The warm, orange sunlight streamed through the window, casting its glow over the old floorboards that bore the marks of time.
Xu Dengming leaned back on the sofa in the living room.
Despite being on the top floor, the apartment’s soundproofing allowed her to clearly hear the sounds of people returning home on the street below.
The chirping of birds, the hum of cars, the hurried footsteps on the road, the fading echoes of an argument all these sounds only served to make room 403 feel even quieter.
As dusk fell, Xu Dengming put down her book and stretched.
She turned on the light, drew the living room curtains, and then activated her system backpack with her mind, retrieving a disc loaded with an unknown number of special games waiting to be tested.
Running the disc didn’t require a computer; the system automatically prepared a graphical user interface with basic functionalities for the user.
Xu Dengming briefly checked the contents of the disc.
There were only two options: one to view the tested games and the other to view the games awaiting testing.
It was straightforward and clear.
Due to her limited experience, only one game icon appeared in the “awaiting testing” section.
Its name was [Playing House], and like [Escape the Room], it was a single-player game.
The game icon was square, with a pink background and a candle drawn in the center, giving it a warm and cozy appearance.
Xu Dengming:”….”
She was certain the game’s content wouldn’t be as gentle and harmless as the icon suggested.
Xu Dengming launched the only game awaiting testing and sat back on the sofa, waiting patiently.
She hadn’t forgotten what the nurse had told her before she was discharged: if any symptoms appeared within a month, she could still contact the Seventh Hospital.
If [Playing House] caused too much mental harm… she hoped the Seventh Hospital would understand the fluctuations in her condition after discharge.
The game started smoothly, and a progress bar appeared on the system interface.
Once the bar filled up, the original interface automatically closed.
For a moment, it seemed as if nothing had happened.
Xu Dengming was still sitting in her living room, but she noticed that the visibility around her was decreasing.
The appliances and furniture in the room seemed to be shrouded in a mist.
A moist evening breeze passed through the walls, gently echoing inside.
The light dimmed, as if the artificial bulbs had quietly set with the evening sun.
Xu Dengming didn’t feel uncomfortable.
She spread her arms and leaned back on the sofa, as if willingly sinking into an endless pool of warm water.
Faint, cold light floated in the air, drawing Xu Dengming’s attention.
She noticed something new on the wall.
It was a wooden door that clashed with the overall decor.
The lines of the door were crooked, and a round, smiling face had been drawn on it with colored crayons.
Below the smile was a large number “3.”
Xu Dengming was reminded of the pixelated game she had tested for the first time.
The game’s hint was obvious.
Xu Dengming stood up, the hem of her homewear swaying slightly in the air.
She walked over and pushed open the wooden door.
It was as if one bubble had suddenly merged with another.
Two spaces abruptly intersected, and behind the door appeared a room that was definitely not part of the Sunflower Apartment’s construction plan.
The room had no windows, yet the lighting was bright.
The brightness dispelled the faint, cold dampness in the air.
Xu Dengming’s face carried a hint of curiosity as she stepped inside.
The moment her feet crossed the threshold, the wooden door behind her automatically closed, shutting out the traces of reality.
Her gaze swept around, carefully observing her surroundings.
The first thought that came to her mind was “a riot of colors.”
The unfamiliar room indeed had a rich combination of colors, with each wall painted differently.
One of the walls was adorned with crayon drawings.
Xu Dengming could tell that the creator had a preference for bright red, though their artistic skills were quite limited.
The figures in the drawings resembled stick figures.
A red stick figure was driving a red car, flying all the way up to the clouds.
Despite the simplicity of the lines, one could sense the joy and pride in the stick figure’s expression.
“Although the creator’s drawing skills are lacking, their expressive ability is strong. Perhaps they are a natural talent,” Xu Dengming thought.
Standing in front of the crayon drawings, she admired the graffiti, feeling more and more that this room seemed like a child’s playroom.
After a while, she turned around, intending to take a closer look at the other three walls.
However, halfway through her turn, she suddenly froze.
Xu Dengming’s gaze shifted downward, landing on a girl who appeared to be about twelve or thirteen years old.
There had been no noticeable sound in the room, yet the girl had appeared silently.
Along with her came a small bed, a set of table and chairs, and some children’s toys like colored pencils and modeling clay.
With these new additions, the playroom suddenly felt crowded.
The girl was bent over, intently fiddling with a doll in her hands, not even sparing a glance at the adult in front of her.
Xu Dengming felt as if she had turned into a puff of air.
She noticed that the girl had strikingly clear black-and-white eyes and was wearing a simple patterned dress.
The uneven cuffs and the long stitches suggested that the dress was not store-bought but rather a handmade piece, and the creator’s cutting and sewing skills were quite rudimentary.
Xu Dengming felt that the dress looked somewhat familiar.
After a moment of recollection, she suddenly remembered seeing something similar online-a trend in the old district where flour sacks were repurposed into clothing.
The patterns on those flour sacks were very similar to the ones on the girl’s dress.
She had seen similar flour sack clothes in her childhood, but so much time had passed that the once clear memories had faded into vague remnants.
The girl probably hadn’t wasted the fabric cut from the sack when making the sleeves and neckline.
The doll in her hands was dressed in clothes with the same pattern as her own.
“Next, we need to prepare dinner,” the girl’s tender voice rang out in the room.
She was talking to the doll, still not looking up at Xu Dengming, as if she completely didn’t sense the presence of a strange adult nearby.
Xu Dengming crossed her arms and silently stood to the side, carefully observing the girl’s every move.
The girl placed the doll on the ground and arranged some small plastic bowls covered with cloth in front of it.
The ragdoll’s mouth, stitched with red thread, was perpetually curved in an asymmetrical smile, while its eyes, made of two buttons, sparkled brightly, seemingly brimming with anticipation for the upcoming game.
The little girl lifted the cloth covering the plastic bowl, revealing the vegetable leaves beneath.
She smiled happily at the ragdoll, “You’ve already learned how to cook, that’s amazing! I’ll tell everyone how quickly you’re learning.”
Then, the little girl earnestly ate the boiled vegetable leaves from the bowl, as if savoring a gourmet meal.
After swallowing the leaves, she clapped her hands cheerfully and said to the ragdoll with a serious expression, “Thank you, the meal was very good.”
Her voice was innocent and joyful.
After finishing her meal, the little girl picked up her ragdoll and slowly stood up, tilting her face upward.
Her face was now directly facing Xu Dengming, who saw his own reflection in her clear, black-and-white eyes.
Xu Dengming realized that her earlier judgment had been inaccurate.
The girl might not have failed to see her; she might have simply chosen to ignore her.
The smile on the little girl’s face remained as radiant as ever.
She raised the ragdoll’s hand high and extended it toward Xu Dengming’s palm.
Xu Dengming’s gaze slightly froze.
Theoretically, as an adult, Xu Dengming’s reaction time should have been faster than a child’s, yet she was caught off guard by her grasp.
Was this a necessary part of the game’s process?
Xu Dengming’s eyes flickered slightly, and she instinctively activated her [Observer’s Eye], but she couldn’t detect any trace of the girl’s fate line.
Initially, she had assumed that the little girl in front of her wasn’t real and that everything happening was just a cutscene in the game.
But now, it seemed that even cut scenes could include interactive elements.
The child’s hand was small, and the ragdoll’s hand was even smaller.
Xu Dengming could feel her fingers being tightly gripped, and both the little girl’s and the ragdoll’s hands were icy cold.
The cold sensation quickly spread up Xu Dengming’s fingers, and the next moment, she was engulfed in an endless haze.
At the same time, a faint voice whispered in her ear—
“Save my family.”
“Save Guo Jiajia.”
***
The morning light, filtered through the glass, took on an aged yellow hue.
Outside, a few scattered single-story houses stood, some with water bills still pasted on their doors.
A chandelier missing a corner swayed gently on the ceiling, shaking off the corpses of a few insects.
The clock on the wall showed the time as 6:45.
Below the clock was a calendar displaying September, with the 4th, 5th, and 6th circled in black marker, with the 6th having two circles.
Xu Dengming slowly sat up.
She looked at the bed beneath her and then at her feet, which didn’t quite reach the floor, roughly understanding the situation she was in after the cutscene ended.
She was now in a child’s room, with surroundings that bore some similarities to the previous room but also many differences, such as the walls adorned with ordinary posters instead of red crayon drawings.
Xu Dengming jumped down from the bed.
The bed was too high, and as she landed abruptly, her legs felt a bit weak.
She rubbed her knees.
People easily forget the past.
Strong adults don’t constantly remember their weak and helpless childhood.
Xu Dengming glanced around…
She looked at her own hands and feet, realizing that this body was even weaker than she had imagined.
Was she this fragile when she was a child?
Forced into this shrunken state, Xu Dengming walked around the room.
The space wasn’t particularly comfortable, but it had the basic furniture.
By the window stood a desk and a cabinet.
A calendar hung on the wall, with September 6th circled in black ink.
At the bottom of a poster on the wall were three rather clumsily written characters: “Guo Jiajia.”
If Xu Dengming’s judgment was correct, “Guo Jiajia” was the name of the room’s owner.
The new body felt unfamiliar to Xu Dengming.
With some effort, she climbed onto the desk.
The cabinet’s glass was transparent, allowing her to clearly see the books and toys inside.
The two volumes of the Children’s Encyclopedia clearly didn’t match, and next to them were other educational books like The Origin of Life, Bees, Butterflies, and Pollination, and Crafting Starts with Children.
All the books looked quite old.