CHAPTER 28: TWELVE

The young man, able to see the sun again, was very excited. After a glance in which he saw the middle-aged woman lying on the ground next to him, he suddenly understood what the sound he’d heard a moment ago had been. While quickly pulling his clothes on, he ridiculed: “You say, is this person stupid or not? Couldn’t she safely evade two opponents by quickly walking away? Why didn’t she take advantage of the fact that two of us were here playing tug-of-war and get to the game site first? For some reason she decided to make such a move, but now see, the car has flipped over*!”

*T/N: Idiom meaning ‘she’s done for’.

Contrariwise, Shen Mu said: “She probably didn’t know where she should go. If she’d managed to knock me out and throw me into the hole, it would’ve been equivalent to permanently eliminating two opponents, giving her a lot more time. As long as she isn’t the last one, then there’s no danger of being eliminated.” At this point, Shen Mu paused: “Do you know where we should go?”

The young man had already finished changing his clothes and groomed his hair confidently: “I climbed a large tree before I fell into the pit and there seemed to be something there. I couldn’t see it clearly, but it definitely wasn’t a tree.” The man pointed in a westerly direction, “I hurried over and was too excited. Unfortunately, my extreme joy turned into sorrow*.” After he finished speaking, he gloomily glanced toward the hole behind him and then looked at the unconscious woman. He couldn’t help but ridicule her further: “You say, she wants to make a move, intending to simply push you in! Doesn’t she know that in order to knock someone unconscious using a wooden stick, an accurate hit to the head is also needed, tsk tsk!”

*T/N: My extreme joy became sorrow – meaning he celebrated too soon and things went wrong!

Shen Mu couldn’t help wanting to laugh. By now, the sun had already reached the middle of the mountain. Only then did the man notice the setting sun and was startled: “Damn it, how come it’s already this late! Let’s go quickly, you’ll be beaten once the sun has set! After dark, who knows if there are ghosts! By the way, my name is Tang Youchen, how do I address you brother? “

After the young man——Tang Youchen asked this question, he scrutinised Shen Mu and waited for his answer. Shen Mu reported his name. Only then did Tang Youchen notice Shen Mu’s uniform and blurted out: “How do you have a number? Don’t tell me that you were able to keep the number you received during the preliminaries? Or say … could it be that you’re one of the players with a save point from the legends! “

The words “player with a save point” were quite vivid. Tang Youchen’s statement revealed that he wasn’t a “save point player”. He didn’t notice this. He had no doubt regarding the verdict obtained by his ingenuity. The gaze that he used to look at Shen Mu immediately carried some pity and he patted Shen Mu’s shoulders with familiarity: “Brother, you’ve worked hard! Rest assured, brother will definitely do what he promised you. If your brother eats meat then you can drink……. meat.”

Pfff! Although Shen Mu had things on his mind at that moment, he was still teased into laughter by Tang Youchen’s words. Deliberately using a slightly exaggerated tone filled with mock-envy, he exclaimed: “Really?! Great! I’ll rely on you for this round then, Holy One! You must take me to fly*!”

*T/N: Take me to fly – help me win without effort.

Tang Youchen patted his chest proudly: “Leave it to me! Let’s go quickly and we’ll chat along the way!” As Tang Youchen talked, he pulled Shen Mu, encouraging him to leave. When he saw Shen Mu standing still, unmoving and a little lost in thought, he asked strangely, “Why aren’t you going?”

Shen Mu recovered and glanced toward the depths of the forest once more. He shook his head and said, “Nothing, let’s go back first.”

The sun fell quickly. Although it only took a few minutes, by the time Shen Mu and Tang Youchen had returned to the game building, it was already quite dark. Walking in front of the building, Shen Mu noticed that nearly all the lights in the building were on. Excluding the three lounges, other than rooms 1 and 2 in the dormitory area, which were dark and a single light on the 3rd floor that wasn’t on, all other rooms in the building were illuminated, indicating that they were occupied.

No. 1 still isn’t here yet? Seeing this layout, Shen Mu couldn’t help culminating suspicion in his heart, entering the game building again with Tang Youchen.

The moment he entered, Tang Youchen’s clothing immediately changed, becoming the same blue and white factory uniform as Shen Mu. The number on his chest was a shocking “12”!

At that moment in the building, every player received a message in their minds: ‘First round of the Suspended Life Game has officially started!’

Within Shen Mu’s mind, he heard a personalised message: ‘Congratulations on being the 2nd player in this round. Winners of this round can successfully advance, losers will receive punishment, and offenders who haven’t entered the game will be erased directly. Please access your mobile phone for the specific rules of the game. Everyone can only read and operate their own mobile phone.’

At the time of the message, the lobby on the first floor was completely empty, containing no onlookers. Tang Youchen recovered from the new influx of information in his head. He looked down at his clothes, and then looked at Shen Mu’s similar-styled uniform and the number that was engraved on it, finally comprehending: “F*ck?! You are No. 2? You’ve been here?! You NB* ah?!”

*T/N: Swear words like ‘you’re f**king impressive’.

For a moment, Tang Youchen silently mouthed the words No. 2 before sighing: “No. 2, how fast did you have to arrive! Hey? I say, since you’ve arrived, why did you still run out? Did you leave the game site especially to save this grandfather*?” Tang Youchen said in an exaggerated tone.

T/N: This grandfather – an arrogant way of addressing oneself. It can be quite offensive but in this case it is used as a joke.

“Yes ah!” Shen Mu nodded immediately, and continued, “So remember your promise. No. 12’s room is on the 3rd floor. You should go there and take some time to examine the rules!”

Tang Youchen choked and his expression seemed to say ‘only ghosts would believe it’. However, Shen Mu had already turned and walked towards the corridor on the 1st floor. Seeing this, Tang Youchen no longer delayed and ran upstairs.

Shen Mu returned to the door of room No. 2 and didn’t meet any other players on his way through the corridor. Although 12 players had already arrived, the game rules had just been announced. At this moment, everyone would have chosen to understand the rules first, rather than observe their opponents. Shen Mu returned to his room and switched the phone on again. Sure enough, a new module had already appeared on the empty screen, and a time display had also appeared in the lower right corner——at the moment, it was 19:17.

Around seven o’clock? Shen Mu remembered that the previous time, the cards had been dealt at 8 o’clock. After a short pause, he moved on and opened the game rules.

‘This round’s mode is “Werewolf: Cupid and Robber Edition”’

Seeing the first line of words, Shen Mu had a vague bad premonition in his heart. In the past few days, Shen Mu and Shen Xin have also studied the game rules of various killing games on the market, including the very popular advanced version, the Werewolf game. The Cupid and Robber Edition was a complex version of Werewolf, involving multiple factors such as unknown identities, third-party forces, etc. The first round had such complicated rules. Compared to the preliminaries, it was just like jumping directly from kindergarten to university. Moreover, a “player with a save point”, someone that was supposedly rarely seen in Round 1 of the Suspended Life Game, had also appeared……

Shen Mu held the mobile phone in his left hand and his finger gently swiped across the screen. His right knuckle knocked against the bed unconsciously.

‘There are 12 players, 14 cards, 3 Wolf cards, 4 God cards, 5 Civilian cards, 1 Cupid card, and a Robber card. The four God cards are: the Seer, the Witch, the Hunter, and the Idiot. Detailed rules will be announced after the identity card is drawn’

This information was followed by the time schedule. Similar to the preliminaries, players would draw their identities at 8:00 pm during the first day, and then officially enter the first night at 9:00. After entering night time,  with the exception of special roles, players could leave their rooms and discuss the game’s occurrences together. Other players mustn’t go out. Any player that was killed during the night would be announced at 6:00 the next morning, and the discussion would begin where players would decide who to vote for as a werewolf at 9:00 am.

Next came a warning against directing any cheating or violence toward other players. Players who violated the rules would be erased. By now Shen Mu already knew that the physical body of players who were erased would die immediately. This was undoubtedly the most severe punishment and it also guaranteed that off-site factors of the game were reduced to a minimum.

Although he felt a trace of unease, the fairness and principles of the game itself shouldn’t have been broken. Shen Mu tried to access the list of players, and as expected, he still couldn’t open it. He looked thoughtful as he put down his phone. Although the 12 players who would be participating in the game had already been decided, the details of the players themselves could only be viewed in half an hour… No … Shen Mu thought suddenly, he was no longer in the role of a killer and so he wouldn’t necessarily have the right to open the player interface at night anymore! 

He should go to the lobby and take a look first. If Ah Yu and his sister were indeed in the game with him, they would definitely go over at this time.

Shen Mu left his room and entered the corridor. Opening the door, he deliberately didn’t lighten the sound. Probably hearing the noise, doorNo. 3  also opened.

Seeing someone come out, Shen Mu froze for a second. When the other person saw Shen Mu, she also appeared startled, seeming to find it inconceivable: “…Senior Shen?”

“Hey, Junior Xie, we meet again!” Shen Mu collected his thoughts, smiling helplessly, “I didn’t expect to meet you in such a place.”

The girl who’d walked out of room No. 3 was the one that he’d recently met on campus — the junior Xie You who’d been carrying the ragdoll cat named Sweetie. At this moment, she was wearing a blue and white uniform, with her long wavy brown hair resting on her shoulders. Her expression was no longer sorrowful, and her eyes were clear and firm. Xie You was truly surprised to meet Shen Mu here, and for a while, she was unable to regain her composure.

“Little junior? Are you okay?”

“Ah! I’m fine!” Xie You roused herself from her surprise, “I just didn’t expect to meet Senior Shen here…”

“Yes ah,” Shen Mu said half-jokingly and half-seriously, thinking of Lin Huiru and An Yu from the preliminaries. “Our school hasn’t been made a target right?”

Who knew that Xie You would smile bitterly: “Senior Shen had also met them?”

“En?” Shen Mu understood the meaning behind Xie You’s words, hurriedly asking, “You’ve also met other students before, junior?”

“Yes ah!” Xie You nodded, “A haughty miss and a one sided love interest.” At the beginning, Xie Yu had carried a bitter smile, but by the end of the sentence, her voice had a hidden trace of excitement, and she also peeped at Shen Mu.

Shen Mu suddenly had a bad hunch: “Is the haughty miss you spoke about Lin Huiru?”

“Senior, you really understand me ah!” Xie You’s eyes brightened even more, and there was an uncontrollable smile at the corner of her lips.

“No no, I don’t understand…” Shen Mu quickly denied, “Junior, have you met all the players in this game? Are there any other students from our school?”

“En…” Xie You muttered before turning her gaze to the door of room No. 1 that had been closed from beginning to end. “I have met everyone except No. 1. There shouldn’t be another student from our school.” Shen Mu had a serious expression, hence Xie You also restrained her joking behaviour, “What’s wrong, senior?”

Shen Mu shook his head, smiling: “It’s nothing. There was a friend that I met in the last game and I’m worried that he was also assigned to this game but didn’t make it to the designated game site.” Shen Mu said, his gaze falling on the door of room No. 1. If Ah Yu had lost his consciousness and had been sent directly into the room…

Seeing that Shen Mu was staring at the door with a thoughtful look, Xie You had a faint idea of what he was thinking: “Senior wants to force the door open?” Shen Mu didn’t answer, his expression neither denying nor acknowledging her statement. Xie You felt somewhat anxious and had some misgivings: “If they’re senior’s friend, it’d be fine to just knock on the door! Although it wasn’t explicitly stated in the rules, destroying the door would affect the game, and would quite probably register as a violation.”

Xie You sounded sincerely concerned, causing Shen Mu to feel quite touched, even saying: “My friend’s consciousness wasn’t right in the last game and he wasn’t able to complete the game independently. I’m afraid that if he’s inside, he wouldn’t know how to open the door.”

Hearing this, Xie You was clearly startled. She suddenly walked directly past Shen Mu, coming in front of the No. 1 door and fiercely kicking it. The door made a loud ‘duang’ sound and shook a few times. The quality was obviously incomparable to the sturdy condition of the doors in the preliminaries, giving off feelings of pity, weakness and helplessness.

“What are you doing!” Shen Mu was shocked, but Xie You didn’t answer. Her voice, which was originally limpid,  became colder. Growing in volume, she directed it toward the door of room No. 1: “The person inside, listen well. I know you’re in there! Come out now, or I’ll immediately break open the door. Without the protection of the door, how do you plan to spend the night?”

“…” The door of room No. 1 still remained closed, causing Xie You to frown. Just as it seemed as though she was about to go up and give it another kick, Shen Mu, feeling touched by her actions, hurriedly stopped her: “Forget it, what would happen if you violated the rules?” After moving Xie You behind him, he kicked the door himself with a “bang”! The door shook even more.

“Senior…” Xie You subconsciously called out. Shen Mu shook his head slightly, determined to knock the door open. If An Yu really was inside…

Seeming to understand Shen Mu’s determination, Xie You took a deep breath and no longer stopped him. Only her trembling hands revealed her nervousness.

“Creak” At this moment, the door of room No. 1 opened.

Both Shen Mu and Xie You stared blankly as the door slowly opened. A head cautiously peered out from behind the door, revealing a slim short-haired youth with an undistinguishable gender. Seeing Shen Mu, that person cowered, and it almost seemed as though a single breath of wind would cause them to faint.

Being stared at by someone with such an appearance, Shen Mu felt guilty for a moment: “Can I ask… en, are you player No. 1?

“It’s me.” No. 1 spoke and with such a delicate voice that she couldn’t be a boy. The young girl was still hiding behind the door, only revealing her head to ask: “Why did you kick my door?”

“This brother No. 2, he didn’t read the door number and thought that he couldn’t open his door. You should know that the game time is arriving. My brother was afraid that he couldn’t get in, and began to kick the door out of anxiety!” Xie You’s complexion didn’t change as she spoke briskly.

Suddenly hearing this, Shen Mu couldn’t help but bite his lower lip, attempting to control his facial expression. The girl No. 1 looked at Shen Mu hesitantly, and upon seeing that he had no objection, she suddenly closed the door with a ‘bang’.

…The two people in the corridor looked at each other for a moment.

Xie You: “Senior, she seems to be very afraid of you.”

Shen Mu: “I didn’t, I haven’t…” His heartbeat quickened, he didn’t know her before he lost his memories right…?

“Now, don’t frown anymore senior. Since No. 1 isn’t the friend that you were looking for, then it means that he probably isn’t in this round of the game. Worrying is useless. It’s more important to win this round.” Knowing that Shen Mu had many concerns, Xie You comforted him, “I saw two middle-aged vulgar men on my way here, and I abandoned them somewhere. They can’t be your friend la～ The probability of your friend being in this round is much smaller. If he really is the last player that we haven’t met, there’s nothing we can do, we must win.”

“No,” Shen Mu finally smiled from his heart, “I’m sure that he isn’t here now.”

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Translators Corner:

Salted Fish: Sorry for the late chapter! We’ve added a new page which was detailed in a post yesterday, but in case you haven’t seen it, this is what it said: We’ve decided to trial a page where you’ll be able to see our schedule updates as soon as we post them. The page will be updated if a chapter is running behind or is going to be delayed. There will be links that can take you to the new page included at the end of each chapter starting from Chapter 28 (this chapter). You can also see the page HERE.

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