And Then the Skeleton Laughed Out Loud [Infinite] - Chapter 1

◎ Want to see a bone-baring photo? ◎

Qi Qiuxue woke up in a confined space.

It was a relatively simple room with no special decorations and little furniture—just a bed, a wardrobe, a clock, and a writing desk. The air was thick with a faint scent of blood mixed with the fragrance of fresh grass. Qi Qiuxue sat up, her head throbbing, and noticed that outside the window, dark clouds were gathered and a torrential rain was pouring down.

This was not her room.

Qi Qiuxue raised a hand to rub her brow, calmly integrating the information she had. She couldn’t tell where she was for the moment; she only remembered lying on her familiar single bed not long ago. With the holidays approaching, her company had been incredibly busy. She had worked overtime until late at night for several consecutive days. Exhausted in mind and body, she hadn’t even wanted to eat upon returning home, only wishing to lie down.

Before sleeping, she had checked her messages as usual. Recently, she had met a new friend on a social platform. The other party was similar in age and shared similar values. Qi Qiuxue would occasionally chat with her casually, finding it very relaxing.

Over time, their relationship grew closer. However, Qi Qiuxue had always been a cautious person; an online friend was just an online friend. No matter how familiar they became, she never proactively revealed any private information. The other party was the same. They maintained a distance that was familiar yet respectful of boundaries—until their last chat.

The other party suddenly asked: 【Want to see a “bone-baring” (explicit) photo?】

Qi Qiuxue: ?

She subconsciously checked the contact name to make sure she wasn’t talking to the wrong person, but the other party’s tone today—as if she’d been drinking fake liquor—left her puzzled.

Qi Qiuxue deliberated for a few seconds: 【Are you playing Truth or Dare…】

Before she could finish typing, an image jumped out. Qi Qiuxue glanced at it: appearing in her field of vision was a pale white skeleton. Its mouth was wide open, looking like a roar or a grimace. The sockets, empty of eyeballs, were hollow and deep, staring straight at the screen. It gave off an inexplicable sense of pressure, looking exceptionally eerie in the silence of midnight.

But even more bizarrely, the skeleton in the image suddenly raised its right arm, overlapped its thumb and index finger, and slowly made a “finger heart” at Qi Qiuxue in front of the screen.

It was actually a GIF.

Qi Qiuxue found it hard to describe her current mood, but the other party was right—it was indeed a very “bone-baring” photo.

Extremely bone-baring.

Qi Qiuxue paused: 【Are you messing with me?】

The message was sent, but she didn’t get the expected reply. Instead, the screen in front of her suddenly began to flicker. The mobile screen became colorful, with color saturation so intense it almost blinded her.

But a few seconds later, everything gradually faded. The original text and pictures on the screen all disappeared. What appeared before her was only a string of gibberish—

【rJüH-èF I óPE#eb1hc↓zГmrQ#Ц&k HAVE gFDhyh↓%’#cT3qó CHOSEN ànúò=Plv-è-t$% YOU 8LAk”L-&é↑&7-)#Н9Um$9+zL) . еLMmО】

“…”

Qi Qiuxue silently read the words hidden beneath the garbled code.

【I. HAVE. CHOSEN. YOU.】

Qi Qiuxue did a brief search of the room and found nothing special.

For some reason, she was taking her sudden appearance in such a strange place quite well. This might be related to her experiences over the years. Qi Qiuxue had grown up in an orphanage without the love of a mother or father. With so many children in the orphanage, the teachers couldn’t manage everyone; if you didn’t want to be bullied, you had to rely on yourself.

Since childhood, Qi Qiuxue hadn’t been an emotionally expressive person. She was brave and didn’t waste energy on internal conflict. When other children were wronged, they would just wail and cry; she didn’t cry. She looked for solutions first. In Qi Qiuxue’s view, as long as you didn’t die, nothing was a big deal.

She didn’t find any of her personal belongings in the room. Combining this with her memories, she felt the possibility of being kidnapped was low. After all, she was just an ordinary office worker with no savings and no background. She hadn’t made any enemies over the years. It wouldn’t be cost-effective to go through the trouble of kidnapping her.

She was more inclined to believe she had transmigrated. Although she didn’t know the reason yet, it didn’t matter; she would understand sooner or later.

Qi Qiuxue gave up searching and went to the door to press the handle. The door pushed outward. The moment it opened, a notification panel similar to a prompt board suddenly jumped out in front of her eyes:

【Welcome, Player, to the game. The game is about to begin.】

【It has been detected that you are a new player. A brief explanation of the game content is provided for you: This is a horror game different from the real world. Players need to participate in multiple instances, complete corresponding tasks, and successfully survive.】

【Note: Please cherish your life. Once you die in any instance, you will be trapped in the game forever and will never be able to return to the real world.】

【Current Instance: Foggy Island in the Heart of the Lake.】

【Background Introduction: You are a supernatural enthusiast who loves exploration. By chance, you joined a well-known exploration team from a certain forum. You have participated in many offline missions with like-minded teammates and are experienced. This time, you learned that an island located in the heart of XX Lake seems to have frequent supernatural events. You have come here together to carry out a five-day investigation.】

【Mission Objectives: 1. Discover the truth behind the supernatural events. 2. Survive until the last moment and escape successfully.】

She really had transmigrated.

Qi Qiuxue had read novels with similar themes in her spare time, but she never expected that what was in books would one day happen to her.

She thought for a moment and tried to talk to the panel: “Why was I pulled into a game like this?”

The prompt board quickly jumped out a line of text: 【Sorry, that information cannot be disclosed at this time.】

Qi Qiuxue asked about another point of concern: “Is it true that dying in the game also means dying in reality?”

Prompt Board: 【Absolutely true.】

It seemed that no matter what, she had to protect her life first and strive to stay alive.

Qi Qiuxue: “If death is seen as the penalty for failing the game, then assuming I successfully complete the mission and clear the game, will I receive a corresponding reward?”

Prompt Board: 【Yes. Completion of the mission means the end of that instance. Players will be teleported back to the real world for a short rest to prepare for the next instance. When a player clears all instances, they will be granted one wish.】

Qi Qiuxue: “How many instances are there in total? When all instances are completed, can any wish I make be realized?”

Prompt Board: 【The number of instances cannot be disclosed for now. And yes, any wish at all can be realized.】

Qi Qiuxue paused for a few seconds and suddenly laughed: “Is it okay to blow up my company?”

Prompt Board: 【…Yes.】

Qi Qiuxue: “Just kidding.” She wasn’t crazy enough for that.

However, with the sudden mention of a wish, she really couldn’t think of anything she absolutely had to achieve even at the cost of her life. As a miserable “social animal” (office drone), although she was usually tired, her salary was decent. Qi Qiuxue had no family and few friends. Part of her salary went to rent, and part was used for daily needs. Life was fairly stable.

Qi Qiuxue said honestly: “I don’t have a wish.”

Prompt Board: 【Everyone has a wish.】

Qi Qiuxue: “I just don’t. Let me go back.”

The prompt board repeated again: 【Everyone has a wish.】

Qi Qiuxue said resolutely: “I want to go home.”

Obviously, the prompt board fell silent. After a moment, it skipped the topic.

Prompt Board: 【…If there are no other questions, please walk out of this door and start the game.】

Qi Qiuxue clicked her tongue.

The prompt board ignored her and quickly disappeared. Qi Qiuxue took a deep breath, concentrated, and stepped out of the room.

Standing by the railing, she looked around and found herself on the second floor. This was a house that looked somewhat aged. The furniture and facilities were very old, and the lighting was poor. Coupled with the dim light of the rainy day, lights had been turned on early throughout the house. Fortunately, the combined area of the two floors was large enough, and there were plenty of rooms—it looked like it could accommodate at least twenty people.

A normal household wouldn’t need so many rooms, and there were even numbers marked on the outside of the doors. Qi Qiuxue guessed this was likely a hotel or inn.

In the lobby on the first floor, many people were standing. Some looked nervous and agitated, while others squatted on the ground, covering their faces and crying. There were about fifteen or sixteen people in total; they should all be players who had been mysteriously pulled into the game.

Qi Qiuxue went downstairs and entered the crowd.

She was usually a person of few words, especially in an unfamiliar place. While other players exchanged anxious and worried conversations, she wasn’t in a hurry to speak. She just listened, and gradually, she gathered a lot of information.

She found that some people were not entering the game for the first time. For example, a woman named Liu Ge standing in front of her. Of course, this name might not be real, but her state couldn’t be faked. Compared to the other shivering players, her expression was clearly calmer, and she spoke methodically.

There were about four such players—two men and two women. They seemed to know each other and ignored the other players, only talking amongst themselves.

Besides them, most were newcomers. Some were mentally strong; though their faces were pale, they could at least barely stand and were proactive in learning and exchanging information. Some were weak and couldn’t even stand steadily, either leaning against the wall with limp legs or sitting paralyzed on the floor with dull eyes.

The lobby remained noisy for a while until it was interrupted by a loud crack of thunder outside. A woman, taking advantage of the thunder, pushed open the door and appeared in everyone’s sight.

She was a very beautiful woman, wearing a red long dress, with long black hair, a fair face, and a curvaceous figure. She seemed to be very fond of red; not only was her lipstick a deep red, but even the umbrella in her hand was bright red.

She gently shook the rainwater off the umbrella, closed it with an elegant motion, met the eyes of the players in the room, and counted them one by one: “One, two, three… fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. It seems everyone has arrived. Welcome to you all. I am the owner of this inn.”

“For some reason, it’s raining very hard today. Please forgive me for returning a little late.” She smiled and clapped her hands warmly. “You’ve waited a long time. We will serve dinner immediately.”

As she finished speaking, a group of people wearing masks and carrying trays emerged. The originally spacious lobby became crowded because of their appearance.

Where did this group of strange masked people come from?

Qi Qiuxue looked in the direction they came from and realized that in the southeast corner of the first-floor lobby, there was a small door. She didn’t know where it led; because the location was too hidden, she hadn’t noticed it just now.

The masked people were all about the same height, each burly and strong. They wore the most ordinary short-sleeved shirts and shorts, looking quite unremarkable except for the masks on their heads that almost covered their entire faces.

Whether by coincidence or not, the masks were also deep red with pure black patterns. There were two lines slanted down from the temples to the corners of the mouth, looking like a large “X” had been drawn across the face.

From beginning to end, they didn’t say a word. They moved in unison to the dining table, placed the trays down one by one, and didn’t leave after finishing. Instead, they quietly pulled out chairs and looked at everyone present with eyes that had almost no whites, as if signaling everyone to come and sit.

The number of masked people was identical to the number of players.

The atmosphere in the lobby fell into an eerie silence. Everyone was clearly startled by this scene, and no one dared to step forward—until a moment later, when the innkeeper’s voice rang out again.

In such a silent setting, her voice was exceptionally clear:

“Everyone, please take your seats.”