The noodle shop owner handed two one-yuan coins back to Bai Liu as change. Bai Liu slipped them into his old wallet. The kind-faced owner hesitated for a long while before finally sighing and giving Bai Liu the address and phone number of the couple.
“If you really can help them,” he said quietly, “then help them. Staying alive isn’t easy for anyone.”
By the time Bai Liu stepped out of the noodle shop, a thin drizzle had already begun to fall.
Holding a pure black umbrella, he boarded a bus toward the cemetery the owner had mentioned.
Among the endless rows of silent tombstones, he quickly found the couple from the television broadcast.
Neither of them carried an umbrella.
They stood soaked in the rain before their daughter’s grave, their eyes swollen red. The only umbrella they had was placed over the tombstone itself, shielding the black-and-white photograph of smiling Xiao Guoguo.
“You’re... Bai Liu?”
The mother’s voice was rough and hoarse from crying the entire morning. She stared at him with unconcealed hostility.
“You said over the phone that you have a way to make Li Gou pay for what he did. What way? Or rather...” Her gaze sharpened. “What do you want? Money?”
Bai Liu smiled faintly through the rain.
Mist blurred the edges of his face, giving him an oddly saintlike appearance.
“I came to make a deal with you,” he said, “but I don’t want money.”
It was probably the first time in Bai Liu’s life that he had ever uttered the words I don’t want money.
“I’ll help you fulfill your wish,” he continued calmly. “I’ll help you tear Li Gou into ten thousand pieces. In exchange, you’ll sell your souls to me.”
The mother let out a cold laugh, as though she had expected exactly this.
“Souls? Another scammer.”
She turned away numbly and looked back at Xiao Guoguo’s smiling photograph as her eyes reddened again.
The father eyed Bai Liu with obvious suspicion.
Ever since Xiao Guoguo’s death, they had sought help from countless people. They had exhausted every connection, every avenue, every desperate method imaginable.
And along the way, they had encountered every kind of fraudster.
When they agreed to meet someone who claimed he could make Li Gou receive retribution, they had already prepared themselves for the possibility that he was lying.
What they hadn’t expected was someone this absurd.
This was the first scammer they had ever met who claimed he wanted to buy their souls.
He was practically mocking them.
“Get lost, scammer,” the father said coldly.
Bai Liu remained completely unmoved.
He lowered himself onto one knee before the grave and looked directly at Xiao Guoguo’s photograph.
“Li Gou. Forty-seven years old,” he recited evenly. “Several months ago, he murdered the female student Liu Guoguo near the entrance of Majia Alley. He was arrested and prosecuted. Due to the brutality of the crime and its severe social impact, he was sentenced to death.”
“One week ago, all evidence and related documents connected to the case disappeared without explanation. Relevant personnel also experienced blurred memories and claimed they could no longer remember seeing the evidence. The case is now being retried.”
As the facts left his mouth, hatred slowly overtook the expressions of Liu Guoguo’s parents.
Their fists clenched.
Their eyes reddened.
They stared at Bai Liu with undisguised fury.
Yet Bai Liu acted as though he noticed none of it.
“If I’m not mistaken,” he continued calmly, “Li Gou previously claimed that he would eventually be released and that all the evidence would disappear.”
The mother’s eyes widened.
“How do you know that?”
Ever since Li Gou had been imprisoned, they had watched his reactions obsessively.
At first, he had been violent and hysterical. Once he learned he was likely facing execution, he spent his days screaming curses and threats, swearing revenge against them.
But recently, his attitude had changed completely.
Over the past week or two, Li Gou had started humming songs in his cell. He even spread word that he would soon leave that hellhole, that the evidence would vanish, and that heaven would never wrong a good person.
It was as though he had known in advance that he would walk free.
That was why she had become convinced someone was protecting him.
“You can think of it this way,” Bai Liu said as he rose to his feet. “Li Gou made a deal with some sort of devil. He sold his soul in exchange for making the evidence disappear without anyone noticing.”
He looked directly at the hesitant, desperate couple before him.
“I suppose I’m here to compete with that devil for business.”
Liu Guoguo’s parents looked at Bai Liu uncertainly.
They didn’t truly believe him.
But hidden deep inside their eyes was the final desperate hope of people cornered beyond reason.
After all, someone with enough resources could have discovered details about Li Gou. It was entirely possible that Bai Liu had gathered information and come specifically to deceive them.
But by now, they had already tried everything.
They had even hired spirit mediums to perform rituals for Xiao Guoguo—something they once would have mocked as superstitious nonsense.
“What are your conditions?” the mother asked cautiously. “Money? We don’t have much left.”
Bai Liu smiled faintly.
“I told you already. I don’t want money.”
“I want full ownership of your soul debt rights.”
He was curious.
If he acquired ownership of these future [Players] before they officially entered the [Game], what would happen?
Would that grant him a higher level of authority over them than the system itself?
And if Bai Liu possessed greater authority over their souls than the [System], could he eventually manipulate their systems through them?
Could he ultimately gain control over the system itself?
As though sensing Bai Liu’s dangerous line of thought, the coin hanging against his chest suddenly turned scorching hot.
A burst of distorted electronic static screamed through his ears.
[System Warning: Zzz—Player Bai Liu is prohibited—Zzz—from preemptively acquiring the soul debt rights of reserve players! Prohibit Player Bai Liu from conducting transactions with non-players outside the game!]
[System Warning: Preparing to—Zzz—seal Player Bai Liu’s skill: Old Wallet!]
Bai Liu sighed regretfully.
As expected.
Trying to steal [Reserve Players] from the [Game] while being monitored in the [Real World] was impossible.
Then again, if he were the designer of the [Game], he wouldn’t allow a player with authority greater than the system to exist either.
Still, it had been worth testing.
Just as Bai Liu was about to abandon the attempt, the fish scale hanging beside the coin slowly began to grow.
It spread across the coin’s surface like flowing ice.
The freezing scale wrapped around the burning metal, instantly cooling it.
The system emitted a shrill burst of static that sounded almost like a scream.
[Warning—Zzz—Abnormal data detected within fish scale—Bug data invasion detected—Attempting data purge—Purge failed—System occupied by abnormal data—Zzzzzzzz]
After a storm of crackling interference, a completely different voice sounded.
Cold.
Low.
Magnetic.
[System: Hello, Player Bai Liu. Would you like to use a personal skill?]
Bai Liu’s brows lifted slightly.
The system voice had changed.
Although it still retained an electronic quality, it sounded colder than before—and strangely familiar.
Very similar to the NPC [Siren King].
Bai Liu smiled.
[Of course.]
Liu Guoguo’s parents couldn’t fully understand what Bai Liu was saying.
But they truly had nowhere else left to turn.
Even if he was a liar... even if he was insane... even if this was some bizarre scam...
Please.
Just give them a little hope.
Give Xiao Guoguo justice.
The mother broke first.
Covering her face, she collapsed to her knees and sobbed.
“As long as Li Gou dies, anything is fine! Take everything! I’ll give you all our money!”
She was treating Bai Liu like a hired killer.
But Bai Liu only smiled.
“No,” he said softly. “Not only will I refuse your money... I’m going to give you money instead.”
He withdrew the two one-yuan coins the noodle shop owner had returned as change and opened his palm toward them.
Bai Liu lowered his gaze.
“I’ll buy each of your souls for one yuan.”
“Will you accept this transaction?”
The mother bit her lip and slowly picked up one coin.
Several seconds later, the father took the other.
“We accept.”
At this point, they were willing to try anything.
Even if Bai Liu was a lunatic speaking nonsense, as long as there was even the slightest possibility he could help them avenge Xiao Guoguo, they would grasp at it.
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu has spent two yuan (RMB) to purchase the souls of ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Liu Fu and Xiang Chunhua.]
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu is now the priority purchaser of Liu Fu and Xiang Chunhua and possesses the highest level of authority over their soul debt rights. Partial transfer rights have been granted.]
The moment Xiang Chunhua agreed, she felt a strange sensation pass through her body.
As though something heavy had been extracted from her exhausted shell and stored somewhere else.
When she looked back at the smiling young man before her, an indescribable sense of trust and submission rose instinctively inside her.
“Your name is Bai Liu, right?” she asked blankly. “What do you do? Where can we find you?”
“I’m unemployed,” Bai Liu replied. “Just a poor drifter.”
He looked down at the brand-new banknote that had appeared inside his wallet.
“You’ll find me inside a game.”
“I only hope that by the time we meet again, you’ve survived your first game.”
On the bill, Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu stood on opposite sides of a gravestone, tears streaking down their desperate faces.
One hand from each of them rested gently atop the stone, as though stroking the head of their daughter.
Xiao Guoguo’s smiling photograph remained protected beneath the umbrella from the falling rain.
In the lower right corner of the bill was written:
[2 Yuan]
On the reverse side:
[Soul Coin]
Below that, a line of smaller text appeared:
[Not issued by the System Bank. Highest authority belongs not to the system, but to the owner: Bai Liu.]
The corners of Bai Liu’s lips curled upward.
[Not bad, New System.]
The system remained silent for two seconds.
[Thank you for the compliment.]
The fish scale wrapped around the coin against Bai Liu’s chest warmed faintly for an instant before returning to its usual icy coldness.
With less than two days remaining before the system’s mandatory weekly entry countdown expired, Bai Liu prepared to enter the game again.
He packed his belongings and messaged Mu Ke to inform him that he was about to log in.
Then he called Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu.
After several unanswered calls—and no response from their landline either—Bai Liu roughly understood the situation.
The two of them had probably already entered the game and fallen into deep sleep.
Bai Liu took a shower and changed into his favorite sleepwear: a comfortable pajama set paired with a jester-style sleeping cap topped with a pom-pom.
He climbed into bed, pulled the blanket up to his chest, held the coin against his chest, and silently recited twice:
[Log into the game.]
[System: Does Player Bai Liu confirm login?]
Bai Liu closed his eyes.
[Confirm.]
[System: Logging in...]
[Wait.]
Bai Liu abruptly opened his eyes again.
He got out of bed, went to the bathroom, then shut off the apartment’s circuit breaker, gas valve, and water supply.
Only after finishing did he finally return to bed in satisfaction.
[Start the login now. Otherwise, while I’m asleep, there might be water leakage, gas leakage, or electricity waste. That would cost money.]
[System: ...]
[System: Logging into the game...]
Bai Liu fell into a swirling black dream.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already standing inside the bustling Game Lobby.
[System: Player Bai Liu has gained a small amount of fame. Would you like to adjust your appearance values to conceal your identity?]
[You can modify appearance data too?]
Bai Liu became slightly interested.
[Can I design the appearance myself?]
He was actually quite skilled at character design and illustration.
[System: Yes. Entering the freehand character creation interface requires payment of 300 points. Would Player Bai Liu like to proceed?]
[It costs money?]
Bai Liu instantly lost interest.
[Then just use whatever free option you have.]
[System: Entering random appearance adjustment program—Eye color modification (Black → Blue), Hair color modification (Black → Rainbow), Lip color modification (Natural → Black)...]
Soon afterward, a man with rainbow-colored dreadlocks piled into a bird’s nest and black lipstick dramatic enough to scream luv is pain wandered casually through the Game Lobby.
Every passerby who saw him froze in horror.
Cheap options never came with quality.
Bai Liu had already expected that the free customization feature would produce something terrible, so he calmly accepted his aggressively non-mainstream shamate appearance.
In any case, he couldn’t see himself.
If someone’s eyes were suffering, they belonged to other people.
Bai Liu didn’t care in the slightest.
