“The Hunter’s” light laugh echoed through the forest,
Behind the tree, the red-clad woman’s snow-white pupils even revealed a trace of cruel innocence.
Jiang Yan’s hand around “The Hunter’s” neck stiffened, looking at the other person in disbelief: “You want me to go dance with her? But she just wanted to eat me!”
“Really? Then Yan Yan, guess if she actually wants to eat you?”
“The Hunter’s” tone was like coaxing a child refusing to take medicine.
“If Yan Yan doesn’t want to dance with her, that’s fine too.”
“The Hunter” changed the subject, and Jiang Yan looked at him expectantly.
He looked at him with those pupil-less, green eyes, revealing a trace of a smile: “Remember that kiss you refused? If Yan Yan is willing to give me a kiss now, then Yan Yan doesn’t need to dance with her.”
[???? I think this BOSS's behavior is confusing, is this dialogue really given to it by the main system?]
[Bad... I think it’s very perverted]
[Isn’t it abnormal if it’s not perverted? Which BOSS in this game isn’t perverted?]
[It’s indeed weird, it wants to kiss, can’t Jiang Yan resist? Didn’t Jiang Yan get penalized for not kissing the BOSS earlier?]
[Yes, but it could also be a bug in the main system, after all this is a horror survival game not a romance game]
“I refuse,” Jiang Yan replied without hesitation.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.
[What’s so bad about refusing?]
[Everyone has a different bottom line.]
[Your life is about to end, what’s the bottom line? Two men kissing won’t kill anyone.]
[Exactly! I hate this kind of fake nobility! A typical case of asking for death!]
[He is just maintaining his self-respect and self-love, not bowing to power! What? Are you proud of having no principles?]
[Still, right? Isn’t it? Is there still anyone who thinks this kind of dumb-down operation by Jiang Yan is acceptable?]
[What’s wrong with that? Not everyone survives by selling their limits]
[Oh! Impressive! Noble! Soon Jiang Yan will be torn apart by the 'bear.' Let’s see the outcome of pretending to be noble.]
"You can kiss him, what’s the problem?" 663 was very confused, "You see, don’t actors also have to shoot kissing scenes?"
Jiang Yan couldn’t be bothered to respond to 663’s nonsense.
"Do you really like your 'second spring' that much?" 663 asked.
As soon as 663 finished speaking, the air around the forest seemed to freeze for a moment. The smile in the "hunter’s" eyes disappeared, replaced by a cold glint.
"Why?" The "hunter" once again lifted Jiang Yan’s chin, and the arm holding his waist tightened. The force seemed to want to crush Jiang Yan into his body, as if suppressing an impulse to tear him apart.
Jiang Yan grunted in pain, and the "hunter’s" angry tone mixed with a hint of grievance, like a child who had been denied candy.
He looked at the pale, fragile, yet stubborn little sheep in his arms and asked in confusion, "Why? Don’t I even have the right to beg for a kiss from you, Yan Yan?"
"I don’t like kissing people." Jiang Yan furrowed his brow, feeling the pressure on his waist.
This wasn’t a lie. He truly didn’t like kissing people—not because of cleanliness, but simply because he found the entanglement of tongues boring and unhygienic.
Later, when he met that person, he realized there were people in this world who longed for kisses. That person loved holding him entirely in his arms, kissing from his hair to his toes.
Without any trace of desire, just pure, tender affection in the kisses.
From that moment on, kisses became strangely more heartwarming and precious to Jiang Yan than actual physical contact.
Jiang Yan looked at the monster in front of him, whose sharp sheep horns gleamed. His aqua blue eyes were filled with coldness.
That person’s cherished kisses, how could they be given to such a monster made of data?
Looking at the little sheep in his arms, who didn’t know what to hold on to, the "hunter’s" eyes flashed with a trace of ruthlessness: "You should be punished, my Yan Yan."
Saying this, the "hunter" placed the little sheep back onto the snow, and Jiang Yan’s feet sank into the thick snow, tripping as he fell.
The "hunter" took a step back and asked Jiang Yan, "Yan Yan, have you changed your mind now?"
Jiang Yan kept a cold expression and didn’t say a word.
Seeing this, the "hunter" said with a hint of regret, "Since that’s the case, then let Yan Yan continue this boring game."
As he spoke, he glanced at the sun on the horizon, his tone filled with barely audible excitement: "Dusk is coming."
Dusk.
The few people present felt a tightness in their hearts, watching the western sky’s faint hidden golden light, a kind of suppressed despair rising in their hearts.
The game’s end time for each person was approaching, but the NPCs still hadn’t found the thief, and the players hadn’t found the way out, with no clues at all. However, this "game" was about to end.
From the current situation, it seemed that humanity had no chance of victory.
[Hiss... It feels like this dungeon could lead to a team wipe!]
[With certainty, Ding Wanyu should be able to survive, just with a bit fewer points. Jiang Yan and the remaining players are struggling.]
[Do you think Lei Li, in her current state, is still alive?]
[Yes! As long as the system hasn’t announced her death, she is still alive.]
[Right now, the greatest pressure should be on Jiang Yan! It’s clear that Lei Li has a problem, but whether she’s a "rabbit" or a "magpie" there’s no clue. Now there’s still that "bear" dancing.]
[This morning everyone were praising him as the lucky fish, who knew by the afternoon he’d be pulled in.
[Old model lucky fish—Jiang Yan.]
Jiang Yan stood in the snow, looking at Ding Wanyu, Wang Yu, and Zhong Yun, who were casting worried glances at him, then glanced at Lei Li sitting on the ground, staring blankly at her own team’s corpses and the "bear" behind the tree, ragged.
Finally, his gaze landed on the "hunter."
The "hunter" met Jiang Yan’s gaze and asked, "Yan Yan, do you regret it?"
Jiang Yan shook his head.
The "hunter" didn’t speak further.
At this moment, the howling of the "hunting dogs" gradually drew nearer, and within a few seconds, they appeared by the "hunter" side, howling joyfully around him, as if sensing their master’s hunting moment was coming.
Wang Yu looked at Li Xue among the "hunting dogs," his eyes filled with an indescribable attachment. At this time, Li Xue still had the cute strawberry hairband on her.
That was the only bright color among the ebony wood and white snow.
"Then go dance with her, Yan Yan," the "hunter" said. "No one has ever invited her to dance. You should do what a gentleman should. Otherwise, she might eat you."
"By the way, just a reminder, bears prefer live prey."
Bears are beasts that enjoy eating live creatures, especially mother bears with cubs. They often use prey for hunting practice.
Once the "hunter" finished speaking, the red-clad woman holding an axe slowly crawled toward Jiang Yan on the ground.
Her organs inside her stomach dragged a long bloodstain across the snow, the axe in her hand scraping through the thick snow, making a screeching, empty sound.
Jiang Yan’s body hairs stood up along with the cold, eerie sound.
He struggled to suppress the impulse to retreat, quietly watching the woman dragging her axe and organs, crawling toward him.
He had to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor, or he would be eaten.
Jiang Yan recalled the "hunter's" warning, instantly furrowing his brows, as if he had heard these words somewhere before.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. He stared at the tattered red-clad woman in front of him, trying to suppress his natural fear, and stretched out his hand to her. "Excuse me, may I invite you to dance with me?"
The woman froze. She stood up, protecting her stomach, and warily stared at the clean, bright-eyed youth in front of her, her entire posture resembling that of a "bear" preparing to attack.
"Excuse me, may I invite you to dance with me?" Cold sweat slid down Jiang Yan's cheek, but he understood that at this moment, he absolutely couldn’t show any hint of fear. Otherwise, the "bear" in front of him would rip his stomach open.
The woman cautiously took half a step back, the atmosphere thickening with tension.
[It’s over! The beautiful little cat is going to die!]
[Honestly, it’s a miracle he’s still alive now. It’s almost over.]
[No! I won’t allow it! The beautiful little kitty I just noticed is absolutely not going to die like this!]
"Perhaps my sudden invitation has offended you. For that, I apologize for my rashness and impulse," Jiang Yan said, forcing himself to continue when the woman showed no intention of responding. "May I invite you to dance with me?"
The woman’s hand dropped from her stomach, and a trace of confusion appeared on her face, which had been corroded and ruined by water and worms. "You... Are you sure you want to invite me?"
The sound she made, almost completely rotted, came from her throat, a sound so hoarse it resembled the noise made by a strong man forcefully pulling a bellows.
Jiang Yan breathed a sigh of relief and pressed on, "Yes, do you mind?"
The woman shook her head, somewhat confused. "But... I can't dance."
She said this with her mouth, yet still placed her already rotting hand, exposing white bones, onto Jiang Yan’s outstretched hand.
The moment Jiang Yan grasped her hand, the hairs on his back stood up. Her flesh was too soft, so soft that Jiang Yan could feel that with just a little force, the remaining skin on her hand would separate from her bones.
Even now, as careful as he was, the skin on the woman’s hand had already started to peel off in Jiang Yan's grasp, accompanied by yellow-green mucus and a worm.
"It’s okay, I can teach you," Jiang Yan said, forcing himself to hold back the urge to vomit, doing his best to ignore the abnormality of the skin in his hand, and began to lead the woman in dance.
Actually, Jiang Yan wasn’t very good at dancing either. His dancing was taught by that person, but when that person taught him, it wasn’t done properly.
"Yan Yan, why are your steps so unsteady? How about stepping on my foot while we dance?"
"Yan Yan, you dance so well! I’ll reward you with a kiss!"
"Dancing is not enough fun, how about we dance while undressing? How do you feel about that, Yan Yan?"
"Yan Yan, are you really going to reject me? But you dance like you just had your feet bound, stiff and flustered, like you’re about to fall at any moment."
"..."
And now, with his steps like someone who just had their feet bound, Jiang Yan not only had to lead a person who couldn’t dance at all, but also had to make sure he didn’t step on the organs the woman was dragging on the ground.
The woman’s swollen, green-haired liver barely brushed against Jiang Yan’s foot. He almost jumped in shock.
"Sorry, I should have kept it in place," the woman said, bending down to pick up the liver from the ground and stuffed it back into her stomach.