Playing the Foolish Beauty in a Deadly Game - Chapter 81

Lin Qiao’s ears turned a shade of pink: “Actually, in reality, I don’t usually call people ‘brother.'” It felt too embarrassing, and he was a bit uncomfortable with it.

After a moment of silence, Yan Ting explained, “I just thought that calling me ‘brother’ wouldn’t make me seem too old, since I’m not that much older than you.”

“If you call me ‘sir’ directly, it makes me feel like some old pervert deceiving a young boy.”

Lin Qiao reluctantly complied: “Yan Ting… brother.” Wait, why did this feel even more awkward?

Yan Ting was very good at changing the subject. Seeing Lin Qiao’s daze, he asked, “Can we go to the garden now and talk about the game?”

Lin Qiao slowly retracted his vacant gaze and was led by Yan Ting into the garden.

“Before I dreamed about this game, I didn’t understand what was happening,” Yan Ting began, explaining his situation. “Ever since I can remember, I’ve been trapped in strange dreams every night.”

“At first, I thought it was a sleep disorder or a mental issue, but then I realized that getting hurt in the dream would affect my reality.”

“Coming to R country was also to meet a psychologist. It was only in the last game that I learned what a horror game was and what a player was.”

As Yan Ting spoke, Lin Qiao gradually realized that he was in the same boat—a smuggler, just without a system. So he could only play as an NPC and couldn’t choose the game freely.

Moreover, each time he played, it wouldn’t end with the player clearing the game. It was like some people having the same dream for several days in a row—Yan Ting would play the same NPC in the same game for several days.

“The longest time was two years, and the shortest was just one night,” Yan Ting said, his face devoid of any emotional change, though his fingers on the table unconsciously clenched.

“It was only in the last cat and dog game that I understood what was happening to me. Since that game world wasn’t cyclical and the NPCs were aware of the game’s existence, I was able to figure out what was going on with me.”

“If it had just been that, I would still have doubted my own sanity. But I remembered the content of the dreams, and I remembered you.”

“It’s great to meet you. It made me realize I’m not crazy, but rather, I’ve entered a strange game.”

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but imagine how terrified he would be if it were him. After all, having terrifying and realistic nightmares every night, where getting hurt in the dream would also hurt him in reality, and being trapped in a loop, was so real.

It was bearable once or twice, but if it happened too many times and he couldn’t distinguish between the game and reality, it wouldn’t be as simple as just staying in a mental hospital.

Moreover, Yan Ting had undergone years of mental treatment and even doubted his own sanity.

Lin Qiao took Yan Ting’s hand on the table: “The first time I entered the game was on the plane, and I seem to be a player, so I know a bit more.”

Lin Qiao had wanted to mention that he had a system, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a jolt of electricity shot through his brain, and his voice seemed to be silenced, unable to make any sound.

He had to change his words to talk about players, games, and even the horror game forums. It was fine as long as it didn’t involve the system.

After several attempts, Lin Qiao realized he probably couldn’t reveal this.

The hand on the table gradually shifted from Lin Qiao holding Yan Ting’s to their fingers interlocking. However, Lin Qiao was preoccupied with other thoughts and didn’t notice.

A smile played on Yan Ting’s lips, and he didn’t remind them of their inappropriate posture. He even carefully squeezed and rubbed Lin Qiao’s hand with his fingers.

Whenever Lin Qiao was about to react, Yan Ting would throw out a new topic to divert his attention.

Except for the system, the two exchanged the information they had and agreed to help each other as much as possible in the game.

Lin Qiao felt like he was getting the better end of the deal: “If you’re an NPC, you don’t need to get involved with players. Many players aren’t very friendly to NPCs.”

When encountering weak NPCs, players would try every means to bully them, making them do dangerous tasks like sweeping mines, exploring paths, or being cannon fodder.

When encountering strong NPCs, players would be cautious and try to extract as much information as possible from them.

In the horror game, NPCs often had more advantages than players.

However, Yan Ting said, “Neither of us is a normal player. You can remember what happens in the game, and so can I.”

“But I forget that I’m from reality when I become an NPC, which makes me lose many advantages.”

“Especially since I can’t control whether I get hurt or not. I might die as an NPC in the game, and then I would never wake up in reality.”

Lin Qiao didn’t want to see that outcome, so he nodded in agreement to cooperate: “When… ”

Lin Qiao paused, still shaken: “When I was being followed by Izutsuro, I saw your bodyguard, and he said you were injured.”

Yan Ting nodded and slowly lifted his clothes to reveal well-defined abs. A scar ran from his chest to his lower abdomen and into the triangle area, looking quite gruesome.

Lin Qiao remembered that the black cat also had a wound on its abdomen, so he asked, “Did you get hurt when you turned into the black cat?”

Yan Ting put his clothes back on: “Yes.”

“I had been in the game for a long time before you entered.”

“From the birth of the black cat to now, and even what happened after you left, I know.”

“Sometimes I can experience an entire NPC’s life in just one night, just like the Chinese idiom: a dream of yellow millet.”

Lin Qiao fell silent. His eyelashes trembled as he finally merged the image of the black cat with the Yan Ting in front of him: “I can use points to exchange for items to remove these.”

Yan Ting chuckled lightly: “No need, just cover it with a tattoo.”

“You studied something related to painting, right? Can you help me design a pattern?”

Lin Qiao, of course, wouldn’t refuse. He had planned to draw it and then give it to Yan Ting directly. However, that afternoon, Yan Ting invited Lin Qiao to a separate room to draw.

He had already prepared brushes and asked Lin Qiao to draw directly on him. When Lin Qiao entered, Yan Ting was only wearing a bathrobe.

He slowly took off the upper part and tucked the fabric into his belt, revealing a pale upper body like his cheeks.

But there was clearly more than one tattoo on his body, so when Lin Qiao looked over, he could only see the gruesome pattern.

Yan Ting lowered his eyes and said a little embarrassedly: “Lying down, sitting, or standing is fine.”

Lin Qiao: “……”

Lin Qiao had never tattooed before and didn’t know if this process was correct, but he had heard that tattoos indeed required drawing the pattern on the body first to see the effect before actually tattooing it.

Since he had promised, Lin Qiao wouldn’t go back on his word. He took a deep breath and said, “Let’s do it.”

Yan Ting smiled at the corner of his mouth, his ears a bit red, and he slowly lay down on the couch.

Lin Qiao painted up close. When he pressed his palm down, he could clearly feel Yan Ting’s tension.

And this wasn’t the first time Lin Qiao had seen Yan Ting’s body. After all, in the “Miaomiao Sect and Wangwang Sect” game, he had seen plenty of Yan Ting’s naked body.

And in the first game, “Airplane Escape,” he had even secretly touched Yan Ting’s abs. Since Yan Ting remembered it, Lin Qiao wasn’t going to be shy either.

He painted carefully, his warm and soft fingertips moving over Yan Ting’s abdomen, causing occasional muffled groans from Yan Ting.

This sound made Lin Qiao pause, and then he deliberately leaned in and blew on it.

Yan Ting indeed hissed and his body tensed slightly.

Lin Qiao coughed awkwardly a few times and continued painting. Because Yan Ting’s legs were too long, it felt off no matter how Lin Qiao turned while painting vertically.

Yan Ting spoke in a hoarse voice: “Sit on me.”

Lin Qiao looked up to see Yan Ting’s face flushed red, not only with fine sweat on his collarbones but also covering his eyes with his fingers.

“You can sit on me and paint. My waist can handle it.”

Lin Qiao felt like he had gone too far. Although he seemed well-behaved, he was actually very curious and occasionally mischievous.

Yan Ting suddenly got up and held Lin Qiao on himself, hugging him and burying his face in Lin Qiao’s neck, breathing heavily.

Yan Ting suppressed his voice: “I don’t want to scare you. I haven’t been with anyone else.”

“In the airplane game, I didn’t kiss any other players.”

Lin Qiao heard Yan Ting’s swallowing sound, heavy with desire: “Don’t be afraid of me. I won’t do anything to you, not until you agree…”

“After you left in the cat and dog game, the shadow didn’t disappear. It kept devouring evil spirits, and that world fell into chaos before eventually returning to peace.”

“I missed you. I’ve been paying attention to you in every game.”

“Don’t reject me just yet. Although it’s presumptuous of me, I don’t have memories in each game. You can test me before making a choice.”

Yan Ting was truly a very calm and unexpectedly clear-headed person. He knew it wasn’t appropriate for the two of them to talk like this in reality.

Perhaps influenced by their previous “cooperation,” Lin Qiao might have thought that the confession was for better cooperation or for some other purpose.

So Yan Ting let Lin Qiao judge in the game world. He liked Lin Qiao and was certain that he would be attracted to him in every game. This strong premonition made Yan Ting take a chance.

Lin Qiao was indeed left speechless by Yan Ting’s words. He whispered, “I’ve never thought about this aspect before…”

Maybe from now on, he could consider it—dating and such. He had a good feeling about Yan Ting.

It might not be that strong, but it was worth a try. Lin Qiao hugged Yan Ting and whispered, “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”

Then he immediately felt something pressing against his bottom, impossible to ignore.

Lin Qiao: “……”

Yan Ting’s reaction was even greater than Lin Qiao’s. His calm and composed image could no longer be maintained. He hugged Lin Qiao tightly, apologized, and then fled in a panic.

Lin Qiao was left standing there, somewhat amused and frustrated. After this incident, Yan Ting became much more “virtuous.” He didn’t even dare to touch Lin Qiao’s hand for fear of leaving a bad impression.

However, Yan Ting handled everything regarding the accommodation and the police station in an orderly manner. He would also send Lin Qiao to school and accompany him for meals on calm days.

As a result, Kusawa Hanawa was convinced that Lin Qiao and Yan Ting were dating and didn’t give Lin Qiao a good face for several days.

Even the serious Ludwig noticed something: “Kusawa is jealous.”

Lin Qiao was shocked. He really didn’t see it coming, as Kusawa Hanawa didn’t seem to like him on a normal day.

Ludwig continued, “The way he was sarcastic about you receiving love letters was also out of jealousy.”

However, before Lin Qiao could sort out this relationship, he was informed that he had to enter a new game.