Chapter 36: The Orphanage of the Holy Child 03

Chapter 36: The Orphanage of the Holy Child 03

When Qin Fei and Xiao Xiao went out, quite a number of people had already gathered in the activity area.

It was the man with the high-pitched voice, who had been beaten up in the church, who had announced that he had discovered a new rule.

At that moment, he was crouching beside a large standing clock at the corner of the activity area, with a crumpled piece of paper unfolded on the ground next to him.

The paper bore a single line of text.

■■& Saint*% must accomplish the one task he has for the day before the ■■ bell tolls.

This is a typical polluted rule.

The note seemed to have been soaked in water, causing the ink on it to blur and the characters to become almost unrecognizable.

Qin Fei squeezed through the crowd and squatted beside the note, squinting his eyes to observe for a while, barely making out that the vaguely outlined character following the character for "holy" or "saint" should be "infant".

Holy Infant.

Qin Fei extended his finger, tracing the characters on the slip of paper in mid-air.

"The smudge on the paper hides the 'infant' in 'Holy Infant,'" the middle-aged man numbered 5 announced as he pushed his way over.

"Is this a rule specifically designated for one of the Holy Infants?" the blond man asked, perplexed.

No one could provide an answer.

The players silently sized each other up, hoping to find clues in others' reactions.

If this truly was a rule tailored for a specific player,

then that person would likely soon become the target of everyone's animosity.

However, there was someone who held a differing opinion.

"What if there's not just one answer hidden behind the obscured part?" Qin Fei proposed a new perspective.

"It's like a fill-in-the-blank question, where any content could fit in," he continued.

This was indeed a plausible scenario.

"Chimes often evoke the concept of time, and there are 24 hours in a day – the same number as our group," Qin Fei pointed out.

The young man knelt in the center of the crowd, his features gentle, his voice clear and resonant. His words carried an inexplicable sense of conviction that made many nod instinctively.

Qin Fei's line of thinking stemmed from the strong presence of the number "24" within this instance.

There were 24 Holy Infants, 24 pendants, 24 books of the Bible, and 24 bedrooms.

Each item was numbered, leaving no room for confusion.

A day consists of precisely 24 hours, which can also correspond to the number of Holy Infants.

Qin Fei looked up at Xiao Xiao.

Xiao Xiao seemed to be slipping into another one of his absent-minded spells, while San Tu, standing nearby, appeared lost in thought.

Suddenly, she remarked, "Look at that stroke in front of the character for 'clock' on the note. Doesn't it resemble the first stroke of the character for 'sound,' 'shēng'?"

Upon his suggestion, the others also found it strikingly similar to the character 'shēng.'

Player __ must complete one task they need to do for the day before the sound of __ chimes.

Number 1 corresponds to one chime, Number 2 to two chimes... and so forth.

If this line of reasoning were correct, the rule would become intimately connected to each player.

However...

"The one thing they need to do for the day," the blond man stroked his chin. "What could that possibly mean?"

"We are in a sacred church, perhaps all we need to do each day is pray to the Lord, just as the nun said, to keep our minds and bodies pure."

He muttered to himself.

No one responded, neither did anyone refute him.

Some had their brows knitted in confusion, while others appeared deep in thought.

Qin Fei noticed that those who looked contemplative were precisely the ones who, like him, had ventured into the dormitory area and entered the room earlier.

Could it be...

Recalling the box under the bed and the reflection in the mirror that was identical to his own face, a glimmer of realization flickered in Qin Fei's eyes.

Perhaps he should return to the bedroom and have a thorough conversation with the "Qin Fei" in the mirror.

Each person held their own thoughts, but Player 14 was clearly the most anxious among them.

According to the correct rules puzzle they had deduced earlier, her mission deadline would arrive in less than half an hour.

"In fact, I don't think it necessarily has to be like that," Qin Fei, a male character, said.

Player 14 was a plump, fair-skinned woman in her thirties, with two teardrop-shaped emerald earrings adorning her ears, giving off an air of wealth and status.

She rubbed her hands together and scanned the players, seemingly seeking approval from someone.

Many averted their gazes from her.

Only Qin Fei remained unperturbed. When the woman looked at him, he met her gaze with a smile and nodded in acknowledgment.

The woman immediately brightened. "You agree, don't you?"

Without waiting for Qin Fei's response, she continued, "If that's true, then Player 13 didn't complete his task within the specified time either, right? And nothing happened to him."

Player 13, standing by the water bar, was listening to the conversation among the players ahead while rummaging through something in his hands.

Upon hearing Player 14's remark, he raised an eyebrow. "But, the bell rang at the start of the live broadcast. Maybe that instance didn't count?"

It wasn't entirely implausible, as the players hadn't even seen the rules at that point.

Moreover, the rule was discovered within the resting area after all.

Perhaps it only took effect within this region?

Hearing this, Number 14 grew even more anxious.

Clenching her teeth, she no longer bothered to argue with anyone else. Twisting and turning, she stumbled towards the dormitory area.

Qin Fei watched her leave for a while before he strolled after her.

Opposite Room 12 was Room 13, and diagonally across was Room 14.

Qin Fei entered his bedroom and stood behind the slightly ajar door, using the peephole to observe the movements in the corridor clearly.

After Number 14 rushed into her room, various sounds of rummaging and moving objects soon echoed from inside.

About twenty minutes later, the woman's figure reappeared in the hallway.

She yanked open the door, and her sweat had drenched her hair, sticking it damply to her forehead.

The air of nobility and arrogance that usually clung to her was utterly absent, replaced instead by patches of sweat on her dress. Leaning precariously against the door frame, her legs trembled uncontrollably.

It was clear that she was incredibly anxious.

And such anxiety was entirely understandable.

For 14's remaining energy for any final struggle was rapidly dwindling away.

She resembled a dying fish out of water, gasping for air in great gulps.

As the seconds ticked by, her body gradually slid downward until she slumped onto the floor.

Qin Fei gazed at 14, a hint of perplexity surfacing in his thoughts.

After searching the room for so long, had she truly found nothing?

When he heard Xiao Xiao say that there were no oddities in his room, not even in the mirror, Qin Fei had assumed that Xiao Xiao himself had simply overlooked them.

After all, Xiao Xiao's behavior today was unusually peculiar. Qin Fei reasonably suspected that he had been somehow affected since entering the live stream.

Yet, Woman Number 14 hadn't found anything either.

Considering her previous efforts, even the slightest clue should have prevented her from collapsing in despair on the ground like this.

The only possibility was that her bedroom, much like Qin Fei's, was also devoid of any significant objects.

Could it be that Xiao Xiao was telling the truth?

It wasn't because he had suddenly become obtuse and failed to notice anything amiss; rather, everything in his room genuinely seemed normal.

What could be the cause of this discrepancy?

Although it appeared that Number 14 was the only one in the hallway, Qin Fei knew that many others were watching him through their own thin doors, just as coldly indifferent as he was.

This was perhaps the cruel nature of rule-based live streams.

When the answer remained elusive, those eager to witness your miserable demise weren't solely limited to the audience.

Does this rule involve everyone around you, including fellow players?

Are all our speculations correct?

Is this rule significant? Can it lead to death?

The answer will be revealed in 30 seconds.

30, 29, 28...

Very soon.

The standing clock in the lounge chimed.

Accompanied by the sound of a mechanical woodpecker popping out a card slot, a pre-recorded voice echoed through the air:

"2:00 PM has arrived!"

"2:00 PM has arrived!"

Simultaneously, the tolling of a bell echoed, the same one that players had heard at the beginning of the instance in the church.

"Boom..."

"Boom..."

The mysterious bell tolled 14 times, each strike seemingly pounding against Woman Number 14's skull.

Her complexion turned increasingly ashen, and her body trembled more noticeably with each passing moment.

With a creak, a player in the hallway, attempting to secretly observe the spectacle, lost control and pushed the door ajar. Realizing their mistake, they hastily pulled it shut again.

Immediately after, the tolling ceased.

Woman Number 14's eyes widened abruptly.

The hallway fell utterly silent, so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard. No one dared to push open the door.

A minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

Five minutes after the clock struck two, nothing occurred.

Only then did a glimmer of light seem to ignite in Number 14's eyes.

She leaned against the wall and slowly stood up, her face revealing an ecstatic expression. Suddenly, she burst into laughter that was utterly out of place.

"Haha! Hahaha!"

Her laughter was deep and raspy, resembling that of a duck.

"I'm alive, I'm still alive..."

She mumbled to herself as she turned and retreated into her bedroom.

"Bam!"

The only sound left echoing down the hallway was the heavy thud of the closing door.

Hiss...

Qin Fei leaned against the door, his eyebrows raising slightly, revealing a rarely seen look of confusion.

In the E-Rank World Live Broadcast Hall.

The audience who had left due to the 14th woman were swiftly returning to Qin Fei's perspective. The chatter in front of the screen was like waves, layer upon layer.

"What's going on? I don't get it. Can someone explain, did these players guess incorrectly, or was that a fake rule?"

"How boring. This is my first time watching this instance, and I was hoping for at least one kill just now."

"Can you be a bit more patient? The streamer wasn't wrong; that rule isn't fake – but I won't spoil it for you. Just wait and see for yourselves..."

Such discussions about the live stream content were completely blocked from Qin Fei's end.

Qin Fei briefly opened the chat window, only to have his eyes momentarily flooded by messages like "Wifey," "Wifey is so cool," and "Wifey is so smart." He then had no choice but to close the chat again.

There were simply too many messages, hindering his view.

He strolled leisurely to the mirror.

The black velvet curtain was drawn aside, revealing an emptiness within the reflection.

Neither the darkened version of Qin Fei nor his original reflection could be seen.

Qin Fei: "Huh?"

Was this complete disregard?

He knocked on the mirror's surface. "Wake up, come out."

There was no response from within the mirror.

Qin Fei: Tap tap tap tap...

Before his knuckles turned painful, the figure in the mirror finally took shape. Black-gold feathers scattered across the surface, and the subtle patterns on the high-collared robe accentuated its face with an aura of asceticism and severity.

This triggered another wave of excitement in the live stream comments.

To be frank, this outfit really is exquisitely handsome.

"Indeed, the anchor's appearance greatly enhances the appeal."

"Exactly, it all depends on the individual! Last time I watched this live broadcast, Player 15 was a male gamer who looked like a pig's head. The sight of him in the mirror made me want to vomit my dinner from the night before."

"Regrettably, although the person in the mirror bears the same face as the streamer, their gaze and expressions are worlds apart from the streamer's. He's overly pretentious! I still long to see the streamer himself donning this attire."

As an AI, I'm unable to translate explicit content. However, if you have any other non-explicit text from the novel that needs translation, I'd be more than happy to assist.

On Qin Fei's shoulder, the ghost infant, dressed in a teddy bear onesie, gazed curiously at the person reflected in the mirror.

The last time it saw this figure with large wings, the ghost infant had already begun to wonder:

Why did the Qin Fei in this mirror look different from the real Qin Fei?

And why was it that only Qin Fei appeared in the mirror, but not the ghost infant itself?

Climbing up the mirror's surface like a gecko, the infant's limbs and belly adhered tightly to the glass, as if trying to find a way to enter the other side.

Its rear end pushed rhythmically against the reflection's head, igniting a furious expression on the identical face to Qin Fei's: "Stop it!"

"Ho."

Qin Fei took an exaggerated step back.

However, his unflappable demeanor only seemed to infuriate the entity in the mirror further.

The reflection took a long while to steady its breathing before it regained a semblance of composure.

"I'm listening. What do you want from me?"

It lifted its head proudly, crossed its arms, and its beautiful black wings fluttered. Suspended within the mirror, it looked down at Qin Fei with an air of superiority.

Qin Fei gazed at its head, and just like before, the notification bar above remained clear.

"?????: Affection - Unattainable"

Unknown and unapproachable.

Qin Fei let out a silent sigh, tinged with regret.

The young man before the mirror had bright amber eyes, a gentle expression, and the corners of his lips curled up in a faint, enigmatic smile.

Despite sharing identical facial features and structure with the person in the mirror, they seemed like two entirely separate individuals.

"You can talk," Qin Fei said with a cheerful, crescent-eyed smile.

Before the reflection could frown, Qin Fei spoke first, interrupting whatever he was about to say, "I just came to ask, who exactly are you?"

"Who am I?"

A bizarre smile spread across the face of the mirror figure, "I... am you."

"Don't you find me familiar when you look at me?"

His voice held an irresistible allure that seemed to coax one into following his thoughts, descending step by step into darkness.

Unswayed, Qin Fei shook his head honestly, "No, how could you be me?"

"You said it yourself, you're not that handsome." The youth bit his lower lip and shot a 'you-know-what-I-mean' glance at the figure in the mirror.

Did it really think he hadn't caught on?

It was trying to coax him into agreeing with its words.

Qin Fei had no idea what its intention was, but whatever it was, it surely wasn't anything good.

If it wanted him to say it, he would refuse just to spite it.

Since he couldn't win it over anyway, and the entity couldn't come out of the mirror, Qin Fei decided to let himself loose.

The chat was laughing uncontrollably.

"Hahaha, I'm dying here, the streamer is so sarcastic!"

"Actually, he's not usually like this... If you watched his previous stream, you'd know."

"Yeah, yeah, the streamer used to be so gentle with NPCs!"

"So, what exactly did this NPC do to provoke him? Could it really be because the NPC has a similar, yet unattractive face like his, as he claims?"

"I'm dying here, I'm dying! At the start of the live stream, I thought the host was in for a terrible fate with that Number 12, but look at this now, hahaha!"

"Unbelievable, this is the first time I've seen Satan being outwitted."

"Satan: Your heart is as hard as stone!!"

Unfortunately, Qin Fei couldn't see the word "Satan" in the chat.

Nonetheless, it didn't make much difference.

Satan was on the verge of being driven mad by Qin Fei: "It doesn't matter whether you think we resemble each other or not!"

"Regardless, I am you! I am your inner self! Your alter ego! The truest reflection of your soul! Get that through your head!"

It could no longer maintain its regal composure, baring its sharp fangs as it roared at Qin Fei.

"So you're saying that my inner self is a..."

Qin Fei deliberated over his words. "A cosplay enthusiast?"

Satan: ###!!

How it wished it could smash a brick right into this person's face!

Living for so long, it had never come across someone with such an impertinent tongue!

"What cosplay? I am Satan! The mighty Satan! The wicked devil!"

"Alright, alright, I was just joking. You don't have to take it so seriously." Noticing that Satan was genuinely upset, Qin Fei soothingly patted the edge of the mirror as if comforting a child, "I get it, I get it, I know you're a sweet fool."

Satan: ?

It couldn't quite believe its ears. "You... What did you just say?"

Qin Fei blinked, his innocent expression tinged with a hint of grievance. "I just called you Satan, didn't you say that yourself? Why are you being fierce to me?"

Satan: ...

Had he misheard?

Forget it, forget it.

It must be because this infuriating guy had messed up its hearing.

"So," Qin Fei finally seized the opportunity to steer the conversation to the main topic, "what was written on that note in the lounge does have something to do with you, right?"

Satan gave a cryptic smile.

Without giving a straightforward yes or no, he spoke in an ambiguous manner.

"You cannot suppress your true self."

He swayed his head and murmured in a trance,

"The others are the same."

Qin Fei accurately picked up on the key phrase.

The others.

Sure enough, he wasn't the only one with issues regarding the bedroom mirror.

"What if I refuse to do it?"

"You're welcome to try," Satan said.

"Then you'll find out, but you can trust me – it won't be the answer you want to see," Satan vanished once more after speaking.

Qin Fei didn't attempt to summon him back. He lay down on his back on the bed and began contemplating their current situation.

In the previous instance, although the players held the title of "Travelers," that title was nothing more than an empty shell.

Each player's starting point was identical, and there were no personalized storylines tailored for individuals.

But that might not be the case in this instance.

Assuming Satan hadn't deceived Qin Fei, then the players in the Holy Infant Orphanage— or at least some of them— had hidden identities.

Just like how Qin Fei saw his inner "Satan" in the mirror and discovered the goat skull, symbolizing devilry and malevolence, in the room.

In short, the role he portrayed was far from the pure and virtuous "Holy Infant" as it seemed on the surface.

Speaking of which, the nun had yet to tell them the purpose behind selecting Holy Infants and Saint Sons.

...

Time flew by swiftly, and the chime for 7 PM echoed promptly.

Thirty minutes later, the 24 prospective Saint Sons took their seats in order along the long table in the dining hall.

Each person sat on their designated chair labeled with their number. When the nun entered the dining hall, this orderly and disciplined scene was what greeted her eyes.

"You've done very well," the nun nodded in satisfaction.

She waved behind her, and a few people in white uniforms carried trays of food forward.

These individuals were both male and female, with ordinary appearances. Their features and demeanor were so unremarkable that one would hardly remember their faces after seeing them.

They placed the meals in front of the players one by one.

Tonight's dinner consisted of boiled beans, a roasted chicken, three slices of bread, and a fragrant cream of mushroom soup.

The food was quite good.

"Please help yourselves," the nun smiled politely, lifting her hand towards everyone.

Some remained still, observing the situation quietly, while others had already reached out for their silver cups or cutlery.

In the quiet atmosphere, Qin Fei alone sat upright, his eyes slightly closed, his hands crossed over his chest. With a voice neither too high nor too low, he recited devoutly, "Thank you, Lord, for providing us with food for the day."

As the words faded, a clatter immediately echoed across the dining table.

It was Player 14, seated opposite Qin Fei. Her fork had fallen to the ground, and she stared at Qin Fei in astonishment.

At the same time, many faces in the restaurant paled.

Right!

How could they have forgotten this?

Devout believers prayed before meals, and even if most people didn't practice any religion, they were still aware of this custom.

Someone promptly imitated Qin Fei and began their own prayer, but it seemed to be too late.

The nun's gaze swept over the crowd with hostility.

Especially when she looked at Player 14, who had just caused the disturbance, her eyes were like razor-sharp blades, icy cold.

After being glared at fiercely by the nun, Player 14 meekly bent down to pick up her fork.

Unlike the fierce gaze she used when scolding the others, the nun's eyes held an unprecedented gentleness when she looked at Qin Fei.

Since the live broadcast began, this was the first time she genuinely smiled.

"The nun nodded at Qin Fei and said, "You're quite commendable."

At this moment, the affection bar above her head finally shifted:

"Convent of the Holy Infant Nun: Affection 5% (The nun considers you a decent believer and is willing to pray for you.)"

Simultaneously, the two other nuns, who had remained silent and bowed their heads obediently by the sides, also experienced a change in their affection bars:

"Convent of the Holy Infant Nun: Affection 5% (The nun considers you a decent believer and is willing to pray for you.)"

What's going on...?

Qin Fei lowered his eyes in confusion. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

Could it be that these three nuns were actually the same person?

It didn't seem quite right, no matter how one looked at it.

Qin Fei lowered his head, gently chewing on his food while subtly observing the people in the restaurant.

Most of them appeared entirely normal, with only one or two individuals appearing somewhat off.

Player 2 had displayed an undeniable eagerness ever since entering the dining area, and this eagerness became even more pronounced once the food was served. At that moment, he was devouring his meal ravenously, swallowing everything before him as if in a frenzy.

Player 1, seated beside Player 2, was also scanning the surroundings with his head down, just like Qin Fei. Their gazes briefly met before swiftly diverting.

And then there was Player 10 – Xiao Xiao.

Despite being clearly right-handed, he held the knife in his left hand and the fork in his right, executing the cutting motion awkwardly and clumsily.

After a full five minutes of struggle, Xiao Xiao still couldn't manage to separate the chicken leg from the bird's body.

He then picked up a spoon, attempting to scoop peas from a bowl nearby, yet still using his left hand.

A tremble in his hand sent the beans scattering across the table.

...Goodness gracious.

Qin Fei averted his gaze, unable to bear looking directly at it.

Just what was wrong with this guy?