[Ding!!!]
[All 20 players are here. The SSS-level instance “Joy” officially begins.]
[In the hazy mist, eerie lanterns guide the way, revealing a peach-blossom face.]
[Good luck marrying the “Peach-Blossom Face,” players.]
The Peach-Blossom Face was the ghost bride. Marrying a ghost meant a ghost marriage.
As usual, the system cursed the players, wishing them dead.
But I wasn't afraid at all.
Hehe. That's because I was the “Peach-Blossom Face.”
…
I used to be a player. After I logged into this instance, the system asked me: [In the middle of a stormy night, you're traveling alone in the wilderness. Which of the following houses would you choose to take shelter in?]
I stood in a void, surrounded by pitch darkness. Three animated pictures appeared before me, each one eerie and ominous.
[A: In a desolate graveyard, among flickering ghost lights, stands a house assembled from rotting corpses. Countless faces cover the walls, some crying, some laughing.]
The stench hit me! I hurriedly covered my nose and mouth, took three steps back, and looked at another picture.
[B: A roofless temple. The statue of the god inside is damaged, and rainwater runs down from its smiling eyes as if it were crying. The water also trickles from the corners of its smiling mouth, like drool.]
Good grief… Forget how creepy it is. This dilapidated temple doesn't even have a roof. How is going in to escape the rain any different from standing outside?
[C: An elegant, old-fashioned wedding chamber. Silk curtains billow, and red candles weep. Behind layers of silk curtains, a bride sits, her slender fingers lifting half her veil to reveal half her face. Her eyes are crying, her mouth smiling.]
Was there even a choice?
A stinks.
B leaks.
Of course I chose C! Not only did it have a roof, it also came with a fragrant bride.
System: [Are you sure, sure, and absolutely sure?]
Me: “Yes, sure and of course!”
The next second, I appeared in the wedding chamber and became the bride.
Just like that, my role was turned upside down, and I became an NPC in this instance.
System: [Player Lý Khả Ái, you can only escape your NPC identity and leave here alive if another player recognizes you on their own.]
[Otherwise… The day all the players who logged in with you leave the game will be the day you die!]
[Warning: Do not drop too many hints, and under no circumstances tell them directly who you are!]
There were 19 other players who logged in with me. What if none of them “recognized” me?
The system didn't answer.
But on the first day of spring, when I lifted the curtain at the window, I felt reassured.
Among the players was Tạ Đường.
He was the first friend I'd made after entering the horror game, a companion who'd faced life and death alongside me.
He would definitely recognize me!
He absolutely would!
On the first day of spring, a drizzle veiled the town of Đăng Lung as a group of players arrived. They looked haggard and wary, like a bunch of frightened rabbits anxiously looking around.
Only one young man stood apart. In the rain, he approached at an unhurried pace, holding a bamboo-handled silk umbrella. He wore purple, and his silver hair was tied up high. The damp mist that left everyone else struggling seemed like clouds and fog around him, only enhancing his jade-tree-like beauty.
The players addressed him respectfully: “Đường Thần, thanks to you, we didn't end up as a snake spirit's drinking snacks!”
“Please don't abandon us over the next few days!”
Tạ Đường gave a slight nod.
Before long, a player said nervously, “Oh, I've got a new mission!”
The others chimed in one after another. “Me too!”
“The system says there's a ghost bride in Đăng Lung called the ‘Peach-Blossom Face.’ Tonight, we have to go to Đào Hoa Cư and catch her embroidered ball…”
“The instance is called ‘Joy,’ so it must be a ghost marriage. Whoever catches the ball has to marry her!”
“Have you seen the mission instructions? We can clear the instance by killing the ghost bride!”
The players had to kill me to clear the instance?
I stood on the second floor, looking down at Tạ Đường. As if sensing my gaze, the young man looked up. Our eyes met through the veil of rain. I smiled playfully, while he was cold as ice.
How could I hint to him that I was Lý Khả Ái?
At sunset, the rain stopped. A few streaks of purple cloud crossed the high sky, dark and cold.
Twelve players had gathered outside Đào Hoa Cư, all staring bug-eyed at the embroidered ball in my hand like a bunch of frogs.
I smiled and twirled the ball, teasing them on purpose. “Let's see who I should throw it to~ That portly gentleman looks like a fine choice.”
The potbellied male player I'd mentioned immediately went deathly pale. “No, no, no! Miss, you've got the wrong idea. I'm actually a good-for-nothing… lazy, greedy, and only good for sitting around and eating. I'm a useless salted fish! If you marry me, I'll just live off you!!”
I shrugged and turned my gaze to a high school student. “This one looks rather pretty.”
The student froze and stammered, “Miss, setting aside the fact that I'm underage—I know people in the old days didn't care about that… but, but I'm a girl!”
I clicked my tongue and looked at a muscular Black man. Before I could say a word, he was so scared he wet himself, let out a shout, and hid behind Tạ Đường.
Naturally, my gaze fell on Tạ Đường. Of course I had to choose him; he was the only one in the crowd who knew me.
I raised the embroidered ball…
Suddenly, a string of comments appeared:
[Don't throw it to Đường Thần. Đường Thần has a secret crush on Bảo Muội!]
[You disgusting NPC, get lost! Those two are made for each other!]
[Who do you think you are?]
[This NPC looks so disgusting, not even one ten-thousandth as good-looking as Bảo Muội!]
After becoming a ghost, my appearance really was hard to describe. One half of my face was beautiful; the other was a peach-blossom face.
The beautiful half was lovely, but the peach-blossom half was grotesque, with flesh turned inside out and layers of peach blossoms seeping through. Even looking in the mirror gave me the creeps.
Just then, the comments lit up with excitement:
[Look! Bảo Muội's here!]
[Waaah, our beautiful darling is like a fairy!]
[I love her peach-blossom eyes. When she smiles, they curve like crescent moons~]
[Hehe, look—Đường Thần can't take his eyes off her…]
The players noticed, too. Someone shouted, “Look! Another player just arrived!”
Looking into the distance, at the end of the long street, a young woman in white rode through the peach blossoms. Wherever she passed, petals drifted down in a flurry. At first glance, she looked like a fairy descended to earth.
But… she had my face!
The players’ eyes were glued to her. They stared so intently they even forgot to breathe.
Someone murmured in awe, “Oh my gosh, I’ve met a fairy…”
The young woman dismounted, and Tạ Đường immediately stepped forward to greet her.
The comments went wild:
[Aaaah, the way Đường Thần looks at Bảo Muội is so dreamy!]
[Đường Thần’s wife fans are about to have their hearts broken!]
[Who says? My husband and my wife are together, so of course I’m joining this family!]
[Let me join, too! The four of us can all live happily together!]
The young woman took Tạ Đường’s hand as she dismounted, then playfully nudged him with her elbow. “A ball toss to find a husband? How fun. If you ask me~ that bride will probably choose you!”
Two blushes bloomed on Tạ Đường’s pale, jade-like cheeks. “Don’t tease me.”
The young woman rose onto her tiptoes, tugged at the young man’s collar, and wheedled, “You can’t catch her embroidered ball, understand? If you do, I’ll be upset.”
As if he hadn’t expected her to say that, Tạ Đường flushed from his ears down to his neck in an instant, red as if he were about to bleed.
I stood upstairs and watched the whole thing.
Aaaah, I’m dying, I’m dying! My dignity, my image—someone save me!
I looked calm as I watched, but my soul was screaming, squirming, and cringing so hard I was spinning. What was this fake doing here? She was way too affectionate!
Aaaah, my toes curled up so violently I nearly flattened Đào Hoa Cư, then dug a hundred-foot tower out of the level ground!
Luckily, one of the players still remembered I existed.
“Hey, bride, are you still going to throw the embroidered ball?”
Oh, right~
I was so busy cringing, I forgot about that.
I sighed and fixed my gaze on Tạ Đường again. The rules were clear: whoever I chose, whether they wanted it or not, they couldn’t escape.
Lock on target, aim, throw!
But just as the embroidered ball was about to land in Tạ Đường’s arms, he dodged!