chapter 14
Cheng Miao knew she was currently a complete rookie. She also understood that curiosity was best kept to a minimum if she wanted to survive.
Yet the questions lingered stubbornly in her mind. Even when she was transported into her next instance, she remained distracted for a moment.
This time differed from Abandoned Courtyard. Cheng Miao immediately noticed that she was not alone. Several other players stood nearby.
When she recognized some familiar faces, her eyebrows rose in surprise. Was this what people meant by enemies meeting on a narrow road?
The young girl recognized Cheng Miao as well. She narrowed her eyes but said nothing.
The middle-aged man who kept trying to speak with the girl was also present, sticking close beside her. In an ordinary blue shirt and baggy dress pants, he looked like a typical office worker.
There were also a man and woman. The man was tall and thin, with slightly long hair and a gloomy air. The woman was fairly attractive, though her expression was far worse than anyone else’s. She anxiously looked around.
Cheng Miao withdrew her gaze and carefully studied their surroundings.
They stood inside a huge wooden house. Everything within had been enlarged to roughly ten times normal size, making the five players look like dwarfs newly arrived in the land of giants.
Three beds the size of cars stood side by side against a wall, each topped with a blanket folded into a perfectly squared block.
By standing on tiptoe, they could see a sewing basket on the table. Balls of yarn in every color filled it, each as large as a human head.
Several chairs occupied a corner. Cheng Miao could not identify their material. The houseplants beside them, meant as decorations, looked to her like someone had uprooted several roadside banyan trees and moved them indoors.
This was a home, or more precisely, a giant’s home.
The building was large, but so was the furniture. The room was crammed full and slightly messy, though that provided Cheng Miao and the others with plenty of hiding places.
Every part of the house was painted a different color. One wall was yellow, the next green, creating a dizzying riot of color.
A window opened onto a garden. The midday sun shone high over it, and the colors of the flowers and grass were so vivid they looked unreal. Even the shapes of the flowers were strange, like a careless elementary school craft project.
The absurdly large pots and pans in the adjoining room identified it as a kitchen. Cheng Miao could not see what it contained, but waves of a powerful fishy odor drifted from inside.
No one spoke. The wooden house looked as though it had come from a picture book, but it filled everyone with unease. They silently waited for the announcement.
[Ding! Welcome, players, to the Game The Three Little Bears’ Home. Please fulfill Baby Bear’s wish before sunset tomorrow to clear the Game.]
[Hint: Papa Bear, Papa Bear, loves to eat fish. Mama Bear, Mama Bear, knits clothes with care. Baby Bear’s favorite toy is nowhere to be found.]
The instant the voice ended, heavy footsteps sounded in the garden. Judging by the vibrations, something enormous was approaching.
Remembering the story outline, everyone’s expression darkened.
Cheng Miao slowly backed against a wall. She quieted her breathing and stared at the tightly shut wooden door.
The others followed her example, spreading out and remaining motionless as they waited for the plot to unfold.
“ROAR!”
An enormous bestial cry shook the roof. Three colossal brown bears opened the door and appeared before them. Their thick fur gleamed coldly like steel needles, and hooklike claws protruded from their massive paws.
Without question, a single strike from one of those paws would burst a human head like a watermelon.
Cheng Miao felt a chill as she studied the bears’ gleaming exposed teeth. Even in the real world, brown bears possessed terrifying strength. These mutated creatures in a twisted fairy tale were far worse.
Everyone held their breath, afraid the three monsters would notice them. The bears, however, seemed oblivious to the small creatures that had appeared in their home.
They entered, closed the door, busied themselves around the room for a while, then climbed into bed.
Cheng Miao glanced at the sun standing high outside. The bears were apparently taking an afternoon nap.
One bear gave an enormous yawn that quickly spread to the other two. The three bears, so large one had to crane back one’s head to see them fully, lay neatly in their beds, pulled up the blankets, and yawned one after another.
Cheng Miao had no words. Thank you. That somehow hit a very strange cute spot.
Before long, thunderous snores filled the room.
All five players relaxed slightly. Knowing they would remain safe until they triggered a death condition was one thing. Faced with monsters no human could possibly fight, their first instinct was still to hide.
“Let’s introduce ourselves.” The tall, thin man gathered everyone beneath the table and lowered his voice. “I’m Bai Jiang.”
“I-I’m Tong Qian.” The attractive woman shrank back, edged closer to Bai Jiang, and spoke softly.
“Cheng Miao.” She nodded to the group without taking her eyes from the sleeping bears.
“Qi Jiajia.” The young girl inexplicably glanced at Cheng Miao as she spoke. When Cheng Miao looked back, she lowered her head with a dark expression.
The bears’ appearance had shattered the middle-aged man’s usual kindly facade. He forced a smile onto his greasy face. “I’m Zhao Liang.”
Bai Jiang appeared to be an experienced player. He swiftly surveyed the temporary team and labeled Zhao Liang and Tong Qian as deadweight. He did not spare Qi Jiajia a second glance.
A child that young would die in the Game anyway. There was no need to pay her attention.
He turned to Cheng Miao, the only person besides himself who had remained calm upon arrival. “What room grade are you?”
“…Intermediate Dormitory.” Apparently, newcomers and veterans were mixed randomly in all Games. Her newcomer instance had simply happened to be solo.
Bai Jiang smiled with some pride. “I’m in the Advanced Dormitory. This is my fourth Game. If I clear it, I’ll advance to a Guesthouse.”
“Is that so?” Cheng Miao nodded coolly. Higher room grades required increasing numbers of Travel Coins. Bai Jiang, still relatively new himself, had evidently spent the equivalent of two instances in the Advanced Dormitory.
He was mildly deflated when Cheng Miao failed to offer the admiration he expected from a newcomer.
But he swiftly adjusted and looked at the others. “You’re all in the Intermediate Dormitory?”
Tong Qian raised a trembling hand. “I-I’m in the Basic Dormitory.”
Bai Jiang gave Qi Jiajia a surprised glance. He had not expected the delicate young girl to be anything other than a newcomer. Perhaps she had simply gotten unbelievably lucky in her first Game.
“Even if you’re new, your Front Desk attendant explained the instances to you, right? Don’t act on your own during the Game. If you endanger me, I won’t hesitate to kill you first.”