Go forward or turn back?
That was the question.
Lucas stood in the eerie women's restroom of Changming Ghost School, facing a silent figure draped in bloodstained clothes. Hundreds of viewers watched in tense anticipation.
And then, he did something no one expected—he took a step back and gently closed the bathroom door.
> 🗨️ "???"
🗨️ "Why is he backing off?!"
🗨️ "Is he seriously walking away from a hidden quest?"
Everyone who had played this game knew one thing: hidden missions always offered the best rewards. And the female ghost inside the stall had been marked as only Low-Level Danger.
There was no obvious reason to abandon the quest.
But Lucas wasn't leaving.
Instead, he composed himself and then opened the door again. The camera followed as he stepped back inside, this time moving with more purpose.
He looked directly at the ghost.
She had buried her face in her hands and now began to sob.
> "Are you here to save me?" she asked, her voice brittle and low.
The atmosphere in the restroom shifted. Blood pooled across the floor, the air thick with tension. The ghost's words sounded more like a plea than a trap.
Lucas said nothing for a moment.
Then he carefully placed his kitchen knife behind his back and stepped forward, steady and composed.
His voice didn't waver.
"Yes. I'm here to save you."
The ghost looked up slowly.
Tear-streaked almond eyes, filled with sorrow and betrayal, stared into Lucas's own.
> "But why didn't anyone come to save me when I was alive?" she whispered.
She wasn't really waiting for an answer.
Her voice continued, soft but filled with anguish.
> "I screamed... I begged... I struggled in that toilet cubicle. Didn't anyone hear me?"
Her expression began to twist, the sorrow on her face warping into something darker—hatred, pain, rage.
Lucas didn't flinch.
He responded gently, his tone calm and sympathetic.
"You're right."
Her face softened again. The anger melted, replaced by that same helpless sorrow.
> "Yeah," she said, more to herself than to Lucas. "They all heard me... They all knew..."
As she spoke, Lucas kept walking slowly toward her. He was now just a step away from the haunted stall.
From his vantage point, his gaze casually drifted toward her long, black hair, tangled and soaked with blood.
---
Viewers leaned in closer to their screens.
> 🗨️ "This guy has nerves of steel…"
🗨️ "His mental stat is STILL 100? Unreal."
🗨️ "If it were me, I'd have fainted by now."
Lucas's composed actions brought in even more viewers. The live view count passed 500.
Then, a golden-framed comment appeared—a special alert in the bullet chat:
> 🗨️ One of the Best: "Judging from current behavior, this female ghost seems to be a story-type NPC. The best way to complete this hidden mission is to gain her trust by extracting her backstory, then ask to stroke her hair. The player seems to be on the right path—intentionally or not."
The appearance of such a high-profile commentator caused a stir.
> 🗨️ "Whoa! One of the Best is here? In the newbie section?"
🗨️ "He's the legend who solved the Abyss Library dungeon, right?"
🗨️ "He analyzes hidden NPCs like no one else. If he's watching, this must be something serious."
People began flooding into Lucas's stream to see what would happen next.
---
Meanwhile, the ghost kept talking.
> "I was a student at Changming High School…" she said, her voice trembling.
Lucas nodded gently. "I figured."
He didn't rush her. He stood quietly beside her, listening, every muscle ready to spring into action if things went south.
The viewers were mesmerized.
> 🗨️ "Baili called it! She's definitely story-based."
🗨️ "He just needs to keep playing along and stroke her hair when the time is right."
The ghost trembled.
> "To me... this school was hell," she said at last.
She was about to say more.
> "That day, I—"
Suddenly—
Squelch.
The sound was sharp. Wet. Final.
Blood sprayed through the air.
The ghost's voice was silenced in an instant.
Lucas had drawn the kitchen knife from behind his back and sliced straight through her neck in one brutal, fluid motion.
The ghost's head dropped with a soft thud, rolling across the blood-soaked tiles. Her wide, lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling.
Her body slumped against the stall wall, leaving crimson smears behind.
Lucas, his face unreadable, bent down and picked up the severed head.
He exhaled slowly.
"Damn... That almost scared me."
Then, very calmly, he reached out and ran his hand gently through the ghost's detached hair.
"This is much safer," he said aloud, lips curling into a subtle smile.
"If I'm going to stroke a ghost's hair, I'd rather make sure she can't react."
---
Silence.
The entire live broadcast froze for three long seconds.
Then—
> 💥💥💥 The chat exploded.
> 🗨️ "WHAT THE F—?!"
🗨️ "He killed her?! SHE WAS LOW DANGER!"
🗨️ "No one expected that!"
🗨️ "Did that count as completing the mission??"
Even the experienced strategist known as One of the Best remained silent for a moment.
Then finally—
> 🗨️ One of the Best: "…This is indeed the safest method."
---
Lucas had taken the hidden quest and flipped it on its head.
While others would have hesitated, tried to please the ghost, followed her story...
He removed all risk at the root.
Even if it meant giving up the potential "friendship" route, the result was the same: the ghost's hair was stroked, and Lucas was alive.
> 🗨️ "Tactical genius."
🗨️ "Cold-blooded. I love it."
🗨️ "His Spirit is still at 100. Is this man human?"
🗨️ "He deserves to clear this dungeon solo."
The viewer count hit 1,200.
Donations, flowers, and virtual items poured in like a storm.
And yet, Lucas didn't seem to notice.
He simply stood there, methodically stroking the ghost's lifeless hair, waiting for the timer to end.
Not a tremble. Not a flicker of hesitation.
-
Ready for Chapter 4?