Infinite Peculiar Games - Chapter 19: Rose Manor (XVIII) - Subjective Time
“Assuming my hypothesis is correct, the time loop has already occurred. Initially, nine players entered this instance…” Qi Si crumpled the photograph in his hand and tossed it to the ground, then gazed out at the streaks of rain beyond the window.
Knowing myself, faced with a one-third death rate, I’d ensure I didn’t break any rules, wait for three unlucky fools to die from rule violations, and then pass the game effortlessly.
He had only voiced half of his thoughts. The reality was far more grim.
Entering the game for the first time but forced to masquerade as an experienced player, he had to be exceptionally cautious and strategic to carve out a chance of survival in this dangerous situation.
Upon learning about the Peculiar Game’s “minimum death quota” mechanism, to avoid becoming a sacrificial pawn, he had to strike first, seizing every opportunity to reduce the number of players. The three corpses in the garden were likely his handiwork.
Of course, this scenario was only conjectural. In the end, he had no memory of the so-called “first round” of the game.
Qi Si suddenly recalled that when he opened his eyes, he found himself in the garden outside the castle, while the other players were comfortably seated inside.
Because of his late arrival, he had no choice but to take the seat closest to the head of the table, which was the most dangerous spot.
Adopting a “nothing more to lose” mindset, he brazenly engaged in deception and probing.
When Miss Anna initiated a conversation with him, he seized the opportunity to shake her hand, catching her attention.
This led him to decide to explore the third floor and decipher the world’s mechanics, hoping to survive under the NPCs’ scrutiny.
It all seemed orchestrated, as if someone knew his psyche intimately and had planned everything accordingly…
After all, no one knows him better than he knows himself.
In an instant, all the clues connected, and Qi Si felt a surge of clarity. The fog that had clouded his mind suddenly lifted, revealing a clear path forward.
Gathering his thoughts, he smiled brightly. “It seems the ‘sacrifice others to save myself’ strategy has failed. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a new cycle. The only way to clear this game is to decipher the world’s mechanics.”
Chang Xu was silent for a moment before saying, “Based on my intuition, my first choice would be to decipher the world’s mechanics to minimise the death rate.”
Qi Si sneered internally but did not argue.
He often spoke grand, righteous words. In the real world, when faced with police investigations, he could effortlessly spin a tale, perfectly portraying himself as a law-abiding citizen.
“It seems deciphering the world’s mechanics is quite challenging. You’ve failed two rounds in a row, Brother Chang,” Qi Si teased, ignoring Chang Xu’s puzzled expression as he headed straight for the last unexplored room on the third floor.
This room, unlike the others, appeared much cleaner. The door was spotless, and the keyhole gleamed as if it had been meticulously polished, indicating someone lived there.
Qi Si pushed aside the self-moving vines in the hallway, stepping over the scattered leaves, and stood before the door, staring at the dry petals scattered in the door gap.
“Someone’s inside,” Chang Xu pointed to the slender fingerprints on the door handle. “We might encounter Miss Anna.”
In this context, “Miss Anna” naturally referred to the younger sister seen at the dinner table in the melodramatic story.
Even within the instance, both the elder and younger sisters were “Miss Anna.” Encountering either on the third floor would violate the ninth rule. However, the sister in black was comparatively more dangerous.
“It’s unlikely we’ll run into her; she should be in the garden right now. If we do encounter her, we’re just unlucky,” Qi Si said with a smile, lightly brushing the custom bracelet on his right wrist. “Anyway, the penalties for breaking the rules aren’t enforced until nighttime. We have plenty of time to decipher the world’s mechanics, don’t we?”
He raised his hand and knocked on the door three times, slowly and deliberately.
Last night, a ghost knocked on his door; this morning, he was knocking on the ghost’s door. The irony and humour of the situation made him smile.
Chang Xu noticed that Qi Si chose to knock politely instead of picking the lock. He lowered his eyes slightly, not commenting.
Though this approach might alert whoever was inside, the politeness could potentially reduce the NPC’s hostility.
If nothing surprising happens, the room likely housed the real “Anna,” the one described by the rules as the “Miss Anna in the red dress.” She would be trustworthy and relatively safe as an NPC.
As Qi Si knocked on the door once more, it creaked open slowly, the sound stretching out long and drawn.
The heavy scent of flowers mingled with the stench of decay, wafting out to meet him. Inside, the room was a tangled mess of dark green vines and leaves, filling nearly every inch of space. Through the gaps, he could barely make out a hint of red.
It was an old woman, her skin wrinkled and one side of her face rotting away, far from anything remotely beautiful. She groaned, her consciousness wavering, as if she could die at any moment. Her cloudy eyes, however, stared fixedly at Qi Si.
She asked, “What time is it now?”
Qi Si glanced at Chang Xu, who checked his timepiece and replied, “It’s 2:02 p.m.”
The old woman tilted her head, struggling to process the information.
After a moment, she chuckled softly, “This afternoon seems longer than yesterday.”
Having said this, she lowered her head and dozed off drowsily, clearly indicating her reluctance to engage further with the unexpected guests.
Watching quietly for a while, Qi Si suddenly wore a gentle smile on his face. He gently pushed aside the vines in the room and approached the old woman step by step. He crouched down in front of her and asked slowly and deliberately, “Do you wish to see him?”
The old woman stirred awake, lifting her head and staring blankly ahead, her eyes reflecting no one.
Qi Si smiled, his eyes filled with the hues of reminiscence. His voice softened as he spoke slowly, “After that day, he left the estate and returned to his own lands, but he never forgot about you. It took him many years to convince his father to come back and find you, but unfortunately, you were no longer in this world.”
As he recounted the tale, the old woman’s eyes, once as still as dead water, began to ripple with emotion.
She reached out and grabbed Qi Si’s sleeve, murmuring, “I want to see him… I want to see him… Where is he?”
Qi Si lowered his gaze, his smile warm and gentle. “I don’t know,” he said softly. “But I have two companions who might know his whereabouts. Would you like to see these two companions of mine?”
The old woman stared at him intently.
Qi Si smiled gently, coaxing her, “All you need to do is say you want Zou Yan and Liu Qingye to come upstairs to see you.”
“I want Zou Yan and Liu Qingye to come upstairs to see me…” the old woman echoed as soon as she finished speaking.
Without hesitation, Qi Si briskly pulled back his sleeve and gestured to Chang Xu, “Done deal, let’s go.”
Chang Xu paused briefly, then understood Zis’s manoeuvre, furrowing his brow. “You want Zou Yan and Liu Qingye to break the rules too?”
By making the old woman, another Miss Anna, request their presence, he had put the two of them in a dilemma.
If they came, they would break the ninth rule:
【Please avoid going to the third floor. If you do go, make sure not to be caught by Miss Anna.】
If they refused, they would break the fourth rule:
【Do not refuse any requests from Miss Anna and try to fulfill all her demands; she hates disobedient guests.】
Either way, they would violate at least one rule, evening out the violations among all of them who have gone to the third floor.
Qi Si walked out of the room, turning back to reveal a malicious grin. “No harm in numbers. Everyone has chosen the path of unravelling the worldview, so I didn’t want to be the lone one to perish.”
Chang Xu caught up with him, questioning, “Then why did you spare Lin Chen alone?”
“Oh, my apologies for not mentioning it earlier. Lin Chen had already come up before us. So theoretically, everyone has violated the same number of rules now…” Qi Si shut the door with a flick of his hand, his gaze drifting innocently upwards. “Ah, it’s really not easy to balance things out.”
Chang Xu: …Damn.
At this moment, he finally realised that this seemingly harmless guy beside him had not uttered a single truthful word!
If he had not agreed to cooperate in exploring the third floor, he reckoned his name would likely have been added to Miss Anna’s commandments…
Qi Si glanced at Chang Xu’s wary expression but simply smiled indifferently.
He had never borne the burden of righteousness alone. Ever since his decision to explore the third floor, he had devised a plan to distribute risks evenly, aiming to ensnare all the players.
It could be said that from the moment he sent Lin Chen to investigate the third floor and laid traps in his words to induce him to violate the rules, every subsequent choice and event had been part of his plan.
Now, undoubtedly, he had succeeded.
A single adventurous exploration had yielded a wealth of valuable information, clarifying the mechanisms of the instance in his mind.
The old woman could perceive the anomaly of time, stating with certainty that “this afternoon is longer than yesterday’s,” and yet she maintained a semi-decayed state amidst the endless time loops.
This precisely indicated that within this instance, an individual’s physical and mental states were separate.
The body’s condition regresses to its initial state as time reverses, and once one becomes a ghost, one can maintain memories and even act freely during this temporal reversal.
For a ghost, an hour of time reversal means gaining extra time at no cost.
Therefore, the path to clearing the game becomes clear.
Qi Si looked at the system interface’s seventh rule.
【7. Only ghosts and monsters can kill humans. Always believe you are human.】
Originally, he thought this was a restrictive rule to prevent players from killing each other. He was puzzled why such a cryptic and sinister game would be so benevolent.
Now it seems the standard answer to clearing the game is actually written within this rule.
By setting the main NPC—the malicious Miss Anna who harbours ill intentions towards players—as humans, and explicitly stating “ghosts and monsters can kill humans,” the hint could not have been clearer.
(End of Chapter)
——
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ If you enjoyed the story/translations, donations at Patreon and/or Ko-fi are GREATLY appreciated! ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
Comments for chapter "Chapter 19: Rose Manor (XVIII) - Subjective Time"
MANGA DISCUSSION
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
