Doll Survival Game

“Do you know why I advised you to leave immediately if you encounter the Demon, young master?”

The magician’s voice was deliberately lowered, giving it an oddly gentle tone, but the doll detected no friendliness in his words.

“Because you, young master, are a collection of lies,” the magician stated, word by word. If you were to face the Demon, everything would be exposed.

The magician seemed to recall something and chuckled, “If this were revealed in your world, wouldn’t it affect your status as a merit student?”

The doll’s expression darkened as he turned his head, silently observing the magician’s bandaged profile, with murderous intent slowly surfacing.

“The young master is intensely focused on me…” the magician’s voice trembled, “I’m so happy.”

The doll was taken aback-talk about being a true psychopath.

“Puppet, I’m not just going to watch you.” The doll manipulated the silver thread to probe inside the magician’s sleeve.

The blade was drawn out by the silver thread, and the magician knew what the doll intended to do, yet he continued to smile, albeit with a strange feeling, “Young master, how much of your laughter, your anger, and your murderous intent towards me, and every word you say, is real?”

“You weren’t truly angry at what the angel said, yet you pretended to be after assessing the situation,” the magician’s voice was low, tinged with a hint of anger, “It’s as if you’re performing, starting to care about my appearance.”

“Am I right, you hypocritical young master?”

The blade pressed against the magician’s neck, and the doll leaned in close to the magician’s ear, softly uttering a threat filled with murderous intent. But almost instantly, the magician became excited.

…

Cooperate nicely? Not believable.

The doll narrowed his eyes, but-

The blade returned to the magician’s body, and the doll retracted the silver thread. He lowered his voice to a level only the two could hear, then mimicked the magician’s twisted grin, “Good boy.”

Suddenly, he thought it didn’t matter if it was spoken out loud; bosses and players are naturally opposing forces, who would trust the enemy’s words?

Besides, he was a good person.

The doll was utterly convinced.

Central lobby.

“Hiss-” Tian Tang gasped, pointing at the screen displaying the doll with a sinister grin, “In reality, he must be a vicious villain, right?”

“Look at his eyes, his decisive actions-has he killed five people? Or ten?”

“And hasn’t the magician been with him for a while now? Even if he’s just a controllable helper, like a robot, most people would have some feelings for it. But he just brandished the knife without hesitation, ruthless!”

Guan Cheng hesitated as he listened.

Fang Jincheng nudged him with his elbow, “Cheng-Ge, what are you thinking?”

Guan Cheng looked at the display panel, at the doll whose face seemed to scream ‘I’m a bad guy with a belly full of schemes,’ and said uncertainly, “Xia Lang mentioned that in reality, the doll is a very good person, helpful, often assisting classmates, and has good relationships with many people…”

Tian Tang glanced at the display panel and then at Guan Cheng, finally her gaze settled on Wei Lianlian. “Master, is this what you call a psycho?”

“Someone who pretends to be a popular good guy on the outside, but is rotten to the core.”

Fang Jincheng and Guan Cheng, who had interacted with the doll, hesitated simultaneously. Guan Cheng waved his hand, speaking vaguely, “Probably not, he… how should I put it…”

Wei Lianlian leaned back in her chair, pondering for a moment before asking Tian Tang, “If someone has the ability and intention to kill but hasn’t actually done it, does that make them good or bad?”

Tian Tang’s mind stalled for a moment before she responded, “That doesn’t hold up. Everyone in this game is somehow linked to killing.”

Silence fell among them.

Tian Tang dismissed the question, never one to overthink. “It’s hard to say, so let’s drop it! Let’s just watch…”

[Congratulations to the player from Faction Four, Wang Xiaoming, for obtaining the treasure of Lord No. 3-the unicorn’s horn.]

[Congratulations to the player from Faction Four, Wang Xiaoming, for killing Lord No. 3.]

The sudden system announcement interrupted Tian Tang’s words, and the central lobby erupted in cheers and discussions-

“He did it!”

“Knew Wang Xiaoming would take down the unicorn!”

“Even though Wang Xiaoming is the second-in-command of the hunter faction and has a questionable reputation, his skills are undeniable.”

“So fast! At this rate, won’t the game be decided by tonight? But this is just the second condition for clearing the game; you still have to stay in the game for three days to fully clear it…”

“Doesn’t matter, but it seems like Wang Xiaoming didn’t go all out. The unicorn was weak, and the regulator in the unicorn’s territory was useless, just ran away.”

“But the other lords are strong. Every lord the doll encounters isn’t weak.”

“Should we bet on whether the doll or Wang Xiaoming will fulfill the second condition?”

“I bet on Wang Xiaoming, haha!”

“Me too! His strategy clearly involves killing lords and grabbing treasures. Even though the unicorn was weaker than other lords, he still killed a lord. If he kills one more, he can clear the game!”

“And the doll’s approach is just to collect treasures, which is no less difficult than killing lords. But they need five treasures, and even with the doll’s puppet, they’re still two treasures short. It’s too challenging.”

“Why don’t they choose to kill lords? That way they could own territories, maybe even get bonuses… Wait! Look! Those players who joined the unicorn’s faction have options now that the lord is dead. They can either renounce violence or submit to the serpent man. Wasn’t there no submission option mentioned to players before?”

“There was,” someone chimed in gleefully. “It’s just that the doll’s faction didn’t have the submission option. Maybe the doll is set up as a wanderer without a territory, and worthless people are better off dead.”

“…”

The players who heard this fell silent, and someone sighed-

“The doll… really has it tough.”

Tian Tang and the others: “…”

“Ahem, maybe we should pay more attention to other display panels.”

Fang Jincheng shrugged, “I just glanced at Wang Xiaoming’s display panel. That unicorn didn’t seem like a boss at all; it was more like a defenseless little creature being slaughtered. It wasn’t interesting.”

“Plus, its regulator was a small blue square with long legs, about the size of a palm. I have no idea what it’s for, but it ran away quickly when the unicorn was captured.”

Guan Cheng looked at the instance where the doll and Lin Ye didn’t even pause despite the commotion. “This side is definitely more intriguing.”

“The doll’s pace is lightning fast, and they’ve already unlocked half of the bosses.”

Tian Tang couldn’t resist pulling out another lollipop from her pocket, but this time Wei Lianlian snatched it away. “Too much sugar isn’t good for you.”

Tian Tang pouted but held back.

“Huh?” Fang Jincheng noticed something. “That unicorn…”

Before Fang Jincheng could finish, the system notification interrupted.

[Notification: The unicorn has been resurrected, retracting the notification of Wang Xiaoming successfully killing the lord.]

“I knew it wouldn’t be that simple,” Guan Cheng sighed in relief, then frowned at Wang Xiaoming’s display panel. “But why is the unicorn’s fur black now?”

Fang Jincheng squinted and leaned in for a closer look. “It seems its anger from being killed caused a mutation. Wang Xiaoming’s holographic display received a notification.”

Everyone looked over. This notification only appeared on Wang Xiaoming’s holographic display, stating that the resurrected unicorn was no longer beautiful and pure, and the horn taken from it now carried a curse. Whoever held it would be attacked by the curse.

“What kind of curse?”

Wei Lianlian’s gaze shifted and landed on something. “The curse seems to be that regulator. It’s transformed from a square box into… a robot?”

“…??”

“The elements are too chaotic!” Tian Tang shouted.

In the no lord’s territory between the serpent man’s territory and the vine monster’s territory.

“Reunion successful!” Duan Miaomiao jumped in place with excitement, then noticed Lin Ye holding Xia Lang and hurried over to ask, “How is he?”

Yuan Mo shrank into a corner. His presence was already low, and now in the corner, almost no one noticed him.

Except the doll.

Luo Yiran controlled the magician to approach Yuan Mo.

Yuan Mo looked up. Earlier, when he asked if the doll had a brain, the doll’s gaze had scared him half to death. Even now, he was still a bit frightened, so he only dared to move slightly.

Luo Yiran said, “I remember you mentioned having an antidote item.” That was something Yuan Mo had said out of fear after being intimidated by the doll, worried about not being trusted.

Everyone was taken aback.

In the game, medical items and antidotes were extremely rare. Zhang Mimi, who had just handed Duan Miaomiao a mask, was very surprised. “You have an antidote item?”

Yuan Mo, considering them teammates, scratched his head sheepishly and admitted, “It’s not exactly an antidote item. It can work on any injury, but the healing speed depends on the severity. If it’s too severe, the treatment will be slower… and it requires me to pay a price.”

The doll glanced at the magician, then asked, “Can I pay the price for you?”

“No, I can’t,” Yuan Mo said softly. His hair was long, and when he lowered his head, it seemed to cover his entire eyes. “I’ve become one with it, so the cost can only be mine.”

“…?”

Yuan Mo extended his hand and, without hesitation, used a small knife to cut his finger. The cut was long, and blood flowed immediately.

He frowned tightly, watching as a white, snake-like entity slowly emerged from his wound. “Place that little guy in front of me.”

Did he cut too deep…? Duan Miaomiao winced.

Holding Xia Lang, Lin Ye glanced at the doll-Xia Lang was closest to the doll, and only the doll could make decisions for him.

Luo Yiran nodded.

So, Xia Lang was placed in front of Yuan Mo.

The white serpent slithered from Xia Lang’s mouth, and as it completely left Yuan Mo’s wound, his face turned slightly pale.

“Are you okay?” Duan Miaomiao asked.

Yuan Mo shook his head. “I’m fine, this is the cost. This item is called the spirit serpent, a high-level biological item. When I first got it, it was in card form, with detailed instructions on how to use it and what the cost would be.”

“I found it acceptable, so I nurtured it within my body. It became symbiotic with me. After the symbiosis, I am basically immune to poison, and my injuries heal very, very quickly, like this.” Yuan Mo raised his hand, and the wound was already gone.

Via exclaimed, “Impressive.”

“And when needed, it can split inside me. I can release the split spirit serpent to save someone. Once it saves a person, it dies, and it’s like I’ve lost a part of…” Yuan Mo hesitated, unsure how to describe it, and after a moment said, “a part of my flesh and blood?”

Yuan Mo didn’t try to describe it more accurately. He looked at Xia Lang. “I can also heal his arm.”

Xia Lang was taken aback, the straightforward kindness leaving him momentarily stunned. “Releasing two won’t harm you?”

“I’ll be a bit weak, like losing two fingers,” Yuan Mo smiled. “But they’re fingers that can grow back.”

Li Qi Feng stood beside Via, patting Via’s fluffy hair as he looked at Yuan Mo. “Thank you very much. Is there anything you need? We can help you as much as we can.”

Yuan Mo was surprised, then lowered his head, scratching his hair. “If possible, I hope you all remember me.”