Playing the Foolish Beauty in a Deadly Game - Chapter 67

Despite having decided not to trust anymore, there was still an understanding of the other’s feelings. Dao Zhang flicked his duster again and couldn’t help but urge, “Nelson, what are you daydreaming about? Show some reaction.”

Nelson was somewhat flustered. He tidied up his clothes again, his expression agitated, on the verge of speaking but holding back.

The two met but did not recognize each other; even if spoken, no one would believe. Nelson well knew that Lin Qiao’s actions stemmed from sympathy, and this bit of sympathy was like a sweet dew to Nelson.

At this moment, he no longer hoped to gain Lin Qiao’s forgiveness or affection, only wishing to stay a bit longer by “mom’s” side.

As for “mistaking someone else”…

That was merely a step Nelson provided, following Lin Qiao’s words. He was utterly certain that Lin Qiao was the person he was looking for.

But based on the current situation, Nelson became more and more convinced of his guess: his childhood experiences were part of a scenario that Lin Qiao would enter in the future.

Thus, he raked his brain, searching for every memory from his early years, trying to tell Lin Qiao everything he knew and felt in detail.

The more he remembered, the safer Lin Qiao would be in the future.

“The game modifies player memories, and there are many types of scenarios.”

For example, the “Airplane Escape” scenario selects a certain time period from a world and creates an infinite loop mode, reusing it repeatedly.

The current scenario directly changes the worldview, establishing the “Best Streamer Competition” game rules for limitation.

There are also scenarios built based on famous works, horror movies, ghost stories, and terrifying legends.

“To prevent scenario information from leaking, the game avoids players entering scenarios from their own world.”

“My situation is not common, but it’s not unique.”

“The disappearance of important memories is also the work of horror games. In my memory, I am an unwanted orphan…”

Nelson deduced, understood, and reconstructed based on his memories.

In the world where he grew up as a child, there should have been many orphans, because in his memory fragments, there were always many children staying together.

Those children wore grayish clothes, had little flesh on their faces, and were aged from three to over ten years old.

Their eyes were numb, empty, and lifeless. There was no trace of children’s innocence and joy in their eyes; there was only one word: “hungry.”

They wore the same clothes all year round, tattered and patched, and some children didn’t even have shoes, walking barefoot on the ice and snow in the dead of winter.

Nelson often remembered the scenes of eating with other children; they would gather in the dark corners of the streets, where it was a bit warmer.

The passers-by were all foreigners with high noses, colored eyes, white skin, and brown or blonde hair.

They would never show mercy to children. Occasionally, they would throw out a dark object for the children to fight over and then mock them with amusement.

Nelson couldn’t remember the taste of the dark food, but visually, it was not something normal to eat, and it was even covered with dirty soil and unknown hair.

“Very hungry, very scared,” Nelson frowned. “The nuns in charge would beat the children for no reason, just because they looked displeasing.”

Upon hearing the word “nun,” Lin Qiao realized it might be a foreign scenario: “You were hungry and cold. What happened later? Did it get better? Did your male mom help you?”

Nelson explained, “He hadn’t appeared yet at that time.”

“I can’t remember exactly when he showed up, only that by the time he did, I had already grown from a little radish head into an eight-year-old child.”

All the orphans wore tattered clothes, with no discernible style, almost just wrapped in a few rags. If one had to deduce from the clothing, it could only be inferred from the adults’ attire.

“The nuns’ clothes didn’t reveal much; there were changes in the clothing over different periods, but at the same time, the attire of different convents also varied.”

Just as students’ uniforms change over the years, but the uniforms of different schools are also different.

Additionally, Nelson felt that the place he lived in as a child was not a convent but an orphanage, yet there were nuns, and there were also many other poor people.

“Before mom appeared, I had already been transferred from the relief home to a woman’s hands. I can’t remember who she was, but she hit very painfully.”

“At that time, the wealth gap was huge. Upper-class ladies would wear exaggerated skirts, with large hoops making the women look like gorgeous parasols.”

“For lower-class ladies, being able to wear a complete skirt was already quite remarkable.”

“Upper-class gentlemen wore vests and suits, some with wigs and some without. The clothing of lower-class men was much more casual, but having a black overcoat was essential.”

Nelson paused for a moment, seemingly not wanting to recall the unpleasant experiences, and began to describe the tenderness of “mom,” in fragmented snippets.

“Later, mom appeared. At first, the children didn’t believe in him and even played pranks on him, but he was never angry.”

“His embrace was very warm. The mortality rate of children was too high at that time, and he was always on edge.”

“He seemed to be frequently harassed by strange people. I wanted to go out to work like others to ease his burden.”

“But mom insisted that I learn to read and write. He held me and taught me to read books, and would also rub my head and praise me.”

Nelson became verbose, and it was evident that he had forgotten too much about his childhood life. He couldn’t clarify the specific era or events.

In the numerous memories of “mom,” there was a focus on feelings, with little relation to the environment or appearance.

Nelson recounted his experiences like a treasure trove, but he soon realized that this information was useless.

Nelson desperately tried to remember, and his face began to pale: “Later, there were dangerous things outside that could kill people.”

“One must not fall ill; falling ill would lead to a painful death.”

“Do not approach the stingy merchant; if you see him, kill him immediately.”

Nelson seemed to harbor a deep grudge against this merchant. He couldn’t recall “mom’s” appearance but remembered the merchant’s personality, even becoming oddly expressive: “The merchant had very light-colored eyes, black hair, and an indistinct face.”

“He is dangerous; avoid him.”

Nelson looked earnestly at Lin Qiao and spoke with regret: “I’ve said so much, but you will forget it all once you leave the scenario.”

“If you can remember and use it, I would be very happy.”

For a moment, Lin Qiao felt that Nelson knew something, such as knowing that he could remember the scenario content.

Yatagarasu pushed Nelson, who was getting closer: “Are you done? If you are, stay away. It’s hard for you, isn’t it? To deceive people, you even fabricated a scenario.”

“The game’s memory loss mechanism has been well understood by you. I think you don’t forget; your deception is just not perfect enough.”

Nelson made a fist, neither denying nor affirming this statement.

He answered Lin Qiao’s original question: “Aren’t you curious why I’m wearing this suit?”

“I promised mom to be an excellent gentleman, but now it seems that this suit doesn’t fit in here at all. It’s ridiculous and laughable.”

Yatagarasu was so angry that his tongue turned into a snake’s fork. He hissed twice: “Lin Qiao, don’t believe him. He just pretends to be pitiful. Unlike me, I am very strong.”

Lin Qiao: “……”

What was he talking about? Why was he boasting now?

Lin Qiao nodded, and Dao Zhang coughed beside him: “Are you done? Once the story is finished, let’s get down to business.”

“The mobile phones issued at the start of the game might have a positioning function, but if we don’t have this device, we won’t know the ranking situation or how much protection value we have.”

“I’ve studied protection value, which is the emotional value of pets. Once the value is set, it won’t decrease. For example, if the cat at home has a liking value of 100 for you, the value won’t drop even if the cat dislikes humans later. It will only rise due to emotions like hatred and fear. The only thing that can consume protection value is evil spirits.”

After standing up, Dao Zhang went over and patted Nelson on the shoulder, then turned and said, “We need to discuss what to do next. How should we handle the big escape?”

“Now that our top five values are leading by a cliff, according to the means of horror games, this announcement of the passing line should be the last one. That is to say, after the announcement, the big escape will begin.”

If the total value of players is not far apart, the game will introduce several passing lines to gradually wear away the players’ lives.

If the top five are too prominent, it will be finished all at once, so that the mutual struggle among players can be intensified.

Lin Qiao was stared at by Nelson’s burning gaze. After finishing his story, it seemed as if Nelson had released some kind of shackle and began to act without restraint.

Lin Qiao said with a stiff face, “There is one more terrifying thing you haven’t mentioned.”

The other Dao Zhang and Yatagarasu also looked at Lin Qiao. Yatagarasu noticed Nelson’s gaze and was so angry that he gasped in frustration, completely speechless.

Dao Zhang quickly held Yatagarasu back: “Lin Qiao, continue. Yatagarasu, can you stop being petty with Nelson? Is this the time to be jealous? Nelson, you too, don’t you know what situation you’re in?”

Nelson covered his eyes with his hand: “Unless you gouge out my eyes, I can’t control myself.”

Upon hearing this, Yatagarasu immediately reached out, only to be tightly held back by Dao Zhang.

Lin Qiao interrupted, “The time of this prop is limited; don’t waste it. Let’s continue the previous topic.”

“According to what Dao Zhang said, I have a question. If the players’ scores are too close to each other and can’t be separated, then the game will introduce more passing lines.”

“For a month-long period, the introduction of more passing lines means that the final big escape will be pushed further back, and the time will be very short.”

“If it’s like now, with just the last passing line, there are still more than ten days left before the scenario ends.”

“That means there could be more than ten days of big escape. The top five are not only the targets of evil spirits and NPCs but also the hunting targets of other players.”

Dao Zhang threw up his hands: “So, that’s why I’m shamelessly cooperating with you. Only by the top five sticking together can we win; otherwise, the casualty rate will be too high.”

Dao Zhang sighed and cursed: “Moreover, Lin Qiao has now provoked the Church NPC, and the difficulty index has soared.”