©Novel Buddy
MTL - What’s Wrong With Seeking Death?-Chapter 76 【Catch insects】
The next day, one o'clock in the morning.
Xu Tuoran sat in front of the computer on time and clicked on the newly installed game.
Compared to before, she made more preparations today—she hung a backpack on her back, which contained all the supernatural props, each of which was completely wrapped with double-layered silver-colored paper; Packed in a box individually, it is unique.
She had healing medicine in her pocket, a watch on her wrist, and a small sharp dagger and an empty cup. In order to facilitate the suppression of the pen fairy's pen, she also deliberately carried two high-level mathematics books.
In general, everything is ready.
Just wait for the death value to be brushed into the domain.
Xu Tuoran sat up straight confidently, and entered the name "Zhang Baixue" into the black game interface.
In the next second, the "Game Start" button appears. Xu Tuoran was about to click, but saw a few lines of red text appear below:
Warning: [Excessive volume may frighten some viewers. For your hearing health and that of others, please speak at a normal volume as much as possible. 】
[I declare in advance that noise cannot avoid most of the dangers in this game. So please don't make unnecessary attempts. thanks. 】
There is also a tick box below, with the words beside the box: [I have read and understand. 】If you don't check it, you can't officially enter the game.
Xu Turan: ...
Fine.
It seems that yesterday's ghost roaring and ghost screaming really caused some "something" to be noisy. No, today's countermeasures will follow.
Xu Tuoran thought for a while, and still drew a circle of land around him first, and then clicked the check box.
The game officially begins. The standby interface is like broken glass, cracked and dropped inch by inch, revealing a completely different game screen from before.
Xu Tuoran held his breath for an instant.
Not out of shock—just out of embarrassment.
In the center of the picture, there is a half-length portrait of a bald old man—the old man's skin is dull, showing an exaggerated slack state, his eyes are squinted, and the eyeballs cannot be seen.
In front of the old man was a text box that took up one-third of the screen, and the box was completely blank. Behind him was a corner of a forest, and a large piece of green and brown things could be seen.
…Xu Turan felt that those should be trees. But she's not so sure. Because the style of this game is really ugly. The lines are all distorted, and the colors are not divided into shades. Large areas of high-saturation color blocks make people's eyes hurt.
She couldn't even be sure that the old man standing in the center of the picture was really human. By the way, should this be a human? It's not this character that she wants to control this time, right?
Xu Tuoran felt a little resistance in his heart. She tried to press the keyboard, but the old man didn't move, but black words jumped out one by one in the empty text box:
[Guide Mr. Wu: Oh, you are [Zhang Baixue] who is going to camp on the mountain. I am the guide who leads the way for you, just call me Mr. Wu. 】
[Me: Okay, Mr. Wu, hello. When shall we leave, please? 】
[Guide Mr. Wu: Please wait a moment, everyone is not here yet. When everyone is ready, we will start. 】
…Um.
This "I" should refer to the player himself. This is a first-person perspective game. But what does this "people are missing" mean?
Xu Tuoran frowned, and glanced at the upper right corner of the screen. There was a separate small box with the IDs of the three of them on the same team—however, today, this box is obviously slightly different from yesterday's.
Today's small box is divided into three columns. The names of their group members occupy only one of the columns. The other two columns are currently empty.
Xu Tuoran thought for a while, and suddenly remembered something Nike had mentioned during the day—besides them, there were other people who released a live broadcast preview, and the game would be broadcast live at the same time.
Some bad premonition suddenly rose in his heart, and Xu Tuoran frowned even tighter. Apparently the other two also had the same guess, and Flying Over Arkham's hesitant voice sounded in the headset:
"Could it be that in this game, we still have to be online with other people?"
"It's possible." Xu Tueran nodded in agreement, "The old man on my side said that the players haven't arrived yet... He should wait for the other players to arrive before advancing."
"Don't there be elements of confrontation?" Nike Chengjing sighed.
Xu Tuoran sighed, "I hope not."
She just wants to enter a domain. It would be too desolate if all of them had to compete for posts.
"By the way, the format of this game seems to be different from the previous one?" She thought for a while and asked casually.
"Hmm, this time it should be an 'AVG' game." Nike Chengjing explained, "It's a text adventure, aunt, do you know this?"
A text adventure game, that is, a text-based game. What is shown on the screen is what the player sees from the first perspective. Players can advance the plot and affect the direction of the story through choices. Other than that, there are very few operations that can be done.
At least for now, this interface is closer to a text adventure game. When the player speaks, the person used is also "I".
As for whether there will be other elements in the future, it is hard to say.
Xu Tuoran nodded half-understanding, and tried to operate again. The screen remains unchanged.
And as long as the three of them communicated, new names appeared one after another in the other two columns in the small box. There are also exactly three people in each column—the middle column is "Wang Haoran", "Honey Chiffon", "the eighth day of the first lunar month", and the last column is "There is a snake", "Sauce stew" and "Hungry rice".
...It seems that most of them are still online names.
In comparison, the name "Zhang Baixue" is more than out of place.
Xu Tueran sighed for his maverick, thought for a while, and then asked into the headset: "Is there any id you know?"
"...No, they are all strangers." Nike Chengjing recognized it and said, "Before us, there were two capable users who stumbled on this task. They played the game together and did not spread it to others Staff."
In other words, within the current forum, only the three of them should be involved in this task. As for the others, most of them were tricked by the domain owner through other means.
Xu Tuoran nodded thoughtfully. On the other side, the text on the screen finally changed.
[Guide Mr. Wu: Everyone is finally here! Come with me, and I will lead you up the mountain now. 】
After the text skipped, the screen suddenly changed. The mountains in the distance were replaced by rugged mountain roads, and the old man in the center of the picture turned around, revealing only a hunched back.
The picture was still bouncing, as if they were really following the old man on the mountain road.
As he walked, the picture suddenly changed. The old man turned around again, and the muddy mountain road behind him divided into four trails, extending in different directions.
[Guide Mr. Wu: The four roads here all lead to the hut on the mountain. Every road has different scenery. I don't know which one you want to go? 】
Xu Tuoran frowned slightly, and tapped the keyboard. The dialogue in the text box changed again.
[Me: Do we all have to go the same way? 】
[Guide Mr. Wu: Not necessarily. These four roads are all [safe], and you should follow your own will. 】
[Me: That’s it, it seems that I need to think about it. 】
In the next second, a new text popped up on the interface, which was about the rules of "choice".
"Each player has a total of seven active selection opportunities." Xu Tuoran murmured out the message on the screen, "Confirming the option, or changing the selection after confirmation, will consume the active selection opportunity. After the opportunity is exhausted, the player will only be able to Options are determined by rolling dice..."
Also, each selection is only available for thirty seconds. Once the timeout is not selected, it will also be stuffed into a random option.
There is also a new public chat box in the lower right corner of the interface, which seems to be for all players to discuss.
"It sounds like a survival game. If you choose the wrong one, you will die." Nike Chengjing sighed in the headset, "Auntie, which way are you going to choose?"
At the bottom of the interface are the four options this time. Xu Tuoran hadn't had time to look at it yet. She thought for a while, and said seriously: "Just be careful not to choose the same one as me."
She was rushing to enter the domain, and she must choose the option of death. Do not lead others into the ditch.
The other two responded dumbfoundedly. Only then did Xu Tuoran carefully read the four options:
[A. The path on the far right. You can see a beautiful fence in front of you from a distance, and behind the fence is a beautiful white hut, and there are bursts of cooking smoke wafting from the house. 】
[B. The second path from the right. Looking up, there was a little girl in a red dress and red shoes standing at the end of the road, smiling sweetly at me. 】
[C. The second path from the left. A weathered stone tablet stands at the intersection, and the contents on it cannot be seen clearly. There seem to be many stone statues on the roadside ahead. 】
[D. The leftmost path. Standing at this intersection, you can feel the cool breeze. The guide said that there is a clear lake on this road. 】
Xu Tuoran: "..."
She took a deep breath, moved the mouse, and paused for a while on each option.
...then, she was dumbfounded.
Didn't get any hints.
No matter which option she hovered over, there was no beep in her mind. Whether it is the death value system or the crisis premonition system, there is no response.
...Is the machine stuck? Still can't figure it out?
Xu Tuoran was silent for a moment, and simply said directly into the headset: "Student Nike, can your sensory ability be used now? Can you tell which of the four is more dangerous?"
"Ah? Auntie, wait a moment. I'm watching!" Nike Chengjing said seriously, hovering over each option with the mouse for a while, and gave a reply after a short while, "All are equally dangerous!"
Xu Tuoran: "..."
So why can't I detect it? Is my premonition of danger offline or how to find it?
Xu Tuoran murmured inwardly, seeing that there was not much time left, she simply picked one at random—she remembered that in the last round of games, red leather shoes were a very bad image, so she directly chose the one where the little girl with red shoes was. the way.
After she made her choice, she also saw the selection of other options - there are currently nine players, only six of whom have made their choices. She was the only one who chose the path where the red-shoe girl was located, and the rest of the choices were basically distributed in the "rightmost path" and "the second path from the left".
That is, a mountain road with small houses and stone statues. As for the one with the pond, there wasn't a single one.
In the public discussion area, no one spoke at all. Thirty seconds passed in the blink of an eye, and the remaining three were randomly assigned options. Two of them went on the same road with Xu Tuoran, and the other was assigned to the mountain trail with a pond alone.
All selected. The loose-skinned guide Mr. Wu reappeared, smiling and beckoning everyone to move forward according to their own choice, and meet at the hut above after passing.
Then the screen bumped up again. Xu Tuoran watched as the camera continued to move forward. On the mountain path, the girl in the red dress was still smiling at her strangely, and the distance between the two was getting closer.
...Should, it's ok!
Xu Turan's heart moved, he touched his bulging backpack, and the anticipation in his heart almost gushed out.
However, just when she was about to "walk" to the girl, the girl suddenly disappeared.
Instead, there is a large block of text:
[[Yingzi—] A call came from the woods in the distance, and the lovely girl in the red dress answered, turned her head and walked away bouncing. 】
[It turns out that her name is Yingzi, what a beautiful name. I smiled and watched her go away, her bright dress was like a red butterfly in spring. 】
Xu Tuoran: "..."
This, this is the end?
Xu vainly froze for a moment. and then?
She tapped the keyboard a few more times in a daze. As the protagonist, "I" just looked at the scenery along the way very leisurely, moved forward after feeling a lot.
We soon arrived at the agreed meeting place.
Full beard and tail, very healthy, not even a little frightened.
Xu Tuoran: "..."
She pursed her lips and patted the earphones: "How is the situation over there?"
After waiting for a while, without waiting for a response, I silently brought out the two rules of "sound must reach" and "volume bonus", and raised the volume to the headset: "You guys, are you still alive?!"
The exclamations of the two came from the earphones, and soon Nike Chengjing's happy voice sounded: "God—Auntie, fortunately you are here. I was scared to death just now!"
Xu Tuoran: "?"
"I had an accident on this road just now!" Nike Cheng carefully had lingering fears, "Didn't I choose the side with a house. But when we got to the front of the house, a woman came out and invited us in for soup..."
[…The soup is still simmering in the pot. There were bursts of weird smells. The woman lifts the lid of the pot, stirs it in with a long-handled spoon, and scoops out a finger, the bone is crispy and the meat is rotten...]
"After the plot was triggered, the few of us who entered the house had to make another choice. Whether to run or drink soup. I chose to run. After going out, I was caught by the fence. The whole person was like It was like being entangled by vines, dragging desperately in a certain direction...Fortunately, auntie, you called me."
Nike Chengjing clicked his tongue, obviously very scared.
It's a similar situation flying over Arkham. He chose the road with the stone statue. Walking along the mountain path to the stone statue, I saw the stone statue showing a strange smile, chasing him on all fours...
[In a trance, the stone tablet standing at the intersection seemed to appear in front of my eyes again. The weathered inscription is blurred. I ran forward desperately, the vague inscription kept flashing in my mind, and after putting it together several times, I finally realized what was written on it. 】
[It reads, [Run]. 】
"There are three people who chose that path, including me. We had to roll dice to confirm the order of running. The second person I drew clearly felt hallucinations when he escaped... Flying over Arkham paused, and said, "It's the third person's turn to run, and it will probably be even worse."
As if echoing his words, a name quietly disappeared from the player list. The other eight people, including Xu Tuoran, all survived.
In the public discussion area, some people also initiated discussions, asking about what other people have experienced. The player who walked alone on the pond path said that he encountered a water ghost and escaped smoothly because he rolled a good number of points while escaping; while the two players who were on the same road as Xu Tuoran saw things similar to Xu Tuoran's. Again, no harm was done.
In comparison, their journey can be said to be the most peaceful. The other roads are at most safe and risk-free, and they don't even have any surprises.
Another player who had become a master with Nike also survived, but Nike privately reminded the other two to pay attention to this player.
"At that time, the hostess had human broth, and she could choose to drink it or not. I chose not to drink it, but he chose to drink it." Nike Chengjing said cautiously, "I suspect that he is an undercover agent sent by the abomination."
"Not necessarily. Maybe it's just someone looking for novelty or ordering the wrong thing." Xu Tuoran verbally comforted, but his eyes still stayed on the ID called "Hungry and Hungry Rice" for a while.
On the other side, their text adventure game continues—
The remaining eight people arrived at the agreed "mountain hut", which is also the camping place they had planned long ago.
The guide Mr. Wu gave some instructions and then left, leaving them here. Then there are four more options:
Either go for a walk in the nearby woods, or feed the black goats in the sheepfold behind the house, or go to the dilapidated attic, or just rest by the firepit in the house.
…Xu Turan deliberated for more than ten seconds, and under the advice of the other two, he silently chose to feed the black goat.
It is said that this kind of thing seems to be often associated with some kind of evil.
As a result, I just fed it twice—
[[Yingzi—] A call came from the woods in the distance, and the cute black goat bleated, turned around and hopped away. 】
[So it's called Yingzi, what a beautiful name. I smiled and watched it go away, its black fur was like a black butterfly in spring. 】
Xu Tuoran: "..."
It shouldn't be her illusion, right? The plot of this text has clearly appeared once before, right?
She tilted her head and looked at the screen in front of her. For a moment, she couldn't figure out whether it was something wrong with her or something wrong with the game itself.
As for the other two boys on the same team—unsurprisingly, they suddenly fell silent again. Xu Tuoran opened the microphone to call the two back, and according to the situation, sure enough, the plot on his side was safe and unique.
Nike chose to go for a walk in the woods, but got lost in the woods and came to a big tree, which was densely hung with human corpses; Flying over Arkham chose to rest by the firepit. While resting, you will hear a stranger knocking on the door outside.
"That person will keep telling you 'Don't burn it, don't burn it'. Players can choose to extinguish the firepit or not." Flying over Arkham sighed, "I chose to extinguish it. Turn out a piece of fire from the ashes. Burnt clothes. And then hunted down by a scorched skeleton."
He didn't know why, but he always got this kind of plot of being hunted down.
Just like Xu Tuoran didn't know why he was mentally handicapped as if he was a psychopath because of his plot.
Soon, the other players also finished the plot. Online players silently lost two more players—one of them chose to rest by the firepit with Feiyue Arkham. The difference was that he chose "not to extinguish the firepit" when he heard the knock on the door. One was killed by the plot; the other chose to go to the attic.
According to other players who went to the attic, there is also a horror plot in the attic, and the players who go up will encounter zombies hiding on it. Whether you can escape or not depends entirely on the roll of dice.
Obviously, this person's dice luck is quite bad.
This time, only Xu Tuoran was chosen to feed the black goats. Therefore, she is the only one who has witnessed the stupidity of this game—as for how stupid it can be, she dare not say yet.
But soon, she saw it.
As the plot progresses, night falls quickly. Another four options appeared in front of everyone.
One, go to the yard and retrieve some straw to start a fire. Two, go to the utility room behind the house and look for candle lighting. Three, go to the kitchen to find ingredients to cook. Fourth, go to the woods to find some mushrooms to satisfy your hunger.
Xu Tueran stared at the four options, thinking that the last time Nike had just seen a big tree hanging from a dead body in the woods, that tree couldn't just bounce away too. So silently chose the fourth option.
As soon as the results arrive in thirty seconds, the results of everyone's choices will be announced. She took a closer look, and there were three people who chose the fourth option.
They are her, Nike and Arkham.
Xu Tuoran: "...?"
? ! !
"What do you mean?"
After two seconds of silence, Xu Tuoran spoke in a deep voice.
Nike Chengjing smiled embarrassedly: "Isn't it, do you think it's safer to choose with Auntie..."
"I feel safe." Flying over Arkham added earnestly.
Xu Turan: ...
So does anyone still remember that I am a person who wants to enter the domain? Anyone else remember?
But after all, you have chosen all the elections, and re-election is a waste of times. Xu Tuoran let the two of them choose to enter the same plot together—
As the selection ended, the picture in front of them quickly cut into the woods, going deeper and deeper amidst the bumps. Soon, the "big tree full of corpses" that Nike Chengjing said appeared in the center of the screen.
Xu Tuoran held her breath, leaned forward unconsciously, and even felt a little excited in her heart—rounded up, this was the first supernatural plot she triggered in this round of games!
Although there is not even a bit of death value... But no matter what, this is a good breakthrough...
She was thinking about it when the picture in front of her was suddenly covered by a familiar text.
[[Yingzi—] A call came from the distant woods, and the lovely corpses hanging on the tree answered one after another. The tall banyan tree pulled out its roots from the soil, turned around and bounced away. 】
[It turns out that they are called Yingzi, what a beautiful name. I smiled and watched the banyan tree go away. The green crown was like a green butterfly in spring. 】
The next moment, the text box disappeared. The big banyan tree covered with corpses in the picture has disappeared.
Xu Turan: ...
Great sir.
She stared at the screen in front of her, thinking blankly, smile at you, uncle.
Let me see if you smile, see if you can smile?
In fact, there are people who can really laugh - Nike Chengjing, who was lucky enough to trigger the same plot as Xu Tuoran, couldn't hold it back and sprayed it out.
Xu Tuoran: "...Hello."
Nike Chengjing immediately restrained himself: "Auntie, I'm sorry."
Is this the scenery my aunt has seen in the past? He is also very knowledgeable.
"However, having said that, this seems a bit outrageous." Flying over Arkham student was relatively more restrained, and his attitude was more serious—although he smiled quite obviously.
"Do you feel that this plot seems to be forced together?" He tried to analyze.
Xu Turan: ...
Is this still a feeling? Will your big banyan tree run around with a tree Yingzi hanging on it? ?
"But why..." Flying over Arkham clicked his tongue, and the other end seemed to think of something, and said cautiously: "That abominable thing, wouldn't it know that you plan to go in?"
"..." Xu Tuoran had actually thought of this, but she wasn't too willing to admit it.
She paused for a few seconds, took off the schoolbag on her shoulders, and put it aside - after thinking about it, she kicked it a little further away.
"I had some props on me before. It may have sensed these things." She said confidently, "Let's try again. I don't believe it."
Why not let her in? She stayed up for two nights for this broken game!
Although strictly speaking she sleeps... But Yang Buqi said that going to bed after eleven o'clock is called staying up late!
Xu Turan was a little out of breath. She sat upright and looked at the screen seriously—just as they were communicating, another name was dimmed in the box on the upper right corner.
Xu Tuoran remembered that he went to the yard to find straw to start a fire.
At this time, apart from the three of them, there were only two players left.
It also includes the "hungry meal" suspected by Nike - he chose to go to the kitchen alone to find ingredients in the last round, and he didn't know what he had experienced.
He clearly has no intention of sharing his personal experience in the public discussion forum. In fact, he never spoke at all. As for the other person, he did mention the plot on his side, but his words were inconsequential. Obviously, the mental state of the whole person was already quite unstable.
Xu Tuoran: "..."
She paused for a few seconds, raised her hand and rubbed her eye sockets, then let out a deep breath.
[Student Wang Haoran, can you see what I said? ] She typed in the public discussion area, 【Listen, if you want to survive this round. Let me choose the next option, okay? I will announce my options in advance. Trust me, it will be fine. 】
The player named "Wang Haoran" didn't know if he listened or not, but he was still chattering. Constantly sending "help" and "let me go" to the public discussion area.
And soon, another round of options came out—the time had advanced to midnight, and the travelers staying in the hut were awakened by the sound of crackling outside the door. Immediately afterwards, four options appeared again—
【A. Pretending not to hear, continue to sleep. 】
【B. Take courage, open the door and look out. 】
【C. The desire to urinate strikes, and I decide to go to the hut behind the house to solve it. 】
[D. I am hungry alone, go to the kitchen to find something to eat. 】
…Honestly, every option is attractive on paper.
It's a pity that in the eyes of Xu Tuoran at this moment, they are all equally dull.
To be on the safe side, she did a test first—she first chose D, which seemed to be the safest, and then let Nike sense each of them one by one.
The results were as expected—all options were dangerous except D, which she had already chosen.
Xu Tuoran really wanted to smash the computer at that moment.
She closed her eyes restrainedly, and quickly posted the options in the public discussion area, encouraging "Wang Haoran" to choose the same option as herself. At the last second, the options were determined.
Naturally, Nike Chengjing and Flying Over Arkham also followed Xu Tuoran's choice. Coupled with the "Hungry and Hungry Meal", which was originally chosen as D, it means that everyone has chosen the same option.
The scene cuts from the bedroom to the kitchen. Inside the dark stove, something was obviously wriggling.
The camera zooms in and out. Xu Tuoran finally saw clearly that it was a tentacle.
A large tentacle with jagged teeth and eyes.
Wang Haoran immediately posted a series of ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah in the public comment area, making Xu Tuoran a little embarrassed.
If she was going to die, wouldn't she really be right?
Everything that triggered the crazy plot before was really because of the props she was carrying? It's embarrassing now, and she even specially encouraged ordinary people to choose an option with her... But didn't Nike test it?
Xu vainly muttered in his heart. Soon she realized that she really thought too much.
Because of the same text, it floated up again in an instant.
[[Yingzi—] A call came from the woods in the distance, and the cute monster hidden in the stove answered, picked up the stove, turned around and walked away. 】
[So it's called Yingzi, what a beautiful name. I smiled and watched it go away. The bright tentacles looked like a spring butterfly. 】
…
After a while, the text disappeared.
There are not only tentacles in the picture, but even the stove has completely disappeared.
...After a few seconds, two lines of words slowly popped up in the public discussion area.
Hungry and hungry: [? 】
Wang Haoran: [I'll go, Niubi. 】
There was a subtle silence in the air.
And Xu Tuoran...Xu Tuoran finally encountered some good things.
Perhaps because of forcibly scooping up Wang Haoran, an outsider, the long-lost voice of rising death value finally sounded in her mind.
[Congratulations, you have obtained 500 death points! . 】
Xu Tuoran: "..."
"It's decided, I still want to go in." After a few seconds of silence, she said firmly.
Nike Chengjing, who was studying the plot, was taken aback: "Ah? Auntie, what are you talking about?"
"I said, I must go in this domain!" Xu Tuoran let out a forceful breath.
If you don't go for this handwriting, you will definitely lose money!