Thump, thump, thump!
With her head held in her hands, Zhang Yang’s ear was pressed against her own chest.
She could hear the sudden, frantic thumping of her heart.
Whoa, she almost scared herself to death!
Of course, Zhang Yang wasn’t afraid of ghosts.
The reason for her intense reaction was simple—
Who wouldn’t have their heart race when they ran into a full-HP Red Name while down to a sliver of health?
She wasn’t one of those Players who could respawn half-HP infinitely, fearless of death.
As an NPC, once she lost her life, she could only wait for the system to respawn another “Zhang Yang.”
Would this new “Zhang Yang” still possess self-awareness?
Zhang Yang had no way of knowing.
In sixteen years of mingling in the game, she had never met a second NPC who had awakened to self-awareness like her.
This proved that her situation was an extremely rare exception.
If she died, she was truly dead!
Therefore, Zhang Yang cherished her life above all else.
Unfortunately, she was currently immobilized.
No one knew better than she how fragile one’s health was when it was in the red.
In a flash, several plans flashed through Zhang Yang’s mind.
She narrowed those alluring peach-blossom eyes—the ones so many Players had begged to copy the facial data for—and silently calculated the distance between herself and the Red Name, the Red Name’s weaknesses, and exactly how much force would be needed to knock the Red Name unconscious!
Before striking, she lightly weighed the object in her hand.
Tsk.
She found the head too light.
Her field of vision swayed slightly up and down.
But as Zhang Yang’s gaze slid from the Red Name’s rain-soaked forehead down to his neck, she changed her mind.
If she didn’t use enough force to knock him unconscious, she would be the one at a disadvantage.
It would be better to aim for his throat and bite it clean through in one go.
That way, her chances of victory would be higher.
And more certain!
Boom!
Black-purple lightning tore through the night sky once more.
The first flash had allowed Zhang Yang to see the newcomer’s face; this second flash allowed the newcomer to see the grotesque scene inside the house—a headless figure with unnaturally twisted limbs, holding a head covered in dried blood, staring at him expressionlessly.
When he saw the figure’s form, he gasped in horror.
A bone-chilling cold shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.
He instinctively stumbled back a step in fear, but he quickly noticed the unfamiliar look in the head’s eyes as it stared at him, and he steadied his mind.
“Huh?”
Zhang Yang watched in astonishment as the name above the man’s head turned yellow.
Red meant hostile, yellow meant neutral, and green meant friendly.
The newcomer’s name changing from red to yellow meant their attitude toward her had shifted from hostile to neutral, which also meant she could buy some time.
So, Zhang Yang suppressed her urge to toss the head out and called out the name: “Mysterious Rainy Night Passerby A.”
Mysterious Rainy Night Passerby A stood frozen, perhaps because the wind, rain, and thunder outside were too loud for Zhang Yang’s voice to be heard.
She extended an invitation: “Do you want to come in out of the rain?”
The figure finally reacted.
“Standing outside like that is scary,” Zhang Yang emphasized with a serious expression.
“Just now, you frightened me.”
Whether it was the first or second sentence that did the trick, the newcomer’s pale, leather-like face twitched uncontrollably.
He accepted Zhang Yang’s kindness and stepped into the dilapidated house, which was still covered in traces of a brutal murder scene, bringing the storm and rain in with him.
Zhang Yang’s gaze remained glued to the newcomer, or rather, to the head above him.
The two were now separated by only seven or eight steps.
Zhang Yang sat down cross-legged as if no one else were there.
She placed the head between her folded legs and brought the needle and thread close to her eyes.
She tied a knot between the remaining thread and the new one, then pulled one end to guide the new thread through the needle’s eye, attempting to sew the head.
“Hmm, this is a bit inconvenient.”
With no other choice, she had to turn her attention to the second person.
“Mysterious Rainy Night Passerby A, could you give me a hand? I can’t see the wound on my neck, so I can’t stitch it up.”
The newcomer’s voice was dry: “Are you… calling me?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Mysterious Rainy Night Passerby A: “…”
His breathing faltered for a moment.
He glanced at Zhang Yang’s head, then at the needle and thread she was twisting in her right hand.
His already pale face turned nearly transparent.
At that moment, Zhang Yang’s eyes rolled, her gaze fixed deeply on the top of his head as if she were seeing something beyond comprehension.
Mysterious Rainy Night Passerby A (Fear)
Mysterious Rainy Night Passerby A (Hesitation)
Mysterious Rainy Night Passerby A (Killing Intent)
The name in front remained unchanged, but strange brackets had appeared behind it.
As the name flashed rapidly between yellow and red, the text within the brackets also changed several times.
Finally, his name settled on a yellow, neutral state.
The text inside the brackets quietly vanished.
Zhang Yang blinked, confused.
What is this?
She had never seen anything like this on a Player or another NPC.
While Players could change their names and NPCs could disguise their true identities, neither would suddenly sprout a set of brackets that vanished moments later, much less switch between Red and Yellow names so rapidly.
Or maybe I’m just unaware?
On second thought, that seemed possible.
According to the “game settings” as described by the Players, the Homestead they applied for were actually plots of wasteland recently reclaimed by the official government.
It would be perfectly normal for Red Name NPCs to spawn in such a place.
Players would receive a Home quest, enter the Home Side Map, clear out these Red Name Mobs, and then build their in-game homes.
That made sense, didn’t it?
So, it would also be reasonable for the designers to give these Red Name Mobs some strange, unique traits.
That was just part of the gameplay.
Zhang Yang accepted this theory in an instant.
“Come help me sew this.”
This wasn’t a request, nor was it a command.
It was a tiny privilege she enjoyed as an NPC.
After all, it was common knowledge that NPCs could order players around to run errands, so long as they offered a small reward afterward—something like a title, a pet, a trinket, or a book.
Of course, they could also offer money.
But that wasn’t recommended.
The inflation among players was simply terrifying.
Most of the time, she disguised herself as a player.
Only when she needed to secure some benefits for herself would she secretly switch to her NPC persona, donning the generic title of “Wandering Survivor” above her head to trick passing players into running errands for her.
“As a reward, I can give you a hamster.”
If she offered a player a thousand Alliance Coins, they wouldn’t even bat an eye—they might even call her a pauper to her face.
But if she offered them a hamster, the kind that sold for three for fifty Alliance Coins at the market, they would generously share the news on the World Channel, attracting a whole herd of eager players begging to run errands for Zhang Yang.
And what if she ran out of hamsters?
She’d just need to find an excuse to make the player wait elsewhere while she went to restock.
But the newcomer didn’t even budge.
Was the lure of the hamsters not enough?
Zhang Yang then remembered that the Mysterious Rainy Night Passerby A was just a Red Name Mob in the Homestead, not a player.
Naturally, he wouldn’t accept the quest she had just issued.
Just as she was holding her head in despair, wondering what to do, the man finally moved, getting up and approaching her.
“Give me the needle and thread.”
Rumble!
The dark purple lightning outside grew even more violent.
“Are you nervous?”
So close, Zhang Yang could easily see the Mysterious Rainy Night Passerby A’s detailed features.
He looked to be seventeen or eighteen, his clothes covered in patches of a decadent style, his skin rough, his teeth severely worn down…
Similarly, she did not miss his much faster heartbeat and breathing, his hands trembling slightly from nervousness, and his crimson name.
Passerby A’s breath hitched, his back stiffening.
The needle in his hand also sank into the wound on Zhang Yang’s neck.
Ding—
Head, hand, body, and foot detected.
Synthesize?