Doll Survival Game - Chapter 98 - Fairy Tale Forest (End)
“Wow-Lin Ye, did you do this? Using fire and ice items?”
Via stood on the ice next to Lin Ye, carrying Xia Lang on his back. He observed the massive ice wall forming a giant circle before them.
Inside the ice wall, flames roared, consuming everything.
Via marveled at the extraordinary scene and earnestly remarked, “You have more civic virtues than Ranran.”
At least you know to set boundaries.
Lin Ye sat there, looking disheveled, his eyes slightly manic as he gazed at a gap in the ice wall. “Still managed to escape.”
Duan Miaomiao leaped out from the fire onto the ice wall, but her feet slipped as soon as she landed. If Yuan Mo hadn’t been quick to catch her, she would have fallen back down.
“I arrived a moment too late,” Duan Miaomiao admitted, holding onto Yuan Mo’s arm. Her shapeshifted feet grew claws that dug into the ice to steady herself. “He just broke through the ice wall and ran.”
Lin Ye rubbed his cheek, the madness in his eyes not yet faded-didn’t get enough playtime, maybe he should go find Mr. Gardener…
“Can you see anything from here?” Via adjusted Xia Lang on his back and tiptoed to look at a spot where trees had fallen in large numbers, faintly hearing strange monster roars. “Hey, can’t see Ranran there.”
“…”
Lin Ye calmed down. “Luo Yiran is over there? What’s he doing?”
Come to think of it, the system’s voice rang several times, but he was too engrossed to pay attention…
Via blinked. “Didn’t you check the group chat?”
Lin Ye silently opened the group chat, and after a while, the madness in his eyes completely subsided. He became incredibly serene, even wearing a gentle smile when he looked up. “Luo Yiran is having quite the wild time.”
Then his gaze swept over the group-seeing the tear stains on Xia Lang’s face and the terrifying wounds healing on his body, then glancing at Duan Miaomiao’s frightening shapeshifted appearance…
His smile grew even gentler. “You all are too.”
The group: “…”
Yuan Mo caught sight of the map from the corner of his eye and quickly turned his head. “Li Qi Feng and Zhang Mimi! They’re coming!”
Duan Miaomiao swiftly checked the map. “Ah! They really are!”
Lin Ye stood up, and the ice wall beneath him began to melt rapidly. He said expressionlessly, “Gather, head towards the doll.”
Red wings flapped, sparking a few embers. Lin Ye hesitated for a second, then decided to respect Luo Yiran’s decision-once they arrived, he would encircle the area where Little Red and the doll were fighting with an ice wall, to prevent Feng Bai from sneaking in while they weren’t paying attention.
The sky shifted from deep blue-black to a shade of gray-black. Via laid a layer of soil and leaves on the ice, added his jacket, and then placed Xia Lang on top.
Xia Lang’s head rested on his thigh, his external injuries already healed, but even in his sleep, he occasionally whimpered.
Via propped his chin, watching the doll holding the rabbit head atop the pile of monster corpses. He yawned, “He’s got so much energy.”
“And earlier, there was a chance to hurt Little Red, right?”
Li Qi Feng didn’t respond, his gaze fixed on Lin Ye across the circular ice wall.
They stood scattered on the ice wall, guarding against Feng Bai’s arrival. Though Li Qi Feng felt eyes on them when Little Red’s treasure was taken, the person in the shadows didn’t reveal themselves.
Via yawned again, this time squeezing out a tear from the corner of his eye. He wiped it away and muttered, “Why not just kill Little Red? That way, Feng Bai would lose all his fighting power, and we wouldn’t even need to stay on guard…”
“The doll said not to kill her.” Li Qi Feng, standing atop the high ice wall with no cover, seemed uneasy. He pulled his arms closer to his body and calmly repeated the doll’s earlier words to them: ” ‘After all, I was the one who destroyed her forest first. Consider this compensation.’ ”
Although as soon as Luo Yiran said that, Little Red had been cursing him out non-stop.
Via dragged out his words, “I know-but this is so boring!”
Li Qi Feng didn’t respond, his gaze still fixed on Lin Ye.
Via waved a hand in front of him. “Uncle, why do you keep staring at her?”
Li Qi Feng lowered his head slightly. “I’m considering whether it’s worth teaming up with them. I also meet the requirements to create an organization.”
To create an organization, one needed to successfully clear six instances with an average score above a certain threshold. Li Qi Feng had already met those criteria.
Via waved dismissively. “Nah, we’re lone wolves by nature. Running into them was already a coincidence. If we try to bring in new people now, there won’t be enough time to build any trust.”
Li Qi Feng fell silent.
Via, however, understood his reasoning. If they created their own organization, they could at least maintain control over the entire faction.
But at the same time, having control over the organization would mean its overall strength would be below theirs, simply because there wouldn’t be enough time to foster trust or train competent members…
Via’s gaze shifted to Luo Yiran. His gray, curly hair had grown a bit longer, with a few strands lightly brushing against his eyelashes. “Risk and reward go hand in hand… Isn’t that what you taught me, Uncle?”
The person before him was someone who didn’t even need trust to be relied upon-because he was strong.
Li Qi Feng nodded slightly, then seemed to think of something. He looked down at Xia Lang. “If-just if-one day I die in this game, you can team up with him.”
Via paused. He didn’t make a fuss, just replied casually, “Isn’t that what revival potions are for? I’ll just bring you back.”
“Besides, Little Xia Lang won’t cut it. He can’t cover for me.”
But you could cover for him.
Li Qi Feng didn’t say the words that hovered on the tip of his tongue. Instead, his gaze shifted to the gray streak on the horizon. It was slowly spreading and changing. Dawn was approaching.
Even though the towering ice wall blocked Little Red’s view of the horizon, she could sense that morning was near.
Her hand reached into her pocket-she still had sixty-seven monsters left. Should she use them all?
But if she used them all, it would take a long time to create more.
“Should we call it a day?” The doll reeled in his line. His small figure perched atop the mountain of corpses created an oddly surreal image, though Little Red didn’t find it particularly strange. After all, in the World Human realm, bizarre people and scenes were commonplace.
Little Red’s smile turned mocking. “What, are you giving up?”
The doll sat cross-legged on the hand of a monster. “Dawn’s almost here. We’re at a stalemate.”
Little Red paused, then sat down at the base of the corpse mountain, looking up at the doll. “If you kill all my monsters, you can kill me. Unlike the other brothers and sisters, I’m actually pretty weak.”
“But I already said, I won’t kill you.” The doll smiled gently. “Besides, the last time I was here, I was actually looking forward to playing the game. It’s just that my friends were in so much pain, so I thought I’d try to end it.”
Little Red pulled up her slightly grimy hood, her round eyes bright. “I won’t forgive you!”
“Alright.” The doll raised a hand in a cheerful wave, still smiling.
Little Red looked at the smile on the doll’s face and thought of the Demon. She proposed, “I ask you something, and you answer me. Likewise, you can also ask me something, and I will answer as long as it doesn’t break any rules… And if it’s totally off-limits, you can keep asking until I give you an answer. How does that sound?”
The doll paused, then looked down to send a message in the group chat before looking up and saying, “Okay.”
He added thoughtfully, “Sounds a lot more sincere than Mr. Demon’s offer.”
Little Red smirked, “After all, I am a good kid.”
The doll replied, “Then you ask first.”
Little Red glanced at the giant standing beside the mountain of corpses and hesitated for a moment, “We here have no parents, so I want to know, besides being tall and powerful, what else should parents be? I want to improve mine.”
“I think they are still missing something.”
The doll froze.
Little Red frowned, “Even though you don’t have parents, you’ve seen other people’s, right? And at the very least, they exist, so go and ask for me!”
She pointed towards the doll’s teammate against the ice wall, her chin raised high.
Luo Yiran pondered for a moment, “No need to bother them, I can tell you, I have seen many parents.”
Little Red crossed her arms, “You tell me.”
Luo Yiran dismissed some trivial cases, then quickly told Little Red about what normal parents are like.
Little Red was stunned, her chubby hand touching her chin, “Is that so…”
Then she looked suspiciously at the doll, “You’re not lying to me, are you?”
The doll raised his hand, smiling warmly, “I swear, if I lie, may thunder strike me down.”
Little Red looked towards the giant, her brow furrowed-what is love, after all?
She decided not to ask Luo Yiran, not knowing why, but feeling it might be ominous to do so.
However, Little Red pinched her little hand-she was different from the magicians; she had no memory.
It was said that she chose to forget, and since it was her choice, it must be for the best.
“You ask me now,” Little Red lifted her head.
Luo Yiran raised an eyebrow-perhaps because she was really younger? Little Red was far less neurotic than other bosses, and even seemed somewhat endearing at this moment: “What is a game update?”
Little Red tilted her head, pondered a moment, then spoke smoothly, “I don’t know.”
The doll: “…”
Little Red giggled, “Really don’t know! But our updates are specifically requested by a partner, and then the request must be approved before the update occurs, though almost no one knows the specific content of the updates, ah right, except for one update…”
She stopped abruptly, her lips pursing, “I can’t talk about that.”
But the unspeakable matters are always the most important.
Luo Yiran’s eyes darkened-so what Little Red just said meant that updates are requested by either the boss or the regulator, and then either the game itself or someone approves the update.
And none of the beings in “World Human” know what the updates will bring, except for one they are aware of.
“Then why request an update if you don’t know what it is?” Luo Yiran looked up, “Is it because you all are looking forward to that particular update?”
Little Red blinked and didn’t answer, but the doll understood.
Little Red thought of something, and a small schadenfreude filled her eyes. She ventured, “We always look forward to all updates, but the partner managing the first update hasn’t made a move, so we were very surprised when we received the notification for this update.”
…Surprised?
That sounded familiar…
The doll suddenly widened his eyes-
…
“The surprise I sent you… does that add a more personal touch?”
“And another surprise, this is just an appetizer.”
…
The voice of the magician seemed to echo in his ears, the doll’s mouth twitched.
He must be overthinking…
As the sun rose, Duan Miaomiao, who had just finished explaining how to score high to the air on the ice wall, turned around. Her gaze moved from the dazzling sunlight to the doll.
Then she saw that bizarre magician, wrapped in bandages, suddenly appear beside the doll.
“???”