The Hand of Confession, Slightly Trembling

The Hand of Confession – Chapter 406

by Little Panda

Volume 12: Former Boss Reduced To A Garlic-Peeling Little Sister

Gong Heng

Under the cover of thunder and rain, Shen Maomao used a bobby pin¹ to open the nearest door. The door number was 204, right next to the boss’s room. She wasn’t sure how long the black umbrella would protect her, so she decided to check the most dangerous rooms first to avoid trouble later.

Amidst the deafening thunder—so loud it felt like it was shaking and wants to deafen the ears²—the small sound of the door opening wasn’t worth mentioning anymore.³

The door opened just a crack. She slipped through sideways and scanned the room.

The first thing that caught her eye was the books scattered all over the floor.

There were all kinds—whole volumes, loose pages, even single sheets. Every one of them had teeth marks and dried water stains.

Shen Maomao bent down, picked up a piece of paper, and brought it to her nose. Aside from the musty smell of damp paper, there was no other odor. It was surprisingly free of dust.

The room’s layout wasn’t much different from the ones downstairs. The only places to hide things were the wardrobe, the desk drawer, and under the bed.

She checked the desk drawer first. Inside were some intact books, probably ones that hadn’t been chewed on yet. They covered various subjects, and all of them had the same name written on them: Gong Heng.

She put the books back and turned to the bed. The dust underneath was half a foot thick. Now that was the amount of dust a room like this should have.

She stood up and pulled open the wardrobe door, only to lock eyes with a pale-faced little boy.

The boy was wearing a First Elementary School uniform and was curled into a ball inside. He was now peering up at her from the crook of his arm with a gloomy expression.

If he had a bit more flesh on his bones, Shen Maomao thought she might be reminded of Toshio.⁴ But he was too thin, his cheeks sunken and his neck so slender it looked like it would snap with a single squeeze. It was hard to feel threatened by him.

Showing no inclination to cherish fragrance and treasure jade,⁵ she yanked him out of the wardrobe, tossed him onto the pile of paper, and then peered inside to look for the umbrella. Unfortunately, the black umbrella wasn’t there.

The little boy’s face was a mixture of shock and disbelief. He struggled to his feet, stared at his hands, and exclaimed in delight, “I’m actually out?!”

Shen Maomao shot him a look. “Shut up.”

The boy clenched his fists nervously. “Thank you for saving me, Big Sister!”

Shen Maomao repeated, “Shut your mouth.”

The boy quickly complied, covering his mouth with both hands and blinking at her to show how obedient he was.

Shen Maomao said, “Don’t follow me. Scram.”

The boy’s eyes widened with grievance. He stared at her pitifully, hoping she would change her mind.

He was so skinny that when he made that face, he looked like a skeleton trying to be cute. It was hard for any normal person to find anything cute about it.

Shen Maomao warned him in a low voice, “Don’t make a sound, or I’ll throw you to that monster.”

The boy nodded and asked softly, “So, can I keep following you?”

“No.”

With that, she slipped back out through the crack in the door. As she turned to close it under the cover of the next thunderclap, the boy shot out from inside.

Shen Maomao was worried their conversation would attract the creature’s attention, so as long as he stayed quiet, she couldn’t be bothered to deal with him.

She closed the door and drifted to the next dormitory room. The kid followed her like a little ghost, imitating her every step. He only dared to wait at the doorway, though, never stepping inside. When Shen Maomao moved to a new room, he would just shuffle over and squat by the new door. He seemed quite well-behaved.

Half an hour later, Shen Maomao had searched all the rooms near the monster’s, but she hadn’t found the black umbrella or seen any other children.

The blood-red rain smeared the windows. The sky was already dark from the storm, and the layer of blood made it even darker, making it impossible to tell the time.

She turned on her phone, and several missed calls immediately popped up. All of them were from Dingdang.

In that moment, Shen Maomao was grateful for her habit of keeping her phone on silent. Otherwise, even with the thunder as cover, the boss would have probably found her.

She backed out of the last room on the left, closed the door quietly, and headed straight for the main staircase to go downstairs.

The kid followed her down, and even looked like he intended to enter her dormitory room.

Shen Maomao stopped at her door and turned to face him. “What do you want?”

The boy said pitifully, “Can’t I follow you? You saved me. My mom said you have to know a favor and plan to repay it.⁶ I have to repay you!”

Hearing voices, Dingdang opened the door and blocked the entrance, saying disdainfully, “Repay her? More like you’re hugging a big thigh!⁷ Where did you come from, kid? Trying to steal my thigh? You looking to die?”

The boy blinked, putting on an expression like he didn’t understand.

Shen Maomao decided to open the door and see the mountain.⁸ “Are you a player?”

The boy looked confused. “What player? Are we playing a game?”

Shen Maomao said impatiently, “Don’t play dumb with me. Are you a stranded player?”⁹

After two seconds of silence, the boy dropped the kid act. “…If you’re referring to a player who failed to leave the instance within seven days but didn’t die, then yes, I am.”

Shen Maomao tilted her chin at Dingdang, signaling for her to let him in.

Dingdang complied, and the boy slipped through the gap like a slippery fish.

Shen Maomao, the last one in, closed the door, walked over to her bed, and sat down. “What’s your name?”

“My surname is Gong,” the boy said.

“Gong Heng?”

The boy nodded, not surprised that she knew his name. “You must have seen my books, right?”

“Tell me,” Shen Maomao said. “What have you been through in this game?”

Gong Heng said, “I’ve been hiding in here for several years… The boss in this instance seems to have changed a few times, but I’ve never been able to get out…”

This was the first time Dingdang had ever seen a stranded player. She couldn’t help but ask, “How did you survive in the instance for so many years?”

“I made a deal with the boss,” Gong Heng said. “It locked me in the wardrobe. I didn’t need to eat or drink in there, and no monster could find me, but I couldn’t get out on my own, either. I just stayed curled up inside. That’s how I survived.”

“That’s horrible,” Dingdang said.

Shen Maomao commented, “Your mental state seems pretty good.”

Gong Heng pressed his lips together and explained, “You can’t feel the passage of time in there…”

Shen Maomao nodded as if she believed him. “Oh, I see.”

“Well, you’re out now, so you should get going,” Dingdang said. “We’re two girls about to go to sleep, and it’s not convenient for a guy to stay here, is it?”

“I have nowhere to go…” Gong Heng said. “Could you let me stay for a few days? I can just sleep on the floor.”

“No way,” Dingdang said. “I’m shy.”

Gong Heng’s expression nearly cracked.

“You want us to take you with us when we leave?” Shen Maomao asked.

Gong Heng nodded, his eyes welling up. “I think I’ve been stuck in this instance for years… I have to get back. My little sister is still waiting for me…”

“You have a little sister?” Dingdang said.

Gong Heng hummed in affirmation.

Shen Maomao, who had been lost in thought, suddenly interjected, “What’s your sister’s name?”

“Her name is Gong Lian,” he said.

Shen Maomao suddenly smiled. “Gong Lian… I know her.”

A look of clear shock crossed Gong Heng’s face. “How could you know her?”

“I met her in the game.”

“Impossible… How could she be in the game…”

“Isn’t she your sister? Why are you asking me?”

Gong Heng quickly explained, “My sister was abducted a few years before I entered the instance… I’ve been looking for her all these years, and then I ended up trapped in here…”

“Oh, is that so?”

Gong Heng composed himself. “I can’t believe you met her in the game. Why did she enter? How is she doing now? Where was she taken? Does she resent me for not finding her after all these years?”

He even wiped away a couple of fake tears. “It’s not that I didn’t want to find her… but my health has been getting worse and worse. I’ve been stuck in the hospital, so I just didn’t have the energy to look…”

Shen Maomao didn’t answer, just made a noncommittal “oh” sound.

Dingdang was moved by his tragic story. Combined with his childlike appearance, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. “No way. Someone as miserable as you still got dragged into this game? Does this game have any bottom line at all? Why did you enter it?”

Gong Heng choked out, “Actually… I joined the game voluntarily.”

Shen Maomao’s expression didn’t change.

“The fuck?!” Dingdang swore. “You can voluntarily enter this game?”

“There are ways. If you’re willing to give some things up, you can always find a way.”

“Then what’s the point? We can’t even leave when we want to.” Dingdang shifted into a more comfortable position and cupped her face. “Were you trying to find your sister?”

“A bit of both, I guess. Either one would have been fine. Either find my sister, or get my health back so I could go look for her…”

The two of them talked for a while, with Gong Heng mostly selling misery¹⁰ and Dingdang chiming in sympathetically. For a moment, the atmosphere was actually quite harmonious.

At the end of their conversation, Dingdang looked pleadingly at Shen Maomao. “Great God¹¹—why don’t we let him stay?”

Shen Maomao looked at her.

Out of Gong Heng’s line of sight, Dingdang winked her left eye at her.

Understanding dawned on Shen Maomao. “Whatever,” she said.

And so, Gong Heng stayed. Dingdang had him sleep on the empty patch of floor in front of the desk. She gave him the comforter, while she herself used a foam pad as a pillow and covered herself with the mattress protector. At least no one would be cold.

Lying in bed, Dingdang suddenly remembered something. “I was so busy asking where this little butt child¹² came from… Great God, did you see the rain outside? It’s all reddish.¹³ What is that stuff?”

“It’s best not to get any of it on you.”

Dingdang rolled over to face her. “But the rain started without any warning today. I’m worried it’ll just start pouring while we’re outside. How about I go to the tuck shop¹⁴ and snag a couple of umbrellas tomorrow?”

“Okay,” Shen Maomao agreed. “Just don’t take the black umbrella.”

Dingdang mumbled a few more things before falling asleep. The small dormitory room filled with the sound of two people breathing at different rhythms, but Shen Maomao could tell that Gong Heng wasn’t really asleep.

She stared at the ceiling, her thoughts running wild in her mind like a wild horse that has broken its reins.¹⁵ Finally, a name slowly surfaced.

Gong Lian.

She racked her brain for a long time but couldn’t recall what Gong Lian looked like, just as she was now having trouble remembering Lou Jingmo’s face.

Players could remember those who died in a instance, but they couldn’t remember their faces. She did, however, remember that Gong Lian had been sold to the countryside by her own brother. And the reason he’d done it was because he didn’t have money for his medical treatments.

But based on her current memories, Gong Lian’s brother had died several years before Gong Lian herself. Which meant Gong Heng was destined to never leave this instance.

No… even if he could get out, I would strangle that possibility in the cradle.¹⁶

…

Some people say if you walk down enough dark roads at night, you’re bound to meet a ghost. Others had cursed him, wishing he wouldn’t get a good death.¹⁷ In the past, Gao Wenbin[ef would have snorted at such words with his nose,¹⁸ but now, he had really met a ghost.

He’d woken up to find himself inexplicably in this strange school, along with a group of people who had appeared just as suddenly but seemed completely unfazed.

Those people didn’t say anything to him; in fact, they were clearly ostracizing him and one other person.

From their conversations, he heard terms like “player,” “newbie,” and “instance.”

He read novels in his spare time and had some familiarity with the unlimited flow¹⁹ genre, so he quickly figured out the situation.

He must have been transported into some kind of horror death game, and the only way out was to survive.

The group of old players who stuck together looked down on him for being a newbie, afraid he’d drag them down. They refused to let him join them, so he had to find a way to survive on his own.

In horror movies, the ones who get picked off first are always the loners. So he teamed up with the other newbie, using his years of experience in how to entrap, deceive, abduct, and swindle²⁰ to disguise himself as an old player. In less than half a day, he had earned the newbie’s trust and gathered some information about his real life.

They survived the first night in the game safely and painlessly. But from the second day on, things stopped being so smooth.

First, the bear children²¹ at the school started acting up, refusing to be disciplined. Then, after school, they found a black umbrella propped against their door, left by who-knows-who. And then came the terrifying, strange noises in the middle of the night…

Before, Gao Wenbin had been an atheist,²² but this problem didn’t seem like something that could be solved by simply believing in gods or not.

The next day, a female player from the office went missing, and his remaining roommate also seemed to be undergoing some kind of strange transformation.

They went to Director Liu to explain the situation. The woman didn’t care at all about the missing player. She just patted his shoulder and told him to work hard and try to stay.

After returning from the office, his heart and spirit were not at peace.²³ He had a feeling something was going to happen tonight.

The feeling lasted until midnight. After twelve, what was bound to come finally came.

He was startled awake by the sound of the door opening.

Something had pushed open the door he had repeatedly checked was locked last night, and it was now walking toward them, step by step.

Half of Gao Wenbin’s body went numb. He held his breath, eyes wide in the darkness, darting back and forth as he frantically tried to think of a way to escape.

Should I get up and run? Or should I stay perfectly still and wait for it to be over? Who is it? Do they have a weapon? Are… they even human?

Da…

The footsteps beat against his heart, one by one, then came to an abrupt halt.

A wave of ecstasy washed over him. He was certain the person had stopped at the foot of the other newbie’s bed.

Yes, this is how it should be.

He had made friendly overtures to the other guy precisely to prepare for a situation like this.

The purpose of a teammate wasn’t just to avoid being alone, but more importantly, to share the danger when necessary.

In the darkness, he heard heavy breathing coming from the foot of the other bed.

He lay motionless, with no intention of warning the other guy.

With two faint squish, squish sounds, everything went quiet. He couldn’t hear a thing. But he knew the creature hadn’t left, so he remained still, just lying there silently.

He didn’t know how much time had passed. He was so tired he could barely stay awake, his eyes opening and closing, on the verge of passing out.

But when he opened his eyes again, he saw two red dots on the ceiling that hadn’t been there before.

He blinked rapidly, confirming it wasn’t a trick of his eyes.

What is that? Where did those red dots come from?

The next second, the red dots flickered twice and seemed to move a little closer.

Gao Wenbin started to panic. He wanted to get up and leave, but something was pinning him down, making it impossible to move.

He could only watch as the red dots grew larger and larger in front of him, until they filled his entire vision.

Icy breath washed over his face, carrying a faint, inky fragrance.

He finally realized what the two red dots were. But soon after, he lost the ability to speak.

…

Shen Maomao lay awake until midnight, thinking. Thinking about how to kill the book-eating monster, and how to kill this Gong Heng.

It wasn’t until a strange scratching, scraping sound reached her ears that she snapped out of it and started paying attention to the room next door.

A cold, damp chill crept up the legs of her bed, slowly enveloping her body.

She clearly noticed Gong Heng’s breathing hitch for a moment. Only Dingdang, beside her, remained oblivious, even letting out a small snore.

The sound continued for a few minutes, followed by a creak as someone opened a door and walked out. Not long after, there was another creak. Then, it was quiet outside for about an hour. Finally, two sets of footsteps, one after the other, passed their dormitory room and headed for the main staircase.

Someone else must have been taken.

There were no other disturbances for the rest of the night. Shen Maomao ran her thumb over the back of her dagger’s blade, returned it to her item bar,²⁴ and closed her eyes, waiting quietly for dawn.

When the alarm went off, Dingdang shot up in bed with a start and stretched luxuriously. “Congratulations to me! I survived another day!”

Shen Maomao flexed her wrists and sat up slowly.

Gong Heng, on the floor, had only fallen asleep in the latter half of the night and was still sleeping soundly. Dingdang’s shout hadn’t woken him.

The two of them pointedly ignored him, got ready, and left for the cafeteria to eat breakfast.

On the way, Dingdang asked, “Great God, do you have a grudge against this Gong Heng?”

“No,” Shen Maomao said.

Dingdang scratched her head. “Huh? But you really don’t seem to like him…”

“I don’t,” Shen Maomao admitted frankly.

Dingdang didn’t press further, because she also believed you didn’t need a reason to dislike someone. “I don’t like him either,” she said. “I hate people like him. He doesn’t care about his sister at all. After asking a couple of questions at the beginning because he was afraid you’d be suspicious, he never brought her up again. It’s obvious he’s just using his sister as an excuse for selling misery to get people to pity and help him. So, Great God, are we gonna mess him up?”

Gong Heng really didn’t care about his sister; he was even willing to trade her life for a chance to live on shamelessly.²⁵ In a way, Dingdang had discovered the truth.²⁶

Shen Maomao stopped and looked at her. “How?”

“Like, we could frame him for something, or trick him into breaking a taboo,” Dingdang said, counting on her fingers. “If all else fails, we could just tie him up and feed him to the boss…”

“That’s illegal.”

Dingdang gave her a playful wink. “But this is a lawless land!”

“If you never want to leave, then go right ahead.”

They were already in this instance because of their sins. If they dared to harm others under the game maker’s watch, they probably wouldn’t be able to pass the final stage even if they reached it.

There are plenty of ways to kill someone. You don’t have to drag yourself down with them.

Shen Maomao looked away and focused on walking.

Although Dingdang didn’t understand what she was planning, she trusted that the big boss had her own plans. She put the matter out of her mind and asked about last night instead.

It was Wednesday. After breakfast, everyone gathered in the conference room for a short morning meeting.

Six of the nine players showed up. The two female teachers from the room next door were both absent, likely wiped out. The last missing person was the new PE teacher. His roommate seemed to have been scared witless; he didn’t say a single word throughout the entire meeting, just sat there in a daze as if he’d forgotten how to think.

Director Liu seemed completely unaware of the three missing people and even complained that they were rude for leaving without a word.

Dingdang mentioned that her books and lesson plan were gone. Director Liu said nonchalantly, “It’s fine. We had you write lesson plans because we weren’t sure of your work abilities before. But the skills of Teacher Xiao Lou and Teacher Dingdang are something all eyes have witnessed,²⁷ so it’s no big deal if you don’t write them. The school leadership spoke with me yesterday. It’s been decided that only two of you six can stay. If the other teachers don’t show some outstanding performance, then it will be Teacher Xiao Lou and Teacher Dingdang. The rest of you need to work harder! I’m actually very optimistic about you all!”

As soon as she finished speaking, three veiled glares shot in their direction, making Dingdang shrink back instinctively.

Only the newbie was still looking down, fiddling with the paper in his hands, completely indifferent to whether he stayed or left.

Footnotes

Hanzi: 小黑夹子 | Pinyin: xiǎo hēi jiāzi | Context: Literally: ‘little black clip’. A common bobby pin, used here for lockpicking.
Hanzi: 震耳欲聋 | Pinyin: zhèn’ěryùlóng | Context: Literally: ‘Shaking the ears, wanting to deafen’. An idiom for a sound that is extremely loud.
Hanzi: 微不足道 | Pinyin: wēibùzúdào | Context: Literally: ‘tiny, not worth mentioning’. An idiom for something trivial or insignificant.
Hanzi: 俊雄 | Pinyin: Jùnxióng | Context: A reference to Toshio Saeki, the iconic ghost boy from the Japanese horror film series “Ju-On” (The Grudge), known for his pale skin and haunting presence.
Hanzi: 怜香惜玉 | Pinyin: liánxiāngxīyù | Context: An idiom that means to be chivalrous, gentle, and considerate towards women.
Hanzi: 知恩图报 | Pinyin: zhī’ēn tú bào | Context: An idiom meaning to be grateful for a kindness and actively seek to return it.
Hanzi: 抱大腿 | Pinyin: bào dàtuǐ | Context: A popular slang term for latching onto a powerful or successful person for personal gain, similar to ‘riding someone’s coattails’.
Hanzi: 开门见山 | Pinyin: kāiménjiànshān | Context: An idiom for getting straight to the point without any preamble.
Hanzi: 滞留玩家 | Pinyin: zhìliú wánjiā | Context: A player who failed to clear a instance in the allotted time but did not die, becoming trapped within the instance indefinitely.
Hanzi: 卖惨 | Pinyin: mài cǎn | Context: A slang term for deliberately playing the victim or exaggerating one’s hardships to gain sympathy and manipulate others.
Hanzi: 大神 | Pinyin: dàshén | Context: A popular slang term for an expert or master in a particular field, especially gaming. It’s a title of respect for a highly skilled player.
Hanzi: 小屁孩 | Pinyin: xiǎo pì hái | Context: A common, dismissive slang term for a young child, often implying they are bratty or immature.
Hanzi: 红不拉叽 | Pinyin: hóng bu lā jī | Context: A colloquial, somewhat dismissive or casual way of describing the color red, similar to saying ‘reddish’ or ‘sort of red’.
Hanzi: 小卖店 | Pinyin: xiǎo mài diàn | Context: A small convenience store or kiosk, often found within or near a school, selling snacks, drinks, and basic supplies.
Hanzi: 脱缰的野马 | Pinyin: tuōjiāng de yěmǎ | Context: A metaphor for something that is out of control, wild, and unrestrained, often used to describe thoughts or emotions.
Hanzi: 扼杀在摇篮里 | Pinyin: èshā zài yáolán lǐ | Context: An idiom that means to stop something at a very early stage before it can develop; to nip something in the bud.
Hanzi: 不得好死 | Pinyin: bùdé hǎosǐ | Context: A common and serious curse wishing a miserable, painful, or ignominious end upon someone.
Hanzi: 嗤之以鼻 | Pinyin: chī zhī yǐ bí | Context: An idiom used to express disdain, contempt, or scorn for something.
Hanzi: 无限流 | Pinyin: wúxiàn liú | Context: A popular genre of Chinese webnovels where characters are transported into an endless series of different worlds (often based on movies, games, or other fictional settings) and must complete tasks to survive and earn rewards.
Hanzi: 坑蒙拐骗 | Pinyin: kēng méng guǎi piàn | A four-character idiom that encompasses all manner of dishonest and criminal dealings.
Hanzi: 熊孩子 | Pinyin: xióng háizi | Context: Literally: ‘bear child’. A popular slang term for a naughty, spoiled, and misbehaving child who often causes trouble for adults.
Hanzi: 无神论者 | Pinyin: wúshénlùnzhě | Context: A person who does not believe in the existence of any gods or deities.
Hanzi: 心神不宁 | Pinyin: xīnshénbùníng | Context: An idiom describing a state of being anxious, unsettled, and unable to concentrate.
Hanzi: 道具栏 | Pinyin: dàojù lán | Context: The inventory slot or menu in a game where a player’s items are stored.
Hanzi: 苟且偷生 | Pinyin: gǒuqiě tōushēng | Context: Literally: ‘to live on shamelessly/improperly and steal life’. An idiom describing surviving by any means necessary, often in a dishonorable or degrading way, without regard for principles.
Hanzi: 真相了 | Pinyin: zhēnxiàng le | Context: A popular internet slang term used when someone correctly guesses or figures out the truth of a situation, similar to saying ‘You’ve hit the nail on the head’ or ‘You’re spot on’.
Hanzi: 有目共睹 | Pinyin: yǒumùgòngdǔ | Context: An idiom meaning that something is obvious for all to see.

Volume 12: Former Boss Reduced To A Garlic-Peeling Little Sister

Footnotes

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