"Brother, do you think we'll be able to find Dad here?"
"Oh yes, I have a photo of him in my backpack. Should we try asking around with it?"
Looking at the bustling crowd in Dream Times Square, Andrew's sister seemed a bit anxious. It felt too crowded, and she wasn't sure they'd be able to find their father in all this chaos.
"It's fine. We'll do our thing. If we run into him, great. If not, it's no big deal," Andrew said with a smile, gently ruffling his sister's hair.
Now that he had made sense of everything, his whole mindset had become clear and relaxed.
"Really?"
"Yay!"
"Let's go play the claw machine then!"
"I've always wanted to try one…"
"C-Can I?"
She was clearly excited, but by the end, her voice grew cautious.
After all, her older brother never used to play with her like this.
"Of course you can!"
"Let's go!"
"Today, we're playing as much as we want!"
Andrew gave her a big smile.
His current Mental Value was only 52. If he ran the Simulator again, it would drop below 50, and he wouldn't be able to use it in dangerous situations.
So he figured, why not just let loose a little?
But to those watching the livestream, this sudden shift left them completely baffled.
"Is this a total reversal? Has Andrew snapped under the pressure and started letting himself go?"
"Don't give in to indulgence so easily! Andrew, pull yourself together and keep looking for clues!"
"Andrew must've lost it. He even drank the water his sister gave him! I swear I remember a rule that said no matter what, don't drink the milk from your sister!"
"Looks like Andrew's giving up. He's letting himself go before the end!"
"Well, Andrew's already found a ton of rules for us. If he wants to let go, so be it. He's done enough. Farewell, Andrew!"
"Farewell, Andrew…"
It wasn't just the public, even research teams from every country watching the stream came to the same conclusion: Andrew had given up.
For those countries that had been hesitating to activate Plan B, this became the final push.
They gave the order for the preassembled death squads to begin their assault on the Rule Horror that had already invaded the real world.
They were prepared to sacrifice countless lives to probe and potentially dismantle the horror tale's framework.
Funny, or maybe tragic, the Rule Horror had invaded the real world for two years now. Four-fifths of humanity had died because of it.
One would think the lesson had been painful enough.
And yet even now, humanity remained fragmented, unable to unite in a shared cause.
Every nation had to send in their own death squads, multiplying the death toll just to test the tale's mechanics.
The sharp decline in population was due in no small part to infighting among humanity itself.
Back to Andrew.
He and his sister stayed at Dream Times Square until six in the evening before catching a ride home.
His sister had played her heart out that day and happier than she'd ever been.
Andrew also felt much better, finally shaking off his depression. His Mental Value had even recovered to 81.
They arrived home at exactly 6:30, just as the neighborhood's power came back on.
Even though the power was back, they still took the stairs instead of the elevator.
Once inside, they found Mom already home, prepping dinner.
When she saw them come in, she immediately asked where they had been and whether anything strange had happened.
Andrew said he was fine now.
The blackout happened in the afternoon, so he took his sister to Dream Times Square for a bit.
Mom gave them a few brief reminders, made sure their temple-blessed talismans were secure, then told them to rest until Dad came home and dinner was ready.
Back in his room, with the door shut, Andrew searched again.
Under his pillow, he found a roll of tape.
Beneath the bed there was another coil of hemp rope.
And in the second drawer of his desk was a thick towel.
Looks like Mom really did visit a spiritual medium and a temple.
As for why she used things like rope and towels as protective charms… Andrew couldn't figure that out.
Half an hour later, Dad came home.
Mom told him about her trip to the fortune teller and the temple.
Dad nodded, then came to check on Andrew.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine now," Andrew replied.
Dad then went to check on his sister.
Five minutes later, dinner was ready, and Mom called everyone to the table.
While eating, they brought up the afternoon blackout.
Andrew mentioned that he and his sister went to Dream Times Square, but didn't find Dad.
Out of curiosity, Andrew casually asked: "Where exactly do you work in Dream Times Square?"
Without any hesitation, Dad said: "Eighteenth floor of Dream Times Tower."
Andrew followed up, asking what he actually did there.
Again, without pause, Dad answered: "Mainly HR, recruiting talent and such."
Andrew didn't ask anything further.
And at dinner, there were no mysterious bones or fingernails in the food.
Afterward, Mom told Andrew and his sister to do their homework. The teacher had already posted the day's assignments in the parent group.
His sister groaned. "We're supposed to be on leave! Why still homework?"
But Mom had spoken, so she didn't dare defy her.
While they were doing homework together, Andrew spotted his sister's diary in her backpack.
When she wasn't looking, he secretly took the diary, tucked it into his clothes, and slipped back into his own room.
He opened it.
Today's entry was already written, the ink was still fresh.
She had recapped the day's events, with special attention to the blackout and how Andrew took her out to Dream Times Square.
He skimmed it quickly, then flipped to the next page.
That one was about a time she got scolded by Mom for making a mistake and how she felt wronged and angry. Nothing useful.
Andrew kept flipping, looking for anything that might stand out.
Finally, he stopped at an entry dated February 13, exactly one month ago.
That night, at around 0:13 a.m., she had gotten up to use the bathroom when she heard the sound of bones being chopped coming from their parents' bedroom.
But the strange part was they hadn't bought anything with bones that day.
And the next day, there was no meal with bones either.
So…
Why were bones being chopped in the middle of the night?
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。