Doll Survival Game

Lin Luo’s room was on the second floor of this small mansion, while the living room was on the first floor.

During the short three to four-minute journey downstairs, Lin Luo was constantly showering Luo Yiran with compliments.

The doll listened with a slight smile, tilting his head as if he was enjoying it.

The living room was now in sight, with its TV, sofa, a table piled with gifts, and players standing around it. Lin Luo paused his chatter, glancing at the doll, only to unexpectedly meet the doll’s eyes.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Lin Luo blinked his puppy eyes.

His features were undeniably appealing, possessing a crafted elegance when not smiling and a sunny warmth when he did. However, knowing the person behind this face was the magician, the doll found him far less likable.

Nevertheless-

Luo Yiran smiled and said, “I think you’re quite good-looking.”

Lin Luo paused, not appearing pleased. Instead, he touched his face, his eyes darkening. “Really?”

It seemed this wasn’t the magician’s face. Luo Yiran turned his head indifferently-it made sense, after all, the magician had gray hair and a slightly sharper face than Lin Luo’s.

He didn’t expose Lin Luo as the magician because he wanted to see what the magician intended to do. Whether the magician was a player or a boss, he had to adhere to the role of Lin Na’s brother in this instance…

After all, last time the magician violated the rules, he bled all over.

And Lin Luo’s role was to have a crush on him, which was evident from the chat logs on his phone.

Their relationship was genuinely close, so much so that sabotaging each other would likely be out of character.

So Luo Yiran didn’t plan to expose Lin Luo, as it didn’t affect him.

Not hearing a response from Luo Yiran, Lin Luo seemed a bit unhappy. But since they were supposedly good friends, Lin Luo openly pouted, “Ranran, say something else nice about me?”

But he forgot it wasn’t yet midnight, so Luo Yiran didn’t need to stick to the character. He bluntly said, “Nothing else compares to your face.”

Lin Luo: “…”

Xia Lang heard Luo Yiran’s voice and turned around swiftly, his blue nightgown fluttering. Xia Lang’s eyes were teary, “Ranran… I’m Lin Na’s younger sister…”

“I’m so unlucky.”

Why role play! It’s bad enough, but why am I the younger sister?

Via peeked out from behind Li Qi Feng, glaring at Xia Lang. “What’s wrong with being the sister? Want to be the mom instead?”

Luo Yiran: “…”

Luo Yiran looked at Li Qi Feng.

Li Qi Feng was holding back laughter, though not very successfully. “I’m the dad.”

To prevent Via from becoming more unbalanced, Li Qi Feng mentioned Lin Ye, “Lin Ye shouldn’t have any strange roles.”

Via clasped his hands together, “I hope Lin Ye is my daughter, not my son.”

Li Qi Feng shifted slightly, revealing Via in a white dress with lace trim.

Honestly, the white dress didn’t clash much with Via’s round face and curly gray hair. If anything, it made him look more like a sister.

Xia Lang, on the other hand, looked awkward. His features were delicate but not feminine, and the female outfit paired with his awkward movements… was just odd.

Xia Lang pinched his dress, wrinkling his nose as he shifted his gaze from Luo Yiran to Lin Luo. “Hello.”

Lin Luo smiled, tilting his head so his cheek brushed against Luo Yiran’s hair. “Hello. I’m Ranran’s best friend, and your… elder brother.” The last two words wiped the smile off Lin Luo’s face.

Seemed like he was disliked.

Xia Lang was puzzled for a moment, then realized, “You’re really getting into character! In the setting, you dislike me because we’re twins, but our parents prefer me…”

Xia Lang’s words faded under Lin Luo’s cold gaze.

Somehow, those bright eyes, when expressionless, seemed to dim, covering half of the dark pupils, appearing cold and eerie.

The doll reached out and patted Lin Luo’s face. “Someone’s coming.”

Luo Yiran’s action was casual, but Lin Luo instantly brightened, smiling again as he turned to the five people descending the stairs. “You must be elder sister’s friends! Just the five of you.”

Luo Yiran’s phone also had complaints from Lin Luo, saying his sister invited five friends over for the night, and he expected it to be noisy.

Lin Luo’s head slightly blocked the view, and his shoulder-length hair completely obscured Luo Yiran’s body. So Luo Yiran grabbed Lin Luo’s hair and peeked at the five newcomers.

The five immediately noticed Li Qi Feng, Via, and Xia Lang. They had all seen the live broadcast of the mermaid instance. The tallest man laughed heartily, “What a coincidence, we’re in the same instance!”

Via, who had moved behind the sofa with Xia Lang to hide their skirts, crossed his arms in a manly fashion. “Coincidence is one thing, but have you considered other possibilities?”

“For instance, you should know Uncle and I failed our task, right?”

The tall man paused, then his face changed. “Is this your punishment instance?!”

Via clapped, nudging Xia Lang to join him. Xia Lang reluctantly raised his hands and clapped twice, weakly saying, “It’s their punishment instance.”

The man was stunned.

It took a while before the girl beside him nudged him to introduce himself.

The tall man was Cheng Chen, the girl with the ponytail and rosy cheeks was Wang Xing, the girl with long legs and a side part was Lin Xiaohai, the silent boy with glasses was Tang Bai, and the young man with yellow hair and “I LOVE YOU.” tattooed on his face was Zhang Mimi.

After Zhang Mimi’s articulate self-introduction, the living room fell silent.

The instance rules explicitly stated no player-killing, so the players were less wary of each other than in other instances. Cheng Chen quickly dismissed the punishment instance issue, laughing loudly, “Brother, your style is trendy!”

Via muttered, “You’re like Lin Ye.” Both were Shamate.

Zhang Mimi exclaimed, clapping his hands. “Lin Ye is my brother! I’m here to help him.”

Via: “…”

Zhang Mimi was incredibly lively. He looked at Via and Xia Lang, “Why are you two standing? Sit down, or you might violate your character settings.”

“Oh right, which of you is Lin Na’s younger brother?” Zhang Mimi glanced at the quiet Lin Luo. “You’re Lin Na’s elder brother, right?”

“I’m the younger brother.” Lin Luo smiled, pointing at Xia Lang. “This is the younger sister.” Then he pointed at Via. “Mom.”

He didn’t point at Li Qi Feng as the dad, because Li Qi Feng had an inexplicable odd vibe, so he introduced himself, “I’m the dad.”

The five were dumbfounded. Wang Xing stammered, “That’s… nice. Mom’s cute, sister’s pretty, just the different last names are a bit distracting…”

She had nearly finished speaking when Lin Xiaohai realized and covered her mouth. “Sorry, Wang Xing tries to break the awkwardness when things get tense.”

“…”

Breaking awkwardness with awkwardness, impressive.

Luo Yiran discreetly pushed aside some of Lin Luo’s hair. “…”

He seemed to have been unnoticed all along…

Lin Luo’s hair was slightly curly and fluffy, and with Lin Luo intentionally turning sideways, he completely obscured the doll. Via, Xia Lang, and the others also remained silent, so Luo Yiran hadn’t been discovered.

It was Zhang Mimi who suddenly thought of something. He looked at Lin Luo, “You should have a friend you’re really close to, right?”

Lin Luo was reluctant to turn, but Luo Yiran actively parted Lin Luo’s hair and peeked out. “Here.”

“…It’s Luo Yiran!”

Luo Yiran paused, then retreated-oh right, showing his face was his introduction.

The special species doll intrigued everyone, and they craned their necks to see through Lin Luo’s hair.

Lin Luo frowned, shifting his right shoulder to shield the doll again, then diverted attention by speaking, “Now we’re just missing Lin Na’s brother and sister…”

“Seems so.” Xia Lang felt a chill on his legs, so he tucked the skirt between them, feeling slightly better. “Adding Lin Na makes 13 people.”

“Adding Lin Na?” Tang Bai, who had been quiet, suddenly frowned in confusion. “Is Lin Na a player?”

“Yeah.” Zhang Mimi affirmed, “This is Lin Na’s punishment instance.”

“…” Via and Li Qi Feng exchanged glances, realizing something, and both frowned.

Luo Yiran was observing everyone’s expressions, so he noticed Li Qi Feng and Via’s actions first. “What’s wrong?”

His sudden question puzzled the others. Li Qi Feng knew Luo Yiran’s question followed their frown, so he explained, “You mentioned the numbers match, but the problem is there’s another player in the kitchen.”

His words left the living room silent, except for the ticking of the clock’s second hand on the wall.

Eight minutes remained until midnight.

Luo Yiran broke the silence, “You said the kitchen… so is her role the housekeeper responsible for cooking and cleaning?”

Li Qi Feng and Via nodded, “She was in the living room earlier, but went to the kitchen after we arrived because her task is to bring out the cake at midnight.”

No one dared to say there was an extra player. Tang Bai, feeling scared, adjusted his glasses and found a reason for himself, “Maybe Lin Na doesn’t count as a player…”

Zhang Mimi, munching on grapes from the table, frowned at this. “Why wouldn’t she count? Her name might be the instance title, but she’s still a player.”

Via shrugged, “She should be a player, but we’ll know soon enough. After all, the brother and sister haven’t shown up yet, so one of them might not be a player.”

“Or we might have an extra person here.” The doll casually added, glancing at Lin Luo.

His words brought silence back to the living room.

Xia Lang hugged himself pitifully, his voice weak, “Ranran, think positively… I’m scared of ghosts…”

So the doll reassured him, “The chance of a ghost is low, a boss is more likely.”

“…”

Not just Xia Lang, but everyone except Lin Luo felt uncomforted.

Lin Luo didn’t mind if the doll was implying something about him. He chimed in, “Ranran’s right, I also think a boss is more likely.”

A terrifying thought crept into everyone’s mind-while the game stated players couldn’t kill each other, what about the non-player hidden among them?

As everyone grew wary, footsteps suddenly echoed from the second floor, followed by an urgent voice from above, “Turn off the lights, sister and Lin Na are coming.”

Everyone looked up to see a red-haired, delicate man in dark blue silk pajamas at the top of the stairs. He had slightly upturned phoenix eyes, though his expression was serious.

The doll recognized him as Lin Ye from his eye shape, so he peeked out.

Lin Ye silently exchanged glances with Li Qi Feng and Luo Yiran, then spoke again, “Everyone’s first task should be similar, to congratulate and give gifts… if you need to time it, remember to do so.”

The doll glanced at the blue box on the table-that was the gift “he” had prepared.

“Got it.” Via’s task didn’t involve timing, so he waved eagerly, curious about one thing, “Lin Ye, is Lin Na’s sister a player?”

Lin Ye frowned, “Of course she’s a player, I met her once in the central lobby.”

With about a minute left until midnight, the living room lights went out, and a faint glow emanated from the kitchen door, likely from the candles on the cake.

As the doll mentally counted down, he casually remarked, “Looks like we do have an extra person… right, Lin Luo.”

Lin Luo silently curled his lips, tilting his head slightly, his voice low and soft, “Indeed. But rest assured, Ranran, I’m definitely a player now…”

“You can trust me.”