Chapter 84, "The Little Taoist Priest": He too was turned into a "puppet." ...
The victim's eyeballs were lost just like that. "Ugh—" Someone vomited all over the ground. Combined with the smell of blood in the air, the terrifying male corpse on the top of the Treasure Pavilion, filled with the atmosphere of Chinese-style torture, made everyone's sanity drop wildly.
Even though everyone said that "dying" back to reality wasn't a big deal, seeing how miserable the fate of becoming cannon fodder was, no one was prepared at all. If this really happens, who would dare to open these boxes before Jane?
Jane Dieder's attention was not on the strange box.
What he truly cared about was the reasoning he'd just done—what exactly was he lacking by that 1%? His opponent was now dead. He clicked on the blind male corpse in mid-air, glanced at his score ratio with the opponent's, but seeing his cold expression, seemingly unconcerned even about such a gruesome death, others might suspect he'd deliberately let the game slide, throwing his unlucky teammate out to test the odds…
"What's in this box?! Did you hear that sound? It's that rustling sound like mice!" A male player burst into tears, burying his face in his hands. Everyone fell silent, instinctively afraid of the sound he described. A blond-haired boy, dressed in an oddly fitting knightly outfit, pointed at Jian Dieda, his face a mixture of anger and resentment as he blamed others.
"Hey host, does someone die every time there's a round of the unboxing game? Does that mean all the people before you become cannon fodder?"
Jane Dieda wasn't in the mood to explain to them. Everyone had the same probability of dying. In places they didn't know, he would only die a more tragic and pitiful death. However, since this person had just violated the rules and been eliminated, the system would quickly refresh the corpse scene, and then everyone would understand that this was just a game. But right now, he just wanted to know why that person would knowingly take the glowing item despite knowing he was going to die. At this moment, the pure black system panel finally displayed some of this person's real data.
Only he could see that this player was a gem collector in real life who gambled on stones overseas for many years and unknowingly accumulated tens of millions in debt. The interest compounded to an unimaginable figure. Glowing things were his weakness, as was his gambling addiction. The system brought him in knowing that he had to go through this ordeal. So the box from earlier would have fallen into his hands no matter what. This was the system's test of the players' humanity.
Jane Dieda understood everything and immediately sensed the company's desire to control them.
Or perhaps Death truly understands humanity so well, yet utterly despises their incorrigibility and habitual lying, including his own.
The narrator mentioned before that their company extradites various human souls burdened with sin and obsession. This person's obsession does indeed match his "cause of death," Jian Dieda remarked, looking at the panel.
Jian Dieda recounted the number of people, and the eight of them stood together to discuss the previous issue. Jian Dieda felt that this instance was related to illusions from the way it was entered, so many things might be 'fake'. For example, Bai Xiaosheng's candle could not be lit, so what they got might not be 'fire' and 'candle'.
Jane Diedda: "We all heard that person say something was glowing, but did you see the light coming from inside the box?"
Bai Xiaosheng stood there dumbfounded. No, there really wasn't. So everything in the room was just an illusion created by everyone. But how could he overcome this illusion?
As for himself, he couldn't tell if the candle was real or fake, because when he held it in his hand, all he saw was a candle.
As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on the fire-making implement in his palm, a look of utter bewilderment on his face. Everyone glanced at the photo of the deformed twin sisters, equally at a loss.
Suddenly, white powder fell down.
Bai Xiaosheng looked up and saw that the red silk threads hanging from the beams and roof of the Hu Liu house seemed to be getting denser. These threads were coming together, as if they were twisting the disabled limbs of a puppet into a fishing net, as if they were abusing the puppet's spirit.
It's really strange, the puppets' expressions were originally somewhat stiff and fearful, but now they also look pitiful... as if the souls of living people also live in their bodies.
The system began issuing the task: "Please remain quiet and begin submitting your answers in the second round as soon as possible. The time limit for this round remains the same."
The eight-player game has restarted, and today the usually quiet system quickly took away the first teammate's corpse.
However, the external effects of the hallucinations seemed to be amplified.
Jane Dieda is a person with strong mental resilience, but he felt that something was wrong with the environment, as if everyone's brains had been contaminated by some supernatural force.
For example, when the blond boy faced the same box as before, his emotion suddenly shifted from fear to focus. Jane Dieda, standing next to him, heard him mutter to himself, "What if... what if I'm the chosen one... Heh... Once I get the reward, I won't have to stay in my rented room eating instant noodles every day anymore, and I won't have to take out those loans anymore..."
Jane Dieda wanted to say something. He thought the blond boy's idea was good, but it was also setting a flag. Their game wasn't a charity. You're here dreaming of flying out the window. It's no different from telling your wife before going to the battlefield in ancient times that you'll get married when you come back... Yes, that sentence is basically a death declaration.
But Jian Dieda's hand was grabbed by a very strong hand first, and Zhong Ding spoke up first to ask him a few words of concern.
"Are you alright? No, your eyes are a little bloodshot." Zhong Ding held Jian Dieda's hand tightly, and when they touched, his fingertips were gently covered with a layer of warmth.
The atmosphere changed the moment their skin touched. Jane was fine, but he didn't push away any emotional expression from the man.
That is, the second loading occurred while the two were talking.
Everyone saw who the selected player was. The blond boy stared blankly at the "81%" on his screen, then clapped his hands excitedly and roared, "Damn it!!! I knew I was the genius!! Watch me take you bunch of noobs out, hahaha!!"
Jian Dieda: "..." He... came in second again?
If Zhong Ding hadn't been gripping his right hand so firmly, he would have had the urge to run up and knock the blond boy unconscious. But the game's rulebook forced them to stay put.
The blond boy, relying on his "skill," stood on the puppet show stage, his gaze completely captivated by the glittering treasure chest before him. Observant players also noticed a resemblance between his expression and that of the first gem merchant. Would their luck as gamblers be drastically different?
Besides the blond boy, there are now four players, two NPCs guiding the plot, and the host.
Unfortunately, even the god of spoilers seems to have figured out who the cannon fodder and the survivors are.
As Jane Dieda, utterly exhausted, stared intently at the blond boy, his hands were nearly crushed.
But he could still clearly hear the blond boy shout out in wild joy.
"It's meat!! My box contains braised pork, I can smell the aroma—it smells so good—I'm so hungry! I'm about to be killed by the smell of meat!"
The sound was like a starving ghost reincarnated. At the same time, two lines of red warning text appeared on Jian Dieda's panel, indicating the fate of yet another teammate.
Warning, warning, danger! No one is allowed to make noise during the game, and players are prohibited from consuming any food from the boxes.
—Because that might not be food.
At the same time, the lights went out.
Jane Dieda's body is still unable to move.
He heard a sound that was very close.
Slurp, slurp, slurp.
Jane was certain that it was a "mouse," but why did the "mouse" seem so close, and even its smell was so familiar?
It was impossible to tell whether the people inside the house were human or ghosts.
The "mouse" in the box then disappeared.
Jane found her voice and asked in the darkness, "Zhong Ding."
"Yes, I'm here." Zhong Ding's eerie voice had already seeped into Jian Dieda's very bones. This time, the gloomy man answered him with unusual calmness, a ghostly pale finger pressing a bead with tender affection. "What's wrong, kitty?"
Before they could get into a proper conversation, a heart-wrenching scream rang out from the darkness.
Jane had already guessed what was going on. He quickly located the source of the sound, but as the room returned to normal, the smell of blood returned to everyone's noses. Yes, the blond boy, whose death was utterly repulsive and manipulated by an unseen force, had also been turned into a "puppet" and died.
The ghost brutally... pulled out his tongue.
This is very unusual.
Everyone could tell that something was definitely wrong with the game. Their first thought was that the twin sisters were going to take revenge on them, but Bai Xiaosheng had been watching Jian Dieda from the very beginning.
Or rather, Bai Xiaosheng was observing Zhong Ding beside him with a pale face, as if looking at a mask on the person's face.
When asked about being spied on from behind by Bai Xiaosheng, Zhong Ding rolled his eyes but made no comment. He was as poised and elegant as a famous Peking Opera performer. He walked to the edge of the stage with his hands behind his back. A large hand, emerging from a red sleeve, took his cherished small hand and whispered, "Don't look. This kind of person is dirty. It's better to stay away."
Jane Dieda didn't speak to him: "..."
His hands were cold, and he didn't know whether he should say anything.
Zhong Ding covered his mouth, not angry at his lover's indifference, and chuckled as he grasped Jian Dieda's shoulder: "No way, what's wrong? I'm just worried about you."
But this time, their smiles didn't reach their hearts.
"Hey, Zhong Ding... why don't you stop gripping... Jian Burang's shoulder won't let go no matter what, he looks really bad." A player's voice approached them.
Zhong Ding's face fell instantly. He turned back to look at the man expressionlessly. The long-haired man hadn't said anything, yet he had clearly conveyed the meaning of "I want to kill someone."
The player suddenly felt a chill run down their spine and their heart sank. Normally, NPCs wouldn't attack any player, so what was going on with this Zhong Ding? Could it be that gay NPCs would indiscriminately get jealous of all their fellow sexes?
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