Edited by Jules
The handprint also seemed to be something from Crow’s book.
It looked like the row of horror novels on the bookshelf was a big gift bag which Crow had prepared for the readers; you would never know what monster you drew.
However, Crow’s books didn’t mention how to deal with or escape these monsters.
His books mainly described how the weakness and depravity of human nature were exposed as the characters were toyed with by the monsters, and how they died tragically amidst their futile struggles and mutual schemes.
It was like the teacher giving you an open book exam, but finding the answer was impossible.
Crow laoshi treated his enthusiastic fans as cruel as winter ah.
Without waiting for Xiao Lan to consider whether or not to warn Long Shiren, this person abruptly disappeared on the spot.
There were no signs of an attack and not a single sound; it was as if this person had been wiped away from the scene by an invisible eraser.
As if he simply hadn’t existed to begin with.
Xiao Lan glanced at the book in his hands, but there was no additional lit up box on the cover.
Who knew if it was because this person was still alive, or if he had just switched to another space.
Or maybe Xiao Lan’s previous guess was wrong, and the players’ deaths wasn’t actually the way to increase boxes?
Unable to figure it out for the time being, Xiao Lan put away the book and continued searching for clues in Mingyue Pavilion.
Mingyue Pavilion was still silent, like a taciturn and reserved gentleman of the Republic of China era. Aside from how everyone had disappeared, there were no other changes.
Typically, Xiao Lan went to check on the front door.
Unsurprisingly, the door could no longer be opened. It was like the buildings in any other instance; Mingyue Pavilion had become a sealed location.
Xiao Lan went down the corridor, occasionally opening some room doors for a look.
But he didn’t encounter anything unusual.
Suddenly, Xiao Lan’s footsteps stopped.
His gaze shifted imperceptibly as he looked behind him.
A footprint had appeared without a single sound on the floor nearby when he was unaware.
After that, there was another.
The two footprints weren’t far apart, and looked tiny, like the size of a child’s.
As if an invisible child was standing there barefooted, watching him silently.
Seeing that Xiao Lan wasn’t moving, this pair of footprints paused for a while, before they started to move slowly, like they were walking forward.
They approached Xiao Lan bit by bit, like a hunter eyeing its prey.
Unlike the black handprint that had appeared on Long Shiren’s back, these footprints were blood-red and seemed even more aggressive.
Seeing that things were taking a bad turn, Xiao Lan simply slipped away.
He didn’t want to tussle with this guy of unknown form. He didn’t even know where he should attack; it was awfully troublesome.
It didn’t matter even if he was facing off against a kid.
A kid who didn’t wear shoes wasn’t cute at all.
In the wake of Xiao Lan’s movements, however, the blood-red footprints also sped up.
The pair of footprints followed close behind him, seemingly insistent on not giving up.
But Xiao Lan’s half a year of training wasn’t for nothing either.
Every time the footprints got close to him, he would always evade instantly, and they couldn’t catch up.
He moved swiftly and switched positions in the corridor rapidly, like a phantom. Within a few breaths, he had already reached the other end of the corridor.
Just as he was about to exit the corridor.
Several blood-red footprints suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Lan out of nowhere.
These footprints rushed straight for him and surrounded him.
Xiao Lan turned to look behind him.
At some point, several other footprints had also appeared there.
The countless, densely packed footprints practically covered the entire floor in red. and was a hair-raising scene.
Unexpectedly, there was more than just one of them!
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Vfflcu atlr, Wljb Ojc ifjqa bcab atf kjii jcv xlmxfv tjgv, erlcu atf obgmf ab jvpera tlr wbnfwfcar.
Coafg atja, 【Gjila’r Dbcf】 aegcfv lcab lar ktlq obgw.
Xiao Lan swung the whip, and it wrapped around the lamp hanging at the top of the corridor. The lamp was of very good quality and didn’t protest such cruel treatment. Using the forward momentum, Xiao Lan smoothly escaped the encirclement of footprints.
Thank you, Mingyue Pavilion’s construction quality.
Thank you, Crow laoshi.
Xiao Lan landed steadily outside this corridor.
He turned his head to look behind him. The red footprints were swiftly chasing him, but stopped around the corridor exit. They stacked up on top of each other continuously, and seemed very agitated.
But not a single footprint was able to step out of this corridor.
This was the limit Crow had imposed on them. Under his pen, regardless of what you were, you had to move according to the logic of his setting.
Seeing this, Xiao Lan stopped walking and waved at the footprints with a smile. “No need to see me off; hurry up and go do your homework ba, children.”
The footprints: “…”
Come in if you have the ability ah! We’ll show you the fury of schoolchildren!
•
Leaving the corridor, Xiao Lan continued onward.
He then felt the ‘Mingyue Pavilion’ book heat up again.
He took it out of his pocket. Sure enough, like last time, the pattern on the cover glowed slightly.
New content appeared in the book as well:
【The sorrowful and helpless struggler has sunk into sleep】
【In the gentle waves of the years】
【He is with time】
The poem might look very cultured, but looking at the content, someone else had died.
But unlike before, when this content appeared, the box on the cover didn’t light up instantly.
As if struggling, it flickered for a good while before it gradually stopped.
Finally, a new box still lit up in the pattern on the cover.
Now, two of the 13 empty boxes were lit.
“Is the person who died a player?” Xiao Lan looked at the book and quietly asked.
At that moment, as if they had a telepathic link, there was contact from Luo.
【Sir, did you see the new content in the book?】
【Mn. Did you notice anything?】
Xiao Lan understood that for Luo to contact him right now, he definitely had a new clue.
Sure enough, Luo’s reply swiftly appeared:
【I’m not far from the lounge. After the new content in the book appeared, a corpse appeared in the grandfather clock in the lounge.】
【Judging by the clothes, it’s most likely a player. He was pierced upside down on the pendulum.】
“In the gentle waves of the years, he is with time” sounded very beautiful, but the ultimate conclusion was extremely bloody.
This was in line with Crow’s usual style. He was obsessed with the beauty of gore, and would express this in great detail in his novels.
【I suspect that there are overlaps in these spaces. Please be careful of people who suddenly appear.】Luo added.
Xiao Lan thought of Long Shiren who had suddenly disappeared. He briefly described it to Luo.
He then summed up:
【If it’s like this, perhaps he entered another space instead of dying.】
If that was the case, at least one of the key elements to light up the checkboxes on the cover was the death of the players.
This truly wasn’t good news.
The two succinctly shared what their current situations were like.
This method of communicating through words made Xiao Lan unable to help thinking of when they first met.
At that time, he was just a muddle-headed newbie, and Luo was just a shadow hiding in an envelope.
One trash and one weak, yet it made him feel incredibly nostalgic.
•
Suddenly, up ahead appeared a room that was clearly different from everything else.
Xiao Lan was sure that when he and Luo had strolled around Mingyue Pavilion, they hadn’t seen this door at all.
This door had appeared out of nowhere.
Amidst the row of identical doors, only this door was red; that red was also so vibrant it was a little glaring.
But the most unique point was that on the door was a pattern identical to the cover of ‘Mingyue Pavilion’.
Its intent to lure in players was evident.
As if it was declaring to Xiao Lan —
“Dear guest, come and play ah~”
It was more or less like a food trap laid out bright and clear in the middle of the road.
However, the players were unable to let go of such a clue. If they wanted to clear the game, they most likely had to enter and investigate this clearly unusual room.
He really did need to go in and play.
Xiao Lan took a deep breath and reached out to push the door open.
Almost the same instant that the door closed, Xiao Lan received a system notification:
“You’ve attracted Crow’s attention.”
The notification didn’t say why his attention had been attracted.
But Xiao Lan guessed that it definitely had something to do with this room. Perhaps —
At that very moment, perhaps Crow was gripping a pen and staring at this room from some place.
Xiao Lan, who had pushed open the door and entered, just happened to attract his attention.
Should he withdraw?
No, it seemed that he couldn’t. Crow had already noticed him; fleeing might produce the opposite of the desired outcome.
Additionally, there was clearly an issue with this room, so he still had to enter and investigate it no matter what. Thus, this wasn’t something he could run away from.
Xiao Lan’s initial vigilance kicked up another notch.
He began to carefully survey this room.
Behind the door was glaring red.
From the ceiling to the walls to the floor, everything was a bright red. This large amount of red looked incredibly ostentatious and made one unable to help feeling flighty and impetuous.
As if to confirm this feeling, the book heated up again.
When the pattern lit up, his surroundings clearly looked very tranquil, but something seemed to quietly change.
A sense of danger lingered in Xiao Lan’s heart somehow.
As if the grim reaper’s scythe was already at his throat and contemplating when to harvest his life.
He looked at the content that had appeared:
【The white bird in my heart has fallen】
【Thorns weave in his dream】
【The doors of the scarlet heaven are opened wide】
When he saw the words ‘thorns’ and ‘scarlet heaven’, Xiao Lan’s expression changed as the bad premonition in his heart grew. Perhaps the person being written about in the book this time — was him.
The pattern on the cover flickered, as if waiting for his response.
Xiao Lan even had a momentary urge to simply back out.
But he forced himself to calm down. He was in the middle of deadly danger right now, and any impulse would be fatal. There had never been any danger in the Advent World that could be resolved by running away.
Xiao Lan walked cautiously around the room, each step extremely careful. He was vigilant against deadly danger and looked around in passing to see whether he could find any clues.
The room had a generous number of bramble decorations.
A crown made of thorns, a person wrapped in thorns, a bird struggling in the thorns until it was exhausted…
Every piece was made exquisitely, but also gave off a slightly ominous feeling.
These decorations were mostly black and were especially stark in comparison to the bright red backdrop. The two colours played off each other, as if there was no room for any other colours in this place.
There was clearly no danger to be seen at all, but the dangerous sense of brambles and thorns on his back grew increasingly intense.
So much so that with every step, he seemed to be dithering on the edge of death’s abyss.
Xiao Lan’s gaze swept over everything, but his eyes were telling him it was safe here.
It was as if his eyes were covered by some unknown thing and they were unable to see the true threat.
He took a deep breath and simply closed his eyes.
After closing his eyes, the garish red disappeared.
The sense of danger that had previously been obscured by the visual clutter became clear.
Xiao Lan keenly sensed that danger was all around him.
But it wasn’t distributed evenly; some spots were more intense, and some were much weaker.
And the strongest sense of danger was currently behind him, leading to the door.
If he had chosen to simply head to the door earlier, he undoubtedly would have directly crashed into this deadly trap.
Xiao Lan adjusted his breathing and completely emptied his mind of chaotic thoughts, and moved forward according to his instinct for danger.
This was his first time doing this. Relying on his senses to forge ahead was akin to gambling with his life, but currently, his most powerful weapon was his intuition for danger.
Following his senses, Xiao Lan continued forward step by step.
The path ahead was winding, with the cold sense of danger all around him.
It was as if he was making his way through a maze.
After a few minutes that felt like a century, Xiao Lan felt the cutting sense of danger finally retreat.
Quietly exhaling, Xiao Lan opened his eyes.
It was still the same room which appeared before his eyes, but what was different was the floor.
Most of the originally flat floor was now empty.
Aside from the small, meandering path which Xiao Lan had taken, everywhere else was a pitch-black chasm which was clearly deeper than the height which the room should have.
He looked downward and could vaguely see sharp black spikes made from an indeterminate matter in the pit.
Those black spikes were suffused in a strange red glow and didn’t look ordinary.
If he fell from this height and landed brutally on these sharp spikes, it would be very difficult for him to survive, even with an advanced player’s constitution. Perhaps Xiao Lan could hold on a little longer than players with an average constitution, but that would just be prolonging the painful torment.
Xiao Lan gently wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Thorns weave into his dream… This dream is rather scary ah.”
After a round of hopping about on the edge of death, Xiao Lan had deeply experienced the threat of an advanced game.
Crow hadn’t even personally made a move and Xiao Lan was already deep in the dangers of death.
This feeling of being a character under a pen, and his life being wholly manipulated, was truly too terrible.
At that moment, the pattern on the book cover stopped flickering, and the third box didn’t light up.
Xiao Lan flipped the book open and realised that the content about him had been crossed out and had turned into:
【The white bird spread its wings again】
【Returning to the embrace of freedom】
It looked like the danger this time had passed for real.
Only then did Xiao Lan shift his focus to what was before him.
In front of him was a refined, antique table. On the table was a seal contained in a velvet box.
The seal was very exquisite and carved in a complicated, European style. It lay at an angle inside the box.
Xiao Lan studied this seal, and his gaze caught on a pattern on the surface.
He then realised that it was a pattern identical to the one on the cover of ‘Mingyue Pavilion’.
Not sensing any danger, he tried picking up the seal.
The moment he touched the seal, the book cover lit up again. This time, it didn’t flicker, but two boxes lit up directly.
Now, a total of four boxes were lit up on the cover.
Xiao Lan’s eyes lit up. This seemed to be another way to clear the game.
However… the danger was also rather high.
Perhaps, to certain players, slaughtering their fellow players would be easier ba.
The author has something to say:
“This feeling of becoming a character under a pen, and his life being wholly manipulated, was truly too terrible.”
When I wrote this, I felt like I would be trashed by all the characters I’ve written…
Perhaps only Uncle Zhang and Tie Hanhan won’t beat me.
Shivering.JPG
How long it’s been since their last kiss..? Half a year? A decade? They truly can implement hiding in the sand policy very well
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
Thank you for the chapter!
Thank you for the hard work
Don’t worry author (even if you can’t read it), those who beat you would be all this poor vegetables killed by Tie Hanhan
thanks for the chapter~
That author’s notice lolololol The husky would just thrash their house xD
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
I also thought that it would have been a lot of pressure on author while writing this!
I am sorry that was a mistake ah!😅
💖
sheesh, that was a bit nerve wracking!
thanks for the chapter <3
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^)♡
Monster without weak point: beat them up!
No clues to be seen? Close your eyes and believe~
Wuwuwu I’m so scared. Maybe reading horror in the early morning isn’t a good idea at all 🥲🥲
hehe 00:00 – 3:00 best recommended time to read, while reading it gives you visual sensor + additional fear by turning clothes and random objects into monsters in the corner, in addition you might even have the ability to be delusional enough to turn hats into Satan.
I thought Advanced Player only got a month’s worth of rest… how come it turned into half a year??? Also I’m so sorry but what happened to our brutal Xiao Lan who would have friendly talk with NPC and how come this novel now feels more like a true horror instead of comedy horror QAQ
i feel like i should comfort the author, why would you write that ba! the sense of your characters judging you must be and odd feeling!