Chocolate Orphanage

Lin Nieran startled awake.

He suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for breath, staring at the mold on the ceiling for a while before he came to his senses and realized he was covered in a cold sweat.

He sat up and looked around; everyone else was fast asleep. Outside the door, the person on night watch had been replaced by Tao Yuan.

007 The little fox also curled up to sleep beside him, its head resting on its tail, all rolled up in a ball.

After successfully mimicking an animal, the system also adopted animal routines, including sleeping and eating. Recently, these routines have become 007's favorite thing to try.

After he woke up with a start, 007 also woke up groggily.

[Host, is it time?]

"No," Lin Nieran rubbed his eyes and said, "I just had a very strange dream."

[Host, you rarely dream, right?] 007 opened the System Shop. [The system detected poor sleep quality in the host. Would you like 007 to check if there are any sleep Item?]

"No need, I'm not sleepy anymore." Lin Nieran gently lay back down, but her eyes were still open. "Is the Orphanage Director in place?"

[We arrived quite early.]

"What about the others?"

[We've arrived!] 007 asked excitedly, [What big thing is the host planning? You've called in so many Vest!]

Lin Nieran sighed and looked at the ceiling, saying, "What big thing are we doing? We just don't have enough Fame, so we want to earn more."

"With my current Fame, even ten pulls are barely enough. That Sub-Advanced Card Pool costs 1 million coins for ten pulls, who can afford that? I'm still short 500,000 coins."

[Actually, the host can continue to draw from the Intermediate Card Pool; the Advanced Card Pool is not the best choice for long-term draws.]

"If there are high-level options, I'd definitely want to pull from the Advanced Card Pool."

Lin Nieran knew very well that in order to maintain the organization's image and power, the more high-level cards the better.

Although each of the cards he currently possesses is very powerful, the number is still too small.

In reality, the combined power of the Authorities is definitely stronger than what he has now.

The organization's greatest strength now lies in its secrecy; otherwise, its arrogance would have attracted the attention of the Authorities long ago.

As they were talking, Lin Nieran suddenly noticed a gaze fixed on him. He turned his head and saw it was Cheng Shanshi.

Cheng Shanshi woke up sometime earlier, covered her head with a coat, and stared at him with one eye showing. When he noticed her, she chuckled, looking rather silly.

Lin Nieran helplessly gestured with his eyes for him to close his eyes and rest, Cheng Shanshi obediently pretended to close his eyes.

Around dawn, Lin Nieran up to relieve Tao Yuan and went to stand guard at the entrance of the candy store. By then, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

He stared idly at the System Interface, while Lin Yi sat beside him, twirling a dagger and looking towards the direction of Minchuan District.

"You haven't said a word since we came out," Lin Nieran asked lazily, leaning against the wall. "What's wrong? Are you unhappy again?"

Lin Yi didn't move, but her eyes had already darted towards him. "You really didn't feel anything? This place feels very familiar."

"It does feel familiar. Didn't we live here for a few years before?"

Ten years after the strange occurrences began, they lived in the neighborhood for several years, attended school for several more years, and after gaining the ability to resolve the issues within the neighborhood, they moved to the Residential Zone.

I thought I'd never come back, but I still can't help but keep coming back.

Lin Yi frowned. "This isn't familiar."

"What's that familiar?" Lin Nieran asked.

"Are you pretending or do you really not understand?" Lin Yi simply turned his face away. "Forget it, it's pointless to ask."

As soon as it was light, the group set off again, and this time they finally arrived at Minchuan just before dusk.

"Beep beep!"

Wang Ding quickly turned off the alarm on his watch. "The map clearly shows we're still a few hundred meters from the Chocolate Orphanage, so why is the GPS beeping now?"

Upon hearing this, Tao Yuan, who was walking in front, quickly looked around. The place they were in was just an abandoned factory, and there didn't seem to be anything special about it. The energy was very thin.

But looking into the distance, one can see that their target, the Orphanage, stands not far behind the factory.

The dilapidated walls, the broken electrical circuits, the flickering lights, the swings moving without wind... all tell a story of something extraordinary about this place.

Not far away, Cheng Shanshi lagged behind, squatting on the ground with a small twig, fiddling with the plants. "After all these years, weeds are still growing in the cracks, and they're oddly shaped, like an open bag."

An Ying turned to look at him. "Be careful."

Mi Chuchu said, "This factory looks like it's part of the Orphanage."

Upon hearing this, Lin Nieran immediately stopped in his tracks. "Have we arrived? Then I'll rest here and wait for you to come out."

Tao Yuan nodded: "Yes--"

--good.

Before she could finish her last sentence, she had already disappeared.

One by one, the people around him disappeared in an instant, only Cheng Shanshi, who deliberately lagged behind, did not enter the Instance.

He pulled out the grass he had just picked and put it in the basket behind him. When he stood up and looked up, he saw that Lin Nieran in the same place.

What's going on? Didn't the Mountain Master say he would go in himself?

Cheng Shanshi looked at Lin Nieran in front of her with a strange expression, then quickly walked over. "Mountain Master, what's wrong with you—"

Lin Nieran stood there, his eyes unfathomable.

With just one glance, Cheng Shanshi saw the problem, and her smile vanished, "You're not the Mountain Master, so who are you?"

The personality that took over the body, wearing Lin Nieran's face, revealed a crazed smile, a hint of crimson in its eyes. "Long time no see."

"... Lin Yi?"

[Welcome to the Weird Instance, Chocolate Orphanage...]

[Player number 11 has entered, please wait... Player number 12 has entered, the Instance is about to open]

Welcome to the Chocolate Orphanage

Your identities are: orphans taken in by Orphanage.

The Orphanage Director said:

People are divided into different classes from birth.

Becoming an orphan meant becoming the lowest of the low.

Chocolate Orphanage: Giving every child without family a chance to make a new choice.

If we pray sincerely and heed teachings, one day the children will have a bright future.

Please try your best to survive as Orphanage.

As the light dimmed, the damp, rotten smell returned to my sense of smell before my vision did.

An Ying subconsciously frowned and covered her nose. The moment she opened her eyes, she realized that her body had become unusually weak, and her strength seemed to have been suppressed.

He looked down and saw that the body's arms were thin and bony, with almost no muscle, and the body had shrunk considerably; it was extremely weak.

An Ying knew that he had encountered Instance that had changed its form.

He looked up and around again. He seemed to be in a small bathroom, with a basin of dark water in front of him that he couldn't tell what it was, and a low mirror that clearly reflected his face.

It was a white-haired child with a round face and a touch of childishness. His eyes were pinker than when he grew up, and he did indeed look like he was eight or nine years old when he was a child.

An Ying looked at that face, her eyes turning cold.