Chapter 33.1: Manman (6)

The next morning when Ning Su got up to have breakfast, he clearly felt that the atmosphere was different from yesterday morning.

Yesterday, the players on the fifth and sixth floors didn’t speak, and those on the fourth floor were the ones acting as the adhesive to help the atmosphere be harmonious. Today, the most silent were the players from the fourth floor.

After Ning Su sat down, Shi Tianzhu was no different from yesterday and asked him, “Did you sleep well last night?”

Ning Su nodded. “I slept very well.”

His physical strength had been restored.

Shi Tianzhu said, “Hmm, that’s good.”

After a brief conversation, the two began to have breakfast, the only two people in the dining hall who were not affected.

After breakfast, the five players on the fourth floor reinforced the doors and windows of the fourth floor.

After last night, they dared not be careless anymore and did everything possible to reinforce all the entrances and exits of the fourth floor.

Even so, many people were still very nervous and had a pessimistic attitude.

Shi Tianzhu and Gu Witch were both well-known game experts in the base.

Shi Tianzhu was a fanatic of running dungeons and had countless strange skills and weapons.

Gu Witch’s different types of insects were far from comparable to these wooden boards.

In the end, those monster children might still rush into the fourth floor.

In this low atmosphere, someone suddenly asked Ning Su, “Are you very close to Shi Tianzhu? Why are you still talking to her at a time like this? What are you thinking?”

The person speaking was a male player named Ban Zhong.

After two nights, there were only five players left on the fourth floor, namely Ning Su, Zhu Shuangshuang, Ji Mingrui, Meng Jiang, and Ban Zhong. His tone was aggressive, and it was easy to understand the meaning behind his questioning.

“Ban Zhong, you don’t have to be like this,” Zhu Shuangshuang said, “this is not a reality where we help others for pleasure, but a horror game where we need to be ready to protect ourselves at all times. We didn’t join them or ask for their help, so what they did is understandable.”

Ban Zhong’s voice suddenly rose, “You’re still speaking up for her now, huh? She likes you too. Why don’t you both just move to the sixth floor together?”

Ning Su asked, “Is that really possible?”

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent for a few seconds.

Ji Mingrui said, “Don’t talk nonsense. We can’t afford to lose anyone now. We have to stick together like a rope.”

It was already difficult enough with just five of them, and if Ning Su and Zhu Shuangshuang left, what would they do?

One of them was someone who had always kept the group together, and the other at least had a prop that could be used to help. Ban Zhong obviously knew this, and he looked unhappy and despondent as he leaned against the wall.

There was still Sun Xing’s flesh on the wall, and Lin Yue also exploded into a bloody mist last night.

The damp white monster children that emerged from Room 402 destroyed all hope and plunged them into the abyss of terror and despair.

All of this was impacting his brain and reason.

“I’m sorry, I was just too scared,” he said.

He was actually scared that the two people that Shi Tianzhu liked would leave, and that they, the useless players, would become discarded test subjects.

Ban Zhong said, “I’m sorry, my fear and cowardice led to inappropriate remarks.”

Ning Su responded with a grunt.

Zhu Shuangshuang softened her tone and spoke gently to Ban Zhong, “I understand, Ban Zhong. It’s okay. We’ll get through this together.”

Ban Zhong nodded, and a smile appeared on his dejected face. He felt a bit embarrassed when he looked at Zhu Shuangshuang.

Right now, the 20-year-old Zhu Shuangshuang had the delicate and refined qualities of a six-year-old girl. Despite this, she was even stronger than Ban Zhong, a grown man, comforting him instead at times like this.

There was a smear of dirt on her face, but her smile remained bright.

“Let’s continue!”

“Okay!”

While players on the fifth and sixth floors were leisurely playing with ghost friends in the garden and swimming pool, players on the fourth floor were busy closing windows and locking doors.

Occasionally, they would come down to find materials. In the castle’s garden and backyard, several six-year-old children made use of everything they could find. Ning Su even brought Gui Sheng and Blood Doll to the kitchen to carry buckets of oil and flour.

As Zhu Shuangshuang and Ban Zhong walked past the garden, several players on the fifth and sixth floors, who were playing and having fun, felt a twisted sense of superiority as they looked down on the low-level players on the fourth floor.

“Useless, do you really think you’re better than the President? Do you think you can beat Gu Witch with just hard work?”

“You guys are wasting your time. It’s better to contribute a ghost friend every night.”

Ban Zhong gritted his teeth as he carried the iron bucket, while Zhu Shuangshuang turned to them and said, “Can’t you use your brains?”

The man was about to speak, but he saw Shi Tianzhu come out of the door, smiling at Zhu Shuangshuang and the others.

“Keep it up,” she said.

Zhu Shuangshuang nodded. “Yes, we’re trying all sorts of methods.”

Shi Tianzhu nodded slightly, then turned to the two male players, smiling mysteriously.

The two boys immediately straightened up and dared not say another word.

“Small-minded people are petty.” Ban Zhong muttered as they climbed the stairs.

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “Don’t be upset, it will be their turn, eventually. I don’t think Shi Tianzhu and Gu Witch are that stupid. If all of us on the fourth floor die, it will be their turn next.”

Ban Zhong responded with a “Hmm”.

They gathered wood and iron sheets from all over the castle, and Meng Jiang crushed them while Ning Su squatted next to him with a small brush, occasionally brushing a layer of oily substance.

“Why are you brushing oil?” Without waiting for Ning Su to answer, he found the answer himself, “Oh, this makes it more slippery, so the monster kids can’t stay on and will slide down.”

Ning Su responded with a “Hmm”.

They used these materials to seal the arched windows with several layers.

Ji Mingrui said, “I suggest we use the hallway as a safe zone. Let the ghost friends stay in the hallway. This way, the rooms become another layer of protection.”

Everyone understood Ji Mingrui’s idea.

Last night, the monster children had already entered through the window of Room 402, and the protection of only the window was already unsafe.

By moving all the ghost friends to the hallway, they would guard the arched windows. If the monster children wanted to destroy the ghost friends, they would have to go through the windows, the rooms, and the door, which added several obstacles for the monster children, but an additional layer of protection for the ghost friends.

“This is a good suggestion. Let’s reinforce the windows and doors of each room next.”

All rooms on the fourth floor, regardless of whether anyone was living in them or not, had to be reinforced, which was a significant undertaking.

By the time the five children finished, it was already getting dark.

Ban Zhong and Ji Mingrui brought dinner upstairs and prepared while eating on the fourth floor.

Ning Su and Zhu Shuangshuang gathered the ghost friends in the hallway.

They spread a soft blanket near the arched windows and placed all five ghost friends on it.

Their ghost friends followed them around all day and it seemed like they realized something. As soon as it got dark, they became very restless.

Last night, the paper doll that had been frightened was crumpled up in a corner of the blanket.

Zhu Shuangshuang hesitated for a moment and then reached out to pat its head, saying, “Don’t be afraid.”

The paper doll looked up at her, its eyes inked with black ink. The ink had long since dried and the eyes were originally rough and scary, but now the dry ink seemed to be a little moist, like when they were first drawn.

Zhu Shuangshuang comforted him with a smile, “I’m not sure what to call you. I’ll give you a name.”

She touched his rough paper skin and said, “How about calling you ‘Zhizhi’?”

The paper doll looked at Zhu Shuangshuang and said, “Zhia!”

The paper doll looked fragile at first glance, not to mention the monster children, his paper skin looked like any child could easily tear it apart, so it was normal to look a little timid.

But there seemed to be someone even more cowardly than him.

As soon as it got dark, the Blood Doll was about to cry again, tears of blood streaming down her face.

Obviously, the Gui Sheng was already experienced in dealing with this situation.

He immediately took out a small red flower swaddle to wrap up the Blood Doll.

Of course, the comforting companion toy skull was indispensable, as well as a bottle of blood on the side for energy replenishment if she got scared.

“...”

This eerie scene made the other players feel creepy.

They looked at Ning Su.

Ning Su was holding a string of light bulbs and putting them in the skull.

For windows and door reinforcement protection during the day, they brought various tools and equipment from all over the castle. The corridor was filled with all kinds of things. At first glance, it looked like a garbage dump.

Ning Su squatted there and made two small night lights out of these things and a skull, hanging them on the walls on both sides of the carpet where the ghost friends were.

The small candles on the chandelier in the hallway didn’t illuminate well, and the dim light in the hallway gave people a sense of unease.

After these two skull night lights were hung up, they illuminated a warm and cozy corner for Ning Su’s ghost friend. But these night lights were really eerie.

The skulls alone were already creepy, not to mention the faint light emitted from their “mouths”, “eyes”, and “ears”.

However, the five ghost friends did not think so.

They stretched out comfortably, looked up at the “pretty” night lights, and then looked at Ning Su with a “sparkling” feeling in their eyes.

 Meanwhile, Ning Su was squatting in front of his Blood Doll, picking up a small brush and tinkering with something.

Gui Sheng was beside him, feeding the Blood Doll with blood.

“...”

The atmosphere in room 405 was quite unusual.

But because of this quirky style that was different from the typical horror tension, other players weren’t as on edge.

Under the warm yellow light, the five ghost friends were sitting on a soft blanket, looking at themselves.

Ning Su’s Blood Doll, Zhu Shuangshuang’s paper doll, Ji Mingrui’s New Year painting doll, Meng Jiang’s mummy figurine, Ban Zhong’s green clay doll.

Their appearances were eerie, and they didn’t cast any shadows.

Each face suddenly appearing could become a classic horror shot in a movie.

But for some reason, at this moment, they didn’t feel that these ghost friends were so chilling.

Looking at the dependent gaze in their eyes, a complex feeling arose in their hearts.

This strange and warm feeling didn’t last long.

[Mom’s stomach is so warm. I want to tear it apart and accompany her to hell.

When I died, it trembled, but what about its attachment to me?]

Even though the windows and doors were tightly sealed layer after layer, the tender and chilly voice still made its way in.

The ghost friends on the fourth floor immediately tensed up with all kinds of expressions, their mouths about to cry out.

Zhu Shuangshuang walked towards the window and said to Gui Sheng, “Gui Sheng, if you have the energy, can you protect Zhi Zhi?”

Gui Sheng glanced at the trembling paper doll and said, “Hmm!”

A smile appeared on Zhu Shuangshuang’s pale face. “Thank you.”

All the windows and doors were sealed tightly, with no gaps to peek through. As they waited, every nerve was taut with tension.

Not being able to see sometimes didn’t necessarily reduce fear, it could deepen it.

On the gray-black castle, a bleak white crescent moon spread white moonlight.

On the top of the castle, the torn fetus statue frowned, closed its eyes tightly, and opened its mouth, as if emitting a silent cry of pain.

Countless little monster children emerged from the mist and began to climb up to the castle from all over.

In the dim yellow corridor, facing the direction of the crescent moon, five children stood in front of an arched window, sniffing the increasingly heavy and cold air, their bodies tense and their ears erect.

The wet hands and feet crawling on the wall made a faint “pachi” sound, which became more and more distinct, indicating that they were increasing in number and speed.

“Bang bang bang!”

Suddenly, there was a violent pounding.

The arched windows on the fourth floor were the lowest and the first to be reached, and also the most familiar to these monster children.

They knew the way here to ruin their ghost friends tonight.

“Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang bang bang! Bang bang bang bang bang!!!”

 

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