Tuesday, 7:30 AM.
Unit 4, Room 404, X Residential District.
Byrne sat at the dining table eating breakfast, his mind replaying his experiences in the dark space from the day before, as well as the blood-red words he had seen upon returning to reality.
The first three retrievals had been manageable, but while recovering the final Fire Stone, his consciousness had nearly drifted into a deep slumber. The wall of flames deep within that fork had almost scorched his spirit. Had the Earth Stone not spontaneously emitted its heavy aura to shield him, and had the Wind Stone's currents not torn a gap in the flames, he likely would have been detected by the Night Demon—let alone successfully obtaining the Fire Stone.
As for the blood-red words...
[The second Darkness has ended. The next will begin tomorrow at 9:00 PM. Please proceed to the location specified in the invitation to participate in the gathering. Do not forget that you must wear a mask]
This was the message he had found on his ceiling after returning to reality yesterday.
Following the second increase in difficulty, several derivative challenges would emerge within the week of a Rule Refresh. Based on the new message, the third Darkness would be an entirely new type of challenge.
Regarding the "invitation" mentioned in the blood-red text, he had immediately begun searching the house yesterday. He had scoured the bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, and even the depths of the balcony storage cabinets and shoe racks. Forget an invitation—he hadn't found anything even remotely resembling a letter.
He had searched again after waking up this morning, yet still saw nothing. It seemed that, much like the Rule Refresh itself, the invitation simply hadn't been delivered yet.
Then there was the mention of the "mask." He wondered what connection it had to the "Darkness" rule.
While eating his toast, Byrne picked up his phone and began scrolling through forums dedicated to Rule Ghost Stories, hoping to see if anyone else had encountered a rule-based challenge involving a party invitation.
The forum updated with several hot posts every day. Some people complained about the bizarre rules refreshed on Monday, some shared techniques for evading or mitigating punishments, and others posted desperate pleas for help. However, most of these posts stopped updating within an hour or two of being sent; one didn't need to think hard to guess what had happened to the posters.
Byrne kept swiping, searching several keywords and flipping through dozens of pages, but he found nothing that matched his specific situation.
Just as Byrne finished breakfast and stood up to clear the plates, a hurried knocking sounded at his door. He froze for a moment. He vividly remembered that at almost this exact time yesterday morning, Bryce from next door had come knocking.
It couldn't be Bryce again, could it?
Byrne walked to the door and looked through the peephole. The person knocking was indeed his neighbor, Bryce . Although there were six units on each floor of this building, the other four households on Byrne's floor were absent for various reasons. Thus, Bryce only ever knocked on his door.
Byrne opened the door and gave a slight smile. "Bryce, back to borrow more vinegar?"
Bryce smiled somewhat awkwardly, his wrinkles bunching together. He waved his hand. "No, not vinegar this time. Something else."
"What are you borrowing?"
"A bag of salt."
Borrowing salt?
Surely he isn't going to eat an entire bag of salt right in front of me, is he? Please don't—that could actually kill someone.
Seeing Byrne's dazed expression, Bryce thought he hadn't understood. He immediately added, "Byrne, just one bag. It's Tuesday, you understand."
Heh. The same line again. Don't worry, I understand perfectly.
Byrne raised an eyebrow. "Alright then, Bryce. Wait a moment, I'll go get it for you."
A moment later, Byrne returned with a bag of salt. However, when he opened the door, Bryce was no longer there.
Where did he go?
While Byrne was confused, the door to Room 403 opened, and Bryce walked out holding an empty bowl. Seeing the bowl, Byrne felt a bit more at ease.
"Thank you."
Bryce walked back to Byrne, grabbed the salt bag, and began pouring it into the empty bowl. The coarse grains of salt hissed as they fell, quickly piling up into a small mound, yet he showed no intention of stopping. He didn't stop until the entire bag was empty and the bowl was filled to the brim. He then casually shoved the empty bag into his pocket.
Byrne watched the overflowing bowl of salt, his lip twitching. "Um, Bryce , you're not going to... right in front of me..."
Before he could finish, Bryce abruptly looked up.
A layer of eerie grey mist swirled within his clouded eyes. The stiff smile on his face vanished completely, replaced by an expression of near-total numbness. Bryce did not respond to Byrne. Holding the bowl in both hands, he walked slowly to the door of 403 and stopped with his back to Byrne.
Then, he brought the bowl to his mouth, lowered his head, and actually began to swallow the coarse salt, mouthful after mouthful.
The sound of him crunching the salt was exceptionally clear in the silent hallway, making Byrne's skin crawl. That bowl contained at least half a pound of salt. An ordinary person could barely manage a few licks, yet Bryce ate with a vacant expression, his mechanical movements never pausing. It was as if he weren't swallowing bitter salt, but a bowl of sweet rice.
The grey mist flowed in the depths of his eyes. His aged cheeks took on an unnatural flush, and the veins in his neck bulged from the effort of swallowing, yet not a single cough or gasp could be heard.
When borrowing vinegar yesterday, Bryce's smile had been stiff, but he had still retained some human semblance. Today, with the grey mist in his eyes and his utterly numb movements, he was significantly more eerie.
Could it be that Bryce's derivative rules for Tuesday intensify his transformation?
After a full minute, the overflowing bowl of salt had been consumed entirely. Bryce's hands, still clutching the empty bowl, slowly dropped to his sides.
The bulging veins in his neck did not recede. Instead, as the grey mist in his eyes grew thicker, they began to spread toward his cheeks. Beneath his sagging, elderly skin, something seemed to be crawling slowly, pushing up eerie patterns before flattening again a second later, leaving behind irregular grey spots flickering beneath the surface.
After finishing the salt, Bryce turned back to look at Byrne. The grey mist nearly filled his entire eye sockets.
"Thank you."
After saying those two words, Bryce's body swayed. A flicker of faint clarity passed through his mist-shrouded eyes, as if he had briefly broken free from control. However, the grey mist quickly flooded back.
Bryce resumed his numb expression. Holding the empty bowl, he shuffled back into Room 403 and gently pulled the door shut.
Once the door was completely closed and silence returned, Byrne finally let out a sigh of relief. He didn't dare knock to investigate; in the world of Rule Ghost Stories, any unnecessary curiosity could be fatal.
Sigh. I hope the old man is okay.
Byrne closed his door and returned to the living room, intending to finish clearing the table. As he walked past the coffee table, he suddenly noticed something new sitting on top of it.
It was a black invitation.