In a place unknown to Shen Zhao, 123 was in a panic: “Oh no, oh no, oh no! Host, please don’t do anything foolish! If you can’t get through this stage, the assessment will fail!”
“That’s just how it is. Although it’s a year late, our whole family can be considered reunited today.”
Shen Zhao lingered by the window, his eyes dark and heavy, suddenly speaking, “If I die, will you all be content?! Do you want me to die? You can’t kill me! You just want everyone around me to die and hope I break down, right? Hah…”
He let out a cold laugh, wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes, retreated back into the hospital room, and closed the window.
“I won’t let you all have your way. I will not die; I will live well…”
123 stared at his obsessive and morbid appearance, feeling somewhat confused by his words.
[Could it be that the host… has not completely sealed his memories?]
After wrapping up the funeral for his parents, Shen Zhao had secluded himself at home, even Zhang Zixin could barely see him anymore.
But occasionally, Zhang Zixin could still catch a glimpse of Shen Zhao’s figure through the window. Slowly, he stopped worrying about Shen Zhao committing suicide because Shen Zhao had bought a lot of green plants and watered them on the balcony daily.
These plants were thriving, lush, and bloomed not long after.
It was clear that this family loved life greatly.
Although Shen Zhao seldom went out, he still obtained everything he needed, whether it was daily necessities or other items. Delivery men and takeout drivers brought everything to his doorstep.
Since Shen Zhao was disabled, these people also helped to take the garbage away.
The government’s compensation, along with his parents’ insurance payout, was enough for Shen Zhao to live comfortably for the rest of his life.
—
As time ticked by, ten years surprisingly passed in the blink of an eye.
Shen Zhao still stayed in that house, often disappearing from view. When newborn children grew up, they only heard rumors of a person living alone in the house, but no one had seen what this person looked like.
Driven by curiosity, a few bold children knocked on the door of this mysterious house one afternoon.
“Is there really someone inside?”
“Yes! I heard my brother say there’s a strange person inside who never comes out.”
“It can’t be a ghost, can it?! I’m a bit scared…”
“How could it be a ghost? Ghosts don’t eat! My grandma said the person inside orders takeout every day; it’s such a waste of money since he can’t cook.”
“Who will knock on the door?” A few little kids pushed and nudged each other, and in the end, the bravest one ran to the door and knocked a few times before running away.
The children hid in a corner, peeking out, and saw the door slowly creaking open. A pale-skinned, handsome but gloomy young man sat in a wheelchair.
“Wow~” The children gasped, causing the young man to look over in their direction.
“Bang—” The door shut again.
“Oh…” The children, who had intended to approach, felt a bit disappointed.
After shutting the door, Shen Zhao pushed his wheelchair back into the room.
His expression was indifferent, having paid little mind to the children outside. Until another knock came, and the delivery was slid through the small hole at the bottom of the door, placed on the ground. Shen Zhao glanced over, pushed his wheelchair to grab the takeout, and began to eat.
The meal was very simple: a bowl of plain porridge, two buns, and two small dishes. He basically ate just this much every day.
The people around him had not ended well, so Shen Zhao shut himself off, essentially serving a self-imposed imprisonment.
Originally, Zhang Zixin would still come by often, but since Shen Zhao had made up his mind not to open the door or see him, he gradually gave up, and Shen Zhao no longer remembered when he had stopped visiting.
This was fine.
After eating, Shen Zhao returned to his study, picked up a book he’d left half-read on the table, and continued reading.
The book’s cover was titled in English, which roughly meant “Theory of Witchcraft.”
The study was somewhat dim, yet Shen Zhao felt no discomfort. On the shelf beside him were various jars, containing some disgusting and horrifying unknown pieces of meat and eyeballs, fur, and even insects like spiders and centipedes.
Several feather quills were placed on the table, and next to them was a notebook filled with Beautiful Script writing in English.
About two hours later, Shen Zhao closed the book on witchcraft, frowning as he set it aside.
“Indeed, it’s niche literature; the entire text revolves around how to kill witches, and there’s barely less than a tenth about actual witchcraft, with no practical methods to borrow.”
Using living blood to draw magic circles, making sacrifices…
Shen Zhao did not want to be captured as a deranged murderer; he just wanted to clarify what exactly that thing watching him all along was.
123 was also somewhat helpless; who knew the host would end up like this? A decade of obsessive behavior, insisting on finding it. Once the assessment was over and the host recovered his memories, his expression would surely be something to behold.
Day after day, year after year, Shen Zhao continued searching, even without any evidence, he remained convinced that there were bizarre entities in this world that machines and human eyes could not detect.
Until the end of his life.
Shen Zhao lived to the age of 56 before passing away due to health issues.
—
Lin Ya opened his eyes and immediately saw 123 looking grim.
This is a definite black mark…
123 chuckled: “Host, weren’t you trying to find me? You found me, aren’t you happy?”
Lin Ya: “…”
He averted his gaze, too lazy to pay attention to that little furball, until he saw the familiar city landmark.
“This is… Jincheng?”
“Yes, host. This is actually the world you started in.”
“… So that’s why the name Zhang Zixin sounds so familiar; he seems to be my university classmate and a roommate.”
“What about the others?”
Lin Ya thought of the one who had raised him in the assessment world, gave him love and care, but ultimately died in an earthquake trying to protect him. He thought of his grandparents who had cared for him and died in a car accident, Old Man Li and Wang Guifeng.