Playing the Foolish Beauty in a Deadly Game - Chapter 45
Upon hearing the word “stalker,” Lin Qiao was reminded of the encounter before entering the dungeon. The serial killer had followed him in as well. Could it be that the killer was placed near him and was audacious enough to continue his crimes within the dungeon?
Lin Qiao frowned, speculating that the murderer was an experienced player who had obtained points and exchanged them for items in the game, using these items to commit crimes in real life. The killer not only used the items to infiltrate victims’ homes but also to evade the police and cover up his crimes. Lin Qiao had confronted the killer and was pinned down on the bed, unable to move.
Although he couldn’t physically overpower the murderer, Lin Qiao was determined to confront him and wasn’t afraid. For now, he had to pretend to be frightened. The perverted killer would surely come looking, and perhaps was even watching him from the shadows at this very moment.
Lin Qiao frowned, showing a fearful expression, and thanked the boss: “Thank you for the warning. I live alone with only my pets for company, so I really do need to take more safety measures.”
The boss, who had seen Lin Qiao’s innocent and seemingly defenseless appearance, had kindly given the warning. Seeing that Lin Qiao had taken it to heart and was now pale with fear, the boss felt a bit guilty and couldn’t help but say, “Don’t scare yourself. You can trust your pets more.”
Lin Qiao couldn’t agree with that. The cats and dogs in this dungeon were indeed smart, but they were still just animals. If it were an ordinary stalker, the Doberman could intimidate the person, but this stalker was a murderer and an experienced game player who might have lethal items at his disposal.
Lin Qiao didn’t want to risk his pets’ lives. He couldn’t bear the thought of the Doberman and the black cat dying because of him. As an illegal immigrant, he wouldn’t die in the dungeon. As long as he wasn’t discovered by the game, Lin Qiao would find a way to eliminate the murderer.
On his way back, Lin Qiao purchased a large amount of supplies and installed cameras inside and outside the villa. The Doberman and the black cat sensed Lin Qiao’s tension and became alert as well.
Lin Qiao, like a busy little ant, stood on a stool to hide the cameras in the cabinets, climbing up and down until he was hot and panting. He showed no sign of stopping, continuing to stash mace and stun guns in every nook and cranny for self-defense until the Doberman blocked the door and cornered him in the living room.
The Doberman wanted to comfort Lin Qiao and make him less afraid. The black cat, on the other hand, paced restlessly, trying to touch Lin Qiao’s frightened face with its paws.
Lin Qiao said anxiously, “When I went out, the breakfast shop owner told me that there’s been a stalker around here lately.”
“I’ve been stalked before. He not only followed me but also hid in my place and…” Lin Qiao stopped himself, unable to bring himself to say it in front of the innocent animals, and only vaguely mentioned, “Anyway, he did some really strange things to me.”
“He dug out the eyes of the fish I raised and uprooted the plants I grew. He even sent me the corpses of small animals.”
Lin Qiao hugged the Doberman’s neck and pressed his face against it: “Later, he broke in and pinned me down. I couldn’t fight him off.”
“He’s dangerous. I think he followed me here. If it really is him…”
The Doberman let out a soft “woof” to indicate that he would protect Lin Qiao. The black cat didn’t react much, but its claws extended, and its golden eyes narrowed.
Lin Qiao paused, frowning, “If he breaks in, don’t confront him directly. Don’t worry about me. Just protect yourselves, okay?”
The Doberman and the black cat thought they had heard wrong. They were always the ones protecting humans from evil spirits and had long been accustomed to their roles as guardians. It was the first time a human had asked them to protect themselves. Such a vulnerable human, a follower of the religion, was actually asking the “deities” of the church to protect themselves?
Only after filling every corner of the room with mace did Lin Qiao feel at ease. After tidying up and feeding the cat and dog, he turned on the live-streaming website to check the situation.
Lin Qiao first watched the replay of his own live-stream, looking for the murderer among the broadcasters who had entered his live-stream. There were a total of 80 broadcasters who had entered yesterday, and 76 of them had already gone live and shown their faces. After confirming and eliminating them, Lin Qiao was left with four who still had no intention of going live. However, one named [Yatagarasu] had an affection value of 851.
How could someone gain affection value without going live? No, wait.
Lin Qiao’s breathing quickened for a moment. It was indeed possible to gain affection value without going live. According to the dungeon’s rules, killing players from the opposing faction not only earned you affection values but also protection values. So this player named [Yatagarasu] had no intention of going live and wasting time; he just wanted to win by hunting down the opposing faction.
Killing directly… Lin Qiao thought this was indeed something a murderer could do. Moreover, [Yatagarasu] was actually another name for the “Yamata no Orochi” from R-country. The two key points of R-country and murderer came together, and Lin Qiao suspected that [Yatagarasu] was the real-life murderer.
Lin Qiao tried to calm himself down and then checked the broadcaster rankings on the live-streaming website. The first place was still [Happy Sè Sè Paper扎Shop], the second place had become [Nelson], and the third place was [Edible Delights Live-stream]. Lin Qiao remained in the nineties position, as he had only broadcasted for two or three hours.
However, Lin Qiao was a bit curious. What had Nelson done to rank so high, with affection values approaching one hundred thousand?
“99,761,” Lin Qiao read out the number, remembering what Nelson had said yesterday.
“After watching brother’s live-stream, I learned that I can live-stream in the same way as you, right?”
What exactly had the other party learned? Was it also pretending to be a clergyman to hear the confessions of evil spirits?
Lin Qiao was puzzled. Could it be that attractive? Already full of curiosity, Lin Qiao quietly controlled the mouse and clicked into Nelson’s live-stream.
The screen’s chat flew by, and under the dim light, a figure stood in front of the camera, bare-chested and wearing only a pure black apron. The hazy light highlighted the muscles on his arms, giving off a dark sheen. His slender and knuckle-defined fingers were skillfully flipping the fish meat. A cut had been made in the fish’s belly, creating a hidden seam.
“The innards inside need to be cleaned out properly, and we can also take the opportunity to massage the fish meat.”
“This part of the meat is very tender, so be careful not to cut through and damage the skin. It wouldn’t be good if it got broken.”
“Hmm? Clean with the tongue? What a good idea.”
“Ah, it’s so sticky.”
Nelson slowly pulled his fingers out of the fish’s belly, covered in red liquid. Nelson let out a soft laugh and licked his fingers with the tip of his tongue: “The taste is okay. What are you saying, cute one? This taste is sweet, not fishy.”
“Don’t believe me? Let me swallow it? Heh, sure.”
Nelson’s neck, aside from the apron strings, also featured a circular collar. As he swallowed, his Adam’s apple moved slightly, causing the bell on the collar to “jingle” softly.
Being bare-chested would only draw attention to his muscles, but the allure of half-revealing, half-concealing was what truly ignited desire. Nelson understood this well, and he had a knack for taking it a step further.
His physique was excellent, yet not overly muscular like a fitness coach’s. Instead, he resembled a model with perfect proportions, with smooth lines, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist.
Although he was on the edge of decency, the apron was loose enough that his abdominal muscles would occasionally peek through during his movements, yet his words were candid to the point of being almost blunt.
“I told you, you can’t turn your back on me, or on the babies. I’m not wearing anything underneath.”
“As I said, the secret is to be dexterous with your fingers…”
“Hmm, brother?” Nelson suddenly paused his actions and leaned closer to the camera: “Is brother watching me? Am I doing well? Have I learned everything you taught me?”
Lin Qiao tilted his head, but his face slowly turned red. This guy was so bold! No, wait, when did he ever teach him to be like this?
Even more exaggerated than Nelson was the live-stream chat in his room, which fully demonstrated how he managed to achieve the second-highest affection value.
Nelson’s top fan kept spamming the chat, fueling the lively atmosphere of the live-stream.
[Green Bamboo Rabbit]: “Hubby’s abs are so beautiful. What’s this dripping from the corner of my mouth? Oh, it’s my drool. Hubby, hubby, why are you making fish? Make me instead!”
“Why is hubby just standing there? Move, hubby. If hubby moves, he can touch my heart~”
“Hubby is so handsome. Hubby is sweating~ I have lots of tissues. Hubby, come here and wipe your sweat~”
“Hubby, don’t touch the fish. Touch me. I’m more tender than the fish, more watery… Little priest?”
Lin Qiao was stunned, shocked. Recalling why [Happy Sè Sè Paper扎Shop] ranked first, Lin Qiao suddenly felt he had grasped the secret to the live-stream’s affection value traffic.
At that moment, the player suspected of being the murderer, [Yatagarasu], also entered the live-stream. Lin Qiao noticed a fleeting look of gloom on Nelson’s face.
[Yatagarasu] seemed to find it unbearable to watch and left within three seconds of entering.
Lin Qiao also decisively exited. He needed to calm down, as he had never seen a boundary-pushing male streamer in real life before.
Lin Qiao’s phone soon vibrated with an incoming call from an unknown number.
Lin Qiao was a bit nervous, thinking it might be the murderer, but upon answering, he realized it was Nelson: “Why did brother delete me? Fortunately, I have brother’s phone number.”
“Brother, shall I come to you? Is brother angry?”
“Brother, I’m so scared. Do you know? Several players died yesterday.”
“Brother, some players don’t plan to live-stream. They intend to hunt players from the opposing faction to gain affection values. Could I be targeted?”
Lin Qiao massaged his forehead. Why couldn’t he believe the other party would be killed?
Lin Qiao whispered, “I have trouble here too. I can’t let you come over.”
“What kind of trouble?” Nelson was straightforward and enthusiastic: “Brother is so small and dangerous. How about I live with brother?”
“I’ll protect brother. Since we’re on the same side, I don’t need to do anything to brother.”
Lin Qiao still refused and changed the subject: “Be careful. You might not have noticed, but apart from [Happy Sè Sè Paper扎Shop], other NPC streamers aren’t that eager to please the audience.”
“I think there must be some issue. Your affection value is currently the highest among players, so you must be cautious.”
“Beware of other players who might target you, and be wary of the game’s traps. I feel the game’s purpose won’t be as simple as just having players live-stream.”
Nelson on the other end was clearly stunned: “You’re telling me such important information. I’m really starting to like brother more and more.”
Lin Qiao hung up the phone directly, feeling that if the other party kept calling him “brother,” he would get a headache.
Among all players, it was clear that Lin Qiao wasn’t the only one who had noticed this.
Most of the players who died yesterday were streamers with relatively high affection values.
Moreover, ever since they arrived in this game dungeon, all players had encountered supernatural events to varying degrees, combined with the game system’s prompts.
The players quickly deduced that the live-stream audience wasn’t human. They were likely the omnipresent evil spirits in the city, and the dead players were mostly attacked by these evil spirits.
In other words, the higher the affection value, the more it attracted evil spirits. If the affection value was too high, the protection value provided by pets wouldn’t be enough, and the player would meet their end.
It’s unclear whether this was a deliberate arrangement by the dungeon, but although the “Best Streamer Competition” wasn’t very popular, with only a little over a thousand streamers, the promotion was overwhelming.
Anything that happened to the streamers would create a buzz on the networks of various cities.
Even trivial matters would be talked about, and something as small as a player sneezing in their live-stream would be featured on the headlines.
The level of embarrassment was extremely high, and at the same time, the exposure of each live-stream increased, ensuring that players from different cities could quickly keep track of what other players were doing.
Two girls from adjacent live-stream rooms gathered together; they were both from the Meow Meow Religion faction and didn’t have to worry about attacking each other.
One of the girls was shivering while holding a cat as a player from outside was trying to break down their door.
The player was from the Woof Woof Religion faction and wanted to kill the two Meow Meow girls to gain their affection and protection values.
“It’s all my fault. I didn’t cover the background during my live-stream, revealing my player status. I even live-streamed with the cat, directly exposing my faction.”
“What should we do? I don’t have any extra props. Let’s call the police! The NPCs here will definitely help, right?”
“I’ve tried. They don’t care. This Best Streamer Competition is a scam. Except for us two, there’s no one else living in this building. Don’t you get it?”
Just as the two girls were crying and hugging each other, the noise outside the door suddenly stopped.
One of the girls stopped crying: “He seems to have left.”
The other girl cautiously checked and then covered her mouth, stepping back in fright.
“What’s wrong? He didn’t leave. Is he still waiting at the door?”
“No, he’s dead. Someone killed him! He’s dead!”
The two girls, having narrowly escaped, suddenly thought that the one who killed him might be a player, and even a player from the same faction.
Before the two girls could catch their breath, the room’s glass was suddenly shattered, and a figure burst in from outside.
The two girls screamed, but were interrupted by an impatient voice: “Shut up!”
The girls fell silent out of fear, nervously eyeing the player who had burst in. He was a young boy, seemingly no more than eighteen or nineteen years old. His features were delicate, his face handsome, and his eyes slanted upwards. A small pink mole adorned the tip of his nose, and his gaze was fierce when he looked at someone.
The two female players stopped their cries, and the boy, with half-closed eyes, lazily spoke: “Let’s make a deal.”
“Use your affection values to lure the opposing faction over, and I’ll help you kill them.”
“Your affection values are too low. Go to the live-stream and learn from a guy named Nelson.”
The two female players realized that the boy was using them as bait and a trap, but they had no right to refuse. However, Nelson’s live-stream?
The two female players had also seen it. One of them said, “Isn’t he live-streaming fitness? Will anyone watch us two live-streaming fitness?”
The other female player said, “Fitness? No, I remember he’s a food live-streamer.”
The two female players opened the live-stream again, and this time Nelson was playing a game.
He deliberately blindfolded himself and tied his hands.
The game was called “Abs Rolling Ball,” where a slimy ball was placed on the abs, and one could only feel the position of the ball with the body, moving it through the actions of thrusting and contracting the abdomen.
Or perhaps through the rise and fall of breathing, continuous deep breaths forming heavy panting, forcing the ball to roll.
The visual and auditory effects were excellent, so much so that the two female players’ faces turned bright red within two seconds.
Nelson even spoke up: “Because I exercise regularly, I have a lot of strength in my waist and abdomen. It’s no problem for the babies to sit on me.”
The two female players were speechless. One of them stammered, “Isn’t he just… I can’t do that. I’m not even pretty.”
The other female player thought more about it and was quite willing to cooperate with the boy.
After all, the boy had high combat power and could protect them. But high affection values could easily attract evil spirits, and the female player intended for the boy to also help them deal with the evil spirits.
So the female player said, “This fellow player from the same faction, would you consider it again? I think your appearance could… “
Her words were cut off by the boy’s half-smiling, half-serious expression.
The boy spoke with a hint of cruelty: “It’s said that killing players from the same faction won’t get you affection values or protection values, but don’t forget, only five can survive in this game.”
“Even within the same faction, essentially, we’re competitors.”
The two female players finally realized that they hadn’t encountered a cooperative partner, nor had they found a savior.
This was like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. They were going to be forced by the boy in front of them to perform an edge-pushing act!
Soon, Lin Qiao discovered that the player he had suspected, [Yatagarasu], had been lurking in the live-stream rooms of two edge-pushing female streamers for the past week.
Lin Qiao muttered to himself, “Could it really not be him…”
After all, in reality, the murderer liked men and often victimized young men.
As Lin Qiao fell into deep thought, he felt that something was about to happen.
The system, which hadn’t spoken for a long time, suddenly reminded him: [Start live-streaming, move up to the top thirty.]
Lin Qiao was puzzled, and the system continued: [The game will eliminate players with insufficient points. Countdown: 3 hours and 30 minutes.]
Lin Qiao took a deep breath: “System, do you realize how important this information is?”
The system’s cold tone showed a bit of fluctuation, as if it was a little embarrassed: [I just found out.]
Lin Qiao knew that his system was different from the players’ game system, so it was understandable that there would be some discrepancies in information.
Lin Qiao hurriedly opened the live-streaming website and indeed found that every player was doing their utmost to live-stream, it was like a chaotic dance of exorcism.
At the same time, Nelson called Lin Qiao: “Brother, your live-stream’s current ranking is around one hundred, which is very dangerous.”
“Brother has only been live-streaming for two hours a day for the past week, and he didn’t allow me to come find him. I miss you, brother.”
Lin Qiao didn’t want his live-stream to be so conspicuous, so he had been very low-key.
Moreover, whenever he went live, he would be teased. Every time the evil spirit viewers spoke, Lin Qiao felt uncomfortable.
In Lin Qiao’s view, the protection values provided by his cat and dog were enough. The standalone villa was like a small fortress, and it was very safe inside.
So there was no need to overly pursue affection values. Doing so would not only attract evil spirits but also draw the attention of other players. It was better to keep a low profile and accumulate wealth quietly.
Lie low until the end, accumulate enough protection values, and then make a move to increase the affection values.
Nelson’s voice continued: “None of us expected the game to have this trick up its sleeve.”
“Just now, the game reminded us that in 3 hours and 30 minutes, the passing score will be announced. Players who don’t meet the standard will be directly eliminated by the game.
All protection values will be reclaimed, and they will be devoured by evil spirits.”
It turned out that it wasn’t a problem with his system. It was the horror game adding rules halfway through. This wasn’t… this was just being deliberately malicious.
Lin Qiao was a good kid who knew how to admit his mistakes. He apologized to the system in his mind: “I’m sorry, system. I lost my temper without understanding. I hope you can forgive me.”
System: [Okay.]
[Are you still angry?]
Lin Qiao was puzzled by the question: “I’m not angry. I’m apologizing to you.”
[。]
[Why don’t you call me brother.]
Lin Qiao felt embarrassed. He was almost developing a stress disorder from Jonathan’s “brother.”
Lin Qiao obediently called out in his mind: “Brother.”
The system was satisfied. After communicating with the system, Lin Qiao calmed down and regained his composure.
No, wait.
Lin Qiao’s heart stirred. Nelson saying he “didn’t expect the game to pull this trick” was a lie. He had anticipated it, which was why he had been desperately accumulating affection values from the start.
Not only Nelson, but also the [Perfumer] player, and those players who didn’t plan to live-stream and instead directly killed players from the opposing faction to gain values, had realized the game’s intentions.
Lin Qiao banged his head in frustration. He was so stupid. He should have thought of it too.
He had already sensed that “the game’s purpose wouldn’t be as simple as just having players live-stream” and had even shared these thoughts with Nelson, but still…
Lin Qiao’s eyes welled up with tears. He was not only upset with himself for being foolish, but more importantly, he had told Nelson his thoughts, and Nelson had refused to share anything.
Lin Qiao comforted himself: “It’s only human nature. This is a horror game; there’s bound to be scheming and backstabbing.”
“Nelson really didn’t know. Don’t overthink it…”
“Even if Nelson knew, it doesn’t matter. Jojo won’t be sad. Jojo won’t die, but they will, so it’s okay.”
System: [My mistake.]
Many players who first accumulate protection values and then increase affection values should exist. Without the so-called passing line elimination, this method has a high winning rate.
But this is a horror game. Its essence cannot be simply “live-streaming” and being “kind to pets.” It’s about death and killing.
The system repeated: [It’s my fault. Don’t cry.]
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