Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 109

Chapter 109: Cozy Cottage 3

Xue Li and Ke Li stood outside the door, reluctant to enter, seemingly having left a deep shadow in the instance.

Zhou Zhou, on the other hand, stood at the doorway, utterly confused. He called out to the two of them to enter the house several times, but they kept retreating further and further until they were almost at the other end of the hallway.

Alvia, as the first player to experience the instance, watched the group’s tug of war at the entrance. He probably understood why the two were acting this way.

He got up and walked to Zhou Zhou’s side, standing side by side with him. Alvia said to the two, “Although the instance replicated this place, there’s nothing strange inside, and this place is considered Zhou Zhou’s home in the game, so come on in.”

His attitude was too natural, even more like the owner of this place than Zhou Zhou himself, but Zhou Zhou didn’t realize this. Hearing Alvia speak on his behalf, he nodded in agreement.

The two who were originally full of bluster had forgotten their initial purpose for coming here as soon as they saw this room, which was extremely similar to the instance scene.

It was still Alvia who took the lead, and only then did the two tentatively step into Zhou Zhou’s home.

It seemed that nothing had happened.

The two exchanged glances and finally felt at ease.

However, they still huddled tightly together in the corner of the sofa, looking like two nervous chicks, clinging to each other, ready to fend off any intruder at any moment.

Alvia found it amusing to watch. He had guessed they would react this way when Zhou Zhou called them over.

The instance designed by Zhou Zhou, although not particularly difficult in terms of difficulty level, had one point that other instances could not match.

It was particularly annoying.

The visitors outside the door appeared at regular intervals, and whenever you approached the key or related clues, visitors would appear outside to prevent you from continuing your search. Even if you were caught by them, you would be turned into various strange things to delay time.

If a player discovered the pattern, they might only need a few tries to find where the clues were. But if they didn’t discover it, and coincidentally approached the clues each time, the visitors would keep coming over and over until the time limit expired.

Relying on his high combat power, Alvia knew those visitors couldn’t catch him, so he had experimented. In a few hours, more than twenty visitors appeared, each different, and their abilities, characteristics, and ways of catching people were all different. He didn’t know where Zhou Zhou found so many NPCs.

No wonder Xue Li and Ke Li were in this state.

Zhou Zhou poured a glass of water for Xue Li and Ke Li, but the two kept glancing around, looking vigilant. This puzzled him, and he instinctively turned to look at Alvia, his eyes full of questions.

What was wrong with them?

Zhou Zhou was completely oblivious to the power of the instance he had designed. In his view, his instance was really simple.

But for these two, it was a different story.

When Zhou Zhou asked about their experience in the instance, the two glared at Zhou Zhou with resentment and poured out their grievances.

“It was too difficult.”

“Where did those creepy hands come from? They were really scary.”

“And the various strange visitors, how many visitors were there? Why was each one different?”

“The hiding spot for the key was also too hard to find.”

“We almost made it through, but the time was too short.”

The two spoke one after the other, and Zhou Zhou listened and nodded, while also seeming to ponder something. After they finished, he suddenly asked, “Is there anything that needs to be improved?”

The two were taken aback. Wasn’t what they just said the things that needed improvement?

“The instance was rated as moderate to low difficulty during the review, which means that as long as the pattern is found, this instance is not difficult. Now we have to consider that in the future, when there are more players doing instances, information related to the instance will be leaked. So currently, it still needs to be adjusted further, and the difficulty needs to be increased.”

Zhou Zhou’s serious explanation made the two realize that their previous complaints were only from the perspective of players, so they would naturally hope for easier difficulties.

But for Zhou Zhou, the instance designer, if the instance was too simple, it would be meaningless.

Xue Li cleared her throat and said seriously, “I think the instance lacks that sense of horror atmosphere. Although it was tense and exciting throughout, without the horror atmosphere, it felt like something was missing.”

Ke Li looked at Xue Li in shock.

What are you saying! What do you mean lacking a horror atmosphere? Have you forgotten about crying in the instance?

From her brother’s expression, Xue Li could guess what he was thinking, so she pulled him aside and whispered, “Hey, we’re out now, and we won’t be entering that instance again. Plus, if Zhou Zhou takes our suggestions, just think about how other players will feel when they enter…”

Everything went unsaid, but Ke Li saw the gleeful smile on his sister’s face and nodded in understanding.

He got it.

Ke Li: “I think the exit location shouldn’t be so obvious. It should be more hidden, and players should find it themselves based on clues.”

The two players who hadn’t cleared the instance were boldly making suggestions here, and the key was that Zhou Zhou actually listened.

After the two had made a bunch of suggestions and left with satisfaction, Zhou Zhou was still sitting there, writing and drawing on his task panel.

Alvia hadn’t spoken up to disturb him but had silently watched him the whole time.

Originally sitting on a chair at the dining table, after Xue Li and the others left, he moved back to the sofa. To avoid disturbing Zhou Zhou, he sat about a meter away from him.

The two of them were in the same room, one busy and one gazing, though no one spoke, the atmosphere was exceptionally cozy.

When Zeus came in after not being seen for days, this was the scene he witnessed.

Although dissatisfied that Alvia was in Zhou Zhou and his home, when he noticed the empty space in the center of the sofa, he shamelessly went over and plopped down.

Right in the empty spot that Alvia had intentionally left between them.

Zeus turned his head, giving an expressionless Alvia a mocking grin.

Then he turned to the other side and asked as if offering a treasure, “Zhou Zhou, guess what I’ve been up to recently.”

At that moment, Zhou Zhou had just resubmitted his modified instance for review.

Seeing Zeus, who hadn’t appeared for the past two days, he was also very delighted and smiled, “I don’t know.”

Zeus didn’t beat around the bush and took out a black wristband, “Look!”

“This is… a wristband?”

Zhou Zhou took the wristband. There were no decorations on it, just a metallic cold color sheen. It was quite heavy, and he didn’t know what material it was made of.

“I’ve been busy with this these past few days. With this wristband, you’ll be able to appear anywhere in the future.”

“What does that mean?” Alvia leaned over, ignoring Zeus sitting in the middle, and took the wristband from Zhou Zhou’s hand to examine it carefully.

Squeezed out by the two adults with nowhere to go, Zeus leaned against the back of the sofa and said with difficulty, “This is a copy I made, of course it can’t be used. As long as someone wears the real wristband, I and Zhou Zhou can appear within fifty meters of the wristband’s location.”

Currently, Zeus and Zhou Zhou could only appear in the palace because only the palace had the necessary equipment installed to automatically materialize their projections into physical forms.

But in reality, Zhou Zhou faced more limitations. Zeus had existed in the empire for over a thousand years. He could go anywhere through the interstellar network, although he couldn’t appear in physical form. As long as there was a starnet, he could perform various operations.

However, Zhou Zhou could only enter other parts of the starnet with prior setup by Alvia or Zeus. He couldn’t come and go freely like Zeus.

After all, many things connected to the starnet were classified as confidential. Zeus could come and go freely because much of the research was based on him, but Zhou Zhou was a latecomer. Even Alvia couldn’t easily grant Zhou Zhou full access.

“You went to bother those researchers again.” Alvia exposed it in one sentence, as the black wristband reflected a scattered sheen under the sunlight, exuding an indescribable understated luxury. The material used for the wristband was a rare metal that ordinary people couldn’t obtain.

The empire had a research department dedicated to studying artificial intelligence, especially self-aware artificial intelligence, and currently, the only sample was Zeus.

Zeus disliked them and never appeared at the research institute in general. But if certain things needed to be solved in reality and Alvia was unwilling to help, Zeus would go to the institute for assistance.

Those researchers would do anything for Zeus, and coupled with Zeus’s current appearance as a young boy, they adored him to the point of almost worshipping him.

And this wristband was undoubtedly created with the help of the institute’s people.

Zeus snorted discontentedly, “Of course not, I just asked, and everyone was very enthusiastic in helping me.”

Zhou Zhou still hadn’t realized how powerful the wristband was. He had only been to the palace, so naturally, he didn’t know that aside from the palace, he couldn’t go anywhere else.

But with this wristband, it was equivalent to Zhou Zhou being able to move with the wristband’s owner, going anywhere he wanted.

“Perfect, I’ll be visiting other planets soon, and I can take Zhou Zhou along.” Alvia said this calmly, as if the wristband was already his.

Zeus pouted, not too pleased. Although the wristband had to be used in reality and he couldn’t wear it himself, he had indeed planned for Alvia to carry the wristband. But the way Alvia said it was so irritating.

Watching these two interact, Zhou Zhou belatedly realized, “So if Al carries the wristband, I can go wherever he goes?”

Zeus gave an affirmative hum. His attitude towards Zhou Zhou was completely different from how he treated Alvia.

“With the wristband, Zhou Zhou can go anywhere he wants. Zhou Zhou, are you happy?”

Zhou Zhou smiled brightly, “Happy!”

“Aren’t I your favorite?”

“My favorite!”

Alvia looked at Zeus’s incomprehensible expression, unsure of how he could say such things so effortlessly.

But Zeus didn’t care about Alvia’s inner struggles. With a smug look, he told Alvia, “The wristband is ready and at the research institute. Don’t forget to pick it up later.”

Now he was the victor. Even if he let Alvia carry the wristband, taking a little advantage, what could Alvia do? Zhou Zhou liked him best.

Alvia didn’t bother arguing with him. The wristband was indeed important for him and Zhou Zhou. Once he retrieved the wristband, Zhou Zhou’s range of activity would be much larger.

“Zhou Zhou, have you finished modifying your instance? I’ll be visiting other planets in a couple of days. Do you want to come along and take a look?” Alvia asked. He had initially thought that after going out, he would have less time with Zhou Zhou. But with Zeus’s timely delivery of the wristband, it could be put to good use.

Thinking of this, Alvia’s gaze towards Zeus immediately became affectionate.

Sensing the strange emotion, Zeus: ?

Besides the palace, Zhou Zhou hadn’t been anywhere else, so hearing that he had the opportunity to visit other planets, he naturally wanted to very much.

“I’ve finished modifying the instance and patched up a few loopholes. There’s no problem at all. During this time, other than conceptualizing the next instance, I haven’t had anything else to do.”

Zhou Zhou’s eyes sparkled, wearing an extremely expectant little expression that made Alvia’s heart melt.

“Alright, then I’ll take you out to take a look. There will be many such opportunities in the future. The empire has countless planets, and the scenery on each planet is different. We can take our time seeing them.”

Not resigned to being ignored, Zeus was squeezed into a pancake by Alvia but still pushed through, poking his head out to try finding a conversation topic, “Zhou Zhou, did you modify your instance again? I haven’t seen it yet.”

As he spoke, Zeus used his avatar to check on the players about to attempt Zhou Zhou’s instance.

*

Amon was a cash player. Although Nightmare City didn’t allow spending money, he used all the points he earned from instances to buy items. With these extremely powerful items, he usually achieved quite good results in other instances.

But today, he had entered the instance designed by the well-known top player on the game leaderboard, Zhou Zhou, who became the first to obtain the intermediate player title.

He wanted to see what kind of instance this person, even more formidable than him, could design.

After entering the Cozy Cottage and seeing this room that matched the instance name perfectly, he clicked his tongue in disappointment.

He had expected to see something terrifying, but this was it?

And the first task was just to leave this room, too simple, right?

Although the various moving people and hands did catch him off guard, he still managed to find the key and successfully left the room.

When he saw the large escape exit sign on the window, he suddenly had an idea.

If he didn’t bother collecting the key and instead forcibly destroyed the escape exit, couldn’t he clear the instance directly? After all, the escape exit door only looked thin, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to break through.

If he succeeded, he could share the trick with other players. Taking advantage of Zhou Zhou’s current fame and popularity as a player, he could become famous too, right?

With this thought, Amon took out his strongest offensive item, a small electromagnetic cannon. It didn’t look big but packed quite a punch.

Amon aimed at the location of the escape exit and fired.

Following the blast after firing the weapon, a hole was easily blown in the escape exit’s location.

Amon coolly put away his item, secretly lamenting that this game couldn’t be live-streamed. Otherwise, he could have shown off in front of the audience.

The blown hole wasn’t large, but the surrounding cracked glass could be easily peeled away, so in the end, Amon successfully made a hole big enough for one person to crawl through.

Thinking that he would clear the instance so quickly, Amon felt very proud of himself.

But after crawling through the hole, what he saw was pitch black.

The surrounding air reeked of a damp, musty odor, and the surface his hand touched felt like water stains.

This wasn’t the exit, was it?

Amon was very puzzled. He took out a light source to examine the area and discovered it was an extremely narrow passage with no end in sight. The red liquid his fingers touched seemed to be diluted blood…

Realizing something was wrong, Amon immediately tried to retreat back into the room, but at this moment, he discovered an endless passage behind him as well, and the glass exit had disappeared.

【Hidden Task: Escape the passage alive.】

In the cramped, confined space, so quiet it seemed like he was the only one there, with red unknown liquid on the ground, Amon was at a loss for words. How did he feel like he had gone straight from easy mode to hell mode? Could he really succeed in clearing this?

As he crawled a distance through the passage, a shrill, grating sound suddenly rang out in the silent passage, like metal scraping against stone, extremely unpleasant.

Especially here, in the narrow passage, it seemed like multiple harsh scraping sounds were coming from all directions. The lone Amon shuddered, immediately looking around alertly.

The sound grew closer and sharper…

In the front, alien creatures with red eyes, various animals, ghosts and monsters appeared in droves, dozens of eyes like ghostly fires of different colors in the darkness, eerie and suffocating.

Amon trembled all over, letting out the highest pitched scream of his life.

“Ghooooosts!”

A few minutes later, Amon was eliminated.

Zeus, who had been watching Amon’s attempt the whole time: “…”

He turned his head to look at the tranquil and elegant Zhou Zhou beside him, who gave him a sweet smile in return.

Zeus: He didn’t expect it, he really didn’t expect Zhou Zhou to be so devious. Wasn’t he an NPC from a dating game? Why was he so proficient at this horror stuff?

Look at how terrified the player was.

Here, Zeus wasn’t just referring to Amon, who had tried to find a shortcut but ended up in hell mode, but also the first batch of players who had participated in the instance.

At this moment, those people were all howling on the forums, once again propelling Zhou Zhou’s name to the top.