[The first game of the month, the Silent Village instance, is about to open. Randomly matching lucky players... Match successful... This game features 10 participating countries: China, America, Australia, England... The game will start in ten minutes. Have fun in Silent Village! Hehe~]
As a sinister voice rang out, Shi Xiao, who was idly browsing game forums on her computer in an ordinary residential area of Shanhai City, China, suddenly sprang to her feet. She touched her abdomen—completely unharmed, without a bloody stab wound! She had been reborn! Reborn before she entered the horror game!
In a previous life, a terrifying game suddenly descended upon Earth. No one knew where it came from or what its purpose was. Every 10 days, it would start a new game, randomly selecting a certain number of players from across the planet. Those who successfully completed the game would receive rewards, and their respective nations would also receive national fortune rewards. Those who failed would be ruthlessly eliminated, and their respective nations would also be punished to some extent.
Initially, after players failed to complete the game, the horror game system successively brought down small-scale natural disasters such as wildfires and floods. Later, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes and so on gradually began to appear. Now, in the third year since the horror game came, Earth has been punished by several eerie domains. The entire city where these domains landed is shrouded in black mist. It is said that eeriness and chaos rage within them, and that humans have little chance of survival.
Various countries urgently established horror game research departments, but without exception, they all achieved very little. No one knows how the game selects players; anyone over 18 years of age with all four limbs intact could be chosen. After successfully completing the game 10 times in a row, the selected player can choose to quit or become a Ghost Hunter.
Quitting means being permanently banned from the game and losing all rewards earned, returning to being an ordinary person. However, Ghost Hunters are no longer forced to enter the game; they can choose which game to enter, but must enter at least once a month. Success earns rewards, while failure carries the risk of elimination. It is said that there are currently only four Ghost Hunters in China, all recruited by the National Horror Game Strategy Department.
In her previous life, she was chosen to enter the game world when the Silent Mountain Village instance opened, drawing an SSS-level talent [Time Reversal]. This talent allowed her to rewind to any point in time within 24 hours, with the skill refreshing daily. Relying on this cheat, Shi Xiao displayed astonishing potential during her first appearance in the horror game instance. However, she never expected to end tragically killed by her boyfriend Lin Yi and best friend Su Tian.
Shi Xiao touched her still intact abdomen, her face pale. The stinging pain of her body gradually turning cold and weak in the last part of her previous life came crashing down with memories.
Shi Xiao and Su Tian both grew up in orphanages. After graduating from university, they both chose to stay in Shanhai City. Su Tian joined a foreign company, while Shi Xiao became a teacher at a private elementary school. Having no survival experience whatsoever, Shi Xiao was suddenly chosen by a horror game in her previous life. In her panic and confusion, she immediately told Su Tian about it. Fortunately, her first instance seemed to be a newly formed small instance, and the eeriness within wasn't extremely dangerous. Even so, she faced several life-or-death situations and barely managed to survive and complete the game.
The first thing Shi Xiao did after getting out was to rush to Su Tian and cry about it. Su Tian said she was worried about her safety, so she went out of her way to find connections and contact Lin Yi, one of the four great hunters of the Ghost Realm in China. Hearing that a Ghost Realm hunter was willing to help her, Shi Xiao was naturally happy and grateful.
At the time, she didn't know that Su Tian and Lin Yi were already old acquaintances, and that Lin Yi had specifically sought her out not to help her at all.
Under the global live stream of the horror game, Shi Xiao's top-tier SSS-level talent was impossible to hide. The moment she cleared her first game instance, she was already being watched by the Chinese government and countless unscrupulous individuals, including Lin Yi. After investigating Shi Xiao's social circle, he approached Su Tian himself, using this connection to smoothly get close to Shi Xiao.
Shi Xiao remembered that when she came out of the first game instance, the official Chinese horror game team contacted her, hoping that she could go to the command base to provide her with comprehensive protection. However, because of Lin Yi and Su Tian's persuasion at the time, she finally gave up the idea of going to the command base, and Lin Yi also moved into her house under the guise of helping her with training.
Lin Yi was already handsome, standing at 180cm tall, and was one of China's top Ghost Realm Hunters. His S-rank talent, [Ghost Transformation], had garnered him countless fans in horror games. Coupled with his deliberately cultivated warm and caring persona, he quickly won over the naive Shi Xiao. In her previous life, she had once believed that with Lin Yi's companionship, she would surely pass all 10 levels, become the next Ghost Realm Hunter, and fight for China.
But she was wrong...
"Heh." Shi Xiao clenched his white fist and sneered: "Lin Yi, Su Tian, I was really blind back then."
Hunters of the Ghost Realm can choose which instance to enter, so in his previous life, during the third instance, Lin Yi followed Shi Xiao into the instance under the pretext of protecting her. However, she nearly died several times in the instance, and Lin Yi, who claimed to be protecting her, always arrived just one step too late.
Before Shi Xiao could even react, the cold blade had pierced her skin. Ultimately, it wasn't the strange creature that killed her, but the person she trusted most. She turned around, her eyes wide with disbelief, only to see Lin Yi's狰狞 (zhengning - ferocious/hideous) face.
He drew his knife, held it to his nose, and inhaled its scent with a touch of ecstasy. "I was hoping to play house with you a little longer, but alas, my darling, your talent is becoming increasingly apparent. Too many people are eyeing you. If I don't make my move soon, I won't be able to savor this delicious talent..."
"By the way, let me introduce myself. My talent isn't S-rank [Monsterization], but SS-rank [Plunder]." Lin Yi's knife mercilessly plunged into Shi Xiao's heart and stirred. He needed the heart's blood of the plundered to activate his Plunder talent.
On his deathbed, Shi Xiao saw Lin Yi stick out his tongue and slowly lick all the blood off the blade, his expression one of utter ecstasy, as if savoring some fine vintage wine, his eyes gleaming with a scarlet light: "Now, your talent is mine..."
So that's how it is... Shi Xiao couldn't say anything more; she could only feel her body temperature and strength slowly draining away...
"If only I could do it all over again..." A feeling of suffocation and darkness swept over me...
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...
When Shi Xiao opened her eyes again, she was back in her cozy little apartment before the Silent Mountain Village instance started. She sat in front of her computer, several news articles flashing on the desktop:
[Another tsunami strikes; can Japan survive?]
[Wang Ziran, a Chinese hero, is injured; is it a conspiracy by another country?]
[Shocking! The first ghost realm descended by Miraika looks like this!]
Indian man opposes discrimination against the supernatural, saying that the bizarre can also have a unique beauty.
...
Since the horror game's arrival, every citizen has a live-streaming app on their phone to watch players' performances, and related posts and discussion groups are increasingly appearing online. Shi Xiao calculated the time; it's now the third year and sixth month since the horror game's arrival, meaning it has been played 76 times. However, only four people in China have managed to complete it 10 times in a row.
The newest player from China is Wang Ziran, whose appearance ended China's previous streak of nine consecutive defeats, and he has now completed the game six times in a row. Although non-fatal injuries sustained by players in the game will heal upon returning to the real world, even in this apocalyptic situation, there are still quite a few countries with ulterior motives who will secretly try to kill.
Shi Xiao remembered that in her previous life, at this time, it was because Wang Ziran was injured that the horror game drew her when it was redrawing Chinese players.
Having sorted out her thoughts, Shi Xiao took a sip of the coffee on the table. Seeing that she had five minutes left, she quickly pulled out a set of light sportswear from her wardrobe and changed. She couldn't bring anything else in besides her clothes, so there was no need to pack. Once inside the game world, the system would give each player a bracelet. The bracelet could store items, identify players, navigate, and facilitate communication—a rather thoughtful design.
[The Silent Mountain Village game instance is now open... Players, please prepare yourselves. One minute countdown: 59, 58, 57...]
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Welcome to the horror game...hehe]
It was still that eerie and sinister voice, cold and devoid of any emotion, yet you could still sense its mocking intent towards the player.
A blinding white light rushed towards him, making it impossible for Shi Xiao to open his eyes. He only heard the voice of the horror game system in his ears: [Welcome to the horror game. New player detected. Talent extraction has been automatically activated for you... beep... Extraction in progress... zzzzzz... Talent extraction time... beep... Extraction failed... zzzzzz... Re-extract... beep beep beep... Data error...]
What's going on? This is so different from my previous life!
In her previous life, she easily obtained the SSS-level talent [Time Reversal]. Shi Xiao tried hard to open her eyes in the bright light, but the white light was too strong, and she could only barely see the white light flickering, like a faulty light bulb.
Shi Xiao tried to struggle to open her eyes, but the system's voice seemed to have returned to normal: [Talent successfully extracted. Congratulations! You have acquired the... S-rank talent [Thousand Transformations]. This is a passive skill. When night falls, you can randomly transform into a strange entity based on your surroundings and acquire 10% of the original owner's strength. This ability can be upgraded.]
Hey, have fun playing the game!
Hmm? Something about this voice seems off. Although this is Shi Xiao's first time being chosen by the game in this life, she was a veteran player who had participated in three dungeons in her previous life, and she was very familiar with the game system's voice. The system's voice before the bug occurred was as cold as ever, but the voice after the bug was fixed seemed different, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was different.
Most importantly, her talent was different now, completely different from her previous life! It had actually gone from being a top-tier SSS-level talent to an S-level talent! Although S-level talents were already extremely rare on Blue Star, who wouldn't want an even higher level? Shi Xiao cursed inwardly, "Damn system."
In the remote control center of the horror game, a round, spherical machine suddenly shivered: "Strange, why do I, a machine monster, feel a little chilly..."
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Forget it, although it's an S-rank talent, it doesn't seem weaker than [Time Reversal] from my previous life, it's even ridiculously strong. It can turn into a monster, which is equivalent to a monster undercover agent, right? And it's a growth-type talent, maybe it will bring even greater surprises as it grows. Shi Xiao tried to relax, but his fists clenched unconsciously: "In this life, no one can take away my talent."
As the white light faded, Shi Xiao was finally able to open her eyes. The surroundings had transformed from a cozy little apartment into a village, a Chinese-style, old-fashioned rural village reminiscent of the 1970s and 80s, bathed in the dim yellow sunset.
In the distance, you can still see wisps of smoke rising from the village, village women washing clothes by the river, cowherds returning from herding cattle on the mountain, and villagers walking together on the road...
How familiar this scene is! It really is the first horror game instance I experienced in my previous life.
This place was once a peaceful paradise, until five years ago, the arrival of a group of outsiders shattered everything...
Welcome to Li Family Village! You are a guest invited to the village chief's son's wedding banquet. Please take your invitation and begin your journey.
The moment they landed, a system notification rang in all the players' ears. A faint light flashed in their hands, and a bright red invitation with gold lettering appeared in Shi Xiao's hand. She opened it and, as in her previous life, found a rule slip tucked inside.
[Lijia Village Rules]
1. The villagers of Lijia Village are simple and kind-hearted; please do not harm them.
2. Villagers don't lie; you can completely trust them unless they are no longer villagers.
3. Please keep your invitation safe, as it is the only thing that proves your identity;
4. Please play the role of a "guest" well;
5. There are no outsiders in Lijia Village! Please do not inquire about outsiders.
Shi Xiao checked the invitation again. It was the same as a regular invitation, with no difference. It simply stated:
[Li Dezhu of Lijia Village cordially invites the distinguished guest "Shixiao" to attend my son Li Guangzong's wedding banquet on the 14th day of the 7th lunar month.]
If everything is still the same as in the previous life, then today should be July 11th. The wedding banquet is on the 4th day of the instance, and players have 3 days to prepare.
Shi Xiao put the invitation and note into the bracelet's space and walked into the village.
Lijia Village is small, with only a few dozen households at a glance, connected by a bluestone road. Rows of wooden houses stand on both sides of the road. One side of the village is backed by a mountain with countless graves. The other side is bordered by water, with a winding stream flowing along the village into the distance.
The last rays of the setting sun hung on the horizon. At this time, one could still see villagers walking around and children playing in the village. But Shi Xiao knew that as the sun set, the village would soon reveal its silent and terrifying side.
Silent Mountain Village is a multiplayer dungeon, with a total of 10 people including her. In her previous life, Shi Xiao cleared the dungeon with 2 stars and was the first to exit the game dungeon. It seems that a few other people survived and exited the dungeon after her. She was particularly impressed by Ike from the Beautiful Country and Odin from the Snow Country.
Ike is a typical American muscleman, strong in combat, who relies on brute force to sweep through dungeons. The only impression Odin left on her was that this snow-lander seemed mysterious and preferred to work alone.
It's not entirely her fault for not having a strong impression of the others. After all, this was Shi Xiao's first time entering a horror game, and it was already quite an achievement to be able to complete it with two stars and return to the real world alive. She didn't have much time to care about others.
At this moment, all 10 players had entered Li Family Village from their respective locations, and the horror game's live stream thoughtfully popped up a reminder: [Hey, the horror game you're watching has started streaming! Hehe]
[Ah, here it comes, finally here!]
[Sunflower seeds, peanuts, mineral water, come on over and let's tuck our legs in~]
[Front row, tuck your legs in and wait for the God of War to wreak havoc.]
[Give me a bag of sunflower seeds (chewing) What do you guys think? (chewing) How many stars can Ran Shen get this time?]
[Just wondering, wasn't God injured?]
[Oh my God, I see our great Ike!]
[Our great Japanese Empire has finally drawn an S-rank talent! Long live the Great Japanese Empire!]
[Holy crap, how come this time it's a newcomer from China, and a girl at that? This doesn't look good...]
[Upstairs, Sima, what's wrong with the girl? I've got my eye on this newcomer!]
...
The live stream was chaotic, filled with languages from all over the planet, but fortunately, the horror game system had a built-in translation function.
At this moment, in the Horror Game Strategy Department of China, a square-faced man, around 50 years old, wearing a Zhongshan suit and metal glasses, sat behind his desk, put down his thermos, and looked at the huge screen outside through the large floor-to-ceiling windows of the office: "Xiao Li, this is a newcomer. Have all departments pay close attention. If it looks like it's going to fail, immediately notify the military to issue a disaster warning and evacuate."
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"Yes, Commander." The young man standing beside him responded, opened the door and left the commander-in-chief's office. After walking down a long corridor, the space suddenly opened up. It was a large hall of nearly a thousand square meters, with rows of desks in the middle, almost all of which were occupied.
This is the Horror Game Strategy Department of China. Some are researching the levels and abilities of the eerie phenomena, some are doing detailed analysis of live stream videos, and some are doing logic analysis of horror games... Busy staff members keep rushing by.
A huge display screen hung on the wall, showing a live stream of a horror game. Next to it were more than a dozen smaller screens, used to locate and analyze each player participating in the game. At this moment, information on 10 players had already appeared on the small screens. On the screen belonging to Shi Xiao, she casually glanced at the invitation and rule sheet, put them away, and walked into the village without any suspicion.
Commander-in-Chief Zhang Jianguo sighed and shook his head. This new player seemed rather unreliable. China had already experienced nine natural disasters in a row, and only with Wang Ziran's efforts had it finally got a chance to catch its breath...
He sighed deeply and looked at the young man sitting across from him at his desk. The young man, who looked to be around 20 years old, was slumped in a wheelchair, his left leg, left arm, and head all wrapped in gauze, but he was still laughing carefree: "Hey—Uncle Zhang, why are you sighing? You should trust the new talents in our country. I think this guy, Shi Xiao, has a pretty good ability to adapt and is quite brave, unlike some players who were scared like a pig the first time they went in, and dared not do anything, and could only wait to die."
Another young man, dressed in a well-tailored suit, sat on the sofa, smiling as he adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. His words struck a chord with Wang Ziran: "You should focus more on when you'll recover. After all, if you hadn't insisted on going out and having fun, Uncle Zhang wouldn't be so worried." The speaker was Xiao Lin, one of the four Ghost Realm Hunters from China.
"That's slander! It's blatant slander!" Wang Ziran retorted indignantly, "Who would have thought they would actually dare to make a move in China? And so what if I was injured? At least I didn't implicate anyone else, unlike some people..."
"Alright, shut up!" Commander Zhang Jianguo timely interrupted the argument between the two, knowing that continuing would provoke Xiao Lin. These two were the living ancestors of the command center, and he didn't know why they had both come to him today.
"Watch the live stream carefully, and you should all pay more attention to this newcomer. If he has potential, we can consider recruiting him in advance."
In the instant the sun set, the once bustling village of Lijiacun fell silent. The smoke from the chimneys vanished, and the villagers walking on the streets seemed as if they had never been there at all... At this moment, Shi Xiao's innate skill was automatically activated.
[Ever-changing]
On her first time using it, Shi Xiao had no idea what kind of strange thing she would become. A dim light shone from her body. If Shi Xiao had felt a little uneasy before, she now felt a little expectant.
[Talent skill [Thousand Transformations] triggered. Current environment data read. Transforming... *beep* Transformation successful!]
Current transformation state: Li Gou Dan (male)
Weirdness Level: Level 3 Evil Spirit (Originally a Level 9 Evil Spirit)
Weird Exclusive Skill: Dog Shit Bomb
A faint white light swirled around his body, and Shi Xiao's solid form became ethereal. His once fair arms turned dry and black, looking as if they had been scorched by a fire, and even the slightest movement caused them to crumble. He wondered what his face looked like now. Hehe, he'd have to go to the village to find a mirror to check himself out!
And this is weird, tsk, what kind of crappy exclusive skill is this, a dog poop bomb? Shi Xiao looked disgusted. Horror games are broadcast live globally. Throwing dog poop in front of billions of eyes? No, no, no, she doesn't want to die yet. Thispy crap skill can't be used!
Meanwhile, in the eyes of the Blue Star viewers, after a flash of white light, Shi Xiao's figure suddenly disappeared from the live broadcast screen... No one saw that a dark, ghostly figure replaced the Chinese player who was originally standing there, blending into the darkness of Lijia Village.
[Fog grass (a type of plant)! She's gone!]
[What kind of talent skill is this? Invisibility?]
[Hahaha, what's the use of an A-rank invisibility? Our Great Japanese Empire has drawn an S-rank talent this time! All the players in your country are going to die!]
[Get out of here, you notebook upstairs!]
...
As Shi Xiao spoke, she had already entered the village, and she didn't know where the other nine players were. She swaggered along, looking around. She had walked this road before, and both sides were tightly closed gates. There wasn't a single person, not even a shadowy figure.
She stopped in front of a dilapidated wooden house. In her previous life, she had hidden in this very house and safely spent her first night there.
As everyone knows, nighttime is dangerous in horror game instances, and according to rule number 4, a good guest shouldn't be wandering around outside late at night. So even though Shi Xiao has now become a ghost, she still plans to find a place to stay first.
Floating to the front of the wooden house, Shi Xiao politely knocked on the door. She had done the same in her previous life. Although there was no one in the village at night, as a good guest, she felt that she should still show proper manners.
However, unlike in her previous life, when she knocked on the door a second time, it creaked open...
The door opened?
The crack in the door slowly widened until the wooden door opened completely. The house was pitch black, with a cold wind blowing through it, and it was impossible to see what was inside in the darkness.
Just as Shi Xiao was hesitating whether to go in, a head with sunken cheeks and emaciated features peeked out from the darkness. Actually, saying it was emaciated was an exaggeration; it was just skin and bones wrapped in dry, wrinkled skin, with sunken eye sockets filled with black, rotting flesh.
Oh no! Something's fishy! That was Shi Xiao's first thought.
Run! That was Shi Xiao's second thought.
But before she could take a step, a glimmer of light seemed to appear in the dark, vacant eye socket of the starving ghost, like the surprise of seeing a familiar face. Then she stretched out her withered hand and waved at Shi Xiao: "Oh, isn't this Gou Dan!"
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Shi Xiao... suddenly realized.
Oh right, right, I am Li Gou Dan, and I am a weirdo now!
The Starving Ghost's arm suddenly grew very long, reaching out from the wooden house, grabbing Shi Xiao's arm, and pulling her into the wooden house.
Starving Ghost was unusually enthusiastic: "Dog Egg, didn't you go to the city? Why are you back all of a sudden?"
Still unaware of the true nature of the starving ghost before him, Shi Xiao chuckled and said, "I... well, I heard there was a happy occasion in the village, so I came back specifically to share in the joy."
To everyone's surprise, something seemed to move inside the dark, hollow eye sockets of the starving ghost. Although she didn't have any eyeballs at all, she lowered her voice and mysteriously leaned close to Shi Xiao: "You've heard about it in the city? Isn't that great news? Auntie will have your little brother Maosheng add you to the group later."
Join the group? Join what group? Shi Xiao was a little confused. Are the supernatural worlds this trendy now? But on the surface, she still pretended to be calm: "You have to say, Auntie is the best. She doesn't hide anything from me. If there's anything I can help you with next time, just let me know."
These words struck a chord with the starving ghost. She nervously rubbed her hands together, and the already dry skin on her hands began to flake off, almost revealing the white bones underneath.
"Hey, Gou Dan, I heard you're doing quite well in the city. Next time... could you take your little brother Mao Sheng with you? You know, there's not much work in this village. His dad's been a poor carpenter his whole life, barely making ends meet. I'm getting old, and I don't expect to have a good life in the city. If you take Mao Sheng with you, he's an honest and capable boy. Thank you in advance!"
"Hey, Auntie, you're being too polite! It's nothing, I'll take care of it." Shi Xiao patted her chest readily. She was getting better and better at playing Li Gou Dan. She had originally worried that the natives would recognize her as an imposter, but the talent skill given by the horror game system turned out to be quite reliable. The Starving Ghost chatted with her about everyday things for a long time without noticing a single clue.
"Auntie, I just got back, so I'm going back to my own home first." After chatting with the starving ghost for a long time, it was all just some trivial and insignificant things, and there was no news that interested her at all, so Shi Xiao decided to leave first.
Unexpectedly, the starving ghost grabbed her arm: "Why go back? Tonight the village chief is having a lion dance feast in the east, everyone's going. Come on, let's go with your aunt!" He then called out to the inner room: "Sheng'er, let's go out!"
"Hey, here it comes!" Then came a loud "thump thump thump" sound, and the whole wooden house shook. A round, fleshy ball popped out of the dark inner room.
"Hey, Brother Gou Dan, you're back! My mother keeps mentioning you to me!" Although he was called a flesh bomb, his skin wasn't smooth at all. His entire body and face were covered with pitted wounds, as if pieces of flesh had been gouged out with a sharp instrument, and black pus and blood were gushing out from the rotting parts.
"Sheng'er, Mom doesn't know how to use this bracelet. Why don't you drag your brother Gou Dan'er into that 'Xixi' group in our village?" Starving Ghost fiddled with the bracelet on his wrist. He was getting old and couldn't keep up with the trends of the young and strange. After fiddling with it for a few times, he became impatient and said to his son.
"Okay, Mom, it's not the Xixi group, it's the Quick Message group." Maosheng tapped his wristband against Shixiao's wristband, then tapped repeatedly, and Shixiao's wristband received a notification.
[Beep—The Invincible Human Bomber invites you to join [The Loving and Harmonious Li Family Village]]
[Joined successfully]
[Time's Laughter Joins [The Loving Li Family Village]]
I'm the most handsome guy in the whole village! [Who's this? Are there any other people in our village who haven't come in yet? Smoking jpg]
Little Cuihua: [No one from our village came in... Could it be Brother Gou Dan? Only Brother Gou Dan went to the city.]
Invincible Human Bomb [Yes, it's Dog Egg Bro, I brought him in! (Smug face emoji)]
The old village chief: [Welcome back, Gou Dan'er!]
Blood Butcher's Knife: [Hurry up! I've already slaughtered the pig, why aren't you here yet?]
As serene as a chrysanthemum [Time to eat~ rose jpg rose jpg rose jpg rose jpg rose jpg rose jpg rose jpg]
...
Am I really in a horror game instance? Am I mistaken? Having been reborn, Shi Xiao says he's truly learned a lot this time! This instant messaging service is surprisingly similar to WeChat in the real world; it has all the necessary functions.
Shi Xiao replied with an emoji in the group chat, then followed Starving Ghost and Cat Leftover towards the east end of the village. After Cat Leftover's explanation, Shi Xiao suddenly realized that what Aunt Li had mentioned about the Lion's Feast was actually a swearing-in banquet. Apparently, a powerful figure had arrived from outside and taken over the Li Family Village instance, but Cat Leftover and the others had never met this so-called powerful figure; the figure only communicated with them and assigned tasks via express messages.
When Shi Xiao and the others arrived, six large round tables had already been set up in the open space at the east end of the village, and all sorts of strange and eerie figures were busy serving dishes and setting out bowls and chopsticks.
A gaunt old man stood in front of the open space, giving orders: "Who hasn't arrived yet? Dali, go and urge them on."
The old man was none other than the village chief of Li Family Village. The moment Shi Xiao saw the old man, the game system notification sounded in his mind: [Ding—Triggered 3-star clear, defeated Li Family Village Chief Li Dezhu]
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As the spiritual pillar of Li Family Village, Li Dezhu can absorb the evil power of all the villagers. Killing him carries a certain risk; please choose carefully!
Shi Xiao quickly tapped the bracelet to identify the village chief. In his normal state, the village chief was only a level 2 evil spirit, while most of the villagers in Li Family Village were level 1 evil spirits. However, he now possessed the strength of a level 3 evil spirit. Should he... just kill the village chief?
The thought had just crossed her mind when Shi Xiao quickly suppressed it. A 3-star clear wasn't what she wanted, and killing the village chief now might attract the dungeon's final boss, which would be a loss. She should wait and see.
"Yes," Li Dali responded, knocking on doors and calling out to each household in the village.
The village chief smiled strangely when he saw this, his already withered and wrinkled face looking even more eerie: "Dog Egg, why did you suddenly come back? You didn't even say you were coming back. Your brother Guangzong has been talking about you!"
Li Guangzong is the village chief's son. According to the information Shi Xiao collected in her previous life, Li Guangzong is an idiot. In order to find a wife for his idiot son, Li Dezhu conspired with the villagers to trick a female student who was traveling, I think her name was Zhou Nian. She should be locked up in the village chief's cellar at this time.
In my previous life, I achieved a 2-star clear by secretly rescuing this female student from the cellar.
"Hey, village chief, where's Brother Guangzong? Why didn't he come?" Shi Xiao looked around, but didn't seem to see Li Guangzong in the crowd.
Li Dezhu stroked the wooden cane in his hand: "That kid's mental state has been getting more and more unstable these past few days... Sigh, go check on him after you finish eating."
The sentimental Aunt Li next to her had already started wiping away tears. These boys had grown up together, and although her own cat, Sheng'er, was not as successful as Gou Dan, he was still better than the village chief's.
Shi Xiao repeatedly agreed, saying that they should go and inquire about Li Guangzong's situation.
Mao Sheng'er sat down with Shi Xiao. They saw that the table was full of young and strange people, who were probably all Li Gou Dan's playmates of the same age.
To Shi Xiao's left sat Mao Sheng'er, and to her right sat a female ghost wearing a red floral jacket and two braids. The female ghost secretly sized up Shi Xiao, and Shi Xiao glanced at her. This female ghost seemed to be one of the few ghosts in the entire Li Family Village who had retained her appearance from her previous life. Her face was delicate, but somewhat ashen, and water dripped from her body as she sat there, indicating that she was a drowned ghost. Unexpectedly, the female ghost blushed instantly, her hands fidgeting nervously under the table, clutching a handkerchief.
A strange, weak female voice rang out: "Brother Gou Dan, you're back." Shi Xiao smiled and nodded at her. She tried to speak as little as possible to those she didn't know, so as not to give herself away.
Just then, Li Dali, who had gone to call for more people, returned, carrying a jar of liquor, and sat down at Shi Xiao's table with a swagger: "Goudan, it's been a long time since we brothers have had a drink together!"
Mao Sheng'er, who was standing next to him, also said, "Yeah, Brother Gou Dan, you've been gone for seven or eight years without a word. Have you made it big in the city and stopped caring about us childhood friends?"
"How could that be? I'm busy, aren't I?" Shi Xiao didn't want to anger these strange creatures for the time being, especially Li Dali, whose death looked the most gruesome. Half of his body was rotten, half of his head was gone, and his eyeballs were drooping, as if they would fall out at any moment.
"Stop bullying Brother Gou Dan! He just got back!" A soft voice came from the female ghost beside Shi Xiao, trying to help her out. Shi Xiao's heart jumped. Could this female ghost like Li Gou Dan?
"Cui Cui, you're just biased towards this boy. He's always been like this since he was little. Your mother has already told my mother that you're going to marry me, so you can't have any other thoughts about Gou Dan!" The carefree Li Dali seemed to have no guile. Since they were all relatives in the village, he just said whatever came to mind.
Instantly, the young, strange men at the table joined in the commotion, making Li Cuicui blush bright red with embarrassment. She frantically rummaged through her handkerchief under the table even more.
With this confirmed, it's true that this woman has a strange crush on Li Gou Dan. But she's Li Dali's betrothed, so it's best to stay away. Shi Xiao subtly shifted her position to the side.
The dishes were all served—seven or eight meat, all of which looked quite appetizing. However, Shi Xiao didn't dare to touch them casually. Fortunately, there was still a stir-fried vegetable dish and a mixed tofu dish. Although she had now transformed into a monster, she figured eating monster food shouldn't be a problem. But everyone knew exactly what kind of meat monsters ate, and she still couldn't get past that mental hurdle.
Amid the noisy banquet, the village chief cleared his throat and said, "Ahem, let me say a few words first."
"As you all know, a very important person has come to our Li Family Village this time and has given us a glorious mission. As long as we follow the instructions of the important person and complete this mission, everyone will be rewarded!"
"As the adults said, the human players from the other world have already arrived in our village. Everyone has joined the Xixi group, right? Have you all remembered the rules? Whoever catches a player who breaks the rules gets to keep them. Don't touch any players who haven't broken the rules!"
"These next few days, we will proceed as normal according to the process of Guangzong's wedding. Those who have been assigned tasks should remember their tasks, and those who have not received any notice should continue with their daily work."
...
"Also, make sure to keep an eye on the Li Family Village group chat and complete all the tasks assigned by the adults! Come on, let's toast to the bright future of our village!"
"Cheers!" "Cheers!" "Cheers~"
"Brother Gou Dan, eat more. You've lost a lot of weight." Li Cuicui kept putting a few bites of food on Shi Xiao's plate, but Shi Xiao didn't dare to eat them. He could only secretly call over the village's big yellow dog and secretly feed the dog half a bowl of meat and vegetables.
Big Yellow had never seen Li Gou Dan before, but it thought this strange thing was really good. The meat that its owner usually wouldn't even eat himself was all given to it. It was so delicious!
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After had eaten and drunk their fill, they began to leave one by one. Shi Xiao followed the village chief, saying he was going to visit Li Guangzong. After all, what else could he do? He didn't even know where Li Gou Dan lived; he couldn't just grab any random everyone weirdo and ask, "Do you know where I live?"
"Dog Egg, you've seen the world in the city, you're a man of your own mind. Your brother Guangzong won't listen to anyone right now, go and talk to him a bit, maybe he'll listen. Getting married isn't shameful, even if a woman doesn't want to, she has to get married, and once she's married, she'll naturally settle down." The village chief, leaning on his wooden cane, shakily pushed open the door and led Shi Xiao inside.
The village chief's house was the tallest and had the largest yard in Lijia Village. Shi Xiao was surprised to see several chickens there, and they were actually live chickens! It seems that although all the villagers of Lijia Village have become monsters, they are still newly formed monsters and retain some normal human living habits. Thinking about it this way, the meat they just ate was probably real poultry and livestock meat.
The village chief, Gui, led Shi Xiao into the inner room. As they passed the haystacks in the yard, Shi Xiao glanced at them again. She knew that the cellar door was hidden under those haystacks, and Zhou Nian was imprisoned inside the cellar. But she didn't dare to show any extra emotion and followed the village chief, Gui, into the house.
Although Lijia Village appears backward and poor, the village chief's house is surprisingly spacious. The inner room on the first floor is clean and tidy, with an oil lamp lit for illumination. The room is fully furnished with basic furniture. Li Guangzong sits alone on a small stool, head down, fingers sliding on the floor, looking focused, seemingly doing something.
"Brother Guangzong, it's me, Gou Dan. Do you remember me?" Shi Xiao asked tentatively.
"Dog Egg?" Li Guangzong looked up. He was clean and tidy, except for being a little thin and pale. He looked no different from a normal human being. His eyes were clear but blank. When he saw him, his eyes lit up as he smiled: "Dog Egg, Dog Egg, are you here to play with me?"
"You haven't come to play with me in so long." Li Guangzong looked a little aggrieved, but after a moment, he became happy again: "I'll take you to play with my sister, to play with my sister!"
"Brother Guangzong, what sister are you talking about?" Li Guangzong is the village chief's only son. Could this sister be Zhou Nian?
Li Guangzong grabbed Shi Xiao and tried to walk out, but stopped abruptly at the door, clutching his head and crouching down in anguish. "No, no, I can't do this." He pounded his head, his eyes red as he looked at Shi Xiao. "Gou Dan, I was wrong, I'm a sinner... Go save her... Go save Li Family Village..."
With a loud bang, the village chief Gui Dali pushed open the door, grabbed Li Guangzong's wrist tightly, and walked towards the wooden bed. He skillfully and deftly pulled out a string of iron chains from under the bed and locked them onto Li Guangzong's wrist with a click.
Oh no! Shi Xiao had a bad feeling. Could Li Dezhu have killed him to cover it up? After locking his son up, Li Dezhu sighed and looked at Shi Xiao with a deep frown: "Sigh—Guangzong has had another episode. Don't laugh at me, Gou Dan, but everyone in the village knows about this."
Li Dezhu pulled out a pipe from his pocket, lit it, took a deep drag, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and then spoke again: "Guangzong doesn't want to harm people, and I know it's not good to do this, but we're already in a strange situation. For the sake of Li Family Village, for the sake of Guangzong, this marriage has to happen whether he likes it or not!"
It seems she worried for nothing. That's right, she's now portraying Li Gou Dan from Li Family Village, which means she's one of Li Dezhu's own people!
"Uncle Dezhu, I'm also a member of Lijia Village, and I understand your good intentions." No matter what, I have to show that I'm on the village chief's side first!
Li Dezhu nodded: "Our Li Family Village won't mistreat that girl. Once she becomes a monster, I, Li Dezhu, will treat her like royalty! You should persuade Guangzong. The auspicious day is in three days, and this marriage must go through!"
Shi Xiao nodded hurriedly: "Of course, but Uncle Dezhu, where is the bride?"
Li Dezhu didn't suspect Shi Xiao: "She's locked up in the cellar. This girl is very stubborn, but don't worry, once a young lady gets married and has a child, she'll naturally settle down."
Just then, a series of beeping notification sounds rang out; it was Li Dezhu's bracelet beeping. Li Dezhu glanced at the bracelet, tapped the pipe in his hand, and then stood up shakily and walked outside: "Let's go, Gou Dan, that sir wants us to work."
"Hey, I'm here."
Beep beep beep, several more notification sounds from the bracelet. Shi Xiao looked at his bracelet; it was a new message notification from the group chat of [Loving Li Family Village]. It was a pure black profile picture he had never seen before, and the name was "Ghost God's Assistant No. 999".
Ghost God's Assistant No. 999 [Players have entered Li Family Village. Let them experience the surprise welcome gift you prepared, hehehehe~]
The old village chief said, "Old buddies, let's get to work! Report any issues immediately! Dali and Maosheng, you two are in charge outside. Da Niu and Er Ya, you go to the ancestral graves. Everyone else, go back to your houses."
I'm the most handsome guy in the whole village! [Don't worry, village chief, I can take on five people at once! (Muscles jpg)]
Blood Butcher's Blade [Alright!]
Invincible Human Bomber [Alright, Village Chief!]
Silly girl [Hehehe, I've arrived...]
Old Village Chief: [Dog Egg, you've come back so suddenly, and we didn't assign you any work beforehand. Go to the mobile unit.]
The Laughter of Time [ok.jpg]
...
Ghostly Master's Assistant No. 999 [The player has been in the second house on the west side for half an hour! Whose house is this?! Why haven't they made a move yet?! *flips table*]
8. booK.com
Little Cuihua [dog sneaking around jpg Um... looks like Dog Egg's house.]
Assistant No. 999 to the Ghost God: [Li Gou Dan!! Li Gou Dan!! Where are you? Where are you hiding and slacking off?! I've been in your house for half an hour! Can you even do your job?! If you can't, get the hell out of here!]
Li Gou Dan Ben Dan Shi Xiao... Huh? My home? Although he was angrily scolded by No. 999, at least he now knows where his home is.
Shi Xiao replied with "[Coming soon!]" and hurried towards the west side of the village. She remembered this house; in her previous life, apart from Odin from the Snow Country, all the other players had chosen it as their base. No wonder the first night in her previous life was Christmas Eve—it turned out that was Li Gou Dan's house, and the real Li Gou Dan wasn't even there.
At this moment, in Li Gou Dan's house, the eight players had carefully inspected the entire wooden house. The house was only a bit dilapidated, and the furniture, pots and pans were covered with a thick layer of dust, but there were no other major problems. It could provide shelter from the wind and rain, which was enough for the players.
"Cough cough, there's so much dust. Is this a place for a human to stay?" The speaker was an Asian girl who looked to be in her early twenties. She had fair skin and was wearing a well-made white tracksuit. From her clothes and appearance, it was easy to tell that she was a pampered rich girl.
Another young woman of European descent, dressed in a black business suit, glanced at her and said, "This is a horror game, not child's play." In a horror game instance, finding a safe place to spend the night is already extremely difficult. As everyone knows, the nights in games are never very quiet. Even though this instance didn't seem difficult, she't intend to actually sleep. Instead, she found a corner where she could see the door, sat down fully clothed, and closed her eyes to rest.
[Waaaaah~ Our nation's little sister is so pitiful, having to spend the night in a place like this!]
[This is our South Korean national little sister, Song Eun-ah! Sob sob sob, I feel so sorry for her.]
[Little sister, you must do your best!]
[Lina is so cool and stylish! I watched her last live stream, and she was absolutely amazing when she was doing the deductions! Ahhh, I love her!]
[As expected of our goddess Lina from Yingning Kingdom! Not spoiled at all, unlike some people.]
[Ugh, is the person upstairs trying to start a fight? How dare they talk about our nation's little sister!]
[All eight people are here, where is Shi Xiao from China?]
[Haha, a newcomer dares to run around like this? I think China is doomed this time.]
...
"You women are so delicate. If you can't stand it, then get out!" The speaker was a short, thin, dark-skinned man named Manny from India. He didn't care about appearances and simply found a spot against the wall and lay down casually, since he often slept on the floor anyway.
A middle-aged man who looked like a businessman found a chair, took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the man clean, glanced at Manny lying on the ground with a disdainful look, and then sat down. This was Hassan from the oil country.
Although he also wanted to sleep in the bed, there was only one wooden bed in the house, which was already occupied by the muscular giant Ike from the United States. Ike was a veteran player who had completed the game four times in a row. With his muscular physique and his S-rank talent [Ironclad], almost everyone knew him, and no one dared to provoke him.
However, a man wearing black-rimmed glasses and a black suit followed closely behind Ike like a servant from the moment they entered the game instance. This man was Narita Tsunayoshi from Japan. At this moment, he was squatting by Ike's bedside, offering him a bowl of water that he had found from who-knows-where with a fawning expression: "Ike-san, I just found a well in the yard, would you like some water?"
Ike glanced at him, then at the water. Who knew if there was anything wrong with the water in this terrifying dungeon, or if it was still drinkable? He decisively refused: "You found it, you drink it first."
Upon hearing this, Narita Tsunayoshi thought that Ike had acknowledged him as his follower, so he happily finished the bowl of water, wiped his mouth after drinking, and said, "This water is so sweet, I'll go get you another bowl!" After saying that, he ran towards the backyard.
"Lackey, being used as a guinea pig and still feeling smug." Hughes from Australia sneered, then found a wooden stool and sat down next to Hassan. Hearing the noise, Hassan turned to look at Hughes, and the two nodded to each other as a greeting.
After looking around and not seeing anyone fawning over her, Song Enya stomped her foot in frustration. She was the most famous idol in South Korea, always the center of attention wherever she went. But considering that this was a horror game instance, she reluctantly pinched her nose and sat down with Lucy from Maple Leaf Country and Lina from England.
Just as Shi Xiao arrived, she saw Narita Tsunayoshi open the door of the house and come out, carrying a broken bowl towards the backyard. Was he going to fetch water from the well in the backyard? That sycophantic little devil had caused Shi Xiao a lot of trouble in her previous life. I'll scare him to death.
The well in the backyard looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. The wooden bucket used to draw water was broken and leaked. Narita Tsunayoshi drew water three times before he could barely fill a bowl. Satisfied, he put down the broken bucket and was about to take the water back when he suddenly felt a shadow move in the water.
"Could it be..." Something inside is about to come out? Narita Tsunayoshi's hand, holding the bowl, involuntarily began to sift the chaff. He must have seen wrong. Unconvinced, he looked into the well water again. This time he saw it clearly: a dark skull was floating on the surface of the water, its dark eye sockets staring straight at him.
"Damn it..." Narita Tsunayoshi's legs began to tremble. He cautiously tried to back away, but as he did, he felt something bump against his back: "Aaaaah—"
The strange thing wasn't in the well at all! It was behind him!
Shi Xiao, with his head blackened by the fever, forced what he thought was a friendly smile: "Hi, how are you?"
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However, to Narita Tsunayoshi's ears, this incredibly friendly greeting sounded like "hohohohoho...", as if it were coming from a throat scorched by a fire. He could feel the eerie gusts of wind blowing from so close by.
Narita Tsunayoshi felt his blood freeze, his legs went weak, and he slowly turned his head. A face as black as charcoal was only 5 centimeters away from his own, a strange smile twisting its lips, and black mist spewing from its mouth. He could even see the bloody, rotting flesh hidden between the strange teeth: "Aaaaah—something's weird!"
He wanted to run. He was just a newbie entering the game for the first time, and in the real world, he was just an ordinary office worker. Although he had drawn an S-level talent, he hadn't dealt with the strange weapon yet, and he didn't want to die! In his extreme fear, he even forgot to use his talent. His legs went weak as mud, and he stumbled and fell backward.
Shi Xiao watched as Narita Tsunayoshi fell onto the well embankment with a "crack," his neck snapping at an odd angle. His face contorted in pain and resentment as he breathed his last. Startled, she let out a piercing scream: "Ahhh—!" Ahhh—He's dead! He's faking it!! She only wanted to scare him, she hadn't even touched him, yet this scoundrel dared to cheat her out of politeness!
Having already undergone the bloody trials of horror games in her previous life, Shi Xiao's mentality was already stronger than that of ordinary people. Although she had never directly killed anyone, there were still people who died because of her. It was perfectly normal for a few people to die in horror games.
But after all, it was his first time killing someone, and the victim was a Japanese player. Shi Xiao's hands were trembling quite badly; he was excited. The commotion must have alerted the other players, and he had to leave now.
Those inside the house heard Narita Tsunayoshi scream twice, followed by a sharp, eerie hiss, and knew something terrible must have happened.
[Beep—Narita Tsunayoshi of Japan is eliminated, punishment erupts at Mount Fuji, countdown begins in 1 hour!]
The warning sound from the horror game system confirmed everyone's suspicions: something had indeed gone wrong!
"Let's go! Let's take a look!" Ike, lying on the wooden bed, rolled over and sat up. A flash of cold light, and a dagger appeared in his hand. This was the weapon he received as a reward for completing the first level of the game. An ordinary dagger wouldn't be able to harm the monster, but this wasn't an ordinary dagger; it was a weapon monster given by the system. Ike left, and Hughes followed. Hassan hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth: "I'll just follow from a distance and take a look; I absolutely won't get close!"
Among the women, Lina also had a silver cane in her hand. She was about to get up when Song Enya suddenly grabbed her: "That Japanese man is dead. Let them go and see him. We don't need to go... Hey! You!" Lina shook off Song Enya's hand, took the cane, and went out.
Song Enya angrily complained to Lucy beside her, "I shouldn't have stopped her. She went to her death and didn't know what was good for her!" Lucy also didn't dare to go out, but she didn't dare to stay in the same place either. Instead, she stood up and walked to the window to check, so that she could escape immediately if she found any danger.
Manny remained calmly lying on the ground, glancing at the two men: "One of us died on the first night, so we're probably safe now. Let's go to sleep."
The comments section was now in chaos. The more the Japanese people had praised Narita Tsunayoshi, the more vulgar their insults became.
[Baka baka, Narita, that idiot!]
[Narita is a traitor to our great Japanese Empire! His entire family must be found! They must all die!]
[Narita, that salaryman, is truly useless! He's wasted a precious S-rank talent!]
...
[Hahaha, those little devils in Narita were actually scared to death! That's hilarious!]
[Family members, does anyone understand? I'm finding this weird stuff strangely appealing now~]
[Let's say (eating sunflower seeds) Is it possible (chewing) um (chewing) this weirdo is one of our own comrades?]
[By the way, haven't you guys noticed? Where are our Chinese players? They haven't shown up at all.]
[Why are there so many silly shots? Why aren't there any shots of Chinese players?]
...
Silly girl smiled... She was busy replying to group messages at the moment.
Ghost God's Assistant No. 999 [First blood! Li Gou Dan, well done! @Time's Laughter]
Assistant No. 999 to the Demon Lord: [Everyone else must follow Li Gou Dan's example. Once this mission is completed, I'll treat you all to the finest food and drink!]
Invincible Human Bomb [As expected of Dog Egg Bro! Those who've been to big cities are truly different!]
I'm the coolest guy in the whole village! [Hey, it's a good thing these players didn't come here, otherwise I'd take them all down in one hit! *smoking emoji*]
Old Village Chief: [Dog Egg did well, everyone else needs to keep up the good work!]
Little Cuihua [Dog Egg Bro is really amazing~]
Blood Butcher's Knife [Sharpening Knife.jpg]
As serene as a chrysanthemum [Dog Egg Rose jpg Rose jpg Rose jpg]
Looking at the messages in the group, Shi Xiao had a dazed feeling, never expecting that she would be praised in such a strange way.
The Laughter of Time [You flatter me, I have not failed you.]
I'm the most handsome guy in the whole village! [Damn it, why don't these people come to me?!]
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Blood Butcher's Blade [My men are here!]
I'm the most handsome guy in the whole village! [Someone's here? Someone's here from your area?]
I'm the most handsome guy in the whole village! [Holy crap, say something! @BloodSlaughterer]
I'm the most handsome guy in the whole village! [@BloodSlaughterKnife @BloodSlaughterKnife @BloodSlaughterKnife]
I'm the most handsome guy in the whole village! [Damn it! Where are you?! Wait for me! @BloodSlaughterKnife]
As serene as a chrysanthemum [Children are not allowed to swear @I'm the most handsome in the whole village rose jpg rose jpg rose jpg]
I'm the most handsome guy in the whole village. [...Okay, Mom, I was wrong.]
...
Ike and Hughes had arrived at the backyard, which was even more dilapidated than the house. Weeds grew everywhere, and only the well was paved with bluestone slabs, with a broken bucket lying to the side. Narita Tsunayoshi was lying face up next to the well, his eyes wide with rage, as if he had seen something extremely horrifying before he died, his neck twisted into an eerie arc.
Ike stepped forward to examine him: "He must have seen something terrifying." Hughes touched Narita Tsunayoshi's broken cervical vertebrae and nodded in agreement: "However, the cause of his death was that his neck was broken."
Ike's expression turned serious: "In previous instances, the Weird wouldn't suddenly kill someone for no reason. Could it be that he violated some rule?"
There are only a few known rules so far, and everyone already knows them from their invitations. Could it be that Narita Tsunayoshi has violated some unknown rule?
Hughes put down the body, picked up the old bucket that had been thrown aside, and gestured to Ike: "Is this it?"
"It's possible…" Ike nodded. Of all of them, only Narita Tsunayoshi had drunk water from this well.
On the very first day of entering the game's dungeon, before even figuring out how to clear it, one of our players was already killed. It seems this game dungeon isn't as easy as we thought!
"Hey—have you found anything?" Hassan stood in front of the house and shouted to the two from a distance.
The two glanced at each other, found nothing else, and then walked back one after the other.
"So, Narita Tsunayoshi must have been attacked by an extremely terrifying and bizarre attack, but it's still unclear what triggered the bizarre killing intent." The three returned to the cabin. Hassan hesitated for a moment, then moved his wooden chair closer to the wooden bed before plopping down.
Song Enya and Lucy, who remained inside the house, also moved closer to Ike out of fear: "Didn't the rules say that the villagers are all kind and friendly?"
Hassan scoffed at this. Where did this naive girl come from? Did she really think there were any kind monsters in the dungeon? If it weren't for the rules, the players would probably be torn to shreds the moment they landed.
Ike wasn't afraid at all. He plunged a dagger into the headboard and said, "Come on if you dare! My dagger isn't just for show."
Hughes sat back down on the bench. Although he didn't really want to talk to the players who weren't participating, as a proper gentleman, he still answered Song Enya's question: "They might be friendly as long as you don't break the rules. In short, it's best not to make any rash moves until you've found all the rules."
Song Enya and Lucy breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize then that only Ike, Hughes sigh, and Hassan had returned: "Hey, where's Lina? Why didn't she come back with you?"
"Lina went out too?" The group realized that one person was missing.
"She just followed you out. Didn't you see her?" Lucy, who had been comforted, started to get scared again. Could something have happened to Lina too? Was there some other danger lurking here tonight?
Ike glanced at Hughes; he was the first to leave, with Hughes following behind. Unexpectedly, Hughes shook his head: "I arrived in the backyard almost at the same time as you, but I didn't see her." Then they both looked at Hassan, who was walking at the back.
Hassan hurriedly waved his hand: "I was right behind you, the third one to leave the cabin. I turned a corner and stopped when I could see the backyard. If that girl had really followed me, I would have seen her... but I really didn't see her! Believe me! I have no reason to harm her!"
It was everyone's first day in the game instance, and they hadn't interacted before, so there couldn't possibly be any deep-seated hatred between them. Moreover, they all knew that in a horror game, it was better to keep teammates alive as scouts and sacrificial lambs than to kill them without reason.
Lina may have discovered something and went somewhere else alone. Since the game system hasn't given any indication that Lina is out of the game, she should still be alive.
[I can hardly bear to watch! This young lady from Yingning is so brave!]
[Lina, please don't go! Please, don't go!]
[By the way, did you guys even get a clear look at what that thing was?]
[Same question. I just saw a dark thing flash by. Was it a creepy NPC?]
[I saw it. It's that stupid monster that just killed Narita Tsunayoshi.]
[Aaaaaah—protect me from the barrage of comments! Protect me from the barrage of comments! Why give it a close-up shot?! This silly monster is so ugly!]
(8) BOok.COM
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In a horror game livestream, a dark skull appeared on the screen. Calling it a skull isn't quite accurate, because there were still some dry, wrinkled skin and flesh clinging to the bones on its face. Its eye sockets were black holes, and its whole body looked as if it had been charred and dried out, with the skin and flesh turned outwards.
The charred, eerie figure was none other than the idiot Shi Xiao. After leaving Li Gou Dan's backyard, Shi Xiao received a private message from number 999: [Stop! Don't kill them all on the first day, how am I supposed to play?] [Go back to the mobile team first, I'll contact you if there's a mission.] [By the way, how did you know to kill players this way?] [That was so satisfying!] [You can kill them without them breaking the rules, hehehe~] [You're not bad! Join my team from now on!] [This time, I'll definitely make the Ghost God very satisfied, hehehe~]
Unexpectedly, this number 999 was also quite talkative, so Shi Xiao simply ignored it after reading it. At that moment, she noticed the little tail following her. Hmm? Who dared to stalk her?
Shi Xiao stolethily slipped away, his already charred body perfectly concealed in the darkness.
After waiting for a while, she finally saw a furtive black figure. The night in Li Family Village was dark, and by the faint moonlight, Shi Xiao finally recognized her—it was Lina from Yingning Kingdom!
Lina had helped her in her previous life, so why not give her a big gift in return? Take her to Zhou Nian's place! With that thought, Shi Xiao reappeared, pretending not to notice anyone following her, and continued to drift forward.
Halfway there, Lina noticed that the strange creature had suddenly disappeared. "Huh? Why did it suddenly disappear? Did it find me?" Lina cautiously gripped her silver cane, her signature weapon. The other end of the cane was exceptionally sharp, capable of breaking through the strange creature's eerie aura barrier and causing substantial damage to it.
Lina cautiously searched the area where the eerie creature had disappeared, but found nothing. The night in the horror game was far too dangerous; since she hadn't found anything useful, she decided to return the way she came. Just as she was about to go back, she suddenly noticed the eerie creature reappearing a short distance ahead, drifting forward.
Lina hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to follow them quietly.
This strange and eerie thing led her through a winding path until she reached the east side of the village.
They had no choice but to take a detour! Shi Xiao had seen Li Dali wandering around the village several times! Several times! This guy must have been provoked today, patrolling extra diligently. If he spotted Lina, it was hard to say whether she would die, but a fierce battle was certain. She had no choice but to deliberately take a detour with Lina, avoiding Li Dali's patrol route.
"This is really strange. You can get here by going straight from the main road of the village, so why did he take such a big detour? Is there some deeper meaning to this route?" Lina wrote down Shi Xiao's route and planned to walk it again after dawn the next day. She was determined to find out what secret this route held!
Lina followed the village chief to his house, only to find that the strange creature she had been tracking had disappeared after that. "This house and yard are clearly larger than the others; it must belong to a wealthy family in the village, or... the village chief." Lina surveyed the chief's house. The bamboo fence outside wasn't high, and it was easy to climb over. The three-story wooden house was dilapidated, and although the wooden door was crooked, it still stood firmly at the entrance. dark. In the yard, besides a chicken coop that had collapsed halfway, there was only a tall stack of hay.
Lina tiptoed toward the haystack; the strange thing from before seemed to have disappeared in this direction.
As she got closer to the haystack, she seemed to faintly hear low sobs, which sounded particularly eerie in the quiet mountain village.
Lina carefully checked her surroundings to make sure there was no danger nearby, then activated her [Invisibility] talent before approaching the haystack and gently poking it in with her silver cane. The cane encountered no resistance; it seemed to be just an ordinary haystack.
"Strange, the sound was clearly coming from the haystack..." Lina thought for a moment, then squatted down and carefully tried to discern the crying sound, even holding her breath.
"Waaah..." The low sobbing sound seemed to be coming from below.
Lina gently pushed the haystack, and a wooden plank suddenly appeared beneath her feet...
"Should we go down? Or go back first and get a few more people to come with us? Or should we wait until dawn to come back?" Lina hesitated. She knew that there must be a very important clue hidden behind this wooden plank, but it also came with great danger.
Before she could hesitate for long, a tall, dark figure appeared in Lina's line of sight and was slowly approaching her!
"Damn it! A monster is coming!" Invisibility only lasts for 10 minutes at a time, and with less than 2 minutes left, any further hesitation would only lead to discovery. Lina gritted her teeth. She decided to take a gamble. Going down might not be dangerous, but staying would definitely result in being discovered. She gently lifted the wooden door, creating a gap just large enough for a person to pass through, and crouched down to slide inside. Once inside, she moved the haystack back to block the entrance, then quietly closed the wooden door.
This was a cellar, but unlike the pitch-black darkness outside, several oil lamps illuminated the small cellar brightly. The cellar was divided into two halves; one half contained dozens of huge wine jars, while the other half held a large iron cage. Inside the cage was a female student who looked to be in her early twenties. Her clothes were still intact but filthy, and she sat huddled in a corner, sobbing, her hair disheveled.
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Even when she heard someone come in, Zhou Nian didn't look up. These days, only Li Dezhu would occasionally come in to bring her water and food. Apart from that, she couldn't see anyone else.
As soon as Lina entered, she saw people locked in an iron cage. Yes, people, not monsters! She never expected there to be normal humans in this game instance.
The game system notification sounded in Lina's ears: [Ding—Unlocked 2-star completion, rescue Zhou Nian]
The bride captured by Li Family Village looks like a human, hmm? Should we save her?
She found a clue to clearing the level with two stars! Lina used her bracelet to confirm the other party's human identity before deactivating her invisibility. Excitedly, she walked to the iron cage and whispered, "Hey, hey, you're human, right?"
Zhou Nian's sobs stopped abruptly. She suddenly raised her head. She had been locked up here by Li Dezhu for more than ten days. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her bloodshot eyes were wide open as she stared blankly at Lina: "You...who are you?"
"My name is Lina. You don't need to know who I am, but I can help you."
"...Help me? Really? You...aren't from Li Family Village?"
"I'm not from Lijia Village. I can save you, but you have to tell me everything you know."
Zhou Nian nodded repeatedly, as if a drowning person had finally grasped a straw: "I'll tell you everything! There are no living people left in Li Family Village. They are all monsters!"
"My name is Zhou Nian, and I'm an ordinary college student. My only hobby is traveling. I met someone online by chance, and we both love traveling. We got along really well. Later, he recommended that I visit Lijia Village. But after I arrived, I found out that he had been lying to me all along! Waaaaah..."
At this point, Zhou Nian couldn't help but start sobbing softly again: "Waaah... He's not a living person at all. He tricked me into coming here to use me as a sacrifice to force me into a ghost marriage! I was captured and locked up here. There are no living people here, only eerie things. The village you saw during the day was all an illusion. Their real bodies are hiding in the burial mounds on the back mountain. They will crawl out of the burial mounds after sunset and go back in before sunrise! Believe me! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Lina nodded: "I believe you. Tell me everything else you know."
Seeing that Lina believed what she said, Zhou Nian continued to perform the script professionally: "Li Dezhu is the village chief of Li Family Village. It was his son, Li Guangzong, who tricked me into coming here. Everyone says that Li Guangzong is an idiot. It's all fake! How could an idiot talk to me and trick me into coming here! Hehehehe... It's all fake!"
Zhou Nian's condition gradually became abnormal. Filled with hatred, she pounded heavily on the iron bars, making a loud clanging sound: "It's fake! Everything during the day is fake. Only at night can you find the key to the iron cage. The best opportunity is on the night of the 14th, when the village chief's family is having a wedding. Only then will you have a chance to sneak in and steal the key... Help me, help me! I don't want to die here!"
"Fuck!" Lina cursed inwardly. Zhou Nian seemed to be mentally unstable, suddenly starting to smash the cage without warning. Such a loud noise could very well attract the strange creatures in the neighborhood. Damn it! She had to get out of here before the village chief's ghost arrived!
After agreeing to Zhou Nian's request, Lina nimbly climbed the stairs, opened the wooden door, and prepared to leave. Then she heard Zhou Nian's frantic babbling behind her: "Before midnight, get the key before midnight, or we'll all die! We'll all die! Hahahaha..."
The cellar door was closed again, shutting out the night. The few oil lamps in the cellar flickered in the wind, but showed no sign of going out. Zhou Nian, sitting in the iron cage, put away his mad expression and looked behind the wine jar, the only dark place left in the entire cellar: "She's gone. You can come out now."
As she spoke, she snapped her fingers, and an unseen force instantly merged into the night of Lijia Village. From that moment on, a protective net was set up around the small cellar, freeing it from the perception range of the horror game.
In the remote control center of the horror game, a round, spherical machine suddenly shuddered: Strange, is the base drafty today?
As soon as he finished speaking, a dark figure emerged from the shadows—it was Shi Xiao, disguised as Li Gou Dan. Shi Xiao walked to the iron cage and sat down opposite Zhou Nian across the bars: "You're not Zhou Nian, who are you?"
At this moment, Zhou Nian was completely different from her tearful self just now. She leaned lazily against the cage, not at all like someone who was imprisoned. If it weren't for the messy environment, she would look more like someone who was curled up on a soft sofa at home, comfortable and at ease. She said confidently, "I know you are players from Blue Star."
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