Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Yu Lingling wasn’t the only one. The moment Cheng Mo, Cheng Yu, and Liu Jianhui smelled the food, they also realized how hungry they were. In the end, they polished off every dish they’d ordered and each drank a bottle of soy milk.
When they got home, Cheng Yu spotted Yu Lingling trudging slowly toward her house in a thick down jacket, a backpack slung over her shoulders.
“Lingling, do you want to sleep with me tonight?”
Yu Lingling didn’t look back. “No.”
There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in her refusal. Her brother had only gone away for work. It was no different from any other time. This business trip would simply last a little longer.
But Yu Lingling didn’t think that mattered. She could always go and find him.
After returning home, Yu Lingling stared blankly at the two suitcases for a while. Then she took off her down jacket, set her backpack on the shoe cabinet, showered, and changed into her loungewear. When she came out, she began unpacking the suitcases and returning every item to its original place.
For the first time, Yu Lingling felt that having Hyperthymesia might actually be a good thing. She could restore everything to exactly how it had looked when her brother left.
Yu Lingling placed her brother’s wallet and phone on the nightstand beside the photo of the two of them. After taking another look around his bedroom, she stepped out and locked the door from the outside.
Once everything had been put away, Yu Lingling even went out to take out the trash.
Hearing the noise next door, Cheng Yu looked worriedly toward Yu Lingling’s house. “Do you think Lingling…”
Cheng Mo shook his head at her.
After coming back inside, Yu Lingling checked the courtyard gate as usual. Once she was certain it was locked, she returned to the house and deadbolted the front door. On her way through the living room, she picked up the Princess Dollhouse, then turned off every light before entering her bedroom.
Only when Cheng Yu saw the lights go out in Yu Lingling’s house did she breathe a sigh of relief. “We should get some rest too. I’ll buy Lingling her favorite breakfast tomorrow morning.”
Liu Jianhui’s brow remained tightly furrowed. He couldn’t shake the feeling that things wouldn’t be that simple.
“Beep! Warning, warning! Energy fluctuations from a Horror Game Instance within one hundred meters have exceeded safe levels. An instance has opened. Remain alert!”
When the detection alarm installed in the house sounded, Liu Jianhui actually felt relieved.
Cheng Yu stared wide-eyed at the house next door. “Lingling entered an instance?”
If every player failed to clear a Horror Game Instance, there was a high chance the Horror Game Instance would manifest in the real world. That was why the Special Department issued detection equipment. Yet ever since they moved in next door to Yu Lingling, the alarm had never gone off.
Cheng Yu had even sent the device back to the Special Department for inspection and confirmed that it was in perfect working order.
After so long, Cheng Yu had more or less grown used to the silence. The alarm rang so abruptly that her mind failed to react at first, but her body’s ingrained instincts had already taken over. She immediately began coordinating with Cheng Mo to cordon off the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, Liu Jianhui contacted the Special Department and told them to send personnel over.
At that very moment, Yu Lingling had indeed entered a Horror Game Instance. She still remembered the eligibility restriction for the Grand Slaughter Instance: only a Full-fledged Player could enter.
Her first entry had been sudden. The second time, she’d gone in with the mindset of playing a game. This time was different from both.
This time, Yu Lingling had actively entered a Horror Game Instance through the Four Dolls inside the Princess Dollhouse.
In truth, Yu Lingling hadn’t been certain it would work. She had merely tried to make contact with the energy of a Horror Game Instance while holding fast to the obsession in her heart. To her surprise, she succeeded.
Yu Lingling wore an all-black athletic outfit. Her hair was tied in a simple high ponytail, and she had on a pair of sneakers.
[Welcome to the Horror Game]
Based on her experiences in the previous two instances, Yu Lingling knew that the clues the Main God provided in a Horror Game Instance were always woefully bare-bones. She surveyed her surroundings, gathering every possible clue as quickly as she could.
It was an apartment complex, but there were only three buildings, each thirteen stories tall.
The three buildings formed a perfect triangle.
[You are now experiencing your third Horror Game Instance. Once you clear this instance, you will become a Full-fledged Player in the Horror Game.]
Yu Lingling noticed that there were two apartments on each floor. Lanterns hung from every balcony. Some were lit, while others were dark.
[Game Reminder: Lazy employees will be punished. Do not allow property owners who do not belong to this complex to enter.]
No other players appeared beside Yu Lingling this time, but she could feel countless pairs of eyes watching her from the shadows.
[The instance will begin shortly.]
Yu Lingling’s Livestream Room was already active.
Unlike the previous two times, the Special Department staff assigned to the Newcomer Livestream Zone immediately spotted Yu Lingling, whose features clearly marked her as being from Hua Nation.
One staff member was promptly assigned to enter Yu Lingling’s Livestream Room, while the others compiled information on all the newcomers and submitted their report.
Only after checking the comments did the staff member in Yu Lingling’s Livestream Room learn that this was already her third instance. Had their people made a serious oversight?
After Liu Jianhui reported that Yu Lingling had entered a Horror Game Instance, the white-haired woman immediately asked the woman who had yet to leave to use her skill again and bring up the Livestream Room projection.
Although everyone had already redeemed their rewards, quite a few people had stayed behind to help with the cleanup. They all turned to the screen.
“Her third instance?”
“What’s going on? Why didn’t anyone report her before?”
“The ghost accompanying her is incredibly powerful. She doesn’t seem like a newcomer at all. I thought she was at least a C-rank Full-fledged Player.”
The white-haired woman slowly sighed, exhaustion etched into her features. “Yu Huan protected her extremely well. He was always wary of us and made sure we couldn’t discover her.”
Yu Huan was the only person in the world capable of completely blocking the energy of a Horror Game Instance. Under his protection, they had been unable to sense Yu Lingling entering an instance. Even though staff members kept watch over the Newcomer Livestream Zone around the clock in rotating shifts, they would subconsciously overlook Yu Lingling’s very existence.
“Is Yu Huan really gone?”
No one answered, but everyone already knew the answer.
Yu Lingling had insisted with absolute certainty that her brother was still alive. Although they claimed not to believe her, a sliver of hope had remained in their hearts.
But now, when they saw that Yu Lingling was visible to everyone, they finally understood with painful clarity that Yu Huan was truly gone.
The white-haired woman ordered solemnly, “Investigate the two instances Yu Lingling cleared before this and determine what skill she awakened.”
“She’s only a newcomer, yet the ghost with her is already so powerful. She must have awakened an Exclusive Skill.”
“That’s Yu Huan’s sister for you.”
“But a skill like that – one that controls ghosts – also carries a high risk of the ghosts turning on her.”
“Gather the items that can suppress ghosts and help her stay lucid. Send them to her.”
“Quiet. The instance is about to begin.”
Meanwhile, inside the Horror Game Instance, Yu Lingling also heard the System’s voice.
[Countdown to instance activation: 3, 2, 1.]
The instant the countdown reached one, Yu Lingling’s clothes transformed into a security guard’s uniform, and she found herself standing inside the security office.
Yu Lingling lowered her eyes slightly. An apartment complex. A security guard. Lazy employees would be punished. Property owners who did not belong to this complex could not be allowed inside.
So was this instance’s mission to kill every ghost that tried to enter the complex?