Chapter 3 - The Escape of the Poacher (Part 2)

Fifteen minutes ago.

“Stage magic…” Xia Lang repeated in a daze, then couldn’t help but ask, “Stage magic or magic? Stage magic can’t be considered a special ability, right? That’s something Luo Yiran can already do in real life.”

“Stage magic,” Luo Yiran replied after careful thought, adding, “You can call it magic if you want. It’s a bit different from the stage magic I usually perform.”

Xia Lang’s eyes sparkled as he looked at him.

Luo Yiran: “…”

Xia Lang: “Ran-Ge~”

Luo Yiran: “Alright, I’ll show you when I get the chance.”

Xia Lang smiled, though the tears on his face hadn’t dried yet, making him look a bit silly.

Luo Yiran had Xia Lang place him on his shoulder: “Let’s go find the rabbit hole first.”

Xia Lang was still psyching himself up and was taken aback: “Rabbit hole? Not a house?”

Luo Yiran frowned: “Don’t rabbits live in holes?”

Xia Lang realized: “Oh, right! I thought it was a house.”

Luo Yiran glanced up at the moon: “It should be easy to find.”

The regulator had said to return home before the moon reached its peak, which meant the rabbit hole was in a place illuminated by the moonlight. That would make it stand out.

The trees in this forest were extremely tall, so only a small amount of moonlight reached the ground.

Xia Lang, being timid, moved by hiding behind one tree or bush after another.

Luo Yiran suddenly thought of something as he surveyed the surroundings: “There are only six sets of cutlery.”

Xia Lang was startled by Luo Yiran’s sudden remark. He shivered, quickly looked around, and then replied, “Yes. There are over thirty players in total, with probably less than ten new players. But the starter area has a high elimination rate, so only six making it through is normal.”

Luo Yiran shook his head: “I suspect the game hasn’t officially started yet. This is just a warm-up.”

Xia Lang was stunned.

“No one said returning ‘home’ means passing the level,” Luo Yiran narrowed his eyes as he looked in a certain direction. “The six sets of cutlery might just be the key to starting the game.”

Xia Lang felt a chill down his spine: “H-how could that be… If that’s the case, the pass rate would only be lower.”

Luo Yiran didn’t respond to that. Instead, he patted Xia Lang with his cold hand: “Found the rabbit hole. Over there, to the right.”

Xia Lang instinctively looked in that direction-under an equally tall and sturdy tree, the moonlight was bright, and the burrow was extremely conspicuous.

“…” Xia Lang swallowed hard: “Why does this feel like a trap?”

Luo Yiran motioned for Xia Lang to crouch down, then slid down the sleeve of his school uniform: “I’m less noticeable. I’ll go take a look.”

Xia Lang quickly extended two fingers to grab the hem of Luo Yiran’s clothes: “What if it’s a trap?”

Luo Yiran thought about it. Just yesterday, he had watched an anime where the protagonist was sucked into a hole the moment they approached it.

It was better to be cautious.

So he said, “A cunning rabbit has three burrows. Let’s look around for other entrances nearby.”

Xia Lang nodded first, then asked, confused, “What are we going to do?”

Luo Yiran pulled out a deck of equally shrunken playing cards from his school uniform pocket. He took one out, spun it between his fingers a few times, and then a sudden flame erupted from beneath the card. In the blink of an eye, the card turned to ash and fell.

“The regulator said the mother rabbit is waiting for us to come home… and the game’s welcome message mentioned they always love rules,” Luo Yiran brushed off the ash that had accidentally landed on him, speaking nonchalantly. “So if the ‘home’ becomes uninhabitable, will the mother rabbit come out?”

Xia Lang was stunned. Then, looking at the remaining ashes of the playing card, it clicked: “Fire attack? Smoke them out?”

Luo Yiran nodded with a smile.

It was mostly an experiment. Luo Yiran had thought that even if the rabbit didn’t come out, it probably wouldn’t die-after all, this was a rabbit in a bizarre world. Maybe it didn’t even have respiratory organs.

But he never expected the rabbit to die.

After the loud game announcement, Luo Yiran was stunned. Before he could even destroy the evidence, Mr. Gardener, the regulator, arrived, clearly furious.

Without a second of hesitation, Luo Yiran put on an expression of genuine shock. While his mind was busy thinking of ways to shift the blame, his mouth was faster, and he blurted out the truth: “It’s really dead? That fragile?”

Mr. Gardener was livid: “What on earth did you do?!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the forest filled with a series of tinkling sounds, like the cheerful melody of a music box.

Mr. Gardener vanished almost instantly, without even having the chance to deliver a threat.

Xia Lang, who had been nearby, saw the regulator disappear and quickly ran over to pick up Luo Yiran. He skillfully moved through the trees and bushes to a relatively safe spot-and hid.

The music lasted for about thirty seconds before abruptly stopping. The cold, mechanical voice of the game sounded again: [No available regulators to take over. Instance “The Escape of the Poacher” is now a regulator-free instance.]

[Total of 33 players in the instance. Poachers A and B are hidden among them. The remaining players must eliminate them.]

[This game lasts a total of 3 hours. If the players kill the poachers within this time, the players win. If the time runs out, the poachers win. Note: Every 25 minutes, there will be a 5-minute safe time. During the safe time, no one is allowed to engage in any killing. Additionally, during this time, players will receive a clue about the poachers, while the poachers will learn the locations of all players.]

[Now, the game officially begins. Good luck to everyone!]

The announcement ended, and almost instantly, Luo Yiran and Xia Lang received the news that they had become the poachers.

The two exchanged a glance. Xia Lang looked like he was about to cry again: “Ran-Ge…”

It was clear that Xia Lang becoming a poacher was Luo Yiran’s fault, and the overwhelming number difference put the poachers at a disadvantage. Luo Yiran felt a little awkward. He was just about to offer some comfort when Xia Lang’s expression suddenly changed. He grabbed Luo Yiran and immediately started running.

Luo Yiran jolted in Xia Lang’s arms, then grabbed onto his arm and peeked over to see what had frightened him.

At first glance, it looked like a rabbit, but it was as tall as a person, with long ears that nearly touched the ground and fangs as long as a human arm. It hopped forward, but when it landed, there was no sound at all.

Xia Lang was running unsteadily, his breath uneven: “W-Why is it chasing us? I ran past it earlier, and it seemed so gentle!”

Luo Yiran paused, then blurted out: “The poacher identity!”

Xia Lang almost tripped. He was focused on the path, so his thoughts were slower: “What?” he asked, confused.

“Isn’t it normal for poachers to be hated by animals?” Luo Yiran said quickly. Then he looked around, searching for a way to avoid the fanged rabbit-if they kept being chased like this and were spotted by other players, their poacher identities would almost certainly be exposed at the start of the game.

As his gaze swept over a certain spot, Luo Yiran thought he saw a flash of silver. Before he could process what it was, he heard a sharp whoosh sound. Then Xia Lang let out a scream and fell to the ground.

Luo Yiran was also pinned underneath him.

Warm blood soaked Luo Yiran’s sleeve. A bloody hole had been torn in Xia Lang’s arm. Tears streamed down his face, but this time he didn’t make a sound. Instead, he quickly pressed on the wound and moved to the side, gritting his teeth tightly-he couldn’t make a sound.

He needed to stop the bleeding.

They couldn’t be discovered.

“Xia Lang, let me go.”

Xia Lang was stunned, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at Luo Yiran.

“I need to stop the person who fired the gun,” Luo Yiran said softly.

Xia Lang instinctively wanted to stop him: “No, he’s probably a veteran player. Ran-Ge, you’re no match for him…”

“I still have to go,” Luo Yiran’s bright red eyes had darkened at some point. “He saw us being chased by the animals. He might deduce that we’re the poachers.”

Xia Lang was speechless.

Luo Yiran: “If they find out our identity this quickly, it’ll be a real disadvantage.”

Xia Lang crouched under the tree, barely daring to breathe. After a moment, he set Luo Yiran down on the ground: “Then, Ran-Ge, be careful.”

Luo Yiran gave him an OK sign: “Keep the person in the shadows occupied. That’s your job.”

Xia Lang understood. He watched as Luo Yiran turned and disappeared into the grass. Only then did he realize-Ran-Ge’s finger seemed to be missing one.

After their identities switched to poachers, the forest became a place of danger for Luo Yiran. Even the plants seemed to be trying to entangle him.

Though it was easy to break free, it was still endlessly frustrating. For a moment, Luo Yiran even entertained the thought-why not just set the forest on fire? Earlier, while moving through the forest, he had observed the general direction. The person who fired the gun was deep inside the forest. If the fire spread inward, that person wouldn’t be able to escape.

But he quickly suppressed the idea. No, arson would directly cause his death, and that would mean he had killed someone.

And killing was against the law.

So Luo Yiran decided to capture the person instead.

Judging from the silver dot he had seen earlier, the person’s location wasn’t far. But for a doll the size of a palm, it was a long way.

He just didn’t know if Xia Lang could hold out until he found that person.

“I found you.”

A somewhat familiar voice sounded from his side. Luo Yiran turned his head sharply, only to be met with a face full of gray hair.

The magician had appeared beside him without warning. He was crouching slightly, one hand resting on his knee, the other holding a strand of his hair as he teased Luo Yiran: “If you were a kitten, you’d probably swipe at me with your little paw right now.”

Luo Yiran’s expression turned cold. He turned around: “So you really can move on your own.”

“You had your suspicions, so why did you remove your index finger? Weren’t you afraid I’d…” The magician’s voice trailed off.

Although the magician’s face was entirely wrapped in bandages, Luo Yiran could still sense his gaze falling on his clothes-or more accurately, on the bloodstains on his clothes.

“You’re hurt?” The magician’s hand moved swiftly and lightly, and Luo Yiran couldn’t dodge in time. He was scooped up into the magician’s palm.

Luo Yiran: “…” At times like this, he really hated his “delicate” size.

The magician held him up and examined him closely, then concluded: “Someone else’s blood. Of course, a doll doesn’t bleed.” With that, he removed his tall magic hat and placed the doll inside it.

Luo Yiran: “?”

The bandages around the magician’s mouth curved upward. He set the hat on the ground and, still in a half-kneeling position, took Luo Yiran’s hand and reattached the index finger.

Luo Yiran didn’t resist. He let the magician do as he pleased, only speaking up when it was over, his tone laced with mockery: “I didn’t know you had a hobby of letting others control you.”

The magician paused, then let out a low chuckle: “Of course not. I’m not a pervert.” He reached into his robe and pulled out a piece of deep red fabric, crumpling it in his palm. With a flick of his wrist, he unfolded it again, and the fabric had transformed into a tiny, form-fitting dress.

The magician held it out to Luo Yiran, his voice utterly sincere: “Your clothes are dirty. Change into this.”

Luo Yiran: “…Who did you just say wasn’t a pervert?”