Vol. 6 Ch. 36

The initially assigned teams seemed to have disbanded for various reasons.

In the dim corridor of the ancient castle, Hefei walked nervously behind Aurora, tightly gripping the tip of the little pink-haired dragon’s tail while cautiously scanning her surroundings.

“Big Sister Aurora, let’s hurry up and find the others,” Hefei pleaded anxiously.

It seemed to be Hefei’s first time playing this kind of game, and she was completely immersed in the role.

Aurora let her tail guide Hefei, providing her with a sense of security, while speaking in a soothing tone to calm her.

“Technically, this job should fall to Muse since they’re the ones who are close classmates and good friends. But considering that my theme color is pink, and it’s warm-toned, I feel like it’s my duty to take care of this little fire-breathing dragon girl,” Aurora said with a hint of amusement.

“There’s no need to rush to find the others,” she continued. “The game has already been running for eighteen hours, Hefei. Haven’t you noticed? The tasks here aren’t particularly hard. The two of us are more than enough.”

Aside from the low difficulty of the tasks, there was another reason Aurora wasn’t eager to regroup with others.

The last time she joined a human mission and got eliminated by an experienced player, she learned a valuable lesson: the fewer people around you, the longer you’re likely to survive.

After all, the game mechanics allowed for teammates to suddenly stab you in the back. Aurora much preferred completing tasks alone. Having Hefei along wasn’t too bad, though.

“Ugh… but I’m a little worried about Muse and Father. Could they have already been caught by ghosts?” Hefei asked nervously.

“Don’t worry about Uncle Constantine. He wouldn’t go down that easily,” Aurora replied confidently.

For some reason, as Aurora thought about Uncle Constantine’s group, her confidence in the seasoned player felt almost as strong as her belief in her own father.

“Maybe it’s because my birthday coincided with Uncle Constantine’s revival match debut?” Aurora mused to herself.

Well, no matter how many times he’s fallen into darkness, Aurora believed Uncle Constantine could always climb out of the pit during a revival match.

“As for Muse…”

Noticing Aurora’s hesitation, Hefei quickly asked, “Do you think Muse is in danger?”

“This isn’t dangerous at all, is it? After all, it’s just a game. Besides, she has Third Sister with her.”

“Big Sister Moon? That makes me even more worried!” Hefei exclaimed.

If Big Sister Noa were with Muse, Hefei might feel reassured. But Big Sister Moon… Was that reliable?

Aurora stopped walking, turned around, placed one hand on Hefei’s shoulder, and raised a finger with the other. With a serious expression, she said:

“You can doubt Third Sister’s abilities, but you must never doubt her luck. Trust me, even a silly dragon has its blessings.”

“Is that so… Well, let’s hope Big Sister Moon and the others really do have good luck,” Hefei said, still uneasy.

“Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck! Why are there zombie mannequins here—ahhh!”

“Second Sister, the flute doesn’t work! Do you have any ideas?” Muse shouted.

“Of course! Keep running!” Moon yelled back.

“Got it, Second Sister!” Muse answered without hesitation.

“Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck!” Moon repeated as the two little dragon girls ran around in chaos, chased by “mannequins.”

“Second Sister, didn’t Big Sister Moon and Big Sister Helena say they’d finish the task and come back quickly? Why aren’t they done yet?” Muse complained, diving into a wardrobe.

Meanwhile, Muse leapt onto a chandelier, curling her little tail tightly around it and hugging the fixture as if her life depended on it, terrified that the mannequin on the floor might jump up to grab her.

“Second Sister, your hiding spot won’t block the zombies at all!” Muse called out, still worried.

“What else can I do?!” Muse yelled back. “Muse, remember that Moon loves you! Tell Big Sister and Aurora that Moon loves them too! Goodbye!”

“Second Sister—”

“Muse—”

“Second Sister—”

“Mu—se—”

Thud— Thud—

The mannequin circled twice in front of the wardrobe where Moon was hiding. She was so close that it could have easily reached in and grabbed her. Through the crack in the wardrobe door, her frightened little face was clearly visible.

However, the mannequin unexpectedly turned around, paused for a few seconds, and then left as if nothing had happened.

Moon, who had narrowly escaped death, slid out of the wardrobe, utterly drained.

“I almost got caught… I was so scared,” she muttered, her voice trembling.

But before Moon could fully process her relief, the mannequin suddenly turned back and lunged toward her with surprising speed.

“I get it now, Second Sister! This is what they call ‘luring the tiger out of the mountain!’” Muse shouted from her perch on the chandelier, still displaying her limited but earnest knowledge of idioms.

“And when you struggle in despair, it’s called ‘clinging to life by a thread!’ Seriously!” Moon shot back, her voice tinged with panic.

The mannequin, emitting a noxious aura of plague, threw itself at Moon. She shut her eyes tightly, already preparing herself for the next task to detoxify.

Yet, the expected “infection” never came.

Cautiously, Moon opened her eyes and found the mannequin frozen in place, less than half a meter away. It didn’t move an inch.

A moment later, two small heads peeked out from either side of the mannequin’s back.

“Moon, are you okay?” a soft voice asked.

“Big Sister!” Moon cried out.

She scrambled to her feet and threw herself into Noa’s arms.

“Sob… Big Sister, I thought you didn’t want me anymore,” Moon whimpered, taking full advantage of the opportunity to act spoiled.

Noa smiled indulgently, rubbing the little tuft of hair on top of Moon’s head.

“Sorry. We planned to finish the task and come back right away, but we found another one along the way and decided to do it too.”

“Next time, take me with you!” Moon demanded.

“Alright,” Noa agreed with a gentle smile.

“Big Sister, is the mannequin completely frozen now?” came a voice from above.

Looking up, Noa finally noticed her second sister still clinging to the chandelier.

“It’s not moving anymore, Muse. You can come down,” Noa reassured her.

After a brief pause, she added in surprise, “You managed to jump that high?”

Muse nodded earnestly. “I didn’t think I could jump that high either.”

Despite the conversation, Muse made no move to come down.

Helen tilted her head curiously and said, “The mannequin has already been stopped by the tool we just obtained. You’re really fine, Muse. You can come down now.”

“Uh… Big Sister Helen, when I said I didn’t think I could jump this high, what I meant was…”

“I’m not coming down!!!” Muse wailed.

…

With the combined efforts of the little dragon girls, Muse was finally brought down from the chandelier, safe and sound.

“Alright, now let’s take a look at the tool cards and clue cards we just got from completing the task,” Noa said, gathering everyone in a circle.

The girls sat on the floor as Noa spread out the cards in front of them.

“Tool Card: [Broken Clockwork]. It can pause all mannequin activity within the castle. It can be used three times, but we’ve already used it once.”

“Tool Card: [Worn Cross]. During the initial outbreak of the plague, strange occurrences plagued the castle. The three castle guards hired four exorcists to investigate. Unfortunately, the exorcists were also eventually infected by the plague. This cross was left behind…”

“It can detect whether there are ghost players within a ten-meter radius, but it can only be used once.”

“And finally, Clue Card: [The Ghosts Awaken]. It says”

“After 36 hours of gameplay, every three hours, ghost players can complete a specific task to gain the ability to [choose any one player from the good faction and eliminate them].”

Noa glanced down at the countdown timer displayed on the stone next to her. It showed six hours remaining.

“In other words, after 36 hours, this game is going to become even more dangerous,” she said grimly.