Doll Survival Game

Wang Xiaoming glanced in one direction-Luo Yiran… That must be the doll. The top player on the average score ranking and the only one currently in possession of a revival potion.

His appearance hardly fits the image of a player.

But that puppet…

Wang Xiaoming leapt down from the tree and darted swiftly through the forest-his body wrapped in bandages, exuding an aura of danger.

Interesting!

Though that doll looks far too fragile.

He hadn’t watched Luo Yiran’s live broadcasts, but he’d heard about him from members of the organization. Lately, Luo Yiran’s name seemed to constantly pop up in system notifications.

Hopefully, they’re strong enough to last a bit longer under his blade; otherwise, it’d be far too dull.

Fueled by excitement, Wang Xiaoming sped toward the spot where he had just seen the bandaged man and the doll. But when he arrived, the eager smile on his face vanished.

“Where are they?”

“Young master, did you leave just like that?” The magician stepped onto a tree branch, the suitcase in his hand bumping against the wood with a muffled thud.

The doll, stroking the unicorn horn on his forehead, replied earnestly, “I promised not to cause trouble.”

And he left the moment he heard any commotion.

The magician sighed. “Young master, you weren’t thinking like that when you picked up the horn.”

Luo Yiran pretended not to hear and didn’t respond. Instead, he looked at the map-he couldn’t go to the unicorn’s territory. If he did, he’d definitely be attacked, and fighting was just too exhausting.

So, should he head to the serpent man’s territory or Little Red’s?

The serpent man’s territory would be like walking into the lion’s den. According to Via, members of the [Hunters] had joined the serpent man, and now that Luo Yiran had taken the horn that Wang Xiaoming, the [Hunters]’ second-in-command, had just snatched, there was also the serpent man’s regulator…

An angel.

“Looks like I’ll have to visit Little Red.” The doll sighed and looked up helplessly.

The magician paused. “Young master, are you planning to offend yet another lord?”

Luo Yiran put on an innocent face. “What are you talking about? I just misspoke earlier. I’m not going to seek out Little Red; I’m merely going to take a look at her territory.”

“And besides, what’s all this about offending or not offending? Isn’t it true that ninety-nine percent of creatures already dislike me?”

The magician had no words. He squeezed through a narrow gap, his hair brushing past the tree branches without getting tangled due to its smoothness. He suggested, “Why not check out the elf’s territory? It’s just past the serpent man’s territory.”

But the serpent man’s territory posed too many uncertainties for him. While forcing his way through wouldn’t be a huge issue, the fact that the magician was the one proposing this idea made it rather odd.

The doll tilted his head thoughtfully, eyeing the bandages on the magician’s face. “You wouldn’t happen to be trying to avoid seeing that demon, would you?”

The magician thought for a moment. “Hmm? Did the angel mention earlier that the demon is in Little Red’s territory?”

Luo Yiran narrowed his eyes. “I inferred it from what you said.”

“You’re not the type to enjoy trouble, yet this time you’re actively urging me to go to the more distant elf territory… So I made a guess.”

The magician had an urge to flick Luo Yiran’s head and watch the doll wobble, but unfortunately, he couldn’t control himself at the moment. He sighed, “Young master, kids don’t need to be too clever.”

The doll didn’t react to the mention of kids. He raised an eyebrow slightly, “Why don’t you want to see the Demon?”

The magician wasn’t pleased by the question that could easily be associated with jealousy. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and asked, “Does the young master genuinely want to know why I don’t want to see the Demon? Or are you just…”

“Puppet,” the doll interrupted, turning his head slightly. His ball-jointed finger rested against his lips, his mouth forming a slight pout, his tone somewhat impatient, “Didn’t we agree to cooperate? You don’t need to worry about when I’m pretending or when I’m sincere, because it’s unnecessary.”

The magician’s peripheral vision caught the finger at the doll’s lips, the link between him and the doll. Every time he saw the doll make this gesture, he felt a bit… suggestive. After all, from a certain perspective, that finger was equivalent to his entire body.

His lips pressed together briefly, and the magician’s voice betrayed no hint of emotion, “I truly don’t want to see the Demon, mainly because there are things I don’t want to be exposed in front of the young master.”

It’s not the fear of exposure, but the fear of being exposed in front of him.

The doll frowned.

“And Little Red is quite troublesome.”

As they moved, the magician’s gray hair accidentally brushed against the doll’s face. The doll pulled it away, “Doesn’t matter.”

“Alright, if the young master wants to go, I have no objections,” the magician said softly.

The doll withdrew his gaze from the magician’s profile and lowered his head again. The map showed that he was already very close to Little Red’s territory.

While the doll was looking, the notification icon at the bottom flickered slightly.

The doll hesitated for a moment but eventually clicked it open.

It was a message from Duan Miaomiao: [Lin Ye asked me to find out why your location is about to enter Little Red’s territory…]

The doll deflected the topic without batting an eye: [Where’s Lin Ye?]

Duan Miaomiao: [He’s busy, interrogating players while keeping an eye on your position on the map.]

Duan Miaomiao: [So, what’s your plan?]

The doll: “…”

The doll: [Interrogating players?]

[…]

This reverse questioning left Duan Miaomiao silent.

After a while, Via appeared in the chat.

[Well, we just happened to run into someone, and during the escape, this player was relentless in pursuit, so we decided to capture him and ask a few questions.]

With only text to go by, the doll couldn’t immediately determine the truth.

But he narrowed his eyes and replied: [Is that so?]

Duan Miaomiao seized the opportunity: [Yes, doll, what about you?]

The doll maneuvered the magician to stop at the edge of Little Red’s territory. A few more steps and he would enter it. He looked down at the teammate chat and sighed: [Given my current location, I can only head into Little Red’s territory.]

The group seemed to have checked the map, and after a while, Lin Ye appeared: [You can return to the serpent man’s territory. We’re in the no lord’s territory, which is closer to the serpent man’s territory. We’ll come to help you.]

The magician’s bandage shifted slightly on his face, making a faint sound. The doll, ever perceptive, noticed it immediately, but before he could ask what was wrong, he heard something.

Luo Yiran glanced over, and in the next moment, a black dot appeared at the center of his clear pupils-a narrow gap between the trees revealed something squeezing through, flying straight toward him.

Whoosh-

The sound of something cutting through the air reached him. The doll’s eyes darkened, and he quickly maneuvered the magician to dodge, but-

“Young master, don’t dodge. Let me move forward a bit,” the magician’s deep voice resonated.

The doll quickly understood what the magician intended, so he watched the scythe hurtling through the air and directed the magician to step forward.

Then, with a slight movement of his finger, the magician caught the scythe’s handle, absorbing the impact that made his arm tremble slightly, causing the doll on his shoulder to shiver as well.

With the scythe in his palm, the magician spun it around, the blade slicing through fallen leaves. He smirked, “That’s why it’s best not to throw weapons without handles.”

The doll didn’t respond, instead focusing on the direction from which the scythe had come. There, a figure darted through the trees, and as it descended, Luo Yiran briefly caught a glimpse of the person’s face.

A very ordinary face.

A face so ordinary that you’d forget it after a single glance.

But if you met his gaze, you’d remember it, because his eyes were fiercely intense.

This must be Wang Xiaoming. The doll had sensed it when he saw him sever the chain earlier. Now, with him in pursuit, the doll was certain it was Wang Xiaoming.

The man stared fixedly at the doll and magician, his feet never stopping.

At this speed, he’d reach them in about twenty seconds. The doll didn’t dodge or evade; instead, he took advantage of the time to send a message-

[Can’t guarantee the next move, Wang Xiaoming is catching up.]

After sending the message, he exited the group chat and looked up just in time to see Wang Xiaoming leap from a tall tree nearby, wielding two strange bladed disc weapons, charging toward him.

Going for close combat?

Indeed, the narrow spaces of the forest were more suited for close combat.

Ding.

A faint sound echoed, and the doll’s body lifted into the air-close combat meant leaving the magician’s shoulder…

Just as he thought this, Wang Xiaoming’s gaze locked onto him, and the bladed disc was hurled in his direction.

“…”

The bladed disc approached, its edges suddenly sprouting a dense array of blades, rapidly closing in on the doll.

This seemed to be the first direct attack aimed at him.

The doll watched the blades coldly, and just as they brushed against his hair, his body dropped suddenly.

The bladed disc missed, and Wang Xiaoming’s pupils narrowed slightly.

The magician held the doll’s silver thread in his hand, causing the doll to sway in the air, meeting Wang Xiaoming’s eyes, “Hello.”

A very polite greeting.

Wang Xiaoming was momentarily taken aback, the bladed disc returning to his hand. He observed the magician holding a suitcase in one hand and a scythe in the other.

Wang Xiaoming frowned; he had seen the magician raise his hand, and then the doll had strangely evaded in the air… What was going on?

Ding.

Wang Xiaoming paused sharply-what was that sound? He seemed to have heard it faintly before.

Before he could figure it out, the magician set down the suitcase and gripped the scythe with both hands.

He had forgotten to retrieve his weapon.

Wang Xiaoming mentally commanded the item to return, but the scythe remained in the magician’s grasp. He was momentarily stunned.

The magician chuckled, “Now it won’t obey you. But if you can make it leave my hand for even a second, you can reclaim it.”

“…”

Wang Xiaoming remained silent, observing the tall magician wrapped in bandages and the doll floating in the air, finding the scene quite peculiar.

But why was the doll floating with his right hand raised, as if a thread was pulling his wrist…

A thread?

Wang Xiaoming’s lips curled into a smile-control threads, perhaps?