An old tungsten filament lamp hung from a black wire in the center of the room, flickering with a dim glow.
The quiet atmosphere spread through the space like ink dissolving in clear water.
As the clock on the table struck **twelve**, a deep chime echoed from somewhere far away.
The ten people around the table jolted awake, their eyes darting around at the eerie scene before them.
Qi Xia’s eyes widened as he took in the familiar setting, his heart pounding like a stampede of horses.
He was back.
Everyone was back.
The goat-headed figure still stood among them, exuding its unique stench of decay and rancid meat.
Though he had expected to return, sitting once more at the round table filled Qi Xia with nothing but despair.
**”Good morning, nine of you.”** The familiar voice of the Goat Head rang out. **”It’s a pleasure to meet you here again. You’ve been asleep before me for twelve hours.”**
Seizing the moment, Qi Xia subtly scanned the faces around him—each expression mirrored exactly how they had looked the first time he met them.
Qiao Jiajin stared blankly at the Goat Head before blurting out, **”Who… who are you?”**
The question made Qi Xia frown.
*What’s going on? Does no one remember what happened before?*
*If that’s the case… why do I still remember?*
**”Since you all share this question, allow me to introduce myself—”**
Just as the Goat Head raised its hands to deliver its grand speech, Attorney Zhang interrupted, **”There’s no need for introductions. I advise you to cease this behavior immediately. I suspect you’ve unlawfully detained us for over twenty-four hours, constituting the crime of ‘illegal confinement.’ Every word you say from now on will be recorded as evidence against you.”**
Qi Xia glanced at Attorney Zhang in confusion, then turned to Dr. Zhao.
*It’s his turn to question things.*
Sure enough, Dr. Zhao spoke up: **”Wait, we just woke up. How do you know we’ve been imprisoned for ‘twenty-four hours’?”**
*What the hell…* Qi Xia’s lips twitched. These people were acting as if they didn’t know each other, repeating the same words and actions as before.
It was as if nothing had changed—just a reset.
Attorney Zhang haughtily explained herself to Dr. Zhao, drawing skeptical looks from the others.
Yes, in Qi Xia’s memory, Attorney Zhang had been suspicious from the start, using every opportunity to assert dominance—likely a defensive act beneath her composed exterior.
Once she finished, silence fell over the group.
The quiet stretched for over ten seconds.
Qi Xia frowned. *Last time, someone had spoken up at this moment… but now, no one did. Because of that, the chain of events that followed never happened.*
The dissonance between reality and memory unsettled him deeply.
**”You may have noticed,”** the Goat Head said, **”there are ten people in this room, yet I addressed you as ‘nine.’”**
**”Rot in hell… I don’t care how many there are!”** Qiao Jiajin snarled. **”You better back off, you bastard! You have no idea what happens when you mess with me—I’ll kill you for real!”**
A sudden realization struck Qi Xia, and he turned to the young man seated to his right.
It was a face both familiar and foreign—the tenth person in the room, someone he had only seen once before.
The young man still wore that eerie smile as he watched the others.
Having been through this once already, Qi Xia understood.
*Anyone grinning like that is usually a ‘native.’ Is this tenth person just here to fill a quota?*
The Goat Head stepped beside the young man and placed a hand on the back of his head.
Qi Xia tensed, quickly turning his face away.
*Last time, his brains splattered all over me. I refuse to feel that warmth again.*
A muffled **thud** echoed as the young man’s head burst open against the table.
At the same moment, a distant bell tolled.
And that tolling made Qi Xia realize something crucial.
This man, who had just died, might not be a ‘native’ at all—but a **Resonator**!
*Then why did he act so lifeless? What was his purpose?*
**”The reason there were ten of you,”** the Goat Head said, shaking blood from its hand, **”was so that one could serve as a means to quiet the rest.”**
Lin Qin’s scream pierced the air—right on time, just like before.
*I should’ve realized sooner.* The moment they woke, they had heard the bell—meaning at least one person had already achieved **Resonance**.
When the young man died, the bell tolled again, signaling the **end** of that Resonance.
If it had happened once, it could be dismissed as coincidence. But the bell had rung twice now upon his death.
*He was definitely a Resonator.*
As Lin Qin’s scream cut off abruptly, the Goat Head chuckled darkly.
**”Excellent, nine of you. Now that you’re all paying attention, allow me to introduce myself properly. I am the Goat Head, and you are the Participants.”**
**”You’ve been gathered here to partake in a ‘game’—one that will culminate in the creation of a ‘god.’”**
This time, Qi Xia wasn’t shaken by the death, so his focus remained entirely on the Goat Head’s words.
Yet the group fell silent again.
Qi Xia struggled to recall who had spoken next—only that someone had asked, *”What kind of god?”*
*Why isn’t anyone speaking now?*
**”Aren’t you curious about what kind of ‘god’ we aim to create?”** the Goat Head asked, tilting its head.
**”Say it or don’t!”** Qiao Jiajin snapped through gritted teeth. **”You think killing someone in front of me will make me obey?”**
**”Fine.”** The Goat Head sighed. **”We seek to create a deity like Nüwa—one capable of realizing all our desires! A grand task awaits this ‘god’!”**
When no one responded, it shook its head in disappointment. **”How dull. No questions at all?”**
The women were clearly terrified. Qi Xia scanned the men.
Officer Li stared at the Goat Head with the same stern expression as before.
Dr. Zhao and Han Yimo trembled in fear after witnessing the death.
And Qiao Jiajin, as always, wore his signature look of defiance.
Seeing no one speak, Qiao Jiajin’s temper flared. While the others feared the Goat Head, he didn’t.
**”Rot in hell! So this is some ‘Investiture of the Gods’ crap? If we win your game, you’ll make us gods? And if we lose?”**
**”If you lose…”** The Goat Head gazed at the blood on its hand, its voice tinged with sorrow. **”That would be… a true pity.”**
**”A pity for whom?”** Qi Xia asked coldly.
The Goat Head turned to him, its eyes glacial.
**”For this world.”**
**”This world?”** Qi Xia froze, a partial understanding dawning—yet only breeding more questions.
*So if we fail to create a ‘god,’ the greatest loss… would be to the Land of the End?*
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