Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Doll’s House 10

Above the white doll room, a lead-gray cloud gathered, this cloud was not large in size, only able to cover this house and part of its surroundings.

But the cloud blocking the sunlight provided the best environment for these ghosts. They were like a pack of hyenas that had smelled blood, their hollow, soulless eyes fixed on the players inside the house. Their bloated, massive bodies slowly seeped in through the windows, their bodies deformed from being squeezed, even their pale faces resembling the eliminated players were distorted beyond recognition.

They felt no pain or fatigue, and even when the players near the windows frantically tried to stop them, desperately striking them, it did not impede their advance.

Zhou Zhou had his back against the door, feeling the powerful impacts from outside, his eyes fixed on the stairs.

Sure enough, before the ghosts on the first floor could break through the defenses, other ghosts that had slipped in through the upstairs windows appeared at the staircase.

Restricted by the height of the floor, the ghosts could not become as massive as those outside, but inside the house, each one was almost touching the ceiling, and they were bigger than the ghosts Zhou had encountered in the previous two instances.

At this moment, the people inside the house also saw the ghosts coming down the stairs. These ghosts were nearly three meters tall, floating slowly towards the players present. But everyone was still resisting the ghosts coming from outside, and could not spare a hand to deal with these voracious ones that were about to reach them from behind.

Especially the two players closest to the stairs, one was a young man from the Sharp Family, and the other was Heya.

Heya’s face was tense. Although he was still not used to the bizarre appearance of these ghosts, as long as they didn’t appear suddenly, he could tolerate it. After punching away a ghost that was crammed in the window, Heya immediately turned to face a ghost even taller than him. This ghost had the appearance of one of the burly men, looking more solid than the other ghosts.

The burly ghost looked down at Heya, then slowly opened its mouth wider and wider, looking as if its mouth was being torn open, forming a huge gash on its face. It then leaned closer to Heya.

It actually wanted to swallow him whole. Heya stared at the ghost and punched it hard. The ghost’s semi-transparent body immediately caved in. But this did not affect its movement, and the gaping maw drew closer and closer to Heya, while the dent in its body slowly recovered.

With no choice, Heya could only dodge, but this allowed the ghosts outside to seize the opportunity. Like mudfish, they slid in through the windows when no one was blocking them.

No matter what Heya did after that, he could not kill these two ghosts or stop their movements. Heya was very strong and agile, but when facing two ghosts, he felt like he had no way to deal with them.

The two ghosts both charged at him with their huge gaping mouths open. Heya grabbed a chair and shoved it into one of the ghost’s mouths, but unexpectedly, this ghost actually chewed it a few times and swallowed the chair.

Through its semi-transparent body, he could clearly see the remains of the chair gradually shrinking and disappearing as they passed through the ghost, just like when it had eaten people before.

Heya was already having a hard time dealing with two ghosts. The others were in an even worse situation.

The other young man from the Sharp Family who was close to the stairs threw whatever he had on hand into the ghost’s mouth when it came at him with its gaping maw, imitating Heya’s actions to buy himself some time. But he did not have Heya’s strength or alertness when facing two ghosts simultaneously, and could only run to other places while resisting.

More and more ghosts came from outside the windows and down the stairs. The massive ghosts soon occupied half of the first floor. When the players tried to escape, they did not know where to run.

Ke Li had experience catching ghosts from the previous instance, so when he saw a few ghosts floating towards him, he wanted to try the same method he had used to help Zhou Zhou catch ghosts in the Love Academy, by grabbing their jiojio.

He quietly snuck up behind one ghost, grabbed its two dangling jiojio from behind and shouted loudly, “Haha, I caught you!”

The ghost slowly twisted its upper body around, staring at the player holding its jiojio with a blank expression. Ignoring its midsection being twisted into a braid, it leaned down with its huge, abyss-like mouth open, trying to swallow this player.

It doesn’t work at all!

It’s not like last time!

Ke Li was scared into a cold sweat, immediately letting go of the jiojio and running elsewhere. He didn’t even think about how in the previous Love Academy instance, the ghosts were about the same size as normal people and were always floating in the air, not eating people. So as long as you grabbed their jiojio, they could only drift along like balloons held by the players, unable to run away.

But the ghosts in the Doll’s House were completely different. Their bodies were extremely tall. Even after entering the house and shrinking a bit, their heads still touched the ceiling.

Although their movements looked like they were floating, in reality they could not actually float. Their heads bumped against the ceiling while their jiojio dragged along the ground as they moved.

Not to mention that they could also eat the players. No matter where you grabbed them or how hard you hit them, they were unaffected and kept coming at you with their large mouths open to swallow you.

There was nowhere to strike them effectively.

The first floor descended into chaos. The players could no longer resist these ghosts. When the Sharp Family members were escaping, they would secretly lure the ghosts toward players from the other teams. The ghosts would not only focus on one person, but rather pursue whoever was closest to them. Because there were too many ghosts present disrupting everyone’s vision, and everyone was fleeing in panic, no one noticed the Sharp team’s tricks.

Alvia saw it. Unsurprisingly, the Sharp Family was using these tactics with practiced ease. Earlier, when there was no threat, the two teams seemed to get along well and had even formed an alliance. But as soon as danger arose, they would prioritize protecting themselves, not caring about any alliance or comrades.

After breaking free from the surrounding ghosts, Alvia appeared to be fleeing randomly on the first floor, but he would occasionally kick the ghosts that the Sharp Family had lured toward Xue Li and the others back at them.

The ghosts would crawl up from the floor and start chasing the players closest to them, forcing the Sharp Family members to continue dealing with these ghosts.

In the room, only one person remained standing still.

Zhou Zhou leaned against the door, continuing to resist the ghost outside. This ghost was also persistent, still trying to get through this door even though several windows were already empty. Whether it was ghosts trying to crawl in through the windows or players blocking them at the windows, they were all gone, but this ghost still stubbornly wanted to get in through this door. Perhaps because Zhou Zhou was closest to it, with only a wall separating them, so the ghost was determined to get in through this door.

Looking at the chaos in the room, Zhou Zhou felt that something seemed off. Why weren’t these ghosts coming after him?

He had been standing here the whole time, but the dozen or so ghosts inside were only chasing the others, not even glancing his way.

It was as if these ghosts were ignoring him.

“I’m right here, come and get me,” Zhou Zhou shouted at the ghosts, his back against the door.

Except for the mournful cries and persistent pounding from the ghost outside the door, not a single ghost inside paid any attention to him.

Zhou Zhou: “……”

Alvia noticed Zhou Zhou’s voice and made his way through the crowded ghosts to stand beside him.

Zhou Zhou looked at Alvia, then glanced at the lively chase scene in the room, and asked with yearning and a hint of grievance, “Al, why aren’t the ghosts coming after me? Can’t they see me?”

Strangely, while others faced the ghosts in a desperate struggle, for Zhou Zhou being chased by ghosts had become an unattainable desire.

Alvia patted Zhou Zhou’s head. Indeed, it felt nice to pat, with his slightly curly, soft, delicate hair, just like his obedient and gentle nature.

One of the ghosts chasing others abruptly changed direction and charged toward the door.

Zhou Zhou’s eyes lit up, thinking it was coming for him, but the ghost opened its gaping maw and went straight for Alvia instead.

Then it was kicked away by him, crashing into another ghost. The two ghosts lay tangled together for a long time before getting up.

Alvia gave the two collided ghosts a cold look, then turned to meet Zhou Zhou’s plaintive gaze.

Alvia suppressed a laugh: “Haven’t you noticed? No ghosts are coming over now.”

Although there were nearby ghosts, they seemed unable to see the two of them at the door, continuing to chase after the other people in the room.

Zhou Zhou looked around the room, then at himself and Alvia, suddenly realizing, “As long as we don’t move, they won’t come after us?”

Zhou Zhou had been leaning against the door without moving, so the ghosts seemed unable to see him. The other players, in their panic when faced with the ghosts, were either running around or struggling fiercely, unable to remain motionless.

“Then if I start running now, will they chase me?” Zhou Zhou looked at the ghosts, eager to try.

Alvia had noticed since the previous instance that Zhou Zhou seemed to really like these ghosts.

“Yes.”

He thought Zhou Zhou would immediately run out, but instead he frowned in hesitation, “The one outside the door will come in.”

If he left the door, the ghost outside would naturally come in without any resistance.

“It’s fine, there are already so many in here, one more doesn’t matter.” Alvia did not discourage Zhou Zhou, but let him play as he wished.

Indeed, Zhou Zhou nodded, then left the door and ran into the room.

Sure enough, this time the ghosts noticed him and swarmed towards Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou ran in front of his companions and shouted at them, “Don’t move, the ghosts can’t see us if we don’t move.”

Xue Li abruptly stopped running, and the ghost that had been chasing her with its gaping maw seemed to suddenly lose its target. After circling around Xue Li a few times, it turned and went after others.

The rest of them stopped moving after hearing Zhou Zhou’s voice.

Even though the person was right in front of them, with Eddie’s face only a few centimeters from the maw larger than a face, able to see the inky blackness inside and the rank stench emanating from the maw.

He barely breathed, his eyes fixed on the gaping maw, only exhaling in relief when the maw slowly retreated and the ghost turned to chase the now-running Zhou Zhou.

The Sharp Family members initially did not listen to Zhou Zhou, as the ghosts’ pursuit was extremely urgent, and the slightest pause would lead to being devoured.

But when Zhou Zhou’s teammates stopped, finding that the ghosts indeed did not chase those who remained motionless, they also stopped.

The entire room suddenly fell quiet from the previous chaos, though not completely silent, as there was still one Zhou Zhou running around.

As if to make up for the ghosts’ earlier negligence, he ran around the house with a large group of ghosts trailing him.

Zhou Zhou even purposely avoided his motionless companions, luring the ghosts solo around the house.

The ghosts’ mouths opened wider and wider, their heads looking almost split in half, becoming more and more horrifying.

Zhou Zhou knew he could not catch these ghosts, as Ke Li had already tried before.

So while luring the ghosts around the house, he kept glancing toward the door.

Alvia stood at the door, so the ghost outside still had not entered. Noticing Zhou Zhou’s frequent glances, he somehow understood his intention.

He turned and opened the door, allowing the ghost outside to immediately squeeze through the doorway like a muddy puddle, sliding in.

Alvia’s movement also attracted some of the ghosts chasing Zhou Zhou, but they were closer to Zhou Zhou, so they abandoned Alvia and continued after Zhou Zhou instead.

The ghost at the door slowly slid in, but by then Alvia had stopped moving, so it went after Zhou Zhou as well.

The ghosts behind Zhou Zhou knocked over everything nearby in their frantic pursuit of the player ahead.

Then Zhou Zhou suddenly took a sharp turn and ran out the door.

The ghosts also swarmed toward the doorway, crowding at the exit.

As if realizing how to get out, the ghosts behind floated toward the windows and squeezed through.

After the last ghost left, Xia Yan suddenly moved, taking out a pen and paper to rapidly calculate something.

Eddie also ran to the window, seeing that the ghosts had become larger outside, and in the vast open space, over a dozen of them going after a single Zhou Zhou was far too easy.

“Let’s go out and save Zhou Zhou,” Eddie called out urgently.

Xue Li also hurried to the window, just in time to see Zhou Zhou trying to run back into the house, but his path was blocked by the ghosts’ massive bodies.

“Zhou Zhou is about to be caught!”

Heya took a big step toward the door, but was stopped by a Sharp Family member, “I advise you all not to go out. His sacrifice of one person could allow the rest of you to successfully pass. If you go out, you’ll all be wiped out.”

“If not for Zhou Zhou, how could you be so leisurely chatting here?” Ke Li said angrily.

“As long as he buys some more time for us to find the location of the Children’s Playground and pass successfully, after he dies we can give him some points as compensation. Not only can he buy a revival item, but he might even get more points than if he passed himself,” said another Sharp Family youth.

They seemed very calm, and perhaps Zhou Zhou could indeed get many points this way, but their attitude left the others with an uncomfortable feeling of a lump in their throats.

“Let’s go.” Alvia had already opened the door and was the first to walk out.

Earlier in the house, due to the limited space, the nimble Zhou Zhou could easily lure the group of ghosts around.

But now outside, Alvia saw Zhou Zhou trying to run toward the sunlit area, but was cut off by ghosts. When he tried to return to the house, the other side was also blocked by the massive ghosts.

If they didn’t go and rescue him soon, Zhou Zhou might really get caught by the ghosts.

Seeing Alvia go out first, Heya followed right behind, and Xue Li and Ke Li also hurried out. Eddie walked up to the four Sharp Family members, gave a cold snort, and went out with the others.

One of the Sharp Family members frowned, wanting to say something, but was interrupted by Xia Yan, who was still calculating with his head down.

“Let them go, don’t bother with trivial matters. We just need to focus on our own task, there’s not much time left.”

The few of them went outside and were immediately noticed by the ghosts, who then scattered and reached out their large hands toward the group.

Alvia was able to smoothly dodge the ghosts’ large hands, advancing while evading, looking quite at ease.

Seeing how relaxed Alvia was, Ke Li wanted to imitate him, but ended up being scooped up by a large hand instead.

Ke Li: ?

“Help me!”

Seeing that he was about to be eaten, he shouted for help below, but Xue Li simply couldn’t reach his current height.

Thinking he was about to die, Ke Li squeezed his eyes shut, praying to not feel too much pain when devoured. Then he was soaring upwards.

It was Eddie, using one of his flight talismans. He had one left to use on himself.

The airborne Eddie rescued Ke Li from the ghost’s grasp, then flew around with him in the air.

The two player-sized flies buzzed around the giant ghosts, becoming such a nuisance that the ghosts furiously reached out to catch the tiny players.

But Eddie flew too quickly, and the ghosts’ movements had become sluggish due to their large numbers, unable to capture them.

Facing the large hands obstructing him, Heya chose to resist with his fists. He actually managed to grab the semi-transparent hand that was larger than his entire body, immobilizing it.

Xue Li imitated Zhou Zhou’s actions from the previous night, waving her arms at the entrance to attract the ghosts’ attention.

With their efforts divided, the pressure on Zhou Zhou was finally alleviated, but he still couldn’t escape as the ghosts were truly massive, a single hand able to block his path.

Alvia dodged the outstretched hands and made his way to Zhou Zhou, seeing his troubled frown, as he seemed to ponder their next move.

“How is it, fun?” Alvia asked.

Zhou Zhou looked at Alvia and suddenly broke into a smile, “Here to rescue me again?”

One of the ghosts blocking Zhou Zhou reached out its large hand. Alvia didn’t have time to speak, swiftly grabbing Zhou Zhou around the waist while dodging the ghost’s hand.

Then he carried Zhou Zhou as he ran toward the house.

“If we go back, the ghosts will follow us inside,” Zhou Zhou said, lifting his head as much as he could while being carried.

He had only come out to buy time for the others, but only realized after leaving that the ghosts had become so massive, outpacing his ability to run.

“It’s fine, and look, after you came out, everyone else followed too. It’s about the same inside and out,” Alvia replied.

Moreover, the ghosts outside did not have the rule of being unable to see unmoving players, so it was actually safer inside the house.

Seeing Alvia had rescued Zhou Zhou, Heya immediately cleared a path ahead, punching through one large ghostly hand after another.

Eddie attracted the ghosts’ attention from above with Ke Li, amused to see the ghosts furiously shout their ridiculous lines yet unable to catch them.

However, at one point they nearly flew straight into a ghost’s gaping maw, prompting Eddie to reluctantly fly back.

“Whoa!” Zhou Zhou exclaimed in amazement, watching Eddie fly around in the air. It looked so interesting, he would have to try it next time.

The six of them made it safely back into the house, and the ghosts flooded in once more.

Xia Yan still hadn’t calculated the location of the Children’s Playground, while the three around him looked at Zhou Zhou and the others who had lured the ghosts back with dissatisfaction.

Alvia ignored them, taking Zhou Zhou upstairs while the ghosts were still squeezing through the windows.

“To the third floor,” he said.

Everyone immediately followed them up to the third floor.

Leaving only the few on the first floor to face the impending influx of ghosts.

“What should we do, go with them?” a youth asked.

Xia Yan had finished his calculations by then, putting away the pen and paper, “Up to the third floor.”

Finally, at the moment the ghosts surged in, the four of them ran up the stairs.

Alvia headed decisively for the third floor, and everyone followed. By this point, ghosts had entered through windows on the second, third, fourth, and fifth floors.

Hearing the shrill cries from all around, Eddie had no mood to mock the ghosts’ ridiculous lines anymore, and urgently asked Alvia with an anxious expression, “Have you figured it out? Calculated the location of the Children’s Playground?”

Alvia didn’t answer, only setting Zhou Zhou down before taking the lead. As they passed the second floor, a ghost happened to open a room door and look out at them.

Then on the third floor, another ghost was lurking in the hallway.

Kicking away the charging ghost, Alvia decisively walked to a certain door on the third floor and tried it, finding it locked.

By now, the ghosts from downstairs and upstairs seemed to have caught the scent, all converging on the third floor.

The ghost Alvia had kicked away also crawled back from a distance and floated toward them.

Everyone immediately fell still and silent, except for Alvia who continued trying to kick the door open again. But this time he failed, as the door seemed to be reinforced with concrete, extremely sturdy and unable to be kicked open like the previous bedroom doors.

His continuous movement also attracted a few more ghosts that had entered the third floor hallway.

“Heya, come here,” Alvia called.

There was no more time. They would have to break the door down by force. With their combined strength, they should be able to open it, whether it was solid or made of steel.

While the two of them tried to open the door, Xue Li and the others couldn’t just stand still and watch them get devoured by the ghosts, so they had to try to attract the ghosts’ attention to buy time.

But the hallway was too narrow, unlike the first floor where they could run around. Here they had nowhere to run, flanked by ghosts on both sides.

The ghosts nearly filled the entire hallway. Not only with their numbers, but each one was large enough to block the hallway in every direction.

Eddie was also out of flight talismans, otherwise he could have flown around pushing these ghosts away.

Zhou Zhou was feeling anxious too, wondering how he could catch these ghosts and immobilize them.

Seeing Ke Li throw a punch that only caused the ghost’s body to slightly cave in before immediately recovering, Zhou Zhou suddenly remembered something.

He recalled the first time he encountered ghosts, squeezing and stretching them into round or flat shapes, even bundling one into a ball and putting it in his pocket.

Although these ghosts were massive, they could shrink and expand their bodies, even elongating or shortening themselves.

So, was it possible to bundle up the ghosts? If they were bundled into a ball, wouldn’t that immobilize them?