"Ahhh—!"
A scream echoed from downstairs—Sylas Young's voice.
Luo Shu, now armed and confident with his new weapon, dashed down the stairs.
Sylas burst from the bathroom, shouting as she ran, "I drank so much water that I… needed the bathroom. But as soon as I sat down, something felt wrong! Ahhh—get it off! What is this thing?!"
It was quite a bizarre sight. A set of blood-soaked jaws, complete with upper and lower rows of teeth, was clamped onto her thigh, ripping through her pants as blood trickled down.
Luo Shu winced, muttering to himself, "Good thing I didn't try that first-hand."
Bullet Screen (Comments):
[!!!]
[Ugh! That's so disgusting!]
[I'll never feel safe using the bathroom again…]
[I'll forever picture a bloodied mouth hiding in the toilet…]
[Poor girl, tricked into being bait—totally unfair!]
Not wanting to touch it directly and risk injury, Luo Shu used the bloody shovel, swinging it down hard. With a sharp thwack, the jaws detached and fell to the floor. Even as it lay there, the two rows of teeth kept chomping with disturbing clicks.
Luo Shu swung the shovel again. This time, the mouth finally lay still. He nudged it with the shovel and looked at Sylas. "Don't you have a bag? Put it in there."
With reluctance written all over her face, Sylas gritted her teeth and opened her bag. Luo Shu tossed the gory mouth inside, and she quickly zipped it up.
By this point, Sylas's health was critically low, and blood was still seeping from her leg.
"Young… man… I think I might die soon…" Sylas wheezed, pale as she pulled a small key from her pocket. "I found this key in the water tank. It's for the basement… You take it… Just promise me… you'll survive and… make it out… My name is Sylas Young. Since I was little, people teased me about my name… But I don't blame my parents for it. If you ever make it out, please just… Ahhh—what are you doing?!"
In the middle of her tearful farewell, Luo Shu grabbed his belt and cinched it tightly around her thigh. The sudden jolt of pain pulled her from her dramatic exit.
Luo Shu glanced at her. "You didn't hit an artery. Are you filming a soap opera here?"
Flustered, Sylas stammered, "But… my health's down to 15%. Even if I don't die now, I probably won't last much longer."
Luo Shu shrugged, "Actually, I think I know the simplest way to clear this level."
She blinked, confused. "Huh?"
He took the key from her and turned toward the basement door. "Come on."
"But… help me! My leg hurts!" she complained.
Luo Shu didn't look back. "Hop along."
Sylas was left muttering, feeling both injured and insulted. She silently cursed him, wishing him eternal loneliness. Begrudgingly, she began to hop after him.
Using the key she found, Luo Shu unlocked the basement door, opened it, and fanned away the stale, musty air inside. He groped along the wall until he found a light switch, casting a dim yellow glow that illuminated every corner of the basement.
In the middle of the room were three skeletons, kneeling as though frozen in silent prayer.
Sylas froze in horror, unable to move, but this time managed to stay conscious.
Luo Shu stepped further in, approaching the skeletons, observing his health and stamina gauges. He exhaled a long breath.
"Come down here," he called.
But Sylas shook her head, trembling as she glanced at the skeletons. "I… I can't! It's too…"
"You've completed the mission," Luo Shu said simply.
"Wh-what?" Sylas stared blankly at him. "What did you say?"
Realizing something, Luo Shu suddenly grabbed her bag, sprinting up the stairs. "Stay here! Don't move!"
"I… Alright…" Sylas decided to trust him. She wasn't in any condition to chase after him anyway.
A few moments later, Luo Shu returned. He'd restored everything to its original state—placing the eyeballs back in the kettle, throwing the lady's mouth into the toilet, and tossing the girl's head onto the balcony, leaving her to roll around on her own. He'd cleared away all traces of their presence.
Upon re-entering the basement, Luo Shu noticed the Suit Ghost standing silently nearby.
He raised a finger to his lips. "Shh… We're hiding. Please don't give us away."
The Suit Ghost gave a solemn nod.
Luo Shu stepped further in, closed the door, and used a few strands of hair to lock the antique copper latch in place.
The sound of the lock clicking jolted Sylas to her senses. "You've gone mad!" she whispered, alarmed.
Luo Shu pulled her further down. "Shh… stay quiet. We don't know when he'll come back."
Confused and alarmed, Sylas stammered, "Wh-what are you even talking about? We're locked in! How are we supposed to get out?"
"Why would we want to get out?"
Luo Shu's response took her aback. Without another word, he switched off the light, plunging them into pitch-black darkness.
Ordinarily, being plunged into darkness in such an eerie space would trigger a scream from any girl, even unintentionally. Prepared, Luo Shu used her own hand to cover her mouth, just in case.
"Mm… Mmm…"
Once he was certain she'd calmed down, he released her.
A small flame flickered to life as Sylas lit her lighter, her face tense as she hissed, "What's going on? Explain yourself!"
Luo Shu blew out the flame. "First of all, you should've noticed by now—the ghosts here have no intention of harming us."
"Noticed, yes. But they still injured us. Our health keeps dropping!"
"Right."
"Because we're constantly within their passive damage range," Luo Shu explained. "Being near them drains health, but it's not something they intend to do."
"So?" she prompted.
"So… what are they trying to do?"
"I… hadn't thought about that."
"I believe they're trying to drive us away," Luo Shu said, "No matter where we go in this house, they appear—over and over. It's a form of harassment. We don't have to fight them; we just need to avoid them. Remember, I'm only level one, and you're level three. The difficulty can't be that high. The normal way to clear this would be to find the only spot in this house where the spirits won't disturb us, stay there for twelve hours, and then clear the mission."
"Is it really that simple?"
"Simple? You've fainted twice already."
"That was because… I've never seen a ghost before…" she mumbled.
"Exactly. I haven't either. So, this world isn't meant to be easy. This time, the system's challenge is mainly our ability to handle fear. Facing constant fear in a confined space, with limited water and food, tracking down a key to unlock the basement and hide away—that's plenty difficult for beginners."
Sylas thought about it. Reluctantly, she agreed. "Yeah… makes sense. But there's water here! You gave me so much!"
"Drinking it has its own hurdle. There are two human eyeballs in the kettle. Some players with weaker nerves might not even be able to stomach drinking from it, so this mission is all about the Sanity Level. The better your mental state, the easier it is to get through."
"Wait, what? Eyeballs in the kettle…?" Sylas's face went pale.
"Uh, about that…"
"Blech—"
"Hey, don't throw up in here!"
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。