Doll Survival Game

Central Square was eerily silent.

The moment Xia Lang’s display panel, which had been off, suddenly lit up, the players in the square were already dumbfounded.

In previous live broadcasts, it wasn’t uncommon for the game to temporarily hide a player’s display panel only to reveal it later for a shocking effect.

And then there would be a replay…

However, the reason for the audience’s shock was not this. They were stunned by Xia Lang’s dramatic turnaround and the doll’s meticulous control.

And the direction of the instance after Xia Lang reappeared.

The shock gradually left them speechless.

The fully packed square was very quiet, and along the aisles, the red-clad “staff” felt incredibly relieved-this was the most trouble-free live broadcast instance they had ever overseen.

The players remained quiet until the shelter was blown open and Luo Yiran jokingly mentioned the villain going to cleanse his past, prompting everyone to finally relax.

Then the discussions grew louder.

In one part of the square, a girl clutching a cross stared unblinkingly at Luo Yiran’s display panel. As she watched Luo Yiran pause to wait for Xia Lang to catch up, the dark-themed mermaid doll turned its head, and its gaze seemed to pierce through the screen, staring right at her.

She held her breath again.

Shamate gently nudged her: “Breathe.”

The girl snapped back to reality: “The doll is really beautiful.”

Shamate couldn’t agree more.

The instance had lasted too long, and Shamate had washed off the heavy makeup, revealing a refined face with a tiny teardrop mole at the corner of his eye, adding a hint of allure: “I take back what I said earlier, they can survive.”

The girl paused, remembering Shamate’s earlier remarks about praying for them and asked hesitantly, “Lin-Ge, why did you think they were all going to die before?”

Lin Ye slightly raised his eyes, revealing his thin, upward-slanting eyelids. Looking up barefaced, his charm intensified. He said, “I’ve been to Water City.”

The girl was momentarily bewitched, and it took her a while to grasp the significance of Lin Ye’s statement: “Ah?!”

Lin Ye focused on the display panel: “It wasn’t the same task, and the timelines didn’t align. Idia wasn’t even a character when I was there.”

The girl was stunned, her eyes wide.

Lin Ye’s gaze landed on Fang Jincheng’s display panel, where Idia was forcing the two to play rock-paper-scissors, with the winner to kill the loser.

Everyone who watched Luo Yiran’s display panel knew that this was something Luo Yiran taught Idia.

“Our task back then included an option to protect the mermaid,” Lin Ye said, lowering his gaze as if he couldn’t bear to watch: “In the end, only I survived.”

“It just never occurred to me that, decades later in Water City, the task would actually involve killing the mermaid.”

The girl was slow to respond, “Ah… have you lived for decades?”

Lin Ye’s somewhat suppressed mood was unexpectedly lightened by her off-topic question: “The flow of time in an instance is different, don’t you remember?”

The girl hadn’t forgotten, but the fact that Lin Ye had been to Water City still baffled her.

“This instance, although Xia Lang’s turnaround is attractive, Luo Yiran is the one who has the deepest control over it,” Lin Ye glanced casually at Li Qi Feng and Via’s display panels. The two were clumsily grappling with objects floating on the water surface, with Via cursing: “And these two… I’ve heard about them before, but I didn’t expect their combat values to be even higher than I thought.”

“Overall, the quality of players who are still alive is quite high.”

“Is that true for Guan Cheng too?” The girl was puzzled: “He seems to have made it this far just by good luck.”

“Good luck?” Lin Ye chuckled. “Luck alone won’t get you through to the end. Last night, when he escaped from the hotel, he survived on his own outside.”

“He’s cautious and tends to hide his capabilities.”

The girl blinked, guessing, “Then Guan Cheng… did he actually commit premeditated murder?” Perhaps he had developed these habits from constantly hiding in real life?

“Not necessarily,” Lin Ye said, disliking speculations about why people might have killed. It was his habit not to discuss real-life issues in the game, so he quickly moved on from the topic: “Let’s keep watching. This instance is about to end. We’ll see what Idia does, and whether Li Qi Feng and Via can last until the fifth day.”

“Ah… right!” The girl suddenly remembered something and looked at Li Qi Feng and Via’s display panels: “Li Qi Feng and Via have completed their task, right? Why haven’t they logged out of the game?”

Lin Ye looked up slightly: “If they haven’t logged out, it means their task isn’t completed yet.”

The girl’s entire face crumpled in confusion: “What?”

Lin Ye smiled-

Frankly, the fact that Li Qi Feng and Via managed to kill the mermaid was already beyond his expectations. Those two cooperated seamlessly and were truly formidable.

And Luo Yiran…

His gaze returned to Luo Yiran’s display panel.

Sometimes the game would black out to hide certain details about the instance itself. Luo Yiran’s screen had gone black several times, typically when he was alone with the bosses…

And the special species… The doll being a special species was too odd. To become a doll in the perilous “World Human” was absolutely not normal, unless specifically targeted by the instance.

But why would the game target a single player?

After the instance ends, he thought, it might be possible to make a connection with the doll to find out how it entered the game. Perhaps there was something unusual about how Luo Yiran entered the game as well.

Joking about cleansing his past, but the doll really was preparing to cleanse itself.

Luo Yiran noticed Xia Lang and Idia’s reactions immediately when he left.

Idia was indifferent to his departure, but Xia Lang panicked for a moment before following him.

Xia Lang’s departure was noisy; he wasn’t adept at swimming, and he couldn’t control his fish tail, so he desperately thrashed it trying to keep up, but his progress was painfully slow.

He was anxious but didn’t ask the doll to wait for him.

However, the doll, not far ahead, stopped and then turned back to wait for Xia Lang to catch up.

Xia Lang’s noise alerted the remaining players, and Idia turned back before they could move: “You need to stay behind.”

Their expressions changed, thinking Idia was about to attack them.

Idia, aware of their thoughts, scoffed: “I never break my word.”

He had promised something to the doll and wouldn’t lie about it.

After a moment of silence, Fang Jincheng boldly asked, “What do you want us to stay for?”

“I need witnesses,” Idia said with a smile. “Witnesses to my revenge.”

The four were stunned.

The doll’s progress was slow, the magician walking under the water, and Xia Lang slowly adapting to his fish tail.

Luo Yiran occasionally glanced at his gills, curious about the sensation of breathing underwater.

When he first saw Idia in the water tank, it was in Artel’s body, so the gills were fake-no water flowed through them, which was how the doll knew that wasn’t a mermaid.

The doll was curious about the sensation of fish freely breathing underwater, as well as humans breathing freely underwater.

Xia Lang grabbed a stick to support himself, and honestly, he didn’t understand how to control the tail, exhausted as he was. Just as he was about to complain to Luo Yiran, he met the doll’s curiously intense gaze.

Xia Lang was startled.

But the doll then withdrew its gaze, and the curiosity vanished from its eyes-although curious, it seemed experiencing these sensations was ultimately futile.

Xia Lang vaguely understood something and touched his ears. After a moment, he said, “The water feels just like air… eh?”

Xia Lang paused, his eyes widening: “Ranran, you can survive without becoming a monster, right?”

“Yes.” Luo Yiran tilted his head slightly, observing his surroundings: “That’s why I chose to survive five days.”

From the beginning, Luo Yiran had guessed what Water City would ultimately face.

Entering Water City involved walking into water, and with ‘water’ in the name of Water City, along with the presence of mermaids… it seemed the task most closely related wasn’t just the very obvious mermaid…

But also water.

The task of surviving five days clearly indicated a trap-there would definitely be something preventing survival until the fifth day.

Luo Yiran thought it over and felt that flooding or a fissure was most likely, but whether it was a flood or a fissure, the sea would ultimately engulf the city.

And the doll didn’t need air; it could survive underwater.

This was a bug. Luo Yiran thought emotionlessly-this instance’s designer wasn’t very good.

Nor was the person who assigned him to this instance.

Xia Lang was still confused, but the magician was already laughing.

Luo Yiran ignored the magician, pondering whether these special species had no restrictions, or if this time it was just an anomaly.

“Ranran.” Xia Lang focused ahead: “Where are we going?” He still didn’t know the destination.

“Straight ahead. We’re heading to the Blue Palace in the center of Water City,” Luo Yiran said without looking up: “Turning right will lead us to the lower class area. Although I don’t mind taking a detour to waste some time, it wouldn’t be good to run into Li Qi Feng and Via.”

“Huh?” Xia Lang blinked in confusion.

Luo Yiran shrugged: “No worries, let’s go.” To be honest, he hadn’t lied to Li Qi Feng and Via, it’s just… the mermaid had talked about destroying itself, but while declaring its intent to destroy itself, it also planned to kill Idia.

So to kill the mermaid, at least the mermaid and Idia must be killed. If the game were overly harsh, it might even require killing everyone who had eaten the mermaid’s flesh.

Compared to that, surviving was really quite simple for him.

However, if he had chosen task one, he probably would have cooperated with Idia, killed the mermaid first, destroyed Water City, and then teamed up with others to counterattack Idia, thus annihilating everyone…

That would definitely complete the task completely.

His thoughts were unknown to anyone else; Luo Yiran just casually considered it, a fleeting thought in his mind.

When they arrived at the Blue Palace, where the upper class people worked, Xia Lang had learned to use his tail to propel himself forward, albeit awkwardly but more effortlessly.

He stared at the Blue Palace in awe: “It’s so beautiful.”

It wasn’t just beautiful; the building also felt very substantial. Before Water City was flooded, entering it was nearly impossible.

But now, the three of them entered it grandly.

The building was so large that they even rested halfway through their search. Just learning that they had to find Idia, Xia Lang couldn’t help but ask, “Will he really be here?”

“He will.” The doll felt that soaking in the water too long wasn’t good for its body, given its material wasn’t suited for prolonged immersion, as it surveyed the surroundings: “They are the upper class people; they feel invincible against Idia.” So there was no need to expend effort in hiding.

The doll paused, then suddenly suggested, “Let’s check the largest office here.”

By this time, Idia had already made all the surviving players play a round of rock-paper-scissors. The sea became his ally; if he didn’t kill the losers, he would let the sea surround them, then personally stab them to death.

Thus, no one felt pity for the losers anymore.

The four players accompanying Guan Cheng were already terrified; such widespread slaughter would unsettle anyone, especially since they were unaware of Idia’s past.

The people of Water City merely glared at Idia with hatred, not daring to utter a word.

Idia wasn’t in a hurry. After the first round, he smiled and said, “It’s over. Congratulations to the lucky ones!” He wiped the blood from his face, leaving a streak across his cheek.

Those trapped together by the water breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes showing a flicker of hope.

But in the next moment, that hope was shattered.

“Shall we start the second round?” Idia tilted his head innocently. “It’s also the last round. Once this is over, we won’t play anymore.”

The transition from hope to despair happened in an instant. Idia laughed at the expressions on their faces, then pointed out two people, his face full of anticipation. “You two, come forward.”

The two chosen froze instantly, their pupils trembling. The older man immediately cursed, “Get lost! No way!!”

“Don’t want to play anymore?” Idia picked up his knife again, looking at the younger, pale-faced man he had pointed out. “Then I’ll just kill your son.”

The middle-aged man looked at his child’s face, his flesh trembling, tears falling instantly.

Not everyone is indifferent to their family. Idia’s face wore a smile, but his eyes were cold.

The seawater pushed the father and son face to face, but neither moved.

Idia urged them, “Hurry up. If you don’t act soon, I’ll kill both of you. Neither will survive.”

The middle-aged man broke down, turning to Idia, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Please, spare us… I’m sorry, I was wrong… I shouldn’t have…”

“I shouldn’t have hurt you…” The middle-aged man spoke numbly, not realizing the extent of his wrongdoing. Perhaps initially he felt some reluctance, but eventually, he saw Idia as just a mermaid, an experiment.

He even liked Idia’s human body with the fishbone tail, finding it a strange, mysterious beauty. Often, he placed Idia in a spot in his office where he could see him whenever he looked up.

Such a beautiful mermaid.

Such a delicate little thing.

But would people care about a fish’s thoughts?

No.

Idia’s smile vanished-how could he expect these people to realize their repulsiveness?

…But it’s okay. Their ignorance doesn’t prevent them from feeling pain.

“Three counts,” Idia pulled out a terrifying smile. “If you don’t decide who dies, you’ll both die.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“…”

Before he could say “one,” the young man suddenly extended his hand, forming scissors against the middle-aged man’s trembling, open hand. “I-I won…”

The middle-aged man was full of disbelief.

Idia’s smile returned, handing the knife to the young man. “Go ahead, kill him.”

The young man didn’t look at the middle-aged man, trembling as he accepted the knife.

“Kill him,” Idia repeated softly.

The young man gritted his teeth hard, closed his eyes, and suddenly turned the knife towards Idia.

Idia was momentarily stunned, allowing the young man to wildly stab his arm.

Blood flowed down, and Idia looked at his arm, not raising his head as he used the seawater to envelop the two. “Such great emotions.”

Idia slowly lifted his head, his beautiful blue eyes filled with emptiness.

He suddenly understood why the mermaid wanted to destroy itself.

Because these people aren’t devoid of emotion; they’re just incredibly indifferent and even cruel.

Truly, it’s too bizarre.

Idia laughed intermittently, then raised his hand to kill them amidst their pleas and apologies.

No forgiveness.

This is less forgivable than being genuinely indifferent, cruel, and vile.

Blood splattered on his face, Idia kicked away the two corpses in front of him, smiling as he turned back. “Next… one…”

His voice faltered for a moment-Idia looked in a direction, sensing that his body had been rescued from the water tank…

It was being embraced.

A few minutes earlier.

In the Blue Palace, the doll found Idia in the largest office.

He was trapped in a small water tank, located on the ceiling of the office. Below, a switch opened a panel to reveal Idia.

Idia was more beautiful than Artel, lacking the unique charm of a mermaid, yet when he lay against the thick glass of the water tank, a sense of innocence was palpable.

His body was very frail, but this frailty gave a sense of delicate beauty, not emaciation.

The doll and Xia Lang looked up at him, their gaze falling on his lower half.

A beautiful fishbone tail, devoid of any terrifying feeling, only evoking a sense of wonder and beauty.

The doll watched for a moment, then said, “Xia Lang, stand below the water tank.”

Xia Lang wobbled his fish tail and obediently went over.

The pressure at the bottom of the water made the switch unable to open the tank, so the doll focused on the decorative hammer hanging on the office wall. It was half the size of an adult, held by a figure in a mural.

The doll directed the magician to retrieve it.

“Puppet,” Luo Yiran looked at the water tank. “How many hits to break it?”

The magician chuckled, saying, “One.”

Swimming beneath the water tank, adjusting to a suitable position, the magician raised the hammer high, then struck down.

Cracks spread everywhere.

The doll and magician retreated slightly.

Xia Lang obediently stood below, looking up as the water tank shattered, glass shards slowly falling, and the fishbone mermaid descended with the fragments.

Because it was underwater, the descent wasn’t fast.

Covered in black scales, Xia Lang reached up, focused on the scene above, until Idia fell into his arms.

The doll, also adorned with black scales, paused at the broken water tank, observing the eerie scene with a look of admiration.

Then the doll said to the magician, whose gray hair floated in the water and whose body was wrapped in bandages, “See, a monster caught a monster.”