Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Meanwhile, Yu Lingling – the girl who was afraid of the dark and thunder – stood before an old-fashioned, four-story redbrick building, clutching a brown Teddy Bear Doll.
The familiar interface appeared before her.
[Welcome to the Horror Game.]
Yu Lingling surveyed her surroundings. Whether from years of exposure to the elements or for some other reason, the walls had turned black and were smeared with strange-colored fluids.
She had the feeling someone was watching her. When she looked up, she saw a face pressed against the small square window at the western end of the fourth floor.
The moment their eyes met, the person slammed a hand against the filthy, clouded glass. But immediately afterward, a man’s hand – its back and arm covered in scars – seized her by the hair and dragged her away.
A bloody handprint remained on the window.
[You are now experiencing your second Horror Game Instance.]
[Game Reminder: Be a good child.]
This time, Yu Lingling hadn’t been brought here in her sleep. She had gotten out of bed and was washing up in the bathroom when she suddenly appeared in this place.
She was still wearing the teddy-bear-print onesie she’d changed into before bed last night, along with matching closed-toe cotton slippers. In one hand, she held a pale pink face towel embroidered with a white rabbit.
The Princess Dollhouse had transformed into a pendant hanging from the gold bracelet her brother had given her. Yu Lingling examined it for a moment, then shook her wrist a few times while wiping her face. The furniture inside didn’t budge in the slightest.
However, Yu Lingling could sense that the four “dolls” who had remained asleep in the real world were now awake.
[That newbie from last time is streaming again. Let me see which instance she got this time.]
[Happy Family?]
[How did she end up in this instance?]
[Did she offend the Main God or something?]
Yu Lingling neatly folded the towel and stuffed it into her pocket. She tried to search the area for information, only to discover that she was confined within a fixed boundary. She couldn’t leave, nor could she approach the old redbrick building.
[The instance is about to begin.]
Once the clearing conditions appeared, three people suddenly materialized beside Yu Lingling.
The first was a young man with pinkish-purple hair, wearing ripped jeans and a teddy bear T-shirt.
The second was a woman in a white-and-blue tracksuit, complete with a sports watch and workout earbuds. Her brows were tightly furrowed.
The last was a large, burly man holding a kitchen knife.
As soon as the three appeared, they began sizing one another up. In the end, all three turned toward Yu Lingling, who was hugging her doll with both hands and had a bulging pocket. They frowned in unison.
As they studied her, Yu Lingling studied them in turn. They had suddenly arrived in such an eerie place, yet none of them showed the slightest hint of panic. This clearly wasn’t their first time in the Horror Game.
The woman, who looked as though she’d been out for a morning jog, spoke first. “You can call me Sister A. This is my third instance. Once I clear it, I’ll become a Full-fledged Player.”
Yu Lingling silently extracted the key information: three instances, Full-fledged Player.
“Sister A?” The pinkish-purple-haired young man scoffed. “Then you can call me Brother B.”
The burly man with the kitchen knife had no intention of giving them his real name either. He tucked the knife behind him and said dismissively, “Call me Brother Knife.”
Sister A paid no attention to Yu Lingling. Instead, she looked warily at the other two. “How many instances have each of you cleared?”
Brother B rolled his eyes. He was clearly more interested in Yu Lingling and even reached out to tug at the doll in her arms. “Hey, kid. You’re not a newbie, are you?”
Yu Lingling stepped back, avoiding his hand. “My name is Chacha.”
[Wasn’t she pretty cautious back in Auspicious Village? Why is she giving strangers her real name?]
[Chacha = CC. Sister A, Brother B, CC. Checks out.]
Sister A pressed, “Which instance is this for you? Are you a complete newbie, or are you part of a guild?”
A guild?
Yu Lingling filed away that new piece of information as well. “This is my second instance.” Without waiting for Sister A and the others to ask, she volunteered an explanation. “After I fell asleep last time, I found myself in a small village in the south. The villagers were a little strange…”
Brother Knife cut her off impatiently. “How many of you made it out in the end?”
Yu Lingling thought for a moment. “Five.”
Her and the Four Dolls.
Sister A and Brother Knife instantly lost all interest in Yu Lingling. Newbie instances had no more than six players. If five had made it out safely, the instance clearly hadn’t been difficult. Judging by Yu Lingling’s appearance, she had probably just followed the others and coasted through. She wasn’t worth recruiting at all – she was pure cannon fodder.
There were only five minutes to prepare before the instance began. They weren’t about to waste their time on a useless little girl.
Unable to resist, Brother B reached out and tugged one of the bear ears on the hood of Yu Lingling’s pajamas. “Kid, call me big brother, and I’ll protect you.”
The chat in Brother B’s Livestream Room immediately exploded.
[The streamer is teasing a newbie again.]
[People with no real skills always come to newbie instances to show off. How does someone like him even have fans?]
[Don’t you think it’s satisfying when the streamer finally reveals who he is, slaps the faces of everyone who looked down on him, and makes them beg to cling to his thigh?]
[What’s it to you? If you don’t like it, get lost.]
[That little girl had better latch on to him fast, or she’ll definitely be the first one eliminated.]
The viewers who had started following Yu Lingling because of the Auspicious Village instance were also posting comments, bringing the newcomers up to speed.
[That little brat used up all her luck in her first instance. She’s dead for sure in Happy Family.]
[Luck? That newbie’s first instance was called Auspicious Village. She killed everyone there and walked out.]
[Auspicious Village?]
[Has anyone else noticed that the Auspicious Village instance seems to have disappeared?]
[And she claimed five people made it out? Tsk. So she’s a liar too.]
The comments mentioning the disappearance of Auspicious Village were quickly deleted. Confused, the viewers tried posting them again, only to find that the messages wouldn’t go through at all.
Sister A, Brother B, and Brother Knife were all surveying their surroundings and sharing what they had noticed.
Brother Knife glanced at the countdown until the instance began. “We’ll have to cooperate in a multiplayer instance. If anyone discovers anything, remember to share it. All that stuff on the walls is blood and human tissue.”
Sister A was annoyed that the others weren’t being completely open, but she kept her temper. “This building’s architecture dates to around the eighties. The kitchens and bathrooms were generally built outside the apartments. Based on my experience, we’d better not wander around at night. We should meet during the day to exchange information. As for everything else, we’ll have to adapt as we go.”
Brother B couldn’t stop bouncing his leg even while standing. “Four floors and four of us. We’ll probably each get one floor. There’s likely one set of rules for the entire building, as well as separate rules unique to each floor. Try not to break any of them. We only need to survive for three days to leave.”
That last part was directed at Yu Lingling.
Brother B studied her. She clearly came from a family that had taken excellent care of her. After a brief silence, he added, “In a Horror Game Instance, try to avoid numbers that can be interpreted in more than one way.”
[Instance begins in: 3, 2, 1]
Yu Lingling felt the force that had been restraining her disappear.
Sister A and Brother Knife clearly already had a plan. Together, they headed toward the entrance of the four-story building ahead.
Yu Lingling glanced over, but instead of following them, she went to inspect the surrounding area.
The viewers in Brother B’s Livestream Room couldn’t understand what she was doing. Even more baffling was the fact that Brother B hadn’t gone inside with Sister A and Brother Knife. Instead, he remained where he was, watching the little girl who was clearly cannon fodder.
[What’s that kid doing?]
[Brother B, stop worrying about her! Hurry inside and claim a room.]
Going in first carried its own risks, but in this type of survival instance, seizing the initiative and securing a suitable hiding place was even more important.