Doll Survival Game

Via expected the doll to panic at his words, but strangely, the doll seemed to calm down instead. “Tell me what happened.”

Li Qi Feng patted Via’s shoulder, signaling him to explain, while he took the room card to the front desk for registration.

Guan Cheng, looking bewildered, followed Via and stood before the doll.

Via sat down on the sofa, his clothes damp in several places, leaving wet marks as he settled in. He poured himself a cup of hot water, ready to speak, when the doll suddenly narrowed his eyes, his tone icy, “You’re too noisy.”

Via froze, almost jumping up. “Noisy? I haven’t even said anything…”

“Not you,” the doll ignored the persistent voice in his ear urging him to return to his room. He maneuvered the magician to sit down. “You speak.”

Via didn’t care about the doll’s state. He was only speaking because Li Qi Feng had asked him to. He pouted and sat down, “He got eaten by a monster.”

Luo Yiran narrowed his eyes, “What did you say?”

About half an hour earlier.

“No murder…” Guan Cheng wanted to say it was impossible, but seeing Xia Lang’s state, he thought the two kids might have accidentally killed someone and couldn’t accept it. So he nodded to reassure, “It’s possible, games can have glitches too.”

Xia Lang looked up, then reached up to gently squeeze his own throat, trying to ease the dryness and itchiness. But the moment he looked up and covered his throat, he saw the moon. He was stunned, “The moon is out?”

“Yeah!” Guan Cheng agreed, “As soon as the sun sets, the moon comes out, though it’s not completely dark yet.”

“We need to get back to the hotel!” Xia Lang felt a bit panicked and hurriedly ran towards the hotel, “Ranran said we have to be back before dark!”

They had already learned during the day that there had been a murder at the hotel, so Guan Cheng actually wanted to switch to another hotel-who wants to stay at a hotel where someone just died?

But.

Guan Cheng still followed Xia Lang’s lead.

Luo Yiran had originally said, “Try to spend time in crowded places, the hotel might not allow entry during the day, which is why those two players died. But make sure to return to the hotel before dark.”

Before dark.

The doll must know something to specify such a clear timeframe.

Guan Cheng glanced at the sky-fortunately, although the moon was out, it wasn’t completely dark yet…

But why does it feel so quiet…

“Cheng-Ge…” Xia Lang suddenly stopped, his voice trembling, “Isn’t it strange that there are no NPCs around?”

Guan Cheng was startled, only then realizing that in just a few minutes, all the surrounding shops had closed, and the street was deserted.

The air was filled with a sticky, thick stench.

“Get back to the hotel!” Guan Cheng hissed.

Xia Lang’s face was pale, “The road is different.”

Guan Cheng froze.

The sky darkened at an unbelievable speed. Guan Cheng quickly compared the map, then looked up, “The road is indeed different…” Before he could finish, he frowned, “Is it fogging up?”

Xia Lang was terrified, sticking close to Guan Cheng, “Cheng-Ge…”

The stench in the air grew stronger, wrapping around Guan Cheng, making him nauseous. It reminded him of when he fell into an abandoned, stinking pond at home as a child.

It was too foul.

Guan Cheng pulled Xia Lang along, moving forward along the wall based on memory.

-He suspected the road hadn’t changed at all; it was just that the smell or fog was affecting their perception.

“Why aren’t you home when it’s dark?”

A deep, hoarse old man’s voice suddenly sounded behind them. Xia Lang was so startled he almost jumped, covering his mouth to suppress a scream as he and Guan Cheng quickly turned around.

Behind them, a cloaked figure hunched over, half of his body still in the thick fog, holding a lantern-topped cane. The exposed hand was wrinkled, with a bluish-white hue.

Xia Lang’s hand trembled as it rested on his waist.

Guan Cheng subtly leaned back, ensuring he could quickly retreat if things went south, then cautiously said, “We’re heading back now.”

“In Water City,” the old man under the cloak had an indistinct face, his speech halting in odd places, sounding particularly raspy, “you shouldn’t be out at night.”

“…Why?”

“Because the night doesn’t belong to you.”

A gust of wind lifted the old man’s cloak, and a heavier, fishy stench hit them, with sticky liquid dripping to the ground. Xia Lang screamed in terror at the sight of the cloaked figure’s face.

Guan Cheng’s face turned ashen. He was so close to the cloaked figure, close enough to see every detail of that horrifying face.

-The head was tilted extremely back, the cheeks uneven, covered in deep green scales. The gray-white eyes were unfocused, and the neck, exposed to them, had a long, bloody gash with tiny white objects wriggling within.

Xia Lang was paralyzed with fear, but Guan Cheng reacted quickly, pulling him to run.

The strange figure wobbled after them, the cloak slipping off mostly, head still tilted back as he pursued. Though his movements seemed small, he moved quickly, almost like… a sliding snake.

Xia Lang panted heavily, cold sweat dripping down his back. The thick fog ahead obscured everything but their pounding hearts and breaths.

In the silence, driven by some impulse, Xia Lang glanced back-

Is it not following…

Behind them, nothing but fog was visible.

There really was no one… The clamor in Xia Lang’s mind ceased, and he exhaled in relief.

Then, something cold and soft touched him, sending shivers down his spine. His gaze lowered, meeting the gray-white eyes of the strange figure.

Xia Lang’s mind went blank for a moment. He didn’t even know when he had let go of Guan Cheng, just staring at the figure as the cloak fell away, revealing a sickly pale, slender fish tail below the waist.

He was held tightly by the monster, its throat’s bloody gash pressed against his thigh. Xia Lang felt a sharp pain, and tears welled up instantly.

“Xia Lang!” Guan Cheng shouted, wanting to rush over and save him.

Then a gray-haired young man suddenly jumped down from a nearby building, pulling Guan Cheng back and covering his mouth, “Stop yelling, just run!”

“Save…” Guan Cheng met Xia Lang’s tear-streaked, desperate face, his heart twisting-

Save Xia Lang.

Via snorted, “Don’t make a sound. When I let go, just run. The uncle and I will handle this.”

Via released Guan Cheng, whispering as he did, “Run, don’t hold us back.”

Guan Cheng’s face twitched. He knew staying wouldn’t help, so he averted his gaze, ignoring Xia Lang’s pleading look, and turned to flee.

Xia Lang felt the flesh on his leg being slowly corroded and gnawed away. The pain was suffocating, blurring his vision: “Ranran…”

His lips trembled-no, Ranran wasn’t here, no one would save him.

“Don’t move.” Via flicked several small knives from his sleeve, aiming in Xia Lang’s direction, “I’m not a good shot, moving around might get you stabbed.”

Xia Lang didn’t hear him, his hand slowly reaching for his waist, lost in his thoughts-he couldn’t die here, he had promised…

“Via, let me.” A low voice came from the shadows to the side. Via twirled his knife and then put it away with a smile, “Alright, you handle it.”

The monster instinctively sensed danger, loosening its grip on Xia Lang’s thigh, its grotesque head turning towards the source of the threat.

Bang-

A small gunshot rang out, the bullet hitting the monster’s throat gash.

The monster stiffened and fell.

Xia Lang, weak and panicked, scrambled away from the monster, crawling forward.

Blood dripped from his thigh, his vision darkening. He saw Via not far away and reached out, “Help…” The word caught in his throat, fear filling his eyes.

Via, despite his disdain, moved forward to help him up. But after just two steps, his expression changed, and he instinctively shouted, “Uncle!”

Thoughts seemed to break off, Xia Lang’s body felt heavy, the pain and fear preventing him from immediately recognizing the weight. He saw Via stop, a look of regret in his eyes.

Something cold and uneven brushed against Xia Lang’s face, and he turned to see a patch of green scales.

In extreme terror, Xia Lang didn’t scream, didn’t move, just watched as the monster, already leaning back, tilted its head even further, its throat’s bloody gash widening, pressing against his neck.

Blood foam bubbled from Xia Lang’s mouth, the light in his eyes dimming, his outstretched hand falling limp.

Gunshots continued, each bullet hitting its mark, but the monster seemed unaffected, its throat’s gash still clamped onto Xia Lang’s neck.

Via sighed at the sight of Xia Lang, eyes closed and motionless. He twirled the knife in his hand, then flung it at the monster-his aim was poor, but it didn’t matter now.

The knife embedded in the monster’s tail.

Yet, coincidentally, the previously unresponsive monster released Xia Lang, emitting a strange hissing sound, as if in pain, or… calling?

Via’s expression changed, “It’s calling for others!”

“Get out of here.” Li Qi Feng emerged from the shadows.

Via reluctantly looked at the monster, “Aren’t we going to kill it? It might be the real mermaid.”

Li Qi Feng: “It seems more like a creature driven by instinct.”

Via agreed, and considering the mermaid in the task was likely the instance boss, a boss would usually be singular and not as weak as this monster calling for others.

“Let’s go, let’s go.” Via waved, “It’s a shame we couldn’t save that kid, even if he had a bit of breath left.”

“Stop dawdling, move, the fog’s getting thicker.”

The dense fog rose eerily. As Li Qi Feng covered their retreat, he glanced back one last time, watching the fog swallow the monster and the breathless Xia Lang. In that instant, he glimpsed a flash of black in the fog and heard the sudden increase in breathing sounds.

Other creatures had appeared.