CH 16

As the darkness recedes, Xiao Lan finds himself in a rickety van, which looks shabby. The windows around him are still taped shut, and they clank and clatter as they shake.

The car smelled of petrol mixed with the muddy smell from the often unwashed interior, which smelled straight up.

In addition to the driver and Xiao Lan, there were four other people sitting in the car.

The driver drove on by himself, without the slightest reaction to all the players’ actions.

One of the scantily clad but plain-looking women cringed at the poor conditions in the car and complained, “What a crap game, coming up here and tossing people around!”

Everyone didn’t look too good either, this environment was really uncomfortable and another woman was already lying by the window with a look on her face like she wanted to throw up, presumably from motion sickness.

The small man sitting next to Xiao Lan said to the crowd, “Why don’t we all introduce ourselves while we’re at it, it’ll be easier to work together later. I’ll go first, my name is Gu Shengan and I’ve been through three games.”

The freckled man continued, “My name is Zhao Fan and I’ve only been through one game.”

The seasick woman turned her head and said breathlessly, ” Tong Qing …… two games.”

Xiao Lan : ” Xiao Lan, go through one.”

The scantily dressed woman swept the crowd, a little impatient: ” Liu Yiyi , more than a dozen games. It’s useless for you to talk about this, I won’t take you.”

She is completely uninterested in these rookies who have not played more than three games. The mortality rate for newcomers is as high as 70% in less than five games, and for veteran players, only those who survive beyond five games are considered true beginners. She is naturally not interested in taking on a bunch of dead people.

The atmosphere in the car was a little awkward for a moment, as several other players exchanged glances, none of them speaking up again.

Although a dozen games sounds impressive, right, but after a dozen games, aren’t they still junior players like them? It doesn’t seem that much better.

Luo appeared quietly by Xiao Lan’s hand when no one was looking, and rubbed his furry cheek against it. Xiao Lan reached out and touched it, but the fur was moist and smooth, but not warm like a living thing.

The ramshackle van was moving along the rugged mountain road, and the further it went, the worse the conditions became. The four people in the van were constantly being jostled up and down, occasionally hitting their heads, and had to hold on to their seats for dear life.

Unlike them, Xiao Lan sits still, just reaching out and gripping the handrail, looking particularly relaxed. Luo jumps directly onto his lap, forming a ball of black fur that holds Xiao Lan’s body in place like a pin.

Suddenly there was a clang as the van ran over a pothole and with a huge jolt the glass on one of the windows fell out.

Gu Shengan worried: “Will this car last until its destination ……”

Liu Yiyi stroked his dishevelled hair and said irritably, “How did we randomly end up in this shithole!!!”

As for the other two, they were already so seasick that they couldn’t speak.

At the moment they look at Xiao Lan who is calmly jerking off his cat, his eyes are full of envy, having a cat has this kind of effect, I don’t know which copy or shop produces it, I want it too woo woo woo ……

Of course they don’t realise that ordinary cats don’t have this feature.

Finally, at dusk, the van arrived at its destination.

Xiao Lan gets out of the car with Luo in her arms and looks up. It is a wooden three-storey hot spring hotel built in the mountains, which looks rustic and elegant. The surrounding vegetation and the air is particularly fresh, and it is far from the noise of the city, making it a great place to spend a holiday.

“Ding dong–”

At that moment a woman’s sigh came ghostly through the air, “Help me ……”

At this hint, the players instantly felt that this was inside a copy of the game and their mood abruptly tensed up.

“You are the guests who have made reservations before, right?” A tall, thin old man came out of the inn, rubbing his hands together and smiling at them, “I am the owner of Rokudo Onsen and welcome you all. It’s just about dinner time, so come on in.”

Several people looked at each other for a moment, knowing in their hearts that this was the home stretch of the game.

Guided by the boss, the player arrives at the restaurant, where a table is already seated. The player was seated at the table next to them by the boss.

At that table were four young men who looked to be in their twenties or eighties, plus an old man in his sixties who looked like a man of great respect.

The number of people is exactly the same as the players.

One of the men, a good-looking man with dreadlocks, looked cheerful as he offered to talk to the players, “You’re here on a trip too?”

Xiao Lan replied, “Yes, I came to visit during the low season, so it’s less crowded and more comfortable, how about you?”

But Pigtail shook his head, “We’re a reunion, coming together with our teacher ten years after graduation.”

He reached out and pointed to the man in the suit on one side, “Here, this very dignified manager Cheng is the initiator of this party.”

But the man frowned: ” Fu Wenbo, don’t talk nonsense, didn’t Zhang Jie organise this?”

Zhang Jie is a beautiful woman with a hot silicone chest and a face that is indistinguishable from that of a netizen. She looks puzzled: “Me? Didn’t Fu Wenbo send us a message to come to the party?”

The men looked at each other, each saying that they had received news of the party from someone else, and none of them admitted to having started it themselves.

The atmosphere was a little odd for a moment.

It seems that this time the main thread is related to these people, this game is not as clear as the previous supermarket hints, probably this is the difference between the novice field and the beginner field.

Xiao Lan noticed with a sharp eye that one of the five men, a short woman, kept looking at him with a frightened look in her eyes, and when Xiao Lan noticed her eyes dodged, she no longer dared to look at him.

Xiao Lan thought it was strange, he had never been in this game before, so how could there be an NPC with an expression that not only knew him, but had been psychologically disturbed by him? He was also pretty sure that the woman’s eyes did fall on him, not around or behind him.

Did she see my poor temperament and worry about being infected? Xiao Lan thought.

At that moment, just as the waiter started to serve the food, breaking the stagnant atmosphere.

The cuisine at the spa hotel is excellent, using local mountain treasures with fresh meat and vegetables, and the chef’s extraordinary skill.

With the help of good food, the atmosphere among the crowd was slowly soothed again.

Liu Yiyi was the only one who disliked the poor quality of the tea prepared by the owner, and when no one paid any attention to her, she became angry with herself.

Dreadlocked Fu Wenbo, a man who can’t be bothered, talks to Xiao Lan again.

Xiao Lan learns that he is a photographer, Cheng Lang, in a suit, is a manager, Zhang Jie, a netizen, is a young star with a background in the 18th grade, and the old man, Yang Degao, is their head teacher. The short woman who caught Xiao Lan’s attention was Du Yuhui, a housewife.

This time they were revisiting the same hotel they had been in on their graduation trip ten years ago.

Xiao Lan can’t imagine what she has to do with a housewife, what is she so frightened about? Or did she know something? Xiao Lan thought it might be time to have a friendly chat with her, or if she refused, to force a friendly chat.

Players’ side.

Tong Qing was unable to eat at all because of her severe motion sickness, and the smell of food made her feel even more uncomfortable. She got up and prepared to go out for some fresh air.

She hurriedly reached out to pick up the stool, but her movement was too hasty and brought it over. When she got up, she grabbed a mobile phone in her hand and asked the other players, “Which one of you dropped your mobile phone?”

Players fingered their pockets and shook their heads.

She turned the phone again to the table next door, which also shook its head.

With that, everyone couldn’t help but focus on the phone. It was a very old phone, not even a smartphone, with a lot of wear and tear and some paint loss, and an out-of-date cartoon doll hanging in the dust.

Gu Shengan : “No one uses this style now, do they?”

Zhao Fan also said, “I’m afraid that production has long since ceased.”

The players exchanged silent words as they all realised that this, I’m afraid, was the key prop for the start of the game.

Suddenly, the phone, which seemed almost impossible to turn on, turned itself on, causing Tong Qing’s hand to shake and drop it on the table. After a slow and jerky boot-up animation, a picture of a girl appears on the screensaver.

The girl was seventeen or eighteen, wearing a school uniform, with long black hair and a pretty, clear face, and was smiling a little shyly, looking like a rather introverted person.

Fu Wenbo, who had been watching the movement at the player’s table, saw this and looked over at the phone screen. He pointed at the phone and said to the others, “It’s …… her ……”

A few other people also looked odd at the sight, and they stared at the phone like it was some kind of flooded beast.

“She’s not ……”

“How did it get here?”

“It’s nothing to do with me.”

“It can’t be, which one of you did it ……”

Even the old head teacher, Yang Degao, dropped his chopsticks with a shake of his hand.