An old tungsten filament bulb hung suspended by a black wire in the center of the room, flickering with dim light.

The quiet atmosphere was like ink dripping into clear water, spreading and permeating throughout the room.

As the clock on the table pointed to “twelve,” a low chime resonated from somewhere far away.

The ten people around the table suddenly woke with a start, each looking around at this eerie scene.

Qi Xia’s eyes widened as he took in this familiar scene, his heart surging like ten thousand galloping horses, unable to calm down.

He had returned.

Everyone had returned.

Goat Head still stood beside them all, emanating that distinctive odor of decay and rancid mutton.

Though he had long anticipated this return, when Qi Xia found himself sitting at the round table once more, all he felt was despair.

“Good morning, nine of you.” The Man-Goat’s familiar voice rang out again. “I’m delighted to meet with you here. You have all been sleeping before me for twelve hours now.”

Qi Xia took this opportunity to discreetly observe those familiar faces, discovering that their expressions were exactly the same as when he first saw them.

Qiao Jiajin stared blankly at the Man-Goat and asked, “Who… are you?”

At this question, Qi Xia furrowed his brow.

What was going on? Did no one remember what had happened before?

If that was the case, why did he still remember?

“Since you all have this question, let me introduce myself to the nine of you…”

Just as the Man-Goat was about to wave his hands and launch into a grand speech, Lawyer Zhang spoke up: “No need to introduce yourself to us. I advise you to stop your behavior immediately. I suspect you have detained us for more than twenty-four hours, which constitutes the crime of ‘illegal detention.’ Every word you say now will be recorded by me and form testimony against you.”

Qi Xia looked at Lawyer Zhang in bewilderment, then turned to Doctor Zhao.

It was his turn to raise doubts.

Sure enough, Doctor Zhao spoke: “Wait, we’ve all just woken up. How do you know we’ve been imprisoned for ‘twenty-four hours’?”

“What’s really going on…” Qi Xia’s lips moved slightly. These people all acted as if they didn’t know each other. They were saying the same things as last time, making the same movements as last time.

Everything seemed unchanged, just starting over again.

Lawyer Zhang explained the situation to Doctor Zhao with an air of superiority, drawing everyone’s attention.

Yes, in Qi Xia’s recollection, Lawyer Zhang’s initial behavior had been very suspicious. She was using every opportunity to proclaim her dominance—this was probably a protective coloring beneath her calm exterior.

After she finished explaining, everyone fell into silence.

The silence lasted for a full dozen seconds.

Qi Xia felt something was odd. Last time, it seemed someone had said something at this moment, but this time he hadn’t spoken, so the series of events that followed didn’t occur.

This sense of disconnect between reality and memory left Qi Xia quite puzzled.

“Everyone may have noticed that although there are clearly ten people in this room, I address you as ‘nine of you.'”

“Go to hell… I don’t care how many people are here, I’m warning you, you intestine-stuffed bastard, wise up!” Qiao Jiajin said viciously. “You probably don’t know what the consequences of provoking me will be. I’ll really take your life!”

Qi Xia suddenly remembered something and turned his head to look at the young man on his right.

It was a face both familiar and strange.

He was also the tenth person in the room whom Qi Xia had only seen once.

He still wore that eerily strange smile as he looked at everyone.

Having already gone through this once before, Qi Xia understood somewhat.

Those wearing this kind of smile on their faces were almost all “natives.” Could it be that this tenth person was merely someone the Man-Goat had brought in to make up the numbers?

The Man-Goat walked to the young man’s side and placed his hand on the back of his head.

Qi Xia started in alarm and quickly turned his face inconspicuously to the other side.

Last time, this young man’s brain matter had splattered onto his face. He absolutely did not want to experience that warm sensation again.

Only a muffled “bang” was heard as the young man’s head exploded on the table.

At the same moment, a chime rang out from the distance.

And it was precisely this chime that made Qi Xia suddenly realize something.

This man who had just died might not be a “native,” but a “Echoer”!

But why was his behavior so dull? Why was his role so absurd?

“The reason for preparing ten people was to use one of them to make you all quiet down.” The Man-Goat shook the blood from his hands and said.

Lin Qin immediately let out a scream, with timing not a second off from last time.

Qi Xia should have thought of it earlier. The moment they woke up, they heard the chime, indicating that at that time at least one person had obtained an “Echo.”

When the young man died, the chime rang out again. The “Echo” had ended.

If something only happened once, it could be viewed as coincidence, but the young man’s death was accompanied by chimes two consecutive times.

He was definitely an “Echoer.”

As Lin Qin’s scream came to an abrupt halt, the Man-Goat let out a strange laugh:

“Very good, nine of you. It seems you’ve all quieted down. Now please allow me to introduce myself. I am ‘Man-Goat,’ and you are ‘Participants.'”

“I’ve gathered you here now to participate in a ‘game,’ with the ultimate goal of creating a ‘god.'”

This time, Qi Xia was not shocked by the death, so all his attention was focused on the Man-Goat’s explanation.

But at this moment, everyone fell into silence again.

Qi Xia had somewhat forgotten who had spoken at that time. He only remembered that someone had asked the Man-Goat “what kind of god are we creating?”

But why wasn’t he speaking up?

“Aren’t you curious about what kind of ‘god’ we’re creating?” The Man-Goat looked at everyone blankly.

“Say what you want or don’t!” Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and snorted coldly. “Do you think I’ll submit to you just because you killed someone in front of me?”

“Forget it…” The Man-Goat shook his head and said, “We’re going to create a god like ‘Nuwa,’ one who can realize all our thoughts! A great mission is waiting for this ‘god’ to accomplish!”

Looking at the silent crowd, Goat Head sighed helplessly: “You’re all so boring. Don’t you have any questions?”

Several of the women were obviously frightened. Qi Xia looked at the remaining men.

Officer Li stared seriously at the Man-Goat, no different from last time.

Doctor Zhao and Han Yimo were also trembling after seeing the dead body, their faces showing expressions of fear.

As for Qiao Jiajin, he wore a disdainful look, displaying his unique expression.

Seeing that no one spoke, Qiao Jiajin’s nameless anger flared up. The others might fear the Man-Goat, but he didn’t.

“Go to hell, it’s the ‘Fengshen List,’ is it? If we play your game and win, you’ll make us gods? What if we can’t win?”

“If you can’t win…” The Man-Goat looked at the fresh blood on his hands, his tone somewhat disappointed as he said, “If you can’t win, it would be such a pity…”

“A pity for whom?” Qi Xia suddenly asked.

The Man-Goat turned his head to look at Qi Xia, his eyes cold as ice.

“A pity for this world.”

“For this world?” Qi Xia was stunned. He seemed to understand something, but more questions arose in his mind.

In other words, if they couldn’t create a “god,” the greatest loss would be to the “Land of the End”?