Chapter 317 The Training Base

Chapter 317: Training Base

"Brother Lin, did we just... clear the game like that?"

After choosing to return to the real world upon completing the game, Lin Wenhua and Huang Qi found themselves back in Huang Qi's bedroom. The Lin family had been in an uproar lately, with the elderly patriarch insisting on finding his daughter. In that household, every word Lin Wenhua uttered was deemed wrong; even a mere fart was considered an unforgivable offense. So, he had simply decided to take refuge at Huang Qi's place for a few days.

Just before entering the Nightmare Game, the two had been sitting in Huang Qi's bedroom, engrossed in video games. Little did they expect that in the blink of an eye, they would both be pulled into the Nightmare World.

Lin Wenhua instinctively glanced out the window. They had started playing shortly after dinner, but now it was already bright outside. Clearly, time in the Nightmare World wasn't frozen; it flowed just as it did in the real world.

"What about that bride?" Huang Qi immediately recalled the events of the game's final identification phase. "That Mr. Sha said the bride who'd been helping us all along was also a player? And that player failed their mission because of us? What happens if a player fails their mission?"

"..." Lin Wenhua fell silent. He knew that although Huang Qi always claimed to be a troublemaker, he probably wouldn’t like the answer he was about to give.

"Will they really die?" Huang Qi, however, seemed to have already formed his own answer. "Just to save us newcomers?"

Lin Wenhua didn't know either, but the side profile of that bride as she turned around flashed through his mind. Lin Wenhua wasn't someone who prioritized looks above all else, but when he saw that bride's face, he felt an indescribable sense of familiarity, an urge to walk up to her and say something.

Would he truly never see that person again?

The two boys sat silently on the bed in the bedroom, their moods heavy.

Meanwhile, in a second-floor room of a villa on the other side of the city, a girl in a bear-patterned hoodie was curled up in a bean bag chair, her expression equally sorrowful.

Throughout the game, it was mostly Wen Wen who communicated with the brides. To better analyze the clues, Wen Wen had genuinely immersed herself in connecting with the brides emotionally. Because of this, she could feel the pain of the West Courtyard Bride, whose body had been taken from her. The West Courtyard Bride, who didn’t look much older than Wen Wen herself, hadn’t even had the chance to resist her fate before everything ended—she departed quietly, unnoticed by anyone.

Then there was the East Courtyard Bride, who always carried a pair of scissors with her. Those scissors seemed to symbolize her resistance against it all, but even after becoming a ghost bride, her resistance remained weak.

What saddened Wen Wen the most was the East Courtyard Bride—or rather, the other player whom Sha Linghai mentioned had been hiding her identity due to a special mission, standing by their side and helping them.

Although Wen Wen didn’t know the specifics of that mysterious player’s mission, one of the conditions for completing it must have been not to reveal her identity in front of others. Yet, in the end, to ensure that the newcomers could identify the Ghost Lady within the time limit, that player chose to expose her identity voluntarily, willingly ending her mission.

That mysterious player had sacrificed herself for them.

"It’s my fault. If Wen Wen had been more careful, if Wen Wen had gathered more clues, maybe that big brother wouldn’t have..."

On the coffee table beside the bean bag chair where Wen Wen was curled up, a photo frame displayed a picture of a family of three. Well-dressed parents tightly embraced Wen Wen in the middle, their bright smiles radiating joy. Even from just a photo, one could sense the happiness of this family.

Perhaps precisely because she was born into a carefree family, Wen Wen had experienced far more hardships in a short time than she would have in her entire life. No matter how mature and calm Wen Wen appeared in the game, when she returned to the real world and heard the sounds of her family waking up outside her door, she couldn’t help but cry silently.

"I’m so scared, Dad, Mom. Wen Wen is so scared. Wen Wen doesn’t want to have nightmares anymore..."

As the real world gradually welcomed the morning, Sha Linghai stood dejectedly beside a warehouse in the suburbs of Honghuai City, waiting for the door to open.

Yes, this seemingly ordinary warehouse was the training center of the relevant authorities in Honghuai City.

Since returning from the Nightmare World, Sha Linghai hadn't bounced back. Before entering the Nightmare World, Sha Linghai had been full of longing for its existence. He wanted to become a player, to be like a superhero. Back then, Sha Linghai was brimming with confidence and looked down on anyone who wasn’t a player.

But now that he had become a player, Sha Linghai was not happy.

"Sha Linghai, you’re here early again!" Other trainees from the relevant authorities arrived one after another, glancing unsurprisingly at Sha Linghai, who was already waiting by the warehouse door. "No surprise, you’re the most enthusiastic and excited about player matters."

The trainees’ tones sounded like they were teasing Sha Linghai, and their attitudes were not as flamboyant as Sha Linghai had initially presented himself to Lin Wenhua and the others. But in truth, everyone’s eyes held anticipation and excitement. It was clear that, like Sha Linghai, they were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Nightmare Game.

"I heard the senior coming today will teach us about player abilities," one of the trainees walked over and patted Sha Linghai on the shoulder. "This is the class you’ve been looking forward to the most."

Before the despondent Sha Linghai could respond, the warehouse door opened from the inside.

The others might have just been casually teasing him. Seeing the door open, they walked in chatting and laughing. Sha Linghai followed them into the warehouse.

This warehouse, serving as a training base, was anything but ordinary. A player who particularly preferred solitude had used his ability to turn the entire warehouse into an isolated, self-contained space. Only personnel he allowed could enter or exit, and only he could open the warehouse door. It was this special ability that allowed ordinary trainees to freely discuss matters related to the Nightmare World with players inside the warehouse, without any restrictions.

While waiting for the instructor to arrive, the trainees would sit together and chat casually. Most of the time, these trainees, whose goal was to become players, would talk about so-called "signs" of becoming a player.

Even though, for actual players, entering the Nightmare World and becoming a player happened in an instant, for these trainees who eagerly anticipated becoming players every day, they often interpreted minor incidents in their lives as signs that the Nightmare Game was drawing closer.

Some said that when they left home, they found a dead snake lying at their doorstep. Others claimed to have had a very realistic dream the previous night, possibly a precognitive one. Some said they saw non-existent ghosts on their way to the base, and others even felt that last night’s moon had been red...

The trainees’ various delusions likely stemmed from their intense desire to enter the Nightmare World and become "players."

"Sha Linghai, are you feeling unwell?"

While the trainees waited for the instructor to arrive, an observant female trainee noticed Sha Linghai, who had been sitting silently to the side. Such silence was rare for the Sha Linghai they remembered.

"Are you worried about not being able to become a player?" another trainee chimed in to comfort him. "Don’t listen to what others say—there’s no such thing as signs for something like this. Besides, if anyone could become a player just by wanting to, with your level of enthusiasm, you’d definitely be one of the first."

"..." Sha Linghai remained silent for a moment before sighing and saying, "Actually, becoming a player in the Nightmare Game might not be such a good thing."