Doll Survival Game

First, let’s eliminate the option of Water City. Although Water City’s goal aligns with his, he hasn’t made any contact with them so far.

If he starts to approach Water City now, it would be too late, unless he directly kidnaps the leader of Water City… Although this is a game, such behavior is still out of the question.

Then there are Idia and Blue Eyes…

“What’s wrong?” Blue Eyes didn’t hear the doll’s response, and his smile gradually faded. “You don’t want to?”

The doll looked up and smiled. “Xia Lang, is he really still alive?”

Blue Eyes paused, and after a moment, he said, “For someone with an extreme desire to live, even if you give them a sliver of hope, they will cling to it desperately.”

These characters have behavioral guidelines based on their settings. From the players’ words and actions, they can determine how to respond. In a way, as long as they have a reason, their freedom is quite high.

But yesterday, when he possessed a black cloaked man and saw Xia Lang in the thick fog, he saved the player out of his own volition. He found a reason-he was the doll’s friend and could be saved as leverage.

So he killed the mermaid monster and saved Xia Lang, who was on the brink of death.

However, the next second, the tear-streaked young man suddenly burst with intense vitality. He grabbed Blue Eyes’ neck tightly, his eyes fierce, and his throat emitted broken, unclear sounds.

Blue Eyes laughed, his laughter growing louder. He stopped the bleeding on the young man’s wound. As the young man recovered, his grip on Blue Eyes’ neck tightened, causing Blue Eyes’ face to turn red and his breathing to weaken, but the young man didn’t let go.

Until Blue Eyes coughed.

Xia Lang hesitated, as if he had just realized what was happening. His whole body trembled violently, and he slowly released his grip.

Blue Eyes looked a bit disappointed. “I thought you would kill me.”

Xia Lang said nothing, his eyes empty as he stared at his hands.

“I saved you. Will you cooperate with me?” Blue Eyes rubbed his neck and kicked the young man.

The pain from his wound still lingered, and Xia Lang realized this wasn’t a dream. He was still alive. This realization brought his eyes back to their usual state, and he looked up at Blue Eyes with a blank expression, like a frightened rabbit saved by a hunter.

His transformation was quick and natural, not at all like he was pretending.

Blue Eyes raised an eyebrow. “What are you afraid of? Didn’t you want to live?”

“That’s why I saved you.”

Xia Lang’s body trembled. “…No…” He struggled to utter a word, his throat in pain. Saying that one word took all his strength.

Blue Eyes smiled. “What’s ‘no’?”

Xia Lang clutched his throat-

It wasn’t that he wanted to live; it was that he couldn’t die just yet. He wasn’t desperately seeking a way to survive because he wanted to live.

It was because…

Xia Lang remembered chasing after Luo Yiran when he was young. The whole world couldn’t accommodate him, but only Luo Yiran held his hand, and he grabbed Luo Yiran with his bloody hands.

That was the first time he held onto someone.

Luo Yiran was more important than anything.

So the promise he made to Luo Yiran could never be broken.

He couldn’t die where Luo Yiran couldn’t see him.

Xia Lang said nothing, but Blue Eyes was deeply attracted by the despair and struggle in his eyes.

That look was fantastic. He loved people who lived in pain the most.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to talk.” Blue Eyes lifted him. “You follow me first, and then I’ll take you to see… the doll.”

Idia wouldn’t help anyone, and the people of Water City were xenophobic and disgusting. He would be the best option when the “cooperate” choice appeared.

…

“He’s still alive, so will you cooperate with me?”

The doll twirled his fingers. “Why choose me?”

“You’re outstanding. Smart and adorable.” Blue Eyes said without changing his expression.

Luo Yiran closed his eyes briefly, then looked up. “We can cooperate, but my goal is to survive, not to kill Idia.”

“Killing Idia can also ensure your survival.” Blue Eyes looked at him with a smile. “It was Idia, that bad child, who cursed Water City to be submerged. Unfortunately, his half-baked mermaid form can only be maintained at the cost of his life.”

“You just need to kill him before Water City is submerged, and Water City will be fine. Naturally, you’ll survive.”

Kill Idia…

The doll looked at Blue Eyes for a while, then smiled. “Let’s cooperate.”

“But I have a condition.”

Blue Eyes was delighted. “Go ahead.”

The doll said, “Tell me where Xia Lang is.”

Anyone possessing Artel’s body would look more attractive and charming than Artel himself. Blue Eyes narrowed his shimmering eyes. “He’s at my place. I can take you to see him, but he can’t join us.”

“Why?”

Blue Eyes shrugged. “Although I appreciate you, we just met, and there’s no trust yet. So I can’t let that little monster who has a good relationship with you stay with you. What if something happens?”

If that’s the case, Xia Lang would be out of the task, and it might have an impact.

The doll lowered his eyes-players with the task of killing the mermaid should be able to complete the task as long as one player succeeds.

But the task of surviving for five days, although it would be much easier after solving the submersion of Water City, still ultimately depended on oneself…

“Can you guarantee Xia Lang’s safety?” the doll asked.

Blue Eyes responded confidently, “Of course, he’s the bridge for our cooperation.”

The doll took off the beret on his head and folded his hands on it. “Alright. But I don’t recommend Xia Lang staying with you. The first reason is, as you said, we don’t have trust yet, so I’m not at ease.”

“And the second.” Luo Yiran tilted his head slightly, revealing the stitches on his neck. “Xia Lang is traumatized. He might need to vent… You’d better send him somewhere where he can have some ‘freedom’ to move around.”

Thinking of Xia Lang’s state, Blue Eyes agreed. “Fine.” Anyway, as long as his people were with Xia Lang, it didn’t matter where he went.

After discussing Xia Lang’s situation, Blue Eyes leaned forward slightly. “Now let’s make a contract. Humans are good at lying, so a contract is more secure.”

“Okay.” The doll touched the pearl on his earlobe and smiled. “But not now.”

Blue Eyes’ expression changed quickly. “What do you mean?”

The doll remained calm. “How long have you been hunting Idia?”

Blue Eyes lowered his eyes. “For years… Not only does he hide well, but the people of Water City also protect him and cover his tracks.”

“But he has appeared in front of me voluntarily.” The doll continued to persuade. “Because his pearl hasn’t fully transformed me, he will definitely come out to see me again. Moreover, he said during the day that I would surely die tonight, so he will come to check if I’m dead.”

Idia’s appearance during the day seemed like a routine check because he left Artel by his side. Moreover, Idia did reveal some information about Water City’s problems, so when he went to the lower class area, he learned more about the deeper issues of Water City, although not completely.

Blue Eyes didn’t understand. “So? I know you want to use yourself to lure Idia out, but what does this have to do with the contract…”

Blue Eyes stopped, realizing something.

“Your subordinate came here just now, shouting to kill Idia and confirming that Idia had appeared.” The doll put his hand down, his expression calm. “So, do you think Idia will know if we make a contract?”

“If he knows, will he leave quickly?”

Blue Eyes wanted to cooperate to kill Idia, even if it was just to get his whereabouts.

But if they made a contract, it would leave a stronger “scent,” and Idia would surely know.

“…Indeed.” Blue Eyes responded.

“Don’t worry.” Luo Yiran’s lips curved slightly downward. “Xia Lang is in your hands. I must say, you’ve played a good card. He’s the only person I care about right now.”

Although he was sure Xia Lang was still alive, he had considered the one-in-a-million chance that Xia Lang had died last night. In that case, he would also participate in the task of killing the mermaid.

Blue Eyes was convinced. He straightened his body. “You’ve persuaded me.”

The doll smiled and extended his hand to Blue Eyes. “Then, happy cooperation.”

Blue Eyes extended a finger and touched the doll’s palm.

The doll glanced at the glowing holo-panel beside him. It still displayed the three options, with the message “please choose carefully again” at the bottom.

His choice hadn’t been made on the holo-panel.

It seemed he needed to operate it manually, but there was no countdown yet, so he wasn’t in a hurry. He maintained his smile and asked Blue Eyes, “Since we are in a cooperative relationship now, can I ask you some questions?”

Blue Eyes raised a finger to his lips. “Not everything can be said.”

The doll nodded in understanding and held up two fingers in front of him. “Just two questions. It’s okay if you can’t answer.”

Because he would “see” for himself.

Luo Yiran bent one finger. “The first one is, is your past similar to Idia’s?”

Blue Eyes raised an eyebrow. “Child, learn to explore on your own.”

“So your past is similar to his.” The doll answered directly.

Blue Eyes was speechless. He rubbed his face. “Impressive.”

“I’ll confirm it tomorrow.” He hadn’t found the old man mentioned by the two men in the lower class area today, so he needed to go again tomorrow. “The second question, I have a guess, but I need confirmation from you.”

Blue Eyes simply lowered his head and waved his hand. “Go ahead.”

“Can you both control Artel because he has… mermaid flesh?” Luo Yiran asked softly.

Both mermaids could control one person, so there must be a reason.

The doll had thought of many possibilities and decided to ask from the most suspicious to the least.

But he didn’t expect “mermaid flesh” to make Blue Eyes pause.

The doll didn’t press further, and they both fell silent. After a while, Blue Eyes looked up with a bloodthirsty smile. “That damned man cut off my tail, extracted my mermaid bone… So I cut off his legs, kept him barely alive, and made him watch as I sliced his legs bit by bit.”

The doll wasn’t scared; he listened intently.

Blue Eyes touched Artel’s heart. “This child ate my heart.”

“My body was divided among the people of Water City.” Blue Eyes’ fingers moved up, finally stopping under his eye. “Only my head was stolen and preserved.”

“You only killed the ‘man’ you mentioned.” The doll’s round red eyes blinked. “Don’t you hate them?”

“Not really.” Blue Eyes, or rather, the mermaid’s smile softened. “Mermaid flesh isn’t anything special. Anyway, only this child survived.”

But unfortunately, he only became a little toy for them to control.

“So, the mermaid bone is with Idia, and he became a mermaid because of it.” This was also why Idia could control Artel, as Idia was a mermaid too.

The doll showed sympathy towards the players who chose task two-after all, they didn’t know if the task completion standard was to kill the mermaid or Idia, or perhaps both needed to be killed…

Oh, and there was also Artel, who had consumed the mermaid’s heart.

“Yes,” the mermaid said straightforwardly. “It’s already fused, and I can’t take it back, nor do I want to.”

He only wanted to destroy everything that belonged to him, to make the mermaid disappear completely, to end it all.

He longed for death, for release.

The doll understood the unspoken words and nodded solemnly. “I understand.”

The mermaid was amused by the doll’s tone. “But you’re really smart to guess it was my flesh.”

The phrase “my flesh” sounded odd, but the doll didn’t react. He smiled. “I considered other possibilities, like maybe it was the pearl.”

As the doll mentioned the pearl, the mermaid thought of something and laughed, pointing at the doll’s earlobe. “The pearl won’t ring anymore, will it?”

The doll nodded. “Now it barely affects my emotions.”

“But if you break the rules, it can still kill you and turn you into a monster,” the mermaid said, withdrawing his hand. He was too disdainful to lie, so he spoke directly. “But it’s a pity time has passed. When it affected you deeply, Idia couldn’t harm you, since the pearl belonged to him.”

“Though now, if Idia hurts you, he’ll feel uncomfortable, like he’s destroying something he quite likes.”

Idia’s feelings towards him were indeed complex. He was disliked due to the setting, yet somewhat liked because of the pearl.

“But don’t worry,” the mermaid crossed his arms. “I believe you can survive under Idia’s hand until we arrive.”

The doll looked up. “Of course.”

Gaining others’ trust was something he was relatively good at.

“Then I’ll keep you company until dawn.” The mermaid awkwardly ran to a corner of the underwater world and pulled out a chess set. Though his gait was odd, his movements were skillful. “This is the first human toy I learned. Shall we pass the time?”

The doll noticed a small rose pinned to the mermaid’s head fall to the ground. He glanced at the rose without reacting, then turned to the mermaid. “Sure.”

That night, while all other players stayed awake fighting for survival, Luo Yiran stayed awake, dominating the chessboard.

As dawn broke, the mermaid put away the chess set and leaned against a cabinet. “I look forward to our next meeting being our victory.”

“Additionally, here’s a little secret: Idia might like weak people.”

With that, he didn’t wait for the doll’s reply and closed his eyes.

The mermaid was indeed gentler than Idia. At least when he left, he let Artel lean against the cabinet instead of collapsing on the floor.

Soon, Artel opened his eyes in confusion and looked around. “Is it morning?”

He paused, then quickly looked around again, relieved not to see the black cloaked figures from the night before. “So it was just a dream?”

The doll didn’t expose him. Instead, he controlled the magician to fetch the two withered roses from the cabinet and handed them over. “Your reward.”

The magician, who had been silent all night, sneered.

“If you don’t want them, I’ll throw them away,” the doll said, preparing to retract his hand. “They’re wilted anyway.”

“I want them,” the magician finally spoke. “Also, young master, have me pick up the rose the mermaid dropped.”

“I want that one too.”

At the Mermaid Hotel.

“Luckily, that knocker could distract the black cloaked men. And he ran fast,” Via said, exhausted, lying on the lobby sofa. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have made it through the night.”

Li Qi Feng didn’t respond, busy wiping the blood off himself.

Via turned to the front desk. “Hey!”

The front desk clerk looked up with a smile. “Is there anything you need, sir?”

Via flipped a middle finger and growled, “If you don’t fix that door tonight, we’re not staying!” After all, the line on their room cards requiring them to stay at the Mermaid Hotel had disappeared after they returned last night.

The front desk clerk smiled apologetically. “We’re very sorry. We’ll contact maintenance today, but the repair noise will be quite loud, so we’ll need to temporarily clear the hotel…”

Clearing out meant telling them, as only a few players stayed there, and a few more died last night. Now, besides him and Li Qi Feng, only He Qingqing, Fang Jincheng, and Li Zhi remained.

Guan Cheng had fled the hotel last night, his fate unknown.

He Qingqing’s face was pale. “It’s already the third day… Tomorrow, Water City will be flooded…”

She had given her all to survive last night, but there was still tonight and tomorrow’s flood.

He Qingqing held her head in despair.

The flooding of Water City was something all players knew, and the five of them now had roughly the same information, having experienced the ten connected squares together yesterday.

Li Zhi and Fang Jincheng had also chosen to survive five days, only learning yesterday that Water City would flood on the fourth day.

“Didn’t we get a new set of options last night? There should be a way to survive.”

But they could only see two options: Water City and Idia, with the third one obscured.

“We don’t know what to choose,” Fang Jincheng said, equally pale. “We only know Water City’s goal is survival, but we don’t know if it means retaining consciousness…” So they didn’t dare choose.

Li Zhi spoke up. “And we don’t know much about Water City, not enough to know where to start.” Initially, everyone thought searching within Water City would suffice, but who knew they’d need to contact Water City’s upper echelons?

“But Via, you guys will definitely choose the third option, right? Even if it’s obscured, its goal should be the mermaid.”

If the other two options weren’t it, then the last one must be.

“Yeah…” Via replied absentmindedly, looking at the third option. After a while, he rubbed his chin-could this faction be from the prison?

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. From what they’d gathered, the prison had regular nighttime escapes, not too many people, but plenty of fighters, so it could count as a faction.

But it didn’t appear in the options, which could only mean the third option, the obscured one, was it.

He leaned back, subtly looking at Li Qi Feng, mouthing “prison” and holding up three fingers.

Li Qi Feng nodded, indicating he’d figured it out, and gestured for him to look at his holo-panel.

The holo-panel’s privacy was excellent; unless the owner allowed it, others couldn’t see it.

Via looked down at his holo-panel, watching as the third option’s obscured text disappeared, replaced by “prison.”

Via bit his finger-whose faction was the prison? Idia controlled the mermaid monster, Water City was a collective, and the black cloaked men from the prison were clearly being controlled, but by whom?

“We should head to the lower class area,” Li Qi Feng, standing last and closest to Via, whispered in a voice only Via could hear. “That’s the only place we haven’t been.”

Via thought of the lower class area he’d glimpsed from the bus yesterday. “Alright.”

Meanwhile, Fang Jincheng and the other two naturally grouped together. They chose Water City, deciding to quickly infiltrate it to find a way to survive the flood.

After all, the mermaid monster and the newly appeared black cloaked men were vicious, and at this point, even by process of elimination, they could only choose Water City.

Fearful but determined, they had to go. If they didn’t find Water City soon, they’d have no chance of gaining its trust when the time came.

“Ah!” He Qingqing suddenly let out a somewhat hysterical scream, staring at the message on her holo-panel after making her choice-“You have chosen Water City. Please wait for Water City to accept your entry.”

“It’s a two-way choice. Water City has to agree!”

Li Qi Feng and Via exchanged a glance, then stood up simultaneously. Li Qi Feng added, “Don’t waste time. Since you’ve chosen Water City, hurry and gain its approval. If you succeed, you should learn how to survive tomorrow’s flood.”

He Qingqing paused, then wiped her eyes. “Okay.”

Instance, day three.

The weather in Water City was poor, with gray clouds hanging low, making it feel suffocating to look up.

A storm was coming.

After handing over the underwater world to the staff’s disbelief, Luo Yiran quickly slipped away, leaving the staff to face the wreckage of the underwater world.

When he left, the weather was merely overcast, but by the time Luo Yiran and his companions reached the lower class area, the wind had picked up. As they approached the old man’s house from yesterday, Luo Yiran, distracted, was suddenly blown away by a gust of wind.

In that instant, Luo Yiran was stunned, his mind going blank as he lost connection with the magician.

Artel, following behind, couldn’t catch him, but the magician reacted quickly, running a few steps and catching him with his coat.

Luo Yiran poked his disheveled head out of the coat, his eyes slightly dazed.

Artel leaned in. “Are you okay?”

The magician couldn’t stop laughing, his chest shaking. “Young master, you’re too delicate. How can you be blown away by the wind?”

Luo Yiran snapped back to reality, sneering as he regained control of the magician. He stood up from the coat, but as soon as he did, he stumbled again, quickly grabbing the magician’s shirt.

The magician laughed even harder.

Luo Yiran was silent for a moment, then, with a face as dark as a pot’s bottom, silently controlled the magician to remove his hat and put him inside.

“Damn.”

Inside the hat, the doll cursed quietly amidst the puppet’s laughter.

“Shut up.” The doll looked up expressionlessly, regretting he couldn’t control the puppet’s mouth. “Hurry and knock on the door…”

Just as he spoke, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slender black cloaked figure standing atop a nearby trash heap. From beneath the long, wind-blown sleeves, a pale hand gripped a blood-red long sword, its tip pointed downwards.