Chapter 2#
Chapter 2#
Note
— So, Boss, who are you picking?
Shan Bei stood in the prologue, dressed in beginner’s gear. The dark hall was as spine-chilling as a haunted house, with feeble moonlight streaming through a skylight, cast upon a row of colossal statues and cobwebbed candlestands. He held a candle. Any statue he approached would light up for that while. To choose a patron deity, he’d just have to light the corresponding wick.
But that wasn’t up to him. After all, the account wasn’t his.
He was a casual booster, taking commissions to earn a bit of pocket money whenever he had no classes on. Some time beforeRose Island’s launch, he’d promoted his services on the built-in game forum:Open for boosts. Will take on any job. Yet, three days went by without any views on his post. Other boosters were raking in money, their schedules booked up, but he had nothing.
All that changed earlier that night, just before the game’s launch, when a client finally came knocking—except the guy was kinda weird.
His about was an asterisk, his avatar was all white, and only the smiley set as the alias made him seem like a real person. The guy wasn’t looking for a booster. All he wanted was for Shan Bei to create an account for him.
NotAScallop: Boss… you mean using my personal info?
^^ : Of course not. I’ll provide that.
NotAScallop: Is there a specific account no. you want then?
^^ : I’m good.
Shit, Shan Bei thought.Must be a scam.
The game didn’t restrict registration. Anyone could load the game, create an account, and start playing without any hassle, so why pay someone to do it?
Shan Bei considered it, then told ^^ : Boss, I’m a broke student. I’ve got nothing worth taking.
No response.
Then came a chime. Shan Bei got a notification from the forum—Mi transferred 3,000 to your account. Note: Are you in or not?
Shan Bei: “…”
Yep. Anything for his sugar daddy.
The market rate for grinding was eight hundred a week. Getting paid three thousand just to set up an account was insane. Could the client be some rich heir here to blow some money?
Or it could be a pig butchering scam. Despite his apprehensions, Shan Bei whipped on his headset and loaded the game at record speed. As if the strange client was watching, the account details were sent over just then.
And so he got the client’s name: Mi Xiaobai.
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The account set-up went smoothly until they reached the deity selection segment.
Aiming for hyperrealism, the VR game incorporated haptic feedback. When rain slipped in through the skylight and dripped down his collar, he broke out in goosebumps. It felt no different from the real world.
Shan Bei grabbed the vibrant system-default phone, and after shooting off, “So, Boss, who are you picking?” he hunkered down in a sheltered corner and waited. They hadn’t entered the game map yet, so he could still access the forum.
His connection was strong. He expected a swift response. However, the sending icon kept spinning, then a red exclamation mark popped up.
< Error: Contact not found >
Shan Bei: “?”
The game immersion was off the charts.
The prologue was as silent as a haunted house, rain dripping incessantly and deathly still stone statues gazing down at him from the shadows…Cut it out.Shan Bei shrank back into the corner, made sure the contact was that blank avatar, and fired off more messages.
NotAScallop: Boss, you there?
NotAScallop: Who are you picking?
NotAScallop: Boss, please say something. I’m scared.
The sending icons spun for a while before three more exclamation marks popped up, accompanied by the same unnerving error message.
< Error: Contact not found >
Shan Bei: “…”
After several failed attempts, dread crept in. Abandoning all online etiquette, he tapped on the blank avatar and initiated a voice call.
The static on the line sounded uncannily real. The signal was unstable, cutting in and out with bursts of odd interference. A mechanical voice repeated:
“Transferring to 1128.”
“Transferring to 2700.”
“Transferring to 184.”
“Transferring to 03.”
“Transferring to 1019.”
Shan Bei died a little on the inside. Just as he was about to hang up and force-quit the game, the unnerving transfer tones suddenly stopped.
After abeep, the call connected.
The person on the other end said, “Hello,” his voice drifting into the hall with the wind from the skylight. “Who is this?”
If voices had rankings, the client’s would stand out as handsome, in a distinctly debonair way. However, it was useless in dispelling the eerie atmosphere, not when that client’s bizarre behaviour was even spookier than any ghost.
Shan Bei remained huddled in the corner. “Boss, I’m the booster. My forum avatar should show up on the call.”
The client said “oh.” Obviously, he hadn’t paid attention to anyone’s avatar. But never mind that; dying to get the hell out of there, Shan Bei cut to the chase, “Boss, I’m at the deity selection segment. Once that’s done, your account is good to go. Who are you picking?”
His gaze swept across the row of statues as he finally summoned the courage to examine them. There were twelve in all, but only half were intact. The others were in various states of disrepair and had missing plaques and broken candlestands. When approached, a dialogue box indicated:Spirit Deities cannot be worshipped.
“Boss, the interface says there are two types of deities: mortals and spirits, six each. New players can only choose from the deified mortals, namely the Lady of Abundance, the Warlord…” Shan Bei walked over with the candle, going through them one by one, but the client interrupted him.
“Yu Qing.”
“Huh?” Shan Bei sluggishly said.
The voice on the other end carried a naturally frivolous flair as he repeated, “Yu Qing.”
Shan Bei froze up, then the name clicked. “Oh, you mean the Painted Skin?”
“That’s the one.”
However, Shan Bei had just finished checking the six intact statues, and the Painted Skin wasn’t among them. “Er… Boss. The Painted Skin is a deified spirit. He can’t be worshipped yet. You might have to wait for the world lore to unfold or level up a bit.” Even then, he didn’t stay idle, holding up his candle in an attempt to light the broken candlestand.
Immediately, he faced the consequences of his impulsiveness. A line of light blue text blocked his vision without warning.
< Error code: 00986716 >
< Analysing… >
< Resetting… >
< Logging in again… >
Beep-beep. The call cut off, and then he was engulfed in darkness and deathly silence.
Shan Bei: “…”
Seconds later, the spine-chilling hall appeared before him anew.
The icy blue glow of the moon still streamed through the skylight, and the drizzle still trickled down the stone statues. The only difference was that now, one more deity was among those that could be worshipped.
Shan Bei raised the candle. A two-storey-tall statue was restored from its crumbling state before his eyes. Seated in a high-backed chair, the deity propped his chin on one hand, lording over this small corner of the world. A skeletal kitten was perched on his shoulder. His right hand, resting on the armrest, lay exposed in the bleak moonlight—devoid of flesh, nothing but stark white bones.
Settled upon the tip of a long, bony finger was a butterfly with delicate viridescent wings.
Three words were inscribed on the stone plaque in front of the chair:The Painted Skin.
Shan Bei: “…”
Was it a bug? Could he choose that?
He approached the candlestand once more and touched the wick with the candle in his hand. It burst into flame at once. An information panel materialised before him, in the same glowing blue text.
< Congratulations on selecting your deity. You have now entered the cycle of reincarnation. >
Reincarnation Count: 1
Reincarnation Type: Mortal
Starting Credits: -470,000
Patron Deity: The Painted Skin
Deity Type: Spirit (Calamity)
Deity Bond:Locked
Deity Lore:Locked
Favour:Cannot be raised for this deity
Blessing: None
< You are destitute and mired in debt. Upon hitting rock bottom, you encounter a divine sign. You must offer your devotion. Seldom worshipped, your patron deity lacks skill in bestowing blessings; carnage is the one thing he excels at. But it’s okay, perhaps that is what you need. After all, fate guides us all. >
Shan Bei: “…”
It actually spanned several pages with more detailed data further on, but he couldn’t care less about that. He was fixated on the line forStarting Credits.
He was doomed. What a disastrous starting hand. How was he going to explain this to the client? Was it too late to delete the account and start from scratch?
Shan Bei pulled out his phone again, tapped the blank avatar, and went:Boss, I suggest deleting this account and trying again, or your early-game experience might be ruined. Don’t worry, it won’t take up too much time. I’m familiar with the process now. Give me five mi—a message from the blank avatar came through before he could type the very last letter.
^^ : All set? Thanks, I’ll log in now.
Shan Bei: “?” Hold up!
He deleted the nearly finished message in a twinkling, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
NotAScallop: Boss, wait for me to log out!!!
NotAScallop: I suspect the game performance is shot! Logging in while I’m still on might screw things up!
He was going to log out right after firing off those messages, but the client was too quick. His screen went dark, then a notification popped up.
< Error code: 2222999. Your account has been logged in from a different location. IP address: ?????? >
As soon as Shan Bei was kicked offline, garbled characters scrolled across his screen. Uneasy, he logged into his own account and checked the forum. Sure enough, it was flooded with censored words directed at the engineering department. Every post he clicked into was venting about how easily bugs occurred during account sharing.
The top poster had been helping a friend to clear the beginner quests when that friend accidentally logged in, only to be hit with a bug so severe that he was booted into someone else’s account. Among the thousand replies below, at least a quarter others had run into the same issue.
Crap. Shan Bei wondered if the client was facing the same thing. If so, there was no telling whose account he might log into…
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The next day, wind cages were hung around Wheel River District. Pedestrians in raincoats scurried across a bridge and took shelter at the arcaded shophouses.
In the penthouse of the tallest, poshest high-rise on the island, Yu Qing stood before a wide desk, his handsome countenance stormy. Even the lively little skeleton stuck close to the edge of the desk, not daring to move.
The butler, Uncle Yuan, poked his head in, glanced around cautiously, then knocked on the door before coming over, asking nervously, “Are you in a poor mood, sir?”
Yu Qing didn’t look up. “You’ve been here since last night, right? You didn’t go out?”
“Of course, sir, and no I didn’t,” Uncle Yuan hurriedly replied. “I wouldn’t leave the place unattended while you are out on business.”
“And no one came by?”
Uncle Yuan shook his head hard. “No, no. I never let anyone in while you are gone. Besides, no one visited last night, sir.”
“What about the bedroom? Besides me, has anyone else gone in?”
Uncle Yuan: “?”
Oh lord, would anyone dare?
He shook his head so vigorously that it might fly off. “Not at all, sir. No one would enter your bedroom without your permission.”
Yu Qing’s expression soured even more.
“Wh-what’s wrong?”
“If no one but myself has entered the bedroom since last night, then why is this thing on my desk?” He tapped its surface. Uncle Yuan looked down.
A piece of paper was weighed down by a fountain pen—a pen that nobody dared to touch, and paper that nobody dared to touch.
Yet, the paper bore handwriting that wasn’t Yu Qing’s own, a single line written in elegant, sweeping strokes:
Lovely to see you, even if it was through a mirror.
t/n.Shan Bei’s name 单贝 is homonymous with scallops 扇贝. As for Mi Xiaobai, the character for mi 弥 sounds similar to the ni from alias 昵称, the character for xiao 笑 means smile, and the character for bai 白 means white. Therefore Mi Xiaobai’s alias is ^^ and his avatar is just white.
Wind cages bring up no matching results; a jjwxc comment speculates it’s to scare off birds or block strong winds. Doing it direct in case it’s an recurring plot element, but it could also just be random description. Wheel River 辋川 (wǎngchuān) might have been inspired bythis, though there’s speculation it could also be a play on the River of Oblivion 忘川 (wàngchuān) which was my first thought as well. Conspiracy theories abound.