[29.99, 29.98, 29.97...]
"Chirp chirp chirp... hiss!"
The sky resembled a wrinkled piece of paper, with the main system’s countdown flickering on a penciled sun.
In the center of a whimsical yet grotesque childlike doodle of a town, enormous, decaying rats covered in maggot-like infant mice howled as they ferociously tore apart the corpse of a sinner sentenced by divine judgment.
Organs and blood were splattered everywhere, forming a red circle on the dreamy, milky-white tiles of the town square, like a deadly sun blooming on the ground.
Under the protection of Tao Shi's [Holy Light], the players struggled their way to the center of the rat swarm, standing before the severed arm of the Giant King.
"Search around! See if there are any pieces of the remains nearby."
Tao Shi brushed back his slightly disheveled blue bangs, gazing at the sun on the far horizon. His brows furrowed as he muttered, "We don’t have much time left."
[28.99, 28.97, 28.96...]
"Search... h-how do we search?"
The wide-eyed girl clung tightly to the cook's shirt, her voice trembling with fear.
It wasn’t just her—the other three remaining newbie players were all standing in the rat swarm, their faces equally filled with terror and confusion.
The foul stench of the decaying rats around them, combined with the bloody odor emanating from the buzzcut corpse nearby, made them feel nauseous. The sound of their teammate’s corpse being ripped apart and chewed echoed in their ears, sending chills down their spines and causing their bodies to tremble uncontrollably.
They forced themselves not to think about what could have happened—if the one judged guilty had been them...
No! It wouldn’t happen.
The newbie players held their breath, desperately trying to remain calm.
"We’ll have to rely on our eyes to search," said Cao Youfeng, crossing his arms and complaining, "I just tried scanning for energy waves from the remains using [Data Concealment Card], but the energy here is too chaotic and messy. Plus, the main system has severely weakened our tools. I couldn’t detect anything! Damn it, the main system needs to catch a virus already!"
"The remains… could they be mixed in with that buzzcut’s shattered pieces?" Yu Jia speculated as he started walking toward the buzzcut corpse nearby.
He squeezed himself between the hind legs of the giant rats, which looked like a dead forest, and peeked inside. With just one glance, he let out a startled, "Whoa! Holy crap!"
Hearing this, Tao Shi curiously followed over. "What’s going on? Such a small person, surrounded by so many big rats, and they still haven’t finished eating?"
When he got a clear view of the scene before him, Tao Shi also exclaimed, "Whoa! The main system is getting more and more creative."
Tao Shi moved, and the other players, who were seeking shelter under his [Holy Light], were forced to follow him.
The sight in front of them left the newbie players utterly dumbfounded.
Even the cook, who was used to seeing severed limbs and scattered entrails, spoke with a trembling voice:
"H-he... he... he..."
The wide-eyed girl clung tightly to the cook’s arm, refusing to open her eyes and face the bloody scene. However, the cook’s next words made her instinctively open them:
"H-he’s... still alive?"
The girl suddenly opened her eyes wide.
The sight before her made her breath almost stop for a moment. Behind her transparent lenses, her pupils, now widened in shock, seemed to tremble uncontrollably.
The next second, she let out a piercing, blood-curdling scream "Ahhhhhhhh!"
Her scream echoed throughout the small town.
Yet, the giant rats in front of them seemed entirely deaf to the noise, single-mindedly continuing their "execution" of the sinner before them.
The buzzcut man was lying on the ground, enduring this execution.
But… just like the cook said, he appeared to still be alive.
The buzzcut man had clearly been declared dead by the main system earlier. Even though, as an adult male, he was relatively strong by human standards, being repeatedly torn apart and devoured by giant rats nearly ten times the size of a human should have left him as nothing more than a few broken scraps of bone by now.
And yet...
Amid the blood flowing like rivers, the countless sticky bits of flesh and entrails, his body still lay there, intact.
The giant rats took turns stepping forward, rummaging through the torn-open abdominal cavity of the buzzcut man, tearing at his flesh, snapping his bones, stirring his brain matter, and severing the soft tubes and membranes connecting his organs with their sharp teeth. They greedily devoured their findings before making way for the next rat.
However, just as the rats stripped away his flesh, limbs, and organs, his body began to regenerate wildly.
Upon closer inspection, countless tiny pink baby rats, writhing like maggots, could be seen squirming beneath his veins and skin.
The baby rats scurried through his bloodstream, as if they had hatched from eggs incubated by his blood and corpse.
One by one, they crawled out of his body, secreting an unknown sticky substance that wove together his new flesh.
The body, torn apart and divided among the giant rats, simultaneously regenerated into a new form, producing more maggot-like baby rats within him—an apparent parasitic cycle.
And the buzzcut man lying on the ground… was still breathing.
Yes, breathing.
His head had been split cleanly in half, cracked open down the middle.
His upper teeth and gums had been completely flipped out of his jawbone.
The lower teeth, along with the split head, had also been cleaved in half and were stained a bloody crimson by the ceaseless flow of blood.
Because his exposed windpipe was fully revealed to the air, its rhythmic contractions—indicative of breathing—were clearly visible.
Even the completely bisected head moved faintly with his breaths, slowly opening and closing.
"Ahhh—!!"
The girl’s screams rang out incessantly, while the father of the boy with colorful braids leaned on his son’s shoulder, retching uncontrollably.
"D-don’t look..."
The middle-aged man, still vomiting, reached out to cover his son’s eyes, but the boy with colorful braids slapped his hand away.
Clenching his jaw and staring at the grotesque scene in front of him with bloodshot eyes, the boy muttered:
"I want to see."
He understood that scenes like this would happen countless more times in this cursed game, and neither he nor his father had any idea when they would finally escape from it!
With that thought, he glanced at Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng, who stood nearby with calm, even intrigued expressions on their faces.
Despite being around the same age as him, these two looked and acted like protagonists straight out of a Japanese anime, from their appearances to their demeanor in the game.
The boy with colorful braids clenched his fists tightly, his jaw grinding in frustration.
Why?
Why did his life always seem to be filled with people like this, those who resembled protagonists, while he was made to feel like nothing more than a disposable side character?
In an instant, a pale, dirt-streaked face surfaced in his mind.
His breath hitched, and a crazed gleam flickered in his bloodshot eyes.
No... he would surpass them!
He would!
Just like before… just like before...
In his mind, the face slowly opened its eyes.
Dark eyes, clear like a still lake. The boy wiped the dirt from his face and revealed that damned, radiant smile…
The braided boy’s breath hitched again, blood-red veins spreading through his wide eyes.
Make them disappear!
Just like before—make them all disappear!!
At the same time, Jiang Yan inexplicably appeared in his mind next to the boy. Those indifferent eyes, as pure and brilliant as the finest blue sapphire, were filled with admiration as they gazed at him.
The hand wrapped in white medical bandages, its five fingers bitten off by a monster, began to ache faintly. But the braided boy’s expression only grew more deranged.
Yes... yes!
He would make anyone standing in his way disappear!
Anything—or anyone—he desired, he would obtain.
He would!
The braided boy’s blood-red pupils constricted sharply. His breathing grew increasingly erratic, and the veins on his neck and forehead bulged violently.
However, none of the other players present, not even his father, noticed this shift in him. They assumed he was merely terrified by the grotesque and horrifying scene before them.
Only Yu Jia seemed to glance casually in the braided boy’s direction. His index and middle fingers lightly pinched together, mimicking the habitual motion he made whenever he craved a cigarette.
No one paid any attention.
"Quite worth digging through, wouldn’t you say?" Yu Jia said with a nonchalant chuckle. "Among this pile of rotting flesh, perhaps the remains of that king can be found."
There it stood—a muscular arm with lines and structure so perfect it resembled a divine sculpture. The severed arm of the giant king rested upright amidst the carnage, its clean-cut edge reaching toward the sky with a regal air unique to monarchs.
"Dig? How?"
The girl with glasses, having finally stopped screaming, still trembled uncontrollably. "H-he's still moving… Is he… is he still alive?"
"He's already dead."
Cao Youfeng tugged at the white bandages wrapped around his neck and replied, "What you see here is nothing more than one of the main system's pranks. Tch, such a nasty sense of humor."
"So... so you're saying we have to approach his corpse and search inside his body like those rats?" the girl asked timidly.
Cao Youfeng flashed her a reassuring smile. "No need to be scared! The giant rats won’t attack people anymore, and he won’t bite either. It’s just… gross, that’s all!"
Hearing this, the girl exhaled deeply, her body visibly relaxing.
It seemed she was gradually recovering from the shock of seeing her companion's reanimated corpse and the gory, nauseating scene before her. Though her gaze remained wary, she handled it far better than the braided boy, who was red-eyed and vein-covered, or the middle-aged man vomiting as he supported his son. Even the chef stood frozen, his eyes vacant with fear.
Compared to them, the girl was doing quite well.
Seeing this, a hint of appreciation flickered in Cao Youfeng’s eyes.
This girl, despite looking delicate and quiet, and even instinctively screaming when faced with incomprehensible situations, adapted surprisingly quickly to the chaos around her!
She was handling it far better than the three men beside her.
For a newbie, her performance was already outstanding.
Not bad at all!
If she continued to develop in the game and became an experienced player, she could genuinely be a great addition to their guild.
Thinking this, Cao Youfeng stepped forward, patted her on the shoulder, and comforted her, "Don’t worry, just stick with us."
The girl with glasses was momentarily stunned before nodding. "O-okay."
"By the way, what’s your name again?" Cao Youfeng asked.
"Geng… Geng Hui," the girl replied.
"Geng Hui?" Cao Youfeng repeated her name, patting her shoulder again. He smiled reassuringly, "You’ve already done an amazing job!"
Under the sunlight, with his body wrapped in pristine white bandages, his black hair and dark eyes, and facial features so perfectly crafted it seemed like they had been meticulously painted stroke by stroke, he looked just like the protagonist of a youthful romance manga.
Geng Hui blinked, her head lowering slightly as her cheeks turned a soft pink. "Th-thank you."
Cao Youfeng didn’t notice her reaction at all. Carefree as ever, he spread his arms wide and turned to the group.
"Alright, everyone! Start searching carefully! We don’t have much time!"
【24.87, 24.86, 24.85…】
Jian Hou tightly gripped the rose Jiang Yan had left him in his pocket, his heart racing with worry as he silently called out:
"Jiang Yan! Yan Yan, how are you? Say something to me!"
"Yan Yan! Can you hear me? Yan Yan!!"
"Jiang Yan! Damn it! Don’t scare me like this!"
"..."
Finally, golden light spread along the veins of the rose petals and reached Jian Hou’s fingertips. At the same time, the silver threads wrapped around his wrist, a mark of the contract he had made with Jiang Yan, began to glow brightly.
“Jian Hou!”
Jiang Yan’s voice echoed in his ears.
Jian Hou froze in surprise. The sensation was surreal. He immediately asked, “Yan Yan! Are you alright? What’s your situation now?!”
“I’m… I’m fine.”
Jiang Yan’s voice sounded hurried, even more breathless than when he had been chased around the mirror by the giant rats earlier.
“I-I’m fine... but I can’t get out for now. Stick with those kids and hurry to find the corpse pieces... Time’s running out... Ah! Damn it...”
Jian Hou was completely baffled. “What’s happening on your side?”
Jiang Yan, panting, replied, “Nothing! Just a little problem. Don’t worry about me.”
How could Jian Hou not worry?!
He clenched his teeth so hard it felt like they might crack.
Despite being an only child from a privileged family, raised with care and never having faced hardship or loss, Jiang Yan wasn’t the kind of person who broke under pressure.
Yes, he could be delicate—extremely delicate at times. But when it truly mattered, he was tougher than anyone else.
He’d been like that ever since they were kids.
Jian Hou vividly remembered the summer vacation during their second year of elementary school when both of them were sent to Jiang Yan’s grandmother’s rural home.
One day, Jiang Yan went out alone and somehow provoked the stray dogs near the village entrance. A dog bit him hard on the calf.
Normally, someone who would take a day off school for just a scrape, Jiang Yan, fearing that his ill grandmother might worry, casually grabbed some ashes from the roadside, pressed them against the wound to stop the bleeding, and decided that was the end of it.
And this was a seven-year-old kid.
He came home acting like nothing had happened, not even flinching.
If it hadn’t been for Jiang Yan’s mother visiting that day and noticing that her son looked unusually pale, the injury might have gone unnoticed.
When Jiang Yan’s mother asked him about it, he simply shrugged it off, saying it was nothing.
But when she lifted his pant leg…
The sight of his bloodied, festering wound made her scream on the spot.
She immediately took him to the hospital for stitches and a rabies shot. Jiang Yan’s mother cried so much during the process, and Jian Hou was so scared that he sobbed uncontrollably.
But Jiang Yan?
Jiang Yan acted like none of it was happening. His expression remained calm as the doctor treated his wound, and he even managed to console both his mother and Jian Hou.
There was another time.
After dinner, the two of them were playing with those dragon skateboards that were all the rage back then in the park.
When going downhill, Jiang Yan accidentally fell hard onto the ground.
Jian Hou hurried over to check on him and asked, "Are you alright?" Jiang Yan said it was nothing.
The streetlights on that stretch of the road were broken, and Jiang Yan didn’t cry, didn’t fuss, not even the sound of a sniffle. So Jian Hou didn’t think too much of it.
However, on their way home, Jiang Yan kept wiping his chin with his sleeve.
At first, Jian Hou thought he was just trying to clean off some dirt from the fall and didn’t pay it any mind.
But when they walked into a well-lit area, Jian Hou saw Jiang Yan’s face and hands covered in blood, with his sleeves soaked red. He was so terrified that he burst into loud sobs.
Jiang Yan, on the other hand, turned around and reassured him, “Don’t be scared! It’s just a cut on my chin. I didn’t want to tell you because I was worried you’d get scared.”
“Don’t be afraid! Don’t cry!”
It was just a cut, after all.
Later, Jian Hou and Jiang Yan’s parents took him to the hospital, where that just a cut took six stitches to close.
And things like this? They happened more than once or twice.
Jiang Yan would always say that he’d never experienced any real hardship or setbacks in his life. That he’d lived a carefree life all the way to 25 and was extremely lucky.
He said it so often that even Jian Hou started to believe it.
But the truth was, while Jiang Yan might not have faced any major events, he’d had his share of scrapes, little accidents, or even being disliked and ostracized by small groups of classmates.
The difference was that Jiang Yan never cared about any of it.
Because he didn’t care, it was like it never happened.
And after enough time had passed, it really felt as though it hadn’t happened at all.
During college and the years after graduating, since he was now an adult, he didn’t run into things like bumps and scrapes as often.
Plus, after meeting Yu Xiu, who looked after him so well, Jiang Yan started living like a spoiled housecat.
It got to the point where Jian Hou almost forgot how much this guy could endure.
But now, hearing Jiang Yan say “I’m fine,” Jian Hou’s hair was practically standing on end.
Whenever Jiang Yan had been hurt in the past, his “I’m fine” came with a calm face, steady breath, and not the slightest bit of tension.
Now, though, his voice was unsteady. How could that possibly mean he was fine?!
Jian Hou anxiously asked, “Don’t lie to me! Where did those rats drag you off to? Are you hurt? How am I supposed to save you?!”
“I-I’m really fine…”
“Jiang Yan!”
"I... I was just... in a rat hole..."
"A rat hole?? Those rats dragged you into a rat hole? Are you hurt?"
"No... no... It was Yu Xiu! That bastard! Damn..."
Jiang Yan's tone began to grow sharp, his frustration clearly boiling over.
Jian Hou paused. "Yu Xiu??"
"Yeah... Yu Xiu, those white rats... So, don’t worry."
"Those white rats are Yu Xiu??" Jian Hou raised an eyebrow. "What’s going on? Isn’t Yu Xiu supposed to be... the Giant King in the game? How did he turn into a rat? What are you two even doing??"
"It’s not ... that bastard doesn’t know what he’s doing!!"
Jiang Yan’s tone cracked, desperation seeping through.
"Old Jian! If you want to save me, hurry up and find the other corpse pieces! That’s the only way to get me out of here... that bastard... Old Jian! Help me... it’s up to you now!!"
"..."
The golden light of the rose faded, and the communication cut off.
Jian Hou was left in confusion.
Those rats were Yu Xiu??
What in the world were those two doing??
"Teacher Jian!" Tao Shi’s voice sounded beside him. "Don’t space out, let’s go over and take a look."
"Right."
Although Jian Hou still didn’t fully understand Jiang Yan’s current situation, he sighed in relief.
If it was Yu Xiu involved, then Jiang Yan definitely wasn’t in any real danger... right??
—
To improve readability and make the translation more structured, I’ve added space and formatted the text for better flow:
---
The town square paved with white jade tiles underground.
The beautiful black-haired, blue-eyed elf prince is tightly bound by ten beautiful black-haired, green-eyed youths, their heads adorned with fluffy white mouse ears, in a soft mouse nest made of thousands of grasses, white goose down, and rose petals.
He struggles, trying to flap his golden wings behind him, but he keeps struggling. Golden phosphor powder shakes all over the cave.
"Go, go away!"
Jiang Yan struggles desperately, trying to escape from the ten pairs of arms that bind him.
However, with Jiang Yan's physical strength, the possibility of escaping from one of the youths' grasp is zero. Let alone facing a whole group.
Therefore, he can only helplessly flap his wings, letting the starry golden phosphor powder and rose petals stick to his sweaty body, looking dreamy and sacred.
At this moment, surrounding him, binding his hands and feet, pinching his waist, are a group of handsome youths who look like gods, like a group of priests.
They seem to be conducting an ancient, mysterious, and enchanting ritual.
"You... let go of me!!" Jiang Yan breathes heavily, struggling.
This is, of course futile.
The people pulling his limbs and patting his waist remain motionless.
The tentacles beneath the black robes seem unusually excited, and now they are circling around the root of Jiang Yan's thighs, leaving moist, sticky slime with their suckers.
One pair of hands reaches into Jiang Yan's long robe.
"No, no way! Absolutely not!"
Jiang Yan is startled and struggles even more fiercely.
One is already too much for him to bear!
Ten?!
He will die! He will definitely die!
Jiang Yan instinctively flaps his wings wildly, and the white goose down and rose petals begin to fly around, his body slowly breaking free from the pile of sweet grass.
However the next second, a kiss fell on the root of his wings, and both wings immediately surrendered.
Jiang Yan once again fell into that familiar embrace, perhaps two, three, or maybe more.
He could no longer distinguish.
"Yan Yan, be good."
By his ear, was Yu Xiu's soft laugh.
He didn’t know who touched what part, causing Jiang Yan to unintentionally moan, his eyes following with redness.
"663! What exactly are you doing?!"Jiang Yan gritted his teeth and loudly questioned the personal system in his mind, which was playing dead.
663 replied "Huh? Host, are you calling me? Is there something wrong?"
Jiang Yan "Are you blind, can’t you see?!"
Normally, he wouldn’t have a large emotional reaction, but with today’s events, he was a little embarrassed and angry!
What is going on here?!
663 laughed awkwardly.
"Sorry, host! I just turned off the projection screen because generally speaking, what happens next is something that shouldn't be viewed, I am respecting your privacy! Hahaha!"
Jiang Yan: "..."
"Alright host, you have... Oh no!! I won't look, won’t look!!" 663 was startled and panicked.
Jiang Yan: "... I want to file a complaint."
663 immediately responded normally.
"Host, what service do you need right now? Your personal system 663 is here to serve you."
Jiang Yan gritted his teeth "Does the main system have no other system NPC data?!"
663’s lazy voice sounded in his ear.
"This is the main system's favoritism and consideration for you, isn't it? Letting your ex-husband, someone you've had intimate relations with appear as a system NPC who needs to have close contact with you, which is easier to accept than a stranger, isn't it?"
"So what’s the damn plot’s purpose?!" Jiang Yan asked.
He had just been groping around here for a long time, but didn’t find anything related to the plot in this hole.
The appearance of this group of Yu Xiu had absolutely no significance!
The only meaning seemed to be... taking advantage of him!
“Hmm... get away! Don’t bite!”
Jiang Yan tried to kick into the air with his foot, but in the end, what came was yet another warm kiss on his ankle.
“Bastard...”
663 said: “The plot of the main system naturally has its own reasoning. As a real NPC, host you only need to try your best to act out the character that the main system has given you.”
"Fine!"
663 disappeared again.
Jiang Yan could no longer speak.
Fortunately, his brain was still barely able to think.
For example, the Yu Xiu in front of him...
Jiang Yan looked at the pairs of emerald-green eyes belonging to Yu Xiu in front of him. They looked at him with a doting smile, just like every time before.
He was absolutely sure that every pair of eyes in front of him was indeed from his former husband.
Why?
This utterly meaningless plot, if it were to increase the attractiveness of the instance, would be like the erotic scenes often appearing in horror films from the last century, designed to catch the audience’s eye, stimulating their senses with both lust and fear.
This doesn’t make sense at all!
Because he often encounters such plots, he had once asked 663 about this.
663 answered him that such plots were usually necessary elements in the instance script. The main system would protect the privacy of real NPCs, applying a darkened filter and cutting off the live broadcast of the real NPC at that moment.
If that’s the case, the intimacy he shared with Yu Xiu, the king of the giant kingdom, in the room last night was for the sake of the character setting and the integrity of the plot.
And now, he was trapped in this hole.
This hole, which had nothing to do with the plot, no audience, no players, directly faced this group of rats that had absolutely no relation to the instance, the elven prince... This plot was completely meaningless!
Unless...
Unless the scriptwriter was that bastard Yu Xiu!
“Don’t... don’t bite!”
Jiang Yan sucked in a sharp breath, a drop of physiological tear slid down from the corner of his eye.
That’s right... this guy...
This guy's identity and freedom in the instance... were really a bit too high!
At this moment, a ridiculous possibility flashed through Jiang Yan’s mind, but it quickly vanished.
The next second, his attention was completely drawn to the sensations in his body, and he could no longer think about anything else.
Sunlight poured in through the cracks sealing the hole, rose petals, white goose feathers, and golden phosphorescent dust like tiny stars floated in mid-air, with the faint sound of rubbing on the grass mound, as if a rat was scurrying inside...
---
Unlike the tranquility and ease inside the cave, outside the hole, the countdown on the sun in the sky reminded every player and NPC that they were getting closer and closer to death.
【20.68, 20.67, 20.66...】
In the blood-red giant rat swarm, the players turned over the still-breathing bodies of the giant rats, inside and out, under the sharp beaks and claws of the giant rats, but they couldn’t find any trace of the Giant King’s corpse.
When they were about to grab the Giant King's severed arm lying on the ground, planning to look for another place, they found they couldn’t even budge it?!
“What’s going on?”
Cao Youfeng, panting, loosened the white bandage wrapped around the severed arm of the Giant King.
The medical bandage wouldn’t move at all?
How could that be?
The chef rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward: “Let me try! Could this thing possibly weigh as much as half a pig?”
He wrapped both hands around the severed arm and pulled hard, as if pulling up a radish!
However, even though his face turned red and he used all his strength, the severed arm still didn’t budge.
Finally, the chef, out of breath, let go. Looking at the severed arm in front of him, he asked suspiciously:
“How could this be? This is absolutely impossible! That kid just now, Jiang Yan, with his thin arms and legs, carried it all the way! How could...”
The shy-eyed girl behind the crowd timidly said "Could it... could it be that only Jiang Yan can carry it?”
“What do you mean?” the chef asked, confused.
At once, everyone’s gaze shifted to the girl.
The girl suddenly became nervous, gripping her skirt and speaking carefully.
“It’s just... just like how every fairy tale goes...”
“Princesses or elves, after falling into a deep sleep, can only be awakened by a prince’s kiss. Jiang Yan... he’s the prince, isn’t he? Although this one is a king, but... I’m just making an analogy...”
“Although this world looks terrifying, it’s still essentially a fairy tale, isn’t it?”
The holy light enveloped their heads. From the players' perspective, the sky and the small town’s buildings, like a picture book doodle, were shrouded in a dreamy, hazy color.
Ignoring the still-breathing bodies of the NPCs not far from them, and the giant rats, whose back legs moved like dry tree branches, scurrying around them and emitting terrifying shrill cries, along with the tiny mice that kept falling off them like bugs, this truly seemed like a fairy tale world.
The chef stared in disbelief: “Are you saying we have to kiss this thing?”
“That’s probably not what it means,” Tao Shi interrupted the middle-aged man’s bizarre train of thought. “What it means is that only Jiang Yan can carry it.”
“Or rather, it only accepts Jiang Yan to move its body.”
The girl pushed up her glasses and nodded.
“Indeed! At the critical moment, a girl’s insight is always sharper than us old guys!” Cao Youfeng smiled brightly at the girl.
The girl’s breath faltered, and a flush of pink appeared on her cheeks.
At this moment, the person standing beside the girl with colorful braids chuckled and mocked “Geng Hui! Not bad! Why don’t you come lead us? Just like in school?”
Upon hearing this, the girl froze and quickly lowered her head, returning to her shy demeanor.
Cao Youfeng looked at the one with colorful braids: “Do you two know each other from the real world?”
The one with colorful braids crossed her arms and mocked: “Of course! Top student! A Model student! Who wouldn’t know her!”
The girl’s head buried even lower.
Cao Youfeng suddenly understood!
So these two were classmates in real life??
He wanted to ask why Geng Hui and the one with colorful braids hadn’t shown signs of knowing each other when they first entered the game.
On the contrary, since the instance began, this girl had always been close to the crew-cut and the chef.
But in the end, he didn’t ask.
After all, it was obvious that their relationship wasn’t very good.
However, this girl seemed to have a good relationship with the chef and the crew-cut!
Did they know each other in the real world??
Cao Youfeng didn’t think too much about it.
After all, this one with colorful braids clearly didn’t seem like a good student. According to him, if this girl was really a model student, then their relationship probably wasn’t that great.
Thinking this, Cao Youfeng couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for the girl in front of him.
She seemed like the type who quietly studied hard in school, with a rather self-deprecating personality, obediently listening to teachers and parents, a quiet and well-behaved child.
Unexpectedly, she had somehow gotten caught up in this kind of game.
The main system really wasn’t considerate!
Sigh!
With this thought, Cao Youfeng patted the girl’s shoulder and comforted her:
“You’re great! Don’t be afraid! Stay with us, we’ll get you out.”
The girl lowered her head and nodded.
Her bangs and the hair on both sides of her face covered her face completely, making it impossible to read her expression.
“Then what should we do now? Jiang Yan isn’t here, should we go find him?” Jian Hou asked.
Lu Sha crossed his arms, tilted his head slightly, and mocked "Hah! Everything’s left for Jiang Yan, even the trouble and the experience! The main system’s favoritism is really blatant!”
[Right! Now Jiang Yan’s perspective is still blacked out, and he has no idea what’s going on.]
[He’s just hanging out with the system NPCs made from his ex-husband’s data! But honestly, this plot point seems completely unnecessary!]
[There’s no plot, no progress, it feels like the main system gave Jiang Yan a backdoor to avoid the final rush of the instance.]
[The favoritism is too much!]
[Favoritism? Putting Jiang Yan with a bunch of rats, that’s favoritism?!]
[What rats! These NPCs look exactly like Jiang Yan’s real-world husband. By the way, how come it’s him again!]
[Again? How come it’s him?? This Giant Kingdom King in the instance is also him! Is the main system so obsessed with this face?]
[It’s indeed a good-looking face, maybe it’s because it’s too popular so they reuse it more often??”]
[Nonsense!!! I’ve been through so many instances, and I’ve never encountered this face before!]
[I know! I’ve realized it! He only appears in the instances that Jiang Yan is in!]
[What is going on?! This NPC is really strange!]
[Somehow so good-looking, somehow so powerful]
[.. Is he a system NPC, not a real NPC?! Even if he’s strong, that’s just the data value given by the main system, right??]
[So why does the main system always send this system NPC who looks exactly like Jiang Yan’s ex-husband into the instances where Jiang Yan is?]
[Actually, why does the main system always make the system NPCs in Jiang Yan’s instances have intimate contact with him, while looking exactly like his ex-husband??]
[...]
[Huh??? No..... if you say it like that…]
[...this... this is really strange.]
[But... what’s the reason? Do you all know? Why Jiang Yan?]
[No matter what it is! This is unfair! If this keeps going on, I’m really going to protest!]
[Right! Protest!]
[...]
On the game forum, players were passionately discussing things, but the players in the instance had no time to worry about other matters.
Tao Shi raised his hand to get everyone’s attention:
“We don’t have time! Let’s split into groups! One group stays here to guard this arm, one group will go back to find Jiang Yan, and one group will search the town for the body parts!”
“Alright!”
Everyone replied in unison.
Only Lu Sha let out an unconvinced laugh.
Yu Jia glanced at him nonchalantly, then rubbed his thumb and index finger together near the seam of his pants, a habitual gesture when his smoking cravings hit.
“Ding!”
[Item: Puppet Strings]
---
[15.54, 15.53, 15.52…]
Above the sun, time passed second by second.
The players were nervously carrying out their tasks.
Each veteran player had one or two new players with them.
Geng Hui was very lucky to be assigned to the same group as Cao Youfeng, to go back and search for Jiang Yan.
She shyly looked at Cao Youfeng, who was surrounded by blue light and swirling white bandages from using the [Number Concealment Card] item. Her cheeks were flushed.
If... if they met at school...
“Geng, Geng Hui...”
A mournful call mixed with the shrill cries of the giant rats came from behind her.
The girl froze.
What was that? Was it an illusion?
“Please... please…”
Another call.
The girl looked at Cao Youfeng ahead, then glanced at the chef beside her.
They... seemed not to have heard it?
Could it be that only she could hear it?
The girl instantly became tense!
The thoughts swirling in her mind quickly vanished, and she silently tightened her grip on the chef’s arm.
The chef thought she was scared or disgusted by the baby rats constantly falling and the slimy goo, so he didn’t pay much attention.
“Ah... please... don’t eat my brain…”
“Huh...?”
The girl’s breathing became rapid, and she trembled as she asked the chef beside her:
“Did... did you hear it?”
The chef was confused “Hear what? The rats squealing?”
“Zii zii zii…”
“Please... please save me, okay? Please... give me back my liver...”
The girl nervously said: “No... listen carefully.”
The chef raised his eyebrows, confused.
However, all around them, there were only the footsteps of the giant rats shaking the earth, the terrifying howls, and the creepy squeaks of the baby rats. Besides that, he couldn’t hear anything else.
If there was anything else, it was probably just the countdown on the sun, continuously ticking down.
Although that thing had no sound, watching it felt like the ticking of a time bomb, a constant “beep beep” ringing in his ears.
In fact, that thing was less of a “time bomb” and more of a “time child bomb.”
The personal system in his mind kept warning and urging him. If he didn’t find the body parts soon, when the time on the sun hit zero, his fate wouldn’t be any better than the one lying in the pile of giant rats.
Therefore, at this moment, facing the girl’s troubles, he only felt annoyed.
The chef furrowed his brow: “It’s just the rats! What else could there be besides the rats’ squealing?”
“Geng Hui... save me... Geng Hui…”
The voice seemed even closer than before.
The girl’s hairs stood on end, her scalp tingling. Her voice was completely off-pitch now, and she stammered: “No! There... there is a sound! You... you listen carefully…”
The chef, impatient, said: “What sound? Who cares about some sound? We need to find the stuff first!”
Saying this, he tried to quicken his pace.
However, the girl beside him gripped his arm tightly, not letting go.
The chef, finally losing his patience, shook off her arm and turned to yell at her: “What’s wrong with you?!”
But the moment he turned around, he froze. His expression instantly turned terrified.
He hurriedly took two steps back, and ended up stepping on a baby rat that had fallen from the giant rat’s body, its whole body covered in pus. He slipped, and his strong, bear-like body made a loud “thud” as it fell to the ground.
“Th… th… th…”
Walking ahead, Cao Youfeng noticed the movement behind him. He turned around and asked, “What’s wrong?”
As soon as he turned, his eyes widened in shock.
What should have been the body of the boy “Ma Bin” lying in the pile of giant rats was now tightly clutching the girl, Geng Hui’s leg.
Behind him was a long S-shaped trail of mucus and blood. He had crawled over, like a snake.
His head, split down the middle, expanded and contracted with his breath, exposing brain matter, teeth, and throat tubes to the air. Thick, sticky blood plasma and brain matter were stuck to the girl’s skirt—yellow, white, red...
His arms hung broken and tattered, dangling from white bones.
His lower body and upper body were almost separated, only loosely connected by a small piece of white bone. His entire abdominal cavity was nearly empty, with some shattered internal organs hanging by tendons and ligaments, swaying back and forth.
He tilted his head, and the shattered skull and vocal cords emitted a buzzing sound: “Geng Hui... save me... save me…”
The girl’s eyes were wide with shock, her pupils bloodshot and her face full of fear. She dared not look down but stared straight ahead, her voice trembling as she begged Cao Youfeng: “There’s... something holding onto my leg... please... help me.”
“Ding!”
[Item: Number Concealment Card]
The blue light around Cao Youfeng’s body spread out like ripples, and the interface of the [Number Concealment Card] popped out the data of the crew-cut man who had already turned into a system NPC.
Looking at the data in front of her rising all the way, directly surpassing that of the giant rats, Cao Youfeng widened his eyes in disbelief.
“S… save me… please…”
The girl’s voice began to carry a sobbing tone as she felt the person holding onto her lower body climbing bit by bit onto her upper body…
Cao Youfeng’s expression immediately turned serious, and he quickly warned Geng Hui.
“Don’t move! Don’t move! Stand where you are!Absolutely don’t move!”
Sometimes, curiosity is a human instinct.
Despite what Cao Youfeng said, Geng Hui couldn’t hold back and instinctively glanced downwards.
The crew-cut man with his head split open exposed all the organs in his cranial cavity, staring at her with his mouth opening and closing.
“Geng Hui… save me…”
However, in the next second.
The crew-cut man in front of her, whose head had been split in two.
His plain face suddenly transformed into the delicate and refined face of a black-haired youth!
Blood flowed from his exquisitely beautiful face, mixed with pus and dirt, while one of his eyeballs dangled from his face, hanging there. His empty eye socket stared fixedly at Geng Hui:
“Geng Hui… save me… you… saw it!”
Geng Hui’s pupils shrank as she let out a heart-wrenching scream.
“Ahhh!!!”
Her scream echoed throughout the entire small town.
Players in other locations heard the commotion and looked over.
But the small town was too vast, and it was packed with giant rats taller than buildings. They couldn’t see anything except for the rippling blue light emitted by Cao Youfeng’s [Number Concealment Card], and the white [Medical Bandages] fluttering through the air.
[Inside an abandoned building in the small town]
Amid the brightly colored furniture that resembled abstract graffiti, Jian Hou was rummaging through the corpse fragments when he heard a commotion.
He turned to Tao Shi nervously and asked,
“Wh-what happened? Is Xiao Cao in trouble?”
Tao Shi glanced out the window at the fluttering [Medical Bandages] and reassured Jian Hou.
“Don’t worry, teacher! Xiao Feng can handle it. Let’s focus on finding the corpse fragments first.
The giant rat swarm hasn’t changed much, which means there’s no riot.
"As long as it’s not an S-grade swarm riot, even with the weakening buff of the dungeon, Xiao Feng should have no problem.”
However, just as he finished speaking, Cao Youfeng’s voice was carried over by the rippling blue light of the [Number Concealment Card].
“Boss!! No! I can’t control it!!”
Tao Shi and Jian Hou were both startled.
Before long, Cao Youfeng’s voice came through again.
“Boss!! Hurry!! I need backup!!”
As soon as the words were spoken, a blue pillar of light shot straight into the sky from mid-air, marking Cao Youfeng’s current location.
At that moment, Yu Jia and the father-son duo with the colorful braids had just entered the building.
Hearing this, Yu Jia crossed his arms and whistled at Tao Shi "Backup, huh?”
Tao Shi glanced at the setting sun in the distance.
[15.99, 15.98, 15.97…]
“Damn it!!”
Tao Shi gritted his teeth and turned to Jian Hou saying “Teacher Jian! Stay here with Yu Jia and the others and continue the search! I’m going to support Xiao Feng!”
But just as he finished speaking, Cao Youfeng’s voice came through again, sounding urgent.
“No! Boss!! Old Yu! Old Lu!! Come together!!”
Hearing this, Yu Jia and Tao Shi were both stunned.
“What… what’s the situation?”
Tao Shi glanced at the countdown displayed on the sun in the sky, then looked toward the blue light at the center of the giant rat swarm and yelled.
“Come the hell back!! Don’t you know to run with the group? Do you even know what time it is? And you’re still trying to fight?!”
The rippling blue light of the [Number Concealment Card] carried his voice to Cao Youfeng’s ears.
In the next second, Cao Youfeng’s voice came through again.
“No! Boss!! The corpse fragments might be here!!”
Hearing this, both Tao Shi and Yu Jia froze for a moment.
Lu Sha’s voice immediately followed “Got it!! I’m heading your way now! But what the hell did you encounter?! This is way over the top damn!!”
Tao Shi and Yu Jia exchanged glances.
Tao Shi said, “Let’s go!”
The group quickly left the building and sprinted toward the direction of the blue pillar of light.
On the way, the golden veins on the attack rose in Jian Hou’s pocket lit up again, and Jiang Yan’s voice came through to Jian Hou’s ears.
“Old Jian! Where are you guys now?”
Jian Hou was pleasantly surprised and said,“Yan Yan! You’re alive?? We were originally at the graveyard but something seems to have happened with Xiao Cao and we’re rushing over there. Xiao Cao said the corpse fragments might be there too! What about you? Are you safe?”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. I just took a nap,” Jiang Yan replied.
Jian Hou frowned slightly.
This guy... did he just pass out and now claim he was only napping?
At this moment, in a dreamy fairy-tale-like mouse hole Jiang Yan slowly sat up from a haystack covered in roses and white goose feathers. He leisurely adjusted his disheveled black robe to cover the marks left on his body.
He had just been awakened by the [Divine Persona System] in his mind and discovered that only Yu Xiu was left beside him. He was currently behind him, holding his waist and soundly asleep. The others were nowhere to be found.
After tidying up his robes, Jiang Yan’s glass-like blue eyes shimmered with light that resembled system data streams.
At this moment, he was staring at the [Divine Persona System] in front of him, focusing on the four words displayed: [Believer’s Plea for Help].
The golden silk thread on his wrist as fine as spider silk was connected to the boy's soul, flickering continuously. The thread flickered on and off faintly.
Below the [Divine Persona System], a bright red interface displayed:
[Rescue the Believer?]
[(Yes) & (No)]
PS: By rescuing the believer, the host will gain higher faith points!
Jiang Yan stared blankly at the system before him, his expression unchanging. He silently pressed [Yes].
In the next second, the system interface displayed a new prompt:
[Select the Believer to Bless.]
[If there are too many believers, you can search for them by name or characteristics in the search bar.]
At the other end of the golden thread, in the small town, the outlines of the players’ golden souls appeared. Among them, only Yu Jia and Lu Sha, who was also a real NPC stood there silently.
Bless?
Jiang Yan tilted his head slightly, his face devoid of expression.
At this moment, his live stream had restored the viewpoint, and players’ comments were flooding into the forum:
[So! What just happened??]
[I don’t know... Jiang Yan looks like he just woke up.]
[There don’t seem to be any signs of a fight, and no plot progression either.]
[So, the players outside are running around, dodging slime and baby rats in the giant rat swarm, and Jiang Yan is just sleeping here?]
[Huh?? So what’s the point of this plot?!]
[The point is... to let Jiang Yan rest??]
[So what’s going on now? The players outside are about to fight the BOSS, and Jiang Yan’s just hiding here, sleeping?? Is he waiting for them to finish before he comes out??]
[Damn!! This is a black curtain!!]
[Unfair!! Even if you’re opening back doors, this isn’t how it’s done! Jiang Yan was the one who got the benefits from the divine descent earlier! Now the BOSS fight is coming, and you’re making him hide again?? What’s going on here?!]
[I’m filing a complaint!!!]
[...]
Outside the rat hole, when the players arrived, they saw Cao Youfeng wrestling with the corpse of the buzz-cut man.
“What... what is this?!”
Jian Hou stared at the scene in front of him, utterly stunned. Even though he had already been through a dungeon before, the sight before him left him speechless.
The buzz-cut man’s corpse had swollen to three times its normal size!
But his arms were still tightly wrapped around Geng Hui’s legs, and his body lay on the ground, the lower half completely destroyed, intestines trailing behind him like a decaying fish.
White medical bandages were constantly attacking him, but he twisted and writhed in S-shaped curves on the ground, skillfully avoiding them. Not a single soft white strip of cloth even came close to him!
“Ah—!! Ah—!!”
Geng Hui was almost scared half out of her mind at this point. Other than letting out a frantic, piercing scream, she had no other reaction.
“Boss!! Help me!! This thing has higher stats than this rat swarm!!”
Cao Youfeng was sweating heavily, anxiously shouting at Tao Shi and the others.
“Damn! Is this thing really that strong??” Yu Jia exclaimed in disbelief.
“Where’s the corpse?” Lu Sha asked.
“I don’t know! It should be nearby! [Number Concealment Card] detected two high-energy waves! One is this thing, and the other should be the King’s piece!” Cao Youfeng replied.
“Then you stay here and hold it off! We’ll go find the corpse!” Lu Sha immediately decided.
Time was running out. Clearly, this thing wouldn’t be defeated anytime soon!
However, as soon as Lu Sha finished speaking, the intestines of the buzz-cut corpse resembling a highly decayed giant fish shot towards them.
The group hurriedly dodged!
The intestines missed but wherever they and the slime dripping from them landed including the ankles of the giant rats passing by. Everything rotted away.
“Damn...” Yu Jia stared in disbelief.
But after missing its target, the intestines didn’t stop. Instead they sped up and charged towards the players!
The three veteran players each took a new player and continued dodging!
“Damn it! Cao Youfeng! I told you to hold it off!!”
Lu Sha, using his character’s advantage, sprouted transparent wings like a dragonfly from his shoulder blades. Holding onto the collar of a middle-aged man, he flew clumsily in mid-air while cursing.
“I can’t hold it!!” Cao Youfeng shouted in frustration, “If I could, would I have let you all come here?!”
Tao Shi, holding Jian Hou hid behind a giant rat and looked ahead at the trembling buzz-cut corpse with Cao Youfeng saying, “Damn! Looks like we have no choice but to fight!”
Having said that, he looked towards the sun on the horizon.
[10.99, 10.98, 10.97, 10.96...]
Tao Shi gritted his teeth and said to the person in his arms.
“Teacher Jian, I’m afraid I need your help!”
“You say it!” Jian Hou responded.
Although Tao Shi had been protecting him since they entered the game, Jian Hou still felt a bit embarrassed being held like this.
As a teacher, it was really embarrassing to be held by a student in a dangerous situation.
“I’ll go up to support Xiao Feng, hold off this thing and you take that father-and-son pair to help find the corpse fragment around here! Time’s running out!” Tao Shi said.
“Got it!” Jian Hou replied.
Tao Shi then gently placed Jian Hou in the corner, saying, “Leave it to me, Teacher!” before rushing toward Cao Youfeng’s position.
Ding!
[Item: Divine Staff]
At the same time, Lu Sha and Yu Jia also placed the new player they were holding down and headed towards Cao Youfeng’s direction.
Ding!
[Item: Puppet Strings]
Ding!
[Item: Flame Sword]
In an instant, various colored lights were flying through the small town!
Tao Shi, holding the rose in his pocket, said to Jiang Yan.
“They’ve started fighting! This thing is so vicious!”
Then, he turned to the father and son with the colorful braids who were standing not far away and embracing each other:
“Don’t just stand there! Hurry up and find the corpse fragment! There’s less than ten minutes left! When the countdown ends, we’ll be dead here!”
Hearing this, the father and son, still dazed from the scene in front of them, finally snapped out of it.
The boy with the colorful braids grabbed his father’s hand and ran over to Jian Hou, urgently saying:
“What... what should we do? Where should we look?”
Tao Shi glanced around. In the distance, the mutated buzz-cut corpse was fiercely fighting with Tao Shi and the others. A chef was sitting behind Cao Youfeng, completely still, seemingly unresponsive, and it was unclear whether he was alive or dead.
Around them, giant rats occasionally fell to the ground, injured from the battle.
But the dense swarm of giant rats didn’t stop. They continued to move, and slime and baby rats still fell like rain.
The only thing visible were the baby rats crawling across the ground, and there was nothing else in sight.
How the hell are we supposed to find it?!
Jian Hou bit his lip and said, "I don't know! Let's search first! It's better than just standing here!"
After saying that, the three of them began scrambling through the giant rat swarm. The foul-smelling slime and disgusting baby rats kept falling from above, and there was almost no way to avoid them. The three of them were utterly exhausted.
"Save me... save me... You clearly saw it!!"
The buzz-cut corpse was tightly clutching the girl's leg, roaring as it used its bone fragments, still covered with rotting flesh to attack the players!
What was shocking was that three high-level players could barely hold it back.
[What the hell... What kind of monster is this?? This is Tao Da!]
[Even if this thing has exceeded the data limits, this is way too much!]
[The system has lowered the data for the players' items! There's no way to fix it!]
"Damn!!"
Tao Shi looked at the [Divine Staff] in his hand, whose attributes had been reduced by the main system, and no matter how he used it, it felt ineffective. He just wanted to curse!
"What the hell is going on?! Does the main system want us to re-select our roles? Do they want us to die here?"
Yu Jia cursed, looking at the [Puppet Strings] in his hand, which had snapped and then re-formed.
"Damn it... what’s going on?!" Lu Sha gritted his teeth.
"Save me... save me... You clearly saw it..."
The buzz-cut corpse’s voice sounded as though it was crying.
"Damn it! What did he see?!" Lu Sha shouted, frustrated.
"I don’t know! He’s been shouting this since just now!" Cao Youfeng also shouted in frustration.
At this moment, the chef, who had collapsed to the ground, was half-mad and half-dazed. He kept muttering.
"No... I didn’t see anything... I didn’t see anything..."
"I didn’t see anything... I didn’t see anything..."
"..."
Tao Shi, while waving the [Divine Staff], loudly asked Jian Hou, who was scrambling through the giant rat swarm.
“Teacher Jian!! Did you find anything?!”
“Damn it! There’s nothing!” Jian Hou replied in frustration.
[What the hell?? There’s no clue at all!]
[This is it, it’s over!! Tao Da and the others won’t be buried here, will they?!]
[Damn! A dungeon that buries three high-level players, and one high-level real NPC... This is going to be recorded in the game history!!]
[Wait, four! Jiang Yan may not have great stats or ranking, but he’s still a high-level NPC!]
[By the way... could it be that the main system wants to fix this bug with Jiang Yan, so...]
[What?! What?! What?! It’s very possible!!]
[Holy crap! That makes so much sense! Has the main system finally made a move?! Awesome!!!]
[Wow! Witnessing the fall of Jiang Yan and three high-level players, plus one high-level real NPC! This dungeon is epic!]
[Damn! Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng are here, and the Dawn Guild is going to suffer a huge loss this time!]
[There’s no time left! Get ready for the big guild announcements.]
[5.99, 5.98, 5.97…]
It’s over...
Jian Hou wiped off the foul-smelling pus dripping onto his face, staring hopelessly at the countdown echoing from the horizon.
However, at this moment, from mid-air, Tao Shi suddenly shouted “Damn it!!”
“Ding”
[Item: Adam's Ring]
In an instant, the reddish light of the Adam’s Ring intertwined with the golden light of the Divine Staff, transforming into a massive blade that viciously slashed toward the buzz-cut corpse!
“Boom--!”
After a loud crash, the entire small town, including the dense swarm of giant rats and the graffiti-style houses that surrounded the town like prison walls, were all split down the middle, turning into two halves.
The buzz-cut corpse, which had been crying out and attacking the group like a rotting fish, was also cleaved at the waist, lying motionless on the ground.
As the light faded, a crescent-shaped streak remained in the sky above the town.
The scene before their eyes left all the players inside and outside the dungeon stunned.
[What the hell?! It directly... split the whole town?!]
[This... and it happened after the main system lowered Tao Da's item data??]
[Is this... Is this for real? Did this really go way over the limit??]
[Sigh...]
[Actually, it's not really over the limit. This ancestor has done things like tearing apart the dungeon world before!]
[Tear apart... the whole town?]
Jian Hou looked in shock at the boy's back in mid-air.
This kid... is incredible!
Tao Shi ran his hand through his windblown blue short hair, turned, and looked at the sun, still counting down. He silently raised the Divine Staff.
However, just at that moment!
A flash of white light, like a camera flash, passed through the entire town!
“Ka-cha!”
With a crisp shutter sound, everything that had been split in half in the town instantly returned to normal.
“Save me... Save me... You clearly saw it…”
The buzz-cut corpse, whose body had been cleaved in half, instantly reformed and roared, charging toward the players again.
“What the hell?!” Cao Youfeng stared wide-eyed in disbelief!
“What?!”
[No way?! After being split by the [Divine Staff] and [Adam’s Ring], it instantly reformed?! What the hell?!]
[Is there no law anymore? Doesn’t the main system consider this cheating?!]
[What the hell!]
[I really believe now, the main system created this dungeon just to fix the Jiang Yan bug... This dungeon is way too overpowered!! First, the [Divine Descent] was so shocking, now this [Reformation] is just as shocking!!!]
[What the hell!! Why does fixing the Jiang Yan bug have to involve Tao Da and the others!!!]
The scene before them made all the players feel a sense of hopelessness.
The middle-aged man tightly held his son, collapsing in despair.
"What... What does this mean? Are we really unable to leave?"
Jian Hou stood frozen, staring at everything before him, then looked up at the sun on the horizon.
[3.99, 3.98, 3.97, 3.96...]
He reached into his pocket and grasped the rose, then said to Jiang Yan.
"Yan Yan... It looks like we can't get out."
In the cave, Jiang Yan was momentarily stunned.
He quickly grasped the golden spider thread connected to Jian Hou. The next second, the image from Jian Hou’s side was instantly projected into his mind.
The terrifying appearance of the buzz-cut corpse before him caused him to pause briefly. He glanced at the girl, still gripped in the buzz-cut corpse’s hand. Part of her skin had been corroded and rotted away, but in his [Divinity System], the girl's life status appeared stable.
Stable...
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow slightly.
So, this blessing...
He silently extended his hand to the golden spider thread connecting Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng.
At that moment, the arms around his waist suddenly tightened.
Yu Xiu had woken up.
"Yan Yan..."
Yu Xiu had just woken up, and his voice sounded a bit muffled.
Jiang Yan gently patted his hand.
Yu Xiu whispered, "Yan Yan, can you stay by my side forever? Are you happy?"
Jiang Yan was momentarily stunned.
[What the hell?! What is this dialogue??]
[?? The entire dungeon is done for! Jiang Yan is still talking about love?]
[So! Jiang Yan’s real identity is actually a virus in the system, right?? Right?? Right?!!]
[...]
"Yan Yan can forever... stay with me."
Yu Xiu’s soft white ear tips brushed against Jiang Yan’s waist through his robe, making Jiang Yan feel ticklish.
Jiang Yan turned to look at him, "You did that on purpose."
Yu Xiu raised his head and looked at the wheat in front of them, his green eyes slightly narrowing: "What did you mean, Yan Yan? What are you talking about?"
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow slightly: "You know something, don’t you?"
"Know? No, I don’t know."
Yu Xiu flipped over and pinned the person in his arms underneath him: "Yan Yan is the prey I brought back, so of course he should be with me forever."
Looking into those green eyes, Jiang Yan seemed to be bewitched. He slowly reached out and gently stroked the handsome face in front of him.
At that moment, the voice of Jian Hou, tinged with a sob, came from his ear, "Yan Yan... Mm! We were born together, and now we die together. It’s not so bad..."
Jiang Yan’s long eyelashes trembled slightly. He looked at Yu Xiu and said,"I’ll take you back, don’t be afraid, we’ll be together forever."
[So.... outside is a horror film, and here is an idol drama, right??]
[No way! Doesn’t this line break his character?? Or is the main system already planning to kill him off, so we don’t need to care about these details??]
[But it can’t be considered breaking character, right?? This system NPC looks exactly like Jiang Yan's character—the Elf Prince and the Giant King. It can almost be understood as the Little Prince, in a daze, mistaking the humanoid rat in front of him for his husband??]
[...No matter what, it’s over now. Let it be like an idol drama.]
[Although it’s not very fitting, I have to say, this scene is still quite beautiful...]
[What the hell beautiful?? Why does the main system have to kill Jiang Yan and drag Tao Da and the others into it? Why can’t he just die alone?!]
"I'll take you back, trust me, don't be afraid."
Jiang Yan stared deeply at the person on top of him. After saying that, he lifted his chin and pressed a kiss on the other’s lips...
Yu Xiu’s gaze darkened slightly, and he lowered his head to deepen the kiss.
[2.23, 2.22, 2.21...]
The sound from the system kept ringing in Jiang Yan’s ears, "By the way... that little bastard Zhang Yunjie still owes me 100,000 yuan..."
A brief, deep kiss ended.
On the haystack, both of their breaths were uneven.
Jiang Yan’s eyes were moist. Yu Xiu was pressed against his ear, and with the voice of the system continuing, he spoke softly, "Yan Yan, the symmetry axis of a rat is the same as a human’s. Along the body’s midline, only those who are eaten can escape from the rat’s body..."
The body’s midline...
Jiang Yan lightly tugged at the golden thread connecting him to the system.
At the last moment of his life, Jian Hou, instinctively raising his head, looked toward the direction of the buzz-cut corpse.
At this moment, Tao Shi and the others were still shaking as they fought with the buzz-cut corpse. The girl in its hand had lost all reflexes, unsure if she was dead or alive.
[1.99, 1.98, 1.97...]
Jian Hou looked at the setting sun, a tear falling from the corner of his eye. He choked and said, "Yan Yan! If I had known earlier, I would’ve had my parents and your parents have a second child! Although we’re useless, if we die here now... they’re both already of retirement age..."
The next second, Jiang Yan immediately interrupted him, "Old Jian! Have Xiao Tao cut the buzz-cut corpse in half like before!!"
Jian Hou froze for a moment, then continued crying out, "Useless, Yan Yan! We already cut it before... how can this thing stick back together?!"
"No, cut through the middle of its skull! Quickly!" Jiang Yan said.
"Alright, alright!!"
Immediately, Jian Hou wiped the tears from his face and shouted toward Tao Shi and the others, "Xiao Tao!! Cut this thing open again!! Cut through the middle!!"
Tao Shi anxiously responded, "Teacher Jian! We already cut it before!! It didn’t work!!"
"No!! Cut through the middle!! Yan Yan said so! Try it! Quickly!" Jian Hou yelled.
"Jiang Yan?" Tao Shi froze.
[Huh?? When did Jiang Yan say that??]
[Wait! I remember Jiang Yan gave Jian Hou a rose! That thing seems to work like a phone, right??]
[Could it be... Jiang Yan found something in that hole??]
[Just now, his husband seemed to have whispered something in his ear??]
[Same! What did he say?? It's obvious that the main system is trying to send him to his death, and Jiang Yan is just desperately trying to save his husband!]
[....]
[1.57, 1.56, 1.55...]
"There’s no time left! Hurry!! Xiao Tao!!" Jian Hou shouted.
Tao Shi tried again, but that crescent-shaped light couldn’t gather and just dispersed.
"It’s no good!! The data for this instance has been reduced too much!!" Tao Shi said.
Jian Hou, in a breakdown, responded to Jiang Yan, "It’s not working! Yan Yan! Xiao Tao doesn’t have mana left!"
Jiang Yan looked at Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng, whom he had placed in the [Blessing] slot, and began to frantically tap on the [Divine System] panel.
Finally, after he tapped randomly on the screen, the [Divine System] panel emitted a sound.
“Ding.”
“Congratulations, host! You have successfully triggered the faithful follower!”
[Please input mental energy into the soul thread of the follower.]
[Yes] [No]
Without hesitation, Jiang Yan clicked [Yes].
At once, the golden threads connecting Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng lit up, and Jiang Yan pinched them with his index and thumb, starting to channel his mental energy into them.
“Old Jian! Let them try again!” Jiang Yan said.
“It’s useless!” Jian Hou gasped.
“Try again!” Jiang Yan said firmly.
[1.04, 1.03, 1.02...]
Jian Hou gritted his teeth , “Xiao Tao!! Try again!!”
“But...”
Before Tao Shi could finish, he suddenly felt a strange warm flow enter his body from the center of his forehead, spreading through his veins.
He tightened his grip on the divine staff, sensing that the item, weakened by the instance, seemed to have... regained some of its stats.
Tao Shi was slightly stunned.
What... is this??
“Boss! Cut vertically! The number concealment card shows that the corpse fragment is in the left half of the head! Only cutting vertically will make it fall properly! Cutting horizontally just shattered the corpse fragment earlier,” Cao Youfeng said seriously.
“Number card??” Tao Shi turned to look at Cao Youfeng. “Wasn’t it undetectable earlier?”
Cao Youfeng tugged at the bandages on his body, somewhat puzzled. “I don’t know why... but the number card’s value seems to have restored a bit.”
Tao Shi tilted his head in confusion.
At this moment, Jian Hou’s shout continued, "Try it! Xiao Tao!! Yan Yan gave you guys a buff!”
Jiang Yan??
Tao Shi was even more confused.
[Huh?? Jiang Yan? Gave Tao Da and the others a buff?? Are you kidding me??]
[This is nonsense, no script at all!]
[Hahahaha... Jiang Yan is just trying to struggle one last time before dying, is he going crazy??]
[0.60, 0.59, 0.58...]
The sun in the sky started turning red slowly.
[Uh-oh! No time left!]
[Last countdown!!]
[No... I feel like this second is much longer than a normal second]
[The timer is wrong! The displayed time is completely off!]
[No matter how wrong it is, it’s already over!]
[Countdown preparing...]
“Hurry!!” Jiang Yan urged.
Jian Hou shouted: “Xiao Tao!!”
[0.48, 0.47, 0.46...]