I Became a God in a Horror Game (Unlimited)
Chapter 361

Yang Zhi felt a chilling cold wash over him, as if he had been plunged into icy water. He shivered and woke from a trance-like nightmare.

Kong Xuyang, who was squatting beside him, frowned and asked, “What’s wrong with you? You were completely out of it just now.”

Yang Zhi shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his mind. A forced smile appeared on his pale face. “…I don’t know what’s going on. The more I absorb Bai Liu’s memories, the more I get immersed in them. It wasn’t like this before…”

“His memories are strange. There are three overlapping sections.”

At the mention of Bai Liu, Kong Xuyang’s interest was piqued. “Overlapping sections? Weaknesses? Private parts?”

“No…” Yang Zhi’s brows furrowed tightly. “It feels like the memories have been overwritten, with another layer of memories superimposed on top. When I absorb them, it feels bizarre, like I’m experiencing the same period of memories twice.”

Kong Xuyang raised an eyebrow. “So, Bai Liu’s memories have been erased and rewritten three times?”

“Even his memories have been tampered with. Bai Liu really lives in a fog,” Kong Xuyang said with a meaningful smile.

“Anyway, the creature we’re staking out hasn’t made a move yet. Tell me more.”

With that, Kong Xuyang sat down on the ground, assuming a mischievous, gossipy expression. “I haven’t heard anything that made me happy tonight. What disgusting things are in Bai Liu’s memories? Spill it and cheer me up.”

Yang Zhi glanced at Kong Xuyang’s expression and chose his words carefully. “The first time this memory overlap occurred for Bai Liu was when he was fourteen. He originally grew up in a private orphanage.”

“Bai Liu faced a lot of discrimination and abuse at the private orphanage.” Yang Zhi’s expression grew uncomfortable, and he seemed to feel cold, instinctively rubbing his arms. “The director there didn’t like him and often punished him for various reasons, like suddenly increasing Bai Liu’s tasks and then claiming he hadn’t completed his chores or studies on time. In winter, the director would make Bai Liu stand barefoot in a bucket of snow or have him break ice to clean the pond behind the orphanage in sub-zero temperatures.”

Kong Xuyang’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he whistled in delight. “A standard loser’s childhood. What happened next?”

“But these memories were somehow artificially altered and overwritten. In the end, Bai Liu’s retained memories are of growing up smoothly in a well-managed, well-treated public orphanage until he was eighteen, without any abuse or torment. The teachers and the director were kind to him, though they often found his rebelliousness a headache,” Yang Zhi explained.

“Tsk.” Kong Xuyang pouted in disappointment. “Abuse that isn’t remembered is no fun. It doesn’t leave lasting trauma. What about Bai Liu’s second memory overlap?”

Yang Zhi’s expression gradually turned strange. “Bai Liu’s second memory overlap happened when he was eighteen, a few months before the college entrance exam.”

“The college entrance exam?” Kong Xuyang’s face showed a mix of pride and disdain. “We checked Bai Liu’s exam scores. He only got a little over 400 points1, much lower than mine.”

“It seems that even if some unknown high-level player had kindly modified his memory, sparing him from so-called ‘childhood trauma,’ Bai Liu is still hopeless. A loser is a loser.”

“No,” Yang Zhi couldn’t help but retort. “Bai Liu’s grades were even worse at the beginning. He could only score around 300 points.”

This even surprised Kong Xuyang, “300? Did he not study at all during his three years of high school?”

“Pretty much. From what I remember, Bai Liu never paid attention in class. He would basically fall asleep as soon as the class started. Although his good friend Lu Yizhan forced him to study for a while, he quickly reverted to his old habits,” Yang Zhi said. “He skipped almost all the evening self-study sessions, sneaking out to play video games instead.”

“In his third year of high school, Bai Liu received a major disciplinary action, which was recorded in his file, and he was publicly criticized by the entire school. His grades continued to plummet after that.”

“With Bai Liu’s grades, which were less than half of the total score, how much further could they even drop?” Kong Xuyang raised an eyebrow and pressed. “What was the disciplinary action for?”

Yang Zhi said, “He lured a fellow student into stealing money from their family to gamble, got into a fight, and was involved in a sum of over ten thousand yuan. He almost went to jail.”

“In the end, the other student’s parents didn’t call the police and chose to settle privately. Bai Liu was severely reprimanded and had to apologize to that student. He was given a major demerit.”

“Originally, Bai Liu was supposed to be expelled, but at the time, two top students from their school, Fang Dian who was ranked first in their grade, and Lu Yizhan, who was consistently in the top ten, told the school that if Bai Liu was expelled, they would drop out with him. After weighing the options, the school decided to put Bai Liu on probation.”

“That Fang Dian even took the blame for the gambling incident, receiving a major demerit alongside Bai Liu. The two of them stood on the flag-raising platform in front of the entire school to read their self-criticism letters, almost taking all the blame herself, forcing the school to keep Bai Liu.”

“But after that, Bai Liu’s scores dropped to around 200. Although he didn’t study hard, he didn’t cause any more trouble either. People around him kept pointing fingers at him. If he went to the bathroom and came back, his desk would be gone. His dormitory bed was often made dirty, with all sorts of liquids poured on it. It was basically school bullying, right?”

“But Bai Liu reacted very indifferently. He didn’t care at all. If his desk was gone, he’d just move to another classroom and continue sleeping, regardless of which grade it was or what class was being taught. If he couldn’t sleep in the dorm, he’d climb over the wall and spend the night at an internet cafe.”

Kong Xuyang clicked his tongue a few times, “He’s completely a delinquent.”

Yang Zhi’s expression grew even stranger. “But at this point, someone suddenly appeared in Bai Liu’s memory.”

“Or maybe it wasn’t a person. This ‘someone’ could only be seen by Bai Liu. No one else could see them. It was like a companion ghost, or the kind of imaginary friend that a child whose loneliness resulted in mental issues would conjure up.”

“This ghost silently accompanied him, coming and going with him daily. No matter how Bai Liu tried to drive it away, it wouldn’t leave. Every night, it would crouch in front of Bai Liu’s sleeping chair like a dog, watching over him. Occasionally, it would rest its head on Bai Liu and hug him while they slept together.”

Kong Xuyang scoffed, “So Bai Liu’s brain is messed up, huh? That’s normal. With his experiences, it’d be weird if his brain wasn’t messed up.”

“…I don’t know if it’s Bai Liu’s mind that’s messed up or mine. Maybe I’ve consumed too much, and my memories are all jumbled up.” Yang Zhi dug his fingers into his hair, gripping tightly, and muttered in a daze with his head lowered,

“This ghost that suddenly appeared at the end of Bai Liu’s high school years, a friend who might just be a figment of his imagination…”

“–looks exactly like Spades.”

Kong Xuyang exclaimed in disbelief, “…What?!”

Meanwhile,

Bai Liu led Mu Sicheng, bypassing the pond and crossing the dried-up stone bridge, following the path from the TV footage until they reached a desolate mountain covered in graves.

The graves varied in size, some new and some old. Since the Qingming Festival had just passed, many graves still had unburned joss paper beside them. Half-burnt red and white candles were stuck in the ground, and a few strings of spent firecrackers hung from the gnarled, eerie-looking dead trees nearby. Money for the afterlife was scattered all over the ground.

The graves closer by seemed to belong to recent burials from Yinshan Village, with modern marble tombstones neatly engraved with epitaphs and black-and- white photos of the deceased.

The ones further away had nothing but bare mounds of earth. If they were lucky, they might find a crude tombstone nearby that has been eroded by wind and rain and no longer has any words on it, or a wooden plank with faded, illegible characters.

Mu Sicheng held up a camera in night vision mode, carefully recording the tombstones in the eerie green glow.

In the pitch-black depths of the mountain forest, under the green light, the photos on the tombstones of elderly people with grayed hair and neatly arranged smiles seemed to stare intently at these two uninvited grave robbers. The once peaceful and amiable expressions on their faces gradually twisted into looks of resentment and hatred.

Mu Sicheng clasped his hands together in a gesture of prayer and whispered, “Forgive us, we mean no harm. Please don’t hold it against us.”

“Mu Sicheng, come over here and record this,” Bai Liu called from a distance.

Mu Sicheng carefully stepped over the graves and aimed the camera where Bai Liu was pointing. He squinted, “What is this?”

On the ground, facing the graves, were three white porcelain cups containing a bit of dusty liquor. Beside them were three plates of raw meat of varying colors and textures, a stack of golden joss paper, and at the front, four incense sticks, two candles, and a small paper garment, all burning faintly.

“This is a setup for [Borrowing Yin Wealth]. Someone beat me to this mass burial ground and set up this ritual to siphon off the yin energy and wealth from where most of the Yinshan villagers were buried.

Now this place can’t be used again for borrowing Yin wealth. I can’t complete my task,” Bai Liu explained, looking up at Mu Sicheng.

Mu Sicheng gritted his teeth, “Fuck, Kong Xuyang is causing trouble again!”

Author’s note: Bai Liu was a bit rebellious in high school, but he never did anything illegal. It’s all a misunderstanding.

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[1] The max score on the Gaokao, China’s national college entrance examination, is 750 points with subjects worth 150 or 100 points each. Top universities usually require a score of 550 or higher. The average score per province varies greatly, however the combined average score is around 540.