C2 Welcome to the Redhouse

Xie Yu waited patiently as they finished reading the introduction, using the time to review the background information himself.

"Welcome to the Redhouse."

"This house was once the home of an elderly woman named Alice. In her youth, she was wealthy, radiant, and kind—a renowned noble lady in this city."

"People coveted her wealth, speculated about her beauty, and sought her status."

"In her prime, she lived a life of abundance. But as her beauty waned and her wealth became something she could no longer safeguard, it was greedily divided by malicious relatives. Her status was stripped away due to betrayal, and ultimately, she was confined to this house. Black crows entered through the open skylight, pecking away at her last remnants."

"Please find her and lead her out of this house."

Having read the text, Xie Yu stowed the newspaper in his backpack. This game offered no so-called skills, only the ability to enhance one's physical capabilities. There were no high-level equipment either. Upon account creation, each player had a single opportunity to choose a weapon—a choice that was irreversible.

The game's official stance was that a weapon is a companion that grows alongside its owner, and once chosen, it should not be abandoned lightly.

Xie Yu had resolved to select a melee weapon, though he was still deliberating on the exact type.

He had entered unarmed this time, intending to scout out the situation and determine the most suitable weapon.

The first dungeon for beginners wasn't overly challenging, which was perfect for his needs.

"Let's go. The mission is clear: find Alice and escort her out of this house." Xie Yu confidently led the way across the street and pushed open the door to the Redhouse.

The two-story building was spacious for just one person, with no need for servants. The upkeep alone was a considerable task.

His brother, not wanting to lag with his girlfriend, followed behind, while the other two kept pace at the side. With Xie Yu forging ahead, they all hung back slightly, ready to face any dangers that might arise from opening doors.

Xie Yu gave them a knowing glance. Was such caution really necessary?

After all, they were all beginners, and the team's novice status meant the dungeon's difficulty was inherently low. The tutorial had made it clear that instant-death traps like those in opening-door scenarios were unlikely to occur at this stage.

These folks were so faint-hearted, yet they dared to dabble in a horror escape game...

Xie Yu was the first to reach the living room. Pushing the door open, he was greeted by a chilling breeze. He wrapped his arms around himself and stood frozen. The couple known as "Good Boy" and "Noisy" barely reacted, but "Scared of Loving Me?" was so terrified that they burrowed into their boyfriend's embrace, eyes tightly shut.

Catching this in his peripheral vision, Xie Yu couldn't help but feel exasperated. It was a good thing they were in a beginner's level; in a more advanced stage, such antics were practically a death wish.

He shifted his focus from his stationary teammates to the interior of the living room. True to its name, the Redhouse was decked out in red, from the exterior walls to the interior decor and furniture, accented with touches of white.

The red and white scheme was quite to his taste, aesthetically pleasing.

That is, if one could overlook the dried, blackened pool of blood at the foot of the stairs to the second floor.

"Bloodstains?"

Xie Yu's eyes sparkled. Blood meant clues, and with clues, conquering the dungeon wouldn't be so tough.

In a horror puzzle game, clues were everything.

The four behind him hadn't budged, so he decided to leave them be; they were of little use to him anyway.

He hastened to the staircase and crouched down. The blood had turned a definitive black, covered in a thick layer of dust, indicating it had been there for quite some time.

Was it Alice's blood, the owner of the house, or someone else's?

Logically, it was more likely to be Alice's.

The dungeon's backstory had mentioned that Alice's corpse was ravaged by crows. Such a gruesome end pointed more towards murder.

Perhaps the killer had displayed her body by the window, allowing the crows to mutilate it, ensuring that even if discovered later, the perpetrator would remain untraceable.

Pondering, Xie Yu stood up and gave the living room another once-over. His gaze halted abruptly.

A peculiar expression crossed his face as he mused, "Isn't this just typical of a first dungeon tailored for beginners? But is it really wise to lay the clues out so openly?"

Suppressing the urge to grumble, he made his way to the right side of the living room, where a small dining area connected to the kitchen. A modest window there let in beams of sunlight.

But the window was too small to fully illuminate the space, leaving half of it shrouded in shadow.

The house had an awkward layout, with the dining room almost an isolated section. Through the window, one could catch glimpses of the upstairs.

An open window above revealed scattered bloodstains on the sill.

Squinting, he mused to himself how simple the beginner's dungeon was.

It was likely designed as an easy introduction for new players, with the next dungeon ramping up to the standard game difficulty.

He was managing fine, and the couple "Widget" and "Widget" didn't seem to have any major issues, though their amateurishness was evident.

He suspected that Widget and his girlfriend would struggle once the real challenge of the next dungeon emerged.

"Let's head up and see if I'm right..." Xie Yu paused, then turned to his teammates with a grin, "We might just find Alice's body up there."

At the mention of a corpse, the two other girls' expressions flickered subtly before they regained their composure. The two male players puffed out their chests, their faces set with determination.

"Let's go. I'm curious to see what a corpse looks like in this game."

With that, he strode past Xie Yu to lead the way, earning an admiring gaze from his girlfriend.

A pair of delusional gamers...

Xie Yu silently scoffed to himself and followed.

True to his prediction, the Redhouse's difficulty was minimal for a beginner's level. Upon reaching the second floor, the first sight was the dismembered remains of the lady of the house, Alice.

The corpse's pieces were strewn about the bay window, cleverly concealed in the wall's shadow, untouched by sunlight. The floor was a mess of dried, blackened blood and bird footprints, intricate and numerous.

Xie Yu surveyed the scene, then boldly stepped across it. The first to ascend, Widget, now sported a complexion as sickly as liver. They were all ordinary people outside the game, and such a vivid portrayal of death was new to them all.

"Just like the real thing..."

Xie Yu sneered inwardly. In a world digitized and governed by the system, the game environment was indistinguishable from reality.

That person... Xie Yu's eyes narrowed. The one pulling the strings, wielding control over the system, the one who had laid waste to the world—he would find him someday!

And when he did, he would turn back the clock and restore everything to the way it once was!