Watching as all the players entered their rooms, ‘grandmother’ walked over and locked their doors one by one. As if she was a loving grandmother, she gently urged them to sleep early and rise early, and not stay up late.
But this strange prison-like environment made it look even more like she was keeping a farm.
‘Grandma’ locked all the doors, then added a sentence before closing the metal door in the corridor. “You all be good and sleep. Later, grandma will come and tell you a story. When I tell the story, you have to be good and lie down in bed, okay?
“Grandma will punish disobedient children.”
This was followed by the sound of a heavy metal door shutting, and the corridor sank into silence.
Anyone could guess that this so-called story definitely wasn’t something good. Something would definitely happen tonight.
But what should come would always come. Xiao Lan and the others made use of the time before the start of the storytelling to split up and examine the room.
Xiao Lan shot a glance at the bedside. There was a gift box placed on the bedside cabinet, as if to welcome the grandchildren who had travelled here from afar. But this room was clearly a double room, and there was one bedside cabinet for each bed, yet one of the bedside cabinets had two gifts. The implication that each person would get a gift was very obvious.
It was the players who had chosen the rooms today, and the three of them had decided to stay together at the last minute, yet from the arrangement of the gifts, it was as if it had long been anticipated that three people would be staying here.
Xao Lan reached out and picked up the gift box next to the bed to carefully examine it. There were no seams on the box. He weighed it in his hand, and it didn’t seem empty, but there was no sound at all when he gently shook it. It was very baffling.
“Do you guys know what this is?” Xiao Lan asked the other two as he held the gift, hoping that they might know a thing or two.
Unfortunately, after Wang Taidi turned the box this way and that, and looked a couple of times, he expressed that he didn’t know what this thing was.
Luo also shook his head.
Although there didn’t seem to be anything strange about them, to be safe, Xiao Lan still placed the three gifts in the corner of the room. That way, they would have some time to react if something unexpected happened.
Wang Taidi picked up the floral pyjamas that were on the bed and shook them open, an averse expression on his face. “Sure enough, it’s a grandma’s taste. These pyjamas are identical to what my ge wore when he was young ah…”
Xiao Lan was astonished by the information. “Your ge… wore this?”
Wang Taidi nodded. “That’s right ah. Our neighbour grandma sent it, and my ge was forced to wear it when he was young. They took a lot of photos. When I was young, my mom also wanted to con me into wearing it, but I was quick-witted and refused.”
Even without Wang Ke around, Wang Taidi revealing his ge’s dark past had already become a sort of instinct. It wasn’t restricted by objective factors, and automatically activated on its own.
Xiao Lan: “…”
He looked at the pyjamas with the little pink floral pattern, and imagined an expressionless, young Wang Keji wearing it with an unwilling expression as he was photographed. Xiao Lan always felt that there might come a day when Wang Ke would silence him forever because he knew too many of his secrets.
The room only had two beds. With Wang Taidi’s sleeping posture which even his own brother detested, he slept in one bed alone, while Xiao Lan and Luo shared the other bed.
Luo didn’t need to sleep, and usually kept watch on the side when he and Xiao Lan entered the game. However, Luo was currently a player called Fei Luo in the eyes of the other players. Not sleeping at night and standing around like a mascot was still a little too weird. To avoid scaring Wang Taidi, Luo still had to lie in bed and pretend for a while.
Luckily, the bed in the room was a little bigger. Even though Xiao Lan and Luo were both rather tall, they could just about fit on it.
Xiao Lan leaned against Luo’s side. The bed was still a little small for two large men together, so they were stuck very close together. He could feel that Luo’s body was no longer as ice-cold as before; perhaps it was the effect of absorbing a new part?
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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As if sensing Xiao Lan’s uneasiness, Luo came closer to him and spoke only loud enough for the two of them to hear. “Sir, you can lean against me to sleep. Just think of me as a bolster.”
After saying that, he turned his head away so that he didn’t meet Xiao Lan’s eyes.
Now that he wasn’t face-to-face with Luo, Xiao Lan secretly let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t know what was going on; after all, he saw Luo’s face every day ah. Why was it that he wasn’t used to it up close?
After pondering for a while, Xiao Lan concluded that it was because he had too little experience. In the future, he had to find more good-looking people and train himself when he had the chance.
Who knew what material Luo’s body was made of. He wasn’t too soft or too hard to lean against, and he didn’t chafe either; he really was pretty comfortable as a bolster.
Xiao Lan waited in the night.
In the silent corridor, the sluggish footsteps of an old lady rang out in the distance and was followed by the sound of a large, heavy door slowly scraping open. Then, there was the sound of footsteps, as if someone was walking back and forth in front of their room doors.
“Good children, it’s time for grandma’s bedtime story.
“Come, my little darlings, help me see if my most beloved children are all obediently in bed.”
In the wake of her voice was what sounded like many small creatures running briskly through the corridor, the pitter-patter of feet resounding in the space.
Very quickly, the pitter-patter even appeared inside Xiao Lan’s room. It was like something was pacing around in the room, but nothing could be seen with the naked eye.
Xiao Lan met Wang Taidi’s gaze on the bed opposite. He raised a finger to his lips and gave Wang Taidi a ‘don’t talk’ gesture. Wang Taidi nodded and obediently shrank into the blanket so that only a head of short curls and glossy, round eyes were revealed.
Not long after, the sound of footsteps completely disappeared and the voice of grandma rang out again. “Very good, you’re all very obedient. Grandma will now tell you a story.
“Long, long ago, there lived a spider bride in a forest. She had hair like black satin, eyes like gems, snow-white skin and tender and beautiful red lips. She waited every day to meet a lover she could call her own. Unfortunately, she, a spider, was the only thing that lived in the forest. Thus, she had no choice but to leave for an area frequented by humans.
“But for some reason, almost all the travellers who visited the forest wouldn’t speak. They would always silently hurry along with lowered heads, even bundling themselves up in their cloaks. This made the spider bride feel very bored.
“Finally, there was a day when a wandering minstrel came up the forest trail. He was dressed in gorgeous clothes and wandered through the forest singing a wonderful song. His singing voice was very pleasant to listen; it intoxicated all the birds and was deeply attractive to the spider bride.
“This must be my lover, the spider bride thought. Consequently, she gathered up her courage and went up to the wandering minstrel to confess her love. The minstrel accepted her love, and they lived happily together.
“She loved her bridegroom a lot, loved his emotional singing voice, loved his handsome complexion, loved his… soft and tender body.
“What a pity that he can no longer sing, the spider bride thought regretfully as she touched her stomach.
“Perhaps it is time to find a new groom.”
After the story was finished, the corridor was extremely quiet. No one applauded, but ‘grandma’ didn’t mind either. She said with a smile, “Goodnight, my dear children. I wish you sweet dreams.”
After that was the sound of the metal door closing.
In the wake of the door closing, it seemed like something had changed in the room. There was a faint but clear tap, tap coming from some corner of the room, which sounded both close and far.
It sounded like there was an insect with a hard shell moving about.
Just like — the spider bride in the story.
Xiao Lan swiftly recalled the story they had just heard, and extracted the crucial part. “…almost all the travellers who visited the forest wouldn’t speak. They would always silently hurry along with lowered heads, even bundling themselves up in their cloaks. This made the spider bride feel very bored.”
Adding in as contrast the wandering minstrel who was later eaten, the way to escape alive from her clutches was to be silent and cover yourself up in a cloak, and not let the spider bride hear your voice and see you.
Xiao Lan met Wang Taidi’s eyes and gestured at him to keep quiet. Xiao Lan then pointed at the blanket and indicated that Wang Taidi should hide underneath it. Wang Taidi nodded and immediately did as told.
Xiao Lan and Luo also immediately hid under the blanket and continued to remain silent as they lay still.
At first glance, the way the three people were laid out made the room look like a morgue.
Tap.
Tap tap.
The sound grew clearer, and lingered above their heads.
There was also a gentle singing voice. “The lover I am looking for, are you also longing… longing for the lonely me…”
The singing voice was soft and mellow, and brimmed with tender sentiments and longing. It seemed to be telling of boundless gentle feelings, and one couldn’t help wanting to soothe her distress and accompany her for life.
However, knowing what ending awaited those she loved, no one truly dared to be hard-headed enough to bring about some lifelong romance that transcended species and life or death.
As if a little impatient, she scuttled over the ceiling and walls of the room continuously. The tapping sped up until they almost turned into one sound; listening to it made people feel a little fretful.
The three of them continued to lie like corpses, with no intention of coming out.
After a while, the sounds in the room disappeared, as if the spider bride had never appeared in the first place.
In another room.
Xin Xin was a rookie newcomer who had only experienced one instance so far.
He was very lucky; there had been a reliable veteran player in the newcomer instance who led them toward clearing it. Aside from two guys who didn’t listen and insisted on courting death, the others all passed smoothly and safely.
He also just followed them all the way and cleared the instance in a daze without collecting any useful experience at all.
But he didn’t have a good feeling from the beginning this time; two groups of what looked like experienced players clashed in equal measure for some reason, and no one came over to greet them newbies. He didn’t dare say a word and could only silently watch the situation develop.
Until now, Xin Xin still didn’t know what to do. The story ‘grandma’ told gave him the chills. He pulled the blanket over his head and trembled as he hid inside, and completely didn’t dare stick his head out to see what the situation was like.
Suddenly, he heard tapping above his head, like rapping on something hard. Listening to it made his scalp turn numb.
After that, a woman started to sing, as if murmuring into his ear through the thin blanket between them. Xin Xin covered his mouth, not daring to let out a single sound, but his body shook even harder.
Who knew how much time passed. The singing seemed to go a little further away, and the tapping also was on the verge of growing distant.
Xin Xin let out a small breath of relief. It was going to end soon…
“First blood—”
The handphone which Xin Xin left next to the bed suddenly rang out. He suddenly recalled that he had previously set an alarm to remind him to get up in the middle of the night to play LOL so that he could avoid schoolchildren and burdensome teammates.
He had been muddled-headed throughout the handful of days he had spent in the game so far, and unexpectedly forgot about this!
Flustered, he hastily reached out to try and turn off the alarm. However, the more rushed he was, the more he erred. In his hurry, not only did his shaking hand fail to turn off the alarm, it knocked the handphone to the ground.
Xin Xin hastily reached out to pick it up, and he stuck his head out of the blanket.
He finally grabbed the handphone and smoothly turned the alarm off. Xin Xin huffed out a breath and was just about to pull back, but realised that there was some white filament stuck to his handphone. He tugged at this thread. It was very light and a little sticky, like… spider silk.
At that moment, pitch-black hair dropped down in front of him, cutting off his line of sight.
Xin Xin’s heart froze. He stiffly raised his head and was met with a face; long, black hair, snow-white skin, gem-like red eyes, and tender and beautiful red lips.
It was just that there were six eyes, and behind her lips were sharp, poisonous teeth.
The spider bride smiled at Xin Xin. “I really like you ah. Can you become my lover?”
Without waiting for Xin Xin’s refusal, white spider silk suddenly attacked him, sealing his mouth shut. At the same time, more and more spider silk coiled around his body, firmly binding him until he couldn’t move.
Under his terrified gaze, the spider bride’s tender and plump red lips approached his neck, her sharp, venomous fangs piercing his skin and injecting poison.
“My lover will forever be mine…”
Singing a sweet love song, the spider bride found her groom for tonight.
The author has something to say:
Xiao Lan concluded that it was because he had too little experience. In the future, he had to find more good-looking people and train himself when he had the chance.
Luo: Sir, how about I accompany you to train up ♂
Xiao Lan: …
If XL could get used to Luo…XL’s beauty standards would definitely go up…
Lighting a candle for the poor cannon fodder~🕯
In the future:
XL: Luo, will you sleep with me?
Luo: (Sir actually takes the initiative today… good opportunity!)
later that night:
Luo, sleeping as a bolster with a wooden face: …this is not what i meant
Thanks for the chapter~
Poor Wang Ke has Wang Taidi out there telling all his secrets!
I love how Xiao Lan is very actively protecting Wang Taidi.. he’s a man of his word!
Luo… I love you and Xio Lan will too!
Thanks for the chapter <3
Rip Xin Con
Xiao Lan, I’m afraid Luo won’t let you find other people~
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
Xin Xin*
+1
Poor guy. If i had been in his place, i would died faster because i would not understood the hint and had not covered myself with a blanket
Thanks for the chapter
Let’s all be happy we’re not characters in this novel🤧🤚
Honestly, I don’t think he even understood it, he was just scared and covered his head Q^Q
Just use Luo as a body pillow? xDD
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Does the spider bride have to take a victim, or if everyone is perfectly silent until morning, would she have to leave? Does snoring count as noise made? This instance seems to have a pretty high guaranteed death rate for a beginner level…
Thank you for translating! <3
Not me, cant sleep comfortably to the point of snoring in that situation
But aren’t all the beginner levels all harder so far
Uhh yikes the kid’s dead. I can see that happening to me, I forgot to turn off my alarm once and it led to an embarrassing situation lol
Thanks for the chapter <3
Rip XinXin 🕯🕯
Honestly though, his phone had one hell of a battery. Mine would’ve died in the middle of the first instance.
It would’ve been better if it did die though, at least he might’ve been able to survive oof~
Press ‘F’ in respect for Wang Kei, whose dark past are being revealed one by one by his big mouthed little brother. 🤣
It really is a pity ah. I’d really like to ship Wang Taidi and Wang Ke if only they weren’t brothers😔
Thank you for the chapter!!💜💜💜
What Luo is his dad 😳
If*
What kind of train ?
Can I see ?🤭🤭🤭
do you guys ever get that feeling like knowing an infinite flow horror novel, but as a comedy horror you put your guard down since you expect for there to be more comedy and horror until the description comes along and you nearly p!ss your pants???