Xu Xi didn't know why he had returned to the beginning again, nor did he know if he would continue to restart after his next death.
His death had been too sudden, and he didn't even understand what death rule he had triggered.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't panicked inside—the joy of returning from death couldn't remotely cover his fear of the unknown death.
What if... he died again this time?
He absolutely couldn't guarantee he'd get another chance to restart.
Xu Xi admitted this death had cast a huge shadow over him. Temporarily too afraid to move around freely, he could only search this children's bedroom first.
After a simple search, he finally found a drawing book under the pillow.
The first part of the entire drawing book was quite normal, mostly filled with a child's whimsical ideas. However, when Xu Xi saw the last doodle portrait, a chill ran down his spine.
In the center of the drawing was a red-faced man with a ferocious smile. In the upper right corner of the man was a stick figure hanging from a noose, and at the very bottom was a line of childish caption—Dad works hard, Mom will be back soon.
The entire drawing was eerie and discordant.
Although Xu Xi couldn't see the live stream comments, his speculation was similar to them.
He remembered the birthday cake on the dining table—it should be this child's 9th birthday.
He just hadn't figured out yet how these clues connected to the instance.
Putting away the drawing book, Xu Xi looked around and found a homework notebook on the messy desk. The name written on it was Tong Binbin.
He finally learned this child's name.
The bedroom had been thoroughly searched, and no more useful information could be found.
He hesitated about whether he should continue exploring outside.
But just thinking about how he had died so inexplicably earlier made him feel resistant deep down.
The taste of death was truly unpleasant—he didn't want to experience it again at all.
Yet staying in the room forever wasn't an option either.
Xu Xi didn't believe the instance would allow him to escape like this.
He took a deep breath and still chose to open the bedroom door. As expected, the TV sound disappeared precisely like before.
Looking down at his slightly trembling hands, Xu Xi gave a bitter smile.
Indeed, his body's reactions couldn't lie—he wasn't nearly as calm as he appeared on the surface.
At worst, he'd just stay away from that ceiling fan this time. Xu Xi encouraged himself while silently thinking this.
Everything was exactly like the first time, without the slightest change, except the time on the wall clock had become 8:18.
This was normal since he had spent considerable time searching the room.
Xu Xi didn't want to approach the living room for now. As his gaze swept around, it settled on the main door not far away.
Holding onto a sliver of hope, Xu Xi headed straight for the main door.
He opened the door easily, but outside wasn't a narrow corridor—it was complete darkness.
The pitch-black darkness that made it impossible to see one's own hand stretched out was like a man-eating giant beast. Staring at it too long inevitably stirred intense fear within.
Although he had expected this, Xu Xi still couldn't help feeling quite disappointed.
This time, Xu Xi didn't hear any strange noises—the ceiling fan above the coffee table remained perfectly stable without any sign of falling.
Even so, Xu Xi still had no intention of approaching.
Aimlessly, he focused on the kitchen.
The only unexplored places remaining were the kitchen, master bedroom, and bathroom.
Compared to the master bedroom that might contain people or the bathroom where supernatural events were most likely to occur, the kitchen seemed much safer.
Xu Xi circled around the dining table and cautiously entered the kitchen.
He had to be careful—he was terrified that something might come and kill him again when he wasn't paying attention.
The kitchen was very clean. The knives, bowls, and plates in the cabinets were all neatly arranged, and even the trash can had a freshly replaced garbage bag.
Xu Xi carefully opened the refrigerator at the very end. Inside was only a tightly covered stew pot.
After some hesitation, he still reached out and lifted the lid. The icy cold touch of the handle made his fingers instinctively shrink back.
After the lid was removed, before Xu Xi could clearly see what was inside, a pungent, foul stench assaulted his nostrils.
Damn it!!!
The smell was like rotten meat that had been boiled until mushy, left for so long it had grown maggots. It was so disgusting that Xu Xi dry-heaved several times in succession.
He hurriedly put the lid back on and slammed the refrigerator door shut. Only after a long while did he feel like he could finally breathe again.
Xu Xi had just regained his breathing when, just as he collected himself and prepared to continue searching for clues, chopping sounds suddenly came from behind him.
You've got to be kidding! Again?!
Xu Xi lowered his head and glanced behind him using his peripheral vision. Like with the ceiling fan incident, he still saw nothing—the sound seemed to appear out of thin air.
The déjà vu scene repeated once more. The sensation of being crushed to death swept through his entire body again, and cold sweat even seeped from Xu Xi's back. Struggling to control his wandering eyes, he pretended not to hear anything and slowly turned to walk out of the kitchen.
He hadn't forgotten how he died last time—probably because he had looked back.
However, just as Xu Xi, having stepped out of the kitchen, thought he had finally avoided death this time, the next moment his vision suddenly rotated 360 degrees.
His gaze finally settled on the headless body in front of him.
Xu Xi couldn't see from his perspective, but the live stream audience saw everything clearly.
As if an invisible blade existed, it cleanly severed this new player's head the moment he stepped out of the kitchen, without the slightest hesitation.