Chapter 8 

Qi Leren had always known that appearances mattered, but he hadn’t realized just how superficial the world truly was.

Xue Yingying betrayed him in an instant. Moments ago, she had been enthusiastically calling Qi Leren “handsome,” but now she had transferred her affections entirely, showering the beautiful man before her, Su He, with repeated “handsome” compliments.

Dr. Lu, showing no signs of same-sex rivalry, casually struck up a conversation with Su He about… the corpse on the floor.

The topic made Xue Yingying feel slightly nauseous, but she endured it, captivated by Su He’s good looks.

Meanwhile, Qi Leren pondered how Su He had managed to evade the Killer on the rooftop. Given the timeline, there were two possibilities: either Su He had been there the entire time, narrowly avoiding the Killer’s line of sight by hiding behind obstacles, or he had come up after the Killer left, just like Qi Leren and the others.

“I only came to the hospital to visit someone,” Su He said with a slight frown. “I never expected to encounter something like this.”

“Me neither!” Dr. Lu wailed, pounding his chest in despair. “I’ve worked at this hospital for three years and never seen anything so terrifying! If I’d known this would happen, I’d never have become a doctor! What did I ever do to deserve this?!”

Xue Yingying remained silent, feeling utterly unlucky. She had only come to the hospital for an abortion but ended up miscarrying in a bus accident.

Qi Leren, who had simply wanted to get his computer fixed but ended up in the hospital after the same bus accident (and his computer was now missing), also kept quiet. He felt like the unluckiest person in the world, but he wasn’t about to get involved in some misery competition.

“Did you see the killer earlier?” Qi Leren asked.

Su He shook his head. “The body was already here when I arrived. There’s a ‘5’ written in blood beside it. If that’s the killer, he probably didn’t stop at one victim. There must be at least four more.”

Xue Yingying nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly! Handsome, you don’t know! There’s a psycho killer lurking around here. Dr. Lu said he’s a prisoner who was brought to the hospital for self-inflicted injuries. He was originally jailed for serial murder.”

“That’s truly awful…” Su He murmured.

Perhaps Su He’s pensive demeanor was too captivating, because Xue Yingying couldn’t resist stealing several glances at him. Then, putting on a serious face, she earnestly reassured him that with their numbers, they had safety in numbers and shouldn’t be afraid.

Qi Leren, who had twice narrowly escaped death while being hunted by the Killer and had stubbornly held onto the maniac’s vengeful gaze thanks to their “nut-crushing” feud, remained silent. If they encountered the Killer again, he knew exactly what would happen…

The mere thought exhausted him.

The misty sky dimmed the light, and night fell earlier than expected, threatening to plunge them into complete darkness. Perhaps due to the dense fog, a suffocating tension gripped the group on the rooftop. Everywhere they looked, they saw only swirling mist, growing thicker with distance, obscuring even nearby buildings.

Dr. Lu suddenly shivered, his sense of impending doom spiking. “We need to leave now,” he urged, his voice strained. “I have a terrible feeling about this…”

Apart from Su He, who was unaware of the danger, Qi Leren and Xue Yingying tensed. They knew all too well how accurate Dr. Lu’s premonitions could be when his skill was active. Xue Yingying hurried toward the stairwell. Noticing Su He hadn’t followed, she turned back to call him—only to freeze, her eyes widening in horror. “A hand… A ghost…”

Qi Leren stood beside Su He. When Xue Yingying’s terrified scream rang out, he instinctively glanced down. A ghastly, skeletal hand had emerged from beyond the rooftop railing, seized Su He’s wrist, and dragged him toward the edge.

Reacting instantly, Qi Leren grabbed Su He’s other hand. But the terrifying force nearly pulled him over the edge as well. He barely managed to cling to the railing, narrowly avoiding being dragged down. Su He, however, had already tumbled halfway over the railing. One hand was clutched by Qi Leren, while the other was firmly held by the ghost clinging to the outside wall.

Su He struggled in mid-air, Qi Leren strained to maintain his grip, and Dr. Lu rushed forward to help. Xue Yingying shoved them aside, shouting fiercely, “Get out of the way! I’ll pull him up!”

Dr. Lu was easily pushed aside by Xue Yingying. Empowered by the strength boost from her continued blood loss, she gripped Su He’s arms with both hands and hauled him upward with brute force.

“Let some blood out, Su He! It’s afraid of that!” Dr. Lu shouted from the side.

Seeing Su He’s hesitation, Qi Leren bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto Su He. The bloody froth scattered into the mist, and the evil spirit clinging to Su He’s wrist suddenly loosened its grip. Xue Yingying, who had been holding Su He’s wrist, seized the opportunity and yanked him back. The two tumbled onto the rooftop, while Qi Leren clung to the railing, steadying himself as he peered over the edge.

The outer wall was now devoid of ghostly figures, shrouded only in dense mist.

*Wait… what’s that?*

Qi Leren’s vision blurred. Through the haze, a shadowy figure shot forth like an arrow, its body twisted into a grotesque, inhuman shape resembling a spider. Yet it moved with unnatural speed, closing the distance to Qi Leren in mere seconds!

Dr. Lu, relieved to see Xue Yingying and Su He were safe, turned to warn Qi Leren. But the sight that greeted him nearly stopped his heart.

A white shadow had seized Qi Leren, dragging him into the mist and over the edge of the high-rise!

The cooldown for the SL Great Art had ended.

As Qi Leren desperately clung to Su He, a notification flashed in his mind: the hour-long cooldown for the SL Great Art had unknowingly elapsed.

Just as Su He was rescued and Qi Leren stood by the railing, peering down at the rapidly ascending dark shadow, an indescribable premonition surged through him. Without hesitation, he successfully saved his progress at that critical moment. The next instant, a chilling draft slammed into his nostrils as the grotesque shadow lunged at his face, nearly plastering itself against him and dragging him off the building.

The world fell into eerie silence. His disoriented, weightless body plummeted through the dense fog. It was so fast, so sudden—within seconds, he should have been pulverized before he could even register his surroundings. Yet he saw it all!

Through the translucent form of the ghost clutching him, the fog ahead finally parted. Qi Leren beheld an endless sea of figures standing on the ground: men and women, young and old, all gazing upward in unison. Their torn lips stretched into twisted smiles, as if whispering… *Welcome to our ranks.*

They watched him fall from the rooftop into their midst!

His skull shattered upon impact, blood pooling beneath his head. Qi Leren didn’t even have time to choke on the terror of the scene.

*Save successful.* He lost consciousness.

The next moment, he materialized back on the rooftop, collapsing to the ground with a thud under the shocked gazes of the others.

A cold dread washed over him, goosebumps prickling across his skin.