Everyone: “?”
“You just…” Huang Lu looked at the newcomer, revealing a rather complicated expression.
“As you can see.” Lin Huai raised his phone, “I just placed an order…”
“What the hell, how did you place an order!” Shamate roared, “Did you even listen to what we were saying??”
“I heard it.”
“Game starts tomorrow, there’s no need to buy items today.” Tang Wen added, “What do you mean? Are you looking for death?”
In front of everyone, Lin Huai shrugged: “I was a bit anxious and just wanted to find a ghost… no, a person, to try…”
“What are you trying?”
“Trying my own ideas…”
“You…”
“Forget it, don’t mind him.” Chu Tian suddenly said, “Newbies tend to be brave, they won’t turn back until they hit a wall. A little curiosity is normal.”
Everyone: …
“Am I right?”
He looked at Lin Huai, and seeing Lin Huai raise his eyes to him, he grinned: “I was the same back in the day.”
Everyone was speechless, and Huang Lu uneasily asked, “You bought a safe item, right?”
“Yeah.”
As Lin Huai spoke, he canceled the order for “Premium Funeral Garment: Bestow You with Eternal Peaceful Sleep.”
“Actually, I have another purpose, which is to test the complaint function here.” Lin Huai pointed at his phone, “There are only ten minutes left until midnight. If it doesn’t arrive, I’ll complain about it.” After saying that, he sighed, “It’s not that I’m being harsh; it was promised to be delivered today. If it’s off by an hour, a minute, or a second, it’s not today’s delivery. As the saying goes, the emperor and the commoners share the same punishment. If the delivery person, as a Game NPC, violates Game rules, I’ll call 12306…”
Everyone: …
“And then they should send a different delivery person.” Lin Huai continued, “I want to see how many delivery people this Game has, hmm.”
Chu Tian burst out laughing and walked over, putting his arm around Lin Huai’s shoulder.
“Game, well, as long as it doesn’t violate the rules, it’s fine to play around a bit.” Chu Tian patted Lin Huai’s shoulder a couple of times, “Little newbie, you’re quite brave.”
Lin Huai felt his shoulder ache from the patting and seriously suspected it was intentional. However, due to his status, he couldn’t express his frustration.
Chu Tian casually let go of him and sat back on the sofa. Noticing Lin Huai was staring at him, he looked up with a puzzled expression: “Why are you staring at me?”
Lin Huai, who had been secretly staring: … This person is really perceptive.
“……I wasn’t.” Lin Huai averted his gaze.
“Pfft.” Chu Tian said, “Don’t be shy.”
Lin Huai: “Huh?”
“I know I’m handsome.” Chu Tian narcissistically pinched his own handsome face, “It’s normal for someone of the same sex to fall for me at first sight, don’t be shy.”
Lin Huai: … I want to throw you in the trash.
Chu Tian: “Hahahahaha—ah!”
Chu Tian laughed so hard on the sofa that he nearly toppled over, and in a moment of carelessness, he bumped his head, covering it and howling in pain without any dignity. Lin Huai silently turned his head away.
… He suddenly thought this person was a bit silly.
Ye Xian watched the flamboyant scene unfold. He felt that staying with these two roommates any longer would drive him crazy. Just then, the time was almost up, and people had been returning to their rooms one after another to rest. The few of them left were the last to remain.
He took one last look at the two lunatics in the living room, sighed, and went back upstairs.
So, in the living room, only the reckless Lin Huai and Chu Tian remained. After the pain in his head and the other annoying crowd disappeared, Chu Tian became full of energy. He began rummaging through the living room for food.
Lin Huai, sitting on the sofa and watching him: …
“Why aren’t you going to sleep?” Lin Huai said somewhat disdainfully as Chu Tian nearly dove into the fridge.
“We programmers don’t have a regular sleep schedule.” Chu Tian rummaged through the fridge, “Wow, canned food, fruit, and milk… hey, where are the instant noodles?”
Lin Huai squinted: “I don’t think instant noodles would be kept in the fridge.”
“Oh, you’re right.” Chu Tian pulled out a cup of milk from the fridge, shook it in his hand as if confirming it was safe, then started drinking it, mumbling, “They really do give us food. Last time in that Game, tsk, opening the fridge was all human flesh and heads, nothing edible… This time the Game lets us buy things all day without paying, more generous than Ma Baba. Burp.”
Lin Huai: … He increasingly wanted to get rid of this person.
“Aren’t you afraid of ghosts?” Lin Huai deliberately asked him.
Chu Tian: “If I say yes, will the ghost spare me?”
Lin Huai: … You’re right, then let’s just deal with you now.
For some reason, Lin Huai always felt this person was strange and seemed to have an unusual focus on him. Although he didn’t understand the origin of this attention, his consistent character was to eliminate all unstable factors before anything happened.
… So.
He lowered his head, slightly reddening his eyes, and turned his hand over.
“So, let’s eat and drink, enjoy the moment.” Chu Tian said, “Speaking of which… there are only the two of us left on this floor.”
He stopped moving and looked at Lin Huai, who was lowering his head, ready to spring.
Lin Huai smiled too.
“So?”
“So, if you want to take advantage of me, you can do it now.” Chu Tian said, “Two lonely men, under the dark moon and high winds, I can see you’ve been staring at my face, are you interested in me?”
Lin Huai: …
Lin Huai’s mood was like a cat stuck in a drawer, unable to get in or out. Chu Tian walked towards him, looking at his reddened eyes, waved his hand and said, “Forget it, I won’t tease you anymore. Is it really that serious? You look like you’re about to cry from anger…”
Lin Huai: …
Chu Tian took the milk upstairs, waving goodbye to him as he left: “Hey, Lin Huai, if a ghost comes later…”
“What?”
“If a ghost comes, can you not die by the fridge?” Chu Tian said, “I still want to eat the food inside…”
Lin Huai: …
“Forget it, I shouldn’t have such high expectations of you.” Chu Tian shrugged, looking at Lin Huai with a relaxed demeanor, “You just keep waiting, I’m off.”
Lin Huai said, “Oh.”
Saying another word to this kind of person was a waste, Lin Huai decided to maintain a noble and aloof attitude.
“By the way,” Chu Tian said, pulling something out of his pocket, “this is for you.”
Saying that, he tossed a wrench to Lin Huai.
The wrench landed accurately in Lin Huai’s palm, like a three-point shot. As soon as Lin Huai touched the wrench, he tossed it aside as if it had burned him.
“What are you doing?!” he shouted.
“Oh, still looking down on Brother Chu’s stuff?” Chu Tian said playfully, “If a ghost comes, use this to knock it on the head, remember, one hit for one little friend.”
He pointed to the back of his head: “Hit here.”
After saying that, he yawned lazily and went back to his room.
Chu Tian also went upstairs. The living room was left with only Lin Huai. The sofa in the living room was large, the wrench was on one side, and he was on the other.
“What’s going on… is this a provocation? How could he give me something like this…” Lin Huai stared at the wrench on the sofa, like a cat staring at a cucumber, “I just feel like this thing has a very strong aura…”
He stared at the wrench, feeling that there was no one around, so he picked up a clothes hanger and poked it a little further away.
Perhaps it was nearing midnight, the electricity in the villa was somewhat unstable. Although there was no wind indoors, the chandelier still swayed with a creaking sound.
“Ding dong, your order is being delivered, the vengeful ghost delivery person is here to serve you with a smile.”
An aged prompt sound came from the phone, and Lin Huai glanced at the time.
11:59.
“So fast…” he sighed, unable to tell if he was happy or regretful.
The wall that originally faced the door turned blood red, the bulging bricks struggled and pulsated in the cement crevices, like veins under a muscle writhing. It contracted as if giving birth, and after a while, a black box was shoved through a 20X50cm opening.
At the moment the black box appeared, Lin Huai, who had been squatting at the door, suddenly sprang up.
He quickly reached out and firmly grabbed the icy wrist of the delivery person who had reached in through the opening.
“Tell me.” He said with red eyes, in a low voice, “That ghost…”
“Is it me?!”
He had waited so long just to question the NPC at this moment!
The ghostly hand was tightly grasped by him, struggling like a gust of wind, but could not move.
“Tell me!” Lin Huai licked his lips, sneering, “Otherwise, I’ll pull you in through this gap. Your bones will be crushed, and your body will turn into mush. Do you want to experience that?”
To get the truth, he didn’t hesitate to make a move that everyone would see as a brain-dead newbie act. Such a huge sacrifice was just to catch the delivery person and question them in a moment of solitude.
He gritted his teeth and began to apply more force.
“Wuwu… wuwu!”
The entire arm of the delivery person was pulled into the house, followed by a small part of the shoulder.
The black box fell to the ground with a “clang.”
“Ah!”
A scream suddenly came from outside the door, and at the same time, Lin Huai also fell to the ground with a thud.
He looked at the arm in his hand, stunned.
That delivery person… actually broke their own hand!
“Breaking off to survive?” Lin Huai held the bloodied ghost hand, “So impressive? Would rather die than answer my question?”
The delivery person fled in a hurry. Lin Huai, who wanted a peaceful life, sat on the floor, looking at the arm in a complicated manner.
After some thought, he casually put the arm in the fridge.
The delivery person would rather die than yield, and he couldn’t keep making things difficult for him for his own safety… Next, he had to think of other ways to find the real ghost.
Thinking this, he picked up the box.
He pulled out a black silk nightgown (funeral garment) that exuded a strong aura of death. The nightgown had a tag on it that read “Does not shrink.”
Does not shrink? Lin Huai shook the nightgown.
This nightgown, which had still been writhing in the box, became obedient in Lin Huai’s hands, looking just like a real nightgown, extremely docile.
“Let me guess, you’re made of water-absorbing material, right?” Lin Huai smiled coldly at it, “Does not shrink means it absorbs water? If someone else carries you, you could absorb them until there’s nothing left. Since you look decent, be honest with me. Did you hear me?”
The nightgown moved a few times on its own, as if nodding and bowing.
“Good.” Lin Huai stroked it, the silky texture making him reluctant to let go.
He suddenly felt that this Game was quite good. At least it gave him the opportunity to buy such interesting things… Of course, all of this was predicated on the fact that he wasn’t the one who needed to be killed.
After finishing with the nightgown, Lin Huai turned his head and saw the delivery person.
He was spider-like, clinging to the glass, his long body tilted at a 120-degree angle from the waist. Seeing Lin Huai turn his head, the delivery person opened his mouth, revealing a resentful expression.
“Roar—!” he howled in anger.
His right hand had been torn off by Lin Huai earlier, but at this moment, a new arm was already growing from the previously severed wound.
Lin Huai watched him for a while, then walked towards the glass.
“Um… should I return your hand to you?”
Delivery person: …
“Die…” Lin Huai heard his resentful voice, “Die!!”
Lin Huai: …
Not accepting a toast but demanding a penalty drink, the delivery person stared at the frail young man inside, revealing a twisted smile.
“Hahaha, hee hee hee…” he shook his shoulders, “You all… will die…”
He grinned widely, all the way to his ears. Lin Huai looked at his split face for a moment, then smiled as well.
“Tsk, a ghost that can’t even enter the house is still quite arrogant.” Lin Huai casually threw the clothes on the ground, stepping closer, “Scaring people by clinging to the glass, I haven’t done that in eight hundred years.”
As Lin Huai spoke, there was a hint of nostalgia in his tone.
He leaned closer to the delivery person, with only a sheet of glass between them. Lin Huai’s dark eyes stared at him, and after a while, he said, “Is this your smile service?”
Delivery person: …?
Lin Huai, behind the glass, laughed softly.
“Watch closely.” He tapped the glass with his finger, “This is a hundred percent smile.”
After saying this, he began to laugh. The laughter started from his plump cherry-pink lips, gradually spreading to the corners of his mouth. By the time it reached the corners, the smile slowly cracked open, tearing the fair skin into a hellish gash, revealing white teeth and shredded flesh inside.
Lin Huai was still laughing, the crack spreading along his cheek to the back of his head. After a while, his head split in half from the fissure, one half unable to bear the weight and tremblingly fell down, like an opened egg, revealing an interior that looked like a confused mixture of overcooked tomato and egg drop soup, with veins still pulsating.
Delivery person: ………………
Lin Huai extended his hands, putting the half of his head back in place, propping his chin with the blood-red scar that spanned half his face, looking at him: “Did you see clearly? This is a hundred percent smile. Do you want me to demonstrate it again?”
Delivery person: ……………
He silently crawled down from the glass. Lin Huai saw that he had accepted his apology and felt quite pleased.
Having just arrived, he had established a good social relationship with the ghosts here. Even though he hadn’t answered his question, Lin Huai was still very satisfied.
He took the hand from the fridge, threw it outside the door, and gently smoothed the wound.
In the end, he carried the nightgown and supported his head as he went upstairs.
Halfway up, he touched his head and took a deep breath, feeling a bit strained.
It had been a long time since he had exercised his head like this; he wasn’t quite used to it after suddenly laughing.
Lin Huai thought with some emotion, shaking the funeral garment in his hand, gently warning it: “Don’t cause any trouble later, I still want to keep playing.”
Funeral garment: I won’t move, I won’t move.
Getting a positive response, Lin Huai nimbly ran to his room, avoiding the ghost lying on the stairs waiting to push people, dodging the ghost on the lamp, and giving a warning glance to the ghost trying to make him hit the wall. Those ghosts seemed undeterred and wanted to come up and gang up on him. Lin Huai wasn’t someone who sought trouble or wanted to fight, so he could only give each of them a ghostly smile.
The few ghosts stopped in their tracks upon seeing his smile. Lin Huai thought, “Give the world a smile, and the world will smile back at you,” truly a famous saying. With the feeling of having done a good deed today, he pushed open the door.
Compared to the dangerous world outside, the bedroom was exceptionally calm. Perhaps due to the rules, that group of ghosts stopped causing trouble when they saw him enter the room. Instead, as soon as Lin Huai entered, he immediately felt a heavy drowsiness.
Could this be the Game’s protective mechanism? he thought.
Chu Tian, who had gone upstairs long ago, was surprisingly still awake. He sat on the carpet in the room, leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the ceiling.
He seemed to be in deep thought.
Seeing Lin Huai come in, Chu Tian turned his head and turned off the timer on his phone: “Ten minutes, not bad, faster than I expected.”
Lin Huai had a bold thought: “Were you waiting for me?”
“Yeah.” Chu Tian put his phone away. Perhaps due to the dim light, he no longer had the frivolous demeanor of the daytime, but instead had deep brows and bright eyes.
—Did he discover something?
Lin Huai narrowed his eyes.
The two of them stared at each other like this. Just as Lin Huai felt that this kind of gaze was very gay and wanted to look away, Chu Tian quietly stared at him, suddenly smiled: “Come a bit closer.”
“……What do you want?” Lin Huai said, glancing at Ye Xian on the bed, “There are other people in this room, do you want to…”
Chu Tian: …
Lin Huai rarely saw Chu Tian show a “speechless” expression. Then, he sighed, and when he looked up again, he was already wearing a bright smile.
“Speaking of which, I’ve always been very curious.”
Saying this, he stood up, step by step, closing in on Lin Huai.
“Oh? What are you curious about?” Lin Huai also smiled.
—And hid his long nails behind his back.
“Actually, you and I are the same kind of ‘people’, right?” Chu Tian continued. Perhaps due to the dim light creating a filter, his smile in the bedroom seemed a bit eerie.
“Oh?”
Lin Huai didn’t expect him to give such an answer. In an instant, the original scenario of “the two fighting in the bedroom” instantly transformed into a somewhat DEEPDARKFANTASY scene.
… Could it be that I misunderstood his meaning? Lin Huai suddenly felt even more terrified. Could this person want to…
“I’m very curious,” Chu Tian scratched his head, leaning closer to him, “Do you also lack wood in the five elements?”
Lin Huai: …
