Shadows and Beacons

From ancient times, humanity has inherently held a reverence for darkness, and fear inevitably blossomed within them.

Especially when alone, this solitude, mingled with unease, would magnify that fear, steadily eroding one’s nerves until the slightest rustle or shadow would spark paranoia.

Now, the boy walked alone along this path. Under the moonlight, layers of tree shadows swayed, as if some unseen entity lingered among them. An undeniable unease crept down his heart, constantly prodding at his fragile and sensitive nerves.

‘I should have never wandered off,’ the boy regretted. After realizing he had been separated from his companions, he had blindly searched for a way out of the forest, hoping to find his way back to them.

Instead, he only found himself circling endlessly, utterly lost. It would have been better to stay put from the beginning, patiently waiting for his companions to find him.

He hunched his shoulders, feeling the chill of the wind. A cool sensation pervaded his body, coupled with the profound silence of the environment, where only the rustling of leaves broke the stillness, making him feel as if he had been utterly abandoned by the world.

“This is truly… too terrible,” he murmured.

He had no doubt that if he didn’t find someone soon, he might succumb to his own fear first. With this thought, the boy clutched his collar tighter, falling silent, his footsteps unconsciously quickening, becoming somewhat erratic.

****

The wind continued to blow, carrying a delicate drizzle. It was strange weather—wind and rain, yet the moonlight still shone brightly, preventing him from losing his way entirely.

In such a heightened state of tension, every rustle and stir was infinitely magnified.

“Crack…”

A dry branch underfoot snapped, emitting a sound. This sound, familiar as it was, now held an indefinable resonance for the boy—as if someone was deliberately mirroring his steps.

It was terrifying.

Just as the string in his heart stretched taut, nearly at its breaking point, the sensation of being followed vanished. Only his own clear, distinct breathing remained.

Then, that too was broken.

“What are you doing here, kid?”

The man’s keen eyes scrutinized the boy, finding nothing unusual about the fellow who had just jumped in fright.

“Uncle Li, it’s you!”

Upon recognizing the newcomer’s face, a heavy weight lifted slightly from the boy’s heart. If it was Uncle Li, there was nothing to fear.

After all, this was the senior who had saved his life in the previous game, and Du Nan naturally held immense trust for him.

****

At this very moment, Xiang Qi was still engaged in a mental tug-of-war with the bead, which she suspected was a beacon, attempting to find a suitable solution.

Unfortunately, without directly touching it, Xiang Qi truly couldn’t come up with a method anytime soon.

She wanted to simply leave, but she couldn’t bear to just abandon this thing here; who knew what crucial role it might play. The real tragedy would be needing it later and finding it gone.

Moreover, if this thing truly was the beacon mentioned by the system, wouldn’t it be too conspicuous simply sitting on the table? If players from Group A destroyed it, it would be troublesome, equivalent to losing one-fifth of their objective.

Thus, the girl went outside the wooden house and snapped off a branch. She used this branch to prod at the bead, then reconsidered, snapping the branch in half while leaving the bark intact.

She used the unbroken end to clasp the bead, cautiously skirted around to the back of the wooden house, dug a small hole, and buried the bead inside.

She then rearranged the soil, repeatedly flattening it with her foot, clad in white sandals, until she was finished.

“This way, it shouldn’t be so easily discovered.”

Xiang Qi shook her head helplessly. She knew that what she had done was akin to burying one’s head in the sand, having little practical effect, and merely serving as psychological comfort. Yet, making some preparations was better than none, at least it could give her a sense of courage.

People always needed to have some ideas, after all. Who knew, this very action might save her at a critical moment.

Fully embracing a spirit of defiant optimism, Xiang Qi casually tossed the branch she held into the sea. She descended the cliff path beside the small wooden house, intending to meet up with other players and commence her next round of scheming.

Regardless of anything else, when it came to pulling underhanded stunts and causing mischief, Xiang Qi was a professional. ‘Nobody is better at causing trouble than I am,’ she mused.

Unbeknownst to her, the gentle breeze had turned into rain. Fine droplets kissed Xiang Qi’s beautiful face, bringing a cool sensation that inadvertently sharpened her senses.

And so, the figure of the girl in the white dress vanished into the forest, as if swallowed whole by an invisible monster, unable to ever escape.

****

“Du Nan, have you encountered anyone else along the way?”

The middle-aged man, Uncle Li, and the clean-cut youth walked together on the path. Fatigue was etched on Uncle Li’s slightly rugged face; they had been walking like this for over an hour.

If it were simply a matter of hurrying, it would have been fine, but they had to constantly remain attentive to their surroundings, both to guard against potential attacks and to do their best to find the beacon mentioned by the system. This inevitably led to mental and physical exhaustion.

Honestly, without any guidance from the system’s rules, trying to find the beacon, whatever it might be, was akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. They could only pray for pure luck, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

No, perhaps the beacon was right in front of them, and they might not even recognize it. This was truly…

“No, Uncle Li. You’re the first person I’ve met.”

Du Nan obediently followed behind the middle-aged man. Anyone unaware of their situation would likely mistake them for father and son. At present, the situation was not much different.

Speaking of which, this forest seemed rather peculiar. From the outside, it hadn’t appeared very large, perhaps taking half an hour at most to explore. Yet, after truly entering, they had been walking for over an hour without finding a way out.

While it was true they weren’t moving at full speed, this was still enough to indicate certain issues.

‘Perhaps…’ A look of understanding crossed Uncle Li’s face. ‘Maybe a beacon is related to this forest, and the possibility isn’t low.’

Considering this, he naturally connected it to the system’s hidden hints beneath the rules, and the current situation began to gain some clarity.