Chapter 3

I flashed a smile at the player from next door, number 29, without bothering to explain my thought process:

These were my family members, after all. Of course, I'd act as naturally as possible.

Would I seriously go back to my real home and politely say, "Hello, is anyone home? Please, would you mind opening the door for me?"

The knocking stopped, and the door creaked open.

Before I could even glimpse the interior layout, a dark figure suddenly lunged at me, its wet, long hair coiling around my neck.

But I felt not a shred of fear.

To me, what was the difference between this and a small animal getting close and clinging to you?

Wow, so enthusiastic! Giving me such a tight hug on our first meeting.

I actually felt a little shy, which was rare for me, and hugged the figure back just as tightly.

"Hehehe, I *knew* you liked me too! I like you super much!"

As I hugged, I started feeling a little dissatisfied. Why were there only bones under my hands? No flesh at all!

"Why are you so skinny? Has someone been hurting you? Don't be scared, Big Sis will sort it out for you!"

The bullet screen comments immediately exploded in outrage:

[Lady, open your eyes and see who you're declaring love to! That's a horror boss! And who would dare hurt *her*? She's the one hurting players!]

[Don't worry, once *he* gets home, she's dead.]

Too bad I couldn't see those comments. Even if I could, I wouldn't have cared.

Right now, I was holding a precious family member who hadn't run away at the sight of me!

I excitedly hugged her, my mouth chattering non-stop. "From now on, I'm your Big Sister, and you're my Little Sister!"

"Little Sis, Little Sis, do you want me to braid your hair? I'm super good at it!"

The little girl's hair, which had been wrapped around my neck, unconsciously loosened. Even her pale face, devoid of color before, flushed pink.

She shyly whispered, "Yes, please."

I immediately hugged her excitedly, pulling her into the house and seating her on the couch. I started braiding her three-to-four-meter-long hair into long pigtails, even taking a clip from my own hair to secure two little top knots.

When I turned back, with her hair no longer in the way, I could finally see that she was an adorable little girl.

I hugged her again, even more thrilled, giggling and calling her "Little Sis."

This time, the little girl didn't try to struggle. She even leaned in and kissed my cheek.

Her tiny voice said, "Thank you, Big Sis."

She called me Big Sis!

I had an adorable little sister now!

This was totally epic!

You have to understand, in my real life, I never had any family. Even the kids in the park, their parents wouldn't let them play with me.

Just as I finished comforting my brand-new sister, Elara, and was about to play my favorite game, cat's cradle, with her, the system announcement came through:

"Initial players: 30; Currently alive: 20."

Unbelievable. Ten people had died right after the game started.

I heard my phone pinging, so I opened it.

Turns out everyone was exchanging information in the SnapChat group, like how the other players had died.

For instance, Brendan, the short-tempered blonde, had chosen a relatively safe number 10 house. But the moment he knocked, a grotesque monkey-spirit emerged, offering him strangely shaped food.

Brendan, in his surprise, immediately ate the food, only for his whole body to suddenly begin rotting away, eventually turning into a shriveled skeleton.

Through the half-open door, other players had seen more skeletons, grinning ominously at them.

Witnessing all this, pretty much all the new players' adrenaline levels shot up.

Now, besides Seraphina and Jax, everyone's Scare Value was at 50, and it was only the first day!

Another player, Mr. Henderson, a middle-aged man, had died instantly the moment he stepped through house number 20's door, his Scare Value skyrocketing to 100.

The other players had died in all sorts of bizarre ways, either killed by the creepy entities or simply scared to death.

Of course, none of that concerned me.

I, on the one hand, marveled at how fragile these people were, and on the other, pestered Elara to play cat's cradle with me.

Just as I was trying to cheat and restart for the tenth time, an icy presence suddenly enveloped me.

In the boundless, swirling darkness, a masked head floated in mid-air,

staring at me with chilling indifference, letting out a cold, cutting laugh.

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