Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 127

Chapter 127: New Love Academy 5

Zeus looked around furtively like a thief, then transformed from a frog trash can, changing back into the form of a little boy.

Zeus’s usual human form is that of a black-haired, blue-eyed little boy, seeming to be modeled after Alvia, which Zhou Zhou had gotten used to seeing.

But today, the Zeus who appeared had black hair and amber eyes, with curly hair, and a pair of round, adorable eyes that made Zhou Zhou feel he looked a bit like himself.

A chubby little face, cat-like amber eyes blinking pitifully at you, enough to melt one’s heart.

“Zhou Zhou, I also want to play together with you all, can you take me along? I don’t want to be alone,” said Zeus, blinking his eyes.

Zhou Zhou couldn’t stand words like “alone”, and coupled with it being Zeus saying it, he agreed without a second thought.

The tiny Zeus was led by the hand by Zhou Zhou, bouncing along toward the classroom. As soon as they entered, he received Alvia’s freezing glare.

Zeus responded with a disdainful, smug little smile, and if he had a tail, it would probably be sticking straight up.

Faced with Zeus, Alvia didn’t have such a good temper. With one look, he saw that Zeus had mimicked Zhou Zhou’s childlike appearance. Although he didn’t mind Zeus imitating his own look, and although Zhou Zhou was very cute as a child, Alvia still said coldly and mercilessly, “Change back.”

“Look at him, Zhou Zhou,” whined Zeus, shaking Zhou Zhou’s arm as he acted cute. He had no such thing as a sense of shame, whether it was acting cute or rolling on the ground throwing a tantrum, it was all child’s play for the thousands-of-years-old Zeus.

The adorable five or six-year-old’s cuteness immediately melted Zhou Zhou, who not only agreed to let Zeus use his childhood appearance, but even brought over a stool for him, and the three of them sat together to eat.

“Zhou Zhou, this is really delicious.”

“Zhou Zhou, I can’t reach that dish.”

Alvia looked at Zeus with cold eyes, slowly putting down his chopsticks.

“If other players see you, how will you explain it?”

“It’s fine, there’s no one here right now, and I can pretend to be an NPC later.”

“In a romance-themed instance like this, having an underage NPC would cause some players to take issue with the instance.”

Although the Doll’s House instance’s NPCs were also a group of children before, the themes of the two instances are different. In a romance-themed instance, even if children are just meant as mascots or something, their presence would still cause some people to bring up the topic and spark unpleasant discussions.

Zeus naturally knew this too, pouting unhappily, “Then I’ll turn into an adult.”

“From my observations, each player in the Love Academy instance pairs up with one NPC. If you squeeze in between us two, won’t that break the game rules?”

Having been repeatedly shut down, Zeus glared, “Then I’ll turn invisible. If other people can’t see me, it’ll be fine, right?”

Alvia: “That method works, but you should stay away from us later. What if players notice our behavior seems odd and report us for cheating through the system?”

“What are the chances of that happening?” Zeus muttered under his breath.

Alvia: “From a probability standpoint, it’s possible.”

Zhou Zhou watched the back-and-forth between the two, suddenly remarking, “Your relationship seems really good.” Even though they were bickering, the familiarity between them couldn’t be faked. If their relationship wasn’t good, Alvia wouldn’t have said so much to Zeus.

Alvia: ……

Zeus: ……

Where did their relationship seem good?

Finally, the countdown ended, and the players who successfully escaped from the dorm supervisor saw the light of day, crying as they left the building.

These past few hours had truly been too difficult. From a mental and physical standpoint, they had endured double hardship. If this wasn’t a game world, running nonstop for an hour without rest, while constantly having to evade dorm supervisors suddenly appearing from nowhere, they would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

【Head to the school field and go on a romantic date with the NPC.

Warm Reminder:

1. Be sure not to let your NPC leave your line of sight.

2. What your eyes see may not be the reality.

3. A jealous NPC will lower their affection level.】

Most players had already been eliminated by the NPCs and dorm supervisors. Those remaining were not many. After reading the newest task, players hurried with their NPCs toward the field without stopping.

The trio who had finished eating also headed for the field, Zhou Zhou and Alvia walking side by side, with the short radish-like Zeus trailing behind them.

Alvia and Zhou Zhou discussed new ideas about the instance as they walked, while Zeus glared at their backs with narrowed eyes.

Since they didn’t set out from the same direction as the other players, the campus was currently quiet, with only a few NPCs walking silently nearby besides them.

Suddenly, Zeus started running, like a little cannonball charging toward the two figures walking closely together. He successfully squeezed himself into the gap between them.

“Hehe.” He looked up innocently with a goofy smile, holding one person’s hand in each of his own. “Let’s go. If someone comes, I’ll turn invisible again.”

Alvia wanted to throw this pest out, but it wouldn’t look good in front of Zhou Zhou, so for now he could only endure it.

Come to think of it, he had known Zeus for many years. Although their relationship was decent, they had never held hands or hugged or anything like that before. Partly because neither of them had any awareness of such things, and partly because they were used to their plain way of interacting, occasionally bickering or not bothering each other while they worked. If a year ago, either he or Zeus had the idea of going out holding hands together, they would have both thought the other had gone crazy.

Now, if Zhou Zhou wasn’t here, they would probably immediately shake each other off in disgust at first.

Although Alvia mentally complained, from a distance, the three of them really did look like a family.

As they neared the field and other players’ figures appeared, Zeus finally reluctantly let go of their hands, turning invisible as he stood beside them.

He gazed at the two with puppy dog eyes full of longing.

Alvia stared at Zeus’s pitiful little expression, suddenly saying, “Since you can only watch from the sidelines now with nothing else to do, you might as well go to work.”

Look at that, does that even sound like human speech? Why don’t you go to work yourself?

Zeus rolled his eyes at Alvia, completely unwilling to acknowledge him.

The field had been set up as an outdoor dance venue, with a red carpet on the ground and an NPC music ensemble surrounding it.

The sky had already turned dark, and under the lighting, the dance scene unexpectedly didn’t look too bad.

Although the atmosphere was built up with a romantic flair, the players who had already been tricked many times in Nightmare City were all extremely wary. The better something looked, the more likely there would be trouble. To successfully pass through here, they couldn’t trust anything.

After the remaining players gathered, a person wearing a black suit and a jester mask appeared, walking toward the center of the dance floor while holding a microphone.

The strange-looking jester made an appearance, and the players’ first reaction was to quickly scatter and keep their distance from him.

This was a hard-learned lesson through bitter experience.

As if not noticing the players’ wariness, the jester stood in the center and raised the microphone.

“Players who have passed the test, tonight is the dance hosted by Love Academy, and also a good opportunity for you all to increase your affection level with your lover. I hope everyone has fun.”

After speaking, the jester actually left directly, leaving a group of dumbfounded players guessing at the real meaning behind his words.

“Is there some hidden implication?”

“Does it mean if we don’t increase the affection level, we’ll be killed?”

“Or is he telling us to happily go die?”

The players obviously wouldn’t really hold some dance event here. They huddled together, staying vigilant of their surroundings while guessing the jester’s real intentions, not forgetting to keep a firm grip on their NPCs, afraid they might disappear.

The supposedly heartwarming, romantic dance instantly went cold and awkward, with only the NPC music ensemble still diligently playing on.

“Why is everyone still so tense during the relaxation segment?” Zhou Zhou asked in puzzlement as he looked around at the players.

Alvia: “…So this really is just a dance?”

“Of course, a romance game. No, a romance instance has to have a dance!” Zhou Zhou stated matter-of-factly.

“No traps or anything?” Even Alvia instinctively thought there might be some big pitfall hidden with the dance.

“Of course not, I just felt the previous segments were too intense in pace, so this lets everyone relax a bit.”

Indeed, Zhou Zhou’s thinking was different from ordinary people’s.

“Then let’s go dance.” Alvia made an inviting gesture toward Zhou Zhou.

“But I don’t know how.”

“It’s easy, I’ll teach you.”

While the other players were still busy with conspiracy theories, Zhou Zhou and Alvia went to dance. Although it was mostly Zhou Zhou constantly stepping on Alvia’s feet again and again, even kicking his shins a few times, Alvia remained steadfast without showing any pain.

Zhou Zhou’s face was flushed red. “At the Love Academy I stayed at before, there were also dances, but each time I would just chat with everyone on the side without going down. So, why don’t we stop? I’ve already stepped on you thirty-two times.”

He was truly very embarrassed, as if he hadn’t come to dance, but to specifically step on Alvia’s feet.

“It’s fine, everyone starts out like this. Just slowly practice. I’ll take the woman’s steps, you take the man’s. Pay attention to the rhythm…”

Zhou Zhou was very smart. From initially landing pinpoint strikes on Alvia’s feet every time, to occasionally stepping on him later, by the end of the song he had stopped making mistakes.

“Look, look, I didn’t make any more mistakes!” Zhou Zhou excitedly called out to Alvia.

The originally 91% number above his head started rising again, becoming 96%.

Neither of them paid attention to the others, not feeling any problem or shyness with dancing under everyone’s gaze.

Alvia was used to such scenes, while Zhou Zhou was solely focused on how to avoid stepping on Alvia again, so despite being the center of attention, the two had an oblivious air about them.

When Zhou Zhou’s affection level rose, the watching players finally took action.

Someone had already demonstrated it, and it didn’t seem to have any issues. Plus, dancing could increase affection, a single song gave 5% more, he could dance all the way until next year!

The players brought their own NPCs onto the floor, and the previously deserted dance finally became lively.

Alvia had planned to dance another round with Zhou Zhou, but the invisible Zeus beside them, only visible to the two of them, was constantly jumping and yelling that he wanted to dance too, a complete noise pollution source.

“You two don’t match in height, so you can’t dance. Isn’t there a swan in the lake? That matches your height, so you can go catch a goose by the lakeside to dance with,” Alvia said mercilessly.

Zeus didn’t want to dance some swan dance, he just wanted to see Alvia suffer a blow. When dancing, Alvia had seemed expressionless, probably secretly overjoyed inside, so Zeus wouldn’t let him have his way.

“Then let’s not dance. Let’s all go eat some snacks over there instead,” Zeus said, pointing to a table laden with all sorts of sweets.

Zhou Zhou didn’t notice the subtle tension between them, simply nodding. “Alright, we just ate and didn’t have dessert, so I was planning to come eat here anyway.”

So Zhou Zhou and Zeus happily made a beeline for the snacks.

Alvia: …Endure it, it’s not time to throw Zeus out yet.

Each player’s affection level had risen quite a bit. Increasing affection without any risk felt amazing, everyone had smiles on their faces.

An hour later, the music stopped, and that elusive jester reappeared on the stage center.

“The dancing segment is over. For the remaining dance time, let’s play a little game.”

They knew it couldn’t stay so easy to increase affection. The players felt regretful, looking at the jester with dissatisfaction.

“The game is simple. We’ve placed five treasure chests around the campus, each containing a ring. You and your lover need to find a treasure chest together, and put the ring on each other’s finger. Your affection will increase by 30%. If at this point your affection exceeds 100%, you’ll directly pass the instance.”

Directly pass!

The players still here all had high affection levels, further boosted by the dancing segment, basically over 70-80% already. So finding a treasure chest meant passing?

The players became excited.

“Of course, there will certainly be many difficulties on the way to finding the treasure chests. But I believe you all can overcome the challenges together with your lovers and attain happiness.”

At this point, one player shouted loudly, “Is there a search area limit? This scene is so huge, searching everywhere would probably take a really long time.”

Although the jester looked eerie, he was unexpectedly reasonable. “Of course I can’t tell you the area limits. But when you get close to a treasure chest, there will be guidance, so you’ll know then.”

After speaking, the jester bowed to everyone present and disappeared.

The players looked at each other. There were over twenty players here, but only five chests, so every other person was a competitor.

“Although we cooperated earlier to escape the dorm, I won’t let anyone take the treasure chests.”

“Of course, whoever has the skills to find them, good for them.”

The players smiled politely at each other, then immediately set off with their NPCs in various directions based on where they thought chests might be hidden, leaving only three figures still happily snacking away at the deserted dance.

Alvia had only eaten one piece, as he couldn’t stomach overly sweet things. Watching the directions the others left in, then looking at Zhou Zhou and Zeus still eagerly recommending which sweets tasted best to each other, he could only wait patiently for them to finish.