Doll Survival Game

The window was eerily empty, and even though Luo Yiran and Lin Luo felt someone had entered, they couldn’t see or touch anyone.

Lin Luo stood up to clean up the broken glass on the floor when suddenly, a scream echoed from one of the rooms.

Luo Yiran grabbed Lin Luo’s clothes.

Lin Luo touched Luo Yiran’s head and said, “That’s Lin Na’s voice.”

Luo Yiran blinked, then remembered-they still had a side task, which involved playing a prank on Lin Na to score points. The top three players with a hundred points could directly clear this instance.

However, the doll glanced at the time again; the chances of completing this task were slim, especially since time was advancing irregularly.

As Lin Luo bent down to pick up the shards of glass with the doll in his arms, the doll glanced at the time on his phone and his pupils dilated slightly.

Four zeros appeared neatly on his screen.

The system’s voice rang in Luo Yiran’s ear: “System notification: Congratulations to player Luo Yiran for completing task two.”

“Instance reward obtained, performer privileges granted.”

Privileges granted? Does that mean no more acting? Luo Yiran stretched out his hand, ready to part ways with Lin Luo.

Then, the system added: “Player Luo Yiran must adhere to one setting-deeply love Lin Luo.”

“You are free to act as you wish the rest of the time.”

Luo Yiran: “…”

He silently withdrew his hand, his face full of confusion.

But the system wasn’t done yet: “Note: Players must not violate this setting, violators will be permanently eliminated.”

Luo Yiran was stunned.

Lin Luo, smiling, accepted his own mandatory setting, then looked down at Luo Yiran. With Lin Na’s continuous screams outside the room and Lin Luo ignoring them, he flashed a big smile: “Young master, you really, really love me.”

The doll’s body stiffened, but his eyes were filled with deep affection: “Yes, I truly love you.”

“Lin Luo.”

The word made the magician’s face darken.

Luo Yiran deliberately said ‘Lin Luo’. He then looked down, quite naturally saying, “Since we’re now 99% free, let’s hurry up and gather background information about this instance.” The rapid advancement to midnight was likely manipulated by the boss, but it was odd that it happened so suddenly.

99% free? The magician chuckled inwardly-so for Luo Yiran, love was not only a constraint but also one that only bound him by 1%.

Unaware of the magician’s thoughts, Luo Yiran stopped pondering the matter, and instead considered-It’s really strange that it’s midnight so soon, wouldn’t it make more sense to leave more time to make it easier for them to go OOC?

Also, permanent death?

Luo Yiran twirled his index finger, deep in thought, completely unaware that the magician suddenly turned his head and silently mouthed a “thank you” towards the wall.

Thank you for the tailored character setting.

Across the wall, the boss muttered, “…bullshit, it was changed under duress.”

Xia Lang turned on the living room light.

Duan Miaomiao climbed onto the living room table and then placed a chair on it.

Since lighter people are safer up high, Xia Lang steadied the chair below as Duan Miaomiao climbed up.

Just moments before, they were about to throw rocks at someone’s window when the system issued them task three-to knock down a specific lamp above the living room table.

Duan Miaomiao glared at the lamp for a moment, then looked down at Xia Lang: “Should we turn off the circuit breaker first? I’m afraid of getting electrocuted.”

Xia Lang suddenly realized-something seemed off.

He let go of the chair and went to find the circuit breaker to switch it off.

Duan Miaomiao shakily bent over on the chair, annoyed: “You could have waited for me to get down first!”

Xia Lang blinked and hurried back apologetically: “Sorry.”

His straightforward apology made Duan Miaomiao choke: “No, it’s okay.”

Still apologetic, Xia Lang firmly supported the chair: “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”

Duan Miaomiao paused, then, with a hammer and a screwdriver, she worked on the chandelier, her thoughts drifting slightly-Xia Lang really seemed like an ordinary person up close.

“Live broadcast instance.” Xia Lang suddenly spoke, “Does that mean you can see everything that happens to us?”

“Not exactly,” Duan Miaomiao replied. “We can’t see when you go to the bathroom or other private matters, and there are things about the nature of the game that we can’t see either… it’s all a messy blur.”

“If ‘World Human’ was just an ordinary game, it feels like it’s not quite finished but still released for us to try playing… but that’s just my gut feeling, having played many games,” Duan Miaomiao carefully rotated the screws, letting the lamp hang halfway.

“Maybe ‘World Human’ isn’t really a game, it lacks many features common to other games,” Duan Miaomiao added, then looked down at Xia Lang: “Can I ask you something?”

Xia Lang, following her train of thought, instinctively hummed in response.

“How important is Luo Yiran to you?” Duan Miaomiao asked directly. “Your live broadcast went dark for a while, so I specifically watched your replay. You were severely injured, the kind I definitely wouldn’t have survived, and you looked so distraught… So I’m curious, why were you able to hold on because of Luo Yiran?”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine,” Duan Miaomiao added. “I also had a pillar of support, but I ended up killing him myself.”

She pulled out a cross from her chest to show Xia Lang: “This is what he gave me.”

Xia Lang had been silent since Duan Miaomiao mentioned Luo Yiran. He glanced at her cross and after a long pause, he spoke: “I would never hurt Luo Yiran… If he asked me to die, I would do it without hesitation.”

“Because he saved me and gave my life meaning,” Xia Lang remembered the dark past. “The first time I was reborn was in his eyes, so if I have to leave this world, I want him to watch me go.”

Duan Miaomiao’s hand trembled, recalling the boss covered in bandages, then she seriously looked down: “Do you love Luo Yiran?” If it’s love, then it’s over, that boss looks like trouble.

Xia Lang was stunned, realizing that Duan Miaomiao’s idea of love differed from his own, and he vehemently shook his head, shock in his eyes: “How could I?!”

Duan Miaomiao sighed in relief.

Xia Lang frowned: “Ranran deserves the best girl in the world.”

“What are you laughing at?” Xia Lang asked as Duan Miaomiao chuckled and waved it off.

“I’m done here, help me down,” she said.

Xia Lang no longer pursued the matter, steadying the chair to help Duan Miaomiao down safely, then the two headed upstairs. Duan Miaomiao weighed the hammer in her hand and glanced at Xia Lang: “Your turn?”

“I might… miss from this distance,” Xia Lang assessed.

“Then I’ll do it,” Duan Miaomiao decided.

She stepped back, squinted, and swung her arm, throwing the hammer with a fluid motion.

It hit the chandelier precisely, causing it to crash down between a chair and the table.

Duan Miaomiao had brought an axe as a backup, surprised by her accuracy this time as the hammer brought the light fixture down. She leaned over the railing to watch: “What if someone was sitting there? Wouldn’t they get their head cracked open?”

Xia Lang stood beside her, frowning as he listened to the system announce the completion of task three, puzzled by the purpose of this task.

Duan Miaomiao stood up, brushing off her hands. She glanced at the hammer lying on the first-floor floor, deciding not to retrieve it: “Well, the axe will do for smashing the window.”

“Should we smash the windows on the first floor or the second floor first?” Duan Miaomiao asked Xia Lang, touching the axe handle: “Everyone else has locked their windows, but now we’ve got tools. Either way works, though if it’s the second floor, we’d have to go through your room.”

“Second floor,” Xia Lang replied instantly: “Let’s start with Ranran’s room.”

“Fine by me,” Duan Miaomiao had no objections. Although the first floor wouldn’t require climbing, climbing a window wasn’t a big deal for her: “Then we’ll go through your room first.”

Xia Lang’s room wasn’t far, and as they turned to head there, a noise suddenly came from the first floor.

The two paused, then simultaneously looked down at a room on the first floor as its door slowly opened.

Duan Miaomiao froze-she remembered that room belonged to the aunt, and all doors and windows were locked.

But now the room was opening from the inside.

Duan Miaomiao’s expression changed, and she grabbed Xia Lang and ran back to his room. After shutting the door, she thought for a moment and locked it as well.

After securing the door, Duan Miaomiao leaned against it, peering through the peephole while answering Xia Lang: “If I’m not mistaken, the player portraying the aunt, like us, appeared here after ‘dying.'”

Xia Lang didn’t understand why they were running. He said, “Should we meet up with her?”

Duan Miaomiao shook her head, pulling her gaze away from the peephole to look at Xia Lang, her voice lowering: “Xia Lang, not all players are trustworthy… Do you know how I died?”

Xia Lang recalled: “Killed by someone…”

Before he could finish, he froze, then incredulously looked towards the door: “Killed by her?”

“Exactly,” Duan Miaomiao nodded. “She’s very skilled, and here we don’t have the character OOC restrictions, so she’d probably kill us both.”

Xia Lang covered his mouth, near tears: “Why did she come here?”

“She probably died over there, so…” Duan Miaomiao was responding when she suddenly stopped, her pupils dilating-

Outside the door, Lei Jing’s dark eyes were staring straight into the peephole, locked in a gaze with Duan Miaomiao.

In her hands, she held a kitchen knife and the hammer they had just thrown out.