chapter 3
[5th floor reached.]
The Elevator came to a sudden halt, and a cold electronic mechanical voice sounded.
As soon as the doors opened, the bright scene outside was so dazzling that it made it hard to keep one’s eyes open.
Several Players were leaning against the wall, dry heaving.
Lu Li patted the dust off his shoulder, calmly stood up, and walked out.
The Elevator had delivered them to a room filled with a fairy-tale atmosphere.
In the center stood a Round Table, surrounded by ten chairs.
There were no windows in the room.
On the left wall were ten tightly closed doors, while the other two walls were piled high with humanoid dolls.
The dolls, in all sizes, were stacked so high they nearly touched the ceiling.
Each doll’s face was turned toward them.
On their “faces” were exaggerated, curved smiles.
It really looked like a joyful paradise.
Among the Players was a Fatty, who had just been tormented by the Elevator and was dizzy, unable to walk straight after vomiting against the wall.
He accidentally stepped on a doll on the floor.
The toy suddenly jumped up, wrapping its arm around Fatty’s shoe, shouting loudly,
“Let’s play together! Stay and play with us!”
Fatty’s face turned ashen. He sat down hard on the floor, quickly yanking the toy off and throwing it away.
“Scared me to death! What the hell is this thing?”
The toy hit the ground, its right arm breaking off. Even lying there, it kept twitching, intermittently making sounds.
“Come, play… stay…”
The roof was suddenly lifted away, and a giant girl was staring at them from outside the room, unblinking.
She wore braided pigtails and a princess dress. As she approached, half her face filled the entire ceiling.
The girl was rolling her Eyeballs, carefully examining them. When her gaze met the Players’, she giggled, her voice sweet and childlike.
“New guests have arrived at Nuo Nuo’s Castle!”
Seeing the doll on the ground with a broken arm, her smile vanished, replaced by fear and anger. “Broken things aren’t perfect. I have to clean up the trash, or Daddy will be angry!”
Nuo Nuo anxiously reached her hand inside.
When she grabbed the doll with her fist, her hand was taller than the Players themselves.
Nuo Nuo tilted her head back forcefully, her mouth stretching into an exaggerated arc.
She tossed the broken doll into her wide-open mouth.
“Crunch, crunch-”
The chewing sounds were especially grating in the quiet environment.
The woman who had exposed herself as a new Player in the Elevator was now panicking, desperately seeking confirmation from the other Players, “Was that really a doll? Why did I just see her chew out so much blood!”
No one paid her any attention.
The other Players were hurriedly searching the room.
Someone had pulled out a camera from somewhere, taking pictures of every Item in the room; someone else was using a small hammer, tapping on the first wall, pressing their ear to it to listen for hidden compartments; others were directly touching each Item in the room in turn, as if searching for something.
“Find Items quickly!”
“Before the Boss starts acting, search for clues!”
Lu Li stood dumbly at the Elevator entrance. Standing with him were two other new Players.
He felt he should get moving too.
But what exactly were these veteran Players looking for?
Did he miss it when the rules were announced because he was distracted?
Lu Li grabbed a bespectacled, refined-looking man who was running past him.
“Busy, aren’t you? What are you all busy with?”
“Mind your own business…” The man was initially impatient, but when he glanced at Lu Li, his tone suddenly softened. “We’re searching for Key Items.”
“It’s now Game Day, and every second counts. As long as we trigger a Key Item or a key clue, we can gather information. The more Items we have, the easier it is to clear the Instance. My name is Luo Jia Bai, I’m a veteran Player. Would you like to team up with me?”
Suddenly being invited so enthusiastically, Lu Li instinctively refused, “No need.”
Luo Jia Bai looked regretful, his eyes lingering on the top of Lu Li’s head, as if there was something there.
“Alright.”
He still tried to persuade him, “If you change your mind, you can come find me anytime.”
Lu Li touched the top of his head. “Is there something on my head?”
Luo Jia Bai smiled mysteriously. “If you team up with me, I’ll tell you.”
Lu Li pursed his lips and countered, “I’m not listening.”
So pretentious.
Doesn’t seem like a good person.
Luo Jia Bai waved at Lu Li. “Kind reminder, you’d better start collecting Items and clues too. This isn’t a simple game. Ten people enter the Instance, and only one or two might clear it in the end. I’ve heard of Instances so difficult that no one survives.”
Suddenly, the Wristbands grew hot, and all the Players present received a message at the same time.
[Instance Game Name: Eternal Lost Paradise]
[Clearance Guide: In this Instance, each night survived allows you to descend one floor. Safely reach the first floor, find the main door, and you will clear the Instance successfully.]
“Looks like there are too many newbies this time, the Instance clearance requirements aren’t that hard! You just have to go downstairs to clear it!” Fatty, who had just stepped on a toy, had a gleam in his eyes.
He didn’t turn off the screen, but swiped left to switch to a new page. He started speaking to the screen: “Do you guys want to see a speedrun? One hour? Half an hour?”
Fatty raised his Wristband high as he walked past Lu Li, deliberately bumping his shoulder.
Lu Li stepped back, nimbly dodging.
Fatty stopped, his face displeased, and spoke with fake politeness, “Almost bumped into you there, sorry about that. Oh! You’re the newbie who drew the Gold Card, right?”
Lu Li directly exposed his little scheme, “You did it on purpose.”
“I said it was an accident, why are you so petty!” Fatty sneered, “Come on, let my Live Stream Room Audience see what a Player who drew the Evil God looks like…”
His chubby wrist raised the Wristband, poking it toward Lu Li, trying to get him in the frame.
The lower half of the light screen was flooded with Bullet Comments.
The Live Stream Room was more popular than ever.
“Want to see what the Evil God Bracelet looks like? Fine! I’ll show it to everyone!” Fatty reached out to grab Lu Li’s wrist.
Lu Li blocked him, puzzled, “Are we that close?”
Fatty shouted, “I’m not up to anything bad, don’t be so stingy! Just a look, it’s not like you’ll lose a chunk of flesh!”
“You’re a newbie, getting to ride on my Live Stream Room’s popularity, you should be kneeling in thanks, got it?”
“I get it.” Lu Li thought seriously for a moment, “You have narcissistic personality disorder.”
Fatty exploded, “Are you saying I’m sick?”
Lu Li replied sincerely, “I’m saying it for your own good. With this illness, you don’t even qualify to be studied or dissected. Your body is sub-healthy, and your mind is abnormal.”
Lu Li’s face didn’t appear on screen, but his voice was picked up clearly, and the Bullet Comments mercilessly mocked Fatty:
[This newbie is pretty interesting, switching my follow to this Live Stream Room.]
[The Streamer is so lame! Even a newbie can walk all over him!]
[Who wants to see a newbie? I’m here for the speedrun. Keep talking nonsense and I won’t send any gifts!]
Fatty saw his big-spending Audience about to switch sides, so he hurried forward, shooting Lu Li a vicious glare, “Don’t know what’s good for you, just wait to die in the Instance!”
Lu Li sighed happily at that, “Thanks for your blessing.”
His original reason for entering the Necromancer Game was to die.
Locked away in the Biochemical Laboratory for twenty endless years, he had been driven mad with the desire to die.
Fatty choked, “You’re the one who’s sick!”
“Don’t stop sending gifts!” Fatty turned to the screen, striking a pose with his face at a 45° angle, blowing kisses, “Keep it coming! Give me enough Points, I’ll clear this in five minutes!”
Fatty’s interactions and hints were his way of boosting Live Stream Room Points.
As he walked, he conjured a Ladder out of thin air.
He leaned the Ladder against the wall, found that the Instance Boss Nuo Nuo ignored him, and grinned smugly.
Fatty climbed up, turned around, and gave the crowd a thumbs-down.
He also gave Lu Li a middle finger, then wobbled to the top.
He took out some nails and a long coil of rope, stuck his butt out, and tossed the rope down.
“Fatty is an old Player who likes to take shortcuts,” Luo Jia Bai came over and said to Lu Li. “He’s high-level, can enable Bullet Comments, and loves interacting with the Audience for gifts. In the speedrun Instance Live Stream Rooms, the more Spirit Money the Audience spends, the more they get back-double after it’s over-so they go wild with tips.”
Lu Li thought Fatty was pretty clever, “This way, the live interaction works really well.”
Points poured in.
So easy.
Luo Jia Bai looked at Fatty and shook his head meaningfully, “Of course, the more Points the better, but only if you live to spend them.”
“Once again, I’m the fastest to clear! Necromancer Game is so easy!”
Fatty made sure the rope was secure, then leapt straight off, jumping down from the top of the wall.
He spun as he fell, laughing loudly,
“Bunch of idiots! You can just wait to die in this Instance, hahaha-”
His wild laughter cut off abruptly.
From outside the wall came a “thump thump-” knocking sound.
“No door, not here either!” Fatty screamed hoarsely, his voice tinged with chilling despair, “Where’s the main door!? No door! I’m on the first floor! No, no, wait, why does this building only have four floors!”
[Congratulations, Player, you have discovered Key Clue 1.]
The cold mechanical voice was like a blade hanging over the Players’ heads.
[Five, four, three, two-huh? Why doesn’t Nuo Nuo’s Castle have a first floor?]