Doll Survival Game

The doll gently closed his eyes, refraining from commenting on what Lin Luo had said.

Weak moonlight seeped through the window, making the living room less dark. From the direction of the kitchen came the sound of wheels rolling, as a slightly hunched woman in her thirties pushed out a cake with lit candles.

Meanwhile, on the second floor where Lin Ye stood, two girls slowly emerged. The girl in front was taller, with somewhat messy short hair, while the girl behind had long hair and was slightly shorter. She reached out to cover the short-haired girl’s eyes, guiding her forward.

The doll opened his eyes, counting down the last ten seconds in his mind.

The girl with covered eyes on the upper floor cautiously asked, “What’s going on?”

No one answered.

With the countdown complete, zero hour arrived, and Luo Yiran flashed a bright smile, simultaneously shouting with Zhang Mimi and the others, “Happy Birthday, Lin Na!”

Apart from Luo Yiran, the others sounded like they were reciting lines rather than offering heartfelt wishes.

At the same time, the girl on the second floor released her hand from Lin Na’s eyes right on cue.

Zero hour had arrived.

Everyone was momentarily dazed. Luo Yiran instinctively tightened his grip on Lin Luo’s hair-he remembered that he had brought a backpack when he came to Lin Luo’s house.

…A backpack?

Luo Yiran snapped back to reality, his eyes narrowing slightly-at that moment, a fragment of memory surfaced in his mind, one that didn’t belong to player Luo Yiran but rather to Lin Luo’s friend.

That memory of bringing a backpack to Lin Luo’s house emerged so naturally in his mind. If it weren’t for the fact that this memory didn’t connect with his own, he might not have even realized it.

For a moment, the players in the living room who had come to their senses wore heavy expressions, realizing that if such memories continued to surface, they might not need to worry about breaking character-they could very well become the person they were portraying.

At that moment, Lin Na’s incredulous voice rang out from above, “Is this a birthday celebration for me?”

Her words drew most of the attention, as Lin Na, the protagonist of this instance, was under the scrutiny of all the players.

She descended the stairs, her expression filled with surprise…and confusion.

In the dim candlelight, the doll noticed Lin Na’s eyes, raising an eyebrow slightly before looking at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye’s expression was serious, as if he wanted to say something, but now that it was past zero hour, all players had to adhere to their character settings.

“Yes, it’s for you,” Xia Lang suddenly spoke up, his expression somewhat forced, but he knew one thing: this birthday party was a surprise he had prepared for Lin Na, with friends and family invited by him. So he said, “It’s a surprise for my sister.”

Lin Na’s expression was full of doubt as she stood in front of the cake for a while, then her expression relaxed, as if she had figured something out. When she spoke again, her voice was even a bit choked, “Thank you.”

The doll watched Lin Na’s eyes.

Despite her expressions and gestures being very natural, Lin Na’s eyes conveyed struggle and…despair.

It was as if Lin Na’s eyes and her body were two separate entities.

The doll wasn’t sure how much information the others had gained about “themselves,” but perhaps due to insufficient information, everyone’s birthday wishes to Lin Na were rather brief, just a simple “Happy Birthday.”

Afraid to say too much and make mistakes.

Luo Yiran’s phone contained Lin Na’s contact, but they hadn’t chatted, probably just acquaintances. But if they were only acquaintances, it didn’t make sense for him to be celebrating Lin Na’s birthday…

There must be another reason.

“Ranran, are you tired?” Lin Luo seemed unconcerned about the players’ fear of saying too much. He gently asked Luo Yiran, then immediately turned to Lin Na, saying, “Hurry up and blow out the candles, let’s get this over with, I want to rest.”

The players’ gazes subtly shifted to Lin Luo, instinctively believing he understood his character well.

Xia Lang knew Lin Luo’s character was supposed to be willful, and he enjoyed teasing him, so Xia Lang took a deep breath and retorted, “If you want to rest, just go back to your room!”

After speaking, Xia Lang blinked rapidly, trying hard not to look away, using his eyes to apologize to Lin Luo.

Lin Luo was displeased, about to retort when Via interrupted, “Stop arguing… Lin Na, make a wish and blow out the candles, it is indeed getting late.”

Via deliberately raised his voice, and if you listened closely, you could hear a hint of a feminine tone.

Lin Luo, Xia Lang, and Via’s efforts were noted by the other players. They discarded the awkwardness, cautiously speaking a few more lines based on the clues they had, making the atmosphere more natural.

Except for the silent father and the aloof sister, who remained motionless.

Especially the player portraying the sister, who just focused on Lin Na, her gaze and body language revealing nothing.

Luo Yiran hadn’t found any evidence of a close relationship with Lin Na, so after offering his wishes, he quickly scanned the room using the candlelight.

Xia Lang and Via urged Lin Na to make a wish and blow out the candles, while Zhang Mimi and the others stood around the perimeter.

Zhang Mimi was sneaking glances at the sister standing at the stairway; Tang Bai, wearing glasses, often kept his head down, occasionally glancing at Lin Na before quickly looking away, seemingly shy; the other three hadn’t gotten into character, dryly standing on the outside, occasionally chiming in.

However, Wang Xing seemed to be trying hard to glare at Lin Na.

Lin Ye stood coldly with Lin Na’s sister. The doll’s gaze briefly passed over the cross necklace on the sister’s neck-it seemed more like something belonging to the player herself.

The girl looked up and noticed the doll, nodding at Luo Yiran.

The doll smiled and nodded back, then finally focused on the aunt who had pushed out the cake.

In the setting, the aunt was supposed to be in her fifties, so the thirty-something player hunched her back slightly, aligning with the character, smiling at Lin Na.

Lin Na clasped her hands together, closing her eyes devoutly.

Lin Luo seemed to dislike his sister, impatiently saying, “Hurry up, it’s not like God will grant your wish.”

Lin Na paused, her eyelashes fluttering, but stubbornly kept her eyes closed.

Xia Lang couldn’t help but speak, “Don’t be so harsh, after all, Lin Na is…”

Xia Lang’s voice abruptly stopped as the system’s voice sounded in his ear: [Warning, player Xia Lang OOC once.]

[Warning: Player Xia Lang’s only OOC has been used up, please be cautious, further OOC will result in…death.]

Xia Lang’s change in expression didn’t escape the notice of the players, many realizing-Xia Lang had gone OOC.

But Luo Yiran noticed Xia Lang’s expression change again, his pupils slightly dilating, a look of realization on his face.

The doll’s gaze didn’t waver-it seemed Xia Lang had recalled the second segment of his sister identity memory.

Before he could think further, Lin Na blew out the candles, plunging the living room into darkness.

Then, after a moment, the aunt turned on all the lights in the living room, standing to the side.

Throughout, the thirty-something female player maintained her hunched posture.

If she wasn’t the extra person among them, then she was a very skilled and cautious veteran player.

The doll didn’t linger on the aunt, informing Lin Na that his gift was on the table, to which Lin Na responded with a surprised expression and a nod.

After Lin Na nodded, the system’s voice announced-[Task one completed.]

[Task two: Spend an entire day in Lin Na’s home.]

“……”

Something was off.

The doll looked at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye frowned.

And the other players’ expressions were filled with confusion-they didn’t understand their task.

Luo Yiran quickly confirmed-the task two was the same for all players.

What was puzzling was that task two seemed too broad, with almost no restrictions on the players, and didn’t specify what they needed to do.

Task two seemed unlikely to cause harm.

This didn’t align with the game’s usual nature.

Unless Lin Na’s home was full of dangers…or this was the game’s preparation time, with subsequent tasks targeting their survival.

“Lin Na.” Luo Yiran thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you want to open the gifts now?”

Lin Na’s eyes widened, filled with panic, but her face showed a sincere smile, “Yes. Mr. Luo, which one is your gift? I’ll open yours first.”

The doll pointed to the blue box on the table.

Lin Luo seemed displeased, lowering his voice to ask, “Ranran, what did you give?”

Luo Yiran didn’t know either, but he couldn’t say that, and he couldn’t ignore his good friend, so the doll smiled and said, “You’ll see.”

Generally, some people with high emotional intelligence wouldn’t open gifts in front of others, as different people might give gifts of varying value, and opening gifts in front of others could lead to awkward situations.

Luo Yiran had roughly understood the personality he was supposed to portray from the chat records, sensitive, with a strong sense of self-esteem, expressing himself subtly.

So if the gift didn’t please Lin Na, he would be unhappy inside, but probably wouldn’t show it openly.

Just as the doll finished thinking, Lin Na untied the bow on the box and pulled open the tightly sealed lid.

“Ding dong!”

A loud musical sound played, and a crying clown’s head popped out of the box, the spring stretching, the clown’s head swaying side to side.

Lin Na was too shocked to make a sound, stepping back several steps.

Luo Yiran: “…?”

A prank box gift?

Why?

The doll couldn’t figure it out, but the system’s voice sounded in his ear again.

[Congratulations Luo Yiran, prank successful, score 3.]

After the system’s voice finished in his ear, it echoed in every player’s ear-

[Side task triggered-]

[Side task released: A Fun Day.]

[Before 24:00 today, all players can prank Lin Na. Scores will be awarded based on the level of the prank, and the top three scorers can directly clear this instance.]

[Players, strive to clear the game!]

After the system’s voice ended, Lin Ye let out a cold laugh, which didn’t trigger an OOC warning, but Lin Ye wasn’t pleased-he had formed alliances to protect Lin Na, but now it was clear this side task was encouraging players to target Lin Na.

It was only now that he realized this possibility existed, the instance name indeed indicated Lin Na would face danger, but this danger wasn’t necessarily environmental.

It could also be from the players.

Creak…

A faint sound came from above, Lin Ye looked up, his expression changing, quickly stepping forward to pull Lin Na, simultaneously raising his voice to alert everyone, “Get out of the way!”

The ornate light fixture above the living room loosened, then suddenly fell-

Lin Luo instinctively turned to shield the little doll on his shoulder.

A warm hand enveloped the doll entirely, Luo Yiran grasped Lin Luo’s index finger, and amidst the chaos, he saw the “aunt” standing motionless at the light switch.

She was smiling.