The Horror Game's Green-Tea Boss Wants to Win Me Over - Chapter 2

Near dusk, a battered old bus crawled along the winding mountain road. It passed through the entrance of Peach Blossom Village, pulled up at the tourist center, and disgorged a dozen or so young people carrying backpacks.

The tour guide went to speak with the staff.

The players gathered in the pavilion beneath an old locust tree. Without making it obvious, they surveyed the village, where only a sparse handful of tourists wandered, and murmured among themselves.

“Isn’t this supposed to be peak season? Why is the village almost empty? Did the system make a mistake?”

“At this hour, the tourists are probably eating. Instead of questioning everything, we should be discussing whether that tour guide is even human.”

“Don’t you think this mission sounds too easy? All we have to do is obey the rules, survive for a month, and leave. No puzzles. No need to uncover what happened in the scenario. Can this really be SSS-ranked?”

“True, but we haven’t seen the rules yet. Don’t jump to conclusions. Those things love tampering with rules.”

“Maybe we matched into a freebie run.”

A boy with a foxtail grass stem clenched between his teeth gave a lazy snort. He draped both arms over the carved stone railing, an indolent smile on his face.

“Follow the rules, farm a few low-level ghosts now and then, then clear the scenario after a month. Doesn’t that sound great—”

“Wait. Haven’t any of you noticed?!”

A trembling male voice cut him off.

I looked up. The man across the stone table had gone deathly pale. He raised his player wristband, panic in his eyes.

“Ever since we got off the bus, the shop, purchased-items page, attributes, and skills have all been grayed out. None of them work.”

“What?!”

The veteran players jolted to attention.

They opened the relevant pages on their wristbands. Every single one was gray. When they backed out, a red system notice appeared:

[FRIENDLY REMINDER: Items accumulated in previous scenarios are useless in this one. Weapons may still be summoned, but all attribute bonuses have been disabled!]

So it really was an SSS-ranked scenario. Surviving for a month sounded simple, but the game had disabled every item and skill to inflate the difficulty and force the mission to match its rank.

The formerly relaxed atmosphere vanished. Several veteran players looked especially devastated; their life-saving SSS-ranked talismans were now worthless.

I did not feel much of anything.

I was a new player at [LV. 1]. I had not even unlocked the shop, much less acquired weapons or items.

When the guide returned, he handed each of us a copy of the *Peach Blossom Village Visitor’s Guide* and led us to the guesthouse to check in.

The village was not small, and its alleys twisted in every direction.

Before leaving, the guide wore a rare smile on his otherwise expressionless face. His lips curved at an eerie angle.

“Keep your room key safe. Trust me—you don’t want to lose it.”

Once I reached my room, I sat beside the window and finally had time to open the guide.

It called itself the *Peach Blossom Village Visitor’s Guide*.

In reality, it was the rulebook for a rules-based horror scenario.

[1. Return to the guesthouse before dark. After midnight, shut all doors and windows tightly. Do not go outside.]

[2. Keep a source of light present at all times.]

[3. Do not harm any person or object associated with peach blossoms. Worship the Peach Blossom Immortal at the village temple every day.]

[4. Yield to wedding processions. Do not look the sedan bearers in the eyes. Do not follow the procession.]

[5. If embroidered shoes appear outside your door, immediately use the landline to call the guesthouse reception desk. Do not leave until the staff have taken the shoes away.]

[6. If you encounter a terrifying supernatural event, ignore it and leave the dangerous area at once.]

[7. The villagers of Peach Blossom Village are warm and hospitable. If you encounter difficulties, ask them for help—but do not impose.]

[RED NOTE 1: You have one, and only one, opportunity to request help from the tourist center. Make absolutely certain the person speaking with you is a member of staff.]

[RED NOTE 2: Keep this visitor’s guide safe. Remember at all times that you are human, not some other kind of being. Do not let them discover that you are different.]