Chapter 5
“Hadn’t he already cleared every instance? Why was he still here after six years?!”
“Which instance did he enter this time?”
“The Monsters of the Town.”
“Thank goodness, thank goodness. It’s not my instance.”
“But what do we do this time? He killed his way through every instance before, and even let all the other town players from his batch coast their way through and clear them. Surely this time won’t go the same way?”
“We can only make it harder! First, we’ll apply to change the rules so he can’t harm the monstrosities.”
“Then the monstrosities in this instance...”
“Replace them! Put in new ones who don’t know Yin Xiu!”
“That’s the only way.”
After the rustling discussion died down, the instance officially began.
The player information on the big screen slowly disappeared. The darkness faded, and an image began to emerge.
The town square was packed with dark figures beneath the enormous projection. Even the Night Goddess was crouched there watching, looking displeased. Inside the town’s houses, countless players had given up on sleeping and gathered in front of their televisions to watch the instance’s live feed.
The instance had only just begun, but messages were already flying across the entire screen.
“Am I seeing things? The one who entered the instance is Yin Xiu??”
“It’s Yin Xiu. I live in the same alley as him. There was such a commotion just now, so something must have happened tonight.”
“This feels like a dream... I can actually see what Yin Xiu looks like inside an instance...”
“Someone once said he was really powerful. I thought they were just bragging. Now that he’s finally entered an instance, I want to see just how powerful he is in there.”
“I also think most of it was probably exaggerated, but there’s no question that he himself is abnormal.”
“The other town players taking part in this instance have woken up too. Let’s see how this one goes.”
“I’ve cleared this instance before. It’s a beginner survival instance, not that difficult.”
“Yin Xiu actually started with a beginner instance... So he really hadn’t entered any instances before, had he?”
“Didn’t you see the player information just now? Yin Xiu’s a big shot who’s cleared every instance.”
“Really???”
Amid the flood of messages, Yin Xiu slowly opened his eyes.
“I’m back in...” he muttered, sitting up in bed. He looked exhausted and took a few seconds to recover before looking around.
This seemed to be a woman’s room. He didn’t recognize it, but the instance’s introductory prompt rang in his mind:
“Instance theme: The Monsters of the Town.”
“A happy little girl has moved with her mother into the monster town where her grandmother lives. Her mother has to leave home for three days. In this town full of monsters, you must help the poor little girl, home alone, make it through those three days and wait for her mother to return.”
“There seem to be some dangers in her room. You must help her survive by following the note her mother left behind, and always be wary of the monstrosities around you.”
After the voice faded, Yin Xiu tried hard to recall anything about this instance, but it had been so long that his memories were too hazy to be of any help.
“Let’s go out and have a look first.” Muttering to himself, Yin Xiu got up and opened the door.
The room was sparsely furnished. Judging by the belongings, it held things for an adult woman and a child, which basically matched the characters described in the introductory prompt. Since the mother wasn’t home, there had to be a little girl in the house.
Yin Xiu didn’t rush to look for her. He wandered around the living room and noticed two notes on the table.
One was written in the familiar black lettering of the rules; the other was handwritten.
The black rules were the survival rules all players knew well.
[Instance Survival Rule One: Don’t let the little girl see the rules inside the instance.]
As Yin Xiu read this, the other door in the living room opened.
A little girl in a red dress, clutching a stuffed rabbit, peeked out of the room. She looked at Yin Xiu, confusion on her innocent, childish face. “Are you the person Mom found to look after me?”
“Mm,” Yin Xiu replied lazily, ignoring the little girl as he continued reading.
[Instance Survival Rule Two: You must not refuse any request the little girl makes aloud.]
“Big Brother.” The little girl in the red dress had somehow come to Yin Xiu’s side. She tugged at his clothes, smiling. “What are you reading? Is that the note Mom left for me? Can I see what she wrote?”
The instant she spoke, a piercing scream rang out from the room next door. It was so anguished it made one’s heart jolt.
Yin Xiu met the little girl’s gaze without changing expression. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the two notes in his hand. One contained the instance rules; the other really was a note from her mother, but it too contained rules for surviving at home.
Not letting her see the rules inside the instance meant he couldn’t let her see any of them, including her mother’s note.
But he also couldn’t refuse a request the little girl had made aloud...
Yin Xiu seemed to understand what had caused the scream from next door.
“Big Brother, just let me see it.” The little girl wore a strange smile as she innocently asked Yin Xiu for the rules in his hands.
Whether he gave them to her or not, it seemed like a choice that would end in death.
Now it wasn’t only Yin Xiu who fell silent; the players outside the screen did too.
“Did you see what just happened in the room next door?”
“I did... The little girl’s head turned into a monster’s, and she bit off all the limbs of the person who refused her.”
“Holy shit, my hands and feet are freezing. This instance is nothing like the one I went through before! Is it really this deadly right from the start?!”
“I remember this being a beginner instance. It wasn’t this difficult. What’s going on?”
“You call this a beginner instance? If I’d entered this when I was a beginner, I’d be just as dead as the player in the room next to Yin Xiu!”
“They’re caught between a rock and a hard place right from the start. The players in the other rooms have all frozen up. Now it’s down to Yin Xiu... Even he’ll probably die, right?”
Everyone’s gaze settled on Yin Xiu inside the instance.
He remained expressionless. After a few seconds of silence, he reached out and patted the little girl’s hair. Though he tried to be gentle, his cold expression made his quiet words sound anything but warm. “Don’t rush. I’ll let you see it when I’m done reading.”
“Mm...” The little girl looked conflicted.
After thinking for a few seconds, she reluctantly nodded. He wasn’t refusing to show her; he was just going to let her see it later. That didn’t count as a refusal.
“Good girl.” Yin Xiu placated her perfunctorily, then picked her up and set her on the sofa. “Sit here and play for a while.”
He leaned back on the living-room sofa and read the rules. The little girl sat obediently beside him, fiddling with her toy. The scene looked perfectly harmonious, with none of the danger from before.
The comments were surprised. “You can do that?”
“It’s not impossible, but he’s so calm... Why isn’t he scared?”
“Yeah, he’s back in the instance and looks like he’s right at home...”
“Maybe he has no idea that the little girl is a vicious monstrosity too.”
The comments filled with confused muttering. After watching Yin Xiu, then glancing at the bloody scene in the room next door, it was hard to believe the two were part of the same instance.
After calming the little girl down, Yin Xiu continued reading the note.
[Instance Survival Rules:
Three. Help the little girl follow her mother’s note.
Four. Don’t give the little girl any weapons.
Five. Don’t open the door to anyone outside, and keep the little girl’s existence a secret.
Six. Stay in your room at night. Don’t go into the living room, and don’t let it find you.
Seven. If you feel that something has entered your room, immediately call out loudly for your roommate to come find you. After that, the two of you must stay together until dawn.]
Yin Xiu tilted his head slightly. Setting aside what “it” in Rule Six referred to, Rule Seven mentioned a roommate, which meant he must have one, right?
The rules were absolute. Since the town’s rules included an offering to the Night Goddess, she had to exist. Since the instance rules said he had a roommate, he definitely had one.
As if answering Yin Xiu’s thoughts, another door in the living room suddenly clicked open, and someone he never expected walked out.