Just as he walked over, the subway announcements began:
"Dear passengers, Hongxing Furniture City reminds you that the next stop is classroom C105 at S University."
After a two-second silence, cheers erupted in the carriage.
"Ah, we can go back now!"
"I knew it, this game had to have an ending."
Cheng Yungui paused for two seconds before laughing along with everyone else. At that moment, he saw Ming Ran.
Mingran sat there coldly watching the others, without joining in the laughter.
"What's wrong, Mingran? We're going back soon, are you unhappy?"
Cheng Yungui walked over and sat down next to Mingran.
——————
Lu Mingran stirred.
He turned around and patted Cheng Yungui's thigh twice:
“Young man,” Lu Mingran looked at him with pity, “you are too naive.”
Cheng Yungui felt that if Lu Mingran had a yellow halo above his head and a few naked little angels flying in front of him when he said those words, he would be the very embodiment of a compassionate and merciful saint.
Author's Note: The plot won't be too mind-bending or incomprehensible, and the horror level will be kept to a minimum (Lu Mingran's presence drastically reduces the horror...). Enjoy your reading!
Chapter 50 Want to be the King of the Night? No way (2)
The subway continued its journey and soon arrived at its final stop.
"We are about to arrive at classroom C105. All passengers, please take your belongings and prepare to disembark."
Suddenly, everyone else stood up, except for Lu Mingran, who remained seated. Cheng Yungui had intended to stand up as well, but seeing his friend remain seated, he sat down and quietly asked:
"What's wrong?"
"This train is for passengers only, no passengers can get off."
As soon as Lu Mingran finished speaking, the broadcast suddenly changed its tone, this time to a shrill female voice, and the content of the announcement also changed:
"Welcome aboard this train. Our final destination: Qingmingmeng."
The door was already open, and the person who had stepped out was stunned upon hearing this, then let out a scream.
His companions, who were standing by the door, watched helplessly as two men in uniform dragged him away and threw him into the opposite carriage. And that subway train was blood red.
In an instant, everyone at the door retreated, and no one dared to take another step out. Lu Mingran sat calmly, not even glancing at him, while Cheng Yungui turned his head and saw the girl from the previous club recruitment event again.
Everyone must hate this girl, after all, she was the one who caused all this, yet no one dared to approach her, let alone speak to her. The girl brought over a few young students, who followed her like zombies with their eyes closed.
She seemed not to see the original people in the carriage, and led the newcomers to another seat, looking straight ahead.
These people just stood there, watching them.
The train doors closed again, and the station announcement read: "Next stop, Happy Home."
Happy Home is the name of the villa where Cheng Yungui and his family live.
Lu Mingran felt a chill run down her spine: villas, another villa.
————————————
This time, the girl seemed to be dropping someone off at another villa, as no one followed her off at the Happiness Home station. As soon as they exited the subway station, they saw a staircase leading down to the first-floor common area of Happiness Home—the lobby.
It seemed to be winter, and the firewood in the fireplace crackled. The young people, who had just experienced ecstasy followed by fear and despair, sat dejectedly on the sofa.
Before coming down, Lu Mingran noticed that an older man was already sitting on the sofa, with his legs crossed and drinking coffee.
"Senior Xiao Tao." The system information was quickly entered.
There have always been rumors of freshmen disappearing without a trace at this university, but the last time a freshman went missing was ten years ago.
When Cheng Yungui and his group first arrived, Xiao Tao was sitting on the sofa. Looking at these new faces, he asked the time and said with a sigh:
"Ten years have passed, and I'm the only one left still alive."
"Welcome to the Happy Family."
At this moment, Senior Tao looked at these people and counted in his mind, one, two, three... Eight people went this time, and five came back.
"Is it really that difficult?" Xiao Tao asked doubtfully. "There was a newcomer who couldn't even control his consciousness, so it's not surprising that he died, but losing three of them at once is really unacceptable."
"One person died at the subway station."
It was Cheng Yungui who spoke; he had seen death many times before. He sat down diagonally opposite Xiao Tao, picked up a can of soda, and casually handed one to Lu Mingran beside him.
"When will this kind of life ever end...?"
Finally, one of the girls couldn't hold back anymore and started sobbing softly. At this moment, Xiao Tao started to get a headache and shook the copper bell beside him: "301."
The housekeeper from room 301 responded and forcibly helped the girl back to her room to rest; the sobbing was muffled by the door.
Once the surroundings quieted down, Xiao Tao rolled up the newspaper he was reading:
"No new information. But everyone should not let their guard down lately and should practice lucid dreaming frequently, otherwise it will be terrible if you are confused in your dreams next time."
The newspaper Xiao Tao is holding is the kind of newspaper that circulates in this world; it publishes missions and intelligence.
Each villa elects an elderly person to receive newspapers and analyze intelligence. They have more experience, and the intervals between tasks become longer as time goes on, making them relatively more leisurely.
However, their leisurely life is only superficial; the tasks they face are far more challenging and unpredictable.
After what happened at the subway station, everyone was in low spirits. They chatted for a few minutes and then went back to their rooms. Lu Mingran followed Cheng Yungui, also about to leave.
But Xiao Tao grabbed Cheng Yungui's wrist:
"You stay here for a moment."
Lu Mingran glanced at Cheng Yungui, then at Xiao Tao, knowing they had something to talk about, and also knew what they were going to talk about, so she walked away.
"What's going on? Why are you being so mysterious?"
Cheng Yungui smiled and sat down, but Xiao Tao's expression was anything but relaxed:
"There were so many people around just now, there are some things I couldn't say to you."
“Yun Gui, you know that your strength is actually far above all of us, including me.”
Xiao Tao looked at him with mixed feelings: "Doing missions with us is, to some extent, cheating, because you occasionally protect others."
Cheng Yungui frowned; he had a bad feeling.
"So the system made adjustments. Lone Wolf Heart just recently lost someone. Their next dungeon is difficult, requiring seven players, and they're one short..."
Cheng Yungui found out; he was being asked to make up the numbers.
It wouldn't be so bad if it were any other villa, but Lone Wolf Heart—they're a bunch of lunatics, cold-blooded animals who would sacrifice their teammates without batting an eye for the sake of team battles. Cheng Yungui doesn't know them at all; if anything goes wrong, he'll be the first one abandoned.
The Lone Wolf is a nightmare in this world.
Cheng Yungui took the newspaper and flipped through it himself. Because this was a major rule-changing action, it was the headline on the front page, taking up two pages.
The last two sides are a communication platform similar to a forum, where players can use their own blood to write in the input box, and the newspaper will update the chat content in real time. The interface is the same as the public chat in online games.
"The refresh rate is actually still quite slow right now," Xiao Tao said with a wry smile.
Slow? The refresh rate was already making Cheng Yungui dizzy, and some people were lamenting, "I still want to chat and gossip, but I'm almost drained of all my energy."
"Hey, upstairs, why are you spouting nonsense? Doesn't it waste blood?"
Everyone is talking about this, and some have even started betting, placing bets on whether Cheng Yungui will come back alive.
"Be mentally prepared."
Xiao Tao patted Cheng Yungui on the shoulder. Just as he finished speaking, the stove went out briefly.
...The new newspapers arrived too quickly.
The headline this time is: Lone Wolf Heart's next round's player count has been exceptionally increased to eight, allowing Cheng Yungui to bring a teammate of his own choosing.
Then there's absolutely no need to hesitate.
Xiao Tao looked at Cheng Yungui.
The only person he could trust was Lu Mingran.
————————
Lu Mingran's room was 402. When he went in, he was startled by the walls covered with sticky notes.
This is a way to practice lucid dreaming; you need to constantly remind yourself to stay awake. The yellow sticky note on the back of the door says:
Lord, you will gently hold my hand and make my eyes clear in my dreams.
Lu Mingran pulled out a chair and sat down, but before she could even get comfortable, she heard a knock on the door.
He knew it was Cheng Yungui. After explaining his purpose, Cheng Yungui said to him:
"I'll protect you with my life, so this time I'm lending you some items. The Death Stick, the Blood Hammer, and the Garden Hammer that makes roses tremble—take whatever you like while you're on the mission."
Lu Mingran's lips twitched.
What kind of fancy and ridiculously childish names are these? This one is already too fantastical, no way!
Lu Mingran smiled and said:
“I used to take Japanese classes, and my Japanese teacher said that Japanese people take a long time to speak because they have to pronounce a word as several syllables.”
Cheng Yungui looked at him, puzzled.
"So, Yun Gui..."
Lu Mingran earnestly suggested:
"Talking too much when facing a ghost is a waste of time. Wouldn't it be better to just say it directly?"
"Hey buddy, there's a ghost here! Lend me your stick, hammer, and sledgehammer!"
Author's Note: There seems to be another thousand words left. I'll go read some more of "The Sideburns" for a bit first, hehe.