Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 68

Chapter 68: Mirror World 1

Although the exterior of this car looked old and dirty, the inside was still relatively clean.

Zhou Zhou and Alvia went straight to the back and sat down. The middle-aged man said he would not leave until the car was full, and besides the driver, it could hold 7 people, meaning they needed to wait for 5 more people before they could depart.

Zhou Zhou looked out the window, only seeing the man sitting there idly, not caring at all whether anyone else would come or not.

“Will this instance be far away?” Zhou Zhou turned and asked Alvia beside him. The old car seats were very cramped, with almost no space between the two of them. Zhou Zhou seemed nonchalant, turning around and looking at the decorations and scenery outside, never stopping for a moment.

“It shouldn’t be too far,” Alvia tried to shift to the side, but the two-person seat simply did not allow much movement. This was his first time in such a cramped vehicle, and the proximity made him feel increasingly uncomfortable. He could only lower his head, curl his fingers slightly, and put on an act of deep thought. “This car is very slow, and we have a time limit to enter the instance, so the location can’t be too far away.”

Is that so? The vehicles Zhou Zhou had ridden in games before only looked like vehicles, in reality, they were all teleportation devices that could reach their destination in just one or two minutes, so he didn’t know how slow Alvia meant by “very slow.”

“Slower than the sightseeing cars?” The sightseeing cars at amusement parks were not teleportation devices, they carried tourists around the park at a very slow speed.

Alvia glanced at Zhou Zhou quickly, lowered his gaze in thought, and then said, “I’m not sure, but probably about the same speed.”

Zhou Zhou noticed something was off. Since they had met this time, Alvia’s gaze kept shifting elsewhere, just like now. Even though they were conversing, he kept his head lowered, only glancing at Zhou Zhou briefly when looking at him.

“What’s wrong? Why do you keep your head down?” Zhou Zhou stared at him and asked directly.

Alvia froze, knowing Zhou Zhou’s perceptiveness well, but not expecting his abnormal behavior to be noticed so quickly. He frowned slightly. “Nothing.”

Nothing? But Alvia’s distracted demeanor clearly indicated something was amiss. Since he didn’t want to say, Zhou Zhou had no choice but to stare at him for a while before saying, “Alright, if you don’t want to say, then never mind.”

Zhou Zhou turned his head to look out the rear window again. Through it, he could see the middle-aged man still eating crackers, sitting carelessly by the roadside. It wasn’t until a few players wandered around nearby for a while that he shook off the cracker crumbs from his body, stood up, and walked over to them.

These few were probably also doing a quest, searching for Vehicle 128 here.

The middle-aged man talked to them for a bit, then led them back toward the car.

When they saw the black text on the vehicle, these players all had speechless expressions on their faces.

“Perfect, you five make just enough to fill the car,” the middle-aged man opened the door, then sat in the driver’s seat in the front.

These five players, three males and two females, stood in front of the open car door, hesitating to board.

“Is this really 128?” One of the male players looked at his map, then at the text on the car, wearing an indescribable expression.

“It should be, since there’s nothing at that location,” another player said, looking at the empty space between two houses not far behind them.

“This car is so beat up. Do we really have to ride it? Can’t we change to a different instance?” One of the female players looked at the vehicle with some disdain. In reality, this car belonged in a museum. Yet someone was actually using it in the game. However, when she noticed Zhou Zhou and Alvia sitting in the last row, her eyes suddenly lit up and she was the first to board the car.

“Hello there,” the female player sat in the row in front of Zhou Zhou and Alvia, turning to greet them as her eyes scrutinized their faces up and down.

The other four people silently watched their companion complain about the car one second, then swiftly board it the next. They could only follow suit and get on as well.

The other female player also sat in the row in front of Zhou Zhou and Alvia, while an older male player sat next to the driver’s seat.

The remaining two male players sat in the first row of the back seats.

The middle-aged driver had not said a word the entire time. Only after everyone had boarded and the door was closed did he suddenly start the vehicle. The female player who had been talking to Zhou Zhou lurched backward from the inertia, her chin slamming into the back of her seat.

“Hey, be more careful when you drive!” The female player was embarrassed and angry, mainly because her actions had just caused her to lose face in front of the handsome guys.

The driver made a dismissive “tch” sound and replied sharply, “Like it or not, this is how I drive. If you don’t want to ride, you can get out right now.”

The female player fumed but wanted to retort further until her two companions in the front row both turned to look at her warningly. Alvia noticed the looks in their eyes, which made the female player quiet down. Perhaps it was because this incident had caused her embarrassment, but she never spoke to Zhou Zhou and Alvia again afterward.

Zhou Zhou sensed the chilly atmosphere in the car and looked out the window again. This vehicle’s speed was a bit faster than the sightseeing cars, but he could still clearly see the scenery outside.

They had now driven out of Xuan Le Street and onto a rugged small path. The surrounding environment was extremely desolate, and the road surface was uneven, causing the vehicle to sway back and forth and occasionally jolt up and down as it ran over stones on the road.

In the distance, they could see an imposing, verdant mountain. On the mountainside ahead, there was a winding, snaking white strip, likely an artificially excavated path. Judging by the driver’s direction, their instance location might be on that mountain.

The driver was quite a daredevil, driving wildly. Even on this bumpy, pothole-ridden road surface, he would drift from time to time, giving the players a sense of being in a getaway car, except they couldn’t get off now.

While in the car, Zhou Zhou sat up straight, maintaining an extremely proper posture, as was his usual style whether walking or sitting. However, on this rugged road, his head bumped against the ceiling several times, making thumping sounds that caused the people in front to glance back occasionally.

Although they, too, swayed left, right, up, and down while seated, they’d grip the armrests tightly after the first experience to remain stable. Zhou Zhou and Alvia were in the last row, which astonishingly had no armrests, so Zhou Zhou swayed around, leaning into Alvia at times, then shifting to the window, bumping his head against the ceiling several more times, like a little white flower battered by raging winds and storms.

Zhou Zhou clutched his head in grievance. Why didn’t the last row have armrests? His head really hurt.

Amidst the jolting, he looked at Alvia, expecting him to be just like himself, as Al was even taller. But with one glance, he saw Alvia sitting there steadily, completely unaffected by the bumpy ride, as if fixed to the seat.

Zhou Zhou was astonished and wanted to move closer to see how Alvia managed to remain so still. But as he leaned in, the car hit another stone, causing him to fall into Alvia’s arms.

Only a moment later, though, Alvia supported him back into the seat. Finding Zhou Zhou sitting upright, he tried pressing him down… but couldn’t.

Zhou Zhou looked innocently at him. His long standing good habits made him maintain proper posture at all times, after all, as a dating NPC, he couldn’t afford to look sloppy.

Alvia: “…Lean down.”

Zhou Zhou let out an “oh” and slid down along the curved backrest, nestling into the seat. His demeanor instantly changed, appearing meek and soft.

Alvia turned his face slightly, exhaling long, and released his hand, returning to his own position. “Sitting like that, you won’t hit your head anymore.”

With that, he closed his eyes, seemingly about to nap, as years of training made such swaying motions have no effect on him whatsoever.

Sitting that way, Zhou Zhou indeed wouldn’t bump his head anymore. But he would still sway slightly, so he wanted to grab the seat in front to steady himself. However, that would require arching his back off the seat, so he ended up grabbing Alvia’s arm instead, which stabilized him considerably. Alvia didn’t open his eyes, tacitly permitting the action.

True to expectations, the driver drove the vehicle up the mountain. One side was a sheer cliff, while the other was covered in verdant grass. Fortunately, the road surface had smoothed out considerably, no longer requiring the violent jolting from before, allowing the players to breathe easier, if that rough ride had lasted any longer, their butts would’ve been rattled into eight pieces.

The moment they started up the mountain, the quest panel updated for everyone.

【Instance Name: Mirror World】

【Quest Content: Find the exit.】

Zhou Zhou stared at the unusually concise information, utterly puzzled.

They were now on the mountain, with the driver remaining silent the entire time, and the instance was called “Mirror World,” so this quest must be related to mirrors? Furthermore, there was no time limit given, so would it be completed quickly or require a long period?

No matter how much Zhou Zhou pondered, he couldn’t figure it out. The few players up front also discussed it, but none of them understood what kind of instance this would be.

He looked toward Alvia, who was also examining the information with a slightly furrowed brow, indicating he, too, was unsure about the nature of this challenge, as the limited information provided by just the instance name was insufficient to determine anything.

As the players in the car continued guessing about the instance, the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes. Aside from Zhou Zhou being held back by Alvia, the other unsuspecting players all lurched forward.

Once they steadied themselves, the player in the passenger seat frowned and asked, “Are we there?”

The driver killed the engine, leaning forward slightly to stare intently at the grassy area to the right. “There’s a sheep over there.”

The players were perplexed and looked to the right, where a robust white mountain sheep leisurely grazed on the lush green grass, not even sparing a glance at the vehicle parked by the road.

The driver unbuckled his seatbelt. “I’m going to catch that sheep. Might as well have some lamb skewers for dinner tonight.”

Players: “???”

Most wore puzzled expressions, so the female player, noticing the driver’s face showing a look as if he’d hit the jackpot, asked, “Is that your sheep?”

The driver kept his eyes locked on the sheep. Perhaps due to the prospect of having lamb skewers, he was unusually patient. “No, but it’ll be mine once I catch it.”

The players didn’t know what to say, speechlessly watching the driver rub his hands in anticipation of catching the sheep.

“Could you take us to the quest location first?” one of the male players asked.

The driver glanced at the people in the car and sneered, “You’re all riding in my car without paying, yet making so many demands. I’ll say it again, if you don’t like it, get out.” With that, he shut the car door and went to catch the sheep.

The male player’s face alternated between pale and flushed as he sat there, no longer speaking up.

Sitting in the very back, Zhou Zhou watched the driver stealthily creep forward and asked, “Should we go help him catch the sheep?”

No one in the car responded. With the driver’s terrible temper, how could they possibly go help him?

Alvia also made no move. “No need, he won’t catch it.” Just from the driver’s movements, it was evident he lacked proper training, his footsteps were ungrounded, and a robust mountain sheep could easily evade him on this mountainous terrain.

Sure enough, when the driver was still three meters away from the snow-white sheep, it leisurely lifted its head to glance at him. As he lunged forward, it scampered up the mountain.

One would expect the driver to return after failing to catch the sheep, but instead, he actually gave chase, quickly disappearing along with the sheep.

Players: “……”

They had tolerated enough during the journey, with the driver’s poor attitude, and now he had abandoned them to chase a sheep. What about the instance quest?

“Does anyone here know how to drive? Let’s not wait for him and just go. It’s not like he’s the one doing the quest anyway,” the impatient player in the passenger seat said.

No one responded. Such an antique car was long obsolete, with modern vehicles all being self-driving, only basic literacy was required to operate them, nothing like the complicated controls of this car. Moreover, with a cliff on one side of the mountain road, no one dared attempt driving, even if they wanted to.

After waiting a while with no sign of the driver returning, the passenger seat player couldn’t help but say, “I just watched how he was driving. Let me give it a try.”

Zhou Zhou curiously poked his head out. “Do you know where we’re supposed to go?”

Player: “…No idea.”

However, there was only one road here, leading upward, so their destination was most likely at the summit.

But he wouldn’t voice such an ambiguous statement, as it was merely a guess, only the driver knew the real location.

“He’s back,” Alvia suddenly spoke up.

Zhou Zhou immediately looked in the direction the driver had disappeared and indeed saw him returning while carrying the sheep. Somehow, he had actually managed to catch it through sheer dumb luck.

Alvia’s brow furrowed slightly, not because he had been proven wrong about the driver failing to catch the sheep, but because of this sheep…

The driver smiled as he approached the rear of the car and opened the trunk, placing the sheep inside.

The trunk was very close to where Zhou Zhou and Alvia sat, allowing Zhou Zhou to turn his head and see directly inside.

Watching the bleating mountain sheep, Zhou Zhou asked the driver, “You found another sheep?”

The driver smiled widely as he tied up the sheep. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve been chasing this one the whole time.”

That clearly wasn’t the case. The sheep from before had pure black eyes, while this one had yellow eyes with vertically slit, black pupils staring fixatedly at Zhou Zhou as it bleated frantically, as if calling for help.

Zhou Zhou blinked but didn’t argue, his gaze shifting from the driver’s hands to his chest.

The driver closed the trunk and returned to the driver’s seat, skillfully starting the car before driving off once more.

The player in the passenger seat stared at the driver for a while, feeling there was something off about him after his return. Previously, he had been a complete jerk, rudely brushing everyone off. But now, he kept smiling, the corners of his mouth curving wider and wider as he looked increasingly excited, as if something good was about to happen.

Was catching a single sheep really that thrilling? The player silently mocked in his heart but didn’t voice it aloud, lest he get brushed off again.

The vehicle sped up more and more along the winding mountain road. Although this antique car’s speed was no match for a modern aircraft, traveling at such high speeds on a road this curved, with a cliff on one side, had everyone’s hearts pounding. Each acceleration and turn made their heart skip a beat, their legs almost going weak from fright.

“Could you slow down a bit?” someone finally couldn’t help but shout.

But instead of complying, the driver only accelerated harder in response to those words, as if triggered.

Up ahead was an extremely sharp curve, yet the driver barreled straight toward it without any intention of turning the steering wheel.

By the time everyone realized something was wrong, Alvia knew it was too late. He calmly shielded Zhou Zhou as the other players frantically tried to stop the driver from the sides and back.

It really was too late.

In just a few seconds, the unprotected antique car went straight off the winding mountain road and over the cliff’s edge.

“Oh sh*t!”

The players only had time for an outraged curse before everything went black as they all lost consciousness.