An advanced Pseudo-human.
Charming.
But why had he given the Pseudo-human that impression?
Zhu Yan didn't understand.
He was still a novice, and to avoid exposing himself, he didn't dare ask questions at random.
Zhu Yan checked his reflection in his phone screen and confirmed that he still looked like a Pseudo-human.
He covered his aunt's entire body with the quilt, quickly slipped out of the room, and shut the door.
Scarlet had spread from the Pseudo-human's chin to its collar. It had clearly eaten its fill.
"Yes," Zhu Yan said, picking up the small backpack he had packed and left on the sofa.
The safest thing to do now was to go along with the Pseudo-human's question and let the instance continue.
He still remembered a post he had seen on the forum before entering the instance.
One of the comments had been a player's last words.
It had said, roughly, that the player had only ten minutes left because they hadn't managed to clear the instance.
Considering the large number of people who had died suddenly, Zhu Yan guessed that there was likely a ten-minute "revival period" after an instance ended.
His younger cousin had come to hate both him and his aunt before dying. If his cousin came back to life, there was no telling what might happen, given his extreme personality.
Zhu Yan didn't want to stay here and risk being dragged down with him.
The Pseudo-human walked over to the window and looked outside.
"[Monster Tram] is here," it said. "You'll have to hurry."
One minute remained.
Zhu Yan walked over to its side and immediately spotted the bus parked in front of the fruit shop downstairs—
If that counted as a vehicle.
To Zhu Yan, it looked like the enormous, furry head of a green monster, supported entirely by a few short bones protruding from its neck.
The head's mouth was tightly shut, and its four eyes darted around.
He saw an exquisite doll hop toward the tram. The head's tightly closed mouth then opened, revealing that it was filled with velvet chairs and small round tables.
"Oh—it's too late," the Pseudo-human said. "I can't wait for you. It's been a pleasure working with you. Goodbye!"
It hurriedly turned around, unlocked the front door it had locked, and ran into the dark hallway at high speed, disappearing from sight.
Zhu Yan wanted to follow it.
But the next second, the woman's voice once again rang out clearly through his world.
"Congratulations, player Zhu Yan. You have cleared the beginner instance and returned to the real world."
"Your reward will be issued in ten minutes. Carnival Paradise looks forward to your next visit."
The front door was still open, but unlike a second ago, the hallway was brightly lit by warm yellow light.
A wave of lingering fear washed over Zhu Yan.
Had the hallway from a moment ago and the one now not been in the same world?
If he had followed the Pseudo-human out just now, would that have meant he could never return to the real world?
He glanced back at the living room, only to find that the dining table was still a mess, and the overturned plates and stools hadn't been restored either.
His younger cousin lay unconscious on the sofa, seemingly about to wake up.
Zhu Yan decisively stepped into the hallway, pulled out the "admission notice," and raced downstairs as quietly as he could!
He didn't close the door, because doing so would only wake his cousin faster.
Shortly after Zhu Yan went downstairs, his cousin jolted awake on the sofa and sprang into a sitting position.
As if afraid he hadn't heard clearly, the pleasant female voice sounded again, repeating what it had just said.
"We're very sorry, but you failed to clear your beginner instance."
"The horror creature—the Pseudo-human—has devoured all of your life energy. You have ten minutes left to write your last words and put your affairs in order."
His cousin's last memories of the instance were the searing pain in his back and his screaming mother.
He staggered to his feet from the sofa and found that most of the traces had been cleared away. Only the messy cups and plates and the overturned food remained.
A few seconds later, the bedroom door opened, and his aunt stood in the doorway, looking dazed.
The moment she saw her son, she cried out, rushed over, and swept him into her arms.
"Son! You scared me half to death! I had a nightmare. I dreamed you were..."
"Get lost!" Her son shoved her hard, and the sight of her filled him with hatred.
He grabbed her by the collar and slapped her so hard that the sound even reached Zhu Yan, who was hiding downstairs.
There was no subway station nearby, so Zhu Yan found a secluded spot to stand and called a taxi.
The car was still three hundred meters away, and the soundproofing in the residential complex was poor enough for him to hide in the dark and listen to the commotion.
"Why didn't you believe me?! Why didn't you believe me!" his cousin roared, loudly enough to be heard throughout the complex.
"I told you I was going to die! You watched me die! You got a game card yourself, but you still wouldn't believe me!"
"Now look what happened! I really am going to die! I'm going to die!"
Zhu Yan heard a series of crashes and thuds, as though his cousin were smashing things.
Upstairs, his aunt's face was full of bewilderment.
But she remembered that terrible "dream," that lifelike "dream."
Everything seemed real—she looked at her son, then at the dining table, and saw that it was a mess. Apart from her son standing unharmed in front of her, the scene was no different from the one in her dream.
Come to think of it, she didn't seem to remember when she had gotten into bed, either.
She had just imagined hearing a voice, too. It had seemed to say something about an instance, congratulating him on clearing it and claiming a reward or something like that.
The events of tonight were like an intricately detailed nightmare. His aunt didn't dare think about them too closely.
Zhu Yan watched the taxi draw closer and strained his ears for footsteps in the hallway.
There were none.
It was quiet now. His aunt was probably lost in fear, unwilling to face the fact that she was about to lose her son a second time, and numbing herself to it.
Upstairs.
His aunt's lips trembled as she clung tightly to her son.
"Y-your father... Where is he? There were two people in my dream. Which... which one was you?"
His cousin's face was smeared with tears and snot.
He had completely lost his mind. He slapped his own mother's face again and again with both hands, all the while saying things made indistinct by his rage.
"I fucking told you not to look at the envelope! You killed me! Why don't you go die! Why don't you go die!"
The taxi arrived.
Zhu Yan took one last look at the apartment building, then quickly got into the car and shut the door in one fluid motion.
Only when the car started and the apartment building behind him grew more and more distant did he slowly breathe a sigh of relief.
He checked the route on the ride-hailing app and, taking the timing into account, bought a ticket for the next departure to Anwu City.
His university was in that city. No matter how he looked at it, going there was the most convenient option.
After doing all that, Zhu Yan watched the streets and alleys fly past the window. He tried to let his shoulders drop naturally and slowly expand his chest, so he could relax a little.
He didn't know whether his aunt had cleared the game, or whether she would call the police after her son died.
But either way, he no longer wanted any dealings or connections with her.
Eight minutes later.
The familiar, melodious female voice rang out. Zhu Yan couldn't help sitting up straight and holding the backpack in his arms tighter.
"Congratulations once again, Zhu Yan. You successfully cleared the instance [Who Is the Crown Prince]. Your method was creative, and the result is cause for celebration."
"The overall results for the [Who Is the Crown Prince] instance are as follows."
"Three players in total. Two cleared the instance, and one died."
That presumably meant his aunt had lived and his cousin had died.
Zhu Yan recalled the gruesome scene at the dining table and finally couldn't hold back a retch.
"You all right?" The driver glanced back.
Zhu Yan gave him a quick wave and strained his ears to listen to the announcement.
"Of those players, you placed first with the highest score. Your basic rewards are as follows."
"Days off: ten."
Zhu Yan had a bad feeling about this.
That meant he would have to enter another instance like this one, where he could lose his life at any moment, in ten days.
And in all likelihood, things would continue this way, with him clearing instances over and over.
"Of course, you may choose to enter an instance early. That is your choice."
Zero people would choose that, Zhu Yan thought.
"Beginner's incentive bonus: 50,000 yuan."
"The bonus has been deposited into your account balance."
?!
That was something Zhu Yan genuinely needed and liked.
He tentatively opened the payment app on his phone and was delighted to find that his balance, which had originally been only several thousand yuan, had risen to nearly 60,000!
That meant he wouldn't have to worry about his tuition, fees, and living expenses for at least his first year of university.
What a pleasant surprise!
Zhu Yan stared at the string of numbers, checking it over and over to make sure it was real.
The female voice continued its announcement, and Zhu Yan felt he was in a wonderful mood.
"You may choose to exchange your balance for horror currency. Please listen carefully to the exchange rate and method."