chair hit the glass with a sharp crack. They expected broken mirror shards to fall—but what fell wasn’t glass. It was… human remains.

Paper Iris, closest, was splattered with flesh and organs. She looked down numbly at the eyeball on her chest—its indigo iris was the same color they’d chosen together for their character designs.

This was… Night Lily’s…

Crimson Rose’s face changed too. Ignoring the gore on herself, she shouted: “A-Yuan!”

But it was too late.

Paper Iris raised her head—bloodshot eyes marking her as having Spirit Collapsed. She crouched down, desperately gathering the scattered body parts.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I broke you! I made you all ragged!”

Her fingers were coated in blood. She cried and rambled apologies.

“Please forgive me—please forgive me—I’ll make myself ragged too—will you forgive me then?”

Then she tore herself apart.

The room fell silent. Crimson Rose rubbed her reddened eyes, stepped forward, and picked up two white chess pieces from the blood.

One hour into the mansion, and two high-level players were out.

Shan Ziwei felt the weight of it: this was a horror Chessboard, L5 difficulty. He cursed under his breath—how had this game passed approval? Even without mentioning the girls, anyone who experienced that would have lasting psychological trauma.

He remembered the disclaimer: “The game assumes no responsibility for any incidents arising from a user’s entry into ‘Role-Play,’ including but not limited to: mental illness, physical injury, or even death.” It wasn’t bluffing.

“Let’s get out of here.” Tapioca said fearfully.

The master bedroom was uninhabitable now—the stench of blood alone would drain Diamond SP.

“Yeah.” Crimson Rose murmured, walking to the mirror. “Let’s take this mirror out—A-Yuan and Xiao Ye found it.”

Shan Ziwei was the first to carry the mirror out. As he set it down outside, he saw Host appear silently from nowhere.

Without a word, the black-haired youth walked to the blood-smeared vanity and picked up an exquisite white jade box.

It snapped open—Shan Ziwei caught a glimpse of Host taking out a key. Crimson Rose saw it too. After Host came out, she asked casually: “You got a key?”

Host tossed it directly to her. She was surprised by his bluntness. Host turned and went straight to Shan Ziwei, pulling him into an embrace.

Shan Ziwei & Crimson Rose: …!!!

Don’t just hug without warning—talk it over first!

His body flushed with excitement. Host held him, his head resting against his cheek—rubbing intimately.

Now he was not just flushed—he was practically smoking. The rubbing near his ear went straight to his heart, sending sparks through his blood to every part of his body.

Host tightened his arms, looking at him. Shan Ziwei, burning with shame and anger, averted his gaze—only the two of them knew that he’d almost lost his footing from that one embrace.

Crimson Rose felt compelled to look away. She’d seen plenty of awkward relationship role-plays—but there was something indescribable about these two. Even the simple contact of black and white hair made her heart race.

Host held him motionless; they were in a strange stalemate. Shan Ziwei understood—the [A Adoration (Active)] card clearly said: “When you show affection to him and he shows affection to you afterward.” Meaning he had to reciprocate!

You’re my ancestor! What did you do to drop your Heart SP so much that you need a refill?!

Feeling his body heating up, he couldn’t hold out. With a “better dead than sorry” attitude, he responded. Being shorter, he had to stand on tiptoe and—with his very life—brush his cheek against Host’s.

Soft cheeks pressed together, a slow, gentle motion between contact and non-contact—creating a special intimacy. The black-haired youth’s eyes narrowed like a large black cat being petted.

The moment Host released him, Shan Ziwei bolted—the picture-perfect definition of a victim of circumstance.

One panicked white-haired youth, one contented black-haired youth now fully recharged. Crimson Rose was silent for a moment, then turned away, deciding to pretend she’d seen nothing. She gathered the stunned girls to discuss their findings.

“Let’s share what we’ve discovered.”

The others nodded. Though shaken and fed a load of relationship drama, as high-level players they had strong mental fortitude and quickly recovered.

Crimson Rose began: “Xinzi and I searched the kitchen. All the cabinets were locked—no knives. But we found a note on the stove.”

Hyacinth produced a slip of paper.

[“I’ll be back at 7 tonight. Have dinner ready.
I’ve given this quarter’s money to the doctor. Watch him take his medicine.”]

“‘I’ll be back at 7 tonight. Have dinner ready.’ I checked the clock—it’s 17:45 now. Though the house has changed, time still passes.” Hyacinth laid out their reasoning. “So we think the kitchen has a time-sensitive puzzle that triggers near 7. As for ‘I’ve given this quarter’s money to the doctor. Watch him take his medicine’—all we know is someone in Manda Mansion was ill. We don’t have more yet.”

Not just ill—chronically so. Shan Ziwei pondered the wording; the illness must have been costly.

After Hyacinth, Milk Tea glanced at Tapioca, who ran to the living room and returned with something.

“We found a newspaper in the living room too.”

It was yellowed at the edges, clearly old. The sisters spread it out, pointing to a section.

[Headline: Manda Mansion Murder Scene Horrifically Gruesome
A brutal murder case occurred recently in our town, resulting in 3 deaths. The case was reported by the daily mailman, Mr. Li. The deceased are the current residents of Manda Mansion: Wei (48), his wife (46), and their son (12). The bodies were in terrible condition, covered in blood: Mrs. Wei suffered multiple contusions and 27 fractures—the fatal injury was a broken neck from a heavy object; Mr. Wei…]

It cut off there—the rest was missing—but what was there made his heart race. He spoke without thinking: “I saw…”

“Huh?” Tapioca looked confused.

He pointed to the end of the article: “I might have… seen it firsthand.”

He pulled out the Noh mask and explained: “If you put this on, you can see a memory. Try it.”

Tapioca went first, then Milk Tea, Hyacinth… after everyone had tried it, their faces were equally grim.

“That’s terrible, that’s terrible!” Tapioca was the most outraged. “That was his mother! He actually pushed her!”

Milk Tea nodded in agreement. Crimson Rose analyzed more objectively.

“It was an accident—he probably didn’t intend to kill her.” She remembered something. “The activity flyer mentioned a family of three who died in Manda Mansion—they’re the source of the haunting. But our priority is completing the spiritual games. The story background is useful reference, but don’t go looking for it—it’ll waste time and cause trouble.”

Two deaths had made Crimson Rose anxious.

“We’ve only found a mirror.” Milk Tea said. “Whether for Mirror Ghost or Wall Touching, we need an empty room.”

“No suitable rooms on the first floor—what about the second?”

All the girls looked at Shan Ziwei and Host. Host was clearly not going to speak, so Shan Ziwei took the lead.

“The second floor has six rooms, arranged 3×3.” He gestured. “The three on the left are locked. The three on the right are open—but pitch black. Can’t see your hand in front of your face. I didn’t find a light switch.”

“Crimson just got a key,” Tapioca said excitedly. “Maybe it opens one of them.”

Crimson Rose was noncommittal. “The first floor has locked rooms too. Let’s try those first.”

They returned to the start, testing each door.

The first floor layout was less symmetrical than the second. From the entrance, the living room was left, dining room right, with a small corridor between them leading to the stairs. The kitchen was to the right of the dining room; opposite it, next to the living room, was a locked small room.

They tested it first. Whether lucky or not, the key turned the lock with a click.

First try.

Crimson Rose, holding the key, stood before the door. She took a soft breath and pushed it open.

Creak—

The room was revealed—a small space filled with odds and ends, the most prominent being the dense tangle of wires covering the walls, snaking everywhere.

“Ah, great—someone’s here.”

They all jumped. Looking closer, he saw a faint shadow standing by the switches under the wires.

“I’m in a bit of trouble—come help me.”

The shadow was too vague to make out, except for its opening and closing mouth. Seeing it wasn’t hostile, they cautiously approached.

“What do you need?” Crimson Rose asked.

“See these switches?” The shadow pointed at three unlabeled switches. “These control the lights in the three left rooms upstairs—but I don’t remember which controls which. Could you label them for me?”

Shan Ziwei relaxed—this task wasn’t hard; just a few trips.

But the situation quickly turned.

“However… you only have one chance to go check.” The shadow added. “Then you must come back and tell me.”

Under their astonished gazes, the shadow shook its indistinct head.

“Get it right, and I’ll give you a gift.”

It grinned maliciously.

“Get it wrong—and you’ll stay and become my ‘lights’!”