NPC's awakening...
Is it a specific one, or a group? Is there a trigger mechanism? Has their awakening reached a certain level? Why can [The Building Will Fall] describe it as awakening? If it is just an ordinary NPC with a low IQ, the other party will definitely not say so.
Chu Xiu's mind was full of questions, but he did not make the matter public.
The taskers can't see the future, can't find hope, and are always on the verge of death. They are just ordinary people. If nothing unexpected happens, they will live their lives in peace.
But unfortunately, they were unfortunately drawn into the most terrifying and dark world, with the scythe of death on their necks all the time. This kind of psychological pressure is often unimaginable. The number of suicides counted on the website every month is as high as several, and the number of registered users on the website has only increased despite the death of batches.
The other three people in the car seemed optimistic, laughing and joking, but perhaps it was because they knew they could die at any time, so they tried their best to smile at the last moment of their lives.
After experiencing a life-or-death escape, they are now required to abide by the laws of modern society, which is really too much for them. They have tacitly accepted the behavior of the executors venting their anger on the native residents of this world and calling them NPCs.
Killing here is better than killing in the real world.
This is also the reason why Chu Xiu chose to conceal it.
If this matter is made public, it will inevitably cause the executors, who are already on the verge of collapse, to lose balance quickly, bringing about immeasurable consequences. I guess [The Building Will Fall] also thought so, so he chose to tell me about this matter.
However, although he said in the email that he only informed himself, there is no guarantee that what he said is true. It is still unknown whether other people have also received this message.
Compared with the vague uneasiness revealed in He Lou's words, Chu Xiu's opinion is completely different.
All along, there have been attempts to find the secret behind the mission, but in the end, they have all been fruitless. The awakened NPC that He Lou mentioned might be a turning point.
It's a pity that the other party didn't reveal more information. He didn't know who the NPC was. In this world... could he find him
The vehicle continued to move forward, and the four people in the car were chatting happily. If you didn't notice that the area they were heading to was becoming more and more secluded and deep, they looked no different from ordinary people out for fun.
The surroundings were becoming more and more desolate. When they arrived at their destination, the scene ahead was horrifying. It was silent all around, without a single animal in sight. Even the insects that had been chirping before were quiet here, as if they had not existed. The sun-bleached road revealed a mottled, stark white background, and the trees and vegetation were bare, with all their leaves fallen.
The vehicle stopped in front of an old road sign. This road sign was very strange. The blue primer had almost fallen off, revealing the silver-white metal underneath. The words on it were bright red and intact. The three words "Netherworld Road" could be easily recognized.
It's like... words written by the Blood Group.
"Okay, now we're here to finalize the mission. There are seven levels and seven games in total. In the first level, you'll pick up two random road warriors on Nether Road and play a game called Shadow with them at a crossroads at midnight. Each time, you must complete all the steps, and you can leave only after all levels are completed." The driver's name is Nie Yunzhen. He was the first to speak after the car stopped.
After he finished his task, he looked at the signpost and felt his heart heavy.
This place seemed to have an ominous existence. It was hiding in the corner, staring at everyone!
“Come to a place like this to play this game…” The man in the back seat turned extremely pale.
He had just tried his best to stir up the topic in order to reduce the fear in his heart, but Nie Yunzhen's words mercilessly shattered his fantasy.
He was still afraid of that thing, including... this game.
The name of the game is Shadow, or perhaps there is another name for it, which is - summoning ghosts! It requires participating players to stand alone on the roadside after midnight, and walk forward facing their own shadows under the moonlight or street lights. With each step, they must call out their own name, and they can leave only after taking 3 steps.
The man in the back seat, Ye Shengke, was also an idealist before he was dragged into the mission for no reason. But he was a very courageous man at that time. He did not believe in ghosts in the world, and often played some supernatural games with like-minded friends, such as the Magic Pen Fairy, the Ouija Board, and the Bloody Mary. The last record was that he once spent a night in a cemetery alone. At that time, he was very complacent, filmed the whole process of playing the game, and boasted to his friends: "I told you, there are no ghosts in this world, you just scare yourself."
Until later...
Ye Shengke finally learned his lesson.
Three years ago, he and his friends played this game called Shadow. It is said that when you take the third step, you will find that there is an extra shadow on the ground. That shadow is the "thing" you have attracted. It may help you or ask you to do it a favor.
Whether you refuse or agree, you may encounter bad things. You can only pray that the ghost you summon has no bad intentions.
At that time, Ye Shengke didn't believe it, because he had played it once before and nothing happened. His friend was a little timid at first, but after seeing that nothing happened to him, he also set a time, walked into the alley, and walked step by step facing his own shadow.
However, after he reached the third step, he actually...
Ye Shengke closed his eyes, not daring to think about it.
Now, I play this game again.
"Ye Zi, are you thinking about that thing again?" Xiao Xiao, who was sitting next to him, comforted him.
She was petite, had a baby face, and looked very cute, but she was two years older than Ye Shengke and had attended the same university as Ye Shengke. At this moment, her eyes revealed a gentleness that was inconsistent with her temperament: "Don't blame yourself, that was not your fault, you didn't mean to hurt him."
Ye Shengke smiled bitterly: "Senior sister, please stop comforting me. If I hadn't proposed this game, he wouldn't have done it just to show off..."
"Okay, now that we're here, can you please say something auspicious?" Nie Yunzhen interrupted their memories, "Let's worry about whether there is a way to get here from this damn place."
Indeed, there is nothing here, it is completely desolate, and even the scenery is scary enough that it can be used directly to shoot scenes for horror movies.
Even if there is, I don’t know if it’s really true or…
But the mission was stipulated in this way, and they did not dare to violate it. Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to just pick two people from the downtown area
"Let's not talk about whether there is a way or not. Even if there is, it will be difficult to get them to play this game together, right? We also need to find a way to do this." Nie Yunzhen said again.
After all, ordinary people are not stupid, who would play with this thing for no reason? Scare yourself. Perhaps, they can only use some violent means.
At this point, Chu Xiu, who rarely spoke, said, "Don't worry about this problem."
Nie Yun didn't know Chu Xiu had any tricks, but since he was so sure, he must have a trick. He nodded: "Then I'll trouble Brother Chu later."
Next, the four of them sat quietly in the car and waited, trying to wait for the road to pass by.
"Qingqing, it's so late now. Are you really going there so late at night? It's very dangerous." At the other end of the road, two kids with schoolbags came over, and the shorter one of them said worriedly.
She looked at the boy's schoolbag beside her with some fear in her eyes.
"Okay, Xixi, you don't have to persuade me. Grandma has already told me that if a cat hangs on a tree, a dog will be abandoned by the water. If I don't bring Xiao Mi here, our whole family will have bad luck."
"But, this place is really scary. Can we come here in the daytime? It's going to be dark soon."
As winter approaches, it gets dark early. It is already past six o'clock and the sunset has already set. Only a little warm light is still hanging on the side. The Yinming Road, whether from its name or its environment, is enough to scare away a timid person.
Hearing this, Wen Qing's eyes showed some hesitation. She tightened her grip on her schoolbag, but still shook her head: "No." Her eyes were full of fear. Yun Qian had never seen such strong fear on the face of the usually brave Wen Qing.
"No, it must be done today... He said it must be done today..."
"Him? Who is he? Did your grandmother tell you?"
But no matter how Yun Qian asked, Wen Qing did not answer. She just comforted her good friend: "It's okay, you see, we are already here, we just need to find a tree to hang it on."
A faint sweet aroma emanated from her schoolbag, mixed with the smell of blood. Yun Qian accidentally smelled it and immediately turned her head away.
"But the trees here have lost all their leaves. Where can we find lush trees?" Yun Qian didn't try to persuade her. She just looked around.
Indeed, there were trees planted on both sides of the road, but in such a large and dense forest, all the leaves had fallen off, leaving only twisted, bare branches.
"Let's go look for it." Wen Qing felt a little embarrassed when she said this. She held Yun Qian's hand and said, "It's okay. I'll protect you. We'll be back soon."
Unknown to her, her other hand tightly grasped the amulet in her pocket.
The sky was getting darker and darker. The two men held each other's hands tightly and walked step by step towards the dark road ahead that was covered by the shadows of the trees.
She didn’t know if it was Yun Qian’s illusion, but the sweet fragrance in her nose became stronger and stronger.
There was a faint light ahead, and when I walked forward, I saw an off-road vehicle. It looked like the people in the car were chatting.
With this, the two girls felt more at ease and walked faster. Following the car lights, they really saw a tree with some leaves still growing on the side of the road ahead.
Yun Qian squeezed Wen Qing's hand and said in surprise: "Found it!"
The two of them ran over in two steps, leaving the main road and coming to the tree. Wen Qing compared and found that she was not tall enough to reach the lowest branch, so she looked at Yun Qian for help.
Yun Qian is a little shorter, so it should be okay.
"Sissi, I, I can't reach it..."
Yun Qian was so scared that she waved her hands repeatedly: "Don't you look at me? I am very brave to accompany you here. I don't dare."
"Okay then." Wen Qing turned around, put down his schoolbag, and took out a plastic bag and a rope from the bag.
The plastic bag contained a ball of unknown substance, bulging and bulging like a ball, the size of two palms. Wen Qing peeled off the outer layer of the bag, and there was another layer inside. She peeled off the layers one by one patiently.
As she moved, the sweet smell became more and more pungent. Yun Qian couldn't stand it and turned her head away, taking a few steps away to get some fresh air. But Wen Qing didn't care. She peeled off the plastic bag layer by layer, and inside... was a bloody black cat corpse!
Yun Qian was so frightened that she dared not look at it. She looked around to divert her attention. She said, "I'll wait for you outside." After that, she hurried to the side of the road.
Wen Qing didn't care and shed a tear while holding her kitten.
This is her little cat, how could she be afraid
She held the kitten in her hands and had no time to deal with the rope. Then she realized that her behavior was inappropriate. She should have thrown the rope over first. What should she do now
Xiao Mi can't touch the ground.
"Xixi, can you help me throw the rope over? The rope is clean, and I'll tie Xiao Mi to the rope later." Wen Qing lowered her head and touched Xiao Mi. Regardless of the cat blood on her hands, she raised the volume to call her friend.
Unexpectedly, a strange male voice came from behind her.
"OK."
"Ah—" Wen Qing was startled and turned around quickly, then saw his friend standing not far behind him, his eyes full of fear, but he didn't dare to make a sound.
Because there was a gun pointed at her head.
There were four more people around Yun Qian, three men and one girl. The man who had just spoken was the closest to her and had a smiling face.
"Who are you? What do you want to do?!" Wen Qing took a step back in fear, stepped on the plastic bag, which made a slight crackling sound, and his mind was filled with all kinds of legal news.
Little did she know that the dead cat in her hand also scared Nie Yunzhen who was standing next to her.
The four of them looked at each other without leaving any trace, and they all thought that this kid was strange. But there was nothing they could do, as there were only these two options left.
"It's okay, just play a game with us." The boy in the fourth group said, "As long as you listen, we won't make things difficult for you."
Wen Qing's whole body was shaking.
The most important thing she should do at this time is to put down the cat and quietly call the police, but... Xiao Mi can't land on the ground.
"What, what game?" She had already thought of some news that Jinjiang could not pass the review, and she couldn't help but regret her rash behavior.
If these men are really... what should she do
What should she and Qingqing do
When it really came to that, she just... just put Xiao Mi on the ground!
But those few people told her an answer that she had never thought of, which was completely different from what she imagined.
"Shadow?"
"Yes, did you hear the rules of the game clearly?" said one of them.
Her voice was very gentle and soft, but it sounded no different from the devil to them. Wen Qing said hurriedly, "I understand. Can you... let her go first?"
Chu Xiu retracted the gun that was against Yun Qian's head and gently pushed the boy away. The boy immediately rushed over to his friend, but paused because of the dead black cat in her hand and had to stand beside him as the second best option.
"After midnight, when you've finished playing this game, we will naturally send you out." Chu Xiu moved very quickly, and no one could see where he hid the gun. He took a close look at the two men, and his gaze lingered on Wen Qing's face for a moment.
Could she be an awakened NPC
No, it still needs to be observed.
"You must keep your word." Wen Qing's voice was still trembling, but she did not show too much weakness, which surprised everyone.
"By the way, can you tell us now, what you are holding in your hand, is it a dog?" Nie Yunzhen continued to ask with a smile.
Wen Qing pursed her lips: "My cat is called Xiaomi."
"Then why did you bring it here? What were you doing under the tree just now?" The young man among the four continued to ask in a soft voice.
Her name is Shi Yan. Looking at the two girls relying on each other, she seemed to see herself and her good friend Ah Xin in the past.
It's a pity that Ah Xin...
Shi Yan's eyes dimmed for just a moment, then quickly recovered.
There is still a long time before midnight, so they are not in a hurry and must first get clear intelligence.
What secrets are there behind these two weird kids and this strange place
Wen Qing didn't want to answer, but she had no choice. She took a deep breath and said, "Xiao Mi died suddenly. I brought it here to bury it."
"Buried? Why hung on a tree?"
"Because, this is what my grandma told me. My grandma said..."
At this moment, in a corner of an old community in this city, a handsome young man knocked on a door, holding a black kitten in his hands.
"Hello, is this the Wen family? I found the cat you posted about." The man smiled gently, "The girl who lost the cat is called Wen Qing, right?"
The person who opened the door was an old woman. She glanced at the cat in the young man's hand and nodded repeatedly: "Oh, yes, thank you, young man. By the way, how do you know my grandson's name?"
At this point, the old man slapped his head again and said, "Oh, that little girl must have written her name on it as well."
The black kitten meowed softly, jumped out of the young man's arms, and walked in with swagger like its master returning home.
"Young man, would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?" The old woman was very excited and greeted him. "By the way, I don't know what your name is?"
The man smiled and said, "Don't be so polite. By the way, my name is Lu Yanli." He glanced around the room without leaving any trace. "Is your granddaughter not back yet? I found her school ID card here."
At this point, the old woman seemed a little worried: "Not yet, I wonder if he went to look for the cat after school again."
Lu Yanli handed over his school ID and comforted him casually: "It's okay, I will come back safely."
After that, he waved goodbye and left despite the old woman's attempts to keep him.