According to the clues on the TV, this seemed to mean you had to go to those tourist attractions and figure out your own way to get there.

Each itinerary entry had a note attached: soak in the hot springs on the first morning, free activities in the afternoon and evening, and the parenthetical remark indicated one check-in spot.

“I know this one. Is it like the influencer check-in spots people mention online? If you check in at the hot springs, does that count as completing the first day’s task?” Kang Lian said, pointing at the itinerary on the screen.

Yi Xinming walked over and agreed, “That’s probably exactly what happened.”

“The second day is the bamboo forest scenic area: the sea of bamboo, the rock formations, and the rose garden, but you only need to check in at two spots.”

“On the third day, check in at one spot.”

..

“On the seventh day, check in at one spot!”

Kang Lian and Yi Xinming spoke alternately.

“It seems pretty easy, but I guess either there’ll be ghosts blocking the way, or the check-in spot isn’t ordinary,” Yi Xinming mused, rubbing his chin.

Based on the information so far, that seemed likely. Qi Yang stared at the screen and stayed silent for the moment.

“It’s still early, let’s figure out how to get to the hot springs tomorrow.” Yi Xinming was a man of action; if they were going to check in at the hot springs, the route was crucial.

There didn’t seem to be any cars at the resort; Yi Xinming thought it best to plan the route in advance to avoid any delays if something went wrong at the last minute.

Qi Yang had been sitting, but when Yi Xinming mentioned the route he stood up and began rummaging around the room.

When asked what he was looking for, Qi Yang said a map. Yi Xinming joined in the search and found a tourist map in the drawer beneath the TV; very easily he located the hot springs’ address on the first page.

The hot springs were a bit far from the inn where they were staying, forty or fifty kilometers—too far to walk. If they went on foot they’d probably arrive around noon, so having a means of transportation was important.

“If there isn’t a car, I wonder if there are bicycles?” Riding a bike would be much faster than walking, and you could take the small paths too, Kang Lian said after a moment’s thought.

“Shall I go take a look around?” Yi Xinming volunteered, offering to go outside and see what was happening.

Then Qi Yang stopped him. This is a game; everything around seems quiet, but who knows whether there are monsters hiding in the dark. He himself might be fine, but it would be uncertain for Yi Xinming and the others. It would be a shame if they ran into danger before the game even started.

“Get up early tomorrow. If you go out at this hour, I’m afraid you might not come back.” Qi Yang wasn’t crying wolf.

Yi Xinming turned to look out the window. The night sky was pitch black, not a single star visible. Following Qi Yang’s suggestion, Yi Xinming stayed in the inn.

After night fell, Yi Xinming and Kang Lian got up and left to return to their own rooms. According to the guide, the tasks would be checked off—so at night there probably wouldn’t be much danger. Kang Lian didn’t want to sleep alone; she wanted to stay, even if it meant sleeping on the floor. But faced with Qi Yang’s gaze, which seemed gentle yet was actually somewhat indifferent and distant, Kang Lian chose to leave. She realized she couldn’t rely on Qi Yang too much — to be precise, they had only cleared the game together once, and they might not even be friends.

Kang Lian followed Yi Xinming out of the room. Their rooms were on the same side. After Yi Xinming escorted Kang Lian inside and she was closing the door, he said, “Don’t overthink it. We’re on the same team now — there’s no one who’s useless. You have qualities that are indispensable.”

Kang Lian suddenly looked up at Yi Xinming, but Yi Xinming said nothing further and turned away to leave.

Standing in the doorway, Kang Lian watched Yi Xinming walk toward the next room; the tightness at the corner of her mouth eased a little.

After washing up, Qi Yang went to bed. Half asleep, half awake, he heard a knock at the door from outside. At first he thought he had misheard it, but the knocking grew more urgent. Qi Yang got up, walked to the door without putting on a coat, and asked who was there. Yi Xinming said it was him.

“Something happened.” Yi Xinming said, pressing close to the door.

Qi Yang’s pupils narrowed. When he opened the door, he saw Yi Xinming and Kang Lian standing outside his room with heavy expressions.

“What happened?”

“Someone’s dead.” Yi Xinming frowned.

“How many?” Qi Yang asked about the number.

“Not sure, but probably more than one.”

It was hard to hear from inside; standing in the corridor, Qi Yang gradually picked up the commotion coming from downstairs.

“Go down and see.” Qi Yang took the room key in hand and, with Yi Xinming and the others, headed down the stairs. But before they reached the lobby on the first floor, rounding a corner, they ran into a small group of people. Through a gap Qi Yang saw someone lying on the ground, the brown floor stained with bright red blood.

The people surrounding them went rigid; when they heard someone approaching from behind, each jumped as if startled. When they turned and saw it was Qi Yang and the others, they all breathed a sigh of relief, though their brows still showed deep shock and fear.

“How…” Yi Xinming took a step forward and had just asked the two words when his voice abruptly stopped.

Right in his line of sight, a corpse with its chest and belly ripped open lay sprawled on the ground. Yi Xinming recognized the face—it was a player from the game, someone he’d met that afternoon. Suddenly the person was on the floor, dead, his abdomen slashed open by a sharp instrument, a mass of flesh of some unidentifiable kind clutched in his hands.

Yixin Ming felt his stomach churn; he bit his lip hard and swallowed the nausea. He instinctively looked toward Qi Yang, thinking Qi Yang would be unsettled by the scene, but Qi Yang’s expression didn’t change—there was an odd, cold indifference about him. Yixin Ming thought he must be mistaken, but on closer look Qi Yang’s face was still pale and emotionless.

Qi Yang didn’t know why he felt nothing at the sight of such a brutal, bloody scene. Maybe it was because the person was already dead; since they were dead, they could no longer be called a person, only a corpse.

If that’s the case, then why this person died needs to be figured out quickly; otherwise, unexplained incidents will only make everyone panic.

Qi Yang wanted to find the so‑called rule as soon as possible; it probably wouldn’t cause accidents at random.

“He was holding something that looks like…” Qi Yang frowned and stared at the chunk of flesh in the corpse’s left hand. After careful scrutiny, he felt that the thing’s shape resembled a human stomach.

And judging by the bloody gash on the corpse’s abdomen, the location corresponds to where the stomach would be.

“It’s the stomach — his stomach has been cut out!” someone in the crowd cried out.

At that prompt, Yi Xinming also thought it looked like a stomach. He covered his nose with one hand and cautiously approached the corpse, standing beside it and slowly bending down. From close up, Yi Xinming examined the chunk of flesh; it indeed appeared to be a human stomach.

“There’s a knife!” Qi Yang’s vantage point gave him a slightly wider view than the others. If the onlookers had wanted to, they could have seen it too, but they were so shocked by the gruesome scene before them that they hadn’t immediately scanned the surroundings. When Qi Yang pointed to the bloodstained weapon, the others finally noticed the knife.

It was a short blade that looked extremely sharp, and the handle was also stained with fresh blood.

“He showed no pain on his face, and there didn’t seem to be any signs of a struggle nearby.” That was what Qi Yang observed.

In the end, he didn’t give one. He looked at Yi Xinming; Yi Xinming caught Qi Yang’s gaze and then looked back at the corpse’s expression. The dead player’s face still seemed to carry a faint smile.

“He cut open his own stomach with a knife and dug out his own stomach?” Yi Xinming, shocked, also felt that something was off, as if he had overlooked some detail. He stared intently at the corpse but couldn’t pinpoint that troubling detail.

He didn’t squat down to do a more careful examination; just looking at the corpse’s bloodied belly made Yi Xinming not want to get any closer.

The result was that the player died. Whether he was killed or committed suicide didn’t really matter; the player had certainly violated some rule in the game. Yi Xinming pressed his lips together, his jaw clenched.

Wasn’t the check-in supposed to be tomorrow? How could someone die already? Yi Xinming’s mouth tightened, and in an instant his thoughts scattered.

“Why? Isn’t the game supposed to start tomorrow? Could it be that it’s already started today…”

“Why is this happening? They give us no information, we don’t know what’s right to do or what’s forbidden—these man-eating monsters just want our lives!” a player wailed.

“Did he do anything? Does anyone remember?” Qi Yang turned and asked.

“No, nothing. He didn’t do anything. Like us, he stayed in his room the whole time. He lost his appetite at meal time and didn’t go. When we came back we checked his room, he said he wanted to play cards, so we planned to go downstairs to see if there were any cards. Just as we reached the stairs he suddenly froze. Ten seconds later he turned around, and we saw he was holding a clump of flesh.” The speaker was overcome with terror; his voice lost its composure, trembling and shrill. He seemed unsteady, leaning against the wall. His eyes wanted to look away from the gutted corpse, but he couldn’t control them.

“What do you think?” Qi Yang asked for Yi Xinming’s opinion. At the end of the corridor a window stood open; a cold breeze blew in and Qi Yang sneezed.

Suddenly his shoulder dipped slightly. Qi Yang’s heart gave a jolt; when he turned his head he found someone had draped a coat over his shoulders.

A gentle, concerned voice followed: “It’s cold at night, wear more.”

He hadn’t noticed when someone had come to stand behind him. The voice at his ear was very familiar. Qi Yang stepped back two paces and turned to stare at Nan Sheng, who had appeared like a ghost without a sound.

“There are two downstairs in the same condition—both had their stomachs carved out, still holding them in their hands,” Nan Sheng told Qi Yang about what had happened downstairs.

“I think you can guess the reason, right?”

The person he fancied was cute and smart; Nan Sheng believed Qi Yang couldn’t keep such a small matter hidden.

Although he didn’t want to say much to Nan Sheng, everyone around stared at him in unison. Qi Yang knew they wanted to know the reason: “If he really didn’t do anything else and simply didn’t go to dinner, then the problem probably lies with the dinner.”

“What do you mean?” the player who knew the deceased hurriedly asked.

“Literally, he didn’t finish his meal, so he died. Since he didn’t eat, the stomach as an organ was rendered useless.”

“So they’ll be exhumed?” Yi Xinming took over from Qi Yang, and Qi Yang nodded at him slightly.

Qi Yang lowered his gaze to the corpse on the ground, his eyes lingering for a moment on the right wrist. The skin exposed beyond the sleeve looked odd; though stained with fresh blood, Qi Yang’s keen sight caught a scratch there, as if clawed by someone else. He said nothing, keeping that detail to himself.

He looked at the player’s face again — about twenty years old, still very young, probably a bit younger than him. This person could never have imagined that just missing a single meal would cost him his life.

📘 The complete novel is available for download in PDF via the link below.