Doll Survival Game - Chapter 152

The monsters had surrounded them, but none had tried to get closer yet.

Via scowled at the tightly encircling crowd: “Luo Yiran, you really are unlucky, aren’t you?”

…So he’s just dumping the blame on him now?

Luo Yiran’s mouth twitched slightly. He lowered his head to look at the silver thread in his hand-he couldn’t use items anymore, so all he had left was the bit he wore… and what he’d set up outside.

He didn’t know if it would be enough.

Just as he was thinking, a mosquito head in a suit appeared above, staring at Luo Yiran and Via.

Beside him, a girl holding a doll popped her head out, grinning: “Aren’t you going to run? After a count of one hundred, we’ll come catch you.”

Luo Yiran replied politely, “Thanks for the warning.”

The girl: “…”

Via, speechless, grabbed Luo Yiran from his head and set him on his shoulder: “Hold on tight.”

Luo Yiran was unmoved by the despairing scene before him; he was even quite relaxed and calm: “We can’t escape, and we’ll definitely run into other monsters or parasites on the way.”

So the “ghosts” chasing them would only keep increasing.

Via was annoyed by Luo Yiran’s indifferent attitude. He gauged the distance, then leapt to a spot diagonally above where monsters hadn’t gathered yet.

The surrounding monsters neither retreated nor dodged, their eyes fixed intently on the two’s movements.

The scene was downright chilling.

Via only looked toward the direction he wanted to go, and at his ear he heard rhythmic sounds-probably them counting.

“Tsk…”

Via cursed softly and indistinctly, then headed straight for a spot.

Luo Yiran sat on Via’s shoulder, watching the monsters chasing from behind: “Our chances of escaping are very slim.”

Via’s mouth twitched: “Just stop talking, will you? Whether we can escape or not, we have to try, right? Or do you want us to just lie down and wait to be slaughtered? If you really can’t sit still, at least keep track of where you set up your silver thread, so I don’t have to split my attention.”

Luo Yiran raised an eyebrow and smiled, then lowered his head: “The route you picked has the least silver thread set up, just go straight. If we run into any, I’ll tell you or dismantle it myself.”

It mainly depended on how easy it was to dismantle-some threads were laid out in a complicated way, looping several times and connecting to his fingers, so he needed to identify them.

But there were fewer silver threads in this direction because there had been fewer monsters here earlier.

Via nodded very slightly, his gray-white curls pressed to his forehead, his eyes deep-he absolutely didn’t want to die here.

At times like this, he finally understood what he couldn’t before about Xia Lang.

-If he had to face death, he wanted to die within Li Qi Feng’s sight.

“Don’t worry.” Luo Yiran saw his expression was too somber, so he kindly spoke to comfort him: “You and Li Qi Feng are both strong even without game bonuses.”

Via: “…”

Leaping onto a high broken wall, Via looked at the monsters close behind, and the doll girl sitting on the frontmost monster.

They were moving at high speed, yet Via still caught the doll girl’s look of amusement.

“……”

“Via, your expression is even scarier now.” Luo Yiran reminded him: “There’s silver thread one meter ahead, I’ve cleared the left side, remember to avoid the right.”

After speaking, Luo Yiran looked down at the four fingers of his right hand, then made a tiny movement to pull the silver thread behind him.

Once he finished, he turned back, only to see the doll girl’s eyes deepen for a moment, then she made some strange sounds, and immediately the monsters and parasites all avoided the silver thread.

The silver thread wasn’t invisible; it was normal for others to see it. But the problem was, it shouldn’t be so easy to spot, especially since the light in Changdu District was so dim, it should be even harder to see in the dark.

So, that doll parasite was suspicious.

Luo Yiran turned his head, just about to tell Via to watch out for that doll girl.

But before he could speak, Via suddenly darted into a building on the right.

The building was half-finished; though the structure was mostly intact, it was empty, with no glass or doors.

The building directly blocked some of the larger monsters outside. Luo Yiran saw that only a few small monsters and parasites hesitated before coming in, while the bigger ones froze at the entrance.

They’d surely think of other ways to get in, but for now, Via used their hesitation and stiff movements to quickly and nimbly go upstairs, weaving through the floors with agility.

With so many obstacles in the building, Via temporarily shook off the parasites and monsters. He found a spot to stop, then pulled out a blue gun.

Luo Yiran: “…?”

Via didn’t explain, but Luo Yiran could guess where it came from.

Changdu District, as a high-risk zone, must have seen war, and only after things became irretrievable did they seal it off.

But since there’d been fighting, it was normal for weapons to be left behind on the battlefield.

However, this weapon was clearly different from the ones they were familiar with; he didn’t know if Via could operate it…

“I’m really worried.” Via suddenly spoke. Though he was talking to Luo Yiran, his gaze never landed on him, instead constantly scanning the surroundings.

Via’s tone had changed a bit, becoming easy to pick out even in the noise. He asked Luo Yiran softly, “Why aren’t you worried at all?”

Luo Yiran paused.

Via interpreted it himself, sneering, “Looks like you’re not afraid of death.”

The doll tilted its head, listening to the commotion downstairs, voice lowered to a whisper: “Although I’m indeed not afraid of death, and even don’t care at all about dying, what I just said about not worrying meant you don’t need to worry.”

A head popped up at the front stairway; Via reacted instantly and shot it dead. The monster didn’t even scream, collapsing and disintegrating on the spot.

This weapon really was different. Its bullets were somewhat like lasers, and the feel was excellent.

The power was stronger too. Via relaxed slightly.

Luo Yiran, however, frowned at the monster-monster…weakness.

They must have some weakness, a weakness that makes it relatively easy to kill them.

Whether weapon or poison, it must be something that already exists now.

Via knew the monster died easily because it wasn’t strong, so he remained vigilant, observing his surroundings.

Luo Yiran glanced at him from the corner of his eye, lowering his voice even more: “People always worry about uncertainty, it’s uncontrollable. But you can worry a little less.”

He curved his eyes, voice utterly certain: “Not only because you’re strong, but also because I’ll protect you all.”

I-protect, you…all?

Coming from Luo Yiran, this line was truly bizarre, and the sentence itself seemed a bit off. Something flashed through Via’s mind, but he couldn’t catch it, as his focus was entirely on his surroundings.

So he reacted a bit slowly, then Via’s lips curled down. He wanted to ask if Luo Yiran had done something shady, but what came out was: “Anyone can talk big.”

Luo Yiran smiled easily, joking, “I can hold them off so you can run.”

Another strange-shaped head popped up ahead, and Via shot it without hesitation: “Who the hell wants someone else’s life traded for their own vitality.”

Hmm…Luo Yiran raised an eyebrow-so irritable.

And…was that really not a jab at him?

“Life has its priorities.” Luo Yiran turned his head, looking out the window to the side.

Here was ruin and rubble, yet beyond the high walls and electric net lay peace and prosperity, like two different worlds: “You want to live more, so I can give it to you.”

“…”

At that moment, Via suddenly understood the reason for Luo Yiran’s “indifference.”

Luo Yiran, this guy, simply doesn’t care about anything.

Living, fine. Not living, also fine.

Maybe it’s the same for everything-having or not having, doing or not doing, it’s all the same in his eyes.

So. Via’s hand tightened, his voice still low but now gritted through his teeth: “Did you ever feel even a little sad about Xia Lang’s departure?!”

“Don’t talk about revival or not, we both know, with the game’s usual style, so-called revival will only be another way to torment us.”

Only one organization survives the organizational battle; everyone else fails, which means death.

Yet plenty of players still participate, many for the revival potion.

So in the end, more people will die than be revived.

It’s not worth it-trading many lives for a few, and you can’t even guarantee the revived are the same as before.

But, it’s still a sliver of hope.

Via understands but won’t do it; he came here for his and uncle’s interests, to live longer, so he needs more and stronger items…

But Xia Lang was an accident for him. He hadn’t expected to make a friend here, nor that even with Luo Yiran around…Xia Lang would still die.

It even made him have a strange thought-Xia Lang wasn’t important to Luo Yiran.

And even more inexplicably, he’d been hung up on this for days.

“…”

Luo Yiran didn’t answer.

His gaze remained on the window, index finger tapping rhythmically on his knee.

Monsters and parasites popped up ahead, pouring in through doors and windows. Via aimed his gun at them, blue bullets trailing light, but this time he didn’t injure the parasite.

The parasite’s pierced head healed rapidly. It stared at Via and Luo Yiran, its smile stiff and eerie.

Via’s brows furrowed tightly, and he got up, heading for higher floors-this Ghost Tag game gave players almost no options.

Because the power gap was just too great.

“Via.”

Luo Yiran’s voice reached Via’s ears. As he ran, he turned his head, seeing Luo Yiran raise both hands to the air, faint silver threads connecting to his fingertips.

“Keep going up, don’t stop.”

What…Via wondered, then the slight weight on his shoulder vanished too. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luo Yiran seemingly lifted by the silver thread, his whole body soaring toward the monsters.

At the same time, among the monsters, a gray long-haired man in a black suit stepped on the foremost monster’s head and leapt out.

That man extended his bandage-wrapped hands and caught the doll flying toward him.