Alex took in a deep breath and tried once more to call out to the system.

  He felt the same tug at the depth of his consciousness, meaning it worked, but the familiar blue screen did not pop up.

  Certain now that it was all real, Alex changed his course of thinking to the present.

  He had found Shae Harris in a healthy state; running and laughing like any other kid.

  Which was alarming for someone who was knocking at death’s door just a few months ago, barely three.

  At first glance, she didn’t look like a cruel child or someone capable of the torment described by the doctor.

  And she was also surrounded by other young people her age, getting along with them.

  Though that particular kid had a screw loose, and the man that went with them didn’t seem that simple.

  But the fear after seeing a hostile stranger did not look fake.

  She also ran away quite decisively, with no hint of scheming or malice.

  Though that might also be the result of the fact that Alex was not the doctor.

  The testimonies doctor and Paul did have one thing in common—she was a very friendly person to everyone else.

  The malice described by the doctor might have only been directed at him.

  But for what reason would that occur?

  Why the doctor?

  Alex figured that he would definitely need to speak to the little girl.

  To ascertain who was lying between the two, or whatever was happening between them, would require two testimonies.

  Aside from that, the second glaring problem was how she was in her present healthy state.

  And how the man he had set ablaze the previous day was completely fine, without even a single scratch.

  Alex had confidence in the system’s abilities, and there was no way that man would have been able to escape.

  Completely fine at that.

  This world had telekinetic abilities, but he did not seem like an ability user.

  Plus, there was no ability that would have been able to escape those flames.

  Teleportation maybe, but Alex did not see him appear in another location.

  Pyrokinesis would not work, as the skill was from the system—meaning it would burn no matter what.

  Telepathy to make himself float was also out of the question, as the flame pillar reached the sky.

  If he could not escape, then what on earth knocked him out?

  Alex didn’t remember what happened past setting the guide ablaze.

  Yet that same fear was imprinted on his soul and still made him shiver while attempting to think about it.

  It wasn’t enough to cloud his judgment, but it was enough to send a clear image of the thing.

  Terrifying.

  Absolutely terrifying.

  It wasn’t something that Alex could even dream of taking on.

  The only outcome would be death.

  Alex felt that with such a terrifying entity—entity, yes, because he was sure that could never have been a human—

  Such an entity could be used to explain all the impossible things he experienced.

  Shae Harris being healthy.

  The guide being unharmed.

  His losing consciousness.

  The system not responding.

  This place being fully operational in a zombie apocalypse.

  Shae Harris being alive all this time.

  And that entity was also closely related to that creepy cat they were holding.

  Just the sight of it made Alex feel a bone-chilling cold, like looking at a corpse.

  Now he was stuck here under some sort of restriction.

  It had been imprinted in his mind since he woke up in a closet.

  It was the rules for a live audience member:

  No talking to the guests unless spoken to.

  No thoughts of harm allowed toward the guests.

  No fighting.

  No interaction with the guests unless called upon.

  No recording.

  No outside communication.

  Alex had these rules engraved so deeply that they were like shackles to him.

  He found himself involuntarily abiding by each one.

  Now he could only sit here and watch.

  Luckily, one of the “guests” sat beside him.

  Alex gathered himself and turned to face the probing gaze of Yi Zheng.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

  Horrified, he clutched at his throat and struggled to let out even a whimper, but there was nothing.

  Yi Zheng watched all this with calm interest and wondered if he could break through the restrictions that forbid him from speaking.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Unfortunately, Alex had to give up once he found his throat tightening slightly.

  Like someone was holding onto his neck firmly and squeezing just a little bit tighter.

  “Why not try writing it down?” Yi Zheng offered.

  Alex tried once more, since the guest interacted with him, but he could only helplessly look for a pen and paper in the end.

  Alex did not have his bag with him, so he checked his clothes but found nothing.

  “Then I guess you would just have to speak,” Yi Zheng shrugged.

  “Yes,” Alex tried it out, and his voice really did come back.

  “Who are you?” Yi Zheng asked, leaning back.

  “Alex.” He did not feel the need to hide his name.

  “Did you come here to talk to her or kill her?” Yi Zheng asked calmly.

  Alex used this sentence to gauge how much weight she had in his heart.

  Hesitating in his answer meant two things:

  Either he was still conflicted on which to choose.

  Or he was debating how to mask his killing intent.

  Either way, Alex’s demeanor was aggressive, making it clear that she would definitely not be in a good situation.

  “Feel free to speak or don’t, it all depends on who’s asking,” Yi Zheng said.

  What he meant was that Alex should stop wasting time, as the initiative was in his hands.

  After all, he needed his permission to speak.

  Through this, Alex realized that he had exposed a fatal flaw, and the person had already found a way to use it.

  So why not answer truthfully?

  “I’m taking her away no matter what,” Alex spoke with a resolute look on his face.

  “Good luck to you then, but I am just wondering why,” Yi Zheng said, facing forward with a relaxed posture.

  “I was sent by her family to look for her,” Alex said, wanting to use pity to make him back off in case he wanted to play the hero.

  Yi Zheng chuckled and looked at him like he was an idiot.

  “I’ve spent enough time with her to know whether she had a good childhood or not,” Yi Zheng rolled his eyes.

  Alex thought about how she was dumped in the hospital by her family and figured she must have a pretty strong resentment toward them.

  And she looked quite familiar with this man, so she might have shown it in one way or another.

  “On behalf of someone,” Alex said, feeling no shame as he changed his words.

  “Also a bit personal for you, isn’t it?” Yi Zheng looked at him meaningfully.

  After all, she was a lead to that cursed entity responsible for trapping him in the instance.

  Making him regress up to five times.

  With all the strange things he had seen and the doctor’s words,

  The entity protecting her might also be the same as the one in the instance.

  If so, then Alex might just have to become reckless.

  Alex’s killing intent started to brew, but it was stopped by the appearance of two people.

  The guide and the shadow cat walked step by step toward him.

  Seeing the cat again instantly doused his aggressive instinct.

  It was like being plunged into a bath of ice, and the only thing left was lingering fear.

  “I suggest you give up whatever foolish thoughts you are having,” the guide warned sternly.

  “I am my own,” Alex heard a voice speak and could tell immediately that it was from the cat.

  How or why he knew was a mystery.

  Yet the warning was clear.

  Alex shivered and looked away, no longer thinking about it.

  It seemed they really were different—for one, the aura around the two was vastly different.

  He had only felt that evil entity once, and its vile wickedness was oozing from its being.

  But the cat gave off only a feeling of complete death, as though that was always the outcome.

  The guide sat behind them, and the cat walked up to Yi Zheng and climbed onto him.

  In the end, one weird creature resembling a cat and one human looked at each other.

  Yi Zheng was the first to look away, while the cat jumped off him and sank into the shadows.

  Alex felt much better once it was gone, and he relaxed.

  But that didn’t last long when he felt the hair at the back of his neck stand on end.

  A sense of danger honed from four previous regressions set alarms ringing in his head.

  His adrenaline shot up in a second, and he reacted.

  But it was too late.

  No—it was too late from the very beginning.

  From the moment he sensed the danger, he was already within the opponent’s grasp.

  Alex felt caged as he turned to his side at his fastest speed, but he was still a few seconds short.

  Luckily, the blow did not land, and he was saved.

  Saved by a hand in gloves holding onto a pen.

  The pen was uncapped, and the gleaming metal tip was a few centimeters from his eyes.

  “Strong and fast,” Yi Zheng said as he tried to move the pen an inch closer.

  But it was like he was being held by tight chains.

  “Thank you for the compliment, but we do not allow fighting,” the guide said.

  “Did you sit here on purpose?” Yi Zheng asked casually while taking back his hand.

  “The alarms rang,” the guide said, releasing him.

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Yi Zheng said, placing the pen hidden in his pocket.

  “It was built to detect killing intent, even one as subtle as yours,” the guide said before leaving.

  “Sorry about the scratch,” Yi Zheng called after him.

  “Hope my grip wasn’t too tight,” the guide echoed back.

  Yi Zheng thought the guide had learned how to be cheeky as he rubbed his sore hand.

  The guide watched the cut on his hand heal and murmured about how Yi Zheng truly met expectations.

  Alex, on the other hand, was looking at Yi Zheng like he was a monster.

  “I hope you remember to treat your guests right,” Yi Zheng said meaningfully, ending the conversation.

  Alex pursed his lips and reevaluated this man as someone not to be crossed.

  He turned to the screen to distract himself from the feeling of almost being killed twice in a short time.

  …………

  Shae Harris stood at the entrance of the town overrun by zombies.

  This was their hunting site, which provided a clear stream of mobs.

  She parked her motorbike in a safe place and then distributed team positions.

  Shae Harris would be responsible for tanking and frontal attacks.

  Mori Aoi would be responsible for support.

  Wei Zhi would be at the back, killing off any that got too close.

  “Have you no shame, letting two weak girls be your shield?” Shae Harris snorted.

  “I only see one brave girl and a bull ready to charge,” Wei Zhi retorted, though he kept jumping at every sound.

  “And I see a dead coward in your future,” Shae Harris replied.

  “I think we should deal with those guys first,” Mori Aoi said, pointing at the approaching zombies.

  Wei Zhi gulped back a scream and shuffled to the back of the group.

  Shae Harris rolled her eyes and stood at the front.

  Mori Aoi stood a few steps behind her, holding her sword with trembling hands.

  “Don’t worry, there are safe houses that get activated after we clear the round,” Shae Harris said quietly.

  Mori Aoi was pleasantly surprised, and Shae Harris winked at her.

  Obviously not wanting Wei Zhi to know for now.

  They couldn’t talk anymore as the zombies were upon them.

  Compared to the ones in the real world, they were not that scary.

  And with Shae Harris vigorously tanking, taking practically 80% of the team’s damage, they were fine.

  After clearing the horde, they got skills, and Wei Zhi found out about the safe house.

  He grumbled all the way while taking Mori Aoi by the hand to the safe house.

  Ignoring Shae Harris’s request to start the next wave immediately.

  After Wei Zhi negotiated enough resting time, they tackled the next wave with new skills.

  Shae Harris focused on damage output skills.

  Mori Aoi had AOE attacks to defend Shae Harris when it got too much.

  Wei Zhi went for increased firepower.

  Their combination worked with various skills until they could finally rescue the victim.

  That was only triggered after the sixth wave.

  Which also made Mori Aoi lose motivation, so Shae Harris was outnumbered.

  They returned to the stronghold to drop off the victim and ended the game.

  “Hey Yi Zheng, come play,” Shae Harris said, hopping off her seat.

  He wanted to refuse at first, but the two girls kept tugging at his clothes.

  They might look weak, but they were strong enough to tear off his shirt.

  So he could only reluctantly join them.

  They did not speak to Alex throughout the process.

  Shae Harris chose an old war game about a group of soldiers against another faction.

  They were to go on a stealth mission to retrieve classified information.

  Yi Zheng was the team leader, with three other simulated players.

  They all had knowledge of basic military training and weapon handling.

  Yi Zheng told them to follow his every word without question.

  The three kids nodded obediently.

  The simulated people didn’t talk at all, only nodding.

  At the end of the game, Shae Harris, Mori Aoi, and Wei Zhi looked at Yi Zheng in shock.

  “Are you a secret agent or something?” Shae Harris asked.

  “I’m just smart,” Yi Zheng shrugged.

  “So now you’re saying we’re dumb?” Shae Harris glared.

  Yi Zheng didn’t answer, but the pitiful look directed at them said it all.

  “If you don’t want to say it, then don’t,” Shae Harris muttered.

  “You were really amazing—so cool,” Mori Aoi said, her eyes sparkling.

  “Yeah, it was like you’ve done this a lot before,” Wei Zhi added.

  Yi Zheng glanced at him.

  “Straight-up one-man army,” Shae Harris said, mimicking a shooting pose.

  “You guys were also pretty good,” Yi Zheng said sincerely.

  They grew even more excited.

  They had obeyed his every command like seasoned soldiers.

  Yi Zheng almost felt the illusion that they were a great team.

  “Thank you,” they said shyly.

  “I don’t know about you, but it’s time to eat,” Shae Harris said.

  They went for lunch before continuing to play.

  They didn’t leave until it was getting dark.

  After they left, the guide graciously led Alex out of the building.

  He turned back and saw that the guide was gone, and the building had become dilapidated and wrecked.

  Alex shivered and left quickly.

  He headed straight to find Shae Harris.