No one knew when this thing emitting a dim green glow appeared among the players.
The night had already made the players uneasy, and suddenly seeing such a thing, it was good that they didn’t scream on the spot.
Originally, everyone was discussing while standing apart with Zhou Zhou at the center, and that dim green thing appeared almost at the center.
The players scattered and ran away, a few brave ones reached out and slapped it hard, trying to knock it away.
“Ouch!” The green glow spoke, “Why did you hit me?”
When the room turned completely dark, the copper chandelier on the ceiling suddenly lit up.
There were six red candles on the chandelier frame, burning without wind, one after the other in sequence, and the flickering candlelight illuminated the first floor and the area near the second-floor railing.
In the candlelight, everyone realized that the green thing was a human head.
To be specific, it was the guy with neon green hair, whose hair glowed in the dark, startling the unsuspecting players.
At this time, he rubbed the back of his head with a wronged look, glancing around the crowd, as if trying to find who had slapped his head.
“You hit too hard, almost knocked my brains out,” he murmured in complaint.
“You still dare to say that, your hair is so scary in the middle of the night.”
“Yes, I thought it was some ghost, so close, right in front of my eyes, if not you, who else would I slap.”
“Why did you dye your hair in such a color, the instance is scary enough, and you pull off something like this.”
The guy argued: “I dyed this color on purpose, so I can see the surroundings clearly at night.”
As he spoke, he shook his head, and even with the candlelight now, his head still emitted a dim green glow, very prominent.
“A flashlight only costs ten points, did you really have to use your head?” One player couldn’t help but say as he watched the green glow on the guy’s head sway.
“You just don’t get it. In Nightmare City, if you die and revive, it costs ten thousand points. Ten thousand points, you know? Last time I cleared an instance, I only earned a little over three thousand. Every point counts, I can’t waste them. And with this hair color, it can provide light at night, so I’m not afraid even if something unexpected happens.”
The neon green guy had quite a few reasons, and one player seemed convinced, muttering, “I’ll dye one too when I go out.”
A few casual chats successfully eased the atmosphere again.
Qian Le looked at the other’s hair, secretly wondering what effect a fluorescent color would have on him. Just as he was about to ask Zhou Zhou’s opinion, he turned his head and found that Zhou Zhou was actually leaning on the sofa with his eyes closed, and there was no rise and fall of his chest. He looked very… peaceful?
“Zhou Zhou, Zhou Zhou,” Qian Le called out a few times.
Zhou Zhou opened his eyes, his gaze clear.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“A little sleepy, I rarely stay up late.”
But this was in a game, where the flow of time was different from reality. At most, it was only noon now. Qian Le was a bit puzzled, but he soon realized that Zhou Zhou might be used to taking afternoon naps, so he felt sleepy now.
“It’s okay, after we clear this, you can go home and sleep well.”
Zhou Zhou obediently nodded at the concerned Qian Le.
“Although the vision isn’t as good as during the day, as long as there’s light, it’s fine. Let’s go upstairs and search again, don’t miss any details, check the floors, walls, and everything else again.” One player said.
So this group went upstairs again, maybe because of the dimmed vision, everyone’s footsteps sounded clearer as they went up.
Thump, thump, thump, the messy footsteps continued from the first floor to the stairs, and then moved to the second floor.
When they reached the railing area, they realized that only this part of the second floor was lit up, the corridors on both sides were pitch-black, with only a faint moonlight coming in from the windows at the far end.
“Does anyone have any lighting tools?” A player asked loudly.
But no one did. Nightmare City had just launched, and most people were playing the game for the first time. Among the few players who had already gone through the second instance, they couldn’t bear to buy tools.
Because in the instance, if you die and revive, it costs ten thousand points, but after clearing it, they only earned a few hundred or a few thousand points. They all wanted to save up enough for the ten thousand points revival tool before buying other tools.
As a result, no one had any lighting tools right now.
Zhou Zhou blinked his eyes, he seemed to have forgotten to buy tools too.
He could see at night, so he didn’t need lighting tools, but he could bring a few next time. Qian Le and Heya couldn’t see at night.
“Can we take the candles down from the chandelier?” Someone suggested.
The ceiling was too high. Although the chandelier looked close from the second floor, even if Heya, the tallest among them, stretched out his hand, he still couldn’t reach it, so this plan was not feasible.
Everyone fell silent for a while, then suddenly turned to look at the neon green guy in unison.
neon green: “Now you know I had foresight, and you still hit me.”
He took a few steps forward, walking to the very front, waving his arm and proudly announcing: “Follow me! I am your light!”
The neon green guy led everyone to search the rooms. Due to the dim light, everyone’s movements became slower. They searched one room thoroughly, checking everywhere, but still found nothing.
When they came out of the first room, some players with a strong sense of time immediately realized that at this pace, it wouldn’t work. If they continued at this speed to search the entire villa, it would be daylight, and they would also exceed the 24-hour time limit.
Now there was no time for them to search slowly. To save time, they had to split into groups again, although the risk was high, but it was better than all of them being eliminated for exceeding the time limit.
However, just as everyone was counting the number of people to split into groups, they realized that some were missing.
Originally, there were seventeen of them, but somehow, three people were gone, leaving only fourteen now.
“Does anyone know when they went missing?” Heya frowned, this situation was just like the one with Luna, how could he, a highly alert mercenary, not have noticed at all?
“They should have been here when we went upstairs.”
“Then they must have disappeared while we were searching the rooms for clues.”
The disappearance of these three people undoubtedly added a hint of gloom to the others’ search. After all, with more than ten people in one room, even if the vision was dim, there should have been someone nearby who noticed when they disappeared. But none of them realized it until they counted the number of people.
“Could it be a ghost?” One player shuddered.
“Maybe there was a mechanism in the room, and they triggered it and got pulled somewhere.”
Taking advantage of everyone’s speculation, Alvia, who had been following the players, looked around. He had already discovered what was going on, but since the game belonged to these players, he didn’t want to ruin their gaming experience, so he would remain silent.
“Give me back my life~”
The miserable voice sounded again, but everyone was already used to it. After all, the three ghosts in Zhou Zhou’s hands would call out every few minutes, and even if it felt spooky at first, now they could more or less ignore it.
Zhou Zhou looked up in puzzlement, watching the three ghosts in his hands float calmly.
The voice didn’t come from him.
Qian Le, standing next to Zhou Zhou, also noticed the issue: “It seems the voice just now didn’t come from Zhou Zhou’s side.”
The murmurs immediately disappeared, and the players began searching around.
A tall, thin man stood beside the neon green guy. His range of vision was a bit wider. After scanning the surroundings and finding nothing, he looked up.
Three ghosts emitting a dim green glow were expressionlessly stuck to the ceiling, making eye contact with him.
“Ahhh, up there!” The tall, thin man collapsed to the ground, kicking his legs and constantly backing away, trying to leave, continuously shouting “up there.”
The others immediately looked up too, and as if in a chain reaction, screams rang out one after another.
The scattering crowd jammed the originally not-so-spacious corridor, and those who couldn’t get out began shoving, even Zhou Zhou was pushed.
“Careful.” Having expected this, Alvia stood at the open room door and caught Zhou Zhou, who was about to fall.
Then he pulled Zhou Zhou to his side, watching as the players continued to scream and flee.
“Thank you.” Even though he almost fell, Zhou Zhou didn’t let go of the ghosts in his hands.
Being pulled to a safe place, Zhou Zhou immediately searched for Qian Le and Heya in the crowd. Qian Le had also almost fallen, but he managed to stumble into the room opposite, so he should be fine.
Where was Heya?
The only ones left in the original spot were a few who were at the very front and didn’t have time to run, or those who had been pushed down and hadn’t gotten up yet. Most people had run into the surrounding rooms, and those who ran far away had already reached downstairs.
The players who fled into the rooms slammed the doors shut, calming their rapidly beating hearts inside.
After a while, they slowly came back to their senses, realizing that they had only seen a few ghosts, which wasn’t new to them. Why did they run? Mainly, at that moment, everyone was screaming and fleeing, and they got infected by the atmosphere, so they ran too.
However, making direct eye contact with those pale, expressionless ghosts just now was indeed quite terrifying.
One player opened the door a crack and shouted out: “Hey, the one who can capture ghosts, quickly go and capture those ghosts!”
Alvia glanced at the door that only dared to open a crack and let out a cold laugh.
Even though the other’s tone wasn’t good, sounding more like an order for Zhou Zhou to do something, Zhou Zhou still replied kindly: “Okay.”
Then he walked under the ceiling where the three ghosts were stuck and stretched out his hand…
After a minute, he maintained the same posture.
Then he changed his stance, standing on tiptoe and straining to stretch his arm, his hand grasping in the air a few times.
He also jumped up a few times on the spot.
Maintaining this posture, he looked at Alvia innocently: “I can’t reach.”
Alvia was amused by Zhou Zhou’s innocent demeanor, even though he knew that the other was deliberately putting on this act to lower his guard. He couldn’t help but smile.
It seemed that the person behind Zhou Zhou had studied his preferences very thoroughly.
The icy eyes seemed to melt a little, revealing a faint smile.
He curved his lips, with a hint of malicious intent, and smiled as he said to Zhou Zhou, who was asking him for help: “You’ll reach soon, just keep trying.”
If Heya was here and saw Alvia like this, his eyeballs might have dropped out.
Zhou Zhou nodded seriously and tried again to reach the ghosts on the ceiling. This time, the ghosts seemed to have learned, sticking tightly to the ceiling from head to toe without moving, not giving Zhou Zhou the slightest opportunity.
His outstretched arms even pulled up his shirt, revealing a glimpse of his bright waist.
Alvia’s gaze swept over Zhou Zhou’s waist, and the amusement he felt earlier quickly subsided.
The same trick became too much when used repeatedly, and what did “asking him for help” mean? Did Zhou Zhou want him to hold him?
Zhou Zhou kept reaching and reaching, finally realizing that even if he grew ten centimeters taller, he still wouldn’t be able to reach. Deflated, he lowered his arms and looked around: “If only Heya was here.” With his height, he could easily reach.
Alvia inwardly wondered, if Zhou Zhou made the request for him to hold him, how should he refuse in a way that wouldn’t let Zhou Zhou guess that he had already seen through their scheme? But then he heard Zhou Zhou say it would be better if Heya was here, and his brows furrowed as the ice returned to his eyes.
“You want Heya to hold you?” Did the other already discover the relationship between Heya and the Empire, and want to find a breakthrough from him?
Zhou Zhou: ?
Zhou Zhou didn’t understand why Alvia suddenly said he wanted Heya to hold him. Looking up at the ghosts, he remembered that they would be possessed if they touched the ghosts, and only he could safely touch them.
Moreover, if Heya held him, he would definitely be able to reach the ghosts, so he said to Alvia: “Yeah, Heya can hold me.”
Although Heya was secretly Alvia’s subordinate, they had grown up and trained together since childhood, and their bond was quite deep. Alvia wouldn’t fall for such a scheme, but the perceptive Heya might not be so lucky.
Thinking of this, Alvia spoke: “Let me hold you instead.”
That works too, Alvia was much taller than him. Zhou Zhou nodded again.
Alvia slowly took a few steps forward, expressionless, and stood in front of Zhou Zhou, looking at Zhou Zhou who was looking up at him expectantly.
The two were very close, one looking up and one looking down, their breaths almost intermingling. Alvia could easily put his arms around Zhou Zhou’s waist.
For him, over all these years, he had never thought of finding a partner, because his focus had always been on the Empire, and because he would never be moved by anyone. Such a ridiculous and vulgar tactic was just an indulgence in his monotonous life.
He slowly stretched out his hand, and just as he was about to hold Zhou Zhou’s waist, the door opposite opened.
Zhou Zhou immediately turned his head to look and saw Qian Le coming out of the door with a high stool.
The neon green guy was sitting against the wall, head lowered and not saying a word, so the visibility here wasn’t too bad.
Qian Le quickly walked up to the two of them, set the high stool down next to Zhou Zhou, and gave Alvia a defiant look.
“Zhou Zhou, use this!”
No one knew when this thing emitting a dim green glow appeared among the players.
The night had already made the players uneasy, and suddenly seeing such a thing, it was good that they didn’t scream on the spot.
Originally, everyone was discussing while standing apart with Zhou Zhou at the center, and that dim green thing appeared almost at the center.
The players scattered and ran away, a few brave ones reached out and slapped it hard, trying to knock it away.
“Ouch!” The green glow spoke, “Why did you hit me?”
When the room turned completely dark, the copper chandelier on the ceiling suddenly lit up.
There were six red candles on the chandelier frame, burning without wind, one after the other in sequence, and the flickering candlelight illuminated the first floor and the area near the second-floor railing.
In the candlelight, everyone realized that the green thing was a human head.
To be specific, it was the guy with neon green hair, whose hair glowed in the dark, startling the unsuspecting players.
At this time, he rubbed the back of his head with a wronged look, glancing around the crowd, as if trying to find who had slapped his head.
“You hit too hard, almost knocked my brains out,” he murmured in complaint.
“You still dare to say that, your hair is so scary in the middle of the night.”
“Yes, I thought it was some ghost, so close, right in front of my eyes, if not you, who else would I slap.”
“Why did you dye your hair in such a color, the instance is scary enough, and you pull off something like this.”
The guy argued: “I dyed this color on purpose, so I can see the surroundings clearly at night.”
As he spoke, he shook his head, and even with the candlelight now, his head still emitted a dim green glow, very prominent.
“A flashlight only costs ten points, did you really have to use your head?” One player couldn’t help but say as he watched the green glow on the guy’s head sway.
“You just don’t get it. In Nightmare City, if you die and revive, it costs ten thousand points. Ten thousand points, you know? Last time I cleared an instance, I only earned a little over three thousand. Every point counts, I can’t waste them. And with this hair color, it can provide light at night, so I’m not afraid even if something unexpected happens.”
The neon green guy had quite a few reasons, and one player seemed convinced, muttering, “I’ll dye one too when I go out.”
A few casual chats successfully eased the atmosphere again.
Qian Le looked at the other’s hair, secretly wondering what effect a fluorescent color would have on him. Just as he was about to ask Zhou Zhou’s opinion, he turned his head and found that Zhou Zhou was actually leaning on the sofa with his eyes closed, and there was no rise and fall of his chest. He looked very… peaceful?
“Zhou Zhou, Zhou Zhou,” Qian Le called out a few times.
Zhou Zhou opened his eyes, his gaze clear.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“A little sleepy, I rarely stay up late.”
But this was in a game, where the flow of time was different from reality. At most, it was only noon now. Qian Le was a bit puzzled, but he soon realized that Zhou Zhou might be used to taking afternoon naps, so he felt sleepy now.
“It’s okay, after we clear this, you can go home and sleep well.”
Zhou Zhou obediently nodded at the concerned Qian Le.
“Although the vision isn’t as good as during the day, as long as there’s light, it’s fine. Let’s go upstairs and search again, don’t miss any details, check the floors, walls, and everything else again.” One player said.
So this group went upstairs again, maybe because of the dimmed vision, everyone’s footsteps sounded clearer as they went up.
Thump, thump, thump, the messy footsteps continued from the first floor to the stairs, and then moved to the second floor.
When they reached the railing area, they realized that only this part of the second floor was lit up, the corridors on both sides were pitch-black, with only a faint moonlight coming in from the windows at the far end.
“Does anyone have any lighting tools?” A player asked loudly.
But no one did. Nightmare City had just launched, and most people were playing the game for the first time. Among the few players who had already gone through the second instance, they couldn’t bear to buy tools.
Because in the instance, if you die and revive, it costs ten thousand points, but after clearing it, they only earned a few hundred or a few thousand points. They all wanted to save up enough for the ten thousand points revival tool before buying other tools.
As a result, no one had any lighting tools right now.
Zhou Zhou blinked his eyes, he seemed to have forgotten to buy tools too.
He could see at night, so he didn’t need lighting tools, but he could bring a few next time. Qian Le and Heya couldn’t see at night.
“Can we take the candles down from the chandelier?” Someone suggested.
The ceiling was too high. Although the chandelier looked close from the second floor, even if Heya, the tallest among them, stretched out his hand, he still couldn’t reach it, so this plan was not feasible.
Everyone fell silent for a while, then suddenly turned to look at the neon green guy in unison.
neon green: “Now you know I had foresight, and you still hit me.”
He took a few steps forward, walking to the very front, waving his arm and proudly announcing: “Follow me! I am your light!”
The neon green guy led everyone to search the rooms. Due to the dim light, everyone’s movements became slower. They searched one room thoroughly, checking everywhere, but still found nothing.
When they came out of the first room, some players with a strong sense of time immediately realized that at this pace, it wouldn’t work. If they continued at this speed to search the entire villa, it would be daylight, and they would also exceed the 24-hour time limit.
Now there was no time for them to search slowly. To save time, they had to split into groups again, although the risk was high, but it was better than all of them being eliminated for exceeding the time limit.
However, just as everyone was counting the number of people to split into groups, they realized that some were missing.
Originally, there were seventeen of them, but somehow, three people were gone, leaving only fourteen now.
“Does anyone know when they went missing?” Heya frowned, this situation was just like the one with Luna, how could he, a highly alert mercenary, not have noticed at all?
“They should have been here when we went upstairs.”
“Then they must have disappeared while we were searching the rooms for clues.”
The disappearance of these three people undoubtedly added a hint of gloom to the others’ search. After all, with more than ten people in one room, even if the vision was dim, there should have been someone nearby who noticed when they disappeared. But none of them realized it until they counted the number of people.
“Could it be a ghost?” One player shuddered.
“Maybe there was a mechanism in the room, and they triggered it and got pulled somewhere.”
Taking advantage of everyone’s speculation, Alvia, who had been following the players, looked around. He had already discovered what was going on, but since the game belonged to these players, he didn’t want to ruin their gaming experience, so he would remain silent.
“Give me back my life~”
The miserable voice sounded again, but everyone was already used to it. After all, the three ghosts in Zhou Zhou’s hands would call out every few minutes, and even if it felt spooky at first, now they could more or less ignore it.
Zhou Zhou looked up in puzzlement, watching the three ghosts in his hands float calmly.
The voice didn’t come from him.
Qian Le, standing next to Zhou Zhou, also noticed the issue: “It seems the voice just now didn’t come from Zhou Zhou’s side.”
The murmurs immediately disappeared, and the players began searching around.
A tall, thin man stood beside the neon green guy. His range of vision was a bit wider. After scanning the surroundings and finding nothing, he looked up.
Three ghosts emitting a dim green glow were expressionlessly stuck to the ceiling, making eye contact with him.
“Ahhh, up there!” The tall, thin man collapsed to the ground, kicking his legs and constantly backing away, trying to leave, continuously shouting “up there.”
The others immediately looked up too, and as if in a chain reaction, screams rang out one after another.
The scattering crowd jammed the originally not-so-spacious corridor, and those who couldn’t get out began shoving, even Zhou Zhou was pushed.
“Careful.” Having expected this, Alvia stood at the open room door and caught Zhou Zhou, who was about to fall.
Then he pulled Zhou Zhou to his side, watching as the players continued to scream and flee.
“Thank you.” Even though he almost fell, Zhou Zhou didn’t let go of the ghosts in his hands.
Being pulled to a safe place, Zhou Zhou immediately searched for Qian Le and Heya in the crowd. Qian Le had also almost fallen, but he managed to stumble into the room opposite, so he should be fine.
Where was Heya?
The only ones left in the original spot were a few who were at the very front and didn’t have time to run, or those who had been pushed down and hadn’t gotten up yet. Most people had run into the surrounding rooms, and those who ran far away had already reached downstairs.
The players who fled into the rooms slammed the doors shut, calming their rapidly beating hearts inside.
After a while, they slowly came back to their senses, realizing that they had only seen a few ghosts, which wasn’t new to them. Why did they run? Mainly, at that moment, everyone was screaming and fleeing, and they got infected by the atmosphere, so they ran too.
However, making direct eye contact with those pale, expressionless ghosts just now was indeed quite terrifying.
One player opened the door a crack and shouted out: “Hey, the one who can capture ghosts, quickly go and capture those ghosts!”
Alvia glanced at the door that only dared to open a crack and let out a cold laugh.
Even though the other’s tone wasn’t good, sounding more like an order for Zhou Zhou to do something, Zhou Zhou still replied kindly: “Okay.”
Then he walked under the ceiling where the three ghosts were stuck and stretched out his hand…
After a minute, he maintained the same posture.
Then he changed his stance, standing on tiptoe and straining to stretch his arm, his hand grasping in the air a few times.
He also jumped up a few times on the spot.
Maintaining this posture, he looked at Alvia innocently: “I can’t reach.”
Alvia was amused by Zhou Zhou’s innocent demeanor, even though he knew that the other was deliberately putting on this act to lower his guard. He couldn’t help but smile.
It seemed that the person behind Zhou Zhou had studied his preferences very thoroughly.
The icy eyes seemed to melt a little, revealing a faint smile.
He curved his lips, with a hint of malicious intent, and smiled as he said to Zhou Zhou, who was asking him for help: “You’ll reach soon, just keep trying.”
If Heya was here and saw Alvia like this, his eyeballs might have dropped out.
Zhou Zhou nodded seriously and tried again to reach the ghosts on the ceiling. This time, the ghosts seemed to have learned, sticking tightly to the ceiling from head to toe without moving, not giving Zhou Zhou the slightest opportunity.
His outstretched arms even pulled up his shirt, revealing a glimpse of his bright waist.
Alvia’s gaze swept over Zhou Zhou’s waist, and the amusement he felt earlier quickly subsided.
The same trick became too much when used repeatedly, and what did “asking him for help” mean? Did Zhou Zhou want him to hold him?
Zhou Zhou kept reaching and reaching, finally realizing that even if he grew ten centimeters taller, he still wouldn’t be able to reach. Deflated, he lowered his arms and looked around: “If only Heya was here.” With his height, he could easily reach.
Alvia inwardly wondered, if Zhou Zhou made the request for him to hold him, how should he refuse in a way that wouldn’t let Zhou Zhou guess that he had already seen through their scheme? But then he heard Zhou Zhou say it would be better if Heya was here, and his brows furrowed as the ice returned to his eyes.
“You want Heya to hold you?” Did the other already discover the relationship between Heya and the Empire, and want to find a breakthrough from him?
Zhou Zhou: ?
Zhou Zhou didn’t understand why Alvia suddenly said he wanted Heya to hold him. Looking up at the ghosts, he remembered that they would be possessed if they touched the ghosts, and only he could safely touch them.
Moreover, if Heya held him, he would definitely be able to reach the ghosts, so he said to Alvia: “Yeah, Heya can hold me.”
Although Heya was secretly Alvia’s subordinate, they had grown up and trained together since childhood, and their bond was quite deep. Alvia wouldn’t fall for such a scheme, but the perceptive Heya might not be so lucky.
Thinking of this, Alvia spoke: “Let me hold you instead.”
That works too, Alvia was much taller than him. Zhou Zhou nodded again.
Alvia slowly took a few steps forward, expressionless, and stood in front of Zhou Zhou, looking at Zhou Zhou who was looking up at him expectantly.
The two were very close, one looking up and one looking down, their breaths almost intermingling. Alvia could easily put his arms around Zhou Zhou’s waist.
For him, over all these years, he had never thought of finding a partner, because his focus had always been on the Empire, and because he would never be moved by anyone. Such a ridiculous and vulgar tactic was just an indulgence in his monotonous life.
He slowly stretched out his hand, and just as he was about to hold Zhou Zhou’s waist, the door opposite opened.
Zhou Zhou immediately turned his head to look and saw Qian Le coming out of the door with a high stool.
The neon green guy was sitting against the wall, head lowered and not saying a word, so the visibility here wasn’t too bad.
Qian Le quickly walked up to the two of them, set the high stool down next to Zhou Zhou, and gave Alvia a defiant look.
“Zhou Zhou, use this!”
