A chill permeated the town, and the players' terrified cries echoed continuously. Staring at the black liquid overflowing from the screen, they frantically tried to escape from the live stream, only to find that it was nighttime and they couldn't leave their rooms; there was nowhere to run.
The players' screams were like boiling water splattering in a pan of oil, a shrill and panicked sound. After half a minute, they suddenly disappeared, leaving only silence.
Outside the house, the monsters were bewildered. They sensed the terrifying power but didn't know where it came from. They could only hear the players screaming through the walls and then hear them suddenly disappear.
"Night Goddess... the players in the town... seem to have all disappeared..." A strange creature trembled.
"What was that just now? I'm still scared. What came into town?"
"How terrifying! This is the first time something strange has appeared in this town. Did something go wrong in the dungeon?"
In the town square, countless monsters huddled trembling beside the Night Goddess, bewildered by what had just happened.
Only Lady Ye remained silent, her face grim as she stared intently at the dark screen.
It seems there's big trouble in the instance... She said that using that instance right now is still unstable.
"Lady Night, that thing hasn't left yet... Would you like to eat it? To help maintain the town's condition?"
Lady Night shook her head, "No, let's wait and see what's going on in the instance."
On the other side, Yin Xiu stepped into the darkness of the kitchen, and the door behind him slammed shut the moment he entered.
He looked back and found that not only the door and the light had disappeared, but also the man who had been standing next to him claiming to be his boyfriend.
Yin Xiu paused, then nonchalantly turned to observe his surroundings. But just as he turned, he suddenly heard a faint voice coming from his arm, "Are you looking for me?"
Yin Xiu was startled and suddenly raised his left hand in alarm, only to find that a dark liquid was silently wrapped around his arm, with eyes emerging from it and staring at him.
What are you?!
Yin Xiu frowned sharply, wanting to draw his knife to drive away the thing wrapped around his arm, when he heard the black, slimy mass swaying, "It's me, it's me! My boyfriend!"
His hand, which was drawing his sword, paused, and he stared at the object on his arm, lost in thought.
The sticky liquid coated his arm, flowing continuously, with tiny tentacles extending from it and swaying. Its eyes stared at him without blinking, looking very happy.
He seemed unafraid and even a little dazed, completely different from the man who had been following behind him before.
Yin Xiu moved his lips, then hesitated before saying, "...I have two boyfriends?"
The tentacles on her arm stiffened, and her pupils trembled as she stared at Yin Xiu. "Who...who is your...other boyfriend?"
"Don't you recognize him? A man in a suit, sinister-looking, a monster who eats monsters." Yin Xiu asked him, increasingly puzzled. He had not only found a monster boyfriend, but two! Was his missing memory really that explosive?
"Ah..." The little tentacles froze for a moment, then started shaking again. "Boyfriend, it's me! That's me!"
Yin Xiu stared at the tentacles on his arm, lost in thought.
Is this black blob the same as that humanoid monster?
Why does the art style seem a bit different?
If that was a human-like form, then this is... the monster's true form?
Yin Xiu raised his arm, staring at the thing wrapped around it, "How can such a small body devour so many strange students?"
"I was just stopped, I can't get in! I'm still outside! I'm still outside!" The tentacle pointed desperately behind Yin Xiu, each tiny tendril taut and straight.
Yin Xiu looked back and roughly understood what he meant. The human figure that had been following behind him was locked outside the door and hadn't come in. Only a small part of it had entered.
"I am a small part that remains in your body... I am outside... I can't get in!" the little tentacle explained again, stammering.
"A part that stayed inside my body?!" Yin Xiu paused, understanding what he meant. The one that had been following behind him was completely blocked outside, while the one speaking to him now was a part that had been left inside Yin Xiu's body long ago, which was why it was here.
But! It remained inside his body??
Yin Xiu was overwhelmed by the changes in this monster.
"When did it get inside me?"
The tiny tentacles curled up together, entwined, as if whispering, "When we kiss, kiss."
Yin Xiu remained silent. At the time, he vaguely felt something mixed with blood being swallowed, but he never expected it to be this kind of thing...
"Never mind." Yin Xiu quickly processed the situation, accepted the existence of this thing, and soon became indifferent.
The structure of this dark mass is irrelevant now; what matters is regaining my memories and clearing this instance.
He looked up at the surrounding darkness. After entering this place, there was no sense of space at all. The whole place was pitch black and he could not see anything. Yin Xiu could only see himself.
It's not that there's absolutely no light here, but the surrounding scenery seems to be sucking all the light in, leaving no feedback whatsoever.
"What exactly is this place?" Yin Xiu slowly took a step forward. The darkness was manageable, but he had no sense of direction as he walked forward; all he could see was pitch black.
He took a couple of steps around but didn't sense anything changing, so he looked at the tentacles on his arm. "Can you feel anything?"
The tentacles swayed and shook, "There is power, surrounding this place... but it hasn't moved yet."
Yin Xiu analyzed and pondered its words, wondering if it meant something was there, but it hadn't been fully acted upon yet.
Is there some triggering condition required?
On the other side, Ye Tianxuan stepped into the darkness of the kitchen. Just like Yin Xiu, the door behind him slammed shut the moment he entered, plunging the room into complete darkness.
He entered the darkness and within two seconds, a table appeared in front of him, nothing else.
Ye Tianxuan took two steps forward and found a plate on the table with something that looked like a route map on it. At one end of the plate was a small toy figure that looked like Yin Xiu standing there.
It resembled both a chessboard and a game board, a complex blend that Ye Tianxuan found difficult to discern at first glance.
"This thing is quite exquisite." He picked up the little figure and played with it, the more he looked at it, the more it resembled Yin Xiu.
As I was studying it, a voice suddenly came from the side, "Come play with me."
Ye Tianxuan was startled and immediately looked up. On the other side of the table, a figure with only a vague outline and completely black body sat there. Tentacles twisted around it and swayed slowly, but it did not exude any threat.
"Play games with me?" Ye Tianxuan showed no fear of the blurry black humanoid figure, but instead smiled kindly and asked, "How do we play?"
As the black humanoid's tentacles swayed, a scene appeared in the surrounding darkness.
Ye Tianxuan looked up and saw Yin Xiu standing in the darkness, squatting on the ground examining the ground.
"Yin Xiu?" Ye Tianxuan called out softly, but there was no response from the other side.
The humanoid figure on the other side responded, "You are in different spaces and can only meet when the game ends. The game is played by you controlling him to reach the finish line."
Ye Tianxuan lowered his eyes to look at the small toy that resembled Yin Xiu in his hand, then looked at the route map on the plate and the finish line in front of the figure, and roughly understood.
This monster wants to play a game with the real Yin Xiu as a pawn.