Tonight, I’ll Tie You Up in the Living Room

The live comments buzzed with unease, curious about the strict rules laid down by the town and the mystery surrounding Yin Xiu himself.

An existence that prompted so many warnings in the town’s notices had to be dangerous in his own right.

As anguished sobs came from next door, Yin Xiu was taking the bathroom mirror off the wall. He tilted his head toward the neighboring room in confusion, then continued wrapping the mirror in cloth and placing it atop a cabinet in his room, well out of the little girl’s reach.

He checked the entire house. There were mirrors only in the bathroom and the room where Yin Xiu had woken up—one for washing up, the other for putting on makeup.

The room where he’d woken up was probably the mother’s room mentioned in the information. The little girl had her own room, while the room where the man named Li Mo had woken up was probably a guest room. There was nothing in it associated with a particular gender, just a few basic items for visitors. There was no sign of a father in the house, and even the photos showed only the mother and daughter, so he was unlikely to appear.

After removing the mirror, one of the things that could violate the rules, Yin Xiu checked the refrigerator. It was indeed full of food—vegetables and fruit, enough to last them three days.

So far, completing the first stage of the little girl’s note task seemed quite easy. As long as they were careful and didn’t court death, they could probably survive all three days. The next stage was another matter.

“What are you doing?” Li Mo silently appeared in the kitchen doorway, watching Yin Xiu chop vegetables.

Yin Xiu had his sleeves rolled up and wore a pink apron as he stood in the kitchen, swiftly and deftly wielding a cleaver to chop the vegetables on the cutting board. His movements were remarkably practiced.

“Cooking.” Yin Xiu answered calmly and pointed at the calendar on the wall. “It’s the first day, and she hasn’t eaten yet.”

Li Mo glanced back at the calendar, walked over, and flipped to the next page. Today was the 17th, and there was a circle drawn around the 19th. That was probably the day the mother would return.

Three days: the 17th, 18th, and 19th.

The mother’s note said the girl had to eat every day. Today was the first day, so she had to eat.

Li Mo narrowed his eyes and looked out the window. It was dusk in the instance. If they didn’t realize this before nightfall, they might be judged to have broken a rule and die as soon as midnight struck.

“Holy crap, I didn’t even notice!”

The players who’d been alerted by the comments were shocked. “I was so focused on the monstrosities and stuff that I completely forgot to check the date.”

“That’s how this instance is set up. As soon as players enter, they look for the rules and memorize them. Before they’ve even finished memorizing them, a woman who’s a monstrosity comes knocking on every door.”

“After being scared out of their wits, players have to eliminate the obvious ways the rules can get them killed. By the time they’ve calmed down, it’s almost dark. They instinctively focus on the rules and dangers that apply after nightfall, and forget about the rule to eat—something so ordinary and easy to overlook.”

“This instance is so devious!”

“Luckily, Yin Xiu’s in this instance. If players in the other towns see him cooking, they should be able to figure it out and warn the players in their own towns.”

“There are probably a lot of people watching Yin Xiu’s stream now. He’s a guiding light in the instance.”

“I’m already taking notes. There’s so much to learn.”

“Once the players meet up and the comments are shared, I want to see what the other towns across the planes have to say.”

“I have a feeling there’s going to be a wave of people praising Yin Xiu.”

“Of course they’ll praise him. And that pink apron looks pretty good tied around his waist...”

“I bet you’re thinking: malewife.”

Amid the lively comments, Yin Xiu had already finished making several dishes.

He took what looked like the lunchbox the little girl brought to school from the refrigerator, filled each compartment with food, added rice, then put on the lid and headed for her room.

Before leaving, Yin Xiu glanced back at Li Mo, who was standing in the kitchen doorway. Ever since Yin Xiu had finished cooking, Li Mo’s gaze had been fixed on the food. Li Mo spent ninety percent of their time together looking at Yin Xiu, so seeing him suddenly stare at the food gave Yin Xiu a bad feeling.

“Don’t sneak a bite. I don’t want to cook a second time. If I come out and find the food gone, I’ll tie you up in the living room tonight.” Yin Xiu’s gaze darkened as he issued the threat in all seriousness.

Li Mo smiled faintly and nodded. His hands, crossed in front of him and itching to move, immediately settled down.

Yin Xiu turned, opened the little girl’s door, and went inside.

It was a very simple child’s bedroom. A small bed was made up with pink sheets, and the wall above it was covered in cute stickers. Toys were scattered across the carpet, and a few well-worn storybooks with plenty of signs of use sat on a bookshelf nearby.

When Yin Xiu came in, the little girl, who was sitting on the carpet playing with her toys, immediately tensed up. She rubbed her hands over the rabbit, leaving bloody handprints all over the stuffed toy.

“It’s time to eat.” Yin Xiu set the lunchbox on the room’s only desk. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed blood smeared across the carpet around the little girl. She herself was covered in quite a bit of it, too.

“Oh.” At his words, the little girl obediently hugged her toy, stood up from the carpet, and walked over to the desk.

“Why are you so dirty?” Yin Xiu looked her up and down. The blood on her dress had more or less dried, but blood was stuck to her clean, pale skin. It was creepy to look at.

“Do you mean the blood?” The little girl smiled innocently. “I got it from other people.”

The other people she meant were probably players in the other rooms. Yin Xiu could guess what had happened: while the players were in separate spaces, each room had a little girl in it, but they were all the same girl.

“Wait a moment.” Seeing the little girl about to sit down and eat, Yin Xiu hurriedly stopped her, turned, and went out.

The little girl stood there in confusion. After a while, Yin Xiu came back with a damp towel.

“Hold out your hands.”

“Oh.” The little girl obediently held out her small hands.

Yin Xiu used the towel to wipe the blood off her hands, then wiped her little face as well. “You’re supposed to wash your hands before eating. Didn’t your mother teach you that?”

The little girl paused. “She did...”

“Be more careful next time.” After wiping the blood off her, Yin Xiu folded the towel, now soaked with bloody water, and looked at her impassively. “I’ll find you a new dress later. Take a bath before bed.”

“Okay.” The little girl nodded hazily and sat down at the desk to eat.

She turned and saw that Yin Xiu still hadn’t left. He was standing rigidly beside her, watching her. “Why is Big Brother watching me? Do you want some too?”

“I’m not eating.” Yin Xiu looked perfectly calm. “But I have to watch you eat.”

The rules said she had to eat, but who could guarantee that if he stepped outside, the kid wouldn’t secretly dump the food and pretend she’d eaten?

Seeing that Yin Xiu didn’t trust her, the little girl scrunched up her face and huffed. Then she picked up her chopsticks and ate, muttering as she brought the food to her mouth, “Bad Big Brother. I’ve decided I hate you.”

As soon as she took a bite, her eyes curved into crescents and her face lit up with happiness. “It’s delicious! Bad Big Brother, I’ve decided I like you after all!”