NFM Chapter 87

After speaking, he saw Lin Huai looking at him inexplicably: “Why should I stop it? I love watching humans fight. Releasing youthful energy is great.”

Fatty: …

“It’s fine, he’ll calm down after a while,” Lin Huai made a relaxed gesture and lay back on the bed, “Adolescent kids are like bamboo rats in a frying pan; they’ll quiet down after a while…”

“Bamboo rats in a frying pan are cooked!! They don’t calm down!!” Fatty was so anxious that cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

“Shh,” Lin Huai made a silencing gesture at him, “I bet Lu Xiaotian will stop arguing within three minutes.”

“Three minutes?” Fatty looked at Lu Xiaotian, who was yelling and challenging someone to a 1v1, and his face darkened, “Are you sure? I don’t think he will—”

“Want to bet on it?”

“Fine, I’ll bet,” Fatty said helplessly, “If I win, you have to mentor me.”

“Deal,” Lin Huai waved his hand and stuffed the pillow over his ears.

Two minutes later.

“Ponytail guy! Come out! Don’t hide over there! Come out 1v11v11v11v11v1—” the teenager shouted, “Let’s see who’s really holding the team back. We’re all intermediate-level players, so stop acting so tough. I’m the low-level prodigy, come out, come out, come out—”

Everyone: …

“Your bet is about to fail in one minute,” a sweet, pleasant voice suddenly sounded in Lin Huai’s ear.

He looked up and saw a girl with twin ponytails standing in the opposite room, her hands behind her back. She was quite slender, with light chestnut hair loosely tied, and a sunflower pinned to the right side of her head. Seeing Lin Huai’s gaze, she tilted her head and smiled sweetly.

“…” Lin Huai held up five fingers, “Twenty seconds left.”

“Five.”

The girl’s smile deepened.

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.” Lin Huai’s eyes turned red, “Stop.”

At that moment, Lu Xiaotian, who had been arguing, seemed to be choked by fate.

The teenager, who had been charging toward the glass, suddenly felt his body freeze. It was as if he had been plunged into an ice cellar, frozen like a student facing the reality of failing a core course. He opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a second word.

Then, he watched helplessly as his body, controlled by an invisible force, stepped back one by one until he stood beside Lin Huai.

On the other side of the glass, Lin Huai, who looked frail, made a “shh” gesture at him.

“Be good,” he said, leaning against the wall, “Still want to argue?”

The teenager blinked and nodded frantically.

“Good.”

The restraints on his body were released at that moment, and the next second, the teenager let out a scream even louder than his previous arguing.

“Ahhh—!” he shouted, “Brother Lin! You’re so cool!!”

“Hehe, I’m strong,” Lin Huai said.

“Where did you learn such a showy skill?!” the teenager continued excitedly, “I want to learn it, I want to learn it, I want to learn it—”

The ponytailed youth, who had been meditating, couldn’t help but open his eyes upon hearing the commotion from the glass room. After glancing at Lin Huai’s face, his expression turned cold.

—This person is not simple.

Finally, he stood up and spoke coldly to the other side, “What’s your name?”

Fatty immediately turned his head, “I’m Wang Xuan…”

“I wasn’t asking you,” the ponytailed man said coldly, “I was asking him.”

With that, he slightly raised his chin, looking at Lin Huai, who was sitting by the bed.

“Tell me your name,” he said.

Lin Huai twitched his eyebrow.

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first before asking for someone else’s name?” he quipped.

The ponytailed man paused, then coldly said, “My name is Zhao Jingtian.”

Lin Huai: “…My name is Aotian.”

The ponytailed man was silent for a moment, then said, “Zhao Jingtian is my real name.”

“Hehe, my apologies…” Lin Huai said weakly, “That name is indeed three times as powerful… I’m Lin Huai.”

“Lin Huai,” the ponytailed man stared at him intently, “From today on, we can consider ourselves acquainted through conflict…”

“The one who fought with you was clearly me!” the teenager jumped three feet high.

The ponytailed man completely ignored his protest and continued, “You, Lin Huai, have shown me your strength. In the upcoming instance, I hope we can get along well and complete the mission smoothly. But remember—” he said coldly, “If you hold the team back, I will abandon you immediately! I, Zhao Jingtian, won’t give anyone a second chance to make mistakes!”

Lin Huai: “…You…”

After saying this, Zhao Jingtian turned and went back to his bed without looking back, leaving Lin Huai and the other two dumbfounded. The teenager, still unwilling to give up, pressed against the glass and shouted, “Hey! Don’t treat me like a tool!”

“So this is what a strong person is like…” Lin Huai murmured, “A resolute and cold expression, a strong and robust body, camouflage and tactical vests, a decisive and sharp personality, a domineering and imposing aura, an unlimited black card, a wife in a red dress in his shadow, a wallet with no gold coins, a heart-driven personality, a habit of going to the rooftop to watch stars and eat apples, always striking a peculiar pose when appearing, and a name with two ‘Qiao’s…”

“None of what you just described fits him,” Fatty couldn’t help but comment.

Finally, the players in the corridor woke up. After the initial introductions, everyone found out that there were seven participants in this instance.

In the right corridor were Lin Huai, Fatty, and the round-faced teenager.

In the left corridor were Zhao Jingtian, the sunflower girl, a bespectacled man who had been completely unnoticeable during the earlier conflict and would likely only shiver when ghosts appeared, and a haughty, heavily made-up beauty.

The beauty was the last to wake up, her face still showing irritation from being woken up. She brushed her long hair and said in a slightly hoarse voice, “What kind of dump is this—”

“Alright, alright,” Fatty said, both amused and exasperated, “Beauty, why don’t you introduce yourself too?”

The beauty smiled charmingly, “Oh, alright. My surname is Hu, my name is Die. As for you all…”

She glanced at the team, casually passing over Fatty and the teenager’s faces, “Just call me by my full name.”

When her eyes fell on Lin Huai and Zhao Jingtian, Hu Die narrowed her eyes slightly. She crossed her legs and quickly changed her posture, saying to Zhao Jingtian, “Little brother, you can call me Die.”

Lin Huai felt a slight tingle on his scalp, while Zhao Jingtian raised his eyebrows and coldly scolded, “You’re being too rude!”

Hu Die: “Huh?”

“My father is the only one,” he said, “I, Zhao Jingtian, stand tall in this world and will never casually call anyone father.”

Fatty: …

“It seems everyone is awake,” a hoarse voice suddenly sounded in the middle of the corridor.

The voice sounded like a sweet child and also like an elderly man. Everyone turned to look and saw that in the dim corridor, a spotlight suddenly lit up!

The light shone down from the ceiling onto the velvet carpet. In the center of the carpet, a puppet wearing a blood-red top hat and a red suit bowed exaggeratedly to everyone.

In such a setting, the appearance of the puppet was undoubtedly eerie. The buzz-cut youth, who had been shouting, just glanced at it and was immediately intimidated by the thick aura of blood emanating from it.

The blood-red suit, the blood-red top hat, the blood-red threads, the figure of a youth… This puppet’s level was no less than any evil spirit he had seen in the low-level instance!

When the puppet raised its face, almost everyone took a step back, trembling with fear.

Its face was split in half. The lower part, below the nose, was a wooden mechanism, suspended by threads toward the sky. The upper part, above the nose, was the face of a human youth. However, both the pale, stiff skin and the lifeless black eyes exuded a thick aura of death.

Only Lin Huai let out a soft “Huh?” when he saw the puppet appear.

‘It looks familiar…’ he thought, “Have I seen it somewhere before?”

He searched every corner of his memory but found nothing.

The puppet’s limbs were all suspended by threads, the ends of which disappeared into the light, their destination unknown. Its wooden mouth also moved up and down under the control of the threads: “First of all, congratulations to all qualified individuals for obtaining the ticket to the intermediate trial instance. By passing this game, you will officially advance to the intermediate level—”

“The intermediate level is very different from the low-level instances you’ve seen before. The biggest difference is that the intermediate level has one or more Examiners,” it “said,” “The ‘test questions’ for each world will be issued by us. The content of the test questions will also be closely linked to the Examiner’s personality. And I am the Examiner of this trial instance—Freddy—”

Cheerful music played over the speakers. The puppet named Freddy took off its hat and bowed to everyone under the spotlight: “Unlike other Examiners, I love watching dramas, I love it very, very much—”

“Do you know what a good drama needs?” Freddy narrowed its eyes and smiled, “A good drama needs a director—”

It pointed at itself.

“A group of actors—”

It pointed at the players.

“And a grand stage, and countless—countless spectators—”

Its voice seemed to carry a mesmerizing passion and magic, echoing through the corridor, capable of stirring everyone’s emotions. The music from the speakers grew more intense, and it hummed softly, clapping its hands monotonously.

Clap, clap, clap clap clap…

At first, it was just sporadic claps, but soon, all the sounds came together. A wave of applause flooded the entire corridor!

“This—!!”

The bespectacled man collapsed to the ground, and Fatty swallowed hard, staring in disbelief at the scene before him.

All the exhibits—or prisoners—in every room in the corridor had stood up!

Countless blood-red threads hung from the ceiling, suspending their arms and hands. Whether standing or sitting, their hands were all in the same position, clapping under the control of the threads!

Clap clap.

Clap clap.

Clap clap.

The blood-red threads spread like a spider’s web across the entire corridor, resonating with the increasingly intense background music. The lights flickered between black and white, with the puppet as the center of the stage.

In this hellish scene, it looked at everyone and revealed an almost satisfied smile.

“Hehe… hehe…” the puppet laughed innocently, “Good, very good—”

After making a gesture to signal the end, it said, “This is everything a good drama needs. This drama will take place on the stage of ‘Greenhouse,’ oh, your favorite—a dystopian script. With you—struggling criminals as the actors, and your fate as the director. You might become heroes, but more likely, hehehe, you’ll become my puppets. Just like—the owner of this face. Hehehe, let me see… who among you looks more like my next face?”

It pointed to the upper half of its face.

With that, it walked toward the players in the transparent cells one by one. Everyone it looked at stepped back.

The heavily made-up woman, who had been so arrogant earlier, screamed when it looked at her. The bespectacled man closed his eyes and kept crossing himself, muttering under his breath. It glanced at their delicate faces but stopped in front of the sunflower girl, seemingly puzzled.

“Strange,” it said, “You look…”

After a while, it squeaked, “You… why is it you again!”

Freddy seemed to remember something it found extremely annoying and terrifying. It glared at the girl, spat, and strode away.

Lin Huai looked at the girl, who, as if reading his mind, also looked at him at that moment.

The next second, she put her finger to her lips, made a “shh” gesture, and gave a mysterious smile.

Freddy’s mood seemed to have plummeted, and even its wooden face showed a look of disgust. It walked past Fatty’s cell, its gloomy expression making Fatty stumble. Then, as it passed Lin Huai’s cell, it stopped again.

When it saw the young man in the room, Freddy’s face lit up with almost ecstatic joy.

“It’s you…” it said excitedly, “You’ve returned… returned…”

Lin Huai blinked, “Huh?”

Then, it looked left and right, and after confirming that no one could see the scene clearly, it took a small step back.

Next, it took off its hat and clumsily bowed to Lin Huai, moving its lips.

‘My father,’ it said.

“…You?” Lin Huai was shocked, “How dare you slander me out of thin air…”

Lin Huai was momentarily stunned by its actions. But Freddy, in the next moment, put its wooden finger to its lips, making a “shh” gesture. Then, it put its hat back on and continued striding proudly toward the center of the spotlight.

“Then, let the performance begin!” it said with great joy, waving its hand as if it had seen a delightful surprise.

A surprise it had been longing for.

Author’s Note: Lin Huai: It’s me.