Chapter 1: Night of the Blood Moon (I)
Crash——
The dazzling white light finally dissipated after reaching a certain critical point.
As his body fell onto something soft, Nan Huan waited until he was completely accustomed to the dim light before opening his eyes again.
The circular arch design did not improve the already cramped space much.
The dark red curtains were drawn tightly, making this place, which was supposed to be used for rest, feel a bit more depressing.
Whether it is the iris-shaped candlestick or the pure copper ornaments, they are not Nanhuan’s taste.
The point is -
This is not Nanhuan’s home at all, but more like the boudoir of a noble lady in the Middle Ages.
Five minutes ago.
Nan Huan was preparing to take a bath in a bathroom which was several times larger than this bedroom.
As a result, just as she stepped into the bathtub, a white light suddenly flashed before her eyes. She only had time to grab a nightgown and found herself here when she opened her eyes.
She gathered her nightgown and stood up from what might have been someone else's bed.
As he moved, his arm froze unnaturally for a moment, and a hint of impatience finally crept into his originally calm brows.
The sleeves of her wine-red silk nightgown were turned up, revealing her fair skin which had been bruised in the panic just now, looking shocking.
Compared to the strange incident of him suddenly coming here, Nan Huan obviously hated the injuries on his body more.
After all, her health is not very good.
This room didn't look like a place with a medicine box, and it certainly didn't seem like the treatment I was getting after being kidnapped.
Nan Huan got out of bed without any hesitation.
The surroundings were extremely quiet, the kind of dead silence without a trace of human presence.
The white soles of the feet stepped on the carpet, creating a slight friction sound that was infinitely amplified.
Suddenly, Nan Huan, who had just stood up, seemed to have noticed something. He turned his head abruptly and looked sharply at the corner where the dressing table was.
Although the candlelight was very dim, there was no light source in the corner.
She still saw that in the originally empty corner, some black gas suddenly overflowed from the edge of the carpet, and the strands were entangled together, trying to extend outward with fangs and claws.
It seemed as if something that was originally sleeping was awakened by the movement in Nanhuan.
If any young man who is a staunch materialist in the 21st century saw the scene before him, he would be frightened and scream, even if he would not doubt whether he was dreaming.
But when Nan Huan saw the black air, his eyes just brightened up, and he didn't make any movement at all.
Even his slow breathing did not quicken; only the fingers hanging by his side moved unconsciously.
She just stood there and observed for a while, making sure that the black energy had no intention of attacking her for the time being.
He walked slowly towards the bedroom door.
Squeak——
The heavy wooden door was opened with a loud noise.
The damp smell that hit him in the face made Nan Huan curl his nose.
The long corridor has a copper ledge every few meters.
A cold wind blew past, and the candlelight flickered.
Nan Huan could barely see clearly that the room she was in was at the end of the corridor. There were other rooms of different sizes on both sides, which looked like bedrooms.
But at the other end of the corridor, the scene was quite different.
In addition to the brighter light, there were also shadowy voices coming from downstairs.
In the shadows under the ledge, the black air also crawled out ostentatiously.
They were like cold poisonous snakes, spitting their tongues at Nan Huan, as if they would pounce on her and tear her to pieces if she dared to take a step forward.
Nan Huan glanced at it indifferently, then continued walking forward on the carpet without any hesitation.
She walked leisurely down the corridor, looking at the other rooms.
I didn't realize what was happening, but I just felt that the carpet under my feet seemed to be getting softer and softer.
If a beast does not attack the moment it discovers its prey, it has already lost its advantage of being the first to strike.
Those things didn't attack me when they were in the bedroom, and now they are probably just bluffing.
It seems that the bet was right.
Nan Huan had already walked to the light on the other side of the corridor, but there was no look of relief on his face.
It seems that if you guess wrong and get attacked, it’s not a big deal.
After only walking a few steps, she was already slightly out of breath, and even the delicate skin on the soles of her feet was rubbed red and caused an uncomfortable sting.
Her chest rose and fell, and once her breathing became steady, she continued walking on the carpet, preparing to go downstairs.
There are Ionic columns at the entrance to the corridor on the second floor, several handmade carpets hanging on the wall at the corner, and a staircase made entirely of oak that can still be used after hundreds of years.
They are all genuine.
It's not a fake that a film crew could temporarily build, nor is it a place that any kidnapper could find.
She leaned on the handrail of the stairs and turned her head slightly to observe first.
As a result, he only moved a little, but suddenly felt that a pair of eyes had accurately captured him.
Nan Huan had no choice but to stand still. Before he could figure out the situation, he heard a noise.
It sounded like someone's hurried footsteps, and then most of the light above my head was blocked.
The next second, she was picked up sideways.
This posture, strength, and habitual movements all made Nan Huan stunned for a moment.
Thinking that she had reunited with the person who had disappeared for three months in this strange place, she hugged his neck, but when she looked up, she saw a cold silver mask.
"Miss, I'll carry you down."
Whether it was the confused eyes seen through the mask, the long silver hair falling off the shoulders, the androgynous voice, or the restrained and thoughtful movements, they were all different from the person Nan Huan remembered.
But maybe it was the familiar words that made her struggle suddenly stop, and the other party succeeded.
In just a short while, the other person had already carried her down several steps.
Perhaps because he did not sense any ill will from the other party, Nan Huan devoted his attention to pondering the name he addressed and the scenery on the first floor.
If this were at home, this name would not be unfamiliar to Nanhuan.
But except for the person who has disappeared for three months, no one else would approach him so unauthorizedly.
and--
In the cross-vaulted restaurant on the first floor, there were several people sitting on both sides of the long dining table.
At this moment, their eyes were all on Nan Huan, or rather, on the way the masked man was hugging them.
Without exception, there was an expression of obvious surprise on everyone's face, as if Nanhuan shouldn't be here at all.
As the masked man carried her down the stairs, a sinister voice came to Nan Huan's ears.
[Ding, the player account has been activated...
No contract detected, no contract detected...illegal registration...system adjustment...system adjustment...】
It wasn't the masked man's voice.
Nan Huan realized later that the sound came from his own mind and no one else could hear it.
But before she could study it in detail, the originally mechanical and cold voice suddenly got stuck after uttering a few words.
Zi——
Following a sharp high-frequency interference, Nan Huan discovered that the masked man who was holding her suddenly stopped.
The first floor, which was originally noisy, seemed to be suddenly muted.
Nan Huan raised his eyebrows and found that several people at the table, some turning their heads, some holding knives and forks, and some resting their chins with their hands, were all maintaining the same posture as a few seconds ago.
Even the candlelight on the dining table seemed to be frozen, not flickering at all.
——
In the game lobby outside the dungeon.
Various projection screens were densely packed with player codes, ranking levels, and the battle status of each dungeon.
A strange light fell on the faces of the players passing by.
"Huh? The player limit for this instance suddenly increased by one?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? It's impossible to change the limitations of a copy after it's already been opened..." The other person knocked on the former's head in disappointment and looked up at the screen.
"What the hell, what's going on? I remember that the number of people in this instance has always been limited to six, and it's only a D-rank?"
Before the two could guess any further, all the projection screens, as if they had agreed on it, flashed twice at the same time, and fell into darkness accompanied by the players' abrupt exclamations.
The entire city of Hell was silent.
——
The first moment Nan Huan realized something was wrong in the copy, he reached out and hugged the person who was holding him a little tighter.
She didn't want to fall down the stairs again before her injuries had healed.
Unexpectedly, although the masked man could not move, the hand holding Nan Huan was very strong.
Although she was sure that she was safe for the time being, she still struggled a little, trying to get out of the other person's arms first.
After all, the scene before her was indeed a bit weird, and she couldn't just sit there and wait to die.
But before she could move, she heard some noise above her head.
Nan Huan raised his head cautiously, and his face, which had been calm all night, finally showed a hint of surprise.
I saw a hole suddenly appear in the sky above the castle, and some pink heart-shaped objects squeezed in.
The thing was half the size of a palm, pink with a hint of transparency.
It is neither a balloon nor a liquid, but it can flow and seems to have life.
It slowly descended from Nanhuan's head and brushed across her body intimately.
Before it hits the ground, it will disappear, and then more pink will flow out from the torn hole.
It was like a pink heart-shaped rain that fell specially for Nanhuan.
After a while, Nan Huan felt his finger being rubbed.
The sleeve of her nightgown was lifted up out of thin air, and the other raindrops seemed to be summoned by something and slowly gathered together, forming a long and thin line of pink paint, which climbed up Nan Huan's wrist and onto her fair skin.
It's like a gentle hand painting on Nanhuan's body.
The winding water formed petals, which clustered together to become a flower, and at the end of the flower several vines extended out and climbed up along Nanhuan's arm.
Soon a pink vine appeared on her arm.
A golden light flashed, and the petals made of flowing water on the vines flashed with tiny lights, and then the pattern slowly faded until it disappeared completely.
This process only lasted for a few seconds. When Nan Huan looked at his arm again, he could no longer see anything.
It seemed that everything that happened just now was just an illusion.
[Ding, the player account has been activated. Welcome to "Infernal Affairs". Our goal is to become the most loyal believer of the Lord of Infernal Affairs! ]
[The game copy is loading...]
[Loading completed, opening the copy "Night of Blood Moon", the initial copy level is D]
Note: The level of this dungeon can fluctuate based on the player's exploration content.
[Player attributes loaded...]
As the voice in his mind began to flow smoothly again, Nan Huan found that time, which had been still, began to flow again.
No one discovered the secret of time being frozen just now.
Only her sleeves, which she had not yet put down, showed that everything that had just happened was not her imagination.
【Player name: Nan Huan
Title: Not yet unlocked
Health value: 0.1 (You are the Princess and the Pea. Twenty mattresses and a tiny pea under twenty eiderdowns will make your back ache, but your health value is not 0.1 of a human's)
Initial curiosity: 1 (You seem to be interested in only one thing right now, fortunately or unfortunately?)
Charm value: 101 (Charm is like love, elusive and unpredictable, but you seem to be very popular with some people.)
Mall: Unlocked
Rank: Unlocked
Skills: Unlocked
…
Comment: This kind of extreme data is unheard of, but you seem to have a good appetite! 】
It was not until the masked man put Nan Huan in the main seat at the long table that the reminder sound in her mind finally quieted down a little.
As she sat down, the curious looks from the others at the long table were mixed with malice and resentment.
However, Nan Huan did not care about it. Instead, he tried to communicate with the voice that had just spoken through his mind.
Nan Huan: Since you know that I am only interested in one thing right now, maybe you can help me find someone?
System: Players entering the game are requested to actively explore the contents of the dungeon. If players passively play the game and reach the upper limit time, they will receive a yellow card warning.
Hearing the system's answer that did not deny it, Nan Huan's lips curled up.
Nan Huan: You really can help me find someone... and based on your answer, I confirmed that the person I'm looking for is also in this game, thank you.
If the system had a human form, its face would probably be filled with surprise.
After all, it didn't expect that a new player, after entering the game, would face so much malice, and the first question he cared about would have nothing to do with the game at all, and he even got clues from his own words.
system:……
The system, fearing the possibility of making more mistakes by speaking too much, chose to remain silent this time, but Nan Huan still did not let it go.
Nan Huan: Actually, I wasn’t very sure just now, but your silence once again proves that I was right.
What you are facing is just an inhuman, straightforward system. Doesn't your conscience hurt when you use this trick on me?
system:……
Nan Huan: Okay, stop being angry. Didn't you ask me to play the game actively? You should give some tips to new players, right? Why did you start to slack off after criticizing me?
Looking at Nan Huan who was sitting in the main seat and remained unmoved by the vicious eyes of the old players, the system couldn't help but curse in its heart, and then it was confirmed that Nan Huan had no conscience at all.
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