Chapter 124: The Arrangement of Fate

Chapter 124: Fate's Design

The dormitory seemed to contain a ghost and a copy—it was completely unsafe to stay in!

Chang Shuyue didn’t even stop to grab her clothes. She bolted out of the dorm and left the building without looking back.

As she passed the bulletin board, she dialed the hotline number posted on the bulletin board, intending to report the copy to the professional institutions of this world.

Once outside the school gates, Chang Shuyue paused briefly before retracing her steps from the previous night, heading straight for the room where the four dormmates had played the Four Corners Game.

It was a rough, temporary structure near a construction site. After the project was abandoned, this shabby room had stood alone, forgotten for years…

“No,” Chang Shuyue murmured, suddenly realizing something. “How could anyone still be paying the electricity bill for a place like this?”

She glanced up at the dust-coated bulb and tried the switch on the wall.

As expected, the bulb remained unresponsive, its surface still coated in a layer of grime.

“Looking back, that game was strange from the beginning. People don’t just randomly think of things outside their daily experiences—a dusty construction site is far removed from students’ lives. Why would they choose such a remote place for a game instead of an empty classroom nearby?”

Now it seemed likely that the game had been orchestrated by an urban legend, and the warmly lit room from last night had merely been a trap to lure them in…

After standing in the room for a while, Chang Shuyue suddenly called for the girl from Bed No. 2: “Qiao Xin… Qiao Xin!”

“Are you here?”

The moment the words left her lips, an icy wind howled through the room, slamming the door shut with a loud *bang*.

Though it was midday, the light outside the window dimmed as if thick darkness was seeping in, slowly enveloping the small room.

A chill rose from the floor, and a vague intuition told Chang Shuyue that something was about to appear.

“Bzz… bzz…”

Without anyone touching the switch, the overhead light flickered to life, its unstable current casting erratic shadows that danced across her vision.

In the shifting light, Chang Shuyue squinted and saw a vague, indistinct humanoid shadow materialize on the previously blank wall.

It was as if someone had been forcibly entombed within the wall, their bodily oils seeping into the surface, staining it with a human-shaped blot.

From within that blot came the voice of her missing dormmate.

The girl whimpered in terror, her cries blending with the wailing wind until the two became indistinguishable—the wind itself seemed to carry her desperate screams.

“Shuyue, you finally came for me… I’m so scared…”

“It’s so dark here, there’s nothing… I don’t understand, we just played a game—how did it end like this? I don’t want to stay here forever…”

“Save me, please save me, Shuyue! Don’t leave me here alone!”

After a series of miserable sobs, the voice suddenly turned shrill, as if venom had seeped into her tone, dripping with malice. She shrieked:

“Shuyue, please help me!”

“Find four more people… bring them here to play the Four Corners Game, just like we did last night… okay?”

“If you bring me four people, I can be free! I can leave this place, escape this endless darkness!”

Chang Shuyue fell silent for a moment, her gaze filled with pity as she looked at the shadow. Still, she refused firmly: “I’m sorry, but I won’t help you harm others.”

The voice faltered, then erupted in disbelief: “Why? Aren’t we friends? We lived together for two years!”

“How can you bear to leave me like this—neither human nor ghost?!”

By the end, her voice was so piercing it seemed to echo inside Chang Shuyue’s skull.

Rubbing her temples, Chang Shuyue sighed. “Qiao Xin, deep down, you already know, don’t you? The moment you disappeared, you stopped being human. You became part of the urban legend—the Four Corners Game.”

“If you keep luring people into playing, this curse will never end. More and more will be lost here, trapped in this dark room, searching for replacements over and over…”

“I don’t know if this urban legend will ever truly vanish, but at the very least, I won’t help it spread.”

Under the flickering light, Chang Shuyue met the shadow’s gaze and spoke sincerely: “In this city teeming with urban legends, may we both find peace in the end.”

With that, she bent down and placed a bouquet of white daisies—bought from a roadside florist—on the uneven concrete floor. The delicate petals stood out as the only pure, untainted presence in the room.

Amid the ghost’s shrill, resentful wails, Chang Shuyue stepped out.

The moment the door closed behind her, the howling wind and screams ceased abruptly. The dim, barren room was silent once more, as if sinking back into slumber.

It seemed to be waiting—for its next visitors, whether they arrived tomorrow or years later.

Not long after leaving, Chang Shuyue encountered a group of people in official uniforms at a crossroads. They flashed official badges from the Anomaly Containment Bureau and questioned her about her presence near the room.

“So, you confirm that you and your dormmates entered the room last night and played the Four Corners Game?” the investigator asked, frowning. “You didn’t see the ‘Do Not Enter’ seal or the iron barricade blocking the entrance?”

Chang Shuyue froze. Had the urban legend been under containment?

She shook her head. “No, we walked right in. The lights were even working normally at the time.”

“…It seems B-033, ‘The Four Corners Game Room,’ has breached containment again,” one investigator muttered under his breath. “Second time now. It’s evolving—removing obstacles for its chosen guests, paving their way straight to hell…”

After answering a few more questions (aside from not knowing which dormmate had first suggested the game), Chang Shuyue couldn’t resist asking: “If that room has claimed so many victims, why hasn’t it been demolished?”

“It’s useless,” the investigator replied, his eyes weary. “The room is just a vessel. Destroy it, and the urban legend will manifest somewhere else—anywhere in the world—inviting people into another room to play.”

“To truly end it, we’d have to ensure no rectangular, empty rooms exist anywhere. And that’s impossible.”

“For now, all we can do is monitor and contain it as best we can.”

As the investigators turned to leave, the one at the back—who had remained silent the whole time—subtly tipped his hat and flashed Chang Shuyue a covert hand signal.

Her eyes widened briefly before she schooled her expression, careful not to react.

Sensing lingering surveillance, Chang Shuyue casually wandered into a nearby store, pretending to be an ordinary student processing the aftermath of an urban legend encounter. Gradually, her tense expression eased.

Once the hidden observers withdrew, she slipped into a teahouse and reserved a quiet private booth.

She hadn’t waited long before the door slid open. The investigator from earlier strolled in and took the seat across from her.

“Long time no see, ace reporter!”

Dropping his briefcase, he removed his hat, revealing a handsome face as he grinned at her. “What a coincidence, running into you in this instance.”

“Long time no see, Bai Feizhang,” Chang Shuyue said, scanning him incredulously. Her voice rose slightly. “You got assigned as an investigator?”

The other person was clearly taken aback, automatically glancing down at his uniform. "What's wrong? Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just one thing," Chang Shuyue said grimly. "Most of us players were assigned identities as members of the Guiyin University Supernatural Investigation Society."

"There are twenty players in this dungeon run, and the society also has exactly twenty members. So, after meeting up, we took for granted that all players had society member identities—in other words, that everyone in the society was a player!"

"We never considered that the system might scatter players and assign identities outside the society..."

Whether intentional or not, the system had tricked the players.

Bai Feizhang also realized something and grew serious. "Then, can you still distinguish which of the twenty society members are players and which are NPCs?"

The unspoken question in his mind was:

*Are these NPCs human, or spawn of the urban legend? Could they harbor ill intent?*

*Had any NPCs already learned of the players' existence and deliberately embedded themselves in their ranks?*

Chang Shuyue thought for a moment, her fingers tightening around the teacup until her knuckles whitened. "It's hard to identify them all at once. But there are a few players I recognize in this dungeon run. I'll DM them privately first, warning them not to trust every society member..."

"That's all we can do for now," Bai Feizhang nodded in agreement before shifting the topic. "By the way, that society of yours might hold some clues. Otherwise, the system wouldn’t have assigned so many identities related to it."

"Can you tell me the full name of the society? It sounded familiar earlier..."

Chang Shuyue repeated the society's full name and then asked, "With your investigator identity, can you get more information?"

Bai Feizhang fell into thought before suddenly slapping his forehead and digging through his attaché. He flipped a case file to a specific page and pushed it toward Chang Shuyue. "Look at these two urban legends—both were reported by your society."

Chang Shuyue was surprised. "So this society isn’t just a gathering place for daredevil kids, but actually collaborates officially with your organization?"

"Right," Bai Feizhang recalled. "I’ve heard colleagues mention affiliated organizations in the Southern Graveyard, Lianxing Tower, and Guiyin University—this Supernatural Investigation Society must be one of them. While conducting society activities, these students also report discoveries and observations about urban legends to us, helping us monitor their activity."

Chang Shuyue felt as if she had grasped a faint thread, one that might lead to the true background of this dungeon run.

She pressed further, "When was the society’s last contact with the containment division, and what did they report?"

"Let me see..."

Bai Feizhang rustled through the case file before stopping at a page. "It was half a month ago, the evening of December 14th."

"The current society president reported a suspected unrecorded urban legend in the university, possibly related to mirrors, which had already ensnared some students into contact with it."

"‘I’ll personally verify its existence and contact you later.’ That was the last thing he said to the staff on duty."

*Mirrors...*

Chang Shuyue’s mind flashed back to the tall full-length mirror she had faced upon first entering the dungeon run.

"Mirror, mirror," she whispered feverishly, her breathing quickening. "When you entered the dungeon run, was there also a mirror in front of you?"

Seeing Bai Feizhang nod, Chang Shuyue finally felt certain—she had firmly grasped that tenuous lead!

"This mirror-related supernatural entity might be the starting point of everything—every player’s identity is connected to it!"

Chang Shuyue stated with conviction, "To fully understand what happened in the past, we can’t avoid this new supernatural entity."

"And the first thing we need to figure out is—what exactly is it?"

***

"Person in the Mirror..." Chu Fu repeated slowly.

Under Zhou Sheng’s stunned gaze, his smile suddenly widened, and a mirthless laugh echoed in the silent room, making both the clone and Zhou Sheng instinctively freeze in place, trying to minimize their presence.

At this moment, Chu Fu saw the light—

*No wonder fate had guided him to choose this dungeon run as the perfect stage for the Ill Fate Witch’s spectacular comeback!*

Elius’s Ability was also mirror-related. If he eliminated the true supernatural entity, the "Person in the Mirror," first, then fabricated clues and subtly steered the players, it would be easy to make them believe that the mysterious presence behind the dungeon run’s backstory was none other than the revived Ill Fate Witch, Elius.

And this conclusion would be something the players actively pieced together themselves—top-ranked players like them might doubt anyone, but never their own intelligence.

Not only would the players swallow their findings hook, line and sinker, but the celestial audience watching the livestream would too.

By then, twenty top-ranked players, hundreds of divine being spectators, and the intricate power blocs behind them...

The combined influence of these three would ensure that all nine dimensions would behold the witch’s return!

Yi Fengchu wouldn’t even need to lift a finger for Elius to effortlessly inherit the "Person in the Mirror’s" infamy, forging the persona of a rebellious schemer with ambitions for the Divine Throne of Fate.

Thus, the audience of Stream #8 watched as Chu Fu remained motionless in contemplation, his deep blue eyes growing brighter, until he finally purred with satisfaction:

"Fate truly loves me."

Fate, always served up perfection to him. Now, all that remained was to subtly seed breadcrumbs and give guidance.

Like setting bait to lure prey along a predetermined path, step by step, toward the endpoint he had prepared... A patient hunter never minded lying in wait.

Unaware of Chu Fu’s inner monologue, the stream chat erupted with question marks:

「???」

「What does that mean? Who loves who?」

「Dare I ask—is this ‘fate’ referring to the Fate Domain, or... that ‘Fate’...?」

「What are you thinking? It can’t possibly be that bloodthirsty god.」

「+1. Can you imagine that cold, emotionless serpent cooing endearments like ‘I love you’?」

「Stop, I’ll have nightmares. Feels like the only ‘love’ He’d express is ‘You look tasty.’」

「Lol, if the streamer was cozy with a True God, even if he dared say it, I wouldn’t dare listen.」

「If you mean the Fate Domain loves you, Streamer, wake up. If fate truly favored you, you wouldn’t be here in a livestream—you’d be sitting on the Divine Throne.」

「? Bold of you to sass using formal titles. Remember whose hands your life is in?」

「I don’t care. I’m the Lord of Fate’s most loyal believer! This is the moment to prove my faith with my life! I bow only to one ‘Fate’!」

「666, a fanatic. Someone escort them out.」

「Respect the audacity. If the white peacock ever offs you, I’ll handle the burial.」

「VIP burial, huh?」

「But seriously, how did the streamer walk away clean after getting trounced? No rumors about him and Fate?」

「Mortal enemies stay enemies. Rivals can’t become lovers...」

"On the battlefield, you are my most formidable enemy and my dearest love~"

"Go ahead and keep spreading rumors, just be careful not to trip over your own feet and meet an unfortunate end tomorrow."

"I guess the streamer doesn’t check chat much, emboldening you all. Why not just make up some ‘tyrant streamer x spoiled viewer’ fanfic instead?"

"That’s still too bold to dream of—life is more precious :)"

"Gotta hand it to you brave folks. Ever since the white peacock wrecked me so hard I was left a twitching pile of limbs years ago, I haven’t even dared to breathe around him..."

"Lol, same. Watching this stream has me on edge, like I’ve got a knot in my throat."

"Sympathies to the two above. Think of it as exposure therapy (oof)."