Doll Survival Game - Chapter 99 - Eternal Night

After receiving the game update notification, 2657, being the only one who could smoothly move between various bosses, quickly went to ask the magician why he suddenly wanted the update.

What the magician specifically said was unknown, but when 2657 turned around and shared it, he mentioned the magician wanted to give someone a surprise.

At that time, the events in “Lin Na’s Last Day” hadn’t spread, so people didn’t guess the surprise was for the doll player. Moreover, updates weren’t usually considered surprises for players.

It wasn’t until Tang Bai rebuilt a new instance shortly after that the events within were revealed.

Those who understood realized the surprise was indeed prepared for the doll player.

However, Little Red watched the magician atop the mountain of corpses-was this guy sure the doll would consider it a surprise?

Updates in “World Human” were generally meant to enhance their experience, not the players’.

The magician glanced at the blood-stained silver thread near the doll’s hand. He remained silent for a moment, then knelt down, extending his right hand flat in front of the doll.

The doll looked at the magician, who had reverted to the outfit from their first meeting, with clean bandages… which were clean three seconds ago.

Now, blood was seeping out again.

“There’s no need to come when it’s about to end,” Luo Yiran’s voice was cold.

The magician remained in position: “I’ll come sooner next time.”

“No.” The doll stepped onto the magician’s palm: “If it’s unnecessary, don’t come looking for me.”

The magician wanted to mention he had other matters, but the doll’s next words followed swiftly: “Is the game update your surprise for me?”

The magician glanced at Little Red.

Little Red blinked, a mischievous smile spreading across her round face.

The doll didn’t manipulate the magician, so the magician placed the doll on his shoulder and effortlessly leaped onto the ice wall.

Duan Miaomiao, closest to them, glanced at the doll, then gestured an OK sign, indicating the message had been sent out, before quietly retreating to Lin Ye’s side.

“If only everyone was as sensible as this young lady,” the magician chuckled hoarsely.

The doll still didn’t manipulate the magician, calmly reaching out to touch the magician’s cheek: “Bandage, it’s shifted.”

The magician paused, then extended his own hand, his bandaged thumb touching the doll’s cheek: “Just tidied up a bit… but young master, regarding the earlier question, my answer is no.”

The sun climbed higher, its golden rays illuminating the two. The doll’s expression remained unchanged: “It better be.”

The bandage at the corner of the magician’s mouth lifted, his fingers moved, then covered the doll’s eyes: “Since the young master is eager, and the time is right, why not unwrap the gift now?”

As his words fell, the doll, enveloped in darkness, first heard the system’s completion chime-

[System Notification: Congratulations to player Luo Yiran for successfully completing “Fairy Tale Forest.”]

[Note: This game does not count towards scoring; rewards or penalties can be viewed in the player’s personal interface.]

[Game over, looking forward to seeing you next time.]

The doll ignored the cold voice, raising his hand full of ball joints to place it on the magician’s fingers that covered his eyes, focusing on the matter at hand. “What is it?”

The magician remained silent for a moment before releasing his hand, not lowering it but instead snapping his fingers lightly in mid-air. “Take a look.”

The doll lifted his gaze, watching as the newly risen sun in the sky fell like a kite with a broken string. Night enveloped the world in an instant, the moon peeking through the clouds, and stars cascading across the sky.

It was as if the world had transformed in the blink of an eye, like a stage where day and night changed with the drop of a curtain.

The doll’s eyes widened, his red pupils reflecting everything before him. Then he heard the magician’s voice, so close, filled with unmistakable delight. “An eternal night.”

“…?” Luo Yiran snapped back to reality, unsure if he had heard correctly-what was the prefix the magician had just used?

“Does the young master like it?” The magician extended his right hand, speaking softly in a gesture that seemed to embrace the world. “The surprise I have for you isn’t a game update; it’s that we will be together forever.”

Eternal night descended, souls lingered.

So the doll that sat motionless in the shop window by day would come to life completely.

Luo Yiran was momentarily stunned, and upon hearing “we will be together forever,” an ominous feeling surged within him.

This ominous feeling peaked in the next second-

The sound of countless voices speaking together, like when he first entered the game, echoed once more throughout the game world: “Dear players, the game will enter the second mode [Eternal Night]. Please return to your personal space and wait for the update to complete.”

Luo Yiran: “…”

Isn’t this just an update!

Luo Yiran felt his body being pulled, growing increasingly agitated-not just because of the magician’s wordplay, but also because of the game’s notification to return to personal space and wait.

Why return to personal space instead of exiting the game?

No matter how long the instance lasted, it always ended at midnight. But personal space matched real-time, and if the game update took a long time, they would become missing persons in reality after a few days.

The doll watched as the forest in the darkness before him disintegrated like a falling puzzle, pieces vanishing rapidly. His expression turned somber.

Two or three seconds later, the doll returned to his personal space, sitting on the red velvet bench in the shop window. Outside, the lights were bright, and people bustled by without stopping. However, today, across the street, there was a little girl in a red dress selling matches.

Despite the odd situation, the doll couldn’t help but twitch his lips, looking at the girl-what was wrong with the magician, arranging for someone to sell matches in the middle of summer?

Two arms reached out from behind, encircling the doll, but due to the size difference, they felt more like two fences enclosing him. The magician’s voice came from behind, filled with deep satisfaction. “Young master, welcome home.”

The bandages on the magician were still seeping blood. The doll stood up, stepping onto the red velvet bench, and realized he was actually in the box space.

The box had been dismantled, half on the table over there and half on the shop window, with the red velvet bench placed inside the box space.

The magician tilted his head slightly. “I thought the young master’s room was a bit small, so I took down the ‘ceiling’ to expand the space by half.”

Who cares about that? The doll stared at the magician, clenching his hand into a fist, then sat down in frustration-now that they weren’t in an instance, he couldn’t control the magician.

Luo Yiran glanced at the holographic display beside him, then shifted his gaze to the half-open box on the table.

“If you’re looking for a phone, young master, there isn’t one,” the magician pointed to the holographic display beside him. “This is what we use now.”

The doll frowned. “You can see this even outside the instance?”

The magician’s smile widened. “After all, I’m your puppet, entirely devoted to you.”

The doll’s frown deepened, and he fell silent, examining his newly formed right hand before activating the holographic display. Replacing phones with these displays… it seemed they were meant to stay in this second mode, Eternal Night. Otherwise, there would be no need to remain until the game update was complete.

Moreover, the magician had mentioned “being together forever.”

The doll opened the notification section on the display, finding only the instance reward notification, with no introduction to the Eternal Night version-likely because the update wasn’t finished yet.

Not in the mood to check the instance reward, the doll looked directly at the magician.

The magician rested his head on his hand, the bandages on his face still stained with dried blood, yet he seemed as if he’d received the sweetest candy in the world, exuding satisfaction. “Are you curious about what Eternal Night is, young master?”

Luo Yiran looked at him for a moment before pulling up a smile. “Will you tell me?”

“I will.” The magician pulled a chair over with his left hand, sat down, and crossed his legs, his foot tapping lightly in the air. “Because it doesn’t matter anymore.”

The doll jumped down from the long chair and took a couple of steps toward the magician. The magician pulled out a white handkerchief and gently wiped the dirt off the doll’s face. “Simply put, daylight will never come, and your soul will never leave here.”

The doll thought expressionlessly-if you only considered the name Eternal Night, the latter part didn’t seem very credible.

“Don’t you like the night, young master?” The magician tilted his head, his gray hair falling as his gaze clung to the doll. “I asked you before.”

Asked? The doll recalled, then remembered-in the last instance, the magician had indeed asked him…

After cleaning the doll’s face, the magician leaned back in his chair and slowly removed the bandage from his eyes.

As the bandage fell away, Luo Yiran found himself staring into the magician’s eyes, which were so clear they reflected his own image and the scene outside the window. He was momentarily stunned.

Very beautiful eyes.

Like the night sky without clouds.

But they also resembled the eyes of a Demon.

Luo Yiran watched as the magician’s long eyelashes lowered, partially covering his eyes, yet the intense and fervent emotion within was still evident. He reiterated, “From today, young master, the sun will not rise again, the world will be eternally night, and your soul will remain by my side.”

“I offer myself to you.”

The magician looked up, his long lashes fluttering with the movement. His striking dark eyes were like the ocean under a starry night sky, with specks of starlight floating on the surface. His voice, rich and intoxicating, said, “I hope you cherish me, young master.”

Luo Yiran: “…”

The magician leaned closer, examining the doll’s face. “You’re unhappy, young master… why?”

Caught off guard by the magician’s proximity, the doll met those beautiful, innocent eyes. “Are you pretending not to know?”

He looked down, then stepped back two paces-too close. At that distance, it felt as if he might fall into that ocean at any moment.