The Monster - Chapter 3

And so, on the first day I entered the horror game, I gained a little follower.

But facts proved that one should never pick up a man of unknown origin.

Useful, my ass!

I was so foolish. I knew Jiang Yubai would be useless and unable to keep up with my pace, but I didn’t know he would be this useless.

Once the eight hours were up, the time instantly changed to night.

Going by the usual conventions of horror games, this was when the monsters would inevitably come out to move around.

Throughout the night, while I fought monsters in front, Jiang Yubai only knew how to hide behind me and shout encouragement.

“Sis! You’re amazing!

“Sis is so awesome! Hurry and kill these monsters!

“Ahhh! Sis, a monster is coming near me! I’m scared!

“Sis, save me, save me, save me!”

And when the monsters grew more numerous and I couldn’t beat them……

He ran in front, while I was responsible for covering his retreat.

I also didn’t know whether Jiang Yubai had some sort of monster-attracting constitution, but the number of monsters we ran into in one night was greater than the number other people encountered in ten instances.

This was truly exhausting.

But every time I wanted to leave on my own, I looked at Jiang Yubai’s trusting, admiring gaze, and somehow couldn’t bring myself to say it.

Sigh. Forget it, forget it.

But simple-minded me had no idea that the comments in the real world had already exploded.

[Does anyone else think there’s something strange about this Jiang Yubai?]

[Yeah. I always feel like those monsters are scared when they see him. They even seem especially careful when passing him, as if they’re afraid of making him angry.]

[Terrifying! When Wen Zhinian can’t see him, the way Jiang Yubai looks at those monsters is exactly like looking at corpses—cold and merciless. Where is there even the slightest trace of weakness?!]

[Just kidding: “My concubine is delicate and unable to care for herself.”]

[And Wen Zhinian is still foolishly being kept in the dark by him……]

I knew nothing about it.

Killing monsters consumed a great deal of energy. At night, we had to rest properly to face the next day’s game.

So Jiang Yubai and I hid together inside a large, sealed cabinet.

Perhaps because it was deep into the night, the temperature seemed to drop for no reason.

I looked at Jiang Yubai. He was wearing only a thin shirt.

He looked rather pitiful.

I felt a little sorry for him.

I took off my coat and draped it around both of us, pressing close beside him.

The person next to me stiffened and didn’t move at all.

Thinking that he disliked physical contact with other people, I said, “We’ll make do for one night. There aren’t any medicines in the game if you freeze yourself sick.

“You keep watch for the first half of the night, and I’ll keep watch for the second half. Wake me when it’s time.”

Before he could answer, I sank into a deep sleep.

Today had really been too tiring.

It was just that this sleep was extremely restless.

I dreamed that countless slippery tentacles were chasing me. I was already running as fast as I could, but I still couldn’t escape.

In the end, I was surrounded by innumerable tentacles. They wrapped tightly around my body, leaving me unable to breathe.

The dream was so real and frightening that it startled me awake.

After waking, I felt something wrapped tightly around my waist.

When I reached down, it was cold and slippery, with a texture very much like the tentacles in my dream.

Hmm?

Tentacles?!

I shot out of the cabinet, nervously pulled out my weapon, and found that there was nothing inside!

Looking out the window again, I saw that it was already morning.

Jiang Yubai had originally been drooping his head and nodding off like a pecking chick. My movement startled him awake, and he looked at me in alarm.

I jumped back into the cabinet. “This instance really is wrong!

“When I was sleeping, I felt something crawl onto me. It was wet, slippery, and cold. It was disgusting.

“If I run into that wretched thing again, I’ll chop it to pieces!”

At this, Jiang Yubai’s whole body shook, and he shuddered.

I scratched my head, puzzled. “What are you afraid of? I’m not going to chop you up.

“Why didn’t you wake me? Didn’t we divide up the time?”

Jiang Yubai lowered his eyes and said softly, “You were too tired last night, so I wanted to let you sleep a little longer.

“I’m sorry, Sis. I’m too much of a burden.”

You little brat, you’re being so doting. Don’t you value your life at all?!

But this was a horror game. People really could die.

I sighed. “Don’t do that next time. Getting enough sleep will help you face the game. I don’t want you to die for a reason like this.”

——

It was eight o’clock in the morning, and the system appeared on schedule.

[Ding! Good morning, players!

[Players still alive: 6.

[Congratulations on successfully surviving the first day. The game rules will now be announced.

[This is a role-playing instance. Your identities will be announced shortly.

[Special reminder: Survive in this instance for seven days to clear it.

[Have fun, everyone.]

Not long after the system disappeared, a middle-aged man in a white coat appeared in front of us.

He had an extremely kind and benevolent-looking face, with two red characters hanging on his forehead: DIRECTOR.

It seemed he was the NPC who would issue our tasks.

The identity I drew was doctor.

According to the task requirements, I had to see three patients every day.

It seemed the difficulty of this instance lay in the patients making things difficult for me.

Jiang Yubai had drawn an identity different from mine, so we had to complete our tasks separately.

Worried that Jiang Yubai might be scared, I turned around, intending to encourage him.

Unexpectedly, I met a pair of eyes as cold as a blade.

Jiang Yubai was staring coldly at the director, a mocking smile hanging from the corner of his mouth.

I froze.

When he noticed my gaze, he immediately hid his emotions and looked at me innocently.

For a moment, I thought I had seen wrong.

Was this the same delicate little flower I knew?

But everyone had secrets, and I didn’t want to pry too deeply.

After encouraging him a few times, I turned and went to the office to complete my task.

I had already finished reading the medical records I found yesterday, so I was fairly confident about today’s task.

But this was my first time entering a game, so it was hard not to feel nervous.

Would the patients maliciously make things difficult for me like in the infinite-flow novels I used to read, then use the rules to eat me?

As I let my imagination run wild, a pig-headed figure in a patient’s uniform walked in.

Yes, exactly—a patient whose face had been beaten black and blue until he looked like a pig’s head.

I was left speechless.

Like a machine, I asked the patient several questions. The malicious obstruction I had imagined never happened.

This patient looked even more timid than I was. Whatever I said, he nodded and answered submissively.

He was unbelievably obedient.

What was more, strangely enough, the next three patients were all the same.

With their cooperation, I completed my task at lightning speed.

I was utterly shocked.

Was an F-rank instance really this easy?