Chapter 3: The Orphan Alliance
Shi Yuntian gripped his massive sword with both hands, swinging it straight at Su Qiong’s head with a burst of icy, murderous intent.
“Hey! Stop!” Yu Qimiao, who had been shoved into the dirt by Lu Shufan to dodge the blade, scrambled up to defend the NPC.
But it was already too late.
Clang—!
The heavy blade crashed down with unstoppable force. With his weightless, marshmallow-like body, Su Qiong could have simply floated backward to dodge. Instead, he smoothly unwound the bandages from Yu Qimiao’s arm and whipped them around Shi Yuntian’s wrists, restricting his movement.
The blade stopped a mere inch above Su Qiong’s head.
Su Qiong knew perfectly well that his flimsy bandages wouldn’t survive a second strike. But Shi Yuntian was a veteran gamer with tons of combat experience. He knew the golden rule: Villains die when they talk too much. So, he had attacked without warning, giving Su Qiong zero chance to react.
Facing the terrifying pressure of a world-champion esports player, Su Qiong stayed completely calm. A pro like Shi Yuntian wouldn’t recklessly kill an NPC right at the start of a puzzle game without testing the waters first. Plus, Su Qiong wasn’t actually afraid of dying. He was mostly curious to see if a sword could kill a string of computer code.
“Heh.” Shi Yuntian studied the squishy creature for a moment before scoffing. “That’s it? I came at you myself, so hurry up and show me what you can really do.”
He shot a mocking look at Yu Qimiao. The brilliant, all-powerful billionaire had been terrified by a little marshmallow. If they made it out alive, Shi Yuntian promised himself he would march into Yu Qimiao’s corporate office with a megaphone and laugh in his face.
Su Qiong numbly tightened his bandages, trying to wrap them over Shi Yuntian’s mouth to shut him up.
“Put some back into it, trash. Have you even eaten today? Are you trying to wrap me in plastic wrap?” Shi Yuntian teased. “Where are your skills? Your weapons? Let me see them!”
Su Qiong thought: Maybe you should just kill me.
“Does he not have any attack skills?” Lu Shufan raised his arm, trying to scan Su Qiong with his bracelet. But the bracelet was dead. The glowing screen wouldn’t even turn on. Yu Qimiao checked his own wrist and realized his was disabled too.
Su Qiong tapped his black NPC control panel and turned it around for them to read.
[This is a puzzle-oriented instance. Players are prohibited from using their bracelets.]
He held the screen up high. Even though his puffy white face had no eyes or mouth, he somehow radiated a pathetic, obedient aura that seemed to scream, I’m useful! I’m capable! Please don’t kill me! It was actually pretty cute.
Shi Yuntian suddenly saw the marshmallow in a new light. He lowered his heavy sword and patted Su Qiong’s round head. “So that’s how it is. You’re pretty useful, kid. What else do you know?”
Su Qiong shook his head and tapped his panel again.
[User detected as a bottom-ranking NPC. You do not have permission to access further information.]
“Tsk,” Shi Yuntian sighed. “Useless. You’re unbelievably useless.”
Su Qiong was speechless.
“Well, that makes sense,” Lu Shufan said, brushing the dirt off his clothes. “The first NPC you meet in a game like this is usually a guide.”
“A guide NPC?” Yu Qimiao repeated quietly.
“Exactly. Have you never played an exploration game, Little Yu?” Lu Shufan explained cheerfully. “In puzzle games, when the system doesn’t give you clues, you have to get them from the NPCs.”
Shi Yuntian rested his huge sword on his shoulder. “Even if this wasn’t a puzzle game, you shouldn’t attack NPCs for no reason. What if you trigger a boss’s berserk mode? We’d all be dead.” His face grew unusually serious. “Or did you actually believe that Apple girl’s nonsense? Do you really think dying doesn’t matter just because we have unlimited lives here?”
“Don’t die carelessly~” Lu Shufan sang softly. “Everything fate gives you has a hidden price tag.”
IF was a terrifying, unpredictable game. Who knew what horrible price they would pay to resurrect? Yu Qimiao frowned, finally realizing his mistake. “I’ve never played video games.”
As expected, Su Qiong thought. Yu Qimiao was brilliant, but there was a huge gap between business smarts and gaming experience.
“It’s fine, it’s fine! Everyone starts as a noob,” Lu Shufan said, fluttering his eyelashes. “Team up with us! Boss Shi will protect you~”
“Why the hell is that my job?” Shi Yuntian glared at him.
Ignoring his friend’s anger, Lu Shufan officially formed their team, casually adding Su Qiong to the roster. “And you, Little Useless. Wandering around alone is too dangerous.” Lu Shufan clearly just wanted the NPC’s clues, but he put on a great act of caring about Su Qiong’s safety.
Su Qiong didn’t mind. The process had been messy, but he had achieved his goal: three smart players and one weak NPC were now a team.
While they were talking, the other players had already scattered to explore Gangan Village.
Since the theme of the level was “Poverty,” the players had braced themselves for a rough environment. But the reality of Gangan Village was far deadlier than they imagined.
There wasn’t a single real house. The villagers lived in jagged caves dug into the rocky mountain, or behind crumbling walls made of loose stones. Even the poorest primitive tribes in the real world had small farms or forests to hunt in. But here, the ground was entirely barren rock. Not a single weed grew. There were no animals for miles.
How did these people even find food?
If it was just a barren wasteland, the players might have assumed the game was just being cruel. But a wide river cut straight through the middle of the village.
The setting sun reflected off the crimson water flowing slowly between steep, rocky banks. On the opposite side of the river, it was a totally different world. Bright red flowers bloomed in the lush green grass. Birds sang in the trees, and beautiful wooden cabins glowed with warm, inviting light.
Yu Qimiao stepped toward the water, wanting to cross.
“You can’t get over there,” Lu Shufan warned, grabbing his arm. “Look at the sign.”
Yu Qimiao looked at a broken stone monument planted in the dirt. It read: Sun-Moon River. The smaller text beneath it was faded, but he could just make out the words: Do not enter this river.
Earlier, a few strong swimmers had ignored the sign and jumped in. The crimson water immediately swept them far downstream, spitting them back onto the barren shore coughing and bruised.
“Wait, aren’t we missing a few people?” Shi Yuntian asked, looking around. “Where are the female players from the village entrance?”
Su Qiong typed on his control panel and held it up. Three players voluntarily abandoned the game.
“Makes sense,” Shi Yuntian muttered. “Those filthy old men were looking at them like meat. I wouldn’t have come inside either.”
“What happens if you abandon the game?” Yu Qimiao asked.
Su Qiong tapped his screen again. Two words appeared: Game failure.
“And then what happens to them?”
Su Qiong shook his head. He was just a bottom-tier NPC; the system didn’t give him that kind of access. Rather than a true “guide,” he was more like a companion trying to solve the mystery alongside them.
“What should we do now?” The three men looked at each other, then turned to Su Qiong.
Shi Yuntian and Lu Shufan didn’t fully trust him yet. They were keeping him around purely to milk him for hints. In most games, a friendly “white-name” NPC could easily turn into a hostile “red-name” monster. They planned to use him as much as possible before he inevitably tried to kill them.
Su Qiong typed three words: Follow the storyline.
He knew the gamers were using him, but he didn’t care. They were strangers. Once this level was over, they would go their separate ways, and he could find new players to coast with.
As soon as Su Qiong gave the hint, familiar voices echoed across the dirt road. The players turned in shock.
“Dad? Why are you in the game too?!” “Second Brother? Why are your clothes so ragged? Did our family go bankrupt?!” “Ahhh! A ghost! Grandpa, I’m sorry, I’ll burn paper money for you next week, I swear!”
The villagers stumbling out of the caves looked exactly like the players’ real-world relatives. Ignoring the players’ terrified screams, the fake family members grabbed their hands and dragged them warmly into the dark caves.
Within minutes, the dirt road was totally empty. Only the three men and Su Qiong were left standing outside.
“What is going on?” Yu Qimiao asked.
Su Qiong typed: Mimicry NPCs. They imitate your real-world relatives to advance the plot.
“Okay, so why didn’t we get any?” Lu Shufan asked.
None of you have parents, Su Qiong replied.
“Heh. Are you insulting us?” Shi Yuntian picked at his ear. “If my parents showed up, it would be a disaster. In the esports world, we insult each other so much that no amount of parents could save us.”
“I’m an orphan,” Yu Qimiao said plainly.
Lu Shufan laughed. “Good grief. We should just rename ourselves the Orphan Alliance.”
While the other players were safely inside advancing their storylines, the orphans were stuck in the freezing cold. Then, they heard the heavy thud of a wooden walking stick.
An old woman with a deeply wrinkled face limped toward them, leaning heavily on a teenage girl. The players were surprised—these two were the only females they had seen in the entire village.
“It’s freezing out here! Don’t just stand around,” the old woman smiled warmly. “I’m Granny Li, the village chief. This is my granddaughter, Li Ting.”
Li Ting didn’t say a word. She hid behind her grandmother, her big dark eyes staring nervously at the strangers. She looked about fourteen years old. Her arms and legs were terrifyingly skinny, as if they would snap under pressure, but her chest was surprisingly developed. She wore a bright, clean, padded winter jacket—the nicest piece of clothing they had seen in Gangan Village.
It was obvious Granny Li cherished her deeply. But remembering the ravenous, hungry stares of the bachelors at the entrance, the players couldn’t help but worry for the girl’s safety.
“You must be exhausted. Come sit at my house,” Granny Li offered. The players realized she was the mimicry NPC the system had sent to guide the orphans.
“Thank you so much, Granny Chief!” Lu Shufan immediately turned on his streamer charm, taking Granny Li’s arm to help her walk. Within seconds, he was casually coaxing information out of her.
Shi Yuntian and Yu Qimiao followed closely behind. But Su Qiong stayed put.
“?” Shi Yuntian looked back, instantly suspicious.
Su Qiong held up his screen: I’m an NPC, so I don’t need to follow the plot. You didn’t get to inspect the village earlier. I’ll scout around and look for clues.
“Be careful,” Yu Qimiao said genuinely. He was the only person who actually trusted the little marshmallow.
Shi Yuntian sighed and rubbed his temples. How did Boss Yu survive the ruthless business world when he trusts monsters so easily?
Left alone in the freezing night, Su Qiong floated through the massive village.
He noticed a chilling detail. Just as the system had hinted, there were almost no women here. Aside from little Li Ting, the few females he saw were all very old. There were absolutely no women of marriageable age.
But weirdly, there were plenty of toddlers and young boys running around.
Su Qiong was a piece of computer code, so he valued logic and science. If there were no young women… how were all these children born? Did the men split like cells?
Or… did they once have mothers?
Su Qiong remembered the creepy nursery rhyme the old men had been singing at the entrance. Gangan Village, nothing but bare branches. Where is my wife? Ask my mother, ask my sister. Where is my wife?
The mothers, sisters, and wives mentioned in the song didn’t exist in Gangan Village. Not anymore.
Su Qiong floated toward the edge of the mountain, where dozens of abandoned caves sat empty. Their entrances were nailed shut with wooden planks. Using his squishy body, he slid his thin bandages through the cracks. It was pitch black inside, and completely empty.
But when he pulled his bandages back out, the white cloth was stained with dark, rusty-red smears.
Blood? Or rust? But Gangan Village didn’t have any metal tools to rust.
“What are you doing over there?” a raspy voice croaked.
Su Qiong spun around. Standing behind him in the moonlight was the filthy old bachelor from the village entrance. The man’s face looked even more hideous in the dark. In his hand, he held a heavy, flat-headed wooden club. He dragged the club across the rocky dirt, the scraping sound echoing terrifyingly in the quiet night.
“Do you want to go inside?” the bachelor asked, his eyes gleaming.
Su Qiong didn’t answer. He quickly floated away, trying to escape toward the edge of the village to explore further. But he slammed face-first into an invisible wall—the edge of the unlocked map. Just like the players, he couldn’t leave the designated area.
Turning around, Su Qiong quickly floated back toward Granny Li’s cave. Along the way, he peeked into the other caves. The players were sitting with their fake families. The caves were freezing, missing doors, and had no real food on the tables, but the “relatives” were treating the players with genuine warmth and kindness.
When Su Qiong finally slipped into Granny Li’s cave, she was placing a hot plate of stir-fried vegetables on the table. There were even tiny crumbs of meat mixed in.
“The village slaughtered a pig at the beginning of the year,” Granny Li smiled warmly. “As the chief, they gave me a little extra. I hope you don’t find it too shabby.”
“Of course not!” “Thank you, Granny Chief!”
The players’ bodies in the game felt hunger just like in the real world, and they were starving. Lu Shufan took a piece of cornbread and happily opened his mouth to take a bite.
Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream shattered the peaceful night.
“Ahhh—!”
It was a scream of pure agony and grief. Yu Qimiao and Shi Yuntian leaped to their feet and sprinted out of the cave.
Following the sound, they ran toward a nearby cave belonging to the player named Those Who Obey Me Win. Because there were no streetlamps, they could only see by the pale moonlight and the flickering candles inside the caves.
Those Who Obey Me Win was pinning his mimicry NPC—an old man who looked exactly like his real father—firmly to the dirt. He raised a heavy jagged rock high above his head and smashed it viciously into the old man’s face.
“Where’s the money?!” the player screamed. “You old bastard, I need money! Drop some coins for me!”
He slammed the rock down again. The game was horrifyingly realistic. The blood didn’t just look warm; the metallic stench of iron filled the cold air.
The fake father’s skull was caved in, sticky brain matter oozing into the dirt. “My child, please,” the old man sobbed incoherently. “Stop hitting me. I’ll give you money. I’ll walk to the city tomorrow and earn it for you.”
“Going to the city tomorrow? Heh. I beat a clue out of you,” the player laughed, licking a splash of blood from the corner of his mouth. “I knew beating you old bones would work. Where’s the family’s stash? Tell me!”
“What money could we have?” the old man cried in terror. “I already gave it all to you…”
Smash!
The player brought the heavy rock down again. “Those scraps aren’t enough! I need lots of money!”
A tiny boy rushed out of the cave, crying and grabbing the player’s arm to stop him. Those Who Obey Me Win backhanded the child with brutal force, sending the small boy flying into the jagged mountain rocks.
Several softhearted players from nearby caves wanted to run over and stop him, but no one dared to attack the only man who possessed a strategy guide for IF.
“Don’t act impulsively. He’s just an NPC,” Shi Yuntian said quietly, gripping Yu Qimiao’s shoulder to hold him back. “Everything you’re seeing is just game code and pixels.”
Yu Qimiao slowly lowered his fists, forcing himself to calm down. He glanced sideways at Su Qiong, who was standing quietly in the shadows.
“Ugh—” The old man on the ground gasped for breath, staring up at his “son” in total despair.
Those Who Obey Me Win raised the bloody rock one last time, laughing maniacally at the face that perfectly matched his own father’s. “Do you know how my brother got chosen for this game? Because deep down, he’s just as rotten as I am! He loves watching people struggle and beg before they die in despair.”
He slammed the rock down repeatedly, completely destroying the old man’s skull.
The NPC finally died. Its broken body turned into white television static and slowly faded into the air.
A glowing notification popped up above the player’s head: [Experience +10. Level increased to Lv. 2.]
Left behind on the blood-soaked dirt was a crumpled pile of cash: 200 yuan. So this was what the system meant when it said the average income was 200 yuan.
Those Who Obey Me Win greedily shoved the bloody money into his pocket. He wiped his face and swept a smug, arrogant gaze over the horrified crowd.
“See that?” he bragged loudly. “This is the correct way to beat the game. My brother told me—in the world of IF, you earn points by killing anything. If you kill powerful targets, like high-level players or system NPCs, you get massive rewards.”
As he spoke, his eyes swept through the crowd and locked directly onto Su Qiong’s puffy white face.
His blood-stained mouth stretched into a terrifying, greedy grin.
“Now… look what I’ve found.”
