I Rely On Poverty To Sweep Through Survival GamesCh76 - Grandma’s Bedtime Story (8)

Hearing the voice next to his ear, Xiao Lan didn’t turn his head, but straightaway leapt to the side. Only after he was some distance away did he turn to look at where he had been standing.

A withered little grey hand had stretched out from the staircase railing towards him. Calling it a hand wasn’t quite right; after all, no human hand was that colour, and while it was shaped like a human’s, it had the sharp claws of an animal. yhw ed

Compared with a human, it was more like something that belonged to a mouse.

There were a few holes in the palm, and they opened and closed like mouths. The voice from each mouth was different, and the voice he had heard earlier was from this.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“He doesn’t seem to be a naughty child ah…”

“Grandma doesn’t like noise. As long as he makes a really loud sound, he’s a naughty child…” ig5njX

“Heeheehee, catch him… catch him…”

Child-like voices giggled and discussed among themselves, and in their wake, more and more little grey hands appeared to surround Xiao Lan.

A hand noiselessly approached Xiao Lan from behind in an attempt to grab his ankle.

However, Xiao Lan lifted his leg as if he had already predicted it, and bluntly stomped on the little grey hand with a crunch. The hand that had been incomparably mighty when bullying an injured person was now surprisingly this weak.

Xiao Lan raised his eyebrows slightly. This felt a little familiar.

After that, the grey hands seemed to become incensed and attacked Xiao Lan. The mouths were still speaking, but there were so many of them that they conversely became an indistinct hum.

Xiao Lan reached out, grabbed the hand closest to him, and flexed. Pulling it out of the railing, he treated it as a weapon and conveniently swept it over the surrounding hands. With his strength, these hands broke one after another with crisp sounds.

The remaining little grey hands finally realised that something was amiss. BX Amj

“He… seems to be that person…”

“Which one?”

“The one… from the kitchen…”

“Wuuuu… how scary…” 4d 2qL

“Let’s run ah… He’ll eat us…”

“We really aren’t yummy…”

In the wake of the child-like crying, these little hands withdrew, as if they would be eaten by a big bad wolf if they were slow to run.

Xiao Lan: “…” i Rb8e

Bah! Who wants to eat you? Don’t insult my sense of taste. 

Xiao Lan closely examined his surroundings. After confirming that the little grey hands had truly disappeared and weren’t lying in wait to attack him when he turned his head, he left.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

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.

Xiao Lan found Wang Taidi and Luo, and the three of them headed to the room that had caught their attention last night.

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In the center of the room was an oil painting which had people with different appearances. These people surrounded ‘grandma’ in the middle and they all had happy and joyous expressions. It seemed to be a family photo.

“These aren’t players, right?” Wang Taidi looked at the painting and felt his scalp turn cold. “Is it similar to the one you mentioned, the portrait in Madam Bella’s secret room?”

Xiao Lan: “It really is similar.” vEHhx9

Luo pointed at a few spots. “These three are players in this round with us.”

Xiao Lan and Wang Taidi took a look. It really was the case; even the one who had said in the dining hall that he wanted to go back to his room was in the painting.

Wang Taidi: “Could this be a common hobby among the bosses?”

Xiao Lan thought about it. “It probably follows the same principle as many people who like to make in-game purchases in gacha mobile games ba? Collecting the entire illustrated handbook gives a bigger sense of accomplishment.” KcQlNn

Saying that, Xiao Lan walked over to inspect the ‘family photo’. Wang Taidi and Luo split up and began searching for leads on the key in the room.

As Wang Taidi searched, he thought about his position in the bosses’ eyes with some trepidation. “I think, in their eyes, I might just be an N card… the one that you want to discard as soon as you draw it.”

Xiao Lan originally wanted to console him, but then realised that there was nothing he could say. The position which Wang Taidi had given himself was pretty accurate. It wasn’t like he could say, “Although you’re useless, you have an older brother.” This may be the truth, but saying it was asking to be beaten.

In the end, Xiao Lan could only say, “You will be able to activate your skill very soon. When that time comes, it’ll be completely different.” vLzjgI

After all, the skill which Wang Taidi had described sounded like kotodama, which was pretty powerful.

The three continued with their own tasks.

Xiao Lan first studied the back of the painting. It looked very ordinary, and didn’t look like anything was hidden there.

Then, he examined the painting. The brushstrokes were exquisite and the details were portrayed very well, but Xiao Lan somehow felt like something definitely wasn’t right with it. The ‘grandma’ in the painting was obviously even fatter than in reality. wAkZcQ

Xiao Lan touched the portrait, but still couldn’t find any trace of a hidden key.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening suddenly rang out.

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This was followed by ‘grandma’s’ somewhat urgent voice. “Children, quickly put down whatever you’re doing and gather around. Don’t make grandma wait for you!

“After I count to ten, disobedient children will be punished. One…” sVb Ay

Xiao Lan frowned. This was simply like she had purposely rushed over to stop him from inspecting the painting.

But there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about this painting right now, so why did she want to stop him?

“Look.” Luo’s voice drew Xiao Lan’s attention. He looked at where Luo was pointing, and saw a pair of eyes in the painting turning to look at him.

Unexpectedly, these paintings were monitoring the players! nOdFD6

“Two…”

Xiao Lan’s gaze fell on the setting sun outside the window. Could it be… that the key would only appear at night? Thus, ‘grandma’ had rushed over to stop him.

Perhaps the instant they entered the room, these paintings had already notified ‘grandma’. No wonder ‘grandma’ returned precisely at this moment.

‘Grandma’ was already urging them to come out, and there was still some time left before nightfall. If they were ‘disobedient’ now, ‘grandma’ might attack them before the key appeared. The punishment this time might not last for only fifteen minutes. 7GhxRk

At that time, it would be a lot more troublesome when they wanted to come back here to take this key that would appear in some unknown form.

“Three…”

“Let’s go ba,” Xiao Lan said quickly. “Let’s gather first. We’ll find another chance later.”

The three of them rushed out of the room and headed for the front door. 6XseEw

Right before the end of the countdown, the three of them arrived at ‘grandma’s’ location.

Apart from the three of them, Gu Jiangke, Hu Yue, and the one-eyed female player had also gathered. These were all the survivors in this game.

“Obedient children, you’re all obedient children…” Sweeping her gaze over the remaining players, ‘grandma’ gave an amiable smile. Her gaze seemed to rest a little longer on Xiao Lan, but she didn’t attack.

“You must be hungry since you didn’t have lunch. Come, grandma will take you to eat dinner.” viRu3U

The players followed ‘grandma’ to the dining hall. Dinner naturally wasn’t anything special, and was still vegetables. The players looked at Xiao Lan, used that terrible and arduous memory to motivate themselves, then nibbled on the vegetable leaves without any complaints.

Ai, how delicious.

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After the meal, the players were hurried back to their rooms as always.

Today’s story came particularly late. When Luo woke Xiao Lan up, Xiao Lan was under the mistaken impression that he had gotten enough sleep. n6fB4I

‘Grandma’s’ voice rang out in the corridor.

“Obedient children, you’ll definitely like today’s story.

“Have you ever noticed small cracks? Those dark and hidden cracks, have you ever thought about what’s hiding inside?

“When you’re asleep, it’s watching you; when you’re eating, it’s watching you; when you’re walking, it’s watching you; when you get injured, it’s watching you; when you die… it’s still watching you… y2RprY

“Hehe… children, sweet dreams…”

Today’s story was extremely strange. There was no protagonist, no miserable victim, no hint of how to avoid the monsters. It didn’t sound like there was a beginning or end.

After grandma narrated this story with no beginning or end, she didn’t leave like usual. She continued, “Grandma is going to go on a trip. Later, I’ll bring some friends to take care of you. They’re all kind elders like grandma, and they’ll definitely like you, hehehe…”

Xiao Lan thought: Kind elders like ‘grandma’. Was she inviting them over for a buffet? Ycj05N

With that, there was the rustle of her footsteps moving further away.

During this time, Xiao Lan noticed that there was no sound of the metal door closing. Could it be that she wasn’t closing the door this time?

What was she doing? Was this a hint that the players could roam about tonight, or was this a new trap?

All of this felt like a gathering of storm clouds. 2GtCHO

Unlike the previous stories, nothing strange appeared in the room after this story was told, but each crack now seemed a little unusual.

As if there may or may not be a constant gaze on them.

Xiao Lan stood by the door and listened carefully to the activity outside — there was nothing at all.

It sounded very safe. VBZ309

He was just about to open the door and take a look outside, when Luo stopped him and said in a voice that was only loud enough for the two of them to hear, “Please leave it to me, sir.”

Xiao Lan looked at him. Luo nodded, the expression on his face very insistent.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Indeed, given Luo’s non-human identity, it was better to leave the task of scouting out an unknown situation to him. It was just that there was a slight protective meaning to Luo’s behaviour which Xiao Lan, who was used to doing things alone, was a little unaccustomed to.

He had always taken the risks himself, and when gambling on lives, always gambled on his own. He had never implicated other people. S2w3EH

Luo added with a light smile, “Please do not worry, I’ll be fine. You can have a little more faith in what little ability I have.”

Xiao Lan relented. “Fine ba. Be careful.”

Luo opened the door and went out.

Wang Taidi came over after putting on his clothes. “How long have you known Fei Luo?” ZOk0Tb

Xiao Lan thought about it. “Since I first entered the game ba. Why?”

Wang Taidi: “It’s nothing. I just think that your interactions feel different from other people.”

Xiao Lan: “Is it? I don’t feel anything.”

“Actually, I’m a little scared of Fei Luo.” Wang Taidi scratched his short curls in embarrassment. “I’ve always felt that he has a different sort of aura.” olNEiK

It was the aura of one who held power over life and death, which only high-ranking people had. He didn’t look like an ordinary player, and it was only when he was by Xiao Lan’s side that he restrained himself.

Wang Taidi had always felt that Fei Luo definitely wasn’t someone with a normal occupation before he entered the Advent World. Perhaps he was some bigshot behind the scenes of an international organisation or something. For Xiao Lan to actually be able to face him without a change in expression was honestly too amazing.

Xiao Lan recalled Luo’s valiance when he bought both a house and car. “That’s right, he oozes an aura of wealth from head to toe…”

Wang Taidi: “…” SDEyNd

Wake up, I’m not talking about that!

Although, he really did look rich…