◎ The Bond Between the Inn and the Monsters ◎
Everyone looked toward He Yupu, pinning their final hope on him.
He Yupu lowered his eyes, his slender, porcelain like fingers tracing the photograph. His Adam’s apple bobbed in his fair, swan like neck as he let out a soft sigh. With reddened eye corners and an appropriately sorrowful expression, he tucked the photo away. “I cannot use it. This was the last gift Brother Xie left for me.”
He managed a difficult, thin smile. “If I accidentally die in this inn, I at least need something of Xie Jingyan’s to keep me company.”
Shen Weiran’s breath hitched, and he frowned irritably. “Are you sick in the head? If we do not use this photo, we are all going to die here!”
“Xie Jingyan is still waiting for you outside the inn. Use this photo, and we will do our best to help you walk out of this place alive.”
The woman in white walked up to him, doing her best to suppress her terror and fury as she urged him softly, “Just think of it as a gamble. If you succeed, you can fly away with him. If you lose, at least you tried your best.”
“If he does not see you, how heartbroken he will be.”
Shen Weiran chimed in from behind. “Xie Jingyan made so many sacrifices to keep you alive. Do you think this is how you repay him?”
The players crowded around him, attempting to persuade him and wake up this damned lovesick fool.
He Yupu was getting a headache from the chattering. Just as he was about to refuse again, a white light flashed in the air, and subtitles began to appear. His pupils constricted. A chill crept slowly up his spine, his heart jumping into his throat, and he felt as though he had been frozen in place.
Oh no! The original character is being swayed.
If this happened, He Yupu would have to follow the plot and would be forced to use the photo. If his identity were exposed, the consequence would be total elimination.
He Yupu immediately pushed the woman in white aside. Before the subtitles could finish appearing, he threw the door open, coming face to face with the impatient little ghost scratching at the door outside.
The ghost froze, pinned in place in a distorted, eerie posture. Its mangled eye sockets stared fixedly at him; it had not expected the human in front of it to be so bold.
But the ghost reacted with terrifying speed. Its pale, cyan face twisted into a grin, and it launched itself forward like a spring loaded ball, preparing to bite this beautiful human to death.
Anyone who hurt its mother had to die.
Shen Weiran’s face darkened, his right hand moving toward the back of He Yupu’s neck, attempting to yank him back just as the ghost was about to bite.
Seeing the ghost’s fangs about to graze He Yupu’s skin, He Yupu’s blue eyes darkened slightly. He moved aside gracefully to dodge, and then, with a fierce kick, he sent the creature flying out of the doorway, following it up by pinning his foot onto the head of the corpse hound.
He turned cold, his voice stern and commanding. “Is this how you treat guests at this inn?”
[Ah, he suppressed them just like that? This is only the first mission. Do not tell me this NPC guessed the weakness of the corpse hound and the little ghost.]
[He kicked the ghost away and then stepped on the dog. That kind of maneuver should not be something that can be achieved by mere luck.]
[How does he dare? If he had guessed wrong, it would have been game over. This level of guts is incredible.]
He Yupu had been inspired by Xie Jingyan, making it easy to deduce that monsters might restrain one another. Compared to the little ghost, the corpse hound was more powerful and faster; clearly, letting it off its chain would make it better at hunting players, but the little ghost kept the chain pulled taut, as if maintaining some kind of balance. Therefore, he boldly hypothesized that the hound’s lethality would diminish if it left the little ghost’s side, so he chose to attack the little ghost first and then control the hound.
If He Yupu dared to think it, he dared to do it. After all, in horror dungeons, the players who survive until the end are almost always the ones who fear death the least.
The little ghost slammed into the wall, sliding down to the floor. A few of the stitches on its body burst open, as if it had broken through a restriction; its size began to expand, and its long, dry fingernails grew sharper. The dim light flickered, leaving deep red bloodstains on the pale walls. The thick stench of rot mixed with the smell of blood was sickeningly eerie.
[What a pity. Although his brain kept up, his luck was bad. He broke half of the little ghost’s seal.]
[The little ghost’s ultimate form seems to be invulnerable, and it has immense strength. This time, they are truly finished.]
The players also noticed the change in the little ghost. Shen Weiran stepped to the front, aiming his gun at it and firing continuously. The little ghost took the gunfire head on, its jawbone making a crunching sound. A low growl emitted from deep in its throat, and it lunged at He Yupu once more.
As its fangs were about to pierce his carotid artery, He Yupu looked distant, staring at it with indifference. “I want to check out.”
The little ghost stopped in its tracks, subconsciously pulling its claws back. Due to the momentum, it crashed into him. He Yupu was physically frail, and he lost fifteen HP points from the impact.
His blue eyes were tinged with displeasure. He raised his hand, using his fingertips to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. In the gloomy light, his contours looked exquisitely beautiful, like a demon who had accidentally stumbled into the human world.
The little ghost gritted its teeth and glared at him, disbelieving. “What did you say?”
“Your inn has poor soundproofing, old fashioned decor, the bedding smells of mold, there is no Wi-Fi in the room, and more importantly, your staff’s attitude is terrible.”
He Yupu ignored its resentment and demanded firmly, “You are a member of the staff here, are you not? Now, as a customer, I am telling you: I want to see the landlady, have her check me out immediately.”
The little ghost was so angry it trembled all over, two lines of bloody tears streaming from its eye sockets. “How dare you.”
He Yupu raised his beautiful eyes in annoyance and barked coldly, “Why would I not dare? Lead the way.”
The little ghost fell silent, saying nothing. Finally, it gave a grievance filled humph, its voice even carrying a hint of a sob, before grabbing the dog’s chain and walking away. Seeing He Yupu standing still, it turned and glared at him. “Follow me.”
Only then did He Yupu’s expression soften. He followed the little ghost with a natural and composed demeanor, showing no signs of fear, leaving the players behind him staring in stunned silence.
[You can play it like this? Fuck, has there ever been a player in this dungeon who treated themselves like a guest?]