Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 93

Chapter 93: Night Castle 8

Everyone at the table stared at Locke in astonishment as he calmly lifted off his own cranium, too shocked for anyone to speak for a moment.

Afterwards, Locke calmly put his cranium back on, not forgetting to say, “This is how it’s done.”

He seemed unaware of the great impact his action had on those present. He only looked at Zhou Zhou and noticed that he had also widened his eyes, with obvious amazement and interest, as if very intrigued by this.

Locke immediately enthusiastically stretched out his wrists and the scars on his neck hidden by his clothes, indicating that he could remove any part with a scar.

Zhou Zhou listened attentively, for he had already noticed the wounds at the joints when he previously pieced together the old butler and Locke. Now that the other party explained, he immediately understood that any part with a scar could be freely detached.

It wasn’t just Zhou Zhou; the other players present also realized this. After all, if the old butler could be dismembered, it was only natural for Locke, the owner of the castle, to possess the same ability.

Natural, my ass!

Seeing someone lift off their cranium up close, the players felt a chill run down their spines. If it weren’t for the old butler’s severed head as a prelude, they would have run away by now.

The players looked at each other, the bitterness and horror evident in their eyes. But in order to clear the stage, they endured.

Lan Ya sat farthest from Locke. As soon as he raised his hand, she vaguely guessed what he was about to do and immediately lowered her head. If she didn’t see it, it didn’t exist!

Zhou Zhou originally wanted to discuss Locke’s unique ability with him, wondering if he could do the same. However, the players around him suddenly fell silent, and the entire hall was as quiet as a graveyard. Zhou Zhou looked around bewilderedly at the players, finding that everyone was staring intently at the food in front of them, as if desperate to start eating immediately.

The players had intended to ask Locke for clues, but now no one spoke. Even those who had previously taken the lead in talking to Locke lowered their heads, wanting to shrink and disappear.

Alvia, seated next to Zhou Zhou, glanced around and picked up his chopsticks.

Almost as soon as he did, the surrounding players also immediately picked up their chopsticks, eating like they hadn’t had a meal in ages. Soon, they began conversing again, but their voices were much softer than before, and no one spoke to Locke.

Even the players seated next to Locke trembled as they ate, not daring to look at him.

After an awkward and suffocating lunch, the players were assigned by the old butler to clean the entire castle, except for the top floor where Locke resided.

With less than ten players present, cleaning was quite a hassle.

The players never expected that playing a game would involve chores.

In the end, two or three people cleaned each floor. Zhou Zhou, Alvia, and Lan Ya cleaned the second floor, while others were on the first, third, and fourth floors. The old butler took Locke back to the spire, saying he would come to inspect their cleaning results before bed.

On the second floor, Zhou Zhou and Lan Ya were cleaning the hallway, while Alvia went into a room.

Lan Ya stood uneasily beside Zhou Zhou, holding a rag, her eyes darting around nervously. The dim hallway had lights spaced out, but the dark areas were more numerous. In such a gloomy, oppressive environment, if Zhou Zhou wasn’t by her side, she wouldn’t be able to stay there alone.

Suddenly, Lan Ya felt a chill. She rubbed her arms, gazing at the flickering lights above. Although there were no windows and no wind could enter, why did she suddenly feel cold?

Realizing something was amiss, Lan Ya immediately moved closer to Zhou Zhou, who was standing two meters away, bent over and diligently cleaning the floor. But no matter how many steps she took, Zhou Zhou remained two meters away from her.

“Zhou Zhou?” Lan Ya called out in a panic, breaking out in a cold sweat.

But Zhou Zhou continued focusing on cleaning, seeming to not have heard her voice.

In the silent hallway echoed the swishing sounds of Zhou Zhou sweeping, which Lan Ya now realized were strangely repetitive, with no pauses or variations.

What was going on?

Lan Ya bit her lip, standing frozen in horror as she looked around. The swishing sounds came from all directions, making it impossible to pinpoint their source. Remembering that Al was in a nearby room, Lan Ya slowly turned her head.

The hallway behind her stretched endlessly, with countless identical rooms lined up, making it impossible to tell which one Al was in.

Lan Ya realized with dread that she was the only one here, as if she had entered another dimension and couldn’t find her way back.

Panicking, Lan Ya dropped her rag and hurried back the way she came, wondering if retracing her steps could lead her out of this place.

Zhou Zhou held a broom, diligently sweeping the hallway. But the floor was spotless, and no matter how much he swept, not even a speck of dust came up. Staring at the immaculate floor, Zhou Zhou pondered if he should find something else to do.

Turning around, he realized Alvia and Lan Ya were gone. Just a moment ago, Lan Ya had said she was afraid and stood very close to him, but now she had disappeared.

“Lan Ya?” Zhou Zhou knew Lan Ya had stayed near him because of her fear, so her sudden disappearance without a sound puzzled him.

Receiving no response, Zhou Zhou walked a few steps back and saw someone standing at a doorway.

That was the room Al had entered. Although Al did not close the door when going in, it was now tightly shut, with a stranger standing outside.

Not exactly a stranger, though the person concealed themselves in darkness, Zhou Zhou recognized them at a glance as the player who had disappeared the previous night.

After the old butler explicitly stated they could not go out at night, this player and another had left their room. Afterwards, screams were heard outside, and in the morning, they were gone.

Zhou Zhou had assumed the player was eliminated, but now they stood unharmed at the doorway, giving him a slight smile upon noticing his approach.

Zhou Zhou approached with his broom, scrutinizing the player, who was neatly dressed with a gentle expression.

“How did you end up here?” Zhou Zhou asked.

“I’ve come to tell you something.”

Zhou Zhou looked at them curiously. “What is it?”

“There are ghosts in this castle. You should all leave quickly.”

“Ghosts?” Zhou Zhou recalled their screams from last night, then continued, “By ‘ghosts’, you can’t mean Locke and the old butler, can you? They’re not ghosts.”

Others may find the dismemberable butler and Locke eerie, but Zhou Zhou found their ability impressive. After all, being able to remove and reattach one’s limbs was no simple feat.

If Locke hadn’t said it was an innate ability, Zhou Zhou would want to try it himself.

The player shook their head. “No, not them. There are other things in the castle.”

Zhou Zhou: “Like what?”

Just as the player was about to speak, Alvia’s voice interrupted them.

“Zhou Zhou.”

The voice came from behind, and Zhou Zhou turned to see Alvia standing at the next room’s doorway, looking at him.

“What are you doing standing there?” he asked.

“I was talking to the player.” As Zhou Zhou spoke and turned his head, there was no one in front of him.

Alvia exited the room and approached Zhou Zhou from behind. “I only saw you standing at the doorway, talking to yourself.”

“But there was someone there, the player who disappeared last night,” Zhou Zhou explained to Alvia.

Alvia went and opened the door to that room. It was pitch black inside with no lights on, yet everything was visible to them. There was definitely no one there.

“I really did see someone.”

Alvia nodded, not doubting Zhou Zhou’s words. But why could only Zhou Zhou see the person? And the player from last night should have been eliminated, so why would they appear here? Could Zhou Zhou have seen the player’s ghost?

Zhou Zhou looked around the room, then turned to the room Alvia had exited. Only then did he realize this was not the room Al had entered, it was the next one. He had mistaken it at first glance.

Such an obvious error was unlike him, so something strange must be happening here.

The moment he realized there was an issue with the castle, Zhou Zhou suddenly turned to look around the hallway.

“Lan Ya is gone.”

He hurried past Al towards the last place he had seen Lan Ya. The surrounding lights flickered, and in the next moment, Lan Ya reappeared in the hallway.

She materialized in the exact spot where she had vanished, but now looked disheveled, her forehead drenched in sweat as she gasped for breath.

“Lan Ya, are you okay?” Zhou Zhou immediately went to her side.

Lan Ya didn’t know how long she had been running in the hallway. But when she saw Zhou Zhou and Al standing there, she realized she had finally returned to the real hallway.

“Just now, I was suddenly in another place. I could see you, but no matter what, I couldn’t reach you, so I just kept running,” Lan Ya explained incoherently, grabbing Zhou Zhou’s clothing the moment he approached, as if afraid he would disappear again.

“It’s okay, don’t be scared. You’re safe now, we’re right here with you,” Zhou Zhou comforted Lan Ya, hoping she would quickly recover. At the same time, he felt regretful. Knowing how afraid Lan Ya was, he should have immediately searched for her upon noticing her disappearance.

Zhou Zhou didn’t push her hand away, allowing Lan Ya to cling to him.

Zhou Zhou gestured to Alvia with his eyes, signaling him to say something reassuring to Lan Ya as well. Alvia blankly stared back at Zhou Zhou, seemingly not understanding his intent.

“It seems we’ve all encountered some inexplicable things. Al, did anything unusual happen on your end?” Seeing Alvia’s lack of response, Zhou Zhou could only continue speaking himself.

Alvia glanced at Lan Ya’s hand clutching Zhou Zhou’s clothes. Although there was no direct physical contact, it still felt unsightly to him.

“Nothing happened. I only heard your voice, so I came out to check.”

“What should we do now? Should we stay together and continue cleaning?” Lan Ya asked uneasily, not wanting to separate from her companions again.

Zhou Zhou looked at Alvia, proposing, “Why don’t we ask the other players if anything strange happened on their end?”

Alvia: “Good idea. If they also experienced irregularities, it means this castle has other issues, and those issues are likely related to whether we can clear the stage.”

The three went to the other floors, and sure enough, the other players had encountered similar situations, either seeing the disappeared players or having their companions suddenly vanish.

These abnormalities caused the players to panic. The information they received from the already-disappeared players was entirely consistent: there were other things in this castle.

Zhou Zhou’s conversation with them was interrupted by Alvia’s sudden appearance, but with the other players, those long-gone players left behind one more sentence:

“They will come for you at night.”