Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Strange Shadows in the Villa

Perhaps because of the previous times when they were scared and fled in terror due to various reasons, the players seemed much calmer this time.

When the glass shattered, many people were only startled by the sudden situation, and some even shielded their faces with their arms.

However, they were all still a distance away from the window, so the falling glass shards did not hurt anyone.

“Why did the window break?”

“That was too sudden, wasn’t it? No one touched the glass.”

“Was it the wind?”

Someone made this guess, but upon further thought, it didn’t seem possible. Now that the window had a large hole, the wind from outside was blowing in, bringing a chill, but such wind could never have shattered the window.

“Why don’t we go and take a look?” a player suggested.

As soon as those words were spoken, the people around fell silent. The window had broken for no apparent reason, clearly indicating a problem. Who would dare go over?

Some people kept glancing at Zhou Zhou, their intentions clear as day.

Qian Le blocked their line of sight towards Zhou Zhou, glaring at them with a wary gaze. They really did treat Zhou Zhou like a tool, didn’t they? Thinking that since he was good-natured, he would take on any situation? This wasn’t just Zhou Zhou’s game, and if it weren’t for the small instance space and the large number of people this time, Qian Le wouldn’t have bothered with them at all.

Zhou Zhou kept staring at the large hole in the window. He felt that it must have been the girl who had smashed it, since she was the only one outside. Why would she break the glass? Did she want to come in? Or did she not want him to tell everyone that he had seen her?

Despite Qian Le’s “fierce” glare, someone still spoke up: “You’re the one called Zhou Zhou, right?”

When Zhou Zhou heard his name, he turned his head, saw a tall, skinny man calling him, and obediently nodded.

Although the others didn’t say anything, they were all paying attention to them.

“You see, in this situation, you have more experience playing games and a bigger heart than us. There might be ghosts outside, and if we go, we might get possessed. If we die and become ghosts, we’ll just be a burden on the team. But you’re different, you won’t get possessed, so you’re perfect for going out and checking the situation for us.”

What nonsense about being possessed? Ghosts only appear after players die. Right now, all the ghosts were being held by Zhou Zhou, so there was no way there could be ghosts outside. Moreover, this was only Zhou Zhou’s second time playing the game, so what experience was he talking about? This guy was just making excuses! Qian Le was furious, worried that Zhou Zhou would agree.

“Yeah, yeah, just go take a look. It’ll only take a few minutes, and it should be really easy for you, right?” Someone else from the group chimed in, but their voice grew smaller, clearly feeling guilty for acting improperly.

Although the others didn’t say anything, they all turned their expectant gazes towards Zhou Zhou.

Although Zhou Zhou was surrounded by the crowd, in reality, within a radius of about one meter around him, there was no one except Qian Le to his left. Everyone else stood at a slight distance, looking at him with expectant eyes.

If it were a normal person in this situation, someone with a hot temper would have started arguing with these people long ago, or someone with a weaker personality, though angry, would have succumbed to the pressure of so many people and obeyed. But this time, the mild-mannered Zhou Zhou did not budge.

He liked being praised and helping others, but this time, he didn’t know why, everyone was looking at him, expecting him to voluntarily offer to check the situation, expecting him to help them. But he felt a little unhappy, a tightness in his chest, and he didn’t want to go over there or even talk to them anymore.

He didn’t yet realize that he was angry because of their attitudes.

His thoughts were completely reflected on his face. Zhou Zhou lowered his gaze to stare at the tip of his feet, his mouth slightly pouting, as if he were throwing a tantrum and pretending not to hear or respond to anything.

No one dared to go over themselves, all hoping to send this good-natured young man to check things out instead.

Seeing Zhou Zhou unresponsive, several people felt resentful, resenting him for wasting everyone’s time. How hard could it be to just go take a look?

The atmosphere froze.

The neon green guy couldn’t stand it anymore. He was about to speak up and say that he could go take a look instead, after all, he was the man with the light above his head.

But he was interrupted by a mocking snort. Alvia leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his icy gaze sweeping over the players. When everyone looked at him, he finally spoke: “No need to go check. Because she’s already in.”

She’s in? Who’s in?

These nonsensical words left everyone baffled.

Suddenly, the wind from outside intensified, gushing in through the shattered window with a chill that made the players shiver, and goosebumps rose on their faces and bodies.

A few players rubbed their arms and looked towards the window. Why had the wind suddenly become so strong? It was so chilly.

But as they looked, they saw a sight that made their souls tremble.

In the cold moonlight, a woman in a red dress stood before the window, her black hair covering her face. The shattered window was right behind her. Despite the fierce wind, her hair and dress remained utterly still.

It was unknown how long she had been standing there, but as if sensing someone watching her, the woman slowly raised her head, revealing half of a pale white face and a pitch-black eye socket from beneath her hair.

“Aaaaaah!”

The few players who saw the resentful woman didn’t even have time to warn their companions before screaming and charging through the crowd to flee.

Their actions left the others confused, but when they too looked towards the end of the corridor, the eerie woman instantly made everyone’s hair stand on end and their bones shudder.

“Aaaaaaah!”

Screaming at the top of their lungs, they fled, and the corridor instantly descended into chaos.

A few people were so terrified that their legs went weak, and they collapsed on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

Alvia didn’t move. He stood at the entrance of the room at the end of the corridor, so none of the players trying to escape would run towards that room.

Zhou Zhou didn’t move either. He had already forgotten that he was angry just moments ago, and even reached out his hand to greet the girl, but was pulled away by a terrified Qian Le.

“Aaaah, Zhou Zhou, run! There’s a ghost!”

The resentful woman moved.

Her dress trailed on the ground as she slowly drifted from the end of the glass-strewn corridor towards them.

The few players who had collapsed in terror were practically suffocating, their cheeks and teeth chattering as they crawled backwards, shouting hoarsely for her not to come any closer.

The resentful woman passed by Alvia without stopping, sensing that he had opened a spiritual power barrier, a person she could not handle. So she continued drifting forward, toward the player who was too scared to move.

“Hehehehehe.”

The woman’s laughter echoed throughout the villa, and no matter where the players ran, the sound seemed to follow right behind them, like a shadow.

Unlike the gentle, melodious laughter of a normal girl, the resentful woman’s laughter was shrill and eerie, as if filled with endless malice. Even if heard during the day, it would send chills down one’s spine. This strange laughter caused even the players who had managed to retain some semblance of rationality to instantly break down.

Just as the resentful woman reached out a hand with long, black nails towards the collapsed player, a roar-like howl exploded from the second floor.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

That sound made the resentful woman, who was about to attack the player, stop in her tracks, and it also left the few people still on the second floor gaping in shock.

Because it was Heya who made that sound.

Over two meters tall, taller and more muscular than anyone else present, the usually fierce and valiant Heya was now screaming loudly, pressed against the wall with his eyes tightly shut, flailing his arms wildly, anyone could see he was utterly terrified and had lost all composure.

The thunderous, deafening howl made the players hiding in the rooms even more afraid. They didn’t know what was happening outside, but first they heard the woman’s eerie laughter, immediately followed by howls like those of a wild beast. They could only hide themselves even more securely, eyes shut tight, not daring to move for fear of the ghosts outside hearing them.

Alvia’s usual cool demeanor finally cracked as he stared at Heya in shock. He truly hadn’t expected Heya to be afraid of such things. Despite knowing him for so many years, Heya had never mentioned it before, and he had even readily accepted this mission. Yet a woman whose face wasn’t even clearly visible had terrified him to this extent.

Alvia had initially thought that after entering the instance, Heya had been keeping a low profile to avoid revealing their acquaintance. But now, looking back carefully, it seemed Heya had hardly spoken since nightfall, hiding his presence. Despite his towering stature, he had become like a transparent person that many had forgotten was even there.

He was likely one of the first players to run downstairs after the three ghosts appeared, and his demeanor had been tense since then.

Alvia hadn’t considered the possibility that Heya was afraid of ghosts, but now there were clear signs.

After the initial shock, Alvia prepared to deal with the resentful woman. After all, Heya was his subordinate and friend, and he couldn’t just stand by while Heya was terrified.

“Heya!”

Just as Alvia took a step towards the resentful woman, Zhou Zhou, who was being pulled away by Qian Le, suddenly turned his head. Qian Le was also running downstairs, but since he had to pull Zhou Zhou along, his speed was slower. They were closest to Heya. In fact, Zhou Zhou and Heya were only a step apart.

Heya opened his eyes when he heard the voice, but what filled his vision was the bunch of ghosts Zhou Zhou was holding in his right hand. Already on the verge of a breakdown, he wildly flailed his arms, trying to fend off the ghosts.

“Heya!” Zhou Zhou called out again, and without hesitation, he released his right hand that had been tightly gripping the ghosts, allowing them to drift towards the resentful woman.

He tried to grab Heya’s hand, but his attempts were repeatedly batted away by Heya’s frantic flailing, the sound of his hands slapping against Zhou Zhou’s was audible even to Alvia, who was some distance away, indicating the force behind the strikes.

After several tries, Zhou Zhou finally caught hold of Heya’s hand.

A small, swollen hand grasped a rough, large hand like a palm-leaf fan.

“Don’t be afraid, Heya. I’m here.”