Chapter 11 I am the Rule in the Ghost Story

The various terrors displayed through the group video chat on the phone, and the ever-encroaching weirdness and despair, led Gao Ming to become fairly certain of which game had become reality.

Zhao Xi, who lived in 2507, and the middle-aged male lead in "The Only Family" had completely different personalities, one simple and diligent, the other gloomy and lazy, yet their environments were nearly identical.

It seemed like they had families and loved ones, but in reality, once the home door was closed, only they knew how terrible that home was.

"Apart from Zhao Xi's body, I didn't encounter any neighbors; I only heard various sounds. The scenes displayed on the phone video are likely the phone owner's own imagination: those killed neighbors are probably the ones who usually looked down on Zhao Xi." Gao Ming had learned some things about Building No. 2 from the neighborhood committee's auntie.

Wang Kuisheng, who lived on the first floor, was a small business owner; he rented a place in Lijing Apartment temporarily to avoid debts; Qiu on the second floor was unemployed, and it seemed like the rumors about Zhao Xi and his brother's wife originated from her; Fang Shuqi on the third floor was a technician from the Harbor District, and Zhao Xi's leg disability appeared to be the result of trying to save him.

Scattered negative emotions are hard to crush a person, but when pressures from all directions converge and are unavoidable, one's will might be completely overwhelmed by negativity, which ultimately led Zhao Xi to step into the night sky.

"'The Only Family' has three endings, and to trigger the good ending, one must make Zhao Xi destroy his own phone."

The phone played those terrifying videos because Zhao Xi wanted to see such scenes, Gao Ming decided to confront the fear head-on and rid himself of the influence of the deceased's phone first.

"My own strength may not be enough." Gao Ming, stepping on the shards of the window glass on the ground, stopped at the door of room 2707: "If Teacher Yao isn't in the room, and the scene inside 2707 is different from what's in the group video, then it means Teacher Yao is a ghost made up by the phone, and my earlier guess wasn't wrong; if Teacher Yao is in the room, there are two possibilities, either my prediction was wrong, or Teacher Yao is also a living person who entered the game."

Knocking on the door of 2707, Gao Ming hadn't waited for Teacher Yao to open the door when the security gate of 2706 next to him slowly opened a crack.

The sound of the door rubbing made Gao Ming immediately protect his body, ready to leave at any moment.

"Don't be nervous, it's me." A horrifying yet familiar disfigured face appeared behind the door of 2706, the investigator waved at Gao Ming: "Don't stand in the hallway, hurry inside the room!"

In such a bizarre environment, how could Gao Ming possibly trust an investigator who suddenly appeared? He was extremely cautious.

"I know you're scared, panicked, helpess right now! But I'm the only one who can help you!" The investigator was getting anxious: "We've been drawn into an abnormal event, I came from Xinhu to Hanhai just to investigate such incidents! I know you have a lot of questions, but it's really dangerous in the hallway, one misstep could be fatal!"

The investigator seemed to bear no ill will; he pulled Gao Ming into the room and only after closing the door did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Surveying room 2706, Gao Ming slowly picked up a chair leg: "Why are you here?"

"I told you to move quickly, but you didn't listen, now you regret it, right?" The investigator wiped the sweat from his forehead: "After leaving 2507, I went upstairs to talk to the tenants here, and then the abnormal event suddenly happened, and I was unfortunately involved."

He pointed to the Black Ring on his wrist that lit up red: "After being involved in an abnormal event, communication will be distorted and disrupted. We can't contact the outside world, it's like entering another world."

"Communication will be completely disrupted?" Gao Ming thought it over carefully, and his face suddenly turned very bad.

He distinctly remembered receiving a call from his mother in the last game!

If what the investigator said was true, then all the calls he received in the last game were actually calls from "ghosts"!

Gao Ming's heart suddenly became anxious, as his parents lived in Xinhu, and he had no idea if the old couple had been affected.

"It's indeed difficult for ordinary people to accept these things," the investigator said, seeing Gao Ming's intense reaction, and added in a low voice, "Fear is normal, but we still have hope of leaving alive."

Gao Ming couldn't be bothered to explain to the investigator, and casually asked, "What exactly do you mean by 'abnormal events'?"

"Bizarre, mysterious, eerie, all kinds of inexplicable things and phenomena that suddenly appeared in Xinhu half a year ago, then suddenly vanished." The investigator decided to share information with Gao Ming.

"It started half a year ago?" Gao Ming was surprised.

"To avoid panic, the news was blocked, and then the Abnormal Disaster Joint Investigation Bureau was formed to investigate these sudden eerie events." Touching the Black Ring on his wrist, the disfigured investigator revealed his identity to Gao Ming, "The Abnormal Disaster Joint Investigation Bureau consists of three parts: investigation, narration, and security. Our purpose is to find out the causes of the disasters."

"So, have you figured out anything?" Gao Ming remembered Li Lin's attitude toward the investigator, as even the lowest level investigators seemed to possess great authority.

"All abnormal events occur along a certain trajectory and within a certain range, beyond that, everything remains unknown." The investigator tried to squeeze out a spine-chilling smile, he probably wanted to encourage Gao Ming, "The odds of ordinary people getting involved in abnormal events are very low, this kind of experience of seeing the truth is not common."

"You're quite good at comforting people." Gao Ming digested all the information; the tunnel he passed through on the night of the Ghost Festival was right at the junction of three cities, and he wondered if something from Xinhu had entered his body.

"The abnormality has occurred, so don't blame fate or others, face it with all you've got. As long as we're careful, we can survive until dawn." The investigator stroked the Black Ring, allowing Gao Ming to see the text displayed on it, "Many investigators from Xinhu have exchanged their lives for some information, and this information can help you survive. Please be sure to remember and follow every rule."

"When you are involved in an abnormal event inside the apartment building, and you want to save yourself, pay attention to the following points."

"First, locate all residents as soon as possible, and agree on a secret signal, because some time after the start of the abnormal event, the residents may be replaced."

"Second, do not trust the clocks you see, the time is inaccurate."

"Third, after midnight, no matter what, do not open the door unless something that does not belong to you appears inside your home."

"Fourth, do not suddenly turn on the lights, fifth, do not listen to any audio..."

"So if I do nothing, can I safely survive until dawn?" Following the rules might prevent mistakes, but Gao Ming wanted to solve the problem at its root, "According to the rules, can we just go to sleep to avoid all misfortune?"

The investigator swiped the Black Ring, and after a moment, shook his head very seriously, "The eleventh rule states, do not sleep, keep awake at all times."

"Thank you for providing me with so many precautions, but I still have things to do." Gao Ming sent a message to Teacher Yao in apartment 2707 using Zhao Xi's phone; he needed to confirm something with Teacher Yao.

"All the information you're seeing now has been obtained at a bloody cost by investigators, you can doubt their accuracy, but never bet your life on it!"

"Rules are rigid, but humans are adaptable…" Gao Ming opened the door of room 2706, looking into the corridor swallowed by shadows, he still had half a sentence left unsaid.

As a game designer, in a way, he was the rules of the eerie tales.