Arc 2: Luxury Cruise
Chapter 36
Xu Ziyue didn"t want to believe in the little girls" words.
Because when he interacted with Wu Wenshan, Wu Wenshan had always been very friendly. Even despite knowing about Xu Ziyue"s relationship with Austin, and that he could get the stamps safely because of this, he didn"t ask Xu Ziyue for help.
He even specifically went out of his way to tell him some things after finding out about his relationship with Austin. If not for Wu Wenshan, Xu Ziyue wouldn"t have known about the issues that could possibly arise with NPCs……Afterall, none of the other players had told him about these things.
But Xu Ziyue knew that even if that was the case, it didn"t mean that he should let down his guard around Wu Wenshan.
He shouldn"t completely believe in Wu Wenshan and he also shouldn"t completely believe in this little girl.
Although Xu Ziyue"s memory wasn"t particularly good, it wasn"t bad to the point that he would forget about the elevator incident so quickly.
What was put before Xu Ziyue was a multiple-choice question. To tell Wu Wenshan or not to tell? If the girl was lying, then Wu Wenshan is innocent. If she was telling the truth…….
But why did Wu Wenshan want to hurt him? And how was he going to hurt him?
Xu Ziyue felt that he and Wu Wenshan had no conflict of interest.
Wu Wenshan was startled by Xu Ziyue"s actions just now and no longer wanted to hang around any longer.
Xu Ziyue walked him over to the door and took advantage of the moment Wu Wenshan had his back turned to grab behind his back……..Unexpectedly, he managed to grab onto something invisible.
Only after Wu Wenshan walked a fair distance away did that object reveal itself to be the back collar of the little child.
Xu Ziyue was a little frightened. Fear usually stems from fear of the unknown. Before he entered the game world, he firmly believed that the world was scientific, but he was still scared of things like this.
For example, a pitch-black cla.s.sroom, the sound of water dripping from closed faucets or the sound of high heels clacking in an empty alleyway………. It would always make one uncontrollably imagine other things.
Xu Ziyue did his best to hypnotise himself so that he wouldn"t collapse onto his knees before this child.
He then bent down and tried to speak as calmly as possible: "Can you tell me how he wants to hurt me?"
He originally only just wanted to see if he could talk to her alone, so he reached out to grab her earlier. Now that he"s actually facing the little girl, he felt that she looked a little familiar.
But he couldn"t remember where he may have met her.
The young girl stood there expressionlessly. It was as if the one who warned Xu Ziyue earlier wasn"t her.
She said: "Why should I tell you?"
Xu Ziyue was almost moved to tears. Finally, a spiritual girl he can communicate with normally!
But he couldn"t think of anything that could entice the child. After frowning in thought for a long time, he asked hesitantly: "How about I give you a candy in exchange?"
The little girl lowered her head and looked up at Xi Ziyue. Like this, she looked like she was rolling her eyes. Her next words were no different. "You can get as many as you want at the restaurant."
Xu Ziyue: "…………."
Xu Ziyue thought about it again and could only ask: "Then what do you want in exchange?"
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The girl was silent. She looked at Xu Ziyue until he felt the hair on his back stand. She then said: "I don"t want to be in the playground. If you can convince the owner not to send me back, I"ll tell you."
"Not to send you back?"
Xu Ziyue grasped onto the key points in the little girl"s words. One was "owner" and the other was "sending back."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Something"s not right. You first asked someone to take out from the playground and later, because that person broke his promise, you came out to kill him……..Isn"t that right?"
The little girl nodded.
Xu Ziyue was even more confused: "………Then how did you come out?"
The little girl hooked up her lips. She smiled very brightly, "Because as long as someone cannot take me out, I can come out to enact revenge. That is the rule."
Xu Ziyue"s heart skipped a beat, "……Whose rule is it?"
"I don"t know." She returned to her blank expression, "It has always been like this."
Xu Ziyue asked: "Then do you need to go back now?"
"Usually I can stay outside for a while."
"But why not now?"
"Because of that man just now."
The little girl was tasked to send Wu Wenshan over to the playground and then protect Wu Wenshan……..So even the chance to relax was gone.
But Xu Ziyue didn"t know this.
"What does this have to do with Wu Wenshan?" What did Wu Wenshan do to make the girl return to the playground earlier than needed?
There was a pattern with the girls" behaviour. Xu Ziyue had basically figured it out.
One of the obstacles to overcome in the children"s playground was likely the children in there. Xu Ziyue now remembered why he found the girl familiar. It was because when he was completing the activity, she was sitting together with the other children. They played with various toys, but their eyes were constantly watching him. At that time Xu Ziyue found it a little strange but he wanted to finish the activity as soon as possible so he didn"t pay them any heed.
Those children were probably waiting for players to enter. After entering, they would think of ways to make the players agree to take them out. As for what the result was if they were successful, Xu Ziyue didn"t know but he remembered what the male player in the elevator had said. He had said that the NPC at the entrance would stop them so it wouldn"t be an easy feat.
If the player agrees and they fail to take the child out, the child could leave the playground to enact revenge. The consequences would probably be similar to what happened to the male player in the elevator……..
And then the child would have a chance to take a break outside for a certain period. Afterwards, because of the systems restrictions, the child would need to return to the playground.
Now, there was an owner who had instructed the little girl to return to the playground earlier. The reason had something to do with Wu Wenshan.
Xu Ziyue"s first reaction was to think of Austin……..Afterall, he had already admitted that he was the owner of this cruise ship.
The little girl was about to answer Xu Ziyue"s question but she remembered that she said she wouldn"t do the exchange so she shook her head, "If you make it so that I don"t have to return to the playground I"ll tell you."
And so, Xu Ziyue reached a conclusion.
Wu Wenshan hurting him had something to do with the little girls earlier return to the playground…….
As for the "owner"………
"If you don"t tell me, I"ll go find your owner Austin to make you unable to leave at all." Xu Ziyue straightened up and acted like he was going to go to Austin"s place.
In a blink of an eye, the little girl appeared in front of him. She had changed her position in an instant, scaring Xu Ziyue in the process.
"Don"t go!" She looked at Xu Ziyue fiercely. The resentment her eyes carried shocked Xu Ziyue.
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It was hard to believe that a child could have this look, but the truth was right before him. Her expression at this moment confirmed Xu Ziyue"s speculation. He shouldn"t overlook her past actions just because of what she said just now.
Xu Ziyue had never forgotten about the player who thought he was saved only to lose his life soon afterwards and he knew that the one responsible for it was this innocent looking girl here.
No, that wasn"t accurate. The cause for it was the player"s inability to fulfil his promise so it should actually be……….the game"s fault.
Xu Ziyue sighed. What was the point of a.n.a.lysing the games settings………?
"I won"t go, don"t worry." Xu Ziyue immediately understood that Austin was the "owner" she referred to and that he was someone the girl couldn"t do anything to.
With Xu Ziyue saying that he wouldn"t go, the girl immediately believed his words.
"You can go find Wu Wenshan. I won"t concern myself with you anymore." He naturally wouldn"t concern himself with the girl. He couldn"t do it. And based on what she said, she was about to be trapped back in that playground again……..
It was just the matter of Wu Wenshan trying to hurt him………He didn"t know the details of it.
But he knew that as long as he asked Austin and Austin is willing to tell him, he would find out.
So, after the little girl disappeared before him, Xu Ziyue decided to go find Austin.
Because he didn"t know the truth behind it, he was a little worried about Wu Wenshan having a girl following behind him. If anything were to happen, he probably would be dead over the course of one night.
Chatting with Wu Wenshan and discussing with the girl took a long time. The sky had already completely darkened outside and the lights inside the cabins had all turned off. There only seemed to be a dark corridor extending endlessly into the distance.
The only source of light was the light from Xu Ziyue"s room.
Xu Ziyue looked back and forth. He didn"t dare close the door to his room. With the door open, he used the light from his room to navigate over to Austin"s room.
After a short walk, Xu Ziyue reached the front of Austin"s door. He took a deep breath and knocked three times.
"Knock, knock, knock."
There was no response.
Xu Ziyue wondered if Austin didn"t hear it so he increased the force.
"Knock, knock, knock."
There was only Xu Ziyue alone in the dark corridor. Far from the light sources, he felt like he was surrounded by darkness.
Xu Ziyue tiptoed back and forth to ease his anxiousness.
"Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock."
There was still no response.
"Austin? Are you asleep?" Xu ZIyue shouted. He tried to look through the slit by the side of the door but the doors appeared to be sealed tightly.
No response…..but his voice was loud enough. Was he asleep? Or did something happen?
Xu Ziyue knocked his head. Impossible. What could happen to an NPC?
Wait a minute…….
The NPCs on the ship could also be parasitised by the sea monsters.
Thinking this, Xu Ziyue couldn"t help but panic.
He smacked the door several times with force. His eyes were filled with panic and worry.
None of the other people on the ship seemed to have heard the ruckus Xu Ziyue made. No one came out to check on the situation.
This continued until there was a soft sound from the door before Xu ZIyue.
The door unlocked revealing Austin inside.
Xu Ziyue finally breathed a sigh of relief. He leaned against the doorframe with a look of grievance that also carried hints of worry and helplessness, "Why did you take so long to open the door…….Scared me to death."
Austin tilted his head and smiled. Drops of water fell from his hair onto his bathrobe. He said apologetically: "Sorry, I worried you. I took too long to dress……"
Only now Xu Ziyue noticed his clothes ——– It was a white bathrobe.
The collar was open revealing a large part of his chest and there were still residual water stains on his skin slowly rolling down with each breath Austin took…….
With a "whoosh", Xu Ziyue"s face turned bright red.
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KK has something to say:
XZY: Post-shower Austin…. ?