Npc 87

 "Cough... cough..."

Jiang Yan's limbs were wrapped in countless soft petals, rendering him completely unable to exert any strength. The intense floral fragrance nearly drowned him, choking him into a coughing fit.

He felt the soft petals enveloping him, the rich, sweet fragrance tinged with a hint of bitterness, and his mind raced to process his situation.

Petals? Was he... wrapped in a pile of flower petals?

"That's right! You’re really submerged in a sea of flowers!" The system's voice suddenly echoed in Jiang Yan's mind.

"Cough... I'm going to die!" Jiang Yan struggled painfully in the soft petals.

"Don’t worry, you won’t! This is just part of your character's storyline. Relax!" the system reassured.

The flower scent and the soft, suffocating sensation made Jiang Yan unable to hold back an expletive: "What the hell... cough! Cough cough... What kind of character setup is this?!"

"Wow! You’re actually starting to care about your character's setup! You’ve got career ambition now!" the system said, exaggerating its tone.

Jiang Yan’s brow twitched involuntarily.

This damn system was getting more and more obnoxious!

"Cough... stop talking nonsense!" Jiang Yan said flatly.

"This dungeon is called 'The Bloody Bride of the Giant Clan.' Since it's a bride, there must be a bride. Guess who the bride is?" the system asked.

Jiang Yan: "..."

"That's right! It’s you!" The system gloated.

Jiang Yan couldn’t catch his breath, gasping in disbelief. The more he inhaled the petals, the more they choked him, and tears welled up in his eyes from the discomfort.

"Cough cough cough... cough! Cough cough..."

Ding!

At that moment, his personal panel displayed the dungeon script and his character setup card:

[Real NPC: Jiang Yan, Dungeon Role: The Elf Prince About to Become the Giant Bride]

[Key Clue: School]

[Main Quest: Play the Bride Role and Complete the Main Dungeon Tasks]

Giant Bride? Elf Prince?! Wasn’t this a horror game? What was the main system playing at?!

The next moment, a strong sense of suffocation made it impossible for Jiang Yan to think any further.

"Cough... I... cough cough..."

He didn’t even have time to understand his character's backstory before he had to escape this sea of flowers—if he didn’t, he’d really suffocate!

"Cough... cough cough..."

The more he coughed, the more petals got stuck in his throat, making him cough harder and harder.

This was it... he was really going to...

—

The sun hung like a golden gem on the horizon, casting its golden glow across the depths of the Elf Forest, where towering trees, vibrant wildflowers, and glowing mushrooms adorned the land. In the center of the forest stood the great Elven Mother Tree, full of life-giving fruit. Beneath the tree, the once-clear elven pond had been drained and filled with petals.

Two small elves, with dragonfly-like wings, fluttered in the air, carrying flower baskets. They poured the petals into the pond, filling it with the sweet fragrance of roses, golden birdflowers, and myrtle.

Today was the day of the little elven prince's wedding, and many guests were expected to arrive at the Elven Forest to accompany the prince to the Giant Kingdom's palace, where the sacred wedding ceremony would take place.

"Add more petals! Our prince must leave the best impression on the guests and his future husband!" one elf exclaimed.

"Got it!" another responded.

The elves, busy with their work, fluttered about. At that moment, a golden pumpkin-shaped carriage, wrapped in green vines and adorned with fresh flowers, arrived at the entrance of the elven mansion, a mushroom-shaped gate.

"The guests have arrived!" A small elf with fluttering wings called out, announcing the arrival.

At the sound of the announcement, all the elves working around the grand Elven Mother Tree rushed to the entrance. The first to step out from the carriage were two soldiers wearing black top hats and bearing square heads, their faces marked with a "Red Heart" playing card insignia. They politely removed their hats and greeted the elves before opening the carriage door.

A blue-haired young man, dressed in an elegant black suit, was the first to jump out of the carriage.

The elves smiled and bent to greet him, and Tao Shi, with a smile, returned the bow. He looked at the colorful elves around him, feeling pleased.

"Great! Perfectly blending in," Tao Shi thought to himself, admiring the fact that, for this dungeon, his hair color was no longer out of place.

He was about to hurry off when he turned back toward the carriage, extending his hand and saying, "Teacher Jian, take your time."

A slender hand grasped his, and a young man with curly brown hair, resembling a teddy bear, hopped out of the carriage.

"Thank you!" Jian Hou said with a smile.

Yu Jia, stepping out of the carriage with silver hair, grumbled, "What bad luck, running into you two again."

"This is called fate!" the black-haired youth, whose body was wrapped in bandages and had an overly dramatic look, said, slinging his arm around Yu Jia’s shoulder.

The scene was set for a strange and lively day in the magical forest.

[It's here!!!]

[Finally caught up with Tao Shi’s dungeon live stream!!]

[Oh, a bunch of old acquaintances!]

[Looking at this lineup, Jiang Yan wouldn’t be here too, right??]

Seeing Yu Jia’s speechless expression, Cao Yufeng smiled with a hint of schadenfreude:

"We entered this dungeon randomly, didn’t expect to run into you again. What about you? Got a mission? What’s your [Puppet Workshop] mission this time?”

Yu Jia silently slapped Cao Yufeng’s hand off his shoulder and said,“Killing Jiang Yan is currently [Puppet Workshop]’s top priority. Until Jiang Yan dies, this mission won’t change.”

“What did Jiang Yan do to you guys?” Jian Hou turned around and asked, displeased.

Yu Jia didn’t answer his question but instead turned to Tao Shi beside him, saying meaningfully,“This game should get interesting later, right?”

Tao Shi’s eyes darkened, and his mind recalled the conversation with Black Spade K that day,

“You...”

“What... what is going on?! What kind of game is this?!”

Tao Shi looked over in response.

At this moment, in front of the carriage, aside from him, Jian Hou, Cao Yufeng, and Yu Jia, there were six other people—

A young man with rainbow dreadlocks and an outgoing demeanor

A girl with glasses, her face speckled with freckles, who kept her head lowered looking shy

A middle-aged man in a chef’s hat holding a whisk, looking clueless, probably a chef?

The remaining three were middle-aged men in their thirties or forties—

One with a buzz cut, one with a crew cut

And one with rectangular glasses—

All displaying expressions of confusion and the unique fatigue of office workers.

“This... what kind of place is this?!” The man with the crew cut asked, his voice trembling with fear and a slight sob.

He had been working overtime at the office! How did he end up in such a strange place?!

In his mind, a voice claiming to be his personal system was incessantly blabbering about things he couldn’t understand!

A real-life horror game? If they didn’t clear it, they would die??

A contract with a god?

What contract? When did he sign any contract??

Is this a punishment for insulting his boss while working overtime? He’ll never do it again!

The man with the buzz cut looked around at the rectangular-shaped playing card guards in front of him, the grass beneath his feet the same color as emerald, the various types of wings on the elves, the glowing mushrooms on the ground, and the enormous, cloud-topped Elven Mother Tree... He was completely stunned!

It wasn't just him; the others were just as confused.

Except for the boy with the rainbow braids.

"Jian's game?! Is this really Jian's game?!" The boy with the rainbow braids looked toward Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng.

"Game? What... What game is this? Where is this place? Dad’s going to be late for work!" A middle-aged man, with square-frame glasses and a weary expression, frantically said to his son.

However, his son ignored him completely, taking a couple of steps to approach Tao Shi and the others.

Perhaps thinking that Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng were close to his age and looking equally childish, he figured they’d have something in common.

Looking at Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng, the boy with the rainbow braids said excitedly, “I’ve been reading all sorts of urban legends about this game online, and never thought I’d get picked to play today! Did you two just get picked too? I’m from S City, how about you?”

However, neither Tao Shi nor Cao Youfeng responded with similar excitement. Instead, their faces darkened, looking ominously serious.

“You didn’t sign Jian’s contract, and today you were directly invited to join the game as a player?” Cao Youfeng asked incredulously.

“Yeah! What about it?” The boy with the rainbow braids asked, puzzled.

“What contract? What obsession?” The girl with glasses, standing timidly, asked.

[Huh?? What’s going on?]

[This is a joke, right? How could someone enter the game without signing the contract?]

[This isn’t an isolated case! I’ve encountered players like this in another instance before]

[Players directly pulled into the game by the main system?]

[Yes! Recently, it seems the main system skipped the contract phase and directly pulled in a batch of new players.]

[What’s going on with the system?!]

Cao Youfeng looked seriously at the six confused players in front of him. Clearly, they should have signed the contract. It looked like many of them didn’t even know the game existed!

Previously, in Jiang Yan’s file, there was no record of his obsession with entering the game. They thought it was just a coincidence, plus Jiang Yan’s unique position in the game, so they didn’t pay much attention to it at the time.

Later, Teacher Jian was inexplicably pulled in, and they thought it was an accident. Plus, since Teacher Jian was Jiang Yan’s only friend, it made sense that he might be a little special.

But...

Cao Youfeng’s expression darkened.

Recently, there were too many players who were pulled directly into the game without signing the contract.

They could barely find any pattern, as if... the main system had become a black hole, devoid of thought or order, blindly sucking in everyone who came close.

Hiss... This isn’t good!

“Want one?”

A slender hand silently extended a cigarette to Cao Youfeng.

Cao Youfeng raised his head at the sound.

He saw Yu Jia raising an eyebrow, “This time, I brought three packs, enough to last. Want one? There will be plenty of times to smoke later.”

Teacher Jian quickly swatted away Yu Jia’s hand holding the cigarette and pulled Cao Youfeng back, saying, “How old is he? Smoking is harmful to health! Don’t corrupt the kids.”

At that moment, the chef in the white hat stepped forward and, with a weary expression, asked Yu Jia, “Bro, can you spare one?”

Yu Jia handed over the cigarette. "Need a light?"

The chef replied, "Thank you."

Just as Yu Jia was about to pull out a lighter, a fairy with pink wings, dressed in a white gown, hurriedly flew forward to stop him. "No open flames in the Fairy Forest, sir!"

Yu Jia: "..."

Teacher Jian smirked, clearly enjoying the situation. "Looks like you're not getting to smoke a single one of those three packs!"

The pink-winged fairy smiled and explained, "No, sir. The wedding is being held in the Giant's Castle, and you may smoke there."

"A wedding? The Giant's Castle?" The glasses-wearing girl’s voice trembled.

"Yes! Today is the wedding of our little fairy prince and the king of the Giant Kingdom! You should have all received your invitations."

As the fairy with pink wings finished speaking, the voice of the main system echoed in the air—

[Welcome, players, to the instance—"The Bloody Bride of the Giant Tribe"]

[Instance Level: S, Instance Progress: 0%]

[Players: 10, Real NPCs: 3]

[System NPCs: Several]

[Main System Reminder: Please make sure to offer your sincerest blessings when attending the wedding! Wishing the couple a lifetime of happiness!]

"..."

A gentle breeze blew, and flower petals from the grass were swept through the air, brushing past each player's hair.

The players were silent.

After a long pause, Teacher Jian, looking confused, asked, "Is that it? What about the main quest?"

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