"Father?"

  Qin Nuo's expression froze.

  A year ago, his parents mysteriously disappeared. Sihen, he had been assisting the poli iigating their disappearance, but to no avail.

  Retly, due to the Hame, his focus had temporarily shifted away from his parents. He never expected to receive a call from a stranger g to be his father in the Horror World.

  Qin Nuo wasn't surprised; instead, he frowned and suspiciously asked, "Do you have any proof?"

  The situation was too sudden for Qin Nuo to react, so he naturally wouldn't trust easily.

  The other person seemed to uand the abruptness and slowly began reting some events from Qin Nuo's childhood.

  "My name is Qin Feng, your mother's name is Shangguan Yan. You were born in 2003, and then..."

  The voice was calm, her hurried nor slow. Every time he mentioned an unfettable childhood event, a vague memory in Qin Nuo's mind became clear, matg what was said on the phone, feeling incredibly familiar.

  "Son, when you were little, you were mischievous and actally knocked over a pot of pe. Your mom shielded you and got a burn scar on her arm, which remains to this day. Do you remember?" Suddenly, a middle-aged woman's voice came through the phone.

  Qin Nuo recalled the i. His mother was severely burned and hospitalized. After being discharged, the scar remained, and he cried for days out of guilt.

  The image of his father sternly scolding him while smoking a Seven Wolves cigarette, and his mother proteg aly f him, was still vivid, as if it happened yesterday.

  It really was them!

  Qin Nuo's breathing suddenly became rapid, and his fingers ched tightly.

  Yuan Shan watched this se, tilting his head in fusion.

  The sudden reappearance of his parents after more than a year brought joy, but Qin Nuo's expression was also filled with fusion.

  The only expnation for the call eg was that his parents were also in the Horror World.

  "Child, we miss you so much. Every time I y eyes, I dream of you, afraid of fetting your face. Hearing your voice is such a relief..."

  "Are you taking care of yourself? Eating well, sleeping well, stayihy?" His mged as she used to.

  But the indescribable longing and were palpable, evehe phone.

  Qin Nuo's ingled with emotion.

  "I'm doing well. I'm an adult now and take care of myself."

  "Where exactly are you now? How I find you?" Qin Nuo asked.

  "And why did you disappear without a word?"

  Oher end, his father sighed and said, "Back then, your mom and I were on our way home when a dump truck suddenly turned and overturned, crushing our car. When we woke up, we found ourselves forcibly sent into the Hame."

  "Both your mom and I have experieh the Hame. We know that pleting an instance allows us to return to the real world, but..."

  "This instance is far more plicated than we imagined. It's a cyclical instance, and your mom and I touched a taboo, getting permaly trapped here."

  "Cyclical instance?" Qin Nuo's brow furrowed.

  "Is there a specific location?" If there was a location, Qin Nuo might be able to reach it.

  "No, here we don't even know how much time has passed."

  "We tried using stoo mark the walls to record the game's time, but every day the time resets, and the marks disappear."

  Qin Nuo asked, "Then how did you mao call me?"

  "We previously triggered an instaask, and the reward for pleting it was three ces to make a call."

  "The call 't ect to the real world, so we had to wait for the day you ehe instance."

  "The first two times, we failed."

  "But this time, we succeeded." His father's voice was steady. In Qin Nuo's impression, his father was a serious man, expressing love in subtle ways rather thaly.

  This time was no different; the voice revealed no joy, but Qin Nuo could sense a slight tremor.

  "How I find you?" Qin Nuo asked the crucial question directly.

  There was a moment of silen the other end before the reply came.

  "The instance will guide you, give you the answer."

  "Son, don't stop. Keep pleting the instances, and you'll find us. It's the only way."

  "The instance will give the answer?"

  His father's response left Qin Nuo puzzled.

  He wao ask for more information, but his mother suddenly said, "Son, our time is limited, and we 't say much."

  "You must find us, and take good care of yourself."

  Qin Nuo set aside his questions and solemnly said, "Mom, Dad, don't worry. I'll do everything I to find you and rescue you."

  "My sister and I are doing well, so don't worry. No matter rotect yourselves first!"

  The phone line suddenly went silent, making Qin Nuo think he had actally hung up.

  Moments ter, his father suddenly asked, "Your sister?"

  "Yes, my sister is doing well. After you disappeared st year, she got into a prestigious uy," Qin Nuo replied.

  His father's voice grew heavier.

  "You don't have a sister."

  "We only have you, our only son."

  Qin Nuo's expression turned bnk.

  "What did you say?"

  His mother quickly added, "Child, are you okay? We've always had only you as our only child. Where did this sister e from?"

  Qin Nuo blinked, feeling a bit disoriented.

  No sister?

  Then who was Qin Yushi, who had always taken care of him?

  He clearly remembered being cared for by his sister while his parents were busy with work.

  Now his parents were telling him there was no sister?

  His father's tourned cold and serious: "Be careful. She must have done something to you, forcibly taking on the role of your sister!"

  "She wants something from you."

  His mother was almost g with worry: "Child, you must protect yourself. Our only hope for holding on is to reuh you."

  Qin Nuo remained silent.

  He felt his mind was in chaos, struggling to accept his father's words.

  At that moment, his mother oher end seemed to see something and suddenly said, "Look, they're resetting again..."

  Then his father's voice: "We must leave now."

  Qin Nuo quickly asked, "Mom, Dad, what's happening over there?"

  "Child, remember, you must find us. We're waiting..."

  Before the words were fihe voi the other end abruptly cut off.

  Qin Nuo stared at the phone s that had exited the call interface, deep in thought.

  The call had left Qin Nuo with a splitting headache.

  The joy of his parents' sudden appearahe ay of their impriso, and the fusion about not having a sister...

  Pg the phone oable, Qin Nuo ran a hand through his hair, his face twisted in silence.

  Yuan Shan cautiously asked, "Boss, you don't look well. Should I get you a bottle of water?"

  Qin Nuo waved him off, "No need, you go ahead with your work."

  After Yuan Sha, the Blood-Eyed Ghost suddenly spoke up, "There's something off about that call."

  Qin Nuo asked, "Why do you say that?"

  "Just feels like something's nht, 't quite put my finger on it."

  "......"

  Qin Nuo rubbed his temples, took a deep breath, and said, "Fet it, let's not dwell on it for now."

  "If my so-called sister is fake, then she must know something."

  Despite saying this, Qin Nuo's mood grew heavier.

  The Blood-Eyed Ghost clicked its tongue, "Poor kid, got dumbfounded by a phone call."

  Qin Nuo ighe Blood-Eyed Ghost's teasing.

  After lingering for a while, he stood up and said, "That's enough for now, let's head back."

  Li Tongtong g a pile of expired food on the ter. Seeing Qin Nuo heading for the door, she asked, "Boss, you're leaving already? You barely warmed your seat."

  "The chair's warm enough. I'm leaving for a while. If a masked ghost es by, listen to its instrus."

  "It's a deputy manager like Liao Shen. When I'm not here, they have the authority, so follow their lead."

  Without waiting for Yuan Shan and Li Tongtong to respond, he left the store.

  The two employees were used to their boss ing and going quickly, so they just aowledged and tinued with their tasks.

  ...

  At the roadside, Qin Nuo opehe system pao firm his return to the real world.

  A beam of light enveloped him, and his vision was filled with white light. In the moment, he vanished from the spot...

  ...

  Meanwhile.

  In a room, the masked ghost stamped a seal on a dot and ha to a subordinate.

  "Spread the word, from now on, Other Shore will be renamed Red Moon. No items with the old name are allowed iore!"

  "Uood," the subordinate nodded.

  At the same time.

  In a certain area of the Horror World.

  A man in a suit lounged on a sofa, listening to music. Despite the eerie surroundings, his mood remained ued.

  Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind.

  "Game notification: Attention, the enterprise you established in the Horror World—Other Shore venieore—has been seized, and the authority has been repced!"

  "Seized by Pyer: Phantom!"

  Upon hearing the notification, the man in the suit abruptly opened his eyes.

  His frozen expression was filled with bewilderment.

  "Seized?"

  ...

  His mind was momentarily dizzy.

  As the disoriented feeling faded, the white light before his eyes gradually dispersed, and his vision became clear.

  In a moment of crity, Qin Nuo was no longer on the desote, eerie roadside but in a room filled with bright sunlight and a familiar st.

  Qin Nuo looked at his hands a, murmuring, "Finally back."

  He checked the date on his phone and the dar on the wall, calg that from entering the instao returning now, it had been 14 days.

  Exactly two weeks.

  "They say time in the Horror World feels like years, and now I uand."

  Two weeks felt like half a year to Qin Nuo.

  Iy, living each day with heighteension aeme the brain had more to remember, naturally creating the illusion of a long time.

  The Blood-Eyed Ghost clearly disliked the real world, its tone unfortable, "The air feels suffog again."

  "You get used to it."

  "I got through the Horror World the same way."

  As he spoke, Qin Nuo got up ao the bathroom, washing his face vigorously before heading to the living room to pss of water.

  After drinking the water in the Horror World, which was mixed with who knows what disgusting things, the bottled water in the real world tasted incredibly sweet.

  "What are you going to do now?" the Blood-Eyed Ghost suddenly asked as Qin Nuo sat on the sofa.

  "First, I o iigate this sister of mine, whether she's my real sister or someone eared out of nowhere," Qin Nuo said.

  If it's the tter.

  Then something must have happeo me!

  And Qin Yushi surely knows something.

  "Do you believe everything those people on the phone said?" the Blood-Eyed Ghost asked.

  "Of course not."

  "Even though they accurately reted my childhood and my parents' names."

  "But everything happeoo suddenly, toely. It's possible they extracted my parents' memories and impersohem."

  After experieng two instances, Qin Nuo felt his mind had opened up, with all sorts of specutions appearing in his head.

  Just then, his phone seemed to suddenly ect to the work, vibrating wildly with notifications, various app ads lining up.

  And there were over a dozen missed calls!

  Three from Tang Ming.

  The rest were all from his sister!

  In the past, seeing so many calls from his sister made him feel like a spoiled younger brother, cherished and protected.

  But now, Qin Nuo felt something different.

  These missed calls felt more like surveilnce...

  "Tang Ming usually messages o, why call this time?"

  Qin Nuo ang Ming's calls, and just as he picked up the phone, an ining call appeared on the s.

  "tact—Silly Sweet Sister."

  "Speak of the devil," the Blood-Eyed Ghost remarked.

  Qin Nuo maintained a calm expression and answered the call.

  "Qin Nuo, be ho, have you been in the Hame again all these days without answering your phone?"

  "You're a real thief, finding that thing no matter where I hide it!" Qin Yushi's tone was angry, calling Qin Nuo by his full name.

  Qin Nuo didn't deny it, "Sis, sorry, I did ehe Hame."

  "And I ran into some trouble."

  Oher end, Qin Yushi quickly asked, "What happened, are you hurt?"

  "You better e back, I'm afraid I won't see you again."

  Without waiting for Qin Yushi's response, Qin Nuo hung up the phone.

  Based on his uanding of Qin Yushi, those words were enough to make her rush ba a hurry...

  JOSOLUNA