Matryoshka Off-Limits

Chapter 20: Castle Night

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After the bearded man returned to the hospital, he spent the whole night in fear thinking about the evidence of his crime. This morning he waited nearby for Wen Shi to come out.

It was a pleasant surprise that he met his friends instead of Wen. Killing one of them himself took some time, and when he continued to move forward, the others had already entered the castle.

The bearded man snorted in dissatisfaction: "You are lucky."

Rushing desperately to the iron gate, a group of players kept panting. This amount of sprinting was nothing to them, and the disordered breathing rate mainly came from the previous pursuit without any signs.

The butler had recovered and returned to his job. When he saw guests outside, he took the initiative to invite them in.

Zhao Sanjie adjusted his breathing and asked, "Won't that be too disturbing?"

The servant smiled and said, "The master is very hospitable."

Following the butler, several players walked through the corridor. Even during the day, it was tense and dead silent. Even with someone leading the way, it was like entering a no-man's land by mistake. The bare walls exuded a cold atmosphere.

Zhao Sanjie moved closer. The red wall was filled with a smell not of paint but of blood and a faint fishy odor. He immediately determined that there might be a monster's nest inside the wall.

The butler led them to the dining room. When he saw Wen, his breathing became rapid. He wanted to strangle Wen in two or three steps. However, he swallowed his anger because of the presence of his master. Knowing that he would lose his mind if he stayed for another second, the butler turned around stiffly and left.

One of the characteristics of the castle is that it is large enough, including a dining area. The dark red walls and overly complicated crystal chandeliers make the space look low and depressing.

The aura of the castle owner should not be underestimated. Zhao Sanjie walked in front and first looked at the other person sitting at the long table.

The other person had a good appearance, with clear white skin and a pair of very attractive eyes. Zhao Sanjie continued to look down and came to other conclusions: there was a large piece of blood on the shoulder, indicating that he had been injured recently, and the dark circles under his eyes were particularly conspicuous on his fair skin, indicating that he did not sleep well, but there was not much fatigue in his eyes, as if he was able to handle the current situation with ease.

The prerequisite for being able to do things with ease is to have something to rely on.

Zhao Sanjie coveted it even more. A newcomer could only rely on some heaven-defying prop. He licked his lips. If he got this thing, wouldn't it be like adding wings to a tiger

Unexpectedly, Wen Shi was even more excited when he saw them, and there was no trace of false joy on his face.

Finally here they are, the people who helped me defraud money from the real bride!

Soon, a sense of weirdness began to creep into the excitement.

Wen Shi looked at the blood splattered on the bodies of several people. If there was any threat outside the castle, it would only be the hand bones underground. As long as they did not cross the line of street lights, they would not be attacked.

Aren't these guys stupid enough to go against the game

Oh, what a retardation.

Wen Shi did not manage his facial expression well, and several players were sure that they had not seen wrongly that the newcomer's eyes revealed contempt for them.

The first to break the silence was the owner of the castle.

He looked at several of them one by one, his attitude was quite friendly: "So you are the descendants of the Luce family. We met them in the gallery last time."

Then he said to himself: "My most perfect masterpiece is made with the paper provided by your family."

One player was the first to react and discovered an extra ring on his hand, which seemed to be a symbol of a certain family's identity.

The owner of the castle then looked cold as he looked at the only female player, A Ling. She also had a ring on her hand. It was a simple silver pinky ring with a lizard engraved in the middle.

"You bastard from the craftsman's family, it's been a long time since your father brought you here last time. There was a fatal flaw in his frame, causing me to lose my most precious work. Damn it."

Wen Shi sorted out the relationship.

The game eliminates the possibility of members of the camp deceiving each other, and each person's identity is made clear from the very beginning.

From this perspective, there is currently one person in the Blood Bride camp, three people in the Earl camp, and the one not mentioned by the Earl chose the Monster Alliance.

Why would anyone choose Monster League

Wen Shi couldn't understand.

I had no choice but to make this choice, but someone actually jumped into the fire pit on their own initiative.

It turns out that this group of players have problems with their IQ.

Wen Shi prayed that the mentally retarded person would not sit next to him. The word "stupid" was magical and could easily be transmitted from person to person.

What you fear will come to you. After the owner of the castle invited him to dine together, Zhao Sanjie sat down next to Wen Shi and mouthed the word "monster" to try to show that they were in the same group.

Wen Shi forced a smile, and almost put the 'tui tui tui' expression on his face.

After breakfast, the owner of the castle strangely did not leave first.

No one dares to leave until he leaves.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment until the player whose seat was closest to the castle owner suddenly stiffened, then his arm lost strength and the fork fell to the ground.

A player with some experience would certainly not make such a low-level mistake of not being able to hold the tableware steadily. The player rubbed his left hand desperately on his right wrist, trying to keep warm. However, the entire skin was cold and stiff, as if he had been receiving an IV drip for more than ten hours, and his blood vessels were frozen.

While the others were quickly recalling what he had just done, this player was also trying hard to think. In the short ten seconds after sitting down, he only ate one bite of steak.

The problem was that he saw with his own eyes that Wen Shi was also eating and nothing unexpected happened. There was also another player who had also eaten and was still sitting there well.

He was the third one to eat, so it should be the safest.

The player's body temperature is still dropping, and no matter how many potions he takes to recover, the effect is just a drop in the bucket.

In extreme desperation, he picked up a table knife and cut his arm, trying to let the blood flow.

The cold liquid flowed out of the body, and the player felt a little better, but soon his expression changed drastically. What was oozing out of his blood vessels was not blood, but a liquid that looked very turbid after the superposition of multiple colors.

"no no… "

He cut his leg again, and some red could barely be seen, but it was becoming increasingly thinner.

Medicines are useless, props are even more useless, and there is not even a monster around.

All of this reflects a clear fact: he violated the rules of death.

Wen Shi focused his eyes on the strange liquid on the ground and saw what had replaced the other person's blood: water soaked in paint.

To be honest, Wen Shi was also surprised by the current situation. He also ate the steak. From the taste, it seemed that the chef had slightly drunk it with red wine, and the surface of the steak exuded a faint smell of wine. It might be because of the comprehensive beef, Wen Shi did not taste the special red wine that E Xiu and others lured him to drink on the first day.

By the way, at that time, I only caused the monster and the blood bride to be tracked.

Wait, monsters and blood brides to track.

Wen Shi suddenly realized that the camp he belonged to was currently the Monster Alliance, and there was another undercover identity of the bride. The camp of the other player who had eaten steak without any problem was the bride's side.

The death rule of pigments does not apply to them.

On the contrary, the player who is about to collapse chooses to help the count, so he cannot eat anything made with red wine.

The owner of the castle was unmoved as he watched his helper slowly dying, as if he was watching a rat that had accidentally eaten poison.

"It's cold, so cold." The player stood up tremblingly and poured the boiling water from the small teapot over himself. He no longer had enough strength, the teapot fell to the ground, and the player fell straight over, his body like an ice sculpture.

His head was facing Wen Shi, his eyes still wide open with unwillingness.

The owner of the castle then took action and called the butler to clean up the dining room.

The housekeeper dragged the body away as if nothing had happened, muttering, "Young people nowadays are getting worse and worse in health, and they often have sudden illnesses."

Wen Shi felt a little heavy.

Death rules updated.

The previous food rules no longer applied, even skipping breakfast was fine, but now they are back in effect and even more stringent.

The owner of the castle then said to the other two players who were descendants of the paper supplier: "The paper your father provided is impervious to water and fire. It is unique in the world."

He lost himself in reminiscence for a moment: "It's a pity that he died here. You can go to the cemetery behind the maze to pay your respects later."

The two players nodded, and there was a pause for a few seconds. Wen Shi guessed that they were accepting the task.

Wen Shi was silent for a moment. What he said was so absolute that one could not help but doubt that the funeral had lost its delaying effect.

Compared with the previous single-player version, my disadvantage in the single-player game is being flattened by the game.

They were the only ones left in the dining room.

The liquid splashed by the dead players stained the tablecloth with an unpleasant smell, and both the color and the smell made people lose their appetite.

Zhao Sanjie was going to give the newcomer a warning and give him the upper hand psychologically so that he could proceed with the next thing.

"you… "

"You may not be in the right state yet." Wen Shi spoke at almost the same time as him: "If you want to survive, you must follow the prompts and complete the task. There are various rules in the dungeon that cannot be violated. The rest is for you to explore on your own."

Zhao Sanjie was stunned for a moment, then realized that they were treated as rookies.

Wen Shi's gaze suddenly fixed on A Ling's ear clip.

He was quite sensitive to snakes and was sure that he was not seeing things wrong. The snake-shaped earrings and ear clips moved a little.

Props

Wen Shi's expression gradually became serious: "You are not new players."

"Nonsense." Someone responded unhappily.

Wen Shi was puzzled. He was not a new player. How could he get himself into this state right after entering the game

There's nothing wrong with these people.

Zhao Sanjie stepped forward to change the subject: "Let's get to know each other. My name is Zhao Sanjie."

Previously, the other party mistakenly thought they were newcomers, and instead of harming them, they reminded them not to break the rules. It seems that he has some potential to be a goody-goody.

It is easy to control people with this kind of personality.

The next person to speak was a player from the bride's camp. The female player called herself A Ling. The other person had died in the suburbs before.

There were only two players left in the Earl's camp, having lost their initial numerical advantage.

"Just call me Li." The long-haired man said impatiently.

"Chu An." The person next to him was much friendlier. Chu An took the initiative to stretch out his hand. He was born with one more finger than others.

Wen Shixu shook his hand: "Pei Wenwei."

The extra fingers were soft and boneless, and the clammy touch reminded him of a snake again.

Chu An had a baby face that made people like him easily. He asked with a harmless smile, "Can you tell us what happened?"

"cannot."

Wen Shi refused bluntly, and the smile on Chu An's face froze.

Seeing that he really had no intention of speaking, Chu An's eyes darkened. He was always good at hiding his emotions, so he didn't say much and prepared to complete the worship task first.

A Ling touched the ear clip and left after Chu An.

Only Zhao Sanjie was left, and he continued to try to bring them closer, saying, "We are now in the same camp. The Monster Alliance has the highest difficulty level, so only if we cooperate well can we win."

Wen Shi chuckled and said, "What a joke."

Half of the monsters have become food for the real bride, and this monster alliance has long been destroyed. Wen Shi looked at Zhao Sanjie. This man gave him a bad impression. Wen Shi had never had such a strong sixth sense, which kept reminding him that the scarred man in front of him was dangerous.

Is this the benefit of establishing a contract with the zombies? Can you keenly sense the aura of evil

Without evidence, Wen Shi could only make blind guesses.

Wen Shi tried his best not to look at Zhao Sanjie with dead eyes.

He still had his bride as a ship to transition, and Zhao Sanjie, as a later player, was locked with the monsters. He suddenly remembered that the game always emphasized truth, goodness and beauty. Zhao Sanjie was selected to enter the second round of the endgame, and he almost reached a dead end, as if someone was using his personality to send him to death.

Retracting his reverie, Wen Shi calmly responded to Zhao Sanjie's words: "Of course."

The copy will not give a complete dead end, the Monster Alliance may still be saved, but the difficulty of this rescue... Wen Shi can only choose to respect the blessing.

At the same time, the two also received task reminders.

[Side Quest: Strengthen the Monster Alliance

Not long ago, the Monster Alliance suffered a severe blow and they are in urgent need of new members.

Tip: It’s far away, but also close at hand.

Zhao Sanjie knocked on the table and said, "From the perspective of the faction, this dungeon has three important characters: the castle owner, the bride, and the monster. There is nothing much to say about the first two. The only thing worth exploring is the origin of the monster."

He rolled his eyes and said, "In my previous report, many old friends came to the wedding. They must have no chance to play now. After death, they may become monsters, and their souls will be trapped in the castle... Yes, this possibility is the most likely. The horizon refers to outsiders like us. In front of us..."

He looked at the traces left when the bodies were dragged away and shrugged. "The servants in the castle should also be counted. One could be worth two. Otherwise, we have no chance of winning."

Wen Shi retracted his opinion that Zhao Sanjie was stupid. This man had a sharp insight into the problems and was very good at psychological tactics.

Zhao Sanjie did not hide the information he had interpreted, nor did he conceal his ruthless style. He constantly emphasized the concept of "we" between the lines, instilling the idea that they were a group.

If a person's mind is not strong enough, it is easy to build trust through such words.

"A very powerful analysis." Wen Shi gave a fair evaluation.

Zhao Sanjie: "My level is just average, the players who came with me are really good."

He was trying to subtly shift Wen Shi's guard to other people.

Wen Shi: “Oh?”

Zhao Sanjie: "The one called A Ling is almost at the level of an elite player, and the rest are also senior players."

Seeing Wen Shi's confusion, Zhao Sanjie said patiently: "Players are divided into three types: ordinary, senior and elite."

Wen Shi's expression was indescribable: "A senior who died just after arriving?"

He's not being unreasonable. Even when he first entered the game, he was avoiding direct contact with food. It was not until the owner of the castle raised his glass himself and saw that the remaining players had all drunk it that he took a small sip.

Zhao Sanjie: "In a normal-difficulty instance, some people will let down their guard."

Wen Shi humbly asked, "How is this grade determined? Is there any benefit in getting it? I think I can get it, too."

Zhao Sanjie took a deep breath and said, "We'll talk about this later." He followed up Wen Shi's words and reluctantly praised him, "You are really amazing to have survived a round of the endgame. Generally, newcomers who have just entered the game will be at a loss."

Wen Shi raised his eyebrows, as if the whole world knew that he was a newcomer.

He pretended to be mysterious and said in a deep voice, "Why panic? There are not many things in this world that can surprise me."

He is showing off in front of himself.

Zhao Sanjie was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "In fact, the player who was just dragged away was not the first to be eliminated."

"Um?"

Zhao Sanjie said expressionlessly: "We also lost one player."

"!"

Admiring the scene of Wen Shi's mouth opening in surprise, Zhao Sanjie asked, "He died when he first arrived. Are you surprised? Are you shocked?"

(End of this chapter)