Chapter 29
Chapter 29
The bearded man was Li Cheng, a Guesthouse player. He had entered with three teammates, and the four remained together.
Besides Cheng Miao, the remaining players were a yellow-haired delinquent, a muscular man, and a fresh-faced male high school student.
“Let’s go inside. It appears we’ll learn the task only after entering the library.” Li Cheng wasted no words and led his team inside.
The muscular man looked intimidating but did not seem experienced. After glancing around, he and the yellow-haired man also entered.
Cheng Miao looked at the high school student watching her timidly and rubbed her brow. “Let’s go.”
The eight players entered and froze before bookcases so tall their tops could not be seen. The library organized its collection by category, but each section stretched like an ocean beyond sight.
“Fuck!” the muscular man cursed. Cheng Miao glanced at his bulging arms. He was probably not fond of thinking.
[Ding! Welcome, players, to the Large Instance World Within the Book. Please complete your tasks to clear the instance.]
[This is a Special Team Instance. Pair off into teams of two. The instance will select one book previously read by the players as its setting. Once every pair is formed, the instance will begin.]
“Brother Cheng, what kind of mode is this? There isn’t even a hint, and we have to form separate pairs. It can’t be competitive, can it?” A thin man in Li Cheng’s team grew anxious. The four belonged to one team. A competitive instance would tear them apart.
“Relax. A high-level player told me instances don’t arrange for players to slaughter one another. You’ve read too many novels and are imagining things.” Li Cheng was clearly their leader. A few steady sentences calmed everyone.
Cheng Miao agreed, though she remained silent. She guessed the pairs would simply receive different objectives.
Li Cheng’s team naturally divided into two pairs. The remaining four players stared at one another.
The muscular man hesitated between the student and the delinquent. Cheng Miao, the only woman, never entered his consideration.
“What are you thinking? He’s a brat. You expect him to contribute in an instance?” The yellow-haired man spat and glared impatiently, though a trace of nervousness showed in his eyes.
The muscular man found that reasonable and stepped beside him.
Left alone, the student turned helplessly toward Cheng Miao. His features were clean, his body slightly thin, and his moist eyes resembled those of a large, long-haired hound.
Cheng Miao stared back.
He slowly approached but kept a respectful distance. Sensing that Cheng Miao’s blank expression did not mean rejection, his tense shoulders relaxed.
[Pairing complete. Please wait while the instance extracts information from your minds to construct its setting.]
With the instance unable to begin immediately, everyone relaxed. The muscular pair sat down where they stood, while Li Cheng’s team explored the library’s structure.
Cheng Miao wandered aimlessly until she reached the nearest section: Ancient Literature.
The student jogged after her. As Cheng Miao rapidly scanned the spines, he gathered his courage. “H-hello. I’m Lin Zhu. Zhu is written with the water radical and the character zhe.”
Cheng Miao nodded. “Cheng Miao.”
Lin Zhu relaxed further. This older girl was not as cold as she looked. Emboldened, he asked, “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.” Cheng Miao’s hand brushed across the rough spines. “I’m wondering which book we’ll enter.”
Lin Zhu looked miserable. “I just hope it isn’t the book I’ve been reading lately.”
The handsome young man drooped. Curious which melodramatic fantasy a teenage boy favored, Cheng Miao asked, “What have you been reading?”
“Five-Year Gaokao, Three-Year Simulation…”
Cheng Miao fell silent.
Lin Zhu rallied. “What books do you like, Sister Miaomiao?”
Cheng Miao produced a stiff smile. “I used to like horror novels…”
Lin Zhu fell silent.
Not far away, the muscular man’s bewildered voice sounded at the perfect moment. “Why’s this instance so mysterious? A book setting and all… Problem is, I don’t really read books. Just stuff that would never pass censorship.”
“Same,” said the yellow-haired man.
Cheng Miao fell silent.
Lin Zhu fell silent.
Everyone else fell silent.
This instance seemed destined to become wildly unreliable.
The announcement interrupted them. [Loading players into the Instance Secrets of the Chang Residence… Hint: Lady of Cao.]
Cheng Miao opened her eyes inside an antique room. Lin Zhu sat beside her on a heated brick platform, dressed in cloud-patterned brocade with his hair bound up. Combined with his delicate features, the outfit suited him beautifully.
Lin Zhu stared at Cheng Miao in equal amazement. Normally tall and slender, she wore simple white shirts and jeans, her long wavy hair loose around the aloof aura of a cold beauty.
Now she sat quietly in a moon-white jacket and glazed-red ruqun skirt. Her thick black hair was arranged in an elaborate maiden’s style with a white-jade magnolia hairpin. She looked both lively and luminous, leaving Lin Zhu dazed.
“What are you looking at?”
Meeting Cheng Miao’s dark-brown eyes, Lin Zhu woke and blushed. “Um… Sister Miaomiao, you’re really beautiful.”
Thoughtfully, Cheng Miao went to the dressing table and raised the bronze mirror. Her expression worsened.
Lin Zhu approached. Seeing only a blurred reflection, he asked, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
Cheng Miao touched her complicated hairstyle. “Dressed like this, we can be certain the setting is ancient.”
Lin Zhu had reached the same conclusion and nodded.
Cheng Miao’s face darkened. “Ancient settings usually involve a lot of superstition…”
“Ah!” Lin Zhu understood. “You’re afraid of ghosts!”
Her face grew darker. “What do you mean, I’m afraid? Aren’t you?”
Lin Zhu ducked his neck and grinned foolishly. “No. What’s frightening about ghosts?”
His natural expression held no bravado. Cheng Miao viewed the delicate-looking boy with new respect.
“Not coming first on an exam is much scarier,” Lin Zhu said seriously.
Cheng Miao stared. The poor child had been driven half mad.
[Ding! Players Cheng Miao and Lin Zhu have unlocked the side plot Distant Relatives. Immerse yourselves in your roles and save Young Master Chang.]
The instant the announcement ended, noise erupted outside: maids and matrons whispering, footsteps hurrying back and forth.
Candles flickered brightly in the room. It was already late.