Account ban?
Su Er automatically took that as a blessing.
The Gravekeeper's Servant ignored the impact of the paper and suddenly, his fingers grew sharp and thin—like withered twigs at a glance.
Su Er neither dodged nor flinched, letting that hand pierce through his shoulder blade.
“Quite bold,” said the Gravekeeper’s Servant, his tone unreadable—uncertain whether it was praise or mockery.
Su Er had previously tested this by deliberately pricking his finger, confirming that injuries in dreams had no effect in reality. But he still played along. He lifted his eyes slightly, with a lofty air: “Without the courage to die, how can one have the awareness to live?”
The words were utterly mismatched with his usual demeanor.
He even lifted his chin slightly at the end.
Now the Gravekeeper’s Servant was certain—this person in front of him was no harmless soul.
Su Er didn’t stay smug for long before his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
The pain in dreams might be halved, but it was still far from pleasant. The hand embedded in his bones sprouted countless vines that twisted and writhed through his flesh.
It took less than ten seconds for him to pass out completely from the pain.
Immersed in darkness, Su Er's mind remained eerily clear—his consciousness light and drifting, as if it were floating farther and farther from his body.
He didn’t know how long had passed before a wave of tragic weeping stabbed at his nerves. There’s an old saying: “Calling the soul.” The wails coming from all directions were no less effective than that ritual.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a sorrowful face.
Su Er’s pupils contracted slightly, an involuntary sense of oppression creeping in from the sound of the crying.
The Gravekeeper's Servant stared at him for a few seconds, and when he didn’t see even a hint of relief or survival in Su Er’s expression, he muttered with some surprise, “Looks like you're really not afraid of death.”
Whether Su Er feared death was another question, but he certainly had a desire to live—just with a more thorough consideration. If the hosts could kill across dimensions in the real world, they would’ve already become the game's rulers.
They're simply not on the same level. Mister Rose would never be stupid enough to make such a powerful enemy.
“Where’s the item?” he asked hoarsely.
The Gravekeeper’s Servant opened his palm, revealing a ruby ring.
Su Er frowned.
“It’s just a disguise,” the Gravekeeper’s Servant said. Like Mister Rose, he took promises seriously. “Look closely.”
Su Er leaned forward slightly, taking the ring and examining it. The longer he stared, the more dizzy he felt—faintly, he saw a yellow-brown eye gazing back at him through the gem.
Thanks to his solid mental fortitude, he didn’t throw it away on instinct.
Feigning calm, he slipped the ring on and gave a polite nod of thanks.
The first time he saw this eyeball in Tianji City, he had been too busy running to look closely. Only now did he realize—the eye had a vertical slit pupil.
Cold. Brutal.
Undeniably, a snake’s eye.
He had been followed by the flower snake throughout that dungeon, and now—even after leaving—it seemed a snake’s eye had latched onto him again. That lingering sensation of being stalked returned to him.
“Remember, enter the game on the 13th.”
Su Er shifted his gaze from the ring. “Why that date?”
“That day is inauspicious for travel—nothing is favored.”
The Gravekeeper’s Servant’s smile bloomed wildly, but set against his tear-streaked face, it looked only mournful. His figure began to fade. “A little tip for you—it’ll come in handy next instance.”
Su Er squinted, but the host had already vanished. Only his eerie voice echoed around the graveyard—
“Red paper, new clothes, freshly curled hair.
You laugh, I cry, shut the dog inside.
Face each other, toast the wine, guests in the hall.
Young man, coffin, red sleeves dance.”
The last sound he heard was a burst of strange laughter.
Bang bang bang!
Su Er bolted upright in bed. A glance at the clock—it was already ten.
The alarm had given up after failing to wake its master multiple times. Outside, someone had skipped the doorbell entirely and was pounding on the door. Su Er didn’t have time to put on shoes and padded barefoot to the door, careful not to make a sound, then peeked through the peephole.
The punk hairstyle was unmistakable. Su Er didn’t hesitate to open the door.
Zhao Sanliang peeked around, making sure there were no kidnappers or women, then asked, “What happened?”
Su Er slipped on his shoes and replied, “What could’ve happened?”
Zhao Sanliang plopped down casually with his messy hair. “You skipping class for no reason?”
Su Er took a moment to react, then glanced at the clock again. His eyes widened as he immediately dashed off to the bathroom to wash up. Zhao Sanliang’s voice floated in intermittently from the living room.
“Yao Zhi called when you didn’t show up and wouldn’t answer your phone. He called the boss. The boss doesn’t live in this district and couldn’t get here in time, so he sent me instead.”
Su Er finished washing his face, but his head was still faintly throbbing.
“Forget it,” he sighed and poured a glass of warm water to soothe his throat. “Might as well just take the day off.”
Zhao Sanliang: “I heard you and the boss got the ‘Heavenly Match’ achievement.”
Su Er calmly finished the water.
Zhao Sanliang seemed determined to tease him about it, even lifting his finger and breaking into song: “The birds in the trees come in pairs…”
Applause rang out.
Zhao Sanliang: “I was just getting started!”
After saying that, Su Er looked at Zhao Sanliang with a face full of sympathy.
Zhao Sanliang sensed something was wrong and turned around—he had only lightly closed the door earlier, not shut it completely. At that moment, Ji Heng was standing outside, his expression cold as ice, like the grim reaper himself.
‘Yiiiing—’ Zhao Sanliang let out a terrified cry and toppled toward Su Er.
Ji Heng, as always, had the good habit of closing doors. With a pa sound, Zhao Sanliang felt like the execution blade had just fallen, and his head was chopped clean off.
Seeing him so tense, Su Er didn’t quite understand: “This is a law-abiding society. What are you afraid of?”
No matter how powerful Ji Heng was, he couldn't commit murder or arson in the real world.
Zhao Sanliang whispered about the past: “Back then, I relied on my family's wealth and acted like a dandy. When I was first dragged into Grave Return, I didn’t respect anyone and even dreamed of being team leader.”
Su Er raised an eyebrow. “And then?”
“I failed the team leader selection and got all bitter. Out of spite, I deliberately spat in his food.”
Su Er was surprised—he hadn’t expected this punk-styled guy to have done something like that.
“That was just youthful ignorance…” Zhao Sanliang sank into memory. “Later, in an instance themed around gods and deities, an evil being was feeding on offerings. Boss not only cut off its incense and worship but also tricked the villagers into moving away. With no more offerings, the boss slowly wore down its power until it degenerated into a starving ghost.”
“Afterward, Boss looked at me and said, ‘Every grain is hard-earned. Spitting in someone’s meal will bring karma.’”
Clearly, he hadn’t forgotten Ji Heng’s tone and expression back then—he shivered again at the memory.
Su Er shook his head. Just how big of a psychological scar had that left?
On second thought, it seemed he didn’t know Ji Heng well enough. That man hadn’t kicked Zhao Sanliang out of the team even after that stunt.
“Education without discrimination,” Ji Heng said calmly. But the words made both Su Er and Zhao Sanliang feel a chill: “I won’t give up on redeeming any teammate.”
If he hadn’t ended it with a cold ‘hmph,’ they might’ve even pretended to be touched.
Not wanting to dwell on painful memories, Zhao Sanliang changed the subject and asked why Su Er hadn’t gone to class. He also teased him for wearing such a flashy ring at home.
At that moment, Ji Heng suddenly grabbed Su Er’s hand. “This ring…”
Su Er didn’t hide it and recounted his encounter with the Gravekeeper’s Servant, asking Ji Heng to help analyze whether he’d been scammed.
“Bold of you, making deals with the host now.”
The light tone clearly wasn’t praise.
Su Er gave a half-hearted laugh. “That shady guy’s already working with Mister Rose. If I made a move, it wouldn’t stay hidden for long. I figured I might as well take a gamble and see if I could gain anything.”
“The host has to follow the rules. The contract won’t be an issue,” Ji Heng said. The vertical pupil hidden in the ruby stared at him with a violent glare. Ji Heng sneered. “But trading a hundred ghost tears for this? What a rip-off.”
The eye, clearly offended by being underestimated, gave off an even more dangerous aura.
Ji Heng paid it no mind.
Su Er said, “The Gravekeeper’s Servant emphasized that it works in the real world too.”
Zhao Sanliang interjected, “There are no ghosts in the real world. What good is it?”
Su Er shrugged—he agreed.
The ring was newly obtained; he hadn’t had a chance to test it. Whether ghosts existed in the real world could only be known through experience. Just to be sure, Su Er looked up several supposedly haunted places in the city. The three of them went for a stroll.
The ring seemed to connect to his mind. Wherever the snake’s eye looked, images would automatically form in Su Er’s head.
After visiting every location, they hadn’t even seen a shadow of a ghost.
Su Er said, “Wasted the time I could’ve spent doing test prep.”
Zhao Sanliang muttered, “No ghosts is a good thing.”
If they had actually seen something unclean, that would’ve been a disaster.
“True.” Su Er walked out of the supposedly haunted building. He answered a call during that time, and his expression turned much more serious.
Zhao Sanliang asked, “What is it?”
Su Er hung up. “Teacher Yao said he’d drop by around noon to give me today’s in-class quiz.”
Zhao Sanliang gave him a sympathetic look.
Su Er looked pained. “Out of over a billion people, why did I have to end up in the game with my teacher?”
Even probability theory wouldn’t dare calculate that.
Ji Heng looked toward the distant street. “Maybe there are more players pulled into the game than we thought.”
Su Er furrowed his brows and put away his phone without saying a word.
Sensing the shift in mood, Zhao Sanliang quickly said, “Since Yao Zhi is coming over, let’s all have lunch together.”
It had just rained yesterday, the weather was cool—perfect for any kind of food.
Zhao Sanliang finally chose a place called Fish Feast. He ordered several large fish heads; the fish’s glazed eyes gave off a vibe of dying with unresolved regret.
Yao Zhi arrived last. The soup base was already boiling.
He didn’t rush to eat. Instead, he first carefully observed Su Er. He had thought the student was skipping class out of burnout from too many instance runs, but Su Er actually looked perfectly normal.
Su Er took out an earbud, plugged it into his phone, and handed the whole device over.
Yao Zhi asked, “What for?”
“Listen to the recording.” Su Er didn’t want to explain everything again. When he first described the origin of the ring, he had specifically recorded it.
Yao Zhi patiently listened to the whole thing and concluded: it’s a shame this kid didn’t go into business.
Su Er deleted the recording and rubbed the ring with his fingertip.
“According to the host, the bead in Mister Rose’s possession is a defective product. Mine is the real deal,” Su Er said with growing curiosity. “That bead could reveal the secrets buried deep in someone’s heart. I wonder if this one can do the same.”
Zhao Sanliang’s curiosity was immediately piqued. His eyes lit up. “Wanna try it?”
Su Er grinned and took off the ring, placing his hand on it—but unfortunately, no words appeared.
Zhao Sanliang asked, “What if you aim it directly at a person?”
Su Er replied, “Tried that already when you first came to my house.”
Ji Heng said, “Blood.”
At his suggestion, something clicked in Su Er’s mind, and his eyelashes trembled slightly. “Back then, the Fortune Teller’s flower snake also needed to drink blood. This snake eye might require the same.”
Su Er wasn’t into self-harm. He looked to the others with a questioning gaze. “Anyone want to give it a shot?”
Zhao Sanliang wasn’t afraid of pain. He took out a pocket fruit knife and gave his hand a quick slice. Blood dripped onto the ring, and instead of sliding off, it was absorbed. Almost instantly, a smiling face appeared on the ruby—shockingly, it was Su Er’s!
“Holy sh*t!” Zhao Sanliang cried out.
Luckily, they were in a private room. If that yell had been out in the open, it would’ve attracted a crowd.
Su Er clicked his tongue. “Didn’t see that coming…”
Zhao Sanliang was speechless with frustration. “It’s not what it looks like, I swear.”
Click—Su Er took a picture for posterity.
“I’ll try,” said Yao Zhi, cutting a small wound. The face that appeared on the ring wore a bashful smile.
Zhao Sanliang, still reeling from the previous blow, gave Yao Zhi a complicated look. “You’ve only been in one instance with Su Er and you’re already hung up on him? Shame on you as a teacher!”
Yao Zhi said nothing. That welfare zone instance experience was unforgettable. To go into a game with Su Er, one’s mental resilience had to be top-tier.
Ji Heng then let a drop of blood fall. The face that emerged was also Su Er’s—but looked much more cunning, like a fox that had just stolen an egg.
Su Er calmly smiled and made sure to take group photos for each version.
Each time the ring was used, its reaction seemed to lag more. Ji Heng mused, “It’s like a growth-type item. Its current abilities are limited—probably only works for people or events you’ve encountered recently.”
Zhao Sanliang nodded in agreement.
Su Er’s concern lay elsewhere. “It drinks blood?”
He already had one bloodthirsty growth-type item—the baby tooth given by that little girl. If this one was the same, he wasn’t sure he could handle it.
Ji Heng tested it with a bit of fish blood, but the ring didn’t absorb it.
Zhao Sanliang looked at Su Er with pity. “Seems like this thing is picky—only drinks human blood.”
Su Er rubbed his temples, already getting a headache.
Right then, Yao Zhi handed over the quiz paper he’d brought. “This might make you feel better.”
Pain is relative.
Just as Su Er was about to put the ring back on, Zhao Sanliang said, “You really not going to try it?”
Everyone has a bit of curiosity. Su Er hesitated, then gave in and made a small cut… This time, the face that appeared on the ring was very familiar—wearing glasses and looking extremely stern.
Caught off guard by the reveal, Yao Zhi instinctively glanced at Su Er.
Su Er spread his hands helplessly. “Math teachers have always been my personal nightmare.”
This proved Ji Heng was right: the ring only responded to things that made a strong recent impression.
Just a minute ago, Yao Zhi had handed him a math quiz.
Su Er put the ring back on and let his gaze sweep across the three others. After a moment, he looked at the photos he’d just taken and said solemnly, “I know I’m amazing.”
“But fallen flowers are sentimental, while the flowing water is indifferent.” Su Er sighed. “I won’t stop for any of you… give up.”
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