After that eerie sound appeared, Luo Wei was immediately startled.
Almost instinctively, as if triggered, a crimson blade materialized in his palm.
Luo Wei concentrated his blood magic while vigilantly scanning his surroundings.
The room remained bright and spacious, yet still empty.
The mysterious sound that had appeared earlier, like an illusion, never rang out again.
But Luo Wei was absolutely certain that it wasn't an illusion!
He had truly heard some kind of viscous, writhing, bizarre sound coming from within the room.
Refusing to accept this, Luo Wei searched through Ophelia's room, but the space was visible at a glance with nowhere to hide anything.
He even suspected there might be a secret chamber, but after knocking on every wall, he found no hollow spaces.
This bizarre situation caused Luo Wei's heart rate to gradually increase.
What exactly was Ophelia up to?
Finally, Luo Wei took one last deep look at the room.
Without looking back, he pushed open the large door.
Inside the manor at night, everything remained deathly quiet.
Luo Wei gazed outside the manor, where bright moonlight fell upon the vast wheat fields as a gentle breeze rustled the wheat ears.
It should have been a serene and beautiful scene, but after what had just happened, everything seemed to be shifting toward something sinister.
Luo Wei pushed open the manor's main gate, deciding to go for a walk.
But at that moment, an expressionless maid suddenly appeared before him.
"Damn!"
Luo Wei cursed reflexively.
"Mr. Luo Wei, Her Highness instructed that you should not go outside."
This was the first time he had heard any of the manor's maids speak.
The voice was low, hoarse, inhuman.
"Where's Ophelia? Where did she go?" Luo Wei immediately asked.
The maid gave no response.
"What about the others? Don't you all usually live in this manor?" Luo Wei asked again.
Still no response.
Faced with this unresponsive maid, Luo Wei stopped bothering with her.
Instead, he simply pushed open the gate.
A cold wind gusted in.
Luo Wei started walking directly toward the path through the fields.
"Mr. Luo Wei, Her Highness instructed that you should not go outside."
The maid's figure appeared ghost-like before him again, attempting to block his exit.
"I've had too much to drink and need to take a leak. You're going to control that too?" Luo Wei glanced at her, his body enhanced with agility, immediately increasing his pace.
The maid stiffly followed behind him.
When he sped up, she sped up too.
Like a persistent ghost.
"You're really sick!" Luo Wei channeled his blood magic and turned around with a slash.
The blood light curved like a crescent moon.
With a crack, the maid's head fell to the ground.
Luo Wei blinked in surprise - the maid had been so fast, yet had no actual combat ability? Didn't even try to dodge?
However, what surprised him more was yet to come...
"Mr. Luo Wei, Her Highness instructed that you should not go outside..."
The severed head on the ground, its mouth opening and closing, continued to mechanically repeat the same phrase.
And that headless "corpse" just stood there before him, refusing to fall.
"Please do not go outside..."
"Do not go outside..."
The head on the ground struggled to turn toward Luo Wei's direction, but even then, showed no obvious expression.
Luo Wei felt his scalp tingle at the sight before him.
Everything since Ophelia's departure had been bizarre...
No, Luo Wei felt it should be counted from when they first arrived at the manor - this place that perfectly recreated the original scene had been strange from the very beginning.
He kept moving, running quickly toward the wheat fields.
He wanted to see exactly what lay beyond the manor!
After all, he had lives to spare! Better to die knowing than to die in ignorance!
The wheat fields under the night sky remained empty, with only the whisper of the breeze.
Luo Wei nervously walked forward, trying to determine his location.
But the night was too dark, and in the distance ahead, the seemingly endless wheat fields stretched beyond sight.
Moreover...
The "rules'" promised punishment hadn't appeared.
There were no twisted monsters lurking in the wheat field, no murderous maids or servants suddenly appearing.
There was nothing...
Yet his heartbeat involuntarily grew faster and faster...
Some great figure once said: Humanity's oldest and strongest emotion is fear of the unknown...
That was his situation now - he had no idea what he would face next...
Luo Wei used blood magic to slash through the increasingly dense wheat field as he made his way deeper.
Walking on and on...
Just when he thought he must be reaching the field's boundary.
He looked up in shock.
A massive black manor appeared in his view ahead.
One window was even lit - his room...
Wait, if the manor was ahead, then what was behind him?
Luo Wei whirled around.
In the bright moonlight, endless wheat fields stretched out before him, bathed in cold radiance.
Had he come back to the start?
Was he walking in circles!?
Luo Wei couldn't help but shudder.
This kind of situation had never happened before, not even when he was investigating strange cases in his first life cycle...
Luo Wei could only steel himself and continue walking toward the manor.
At the entrance, the decapitated maid had vanished.
He slowly approached the main door, through which he could see the pitch-black hall inside through the half-open entrance.
Though everything seemed the same as before, for some reason, he felt an inexplicable unease.
He had the feeling something bad was about to happen.
Because he had violated the "rules."
Luo Wei clenched his wrist, feeling the rapid flow of blood within, pushing his blood magic to its absolute limit under the pumping of that Blood Core.
The Crimson Blade in his hand instantly grew larger, with bloody mist surrounding him.
This was all his power could manage now.
Luo Wei took a deep breath and stepped back into the manor's darkness.
The moment his foot touched the ground.
That bizarre writhing sound echoed once again through the quiet, spacious hall.
Luo Wei smiled coldly - since he wasn't afraid of losing his life anymore, there was nothing left to fear.
Holding the Crimson Blade, he followed the direction of the sound.
As he ventured deeper, the writhing sounds in the manor resumed, closer this time, as if right beside him.
Luo Wei froze, stopping in his tracks as his gaze fell on the nearby wall.
"Splash..."
"Gurgle..."
That spine-chilling writhing sound seemed to be happening right before his eyes?
Soon, the continuous writhing sounds answered him.
From where Luo Wei stood, front and back, left and right, the walls, ceiling, every room - they all simultaneously erupted with the same sound.
It was everywhere, like maggots clinging to bones.
Instinctively, Luo Wei's hand lightly touched the wall.
Smooth, cold, nothing unusual.
But in his heart arose an indescribable suspicion - he felt that the wall was alive...
He felt that at this moment, the manor was like a twisting monster about to awaken and devour him.
Finally, it had come to this...
Luo Wei once again opened his panel, and to resolve his doubts, he could only choose to exchange for that item...
[1. Eye of Insight: Accessory (★★★★) Greatly increases Insight when worn, enhancing perception of mysterious phenomena]
A small accessory appeared in his palm - an exquisite glass craft piece in the shape of an eyeball brooch.
At the same time, a special description appeared.
[Sometimes, seeing the truth isn't a good thing, investigator.]
Luo Wei certainly knew what too high "Insight" would bring - in this world filled with nameless things, sometimes seeing too much, knowing too much, would lead to irreversible horrific consequences...
"Insight" was exactly that kind of thing - it could help you investigate mysterious phenomena and improve your talent for learning supernatural powers, but more often...
It was also an engine of total destruction.
Luo Wei lowered his head and gently pinned on the brooch.
[Conducting Insight check...]
As he raised his head again.
At that instant.
A horrifying scene that made his hair stand on end, his body tremble, and was beyond description appeared before his eyes.
This was a twisted world. The walls before him appeared to be built from minced flesh mixed with blood. Every structure within the manor was covered in filthy tumors that resembled a mixture of internal organs and rotting flesh, like a living hell constructed from endless layers of meat!
And they were all pulsating slowly!
Like a human heart, beating again and again. With each beat, those bloody masses would writhe and grow dense networks of what looked like blood vessels or lymphatic tissue. These spread like intertwining roots, like mold spreading everywhere, quickly filling every corner of Luo Wei's vision, even gradually climbing up his trouser legs.
They're alive! They're all alive!!!
ALIVE!!!!
Luo Wei's wide-open eyes were filled with bloodshot.
He began to laugh maniacally.
He had gone insane.
[Your Sanity has been depleted]
[Unable to continue game, forcing reload...]
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
