Mo Yi stood still, staring at the corpses of the two players on the floor with a complicated gaze.
Their bodies twisted strangely, curling up on the floor as if they were suffering from great pain. Blood flowed down the seven orifices.
The blackened faces of the corpses were slowly shrinking, but at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The blood flowing from lips, eyes and nose dripped onto the dirty wooden floor along the curve of the face, trickling into the cracks on the floor, and then sucked clean, drop by drop.
Mo Yi subconsciously pressed his lips together. They hadn’t much color left, but became even paler at that moment, even turning thin and white due to the force.
He took one last deep look at the corpse on the ground, then turned and walked to the window.
Outside the window, in the dark sky, cold and emotionless fluorescent blue numbers flickered, changing the last number as if undisturbed by any external factors.
4:47:08
Mo Yi stared at the sky. The small blue numbers seemed to be reflected in his dark pupils. One could see the deep emotions inside.
It had been more than two hours since entering the instance.
During this period, a total of five nursery rhymes appeared- and among these five nursery rhymes, three were sung directly to them in this instance.
The crooked man outside the house hummed “crooked-man”, the “three-blind-mice” played like a broken music box, and the “Ring-a-ring-a-rosies” that had just been sung over and over in a childlike voice at the landing of the stairs.
Every time a nursery rhyme was played, it would take several lives.
The nursery rhyme was playing exactly once an hour.
Mo Yi’s eyes sank slightly.
If one remembers the “seven days” from the game prompt, and the relationship between it and the duration of the game, so was the connection self-evident.
One nursery rhyme an hour, one killing an hour.
If his guess was correct, then there shouldn’t be any danger for the rest of the hour.
Mo Yi took a deep breath and turned to look behind him.
The gloomy staircase leading directly to the second floor stood crookedly in the center of the hall, extending upwards into the darkness.
His eyes flashed with a hint of determination, as he slowly walked towards the stairs.
Suddenly, Mo Yi felt that his cuff was pulled by a gentle force.
He was surprised for a bit, then turned to look at the source of the force.
He saw Yu Ran standing beside him like she didn’t know how to speak, but could only look at him silently.
Mo Yi’s expression remained unchanged: “You should also have figured out the relationship between the nursery rhymes and the time.”
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.
Yu Ran’s eyes were a little complicated, and she made a low “um”.
Zb Tl rwlifv: “Po atja’r atf mjrf, sbe vbc’a tjnf ab kbggs jybea la.”
Te Ejc uijcmfv ja tlw. Dfobgf rqfjxlcu, rtf rlutfv vffqis, jcv olcjiis gfijzlcu j ilaaif, rjlv:
“Ktfc… atfc yf mjgfoei.”
Zb Tl rtbkfv j rtjiibk rwlif, jcv joafg j yglfo atjcx sbe, aegcfv jgbecv jcv kjixfv eq atf rajlgr klatbea tfrlajalbc.
His straight and thin back was slowly swallowed by the darkness, blocking the unintelligible sight projected from behind.
The uneven wooden stairs under his feet creaked with his steps, which seemed dull and harsh in the cold and dark stairwell.
In front of and around him was a dense, almost solid darkness. Both the road in front of him and the handrails around him were shrouded, revealing vague and ugly outlines under the light of the flashlight.
The cold breath of the house penetrated his thin shirt without hindrance, invaded the texture, stimulating the sensitive peripheral nerves, and making the skin behind Mo Yi’s neck involuntarily form a layer of goosebumps.
Suddenly, the low voice of the Mist came from the side, and the cold and deep tone almost caused a faint vibration in the air:
“She seems to care about you.”
Mo Yi didn’t expect that he would suddenly speak, and couldn’t help but freeze slightly.
He turned his head to look at the profile of his face, that was blurred by the foggy darkness, thinking that no one else could hear their conversation at this moment, so he said directly:
“She…?” Mo Yi paused thoughtfully, then continued flatly:
“It can only be said that there is a little more kindness from her than from others.”
He narrowed his eyes, watching the flashlight casting a distorted halo on the stairs in front of him.
Reflected in his dark pupils, a light flashed in the darkness.
He smiled gently, and said casually, with a cold indifference that he didn’t noticed himself:
“Most of the remaining people are senior players, who can’t not see the obvious connection between time and nursery rhymes – they just don’t have the guts to come up.”
Even if he thought with his toes, he knew that the darkness above the stairs must be full of danger. If one was not careful, there could be even death. Plus, the nursery rhyme sounding at the entrance of the stairs just now, the instinctual fear of danger and the unknown darkness made them not dare to act more.
After all… the connection there was just a guess.
No matter how reasonable it was, it was a conjecture.
–No one was crazy enough to gamble with their own lives on whether this conjecture was correct.
The longer the players lived, the more they cherished their lives.
So, they were waiting for a volunteer victim.
Mo Yi’s actions were what they were happy to see. Whether he would be dead or alive, it was helpful to them, and a profitable business with no harm.
And Yu Ran… she was not that hard-hearted, so she came forward and wanted to stop his near-death behavior.
Mo Yi’s expression was light as he continued to walk up the stairs, with an almost inhuman indifference and rationality in his dark eyes.
The Mist turned his head slightly, and stared at Mo Yi’s profile, his light gray pupils filled with unknown emotions.
He gave a low chuckle and stopped talking.
After walking for a while, Mo Yi finally stepped on the last step.
The dust from the soles of his shoes was visible under the light of the flashlight, slowly rising and falling. The rest of the place was shrouded in thick darkness. Everything seemed to be swallowed into the abyss, even the light of the flashlight couldn’t penetrate far.
The musty smell of the old wooden structure, mixed with the smell of dust and the faint smell of blood, was particularly irritating.
Mo Yi resisted the urge to rub his nose, raised his flashlight to illuminate the road ahead, and was about to walk forward when his steps abruptly stopped.
Suddenly, on that cold face, which was almost devoid of emotions, a conflicting feeling flashed.
“That…”
Mo Yi hesitated for a few seconds then said hesitantly:
“Can you let go of my hand now?”
The face of the Mist was still serious: “…I’m worried that you will be afraid.”
Mo Yi: “…”
? ? ?
Seeing that he could not stop it, there was a trace of obvious pity on the Mists face, so he had to slowly release the fingers that were stained with the other’s body temperature. The movements were deliberately drawn-out and hesitant, as the intertwined fingers separated into two hands.
Finally, after he inconspicuously wrapped Mo Yi’s slender and well-proportioned knuckles, the Mist released his hand with a righteous face.
Mo Yi was a little confused: He didn’t know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that the other party… seemed to enjoy physical contact with him?
He glanced to his side subconsciously, and his eyes slid across the Mist’s side profile without any emotional fluctuations, like a feather that left with a touch.
–Probably an illusion.
Mo Yi thought a little indifferently.
But…he wouldn’t exclude it either.
He stepped forward, but there was a different feeling under his feet from that of the stairs. The ground seemed to be covered with a soft carpet, absorbing all their footsteps. He could only hear the muffled sounds coming from downstairs.
Mo Yi cautiously slowed down and walked forward slowly.
At this moment, he suddenly hit something hard under his feet, and a harsh metallic sound echoed. It was extraordinarily loud in the narrow and long dark space, almost making one’s heart tense.
Mo Yi couldn’t help but startle.
He took a sharp step back, moved his wrists down, and shone the light of the flashlight down on his feet.
He saw a music box securely placed on the only way he could pass. The mottled and peeling metal shell glowed a faint cold light under the light. It seemed to be old.
As a result of being kicked he fell to the ground, and the box opened halfway with a narrow gap.
Mo Yi paused, bent down, and carefully picked up the music box.
It was heavy and pressed into his palm, the icy touch transmitting along the metal shell, giving one a strange, uncomfortable feeling.
This was probably the music box that played the nursery rhyme an hour ago.
The sharp faces of the three ugly mice with their hideous, needle and thread stitched, inverted fur, were imprinted in his retinas very vividly again. The strong stench of blood, together with their piercing screams, emerged in his memory once again.
Mo Yi pursed his lips, ignoring the discomfort in his heart, and reached out to open its lid.
To his surprise, the inside of this music box was different from its exterior.
Faded velvet cushions surrounded two little figures, a little girl in a long skirt and a little boy in shorts, two little people who seemed to be made of ceramic holding hands, their faces worn away by time. A smile remains.
Although the remaining golden paint on the little girl’s head still shimmered gently, her hands and arms were basically broken, and she was struggling to stand on the velvet cushion. The little boy also had varying degrees of wear and tear.
Mo Yi turned the box to the side, grazed the cold metal surface of the music box with his fingers, and touched a protruding handle.
–Its mainspring seemed to have loosened, and it should not be able to make a sound for a while.
He breathed inconspicuously a sigh of relief, then turned the box back to the front and looked at it again.
He saw a small broken mirror inlaid on the inside of the lid of the music box.
Cobweb-like lines spread all over the dust-stained mirror surface, making it look particularly miserable and pitiful.
Under the mirror, there seemed to be a line of cursive characters written in bronze handwriting. Due to its age, it has become blurred, and it was almost impossible to see what was written on it.
Mo Yi frowned, squinted his eyes and leaned forward, carefully identifying the contents on it.
The broken mirror in front of him reflected his close face.
At this moment, Mo Yi glanced to the side of his reflection…
Not far behind him, stood a vague figure.
TN: Sadly I found my translations on some other sites. That is why they are now password protected.
Uwu, thanks for the new chapter!
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for the chapter! Correction:
“they can’t see” [senior players] → “they can’t not see” at least that’s what the meaning should be from next two paragraphs.
You’re right, that would make more sense. I corrected it. English is not my first language, so I’m thankful for every correction 😊
Protect your work! I’m so glad that you decided to transfer this job at all, please don’t give it up! Thank you very much for your translation ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Question: If only Mo Yi can see the Mist, will he also see the Mist’s reflection? Granted this is almost certainly a new form of danger, but still
Thank you so much for translating! <3