Day 6 of the dungeon, 7:00 AM.
Xiao Cheng, having stayed up half the night, listlessly followed Fang He out of the room. After washing off the bloodstains, Fang He was once again the handsome and refined young master, looking refreshed and showing no trace of his previous disheveled state.
The digital humans are exchanging game experiences in the lobby on the first floor, and the loudest one is number 3.
"I drew the Ghost character! Guess who I killed? Number 6, of course! I've been fed up with his hypocritical behavior for a long time! Imagine him lying in a pool of blood, begging for mercy, hahaha! We'll never see that scoundrel again..."
"Good morning, what are you chatting about that makes you so happy?" Fang He seemed not to have heard what Number 3 said at all, and even greeted them with a smile.
Number 3's unfinished words were stuck in his throat, like a duck choking, and he asked blankly with his neck stiff, "Wait, shouldn't you be... dead?"
"No, not at all." Fang He maintained his smile. "How can you take death in a game seriously?"
Number 3 looked utterly devastated: "Ah...did I lose?"
"Stop worrying about such meaningless things." Number 2 blew a huge bubble, the inflated part almost covering her entire head.
As she spoke, she turned to look towards the elevator entrance: "Should we go and urge them? Why haven't they come down yet?"
them?
Looking at the ruins, Xiao Cheng felt a sense of foreboding rising in her heart.
Immediately afterwards, a ding sounded in the elevator, and the floor display started jumping again, as if someone had actually pressed a button upstairs.
Then there was another ding.
From the wreckage of the elevator, the three digital figures who had died slowly crawled out. They even retained the appearance they had when they died, especially Number 5, who dragged his muddy lower body and moved with difficulty using his twisted arms.
Xiao Cheng exclaimed from the bottom of her heart, "She's physically disabled but has a strong will!"
Fang He: "...Is this what you're focusing on?"
"Relax," Xiao Cheng patted his shoulder calmly. "How can you take death in a game seriously?"
Fang He found it hard to explain, but that apart from himself, no one else present thought the scene was strange.
Number 7 had a pen stuck in his throat, his voice was completely distorted, and blood gushed from his mouth as soon as he opened it. Yet, he was completely unaware of this, and even became unusually talkative: "Only two more days until the end, I'm really going to miss it."
“This will definitely be an unforgettable experience for us,” said Number 3.
Fang He and Xiao Cheng seemed out of place during the discussion, and Xiao Cheng couldn't help but sigh again, "Perverted, really perverted."
Fang He: "So the point is that it's perverted?"
“Of course not.” Xiao Cheng shook his head seriously. “The point is that you spread rumors about No. 1, and you insisted that she committed suicide because of love.”
Fang He: "..."
"It's easy to spread rumors. It doesn't matter if someone dies, as long as they're alive they can still talk." Xiao Cheng continued to shake his head. "Who knew that they could actually come back to life?"
Fang He: "..." In other words, it's utterly outrageous.
The discussion about digital humans was coming to an end, and Number 3 decided to go all out in the last two days, so everyone would have to participate in both games.
“It’s not a complete team if even one person is missing.” He emphasized meaningfully, turning to Xiao Cheng and Fang He.
The game they decided on tonight is "Knocking on the Door," and to seek thrills, they even chose the guardhouse as the game location.
With the death of the gecko-man, the digital humans' fear of the guardhouse seemed to vanish as well, and they even dared to enter openly and gather inside.
"We'll follow the numbers, and we mustn't get the rules wrong. The person going out knocks on the door three times, three times each time. Only after that can the next person in the next number open the door and come in. The people outside shouldn't make any noise. If they see something behind the person, the people inside should blow together to drive it away," Number 7 explained the rules carefully.
Xiao Cheng found it all exhausting to listen to and just wanted to tell him to shut up, bro. Besides, the rules were clearly flawed; how were a bunch of faceless digital beings supposed to blow air with their mouths?
But the rules won't change because of her ideas.
Number 1 went out first, closed the door, and knocked. Number 2 opened the door and let him in. The series of actions were completed in one go. If we ignore the fact that Number 1's neck was bent backward, the first round of the game can be said to have gone quite smoothly.
Then it was number 2 to number 5 in turn, until number 5 knocked on the door, and Fang He opened the door to let him in.
Xiao Cheng tensed up slightly as she watched Fang He close the door and leave.
Thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump.
Nine knocks sounded on the door, and Brother Number 7 stood quietly in front of it.
The door was not open.
Number 3 let out a sharp, sneer: "I don't want him in."
"There's no such rule in the game," player number 4 retorted.
“Then let him stay outside a little longer.” Number 3 put his arm around Number 7’s shoulder. “Just a little while won’t hurt, right? There’s nothing outside anyway.”
Before Number 7 could respond, he suddenly changed his tone, released his arm, and took two steps back: "Okay, okay, just kidding, the rules are important. Open the door and let him in."
The door opened, and Fang He walked in calmly, seemingly unconcerned that Number 3 was trying to lock him out. Number 7's procedure took less than half a minute, and then Xiao Cheng opened the door and walked outside.
The hall was pitch black, and as the door closed, the last glimmer of light vanished. The darkness was so intense, as if something lurked within it. Xiao Cheng took a deep breath and began to knock on the door.
Thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump.
The door was opened.
She glanced at Fang He's stern expression in the guardhouse and sighed resignedly. Behind her came the sticky, smacking sound of footsteps, accompanied by an indescribable stench.
The digital figures all started blowing forcefully: "Whoosh—whoosh—"
Looking at their cheeks puffed out with all their might, Xiao Cheng thought angrily, "Fine, it's me again."
Fang He gestured for her to come in quickly, but the people in the crowd, intentionally or unintentionally, blocked the doorway, almost completely blocking her way.
Fortunately, blowing on it really worked. The thing gradually slowed down and finally stopped less than a step away from Xiao Cheng, panting heavily.
The warm, moist breath brushed against the back of Xiao Cheng's neck, giving her goosebumps. She took a deep breath and calmly continued walking forward.
Just as she was about to step into the guardhouse, the digital figures stopped blowing, and the thing behind her suddenly went berserk, roaring as it lunged at her.
In the nick of time, Fang He shoved aside the number 7 guy blocking the front, grabbed Xiao Cheng's wrist, and dragged her into the house. The door slammed shut, and the thing, unable to dodge, slammed heavily against the door panel.
Thick, dark red blood seeped in through the crack in the door. The monster scratched at the door with its claws, seemingly realizing it couldn't get in, and made a strange, gurgling sound in disappointment before retreating step by step into the darkness.
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