Chapter 161
Chapter 161
On the final night, the instance escalated in difficulty and pulled everyone into hallucinations at the same time.
If an outsider had been listening, they would have heard different answers coming from every room.
Lin Zhu: “More than the fact that you failed to fool me, I want to know what exactly you are.”
Qin Musong: “Lin Zhu would never ask me to go outside without caring whether I’m in danger. You aren’t him.”
Qi Jiajia: “Get lost.”
Jiang Chen: “Why don’t you come inside and try?”
Gu Jian: “Ahahaha! Here I come! Don’t run away!”
Yun Su: “…”
Cheng Miao had been sleeping soundly when she heard Qiudong call her, saying there was a noise outside and asking her to get up and look.
Still furious about the debuff she had suffered that afternoon, Cheng Miao rolled over and yelled at the voice, “What kind of nonsense is this?! If you’re going to trick me, at least make it believable! Don’t you know how to show a little consideration for a woman? Why do I have to check the noise? Why don’t you go yourself?!”
The voice: “…”
Qiudong ignored the imitation of Cheng Miao’s voice outside. The moment he escaped his hallucination, he heard the real Cheng Miao yelling at empty air.
His lips curved. In the darkness, he accurately climbed onto Cheng Miao’s bed.
Stroking the hair of the woman still throwing a temper, Qiudong murmured with a tenderness even he did not notice, “Yes. If there’s a noise, I’ll go check.”
Xiao Wen and Xiao Qing’s plan for the night was to bury themselves beneath their blankets as soon as they returned to their room and refuse to open their eyes no matter what they heard.
Only that way could they avoid the hallucinations.
Many veteran and novice players alike had died in this instance. The two of them had survived this long without Items or experience through sheer luck.
Xiao Wen could not sleep. Strangely, her mind held none of the horrifying images she had seen. Instead, she pictured Jiang Chen standing by candlelight in the living room that evening, smiling with his Gentleman’s Cane in hand.
Blushing beneath the blanket, Xiao Wen scolded herself. At a time like this, how could she still be thinking about a handsome man?
Then intense sadness filled her heart. Inside this Game, falling in love was out of the question. Even staying alive was a luxury.
Xiao Wen sighed and turned over. The room seemed far too quiet.
Why wasn’t Xiao Qing making any noise?
Xiao Wen softly called Xiao Qing’s name, but no one answered.
Panic swelled inside her. Biting her lower lip hard, she leaned out of bed and looked toward Xiao Qing. The other bed was empty.
The blanket lay in disarray, with no one beneath it.
What should she do?
Was this a hallucination, or was it real?
If it was real and she did not search for Xiao Qing, then her friend was probably in terrible danger.
If it was a hallucination, getting out of bed might make her touch a painting.
Xiao Wen sat frozen on the bed, wrapped in her blanket, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on the empty mattress.
When Xiao Qing woke, she heard Xiao Wen calling her name. Still groggy, she turned over and vaguely discovered that Xiao Wen’s bed was empty.
The sight shocked Xiao Qing fully awake. Xiao Wen’s voice from the washroom grew clearer. “Qingqing, are you there? The washroom door is locked. Can you open it from outside?”
Xiao Qing answered, “Okay,” and pulled aside her blanket, only to stop abruptly.
Was this real, or was it a hallucination?
There were too many dolls in the castle. No one could be certain they would not see light reflected in a doll’s eyes. It was impossible to guard against.
“Qingqing?” Xiao Wen’s voice sounded anxious now, with the faintest hint of tears. “There are so many paintings in here. I’m scared. Hurry and open the door.”
Xiao Qing bit her nail, wavering. Then inspiration struck. If this was a hallucination, the ghost only wanted to make her touch a painting. But the ghost was not actually Xiao Wen. She could simply ask something only Xiao Wen would know.
“Wenwen, what was the first instance we cleared together?” Xiao Qing’s voice was soft and laced with fear of the unknown.
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Xiao Wen was still tugging at the door inside. Her answer frightened Xiao Qing into immediately wrapping the blanket tightly around herself.
Perhaps because Xiao Qing did not come to help for so long, resentment entered Xiao Wen’s voice. “Fine, I’ll tell you. Our first was an apocalypse instance. A zombie nearly bit me, and you were the one who saved me.”
Xiao Qing’s heart relaxed at once. The ghost probably did not even know what an instance was. How could it know details like these?
Supporting herself on the nightstand, Xiao Qing rolled out of bed and hurried toward the washroom, apologizing as she ran. “Sorry, Wenwen. I was only afraid it might be a hallucination. We have to be careful.”
She twisted the handle, still wondering why the door was not actually locked. Then she met a pair of scarlet eyes hidden behind foul-smelling black hair.
…
“Qingqing! Qingqing!” The next morning, Xiao Wen’s frantic cries woke Cheng Miao. Her foggy mind did not even stop to wonder why Qiudong was in her bed before she grabbed him and ran outside.
Xiao Wen was knocking on every door. Xiao Qing had disappeared.
“Don’t panic. Tell me what you remember.” Cheng Miao soothed her with a few words. From Xiao Wen’s account, everyone had encountered roughly the same thing the previous night.
If Xiao Qing had failed to distinguish the hallucination…
A bad feeling stirred in Cheng Miao. She instructed her teammates to spread out and help Xiao Wen search.
They soon found Xiao Qing. Jiang Chen blocked the doorway and looked down at Xiao Wen. “It would be better if you didn’t look.”
Xiao Wen raised her head. There was no emotion in Jiang Chen’s eyes. This was merely a warning offered out of courtesy.
Xiao Wen hesitated, then clasped her hands together and made up her mind. “I want to see.”
Jiang Chen said nothing more. He turned and stepped aside.
Xiao Qing’s body was in the doll workshop. She had been turned into a doll.
If the doll had not resembled Xiao Qing closely enough to catch Jiang Chen’s attention, no one might have thought to inspect the dolls again.
Xiao Qing was there in that room, her body hollowed out by an unknown technique and made into a smiling doll.
Only her eyes remained real, filled to the brim with terror and despair.
Cheng Miao had no time to comfort Xiao Wen. She raised a crucial point.
“Today is the final day. We can’t leave until we eat the cake tonight. But once we eat it, the restrictions on Yuko’s ghost should be lifted too. Everyone must be careful.”
Xiao Wen covered her mouth and wept without a sound. Cheng Miao patted her shoulder. Xiao Wen looked up and sobbed twice before lowering her head again.
She would not survive. She had almost no Items. Once the female ghost was freed from its restrictions, she would never last long enough to leave the instance.
As though she could read Xiao Wen’s thoughts, Cheng Miao gathered the surviving players. “We need to divide the work. Someone will hold off the female ghost, someone will open the gate, and someone will deal with Kojima.”
Cheng Miao’s gaze swept across the roomful of dolls, and a sly smile appeared on her face. “What do you think a dollmaker who considers dolls his life would do if he discovered they had all been destroyed?”
Lin Zhu and Qi Jiajia silently answered: He would focus all his attacks on you.
Cheng Miao puffed out her chest. “Am I still afraid of him now?! Leave him to me. I’ll settle our old and new scores together!”