Welcome to Rule City

As the snake-shaped smoke from the incense burner extinguished, all the players affected by the illusion awoke. Those with weaker mental power looked worse for wear, while Jin-Ge and his followers seemed much better off.

Mu Ai suspected that Jin-Ge had also enhanced his mental power, but she wasn’t sure if he could perceive the visions she had seen. It didn’t matter anymore; as soon as tomorrow’s random project included that particular task, she would act.

All the tour activities were provided by the villagers and were tied to their true identities. Players found themselves in a dilemma-perfect completion meant physical harm, while failure led to punishment from the villagers, ranging from reduced meals to being expelled outdoors.

The light of the Scarlet Moon could increase the Contamination Value, which was different from the harm suffered during the activities. The former would carry over outside the Instance, while the latter would reset once they left. Everyone knew what choice to make.

With the ceremony over, the day was considered done. Players returned to their lodgings in small groups, and the villagers had already prepared dinner, which they needed to finish before the Scarlet Moon rose.

“Why aren’t you eating?” The Old Man, their host, glared at Mu Ai. The five players sat around a round table, and while the other four ate heartily, Mu Ai hadn’t touched her food.

Mu Ai looked slightly flustered and touched her stomach, awkwardly explaining, “I brought some bread. I’ll just eat that.”

The Old Man persisted, “Why not eat what’s been prepared? Why insist on bread?”

Mu Ai blinked, “I’m allergic.”

The Old Man glanced at the six dishes and a soup he had made and asked, puzzled, “Allergic to what?”

Mu Ai pointed at each dish in turn, “Allergic to potatoes, carrots, fish, eggplant, cauliflower, cucumber… Oh, and the tomatoes in the tomato egg soup.”

Even the other players were taken aback by this string of allergies. Her dismissive attitude was more abundant than the rice in their bowls. What was wrong with her? Wasn’t she afraid of angering the NPC?

Despite their dislike for the character Mu Ai was playing, some players who had been through this Instance multiple times offered a hint, “Xiao Liu, just eat. Tian Ji’s and Gu Fu’s cooking is excellent. These dishes are safe and nutritious. You won’t regret it.”

Hearing this, Mu Ai’s face darkened instantly, “Mind your words. There’s no such scum in my family.”

With that, Mu Ai couldn’t be bothered to keep up appearances. She left the table and returned to her room. Call those war criminals ‘dad’? Not in a million years!

Mu Ai’s abrupt departure left the other players exchanging glances. The one who had spoken up felt wronged but couldn’t leave under the NPC’s watchful eyes, so he complained to his tablemates.

“What’s his problem?”

“Forget it, don’t mind him. He must have a screw loose. Who else would do something like that?”

“Exactly, let’s just eat. Who knows if we’ll eat this well in the coming days?”

“He better hope he’s not in the same project as us tomorrow, or I’ll teach him a lesson! What a piece of work, a newbie acting all high and mighty!”

“Calm down, Zhang-Ge. After tomorrow’s project, we’ll team up and show him what for.”

“Yeah, let’s eat first. The Scarlet Moon will be out soon.”

…

Having become enemies with these criminals, Mu Ai’s mindset shifted from not wanting to complete tasks to exploring the other side of this Instance. Honestly, it was baffling how no one had fully uncovered the plot of the Scarlet Moon Instance after all this time. What a waste of life.

“If the early players with low mental power took the sinner’s path, their struggle for survival makes sense. But for no one to discover the dual storyline later on… that’s just absurd.”

While the others ate, Mu Ai sat cross-legged on her bed, resting her chin in her hand as she pondered. She wasn’t one to dig too deep, but waiting was boring, and she couldn’t reveal her identity until her initial goal was complete.

Her earlier behavior had already been somewhat out of line. Mu Ai pulled a piece of bread from her modified space belt and began munching. Since she was on the opposing side, it was best not to get entangled in their karma. She didn’t plan to stay in this room, let alone eat their food.

Taking shelter and food from the guilty would link her to them. As someone from the opposing camp, Mu Ai needed to remain detached and unbound.

When the other players returned after dinner, Mu Ai was already gone. They didn’t think much of it, assuming he was either taking care of personal business or naively exploring the Instance. They all shared a schadenfreude smile.

“Let him go. He’ll learn about the Scarlet Moon’s power soon enough.”

“Exactly, a newbie daring to explore the Instance alone. He’s not afraid of death.”

“Forget about him. As long as it’s not during a project, his recklessness won’t affect us. The Scarlet Moon will be out soon. Let’s draw the curtains and get some rest.”

“Sigh… just thinking about tomorrow’s projects is exhausting. When will this end?”

“Who knows? Just take it one day at a time. Honestly, Jin-Ge’s demands are getting steeper. The community jobs barely pay enough. I can hardly afford food. I might not even qualify for a ticket next time.”

“Same here. We’re just ordinary people, working ourselves to the bone every month, only to hand over the money-”

The speaker suddenly stopped, realizing he had said too much. He pulled the blanket up to his chin, muttered “sleep,” and fell silent.

The other two also stopped talking, and soon the room was quiet. As the red light of the Scarlet Moon penetrated the curtains, the people on the beds fell into a state of painful unconsciousness.

The players were already in a sorry state, but Tian Ji and Gu Fu, the main culprits, were even worse off. From Mu Ai’s perspective, under the Scarlet Moon’s light, countless white spirits rose from the courtyard, furiously attacking the house protected by some unknown force.

The spirits howled in rage, emitting almost tangible sound waves from their cracked mouths, relentlessly assaulting the fragile house, yet unable to breach the locked doors.

Inside the house where Tian Ji and Gu Fu lived, all the windows were nailed shut, and thick cloth stuffed the door gaps. They were desperately trying to block every possible leak of the Scarlet Moon, clinging to their wretched lives in fear.

Mu Ai glanced at the Rulebook. Her Mental Pollution Value remained unchanged, still at the number it was when she entered. She didn’t feel any pain; on the contrary, under the Scarlet Moon, she felt lighter.

“Looks like I made the right bet again.”

Mu Ai stood up from the tree, raised her hands to maintain balance, and stepped onto a thinner branch that was closer to the main house.

“The rules only say players can’t fight over houses or exceed the occupancy limit. They never said you have to stay with the sinners. They feel uncomfortable under the Scarlet Moon because they’ve accepted the sinners’ shelter, eaten their food, and with low mental power, can’t perceive the Vengeful Spirits. That’s why they feel bad when exposed to the Scarlet Moon…”

“It’s like how the undead can’t bathe in holy water,” Mu Ai concluded, nimbly jumping onto the main house’s roof. “So the initial condition for unlocking the second storyline is having high enough mental power. I’m at 7, just enough or maybe more, but those repeatedly running the same Instance without gaining more Enhancement Points definitely can’t reach it. As for others-I can guess their thoughts.”

Mu Ai steadied herself, waited a few seconds, then continued toward the center, all the while organizing her thoughts.

“Blindly following another storyline might cause significant updates to the Instance after clearing it, requiring them to redo their strategies. The new path might not be as comfortable or rewarding as the well-understood old one, so they choose to maintain the status quo.”

The houses in Scarlet Moon Village were old brick and tile structures, giving Mu Ai plenty of room to maneuver. If they had been concrete roofs, she would have needed a different approach. But now…

“What does it matter to me if the Instance stays the same?”

Mu Ai grinned like a child about to play a prank, her hands deftly removing a dozen tiles, then moving to a new spot to let the Scarlet Moon’s light shine inside.

“I’m just a girl trying to do a small favor for tens of thousands of Vengeful Spirits.”

Mu Ai’s actions took only seconds, but the effect was devastating. As the Scarlet Moon’s light poured through the roof, the white spirits seemed to find their guide, eagerly rushing through the holes into the house.

“Ahhh!! Where’s the moonlight coming from?!”

“Help, save me!! It hurts, it hurts so much!!”

Mu Ai’s lips curled into a cold smile as she danced a tap dance on the roof, no longer bothering to use her hands to remove tiles, opting to kick them off instead.

“Now they know pain. Why didn’t they think others would hurt when they committed those heinous acts?”

Under the Scarlet Moon, Mu Ai was like a dancer of vengeance, gracefully moving across the rooftop, the enemy’s cries of fear and pain the most beautiful symphony of the moment.

As more tiles were kicked away, the Scarlet Moon’s light expanded, and Tian Ji and Gu Fu’s wails grew more desperate. Just hearing them conveyed the depth of their suffering.

Inside, Tian Ji and Gu Fu rolled on the floor, screaming, tearing at their bodies, clawing at their skin, ripping it off with their nails.

Next came their eyes, noses, and various internal organs, all removed in a grotesque, unscientific manner. The process was brutal and painful, yet Mu Ai remained unmoved.

An eye for an eye, a debt paid. This was the cycle of karma. Thinking of their monstrous crimes, Mu Ai felt this revenge could go even deeper.

[Achievement Unlocked: Avenger]

As Tian Ji and Gu Fu’s voices faded and fell silent, dawn was approaching. Mu Ai, her mission accomplished, happily jumped off the roof with her newly earned Achievement.

Ah, what a joyful night of dancing. Whose house should I visit tomorrow night?