Chapter 14 Welcome Party (XIV)
Aisle area.
Why is the situation this round different from the last round? !
There was a deep sense of uneasiness in Chang Sen and Su Mingyun's eyes.
The monster's lazy tone, amplified by the microphone, echoed throughout the corridor, getting closer and closer to them.
"By the way, do you know why a hunter shot and killed a fox, but ended up dying himself?"
Chang Sen and Su Mingyun hid behind cardboard boxes with tense faces.
...What is this question? Do they have to answer it? Will they die if they don't answer it?
The next second, the monster asked and answered his own question.
“—Because that’s the reflex arc! Hahahahahaha!”
Chang Sen and Su Mingyun: "......?"
"Then do you know why if a person feels cold, it is best to squat in a corner?"
“—Because the wall is ninety degrees! Ahahahahahahahaha!”
Chang Sen and Su Mingyun were stunned.
Monster, are you telling a bad joke...?!
The sounds of clattering and footsteps gradually approached the cardboard box where they were.
Their backs straightened and their hearts nearly jumped out of their throats.
The monster actually started telling a collection of cold jokes for no apparent reason, one after another, all asking and answering himself. After he was done he burst into laughter, leaving the two men with a puzzled look.
The background music of the stage play coming from the backstage never stopped, and the sound of bells clanged and clattered.
Amid the sound, the monster's footsteps were getting closer and closer to them.
"Do you know how to be a cold person?"
“—Just put your pants in the refrigerator, idiot! Hahahahaha!”
"Then do you know what will happen if a vampire bites a passionate young man?"
"Of course I got burned in the mouth and it was so funny, hahahaha!"
As they were talking, suddenly, the footsteps changed direction and went in a farther direction.
Chang Sen and Su Mingyun were stunned and pricked up their ears.
Not only did the footsteps fade away, the monster even stopped telling jokes, and even the clattering sounds disappeared.
Is it because I lost interest because I couldn't find them?
Just at this moment, the sound of the stage play in the backstage also stopped, as if it had ended.
It was like divine help.
Chang Sen let out a breath, stood up, and motioned Su Mingyun to stay where she was while he went to find out more.
He was very careful, trying not to make any noise, and leaned forward, leaning out of the box.
A drop of liquid suddenly dripped from above onto his forehead.
water?
Chang Sen subconsciously raised his hand to touch it, then put it down and took a look.
This one glance made my breathing stop.
In the palm of his hand, there was a dark red...bloodstain.
Su Mingyun's hands and feet began to tremble. She stood up slightly and slowly raised her eyes to look above and behind them.
Chang Sen's hands and feet were also cold, and he raised his head stiffly little by little.
Above them, above the cardboard boxes.
Hong Huanyu stared down at them condescendingly.
No, I should say——
It was Hong Huanyu's head and his spine.
The long spine was attached to countless pieces of flesh, and the tail end was against the cardboard box, standing up like a snake, with residual blood dripping down. His head was hanging at the top of the spine, looking down at them in mid-air.
The facial skin was swollen and blue, the eyes were bloodshot, and the head maintained the look of its owner who had died with his eyes open. The mouth was open and the sound of a monster came out of its throat.
"Where are the people? Where did they go?!"
With a snap, the spine jumped forward against the cardboard, and the sticky meat fragments slapped against the cardboard, making a wet sound.
"Are you playing hide-and-seek with me?" The teeth of the head banged together vigorously. It kept talking and stared at them with its head tilted. "Hahahaha! Then I will definitely find you!"
"I will definitely find you!"
Su Mingyun completely froze there, unable to move.
Chang Sen stared at the scene blankly, his hands and feet trembling, and took a step back.
The next second, there was a loud bang.
It was the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath.
Chang Sen and Su Mingyun trembled and instantly opened their eyes wide in fear.
They all looked at Chang Sen's legs.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, someone shouted the lines "Charge", thousands of troops collided, war horses neighed, and slingshots hit the city gate, making a loud noise.
——The stage play is not over yet...?
Chang Sen opened his mouth, and the blood drained completely from his face.
Wrinkles gradually appeared on the fabric of his pants at his thighs, and blood silently seeped in.
His vision began to tilt to the right, but his legs remained standing still.
"Let me see where you are hiding!" The voice of the head was amplified by the microphone. It was so close and deafening. "Hide and seek is so fun, hahahaha!"
“Bang!”
"The gates are open!"
With the shout that pierced the sky, Su Mingyun covered his mouth with both hands, and Chang Sen fell to the side with a bang!
The two legs wrapped in trousers fell down together, forming an angle with Chang Sen's body that was impossible for a normal body. Thick blood quickly spread from under him.
Chang Sen gritted his teeth hard to hold back the cry of pain that was about to come out. He endured it so hard that veins popped out on his forehead, the whites of his eyes were filled with bloodshot, and his neck and face turned red.
Just then, footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Chang Sen's upper body had fallen out of the cardboard box. He was lying on the ground. He turned his head with a gasp when he heard the sound, and met the eyes of the black shadow who had returned to the area at some point and was standing quietly in the middle of the aisle.
The shadow bent down, with his hands behind his back.
It has a three-dimensional shape formed by black mist, like a black sculpture made of a special material.
He has a male face and a tall body. His upper body looks like he is wearing a shirt with a slightly open collar, and his lower body is a pair of loose casual pants.
It was like a male college student who was about to attend an important occasion and who had dressed up a little but still did not look very refined. His eyes and mouth were three white slits that curved into a crescent-shaped arc.
The mouth opened and closed.
The sound came from the mouth of the head on top of the cardboard box.
"Ah, I found it."
*
Chang Sen fell out of the cardboard box.
When Su Mingyun saw his eyes suddenly become fixed, she knew where his gaze was focused.
monster.
The monster is back.
But Chang Sen's legs were broken and he couldn't walk, what should he do? !
Su Mingyun was both frightened and anxious. She quickly realized that the play had not yet ended and her feet could not move, but as long as she did not move her feet, would it be okay...?
Thinking of this, she suppressed her fear and took a look at Hong Huanyu's head on the cardboard box.
The head's mouth opened and closed as it spoke, but it seemed to have no intention of attacking them.
I don't understand why, but this is an opportunity...
She took two long breaths, clenched her hands, and leaned forward cautiously.
The next second, the head turned and the cold gaze moved from Chang Sen to her.
Su Mingyun froze again.
"So you are here, strange guest, my audience."
The head stared at Su Mingyun and spoke in a click-clack manner.
"But why are you lying on the ground?"
“……!” Su Mingyun opened his eyes slightly wide.
These two sentences... were not said to her, but to Chang Sen!
She suddenly realized.
By the way, the monster had been using the head to speak, but the head had already discovered them when it jumped onto the cardboard box just now, but the monster seemed to have not noticed Chang Sen until he fell out!
And she was here too, the head was staring at her, but the monster seemed unaware of her existence?
Chang Sen, who was lying on the ground, also realized this. He endured the severe pain, gasped, turned his head slightly, and exchanged glances with Su Mingyun.
——This monster can only capture the player with its own eyes!
It was useless for the skull to discover Su Mingyun, because the monster did not see Su Mingyun with its own eyes!
It was not until this moment that they fully understood the rule of the aisle area!
really.
The head on the cardboard box turned its head to look at the monster in the middle of the aisle, but the monster did not react and just walked slowly towards Chang Sen.
He had no choice but to turn his head back and continue to look down at Su Mingyun grimly.
Su Mingyun was much bolder this time. She supported herself on the ground with her knees and hands, crawled over, grabbed Chang Sen's trouser leg and pulled it.
Chang Sen stopped her with his eyes.
Su Mingyun was extremely anxious - maybe if she dragged him out of the monster's sight, he could escape?
Chang Sen shook his head in despair - it was useless, the monster had already discovered him.
Tears welled up in Su Mingyun's eyes.
At this moment, the last sound of swords clashing in the backstage stage play rang out, and everything fell silent.
soon--
"Let's give a round of applause to everyone in the cosplay community!"
This show is finally over!
Chang Sen breathed a sigh of relief and signaled Su Mingyun to leave quickly. Su Mingyun shook her head with red eyes.
Chang Sen was shaking with pain, his eyes widened and bloodshot - go, go, go! !
The black shadow monster walked towards him step by step, and suddenly noticed his little action, narrowed his eyes and asked: "What are you looking at? Is there anyone here?"
It was getting closer and closer, and Chang Sen had to look away, his heart pounding against his chest.
The monster stopped in front of Chang Sen, bent over at 90 degrees, and swept his cold eyes towards the back of the cardboard box.
There was no one on the back of the carton.
“…”
It stood up and said, "Tsk, there's nothing."
Chang Sen closed his eyes and breathed heavily.
On the cardboard box, the head kept turning to look diagonally behind it, then silently turned back to look at the monster.
The monster completely ignored Chang Sen's hesitant gaze, squatted down, and lifted Chang Sen's chin with his hand.
Chang Sen looked into the creature's eyes at close range.
These were a pair of white eyes, empty inside, like two empty holes.
Fear spread throughout his limbs and the severe pain from his broken legs almost drove him crazy. The sticky blood flowing from his veins was rapidly cooling, trying to rob him of his body temperature.
Although he succeeded in being a hero, Chang Sen actually wanted to cry.
Ever since he saw the first boy die in the audience tonight, he had a strong premonition that he would have to die here.
After witnessing Hong Huanyu's death, he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
But Chang Sen has lived to this day, and he has always known that there are many things in this world that you cannot avoid facing just because you are afraid, and no one can do it for you just because you are afraid.
From the moment he was chosen by this copy game, he was doomed to not escape.
What if I can’t escape?
We can only find a way.
Just like when I was stumped by big science questions in the past, if there is an expert willing to teach me how to solve the problem, I will listen carefully and think carefully.
Mu Yu said that he was able to escape from the copy in the last round because something must have happened later when he was unaware. If they figure this out, perhaps they will be able to crack the copy.
Chang Sen also thought it made sense, so he tried hard to think about it, racking his brains.
He did remember some things, for example, when he was hiding behind a cover in fear, and the footsteps of the monster faded away and were almost inaudible, he actually heard some tearing sounds during the long and anxious wait.
But what is it?
If the monster was trying to separate the spine and flesh of Hong Huanyu that were broken in his body, then didn't Nasra's voice just sound once and then end? Could it be that it had been creating such a Hong Huanyu for such a long time?
Isn't it a monster? Is it necessary to go through so much trouble?
Now, with death imminent, more doubts appeared in his heart.
For example, why must the monster's voice come from Hong Huanyu's mouth?
Hong Huanyu broke the rules, and his legs and head fell off his body. His spine had been separated from his head long ago, so why did the monster insist on connecting it back to his body?
Chang Sen is a timid man and he is afraid of death, but at this moment, a strong anger and unwillingness suddenly arises in his heart.
——Why are you playing with them like this? What on earth did they do wrong? !
The monster stared at him, neither moving nor speaking.
Chang Sen was breathing rapidly. He stared at the monster without saying a word, waiting for it to speak.
He also thought it through. Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well hold on a little longer and buy some time. If he could get some clues out of this guy, then at least Su Mingyun would have a better chance of getting out alive!
The next second after this thought came into his mind, the monster tilted its head and opened its mouth as he wished.
On the cardboard box, the head made a sound.
"By the way—"
"Do you know who pissed off the elephant to death?"
Chang Sen was stunned.
The monster leaned back and laughed loudly: "It's the Meteorological Bureau, hahahaha!"
“Hahahahahaha!”
——
In an instant, veins on his neck popped out and Chang Sen's eyes were bloodshot.
At this time, you still want to tease him?!
He propped himself up with his hands: "You——"
With a snap, the spine jumped off the cardboard box.
The monster grabbed Hong Huanyu's head and held it in front of his mouth as if it were a microphone.
Chang Sen looked at this scene and suddenly froze.
The monster opened his mouth, and the microphone in his head emitted a voice: "Do you know why the emperor dared not go to the hospital for treatment?"
"Because he's afraid of drugging me, hahahaha!"
"A man went to have a tooth pulled, and the doctor asked him whether he wanted full or partial anesthesia. Guess what he answered?"
"He said he wants it slightly spicy, hahaha! Hahahahaha!"
The monster laughed wildly and shook the head in its hands, and the spine under the head was dragged on the ground.
This scene suddenly gave Chang Sen a strange sense of familiarity.
And so on and so forth.
Head, microphone.
The spine is connected to the skull, and connected to a microphone?
Holy shit, this is a wired microphone?!
As soon as this thought came to his mind, it was as if countless fragmented clues were connected together in his confused brain...
Chang Sen suddenly wondered why the monster didn't make any sound in the last round, but the sound came out of Hong Huanyu's mouth this time?
Is it because it must have this wired microphone to speak?
It can't live without this thing?
If the monster had been making this microphone for that long period of time following the last round, why would it, as a monster, go to so much trouble?
Is it because of its limited capabilities, or is it because this wired microphone is so important to it that it had to take so long to make?
Did it let him go as soon as it finished making the microphone? But why?
Is this microphone its obsession? Once it gets it, its obsession will come to an end temporarily?
But it's not a performer. Looking at the way it's dressed, it looks a bit serious yet not serious enough. It doesn't look like it's going to perform on stage, and the jokes it tells are... so bad...
Oh, I see.
Chang Sen asked blankly: "Do you want to do a talk show?"
The monster's wild laughter suddenly stopped.
Chang Sen felt it was ridiculous: "A collection of cold jokes is not a talk show."
The monster looked at him quietly.
Suddenly, the hand that was lifting his face tightened and gripped his throat.
A feeling of suffocation suddenly came over Chang Sen, who grabbed the monster's arms with both hands and struggled hard.
The monster bowed its head, and the skull bowed its head as well.
The two faces approached him together, magnified in his pupils.
"Why, you don't think it's funny?"
Boom.
His heart seemed to be about to break in the next second, and the feeling of impending death made Chang Sen dizzy.
"Answer my questions, my audience."
Damn, how should he answer?
The monster didn't have a microphone in the last round, so it may have been a bit more elaborate and took a long time.
But this time, if he answered wrongly, he was sure that his head and spine would be pulled out of his body in the next second!
Funny, or not?!
Which one is the answer?!
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
The monster loosened his grip slightly and put his ear close to listen.
Forget it, just pick one at random, you can't honestly say it's not funny, right? !
Chang Sen gritted his teeth and said hoarsely: "Okay, okay——"
Su Mingyun's roar came from more than ten meters away: "Senior, don't answer yet!"
The monster turned around suddenly.
Su Mingyun had already escaped to behind the cover on the other side of the aisle area, but for some reason he managed to crawl out at this moment.
She held a program in one hand and put her index finger against her temples with the other hand, and both hands were shaking, leaving afterimages.
Obviously she was very scared, but she thought of something. She had just listened to the conversation between Chang Sen and the monster, and connected it with everything that had happened so far. She not only understood what Chang Sen understood, but also thought of something else.
"Senior, if you answer wrong now, you will become the next microphone, and this instance will fail. It will end immediately like your last one! Give me three seconds!"
Chang Sen's pupils constricted.
That's right, if he is made into a microphone now, the copy will end in the next second. The successful production of the microphone is the sign of the termination of this copy.
Even though Mu Yu meant for them to save their lives first, they all knew that the remaining time might not be enough for them to start the third round of dungeons!
Even if it wasn't for himself, for everyone else, he had to delay as much as possible so that the feeling of dying would not kill him immediately.
But why didn't Su Mingyun take the opportunity to find clues? Don't bother with him, go find clues!
The monster lifted him up and stood up, walking towards Su Mingyun.
Su Mingyun could feel it, but she didn't look up.
As she backed away, she forced herself to focus on the "Xinlian Theater Rules of Use" on the program, muttering to herself as she shook her head.
"The rules of this dungeon don't give us any clues on how to answer the monster's question. Why?"
"…Because it's not a performer? Or because no matter how it answers, it's wrong? Funny and not funny are both wrong answers? If it says it's funny, will it say that the senior is pretending?!"
The monster paused, then took bigger steps. Chang Sen kept struggling in its hands.
"Then how should I answer? Calm down, calm down, Amitabha," Su Mingyun kept retreating, "Theater rules, theater rules, theater rules. When you encounter problems, recall the theater rules... Rule 4..."
"You can always applaud the performance. Five rounds of applause please..."
Su Mingyun raised her head abruptly: "He is not a performer, but the aisle area rules say -"
[If you see someone performing, please turn around and leave immediately, or hide. ]
Performance.
The behavior of monsters in this graded copy is clearly defined as "performance".
The monster's face became distorted in an instant, and Chang Sen suddenly came to his senses!
——Neither funny nor not funny is the correct answer. The only possible correct answer is——
He immediately released his hands that were holding the monster's arms and put his palms together.
Bang bang bang bang!
Without hesitation, he struck out five times in a row. The loud echoes resounded throughout the aisle, and then there was dead silence.
…
Gulu, Hong Huanyu's head and spine lost their supporting force, separated from each other and fell to the ground. His head rolled twice and froze.
The monster stared at Su Mingyun coldly, then disappeared like smoke, and a USB flash drive fell to the ground.
Su Mingyun and Chang Sen.
One is standing and the other is lying down.
The two looked at each other, breathing rapidly, cold sweat on their backs, and tears welling up in their eyes.
"Senior——"
Su Mingyun ran over crying, "Wuwuwu, senior, I just ran over to check. There was a laptop on a cardboard box in front. I thought the clue must be there. I was thinking that if I got the clue, I could save you, but there was no file on the desk!"
She was crying and tearing her clothes to try to bandage him.
Chang Sen handed her the USB drive and said with a weak breath: "I can do it myself, you go quickly, damn, it hurts so much."
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