Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Night Castle 11

Lan Ya came out of the room and walked towards the other three players.

“Can I join you in cleaning?” she asked with her head lowered.

One of the players looked behind Lan Ya and asked curiously, “Where are your companions?”

Lan Ya’s face turned slightly red, and she stuttered in front of the other players’ curious gazes, “They’re in the room, um, their relationship is… unusual, you know what I mean. I feel a bit awkward.”

The remaining players didn’t know what they imagined, but looked at Lan Ya with a hint of sympathy in their eyes, “I understand, it’s not good for a young lady to stay there.”

Having an extra person on their side meant added safety, so the players naturally welcomed her.

Lan Ya held a broom and casually swept the floor, slowly approaching the player they suspected.

Unlike the other two slacking players, this player was focused on wiping the walls. As Lan Ya approached closer and closer, they seemed to not notice her at all.

“Hello?” Lan Ya slowly walked behind them and greeted.

The player turned and nodded at Lan Ya, “Hello.”

They seemed very indifferent and turned back to continue wiping the walls after the greeting, showing no intention to continue the conversation.

Lan Ya pursed her lips, staring at their back, and continued with casual chat, “Do you think we can pass this stage successfully? We still don’t know what the ghosts in the castle look like. I’m very timid and hope we don’t encounter them.”

Regardless of whether the player responded, Lan Ya kept babbling behind them like a little tail, following wherever they cleaned.

The player seemed focused on cleaning, ignoring Lan Ya, but gradually moved away from the other two players’ line of sight towards the innermost part of the hallway, with Lan Ya innocently following.

After wiping the hallway walls clean, the player turned to Lan Ya helplessly, “Aren’t you going to find your teammates?”

“They said they’d call me if they’re done,” Lan Ya blinked.

This sentence seemed to imply a lot, and the player fell silent for a moment before pointing to the nearest room, “I’m going to clean inside, you…”

Before they could finish, Lan Ya immediately cut in, “I’ll clean with you.”

The player nodded without saying anything further and entered the room to continue cleaning.

They looked like an honest but socially awkward regular player.

Lan Ya followed without hesitation. This player seemed to have dropped all pretense. The butler clearly said to clean the room where Zhou Zhou was and the upstairs hallway, not the other rooms. Did they think she was stupid?

But then Lan Ya realized she had to act that way to make the player lower their guard.

With the door closed, Lan Ya put one hand in her pocket, clutching the levitation talisman Zhou Zhou gave her, and asked, “What should I do now?”

The other person smiled, their previously cold and indifferent expression turning sinister. They casually threw the rag onto the table, “You don’t need to do anything.”

As they spoke, their face suddenly began to morph, just like the person in Zhou Zhou’s room last night. Their previously well-defined features gradually became blurred until their whole face looked like a smooth egg.

Though she had mentally prepared, Lan Ya still gasped at the sight, barely having time to be afraid before instinctively grabbing a nearby chair. She couldn’t just lag behind in this instance anymore. Zhou Zhou and Al were still waiting for her, she had to fight back!

The trembling petite female player held the chair, her eyes almost brimming with fear. To the other person, this action was like bringing a twig against a car, utterly futile.

The player sneered and slowly approached. But unexpectedly, Lan Ya took the initiative to attack, charging at the formless being while holding the chair with both hands.

As the distance between them rapidly closed, just as the being was about to devour the incoming Lan Ya, it found itself unable to move, forced to watch helplessly as Lan Ya closed in…

When Zhou Zhou and Alvia entered, they only saw Lan Ya standing in the center of the room, panting heavily, while the floor around her was covered in indistinct red shards.

It was a gruesome scene.

Even the two players who came in with Zhou Zhou and Alvia gasped at the sight, looking at Lan Ya with a hint of admiration in their eyes.

This was a true warrior.

Seeing Zhou Zhou and Alvia, Lan Ya immediately dropped the chair, “That was scary.”

The shards on the floor gradually turned transparent. They had planned to rush in when Lan Ya called for help as a signal, but she never made a sound. By the time they heard the commotion in the room, Lan Ya had already resolved it alone.

“Lan Ya, you’re so awesome,” Zhou Zhou praised her.

Lan Ya smiled shyly, but her legs were still trembling, it was really terrifying.

After dealing with the unknown creature, everyone felt unsettled, for these things could apparently devour people and take on the appearance of players. If not for Zhou Zhou’s warning, they might have unknowingly interacted with the imposter until being eliminated before realizing who the real one was.

Now only five players remained, and tomorrow was the final deadline. They still needed to spend one more night here to successfully pass.

Aside from Zhou Zhou and Alvia, the other three were concerned about those beings coming for them at night. In the end, Zhou Zhou and another player provided some game items for self-defense, allowing the others to enter their rooms with peace of mind.

That night, strange things indeed appeared again in the rooms of Alvia and one of the players. The other player successfully fended off the monster using the items they had prepared earlier; Alvia didn’t use any items, as he was curious about what these things were, so he caught one and briefly “interrogated” it.

At the same time, Zhou Zhou, who was asleep, also heard faint noises coming from under his bed. The sounds were very soft, if not for his exceptional hearing, he might have ignored them.

When sleeping at night, Zhou Zhou had turned off the lights, leaving the room pitch black. He slowly sat up from the bed, scratched his face, and peered downwards under the bed.

A human head rolled out with a “gulu gulu” sound.

It was Locke’s head.

A person and a head stared at each other in the darkness.

On the third morning, when Zhou Zhou came out of the room, he saw Lan Ya waving at him.

Zhou Zhou: “What’s up?”

Lan Ya: “I heard someone crying in Al’s room last night, but it didn’t sound like Al, so I didn’t go check. Do you think strange things got into Al’s room too last night?”

“We’ll know if we ask.” When the butler knocked on Alvia’s room door, Zhou Zhou peeked inside curiously.

“What are you looking at?” Alvia blocked Zhou Zhou’s view, asking.

“Did they come last night? Are you okay?”

Alvia: “I’m fine, and I even got them to reveal their identities from interrogation. Want to hear?”

Zhou Zhou immediately nodded obediently: “Yes, I want to hear.”

It was from Alvia that they learned the attackers weren’t some strange non-humanoid NPCs, but players, the ones who had disappeared after running upstairs earlier. They weren’t eliminated, but had received another mission to eliminate the other players. Their shape-shifting ability was an advantage provided by the system. The more players they eliminated, the higher their final score would be.

Although they gained new abilities and seemed stronger overall than the players without that mission, their bodies were actually very fragile. Once suffering physical attacks, they would be eliminated.

It seemed the players who took the other mission had now all been eliminated.

“Al, how did you find out? I asked before, but didn’t get any answers.” Zhou Zhou marveled, did the player Al encountered happen to be more talkative?

Al smiled: “You want to know?”

Zhou Zhou nodded expectantly.

“It’s a secret.”

Zhou Zhou: “…Hmph, if you don’t want to say it, then don’t.”

Today, Locke also came down from upstairs, gazing at Zhou Zhou with teary eyes, looking very reluctant to part.

Zhou Zhou casually greeted Locke, agreeing to play together again later.

They had only met once, but why did it seem like they had known each other for a long time? Alvia looked at the two bidding farewell to each other reluctantly with suspicion.

Last night, Zhou Zhou had chatted with Locke all night. Although Locke’s appearance was a bit creepy, Zhou Zhou wasn’t afraid of such things, so they had a very pleasant conversation and became good friends in just one night.

Zhou Zhou even remembered Locke’s ID number and added him as a friend right after leaving.

As the two said their farewells, the mission panel finally showed some movement after being inactive for a while.

The three-day time limit was up, and the five of them had successfully passed.

Since they had passed, it was time to leave. The butler and Locke escorted the five to the entrance, but they focused mainly on bidding farewell to Zhou Zhou and Alvia, barely saying a word to the other players right in front of them, quite a double standard.

The two players exchanged a smile, not finding it an issue. For them, successfully passing was already very fortunate.

Lan Ya knew what she had done and felt very guilty facing the butler and Locke, wishing she could turn invisible instead of having to endure their indifferent attitude.

The group walked through the Dark Forest, with the plants and trees on both sides parting automatically as they passed, as if welcoming them.

Zhou Zhou led the way, eager to return.

Alvia followed closely behind. No matter how fast Zhou Zhou walked, it was an easy pace for Alvia to keep up with.

Lan Ya and the other two players brought up the rear with lamps, as they lacked night vision and could only walk at their own pace.

The two players chatted with Lan Ya. After witnessing her “bravery”, they both thought she must be a very bold and capable player, hoping to exchange contact info to team up for future missions.

Lan Ya smiled wryly and declined, she knew best how timid she really was and didn’t want to trouble those players.

The moment they exited the Dark Forest, the entire sky brightened from dark to light. After the dim environment of the instance for days, everyone felt uncomfortable facing the sudden sunlight.

Once they adjusted, it was time to part ways. The other two players logged off, while Lan Ya had originally planned to take them out for a meal, but Yue Ling had sent her many messages looking for her, so she could only agree to treat them another time.

Zhou Zhou was eager to return home, so he hastily bade Alvia farewell before teleporting back.

Zeus had been waiting at home, seeing the expectant Zhou Zhou rush in hurriedly.

Zeus beckoned smugly: “Zhou Zhou, come, I’ll take you to play in the real world.”