Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 107

Chapter 107: Cozy Cottage 1

【Nightmare City】

After the first version update, players realized that reaching one million points could actually level up, and they could design their own instances!

They had suffered in so many damn instances, and now they knew they could screw over others too.

Great!

The chance for revenge had finally arrived. After being screwed in instances, they would definitely…continue screwing over others, passing down this tradition of screwing people over, letting others taste the same experience.

Hehehe~

But looking at their pitiful points, still far from one million, most players calmed down, unsure if their next points would even become negative. One million was too high, even ten thousand points would take effort.

The game hadn’t been out for long, how could anyone reach one million? Not to mention most people’s completion rates were below fifty percent. Even if someone had a hundred percent completion rate, calculating an average of twenty thousand points per completion, they’d need to complete fifty instances successfully to reach one million.

Fifty successful completions, is that even human? Isn’t that a god?

Just as players were complaining about the difficulty of leveling up, Nightmare City’s latest leaderboard made everyone shut up.

First on the leaderboard, a player named Zhou Zhou, had over one million points, reaching one point one million.

The second place didn’t even reach half of his score.

The players who were just cursing about the impossibility of reaching one million: …There really is a god!!!

Those who knew Zhou Zhou sent congratulatory messages, while those who didn’t started collecting information about this god, no, this player.

The forums these days were all discussing who Zhou Zhou was. Some said he was the next heir of a noble family, others said he was a commander in the military, all sorts of wild guesses.

There were even people impersonating Zhou Zhou on the forums to enjoy the praise from other players, only to be exposed and cursed at.

In short, the hottest topic in the game these days was all about this player, how he did it, and if he could start a training course please!!!

They were really about to be driven mad by these instances.

And Zhou Zhou, this was how he made the entire Nightmare City recognize him.

During this time, Zhou Zhou was engrossed in designing instances, completely oblivious to the forums, while his few other friends, knowing he was designing instances, didn’t disturb him either. So the central figure of the topic, Zhou Zhou, didn’t know he was no longer the obscure Zhou Zhou of before.

He was now the Topic King · Instance God · Leaderboard First Place · Zhou Zhou.

Until one day, a small plus sign quietly appeared after each entry on the leaderboard.

Some observant players noticed that only the plus sign next to the top intermediate player Zhou Zhou could be clicked.

Clicking it revealed a few words.

【Instances Designed by Zhou Zhou】

【1. Cozy Cottage】

Was this an instance he had already designed?

This news quickly spread to the forums, causing quite a stir.

After all, Zhou Zhou had become an existence that everyone looked up to in the game, so his every move naturally drew the attention of all players.

Everyone wanted to know what kind of instance would be designed by the first intermediate player.

Moreover, the instance name had already been revealed, and that harmless-sounding name stood out among all the instances players had encountered.

An instance with such an innocuous name should be easy to complete…right?

The players thought uncertainly.

Never mind all that for now, this was the first instance designed by an intermediate player. Successfully completing it would let them boast on the forums.

Although instances were randomly matched, maybe they’d get lucky and be matched into Zhou Zhou’s【Cozy Cottage】. Many players started matching instances, hoping for a chance to enter Zhou Zhou’s first designed instance.

Good luck sometimes didn’t depend on probability, but wealth.

Xue Li and Ke Li looked at the lucky charms they had just bought at a high price, both revealing satisfied smiles.

With these lucky charms, their chances of entering Zhou Zhou’s instance were greatly increased.

As Zhou Zhou’s friends, they naturally had to support him, though they weren’t sure which instance they’d get matched into. At this time, they learned about the lucky charms through special channels. Writing their wish on them would increase the chance of it coming true by fifty percent.

Of course, the price wasn’t cheap, almost equal to a revival item.

But for Zhou Zhou’s sake, they grit their teeth and bought them.

Writing their wish to do the【Cozy Cottage】instance on the charms, the two started matching instances with anticipation.

It had to be【Cozy Cottage】!

Sure enough, the expensive charms worked.

Seeing the【Cozy Cottage】instance on their task panel, and Zhou Zhou’s name noted as the designer below, the two high-fived each other.

“Who knows what kind of instance Zhou Zhou designed,” Ke Li was very curious.

“But this Cozy Cottage definitely fits Zhou Zhou’s style,” Xue Li said softly. After all, the impression Zhou Zhou gave was gentle, bright, and pure.

“Alright, let’s quickly do the task. We can’t embarrass Zhou Zhou, we have to successfully complete his first instance.”

After speaking, the two headed in the direction indicated on the map, their backs exuding confidence.

They were Zhou Zhou’s best friends, they would definitely complete it smoothly.

The two players, with filters so thick they forgot this was actually a horror game, were actively walking into the devil’s embrace.

And it seemed Ke Li had also forgotten that in the Doll’s House instance, his evaluation of Zhou Zhou was—naturally dark.

In a certain building of the beginner village in Nightmare City, Ke Li and Xue Li stood on the 99th floor. A small wooden plaque hung on the white wooden door, with four words written on it.

【Cozy Cottage】

It seemed they were in the right place.

The two made eye contact, and Ke Li reached out to turn the doorknob halfway, easily opening the unlocked door.

Even knowing this was an instance designed by Zhou Zhou, the caution from doing instances in the past was still deeply ingrained in their actions.

Inside was a bedroom.

Floor-to-ceiling windows let in a large amount of light, brightening the entire room. Light yellow sheer curtains by the window were half-open, gently swaying from their motion of opening the door. Directly in front was a thick, fluffy bed that looked incredibly soft at a glance. The headboard was filled with varicolored stuffed toys of different shapes, each only palm-sized but cute with a childlike charm.

The compact bedroom felt cozy and warm, surprising the two who had expected some bizarre, dark scene.

As they entered the small bedroom, the white wooden door behind them slowly closed and disappeared, blending seamlessly into the pure white wall, leaving no trace.

The two surveyed the small room, the bright, warm tones and furnishings making them unconsciously relax.

“Definitely Zhou Zhou’s style,” Xue Li couldn’t help but say.

Ke Li nodded in agreement, when suddenly their task panel updated. They both looked down to read it.

【Instance Name: Cozy Cottage】

【Mission Content: Successfully exit from the escape exit within 12 hours.】

【Main Quest 1: Exit the room.】

Twelve hours? This instance didn’t seem too big, the time limit was very short compared to instances that often lasted days.

On the other side of the bed, at the far left of the wall, was a wooden door. Unlike the door they had entered through that disappeared, this one blended more harmoniously with the bedroom, and the main quest was probably for them to find a way to exit through this door.

Ke Li went over to the wooden door first, experimentally trying the handle.

“It’s locked as expected, it seems our first task is to find the key.”

The originally tidy room gradually became messy as the two searched separately, but found no key to open the door.

“Let me check under the bed,” Ke Li suddenly thought they hadn’t looked there yet, so he crouched down and bent over to peek underneath.

The space under the bed was very low, Ke Li had to lie almost flat on the ground to see inside.

But even though the room was so brightly lit, the area under the bed was pitch black, nothing visible.

Ke Li got up to grab an illumination tool, then laid down again, sweeping the light under the bed.

As the light moved, the area under the bed gradually became visible, but there was nothing there.

Disappointed, Ke Li was about to get up when something suddenly flashed through his vision under the bed, quickly darting into the unlit darkness.

“F*ck!” Ke Li was startled by the sudden appearance, abruptly standing up.

His motion also startled Xue Li, “What’s wrong?”

“I think I just saw something under the bed.”

Xue Li fell silent for a moment, then quickly crawled onto the bed, the soft mattress dipping slightly, “Saw what?”

Ke Li recalled uncertainly, but whatever it was had moved too fast for him to make out clearly, though there was definitely something there.

“Why don’t you take another look?” Xue Li asked from where she lay on the bed.

Ke Li felt uneasy, that fleeting thing seemed vaguely familiar, but with only the two of them here now and Xue Li already on the bed, he didn’t want to look alone.

Seeing her brother hesitate, Xue Li pondered for a moment before suddenly saying, “Could it be a ghost?”

Ke Li thought it was possible, ghosts had practically become standard for Nightmare City instances after all. Plus Zhou Zhou really liked those things, putting some ghosts under the bed would fit his character.

If it was ghosts, then there was no need to be afraid. They were no longer the newbie players who fainted at the sight of ghosts. After experiencing instances like capturing ghosts barehanded, outsmarting ghosts, battling massive ghosts and more, they could now face ghosts unfazed. Well…probably.

Ke Li focused, switching to a brighter, wider-ranging illumination tool that would definitely reveal anything there.

Prepared to see a horde of ghosts under the bed, Ke Li slowly bent over again, his head almost touching the ground as he shone the blinding white light underneath.

The moment his gaze fell under the bed, Ke Li saw clearly what that thing was.

It was a human hand!

Ke Li’s breath caught, why was there a human hand under the bed?

In the next second, that hand actually moved.

The flesh-colored hand had been lying palm-down carelessly on the floor under the bed, but after being illuminated by the strong light, it suddenly flipped over, fingers splayed firmly on the ground.

Despite having no eyes, Ke Li felt like that hand was “watching” him.

Like some kind of crawling creature, the four fingers of the hand began alternating as it scurried rapidly towards Ke Li.

“Oh shit!” A chill ran through Ke Li’s heart as he jumped back onto the bed in one stride.

Xue Li, who had been curiously watching her brother, was startled again by his sudden motion and also stood up on the bed in alarm, asking, “What’s wrong? What did you see?”

“There’s a hand under the bed!”

Xue Li: “…And a hand scared you that much?”

“No, it moved! It came crawling towards me!” Ke Li desperately tried to describe to his sister what he had witnessed, using his own fingers to mimic the hand’s movements, constantly looking around in case the hand suddenly appeared from somewhere.

Xue Li also became tense, joining her brother in searching around. However, she didn’t see any hand.

“You couldn’t have…” Seen it wrong?

Before she could finish, a series of clinks and clatters suddenly came from under the bed, like someone was knocking in different spots under there, erratic and without pattern.

Constantly continuing…

These sounds made the two on the bed freeze, straining to pinpoint the source, but finding the noises came from everywhere under the bed.

As if some unknown creatures were swarming all over the unseen area under there, possibly even crawling up along the bed frame at any moment.

Xue Li shuddered at her own imagination, shakily whispering, “What the hell is under that bed?”

How would Ke Li know, he had only seen one hand, a human severed hand that could run at incredible speed. But the current noises didn’t seem like something one hand could make!

The two were like stranded on an island, with only the highest point of the bed in the room as their sole safe haven.

The clinks and clatters continued for a while before abruptly stopping in an instant.

Xue Li and Ke Li remained standing on the bed, not daring to breathe. The sudden silence didn’t put them at ease, but rather made them even more tense.

It felt like the calm before a storm.

The entire room was deathly quiet, as if time itself had frozen.

The next moment, bizarre creatures started swarming out from under the bed.

They were human hands.

Scurrying on “limbs” like rats, yet faster and more agile, the hands crawled out from under the bed across the bedroom floor.

In the blink of an eye, the once spotless floor was covered in hands.

Some even started climbing upwards, grabbing onto the bedskirt hanging over the edges to pull themselves up by bunching the sheets with their fingers.

Xue Li and Ke Li felt chills run down their spines the moment the hands emerged, a wave of sickening horror washing over them.

Ordinary hands that should be attached to human bodies had transformed into these bizarre creatures, each one seemingly alive and moving in an alarmingly agile way.

When they realized these hands with self-awareness were climbing up from all sides onto the bed, the two broke down instantly.

Even though the “hands” hadn’t reached them yet, hadn’t touched them, Xue Li already felt the itchy sensation of being touched by the bizarre creatures, goosebumps covering her entire body.

Ke Li felt the same way.

They used pillows to bat away the hands that had climbed up, kicking them, throwing stuffed toys, tugging the bedskirt, using every means possible to get rid of the eerie hands.

Perhaps frightened by their frantic actions, eventually none of the hands continued climbing onto the bed. But many remained on the floor, constantly writhing and crawling in a dense tangle that would make even those without a phobia of clusters want to shut their eyes.

They had no idea when these horrifying, bizarre things would resume climbing onto the bed.

Ke Li and Xue Li were facing this situation for the first time.

They had feared drifting ghosts, vengeful women resembling demons, endless loops, but only these inhuman, nightmarish creatures made the two siblings who didn’t have particularly strong courage and had been coasting by following Zhou Zhou sob uncontrollably.

“Wah wah, can’t we just not do the quest? These things look so disgusting.”

“I’m so scared too, do they want to crawl all over me? No, no no~ Help!”

The two cried miserably, but there was no option to abandon the quest in the instance. They couldn’t even choose to be eliminated immediately.

Through her tearful haze, Ke Li’s absent gaze happened to land on a hand climbing up the curtain.

Crucially, this hand had a silver key tied to it, swinging with its movements.

It was the room’s door key.

Ke Li immediately thought that if they could exit the room, they could lock these hands inside.

But why was the key with these creepy hands?!!!

Wiping his tears, Ke Li comforted his sister not to cry while explaining his plan. To leave this horrific room, they had to find a way to get the key.

Perhaps driven by their strong desire to escape, the two regained their fighting spirit and courage. Amidst tears, they repeatedly used the tools they brought to knock the key-bearing hand off the curtain.

The hand fell from the curtain with a soft thud, then nimbly “stood up” again on its fingers to scurry around.

The tool Xue Li and Ke Li used was a long wooden rod, aside from revival and lucky items, they hadn’t bought any expensive tools, just basic everyday ones that only cost a few points.

Their plan centered on using the rod to knock off the key, or knock off that hand entirely.

But the hand crawled lightning fast, while Ke Li’s rod movements were slightly slower, unable to dislodge the key. The other roaming hands further increased the difficulty.

Xue Li watched her brother nervously, keeping an eye out for any hands climbing onto the bed.

After trying unsuccessfully for a while, Ke Li was drenched in sweat from frustration.

Realizing this method wouldn’t work, he suddenly gritted his teeth and told Xue Li, “Let’s try another way, we might be able to leave quickly, but we’ll have to endure a bit.”

Sweat beaded on Xue Li’s forehead too from anxiously watching. “As long as we can get out.”

Minutes later, the key-bearing hand was pinned down by the rod as it was slowly pushed towards the bedside.

The hand repeatedly tried to escape by sliding and scraping against the floor, its fingers clawing at the ground and grabbing other hands, but was no match for the rod pressing on its back.

Finally, this hand was moved to the edge of the bed, the key now within reach.

Xue Li knelt by the bedside, trembling all over, but still took a deep breath and quickly reached out to grab the key.

Even knowing the hand was pinned and couldn’t escape, her entire arm broke out in goosebumps when retrieving the key.

Especially when her hand accidentally brushed against the still struggling severed limb, she felt a jolt from her fingertips all the way to her heart.

Wah wah wah, she couldn’t stand hands anymore.

At last, the key was obtained.

The two stood elated on the bed, but still faced another problem, how to cross from the bed to the door…

A large, pale bedsheet descended from above, covering the floor and all the hands on it. Xue Li and Ke Li quickly jumped off the bed and ran towards the door.

The sheet wasn’t thick, so they could feel countless soft impacts underfoot as they stepped on numerous hands.

This disgusting sensation made their goosebumps spread from their backs all the way to their scalps, wishing they could discard their feet.

Ke Li had never moved so fast before. The moment he reached the door, he unerringly inserted the key into the lock and turned it while simultaneously twisting the doorknob with his other hand.

“Click!”

The door was open!

The two didn’t even have time to see what was behind it before darting out.

The moment the wooden door closed behind them, they felt their souls relax for a bit.

As the door shut, the sounds of the crawling severed hands were sealed inside the room.

What came into view was a living room.

The living room was well-lit with the same warm tones as the bedroom, and most importantly, very quiet with no hands in sight. The tranquil environment allowed the two to gradually relax, their legs shaking.

Supporting each other, Xue Li and Ke Li sat on the living room sofa, catching their breath and calming down.

“You think, how did Zhou Zhou…” come up with something like that.

Xue Li’s lips were still trembling, clearly still shaken from the earlier scene.

Ke Li licked his dry lips. He had exerted all his strength pinning down that hand to stop it from moving, his hands still shaking. “I don’t know, but I feel it might get even worse later.”

Ke Li said with difficulty.

“It shouldn’t, right? That was probably the most horrific part, maybe we’ll find the escape exit soon after,” Xue Li fell silent for a moment before replying, trying to reassure herself.

She clasped her hands together, eyelashes fluttering anxiously as she surveyed their surroundings.

After calming down a bit, she still felt those hands might appear from somewhere.

Her gaze swept across the entire living room and the closed doors of a few other rooms. She didn’t know what was behind those shut doors, but didn’t dare go check alone.

It was only when her eyes passed a spot behind and to the side that Xue Li vaguely made out what seemed to be some writing on the floor-to-ceiling window obscured by sheer curtains.

Even though it was just a few steps away, she didn’t dare go over alone, eventually going with Ke Li to examine it together.

The misty curtains were drawn aside to reveal four neatly written words on the window.

【Escape Exit】

There was even a helpful arrow pointing to the middle panel of the floor-length glass.

Ke Li: “……”

Xue Li: “……”

Sure enough, it was Zhou Zhou’s style to write the escape exit so prominently, worried players might miss it.

If they thought they could clear it immediately, they were gravely mistaken.

The window couldn’t be opened or broken.

There were three keyholes on the window frame, it seemed they needed to find three corresponding keys to open the escape exit.

Xue Li looked at the keyholes, then at the room they had just escaped from, hesitantly asking, “Could that key from earlier be one of the keys for the escape exit?”

Ke Li, who hadn’t removed the key when escaping: “…Makes sense.”

The key was still inserted in the inside door of the bedroom, and neither sibling wanted to go back in.

Even if it just meant opening the door, reaching in to quickly retrieve the key in a few seconds, they still didn’t dare.

After all, there was no guarantee they would grab the key and not a hand.

After “deferring” to each other for a while, they decided to find the remaining two keys first. That key wasn’t going anywhere stuck in the door, they could deal with it last.

Moving together, neither daring to separate, they realized this place had a simple layout after some observation. The connected living and dining rooms, plus a study and a kitchen, the overall area wasn’t big, and they had enough time left to find the keys.

Of course, if the other two keys were on some other bizarre creatures, then…maybe not.

They started searching the living room, but hadn’t made much progress when a knocking came from the entrance.

The entrance here referred to the main door of the house, next to the kitchen. The door they had tried earlier with an unmoving doorknob and no keyhole looked more decorative than a real entrance.

And the peephole was pitch black.

Wasn’t it supposed to be just for decoration? Why was someone knocking?

“Knock, knock, knock.”

The knocking sounded again, slow and polite.

Ke Li and Xue Li flinched like startled birds, staring fixatedly at that door, temporarily too afraid to approach.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

The sound repeated, very patient.

Though frightened, the two hesitated, uncertain what was outside.

“Could it be other players?” Ke Li stared hard at the door.

“Or maybe a ghost,” Xue Li also stared intently.

“What if it’s…” hands again.

“Impossible, impossible! One time with those things was enough, if they come again I’ll really go insane!” Xue Li was on the verge of tears.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Three knocks at a time, with pauses in between, as if it wouldn’t stop until they responded.

Their hearts raced as Ke Li finally couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Let’s go over together, we’ll look through the peephole first.” Though the peephole had been pitch black earlier, now that there was someone…or something outside, maybe they could see.

Xue Li nodded, clutching Ke Li’s sleeve tightly.

They inched towards the door slowly, not daring to make noise.

Finally reaching it, the knocking persisted.

Ke Li held his breath, noticing a faint light now came through the previously dark peephole, different from before.

Xue Li noticed the change too. They made eye contact before Ke Li leaned close, squinting through the peephole while she anxiously bit her lip and tightened her grip.

Ke Li peered through the peephole. Perfectly timed, the person outside knocked again, the slightly curved shape distorting the hallway view into an arc, but clearly revealing the person right in front.

It was a man in a black hoodie with a very familiar face.

Seeming to notice someone at the peephole, the man stared straight back, locking eyes with Ke Li and giving a faint smile.

A chill shot through Ke Li as his pupils constricted, scarcely able to believe his eyes.

The person outside, was himself!