The System Teaches You How to Be Human

Si Yisi’s gaze at Mo Wuchang was filled with disdain, disdain, and more disdain.

Coiled around Si Yisi’s wrist, Ah Tu poked out its head just in time to catch Mo Wuchang’s fervent look of loyalty.

“Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!”

Just like its owner, Ah Tu’s hissing conveyed the same sentiment of utter contempt.

Mo Wuchang scratched his ear, oblivious to the tiny, inconspicuous Ah Tu. He looked at Si Yisi with fiery admiration. “You must be a veteran player pretending to be weak, right?”

Si Yisi: “…No, it’s my first time here.”

Tears streaming down his face, Si Yisi stared at Mo Wuchang, hoping that his frail and unimposing appearance might help him avoid further attention. How could he have ever thought women were troublesome? Clearly, men could be even more of a headache.

Especially Mo Wuchang.

“Can crying really be turned into power?” Mo Wuchang studied Si Yisi with a look of eager curiosity.

However, despite his bold personality, he wasn’t entirely brainless. After giving Si Yisi some moderate flattery, he wisely settled back into his green seat in silence.

Bang!

At that moment, the second dead player was revealed. It was the elderly man with the walking stick. His lower half collapsed to the floor, twitching violently once before falling completely still.

Yes, only his lower half fell to the ground.

The area around his waist seemed to have been forcibly torn apart by some invisible force. A female player sitting diagonally behind him was splattered with blood, her face pale and her mind slipping into incoherent ramblings.

The man’s upper body hung suspended mid-air, blood dripping steadily and pooling on the floor until it nearly formed a crimson stream.

The remaining players watched in horror as a ghost emerged from the air-conditioning unit near one of the red seats. She seemed delighted, lifting the man’s upper body as if it were a treasure and stringing it up using her hair to dangle from the air conditioner.

Strange gurgling sounds came from the man’s mouth, followed by the unmistakable sound of chewing, as though something inside him was brewing in his abdomen.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Qi Muyang raised his gun and fired several shots into the man’s abdomen. Only when the eerie noises ceased entirely did he stop. He then casually returned to his seat, leaving the majority of the players pale-faced and trembling in terror.

Si Yisi cried until his voice was hoarse, though his tears finally showed signs of abating.

Mo Wuchang, sitting next to him, kept handing him tissues one after another.

Suddenly, Si Yisi’s gaze sharpened, focusing on the air-conditioning unit near Qi Muyang’s seat. From the gap in the unit, he spotted a single eye quietly peering out. What caught his attention was the glint of light reflected off the eyeball.

The eyeball swiveled slyly, darting around before Si Yisi saw a small bundle of seaweed-like hair silently drop into Qi Muyang’s pocket.

“Hehe.”

For a fleeting moment, Si Yisi thought he heard the ghost’s laughter. He let out a low, raspy hum, and the laughter abruptly vanished, as if cut off in an instant.

At least it knew its place.

Mo Wuchang’s eyes widened. He cautiously poked Si Yisi once, then again. When Si Yisi turned his head to look at him, Mo Wuchang was busy counting the goosebumps rising on his arm one by one.

In a mysterious tone, Mo Wuchang whispered, “Boss… uh, did you see that? That sneaky little ghost slipped something into that guy’s pocket.”

Yes, he had seen it. But he didn’t feel like answering.

Meanwhile, Si Yisi heard the faint sound of hair rustling again; this time, right above his head.

Spouting nonsense about ghosts? Well, ghosts could come back for revenge too.

Si Yisi quietly glanced at Mo Wuchang.

But Mo Wuchang, full of conviction, declared, “Boss, you’re my sturdy wall of defense! No ghost would dare trouble you, and they definitely wouldn’t dare trouble me either!”

He was just shy of pounding his chest with pride.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Mo Wuchang finished speaking, there was the rapid sound of hair retreating into the distance.

Si Yisi: “…”

These ghosts are really hopeless; Si Yisi thought, genuinely disheartened by their utter lack of professionalism.

***

The rest of the ride passed peacefully without any further disturbances. But this didn’t ease the tension among the players. Even Qi Muyang’s usually composed expression had turned noticeably grim.

Si Yisi rubbed his eyes as he disembarked from the bus. Without a doubt, the swelling from all his crying was still evident. He was the last to step off. Once he did, the bus doors closed on their own without any wind.

Walking ahead of him, Mo Wuchang twitched his ear as if he’d heard something. Was that the sound of joyful celebration?

Wait, why would there be a sound of joy?

And why did it sound so much like a ghost wailing?

Mo Wuchang’s puzzlement remained unanswered.

Outside the bus, the snow continued to fall thickly, the cold biting enough to make people shiver.

The players had learned their lesson. None dared to challenge the authority of the escape game anymore.

“Happy New Year, Happy New Year, wishing everyone a Happy New Year~” The cheerful, festive tune of Happy New Year played once again.

Following the song, an exuberant voice rang out. However, everyone who heard it wore an expression of grave seriousness.

“The New Year is here, and Room 414 will soon welcome four new tenants~”

Room 414; it practically dripped with the stench of death. The exuberant voice deliberately dragged out the number, stretching it long and ominously.

(T/N: 414 = is a homophone for “death, life, death/Si Yi Si” (死死生), implying a dark or foreboding situation where life is threatened by death or danger.)

Yet Si Yisi’s eyes lit up.

He thought to himself; Ah, it’s my domain.