Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Night Castle 7

All three of them looked toward Lan Ya’s direction. Zhou Zhou’s eyes showed delight, while Alvia remained calm and collected. The moment the other person opened the door, he had already noticed.

The tall man who was crouched on Zhou Zhou’s shoulder, crying miserably, had an expression filled with shock and terror. Especially when he noticed the high stool in Lan Ya’s hand, he seemed to recall the recent incident he had experienced and instinctively hid behind Zhou Zhou’s back. However, Zhou Zhou was not as tall as him, so half of his body was still exposed from behind Zhou Zhou’s back.

The hallway was dimly lit, and half of the man’s body was hidden in the darkness. Half of his ghastly face was illuminated by the orange light, making him appear even more terrifying. One of his hands tightly gripped the young man’s shoulder, completely covering it. The young man being restrained by him appeared even more slender in contrast. At this moment, the young man was staring intently at her, his eyes sparkling with the surprise of seeing hope.

Lan Ya gripped the legs of the stool with both hands, her gaze fixed on the man and Zhou Zhou. Anxiety and fear enveloped her, and her breathing was rapid, but she did not retreat.

Originally, Zhou Zhou was delighted to have finally found Lan Ya, but seeing her fearful and defensive expression and actions, his delight gradually turned to confusion.

“Lan Ya, what are you doing?”

Lan Ya: “Zhou Zhou, don’t be afraid, I’m here to save you!”

Zhou Zhou: ????

Instead, the man behind Zhou Zhou, seeing Lan Ya’s “ferocious” gaze, immediately started crying again, even more miserably than before. His wailing was deafening and harsh.

Alvia stood in the middle, watching the trembling Lan Ya, who still tried to rescue others despite her fearful state, and the man who showed obvious distress and terror upon seeing Lan Ya. A glimmer flashed in his eyes.

Alvia: “You two, is there some misunderstanding?”

Zhou Zhou also noticed the unusual expressions of the two and originally wanted to walk over to Lan Ya to ask, but he was firmly gripped by the shoulders by the man behind him, unable to move an inch. The man behind him cried sorrowfully, as if he was about to wipe his tears on Zhou Zhou, and the hand grabbing Zhou Zhou was very forceful.

“Why are you crying?” Since Zhou Zhou couldn’t move, he could only shift his attention to the man behind him.

Hearing someone’s concern, the man pointed his shortened arm protruding from his shoulder towards Lan Ya’s direction and accused, “It’s because she hit me.”

Although he had a terrifying appearance and a deep, mature male voice, his gesture and tone when making the accusation were quite practiced, with a hint of youthful naivety.

Zhou Zhou looked towards Lan Ya, his gaze shifting to the stool in her hand: “Lan Ya, you…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Lan Ya cut him off.

“Zhou Zhou, don’t be afraid, I’ve come to save you!”

Seeing the other person restraining Zhou Zhou and not letting him leave, Lan Ya disregarded the strange atmosphere between them and, gripping the stool tightly, charged towards them.

The man behind Zhou Zhou was so startled that his cries were cut off for a moment, and he immediately tried to turn and run away.

Zhou Zhou’s eyes also widened as he watched the petite Lan Ya charging towards them while wielding a stool. After all, Lan Ya usually appeared timid and gentle, not even daring to speak loudly. For her to suddenly charge at them while holding a stool was quite shocking.

If Zhou Zhou knew that she had already fought two rounds with the man behind him, and each time ended in the man’s defeat, he would probably be even more astonished. Lan Ya’s brave actions didn’t succeed, as Alvia effortlessly snatched the stool away from her raised hands when she passed by him. He casually placed the stool aside and said, “What are you trying to do? Zhou Zhou is fine.”

Lan Ya was dazed after having her weapon taken away. Seeing the nonchalant Alvia and the composed Zhou Zhou, who was supposedly “held hostage,” she finally realized that something seemed amiss.

The man behind Zhou Zhou, seeing that Lan Ya was no longer armed, didn’t attempt to flee anymore. Instead, he peeked at Lan Ya from behind Zhou Zhou’s back. At close range, confronted with his ghastly face and bizarre arm, Lan Ya felt her breath catch in her throat. Her legs, which she had been forcing herself to stand on, grew weak, and tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall at any moment.

“Waaahh~”

Just before Lan Ya was about to burst into tears, the man ended up crying even more miserably than her, causing Lan Ya to hold back her tears instead.

With people crying in front and behind him, the man released his grip on Zhou Zhou as he tried to flee, allowing Zhou Zhou to take a few steps forward towards Lan Ya: “Lan Ya, what’s wrong?”

Lan Ya looked at the concerned Zhou Zhou, feeling a surge of distress and fear. For someone as timid as her, the previous experience was truly too terrifying. Fortunately, she had finally found two companions.

“Where did you two go? I was so scared.”

Zhou Zhou patted her head gently and comforted her, “We’ve been looking for you too.”

Alvia, standing beside the two, didn’t participate in their conversation but cast a meaningful glance at Zhou Zhou’s hand resting on Lan Ya’s head.

Behind the three of them, the castle owner finally realized that they must be part of the same group!

“Young Master!”

Suddenly, the old butler’s hoarse voice came from the stairs. Leaning on a crutch and hunched over, he hurried up, holding a severed arm in his hand, the same part of the man’s body that Lan Ya had kicked out the window.

“What are you doing here? What happened? Why is your hair wet? I found your arm downstairs.” Contrary to his usual silent and taciturn demeanor in front of the players, the old butler acted like an ordinary elderly person caring for his juniors, chattering on to the man and even personally reattaching his arm.

With his arm reattached, the man no longer looked as terrifying, apart from his somewhat ghastly appearance. He seemed no different from the others.

For Lan Ya, if she had seen him in this state during their first encounter instead of witnessing him instantly rotating his head 180 degrees and dismembering his entire body, perhaps many unexpected events could have been avoided. It could be said that the initial shocking sight left too much of an impression on Lan Ya.

Even though the two sides had now clarified the previous incident as a misunderstanding, Lan Ya still clung tightly to Zhou Zhou’s side, not daring to take a single step away, let alone approach the man.

The castle owner felt the same way. No matter how harmless Lan Ya appeared, he couldn’t instantly dispel the impression she had left on him. At the moment, he also stuck close to the butler’s side, casting resentful glances towards Zhou Zhou from time to time. He wanted to speak to Zhou Zhou but didn’t dare approach since Lan Ya was too close.

The old butler, on the other hand, remained completely calm. He didn’t explain his previous dismemberment at all and merely introduced the man’s identity to them.

“This is the castle owner, Locke.”

Zhou Zhou also introduced himself and his companions’ names. Upon hearing Zhou Zhou’s name, the castle owner Locke looked at Zhou Zhou attentively and nodded. However, when Zhou Zhou introduced the female player as Lan Ya, he shot her a disdainful glance, his thoughts clearly reflected on his face.

“You mentioned earlier that you wanted to thank the castle owner for his hospitality. There are still some people downstairs, so you can express your gratitude in front of the Young Master.” Not many people remained on the first floor, as several had already fled, and a few more were still hiding upstairs, unwilling to come down even now.

The group walked downstairs together. Locke and Lan Ya kept an extreme distance from each other, as if wishing the other would immediately disappear.

Upon reaching the corner and seeing the still unconscious player, Zhou Zhou casually asked, “Why hasn’t he woken up yet?”

The old butler didn’t mention that the player had briefly regained consciousness earlier, only to be scared unconscious again by him. He replied to Zhou Zhou in an understated manner, “Perhaps his physical condition isn’t great.”

“Oh.” Zhou Zhou didn’t suspect anything.

The remaining players didn’t leave the first floor, indicating their desire to clear the instance. Even though they witnessed the old butler, who had previously been reduced to just a head, now standing before them fully intact, the players didn’t dare approach him but no longer screamed and shouted like before.

After all, compared to a talking head, his current appearance seemed quite normal. As long as he didn’t disassemble again, it was somewhat acceptable.

The old butler introduced the castle owner’s identity to the remaining players, who looked at the man closely following behind the old butler.

Before coming downstairs, the old butler had helped Locke tidy up his clothes, so he appeared well-dressed and groomed. However, his tall figure in a suit still seemed somewhat incongruous.

Moreover, his face was covered in scars, with centipede-like scars winding across it. Each scar was circular, either forming a ring-like pattern on his face or extending from his face to the back of his head. There were so many scars that the players’ first impression was of the crisscrossing scars on his face, completely overlooking his actual facial features.

As long as his appearance was only a bit terrifying and there was no risk of him dismembering like the butler, the players breathed a sigh of relief. One by one, they introduced themselves to Locke.

Locke politely nodded at everyone but didn’t initiate conversation.

The key to clearing the instance lay with this castle owner, so the players exchanged glances and asked Locke if they could continue staying in the castle for a few more days.

The old butler looked towards Locke, as if also seeking his opinion. Locke glanced at the old butler and then at Zhou Zhou before replying, “Okay.”

The players immediately felt relieved. They had obtained the castle owner’s consent, so they only needed to stay for three days to clear the instance. Such a simple instance was truly too easy.

“However…” Locke took a deep breath and continued, “There are conditions for staying here.”

“What conditions?” a player asked.

The old butler replied, “You cannot leave your rooms at night, and you must clean the castle during the day.”

It didn’t sound too difficult, so the players all agreed.

Afterwards, the old butler even prepared lunch for everyone, saying it was to help them work better after eating.

The players who had fled the castle didn’t return, and the unconscious player on the stairs was dragged out by the old butler. His teammates tried to plead for him to stay, but the old butler refused, stating that since the player hadn’t requested to remain in the castle, he had to leave.

The others could only watch helplessly as that player was dragged outside.

The lunch prepared by the old butler was quite lavish, and everyone sat at the large round table on the first floor, staring at the food without touching it first. They had lost the carefree attitude from when they first entered the castle and were now much more restrained.

It wasn’t until the old butler left after serving the food that the players finally relaxed. Locke sat in the main seat, and although his appearance was ghastly, he seemed much more approachable compared to the detachable old butler.

The players whispered quietly to those nearby, discussing the old butler’s identity.

“That old man couldn’t be a ghost, could he?”

“He’s probably an NPC, just a bit terrifying-looking. Maybe he’s not actually dangerous.”

“Not dangerous? Didn’t you see his head fall off earlier, and he was still talking? I think my sanity value probably dropped to zero.”

“I think there’s more to it than that. Look at the scars on the castle owner’s face. Maybe there’s some hidden main storyline involved.”

Locke kept his head lowered, and the players occasionally glanced at him while chatting with their companions. Earlier, when the butler was present, no one dared even breathe loudly. Now that the butler was gone, it was a good opportunity to ask Locke about certain matters.

This player felt that the clearance mission couldn’t be as simple as staying in the castle for three days. Perhaps something else would happen during those three days. The eerie butler, the scars on the castle owner’s body, and the players who vanished the previous night, each of these could potentially be a key to clearing the instance. Taking advantage of the old butler’s absence, he initiated a conversation and asked Locke about the numerous scars on his face.

Although the other players were also quite curious, they hadn’t asked about it yet. In the Interstellar Era, any scars or injuries could be healed through medical means, so they speculated that these remaining scars might have some hidden significance, likely related to the instance’s clearance mission.

After coming downstairs from the stairs, Locke hadn’t cried again, maintaining a stern expression like the old butler. Combined with the scars covering his face, he appeared quite intimidating.

“These are congenital,” Locke said softly, his eyes fixed on the food on the table.

Congenital?

How could they possibly be congenital?

One player suddenly had an epiphany, could the scars have some hidden meaning? Like forming a certain pattern or a map for clearing the instance? Or perhaps it was a curse, and their actual mission was to help the castle owner break the curse during this time?

“Were you born like this? Do these scars have some other meaning?” the player continued to ask.

Except for Zhou Zhou and Alvia, who knew that Locke and the old butler were higher-level players, the other players viewed them as NPCs within the instance. Thus, every NPC, along with their actions, words, and occurrences, could potentially be related to the clearance clues.

Locke raised his head and looked at the inquiring player with a serious expression, asking, “Do you really want to know?”

It sounded like there might indeed be some hidden significance, so the player immediately nodded, and the other players also perked up with interest.

Seeing everyone’s curiosity, Locke glanced towards Zhou Zhou again and, upon noticing his inquisitive gaze, thought for a moment before saying, “Very well, then.”

After speaking, he raised one hand towards his forehead, and everyone closely watched his movements.

On Locke’s forehead was a ghastly, centipede-like scar that ran across his entire forehead and extended to the back of his head. Although the back portion was obscured by his hair, the scar could still be faintly seen beneath it.

Locke combined his four fingers and placed them on his forehead, with his index finger resting on his temple.

Just as everyone wondered what he was about to do, Locke’s forehead split open along the location of the scar.

It opened up!!!

That scar encircling his entire forehead was like a closed box, and with a gentle lift, the skullcap opened, revealing a pitch-black void inside instead of a brain, similar to the cross-section of the old butler’s severed limb.

The previously noisy dining table fell into complete silence.

The players were all dumbstruck.