Chapter 9 - The Vanished Mermaid (Part 2)

Luo Yiran turned his head toward the person who had spoken.

His translucent red eyes fixed directly on the girl wearing a pink striped shirt.

The girl stared at the moving doll in shock: “Two bosses???”

Luo Yiran kindly curled his lips, revealing a row of small white teeth. To maintain politeness, he also had the magician remove his hat and nod slightly to the girl in the pink stripes.

The girl instantly felt as though she were watching the finale of a terrifying circus performance alone in the dead of night. She subconsciously shifted toward the seat beside her.

The doll also took the opportunity to glance at the person next to her.

It was a man in a long trench coat, likely in his thirties, with hair so short it seemed prickly. A scar ran from the corner of his mouth to his temple.

His face was somewhat frightening upon closer inspection, but his demeanor was extremely calm, so much so that one might easily overlook him if not paying attention.

The doll paused for a moment, mentally marking this person as someone to keep an eye on.

“What are you doing?! Sit down now!” The tour guide who had been handing out numbers at the door boarded the bus. He barked as if he were the boss of everyone on the vehicle: “We’re leaving soon!”

As he spoke, his fierce gaze landed on the doll: “I’m talking to you, can’t you hear me?”

Xia Lang, who had been huddled up, mustered the courage to tug at the magician’s sleeve and quickly said, “Ran-Ge, sit down first.”

The doll then manipulated the magician to sit down, while he himself slid from the magician’s shoulder into the pocket on his chest.

As soon as he sat down, the bus started moving. Luo Yiran glanced at the seat in front of him but didn’t see anyone in the driver’s seat.

Xia Lang noticed this too and shivered.

Although their seats were next to each other, Luo Yiran was now too small to notice Xia Lang’s shiver. However, knowing Xia Lang’s personality, Luo Yiran spoke without even looking: “Don’t worry, the bus should be safe.”

Xia Lang’s trust in Luo Yiran seemed almost instinctive, so even though Luo Yiran didn’t provide a reason, Xia Lang immediately believed the bus was safe.

“There are a lot of people,” Luo Yiran stated.

“Other players have joined,” Xia Lang said softly. “It’s also possible that teammates bound by a relationship were forced into the game. My teammate was pulled in.”

Luo Yiran glanced at Xia Lang, then followed his gaze to Xia Lang’s teammate.

It was a slightly overweight middle-aged man sitting toward the middle-back of the bus.

The man had been looking at the magician, but as soon as Luo Yiran’s gaze turned toward him, their eyes met.

Very perceptive.

Luo Yiran averted his gaze and turned to look out the window.

“Are you Luo Yiran?”

A voice suddenly rang out from behind. It wasn’t particularly loud, but the distinct tone carried easily through the bus.

As soon as the words were spoken, the slight murmurs in the bus instantly fell silent, leaving only the faint hum of the moving vehicle.

The atmosphere grew tense.

Xia Lang guiltily lowered his head, the magician remained silent as if watching the scene unfold, and Luo Yian didn’t even lift an eyelid.

The person in the back seat frowned. He glanced at the tour guide leaning against the bus door with his eyes closed, then stood up.

Most of the eyes in the bus followed him as he bent down and placed his hand on the bandage-wrapped magician, saying impatiently, “Special species, I’m talking to you.”

“Oh right, it could be a special species,” the girl who had initially shouted “BOSS” at the magician and the doll realized. But as soon as she spoke, she received a look from the person behind the magician that screamed idiot.

“…”

“The clothes I’m wearing were designed by someone very important to me, so could you please let go?” The magician’s voice was gentle, and the curve of the bandages on his face suggested he might even be smiling.

But in that moment, Luo Yiran suddenly had a feeling-if he weren’t controlling the magician, the hand of the guy in the back seat might no longer be in its original position.

The person in the back seat wanted to say more, but his gaze inadvertently met the red-eyed doll on the magician’s chest. He paused, then withdrew his hand.

The doll manipulated the magician to place himself on top of the tall magic hat. Standing upright, the doll exuded an air of exquisite rarity from head to toe. His ruby-like eyes swept across everyone in the bus. “I am Luo Yiran.”

The bus grew even quieter. The tour guide at the door opened his eyes and glanced at the doll.

The game had announced him, which meant practically all players knew that Luo Yiran had set fire to the forest, causing all forest-related instances to be temporarily closed. It had also announced his participation in the new instance, The Vanished Mermaid.

Setting aside the natural curiosity players would have toward Luo Yiran, the game’s decision to place him in The Vanished Mermaid alone suggested that this instance wouldn’t be a walk in the park.

In short, most players in this instance wouldn’t just feel curiosity toward him-they’d also harbor resentment for being dragged into a more dangerous scenario.

So keeping his identity hidden would have been the better option. But… Luo Yiran’s gaze shifted to the curly-haired boy with gray hair sitting in the back row, casually crossing his legs-it wasn’t going to be easy to hide.

The gray-haired boy, seeing that Luo Yiran had noticed him, happily raised his hand and waved, calling out affectionately, “Ranran!”

Luo Yiran frowned.

The curly-haired boy didn’t seem to care. He continued waving with a grin, “Long time no see! Since we’re exchanging favors, it’s my turn to hang you upside down this time, right?”

Luo Yiran averted his gaze, refusing to look at him, and instead turned his attention back to the person in the back seat. “I’m Luo Yiran. Did you need something?”

His tone was genuinely polite. If he had been in the guise of a student, most people would have thought him gentle and well-meaning.

But now, he was a talking, eerie doll-a doll who, just yesterday, had single-handedly destroyed an instance… no, a forest.

The person in the back seat seemed thoughtful. “Did the game give you this form because you’re a famous fugitive in real life?”

Luo Yiran: “?”

Luo Yiran denied it. “I’m a good person.”

The bus fell silent again, and this time, Luo Yiran didn’t quite understand the meaning behind the silence.

That was until the curly-haired boy burst into laughter, his legs kicking out uncontrollably. “Ranran… hahaha, no matter how you spin it… someone who’s killed people can’t exactly call themselves good, right?”

Luo Yiran narrowed his eyes.

The boy spread his arms, tilting his head with an exaggerated smile. “There are thousands of players in this game, and the one thing they all have in common is-they’ve killed someone.”

In yesterday’s instance, Luo Yiran was the only newbie who survived, but it was Xia Lang who received this information and reacted with shock.

Xia Lang curled up, covering his mouth, his eyes filled with confusion and fear.

Luo Yiran’s calmness made the boy lose interest. He lowered his arms. “Why aren’t you surprised? Hypocrite.”

“Intentional, unintentional, excessive self-defense, direct, indirect…” Luo Yiran spoke smoothly, unhurried. “There are so many reasons for causing someone’s death. Why should I be surprised?”

Luo Yiran’s words were somewhat cryptic, but Xia Lang gradually calmed down as he listened.

How strange. The curly-haired boy’s smile faded completely-the small, beautiful, and delicate doll didn’t seem cute at all. Instead, it was just eerie.

The boy’s darkened expression made Luo Yiran’s smile grow a little more genuine. He turned back to the young man in the black T-shirt in the back seat. “Do you still have questions?”

Questions? He hadn’t had any to begin with. From the start, he’d just been looking for trouble. But now… the young man in the black T-shirt remained silent for a moment, then quietly sat back down, answering Luo Yiran with his actions.

Luo Yiran smiled, then sat back down on the magician’s hat.

The atmosphere in the bus calmed down. The tour guide at the door sighed regretfully, his eyes fixed on the black T-shirt young man. “What a pity. I love chaos the most.”

The black T-shirt young man was taken aback. He tentatively asked, “Why?”

“You don’t know? Noise is prohibited inside the bus. So, I make the noisy ones quiet down. And, well, I happen to be hungry too.” The tour guide’s eyes gleamed with hunger as he stared at the young man, answering him with unsettling honesty.

“…”

The black T-shirt young man froze, completely silenced.

Ten minutes later.

The bus entered a mountain tunnel, plunging the interior into darkness.

Luo Yiran, sitting in the first row and perched on the magician’s hat, looked up and noticed that there were no lights in the tunnel or on the front of the bus.

It was pitch black, with not a single glimmer of light in sight.

Sssss-

The bus came to an abrupt stop, and Luo Yiran nearly tumbled off the magician’s hat.

“Alright, everyone. Time to get off.”

The tour guide’s voice, filled with excitement, echoed through the dark and silent bus. “Hurry up, hurry up! The mermaid game is about to begin!”

The mention of the mermaid, a key element, came from the tour guide for the first time. Luo Yiran looked toward the bus door.

“Orderly exit, orderly exit,” the tour guide muttered. “The lights in the bus are out, so be careful.”

Someone casually responded with an “okay” and started moving toward the exit. Xia Lang also tried to get up, but Luo Yiran, controlling the magician, stopped him.

In the darkness, Xia Lang turned toward Luo Yiran’s general direction, confused but silent.

As most of the passengers crowded the aisle, the first person pushed open the bus door.

Though it had been pitch black when looking out the windows, the moment the door opened, a faint, soft blue light illuminated the outside.

It was water-endless water stretching as far as the eye could see.

The middle-aged man at the front hesitated, glancing at the tour guide beside him.

The tour guide gave a friendly smile. “Time to get off.”

The man had been through several instances, and decisiveness was one of his strengths. Besides, the only way out was forward, even if it seemed like stepping into the water. Perhaps there was something beneath the surface.

So, the middle-aged man stepped into the water without further hesitation.

The icy water seeped through his clothes, wrapping around his feet. He shivered but visibly relaxed. “There’s a staircase,” he said, indicating that the path indeed led downward.

The people behind him also breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next second, the man in the water let out a scream and suddenly plunged downward. In just a second, he was completely submerged. The moment he disappeared, the surroundings fell eerily silent. Blood spread through the water, but it, too, vanished quickly.

It was as if the water had dissolved him.

The game hadn’t even officially started, and already, one player was dead.

Cause of death: unknown.