After Luo Xiaoming finished narrating everything, Xu Fang understood the whole story. It was a strange feeling, like loading a saved file from another timeline.

"Come out with me and see the outside world," Xu Fang suggested.

"Okay," Luo Xiaoming nodded.

"Let's walk and discuss our current situation," Xu Fang took out his phone and took a picture of the starry sky.

"Assuming your memory hasn't been altered and you haven't deceived me, then we are still in the bizarre event, but..." Xu Fang handed the phone to Luo Xiaoming, "First of all, this world doesn't match the previous one. According to your description, the sky in the original world was pitch black, right?"

Looking closely at the photo on the phone, the sparkling starry sky could be used as wallpaper. Luo Xiaoming looked up at the sky again, and the moonlight cast a mysterious veil over the city at night.

"Yes, the last reincarnation and this one are completely different," Luo Xiaoming worriedly said, "And you mentioned that if we use the night ticket, the bizarre event still won't end. That would be the worst-case scenario."

Xu Fang glanced at Luo Xiaoming and smiled, "It's okay, I don't think the night ticket is completely ineffective. The world turning out like this could also be the result of the night ticket."

"The night ticket only improves our situation, it doesn't completely free us from the predicament."

"Those monsters seem to retain memories of the reincarnations. If we follow the normal course of reincarnation, they might attack before you wake me up."

"..."

"The bizarre event must have a solution. We just need to slowly search for the patterns. After that, we'll continue to experience reincarnations repeatedly, and the hidden mist will naturally reveal the truth."

"Hey, your game-like lines are too out of place!"

Luo Xiaoming's mood became happier. He felt a sense of stability when he handed any troublesome matters to Xu Fang, even though Xu Fang was just an ordinary person at the moment.

"I want to conduct a few experiments. Although I did something similar during the day, this time I want to make it more complex."

-------------------------------------

Night City Bar.

The taste of alcohol accompanied the scent of incense. The noisy music, women on the dance floor, chaotic tables, and flashing lights intertwined to create an ordinary entertainment venue.

But at a certain moment, the music abruptly stopped. People who were drinking and interacting with their heads down looked up in confusion, wondering if there was a problem with the sound system.

The bar owner held a microphone and dismissed the pole-dancing woman, looking at the paper in his hand. He said, puzzled, "Just now, an anonymous customer wanted us to read a few words of blessings. Um, the specific content is..."

The owner furrowed his brow in confusion. The words on the paper were cut and pasted from books or newspapers, and the content was incomprehensible.

Could it be a prank? Well, they had already received the money, so they would just consider it as satisfying some customers' curiosity.

"This world is false. Everything you see, hear, and feel is fake. Don't believe anything around you!"

The customers in the audience were all bewildered.

"What the hell is this?"

"A cult, right? Damn, I can even encounter missionaries while drinking?"

"Heh, if this world isn't real, tell him to go die!"

"Boss, play some music!"

"Where are the dancers? Let's dance!!"

After a moment, the bar returned to its noisy and chaotic state, as if nothing had happened, as if there was nothing worth paying attention to.

In a high-rise residential building across the street from the bar, Xu Fang and Luo Xiaoming hid in the dark corridor, observing the situation inside the bar from a distance.

Xu Fang had Luo Xiaoming use someone else's phone to make a reservation for a "blessing speech" at the bar, and they used someone else's money as well. Even if they were investigated, they wouldn't be able to trace it back to Xu Fang.

"The spell didn't work, huh? If we exclude the reason that 'monsters will no longer appear in the current world,' the only way is to deliver the spell face to face."

Xu Fang recorded the phenomenon just now with his phone.

"That's too dangerous! No way!"

"Shh! Don't turn on the lights in the hallway." Xu Fang signaled Luo Xiaoming to relax. "Of course I won't do that. The purpose of this cycle is to collect as much information as possible, safety first... Let's go, there's nothing interesting anymore."

...

Outside the hotel window was a colorful night scene, with soft lights rendering the interior.

Xu Fang opened his laptop and browsed the latest news, while Luo Xiaoming leaned back on the sofa and took out a diary to record the experiment they had just observed.

"What's the name of that website?"

"I don't know, you never told me."

"If I don't know the name, then I'll just guess." Xu Fang remembered that Xiao Ming mentioned a "horror system" in his novel, which might have some connection with that website. The website had many authors who wrote novels, so he speculated...

Could it be called "Horror Novel Web"?

He searched "Horror Novel Web" on Baidu, and as expected, he couldn't find anything.

Well, even if the website has that name, it won't be found in the bizarre event.

Xu Fang lightly tapped the edge of the computer and said, "By the way, which cycle is this?"

"The third cycle, I've told you before."

"It's crucial to always confirm the cycle number. Maybe at this moment, I've already entered the fourth cycle."

Luo Xiaoming smiled, closed the diary, and came behind Xu Fang, resting her chin on his shoulder. "You're really suspicious. Do you have any plans or ideas?"

"I want to go to H City and find the people who appeared in my novel."

"Can I come with you?"

"Of course, your memory is indispensable. You're important. I can't do anything without you by my side."

Luo Xiaoming clenched her fist slightly, feeling a bit excited. She was most worried about becoming a burden to Xu Fang, but at least for now, she still had a role to play.

October 17th.

At noon, Xu Fang and Xiao Ming took a plane to H City.

The plane took more than two hours to reach their destination, which matched the actual distance. This directly proved that the size of the Earth hadn't changed.

"Xiao Ming, how does it feel to skip tickets for the first time?"

"It's because no one can see me!"

Luo Xiaoming failed to buy tickets online and, after coming to the airport ticket office, found that she still couldn't be observed. Fortunately, she had learned her lesson from being attacked by the Grim Reaper. In public places, she didn't say a word. Just when she thought this world felt a bit real, it exposed its virtual nature again.

Fortunately, in the first-class cabin, the two of them wouldn't be crowded.

This was their first time coming to this city. The temperature in H City was much lower than in K City, and a breath could produce visible white mist.

The two had lunch near the train station, bought some warm clothes, and then headed towards H City University.

"We still have classes today. Is it okay to skip them so blatantly?" Luo Xiaoming tightened the scarf around her neck and looked at Xu Fang with bright eyes.

"It's fine. I've already asked for leave from the school and informed Wen Jian and the others. It won't attract the attention of the monsters..."

Luo Xiaoming scratched her cheek. It seemed that she was misunderstood. She simply thought it wasn't good to skip classes casually, but Xu Fang thought she was worried about being noticed by monsters. Indeed, their ways of thinking were different.

H City University, an ordinary college. But if the host of the horror system was here, it would no longer be ordinary.

The archives room in the library could be used to search for information on students. The archives room had access control and was not open to anyone.

The access control was ineffective for Luo Xiaoming because she couldn't be easily observed.

Xu Fang let Luo Xiaoming enter the archives room to search for information on Xu Tong and Lin Jingrui, while he went to the sixth floor of the male dormitory in Apartment Three. As for which dorm room they were in, they had no idea.

Xu Fang visited all the dormitories from beginning to end, searching for Xu Tong and Lin Jingrui.

But he found nothing.

He received a message from Luo Xiaoming on his phone - there were no people named Xu Tong and Lin Jingrui in this school.

...

Leaning against the edge of the square, the two looked up at the sky, lost in thought.

"What should we do next?"

"How about visiting the attractions here?"

"Hey, is it the right time to do that now?"

"It's a rare opportunity, can you accompany me on a tour?"

"Is this a request?"

"...Yes."

Luo Xiaoming turned his head, a slight smile on his lips. "Since you're begging me like this, I guess I can't refuse."

And so, the two explored H City, checking in at various tourist spots. It seemed like they were intentionally avoiding the topic of the bizarre event, living a normal and happy day like ordinary people in this world.

"Xu Fang, what did you write on my back in the second loop?"

Before going to sleep, Luo Xiaoming leaned against the door of Xu Fang's bedroom, looking at Xu Fang inside.

"Oh, it's some plot details from a novel. Only I know about them, and I've never told anyone else."

As Xu Fang spoke, he opened a bag of medicine. It was prescription medicine that Xu Fang had asked Luo Xiaoming to get from the pharmacy.

"Can I read it?"

"Sigh. It's just some embarrassing stuff from my past, nothing interesting."

"Now that you've said that, I'm even more curious!"

"Well, if you read it, don't laugh at me." Xu Fang said helplessly.

"Hahaha, I'll keep it a secret for you!"

"We didn't make any progress today, and some experiments are too dangerous to be taken lightly."

"I had a great day today, and we also discovered a lot of information. There's no need to verify everything at once."

"...Yeah, safety first."

Luo Xiaoming blinked and said, "Xu Fang, if there's no reincarnation this time, and if every day is normal like today, should we..."

"STOP!" Xu Fang suddenly interrupted Luo Xiaoming.

"W-What's wrong? Let me finish!"

"Don't say it. The way you said it just now sounded like a flag, and that's something authors hate the most."

"Damn it, I finally mustered up the courage, but if you don't want to hear it, forget it!"

Xu Fang smiled, unscrewed a small bottle containing sleeping pills, poured out two pills, hesitated for a moment, then poured out two more, and swallowed them with water.

"I need to take some tranquilizers to relieve my anxiety, Xiao Ming, let's continue exploring the world tomorrow!"

"Xu Fang, you..."

"Sleep, sleep! Early to bed, early to rise!"

"Oh, goodnight..."

"Goodnight."

Back in her own bedroom, Luo Xiaoming lay in bed unable to sleep, thinking about what Xu Fang had said earlier.

After a while, she rolled out of bed and stood at the door of Xu Fang's bedroom.

The bedroom was not closed, and the lights were still on. Only the curtains were tightly closed, blocking any external observation.

Xu Fang was already asleep, and this time, he was sleeping very soundly. No matter how clumsy Luo Xiaoming's movements were, she wouldn't wake him up.

There was a kitchen knife in the kitchen.

Luo Xiaoming stood in front of the bed, staring blankly at Xu Fang. She knew what she should do now, but her emotions were desperately stopping her.

"Why did you leave this difficult choice to me..."

--------------------------------------------------

In the early morning, the sound of traffic flowed through the glass.

Xu Fang opened his eyes and saw the still-lit ceiling and the girl curled up beside him.

Xu Fang touched his neck and chest.

There were no signs of any injuries.

His movement woke up Luo Xiaoming.

"Good morning, classmate Xiao Ming."

"Um... Xu Fang, ah, oops, I fell asleep here."

"Did you take sleeping pills secretly?" Xu Fang joked.

"No, I was just too tired yesterday."

"Well, let's go back then."

"Okay."

"Let's start the next step of the exploration plan, searching for companions."