Doll Survival Game

Duan Miaomiao paused, taken aback.

Lin Ye chuckled, wiping his blood-stained face with a forceful swipe. The mix of blood and heavy makeup, perhaps accentuated by his bright eyes or his unique aura, gave his face a strangely enchanting look despite the chaos of colors. “That’s just like him,” he remarked.

Duan Miaomiao nodded, then released her hand to reveal her teeth, asking indistinctly, “Does it look really ugly?”

Lin Ye walked over to inspect the sharp werewolf tooth in Duan Miaomiao’s mouth. “Not ugly, more like a fang,” he commented.

Duan Miaomiao sighed, “I don’t think it looks good, and pulling it out by hand was really painful.” However, once the werewolf tooth was placed near her teeth, it adhered on its own, and the pain gradually subsided, so it wasn’t too bad.

Lin Ye rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Mimi has a mask, a reward from a previous task. You can ask him for one when we regroup.”

“Only three item slots and he used one for a mask?” Duan Miaomiao was incredulous.

Lin Ye chuckled, “It’s a mask from a hospital instance, capable of purifying harmful air.”

Duan Miaomiao realized, “Right, it wouldn’t be an ordinary mask.”

Lin Ye tied up his long red hair and spread his wings. “Climb on my back, let’s get out of here.”

Duan Miaomiao glanced in a direction, “Aren’t we going to find the wolf king and finish it off? Leaving it alive could be a problem… after all, we did torment it for quite a while.” Though it wasn’t entirely their fault; the wolf king had stubbornly refused to reveal how to claim the treasure.

Lin Ye shook his head, “I can’t sense its presence, and bosses aren’t that easy to kill.”

“Besides, now that you have the tooth, it’s best to leave the werewolf’s territory as a precaution.”

Duan Miaomiao agreed and climbed onto Lin Ye’s back. “Where to? Find our teammates?”

Lin Ye nodded, his red-feathered wings flapping as they hovered in mid-air. “Who’s closest?”

Duan Miaomiao hesitated, “The nearest is Xia Lang’s group in the serpent man’s territory, but… shouldn’t we head to the doll? If the lord dies, we’re basically doomed too.”

Lin Ye glanced at the holographic display, showing teammate locations and the lord’s health bar. “It’s fine, Mimi should have joined up with the doll, he can protect it.”

Duan Miaomiao was surprised, “Is Zhang Mimi as strong as you?”

Lin Ye didn’t answer directly, but as he flew towards the serpent man’s territory, his voice was carried by the wind, “Do you know Tian Tang?”

“Oh! I know. She’s very robust and incredibly strong, with high combat skills.” Duan Miaomiao knew this because she had seen her during a live broadcast instance, and Tian Tang was also a player who had been featured in a game announcement.

That particular live broadcast instance had left Duan Miaomiao uneasy for several days, though not because of Tian Tang, but because of the “hunter.”

At the beginning of that live broadcast instance, all the players watching were thrilled, as several top-ranked players from the average score ranking were participating, along with two organizations, one of which was a very powerful group-

The “Crows.”

This promised a great viewing experience, allowing them to see how these skilled players cleared the instance, and perhaps learn something from it.

But no one expected that instance to turn into a near one-sided massacre.

The live broadcast instance was a high-difficulty one, with a total of ninety-nine participants. However, due to the excessive number of player deaths, the difficulty eventually decreased significantly.

The reason for this lay with the previously obscure [Hunter] organization, which brutally massacred many players in the instance. All members of the [Crow] organization participating in this instance, except for Tian Tang, were killed.

Yet, the [Hunter] organization, including their leader, had nine members participating, and halfway through the game, seven were still alive.

At that point, the entire instance had only nine people left. Excluding the seven from the [Hunter] organization, the remaining two were Tian Tang and a low-profile solo player.

It was too brutal; even the boss found it dull and ended the instance.

When the red-haired boss looked at the nine of them and said, “Not fun anymore… Let’s end the game here~,” all players in the Central Square vaguely felt that perhaps [Hunter] had always relied on killing others to forcibly lower the instance’s difficulty to clear it.

Even though all players in “World Human” had directly or indirectly killed someone, the atrocities committed by [Hunter] were the most terrifying, even if they claimed to be avenging their teammates.

Duan Miaomiao had a deep impression of that instance. She had always been lucky, encountering decent players along the way, but watching that instance made her truly realize that here, there were more demons than humans.

Demons who had committed crimes in reality.

She sighed, suppressing the memory, and asked, “Lin Ye, do you mean Zhang Mimi is as formidable as Tian Tang?”

Lin Ye chuckled, “That’s hard to compare since they’ve never met.”

Duan Miaomiao: “Huh? Then why…”

Lin Ye glanced in the direction of the vine monster’s territory, “But like Tian Tang, he has received rewards that enhance physical abilities, and the enhancement direction is the same.”

Duan Miaomiao’s eyes widened.

Bang-

A loud noise erupted as the tightly bound vine net suddenly exploded.

Due to the vine net’s previous intense constriction, when it burst open, the green sphere scattered everything inside like a water bomb.

A large area of trees collapsed, allowing sunlight to pour down, and the ground, illuminated, flickered strangely for a moment, unnoticed by anyone.

Suddenly bathed in sunlight, with pink flowers swaying on his head, Luo Yiran: “…?”

Just before the vine net closed, Luo Yiran saw the roots sprouting from the flower and the roots drilling into the ball joint. He instantly thought of something, then used a small knife from his pocket to stab his head, placing the pink flower on top.

Almost instantly, the pink flower shrank to half the size of his palm in his hand, and its roots squeezed into the slit made by the knife, taking root on his head.

However, he could feel the roots of the pink flower were only in the very shallow surface layer.

It seemed they were worried that penetrating too deeply into a player’s brain would cause necrosis, so the roots were set to exist only in the surface layer.

Yet, the doll could only feel the roots beneath the scalp, with no other sensations.

Then, he heard the system notification about Duan Miaomiao obtaining the teeth and himself getting the flower.

But there was no time to ponder over it, as the space within the vine net was pressing against his body, so he had to maneuver the magician…

The silver thread reconnected to the puppet outside, but before Luo Yiran could act, the vine net suddenly exploded.

…

Perhaps it was because of the flower parasitizing on him, the doll felt a strange joy in the sunlight, though he knew it was an illusion.

So when the vine net burst and vegetation scattered, he didn’t indulge in that joy. Instead, he quickly maneuvered the magician to shield him.

The magician leapt down from the trees, raising the small suitcase to shield his face. He reached out and caught the doll mid-air, sighing as if they hadn’t seen each other in ages, “Young master…”

The magician briefly cushioned their fall on a fallen branch, while the doll lay on the magician’s shoulder, looking at where they were headed.

Below, a yellow-haired young man with a mask saluted with his hand on his forehead, “Yo, I’m here.”

“Zhang Mimi,” the doll called out.

Mr. Gardener reacted faster than the stunned vine monster, waving his hand to send the debris on the ground hurtling towards the descending magician and Zhang Mimi.

The doll was about to engage, but Zhang Mimi eagerly stepped forward, “I’ll handle this!”

Then, with a punch, he shattered the towering wooden wall rushing towards them.

“……”

It was clear that the explosion of the vine net was Zhang Mimi’s doing.

Zhang Mimi withdrew his hand, shaking it to break the silence, “Instances like this are the best! The last one restricted me so much!”

Different instances imposed different restrictions. For example, in the last one, the doll could only connect the silver thread to playing cards, using them to set traps, unlike now where he could freely manipulate it.

However, in terms of usage, the impact wasn’t significant.

“You’ve got quite the strength,” the doll remarked tactfully.

Zhang Mimi removed his mask, noticing the floral scent in the air was almost nonexistent, “This was a reward from an instance. There was a really strong violent girl in the game who got the same reward as me.”

Unlike the special species whose abilities came from bodily changes, their abilities were based on the human body itself.

Players entering the game would experience an enhancement in physical qualities, and with deliberate training, they could surpass ordinary people.

But some lucky ones would receive rewards after clearing an instance that could further enhance their physical abilities.

The game wouldn’t specify which aspect, but over time, they would sense it themselves.

For instance, Zhang Mimi could feel his skin gradually “hardening,” the cuts from a knife under the same force becoming smaller, and his strength increasing to the point where a punch could be lethal.

However, it was also said that some gained speed, while others had exceptional hearing.

There was no pattern to who received rewards, but those who did weren’t too few or too many, though few could fully utilize them.

Tian Tang was one, and Zhang Mimi was another.

The doll wasn’t aware of these things, as he still didn’t understand much, like why organizations existed in such a game, though it was likely there were benefits involved.

The vine monster and Mr. Gardener watched them coldly from above, while Qi Yu appeared much calmer on the surface. His head and neck emerged from the vines, with the rest of his body still entangled within. “Give me back my flower!” he demanded, clearly displeased.

Mr. Gardener considered taking action, but Zhang Mimi’s punch had been intimidating, so he hesitated, frowning slightly.

The doll touched the flower on his head, but before he could speak, the magician grinned and said, “It’s quite cute, young master.”

“…Shut up,” Luo Yiran muttered expressionlessly, then looked up at the vine monster. “If you don’t want to reproduce, isn’t it better for me to keep the flower?”

The vine monster paused, a moment of hesitation crossing his vibrant face.

Mr. Gardener clicked his tongue and quickly covered for the vine monster’s earlier statement, “Lord Qi Yu’s flower wouldn’t be given to the likes of you, even if it were unwanted!”

Qi Yu seemed to recall something, “Besides, there are no pollinating insects left. Without pollination, I don’t need to reproduce! Return the flower to me.”

As he spoke, his vines continued to shift, the threat evident.

Zhang Mimi rolled up his sleeves, looking relaxed. “Well, if we can’t talk it out, let’s fight.”

The magician’s gray hair was disheveled, but his voice held a hint of excitement. “Young master, what should we do?”

“How about asking me to help you?”

“Be good. Now that I’m starting to have a slightly better impression of you, don’t say annoying things,” the doll smiled, though his eyes remained indifferent. “Besides, fighting is too violent. Why don’t we just run away together?”

Zhang Mimi was taken aback. “Huh?”

The magician’s bandage curved into a smile. “Sure.”

The vine monster sneered and directed the vines toward the three of them. “Do you think you can escape?”

Mr. Gardener frowned, sensing something was amiss. But seeing the doll genuinely controlling the magician to turn and leave, he reflexively raised his hand to attack, only to stop the next moment.

The doll sat backward on the magician’s broad shoulders, facing Mr. Gardener and the vine monster. His right hand, full of ball joints, extended outward, fingers lightly tapping the air. In the sunlight, it seemed as if something delicate connected to the doll’s fingertips.

His smile widened, revealing a hint of madness and excitement.

[You can’t kill me.] Luo Yiran’s red eyes curved, his mouth forming exaggerated, wide movements, and in the next second, his fingers closed and sharply lifted-

The surging vines crashed into the silver thread net that rose from the ground. Just as the silver thread couldn’t cut through the vine net, the vines couldn’t break through the tightly intertwined silver thread net.

The vines struggled within the silver thread net, while around Mr. Gardener’s body, countless nearly invisible silver threads floated, following the net’s rise.

Even as he raised his hand, the silver thread in front had already sliced halfway through his wrist, but the skin remained intact, preventing blood from spurting. Instead, it seeped from the “red line” at his wrist, dripping down.

On the vine beside him, a silver thread sliced through Qi Yu’s neck like a knife through invisible clouds, and a spherical object rolled to the ground from above.

Green blood splattered across half of Mr. Gardener’s body, and he trembled with rage-

When did this happen?! When did these threads, finer than a spider’s web, cover this entire area?

Naturally, it was while avoiding Mr. Gardener’s attacks. After all, no one likes being chased and beaten without fighting back.

Moreover, having the magician carry the silver thread wasn’t just for pulling them closer at certain moments; it also allowed the thread to extend and set traps more effectively.

Honestly, when the doll saw the vine monster using the vine net, he thought his silver thread had been discovered.