The Eerie Art Museum

Yu Xing couldn't decide where was fun to do; she just felt uncomfortable being squeezed in and out of the crowd.

The "people" around him were covered in decorations, and every now and then something would poke him, causing him excruciating pain. What was the point of playing with them?

Moreover, as he listened, he found these people incredibly noisy and lacking in professional appreciation skills. They only knew how to shower praise on a low-quality work that was deliberately depicted in a dark direction. What mermaid, what corpse, what crystal orchid? The blood flow was wrong, and the muscle texture was obviously off. Just looking at the rough oil painting brushstrokes, Yu Xing, who had always had some pursuit of art, wanted to roll his eyes.

The crowd continued to move forward, and he and Zhao Yijiu were pushed along.

For the time being, no one noticed the two dwarfs who had slipped into the crowd, because the surrounding viewers were all filled with fervor, as if nothing in the world could attract them except these paintings.

Yu Xing turned his head to look at Ghost Wine, who was smiling and observing his expression. His eyelids twitched, and he said, "Is this the standard start for the Art Museum instance? They won't even let me through the main entrance?"

"Yes, I didn't do anything underhanded." To avoid being separated from him, Zhao Yijiu practically clung to him with both hands, pressing as close as possible, emanating a chill that made Yu Xing shiver again. "This is the art museum I passed by earlier. There was a notice outside advertising an art exhibition hosted by the museum's director. I thought you would like it, so I chose this place, but..."

Yu Xing glanced sideways. "Just?"

"To get tickets, we need to go somewhere else. I haven't seen the relevant buildings yet, and I don't want to go through all that trouble, so... I'll just take you inside. Who knew you'd end up in the crowd in the corridor?" Zhao Yijiu's expression was surprisingly innocent, but it carried a provocative "what can you do about it?" kind of innocent.

Yu Xing discovered that Zhao Yijiu, with her vengeful ghost-like personality, had probably brought all the pent-up provocations she had harbored to the surface. This revealed just how many times Zhao Yijiu, seemingly silent, had actually cursed him in her heart...

Or rather, how many times did she think about teasing him back when he was "flirting" with her?

"... Stay away from me, it's too cold." Yu Xing pushed him irritably, and then, just as the crowd was about to move to the next corridor, she silently squeezed to the back of the line.

Once the "people" turned the corner, he and Zhao Yijiu stayed in the original corridor, creating a safe angle so no one would notice them.

Without saying a word, Yu Xing, not having checked the route map beforehand and wary of those people turning back, immediately ran in the opposite direction.

Along the way, oil paintings that he felt were completely unworthy of being in an art exhibition brushed past him, the gazes of the ghosts, dead people, and corpses in the paintings following him, emanating a chilling aura.

Yu Xing glared back.

Zhao Yijiu followed behind Yu Xing unhurriedly, seemingly having completely handed over the task of leading the way to Yu Xing. He even had the leisure to ask, "Where are you taking me? Tour guide?"

"Wouldn't you like to die?" Yu Xing muttered, and after several twists and turns, finally felt that the distance was about right, so she stopped.

He was still in a long corridor, with works by unknown painters on both sides. These paintings had no other merits except that the faces of the figures in each painting were very clear, enough to show the astonishment of the people in these paintings when they died.

"Phew... I'm free now, I'm free." Yu Xing leaned against the wall, rubbing the spot where the fanatics had bumped into her, speechless for a while. "There's no information at all, how am I supposed to do the dungeon quest? What did the notice at the entrance even say?"

"You... guess?" Zhao Yijiu's lips curled up, as if she didn't want him to get a hint so easily, so she changed the subject, "You know what, this side effect is perfect for you, making you pretend to be weak all the time. This time, it's just as you wanted, isn't it?"

"Come on, I wasn't faking it when I met you, I was genuinely anemic." Yu Xing touched her forehead and blurted out, "Oh dear? I'm anemic again, I feel so dizzy, if I get bullied any more I'll die here."

Zhao Yijiu: "Heh... how fake, Yu Xing."

"I didn't..." Yu Xing stubbornly retorted, then her body swayed and she fell to the side.

Zhao Yijiu had been curious to see how far this drama queen could go, but to his surprise, Yu Xing actually collapsed. If he hadn't intervened, Yu Xing would have made direct contact with the ground.

"Hmm?" Zhao Yijiu still managed to tighten her grip on Yu Xing's abdomen at the most crucial moment, lifting her up from near the ground. Yu Xing felt like she had no bones and couldn't stand up, her face turning pale.

Yu Xing, who was already pale as A-level pollutant, now looked like a lifeless, White Ghost.

"Are you serious?" Zhao Yijiu, somewhat surprised.

Yu Xing regained consciousness, a trickle of blood slowly flowed from his nose. He slapped Zhao Yijiu's hand away, leaned against the wall, and skillfully wiped away the blood. After a moment, he said, "... I can't come into contact with overly strong ghostly auras, or I'll become weaker and weaker. Do you know that your aura right now is like a high-powered air conditioner blowing directly on me?"

"It can't be that bad, you didn't react this strongly in the hotel room." Zhao Yijiu said, puzzled, his bloodshot eyes filled with suspicion. He saw the blood on Yu Xing's hand, took a piece of paper he'd borrowed from the hotel from his pocket, and handed it to her. "Are you trying to trick me again?"

"Do you know that those things just now were like an icebox, freezing me down?" Yu Xing laughed. "Those were... more than twenty D-level or higher ghosts."

Heaven knows Zhao Yijiu chose a perfect spot: running around in the middle of more than twenty ghosts right from the start! If he hadn't escaped quickly, he would be unconscious among them by now.

However, this cannot be blamed on Zhao Yijiu, since Zhao Yijiu did not know what would happen inside the art museum.

Yu Xing sighed, thinking that if the Ghostification Zhao Yijiu wanted to trick him, this time it was a lucky accident that the Ghost Wine succeeded. He pressed a piece of paper to his nose, and after about ten seconds, the bleeding stopped.

That's acceptable. When the test at the abandoned factory ended, he was bleeding from his mouth and nose, trembling all over, and squatting on the ground for a long time, unable to stand up.

"This is a big problem. Since that's the case, have you thought about how to solve it? If you don't solve it, you won't be able to move an inch in the Dead Silent Island simulation. Any random B-rank ghost passing by will weaken you to death." Zhao Yijiu frowned almost imperceptibly at Yu Xing's skillful handling of the situation. "Do you mean you have to die and resurrect every time?"

"That would waste a whole day, which isn't worth it. Besides, I'm not sure if there's anything on this island that can defy the rules of death. If there is, and I get killed by it, there'll be no way to resurrect."

Yu Xing wasn't in a hurry; he had his own plans. "Since the Corrupted Ones are ghosts, there's no reason for me to be this weak. As long as I complete missions related to my identity, I can naturally gain the power of the ghosts... I should use this as an excuse to return my abilities. Therefore, I won't remain this weak forever. I'll be fine after completing some missions. The difficulty lies in finding the missions related to me and not being discovered by the Plague NPCs who have a grudge against the Corrupted Ones."

"Oh, right, you wouldn't let yourself get into a dangerous situation with no way out." Zhao Yijiu nodded reluctantly, then lowered her voice, "Although I did want to take you out for a spin, wouldn't doing this mean I hurt you? You wouldn't normally let yourself go into a group of ghosts. Tsk, thinking about it, shouldn't I feel a little guilty?"

While it may be described as symbolic, for Zhao Yijiu, who Ghostification, it's likely that he's already feeling guilty according to his own consciousness and memories.

Yu Xing suddenly shuddered.

What if Zhao Yijiu realizes that what she's doing is becoming uncontrollable and stops taking him out to play altogether?

We finally have a cheat that lets him roam freely without following the map, how can we let him get away because of something like this!

He immediately turned around and "comforted" Zhao Yijiu: "These are all minor matters. Since you're here at the art museum, have a good time. Tsk tsk tsk, you're actually so kind? Since you care about me so much, why do you always try to scare and trick me? Wouldn't it be better to just be honest? You're all talk and no action."

Zhao Yijiu's eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty light, but then returned to normal. "... Heh, a clumsy attempt at provocation. It seems you really can't bear to part with me, your human cheat code. Fine, you like to court death, I won't stop you. So, what do you plan to do now?"

"Of course, we need to solve this dungeon, get the rewards, and then leave." Yu Xing licked her lips. "The art museum is indeed one of my favorite places. Although the paintings here aren't very good, I can barely accept them if they're related to horror stories. Since we deviated from the original dungeon plot because we didn't use tickets to enter, the first thing we need to do is understand what the original dungeon invitation should have told us."

He looked at Zhao Yijiu: "... Let's start with the dungeon rules. But I have a question to ask first: since you could come in directly, can you also leave directly?"

"What do you think? If I could just get out, would I need to listen to Kraun's awful laughter?" Zhao Yijiu scoffed. "Once the instance is open, it's an independent space. I can't get out, so there's no turning back, only clearing it."

Unexpectedly, Yu Xing seemed relieved. "Oh, then I'm relieved."

"Why?"

Yu Xing replied matter-of-factly, "At least this way you can't threaten me by saying you won't take me out if I upset you. Since we're all on the same starting line, you have to listen to me too."

"Why should I listen to you?" Zhao Yijiu raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't you come up with the strategy?" Yu Xing retorted sharply.

Zhao Yijiu.

"Okay, whatever you say."

After realizing the gap between his intelligence and Yu Xing's, even the eccentric and unpredictable Ghost Wine made the right choice decisively.

"In that case, first tell me the information you didn't tell me on the notice outside the art museum. Then we'll go to the art museum entrance. Following the normal dungeon process, after entering the art museum, outsiders should be able to get some basic information at the beginning, such as how to complete the dungeon, how long to survive, or how to stay alive."

"We're completely in the dark right now, so let's just repeat this process manually to get the basic information first." Yu Xing said, leaning against the wall to try and steady himself. He had already passed the period of the curse's power surge caused by his simultaneous contact with more than twenty ghosts, and he felt much better than before.

He needed to know the approximate size of the art museum, and what other NPCs existed there besides the group of ghosts who had bought tickets to view the paintings.

Zhao Yijiu recalled for a moment and then roughly recounted the contents of the notice.

In addition to requiring visitors to complete a certain task at another location to purchase tickets, the notice also specified the exhibition's duration: eight hours in total from start to finish. Visitors would enter together, and each person would be guided by a different guide along several routes. Five hours would then be allotted for free viewing, during which time visitors could enjoy food at the restaurant on the third floor of the art museum at any time.

No other information was provided in the notice.

After hearing this, Yu Xing looked at both sides of the corridor. "So the ghost group we were just with was just one of the guided tour routes... Doesn't that mean that other guided tour groups could appear along this corridor at any time?"

"Logically, that's how it should be. Are you scared?" Zhao Yijiu said with a mocking smile. "The same pain could come at any time~"

"What's there to be afraid of? I'm concerned about something else." Yu Xing pondered for a second. "The entire process takes eight hours, with everyone entering at once. That means outsiders should get their tickets and enter the art museum before the exhibition, or the instance, starts. But we skipped the ticket process, and with that queue we just saw... the exhibition had already started before we arrived."

Zhao Yijiu's eyes gleamed with even more mockery. "You mean, there are other outsiders in these art museums now?"

"That's right. We arrived directly at the center of the city on Dead Silent Island because of your shadow teleportation. Among the strategists who came with us, I doubt anyone has that ability." Yu Xing looked up at a painting facing him. The old woman in the black dress in the painting was staring at him with a half-smile. "Those who normally open the art museum instance are the experience testers. Some of them can also quickly jump between maps."

"Wow, that sounds exciting! It must be a formidable enemy." Zhao Yijiu excitedly, "Should we take the opportunity to kill them?"

"Didn't you say you wouldn't kill people?" Yu Xing glanced at him.

"Shh... that's me on the Righteous Path." Zhao Yijiu raised a slender finger and shook it, her expression dangerous. "My Ghostification is on the Fallen Path ~ Personality is just an outward manifestation of one's character. You don't really think that my personality hasn't changed despite the drastic personality shift, do you?"

"If you kill someone in this state, you'll definitely regret it when you sober up." Yu Xing reached out and pressed his fingers down. "For your own sake, it's better not to break the rule. Even if you think I'm talking nonsense in this state, and you feel that it doesn't matter if you stay in this state and can't go back, you know yourself best. There's no need to let your other self be in pain all the time. Zhao Mou will also feel sorry for you."

"Tch, so I'm usually just a useless piece of trash. I don't kill this, I don't kill that. Even when I was treated like that as a child, all I did was reduce my contact with the Zhao family. I never even thought about getting revenge. How stupid." Ghost Wine cursed himself, but he no longer intended to kill the unknown experience testers in the art museum. "What do you want? We're on the opposing side. One of the conditions for clearing Dead Silent Island is to kill all the experience testers. Are you going to just give up on this simplest way to clear the game, huh?"

"Is it simple? Not necessarily." Yu Xing temporarily calmed down Ghost Wine, this Fallen Path bomb of corruption. "We'll see. We chose Dead Silent Island because someone from the experience tester group contacted me. If we can cooperate, that would be great."

They had been standing in the corridor for about six minutes when a commotion came from afar.

Yu Xing paused, then pouted, "A viewing group is coming; I need to hide first."

He walked in the opposite direction of the sound, entered another corridor, and then retreated to the end of the corridor. This ensured that even if the viewing group followed him, he would still have room to move.

Zhao Yijiu followed behind him, remaining noncommittal. The two stopped at the end of the corridor. Even without Yu Xing's "ghost allergy symptoms," they had still sneaked in without tickets. It was likely that if they were discovered by either the contaminated or the plague-infested entity, they would be in serious trouble. Until they understood the rules, they should avoid it as much as possible.

The two corridors intersected, forming a T-shape. The viewing group came from the right side of the horizontal line of the T-shape, while Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu stood near the hook of the vertical line. They were lucky; the viewing group didn't look in their direction at all. Instead, they chattered and went to the left side of the horizontal line of the T-shape. After they hid, they peeked out to observe. These guests were generally over two meters tall, dressed in luxurious clothes, and looked like they were at least middle class.

Yu Xing squinted and observed the guide at the beginning of the line all the way to the end, where he spotted a short man.

Finding outsiders in this instance is incredibly easy, because normal people appear very short among these ghosts.

The person at the end of the viewing line appeared to be much shorter than Yu Xing, about 1.7 meters tall, or maybe even shorter. In fact, the distance between them wasn't that far, and you could barely make out their face.

It was a boy, expressionless, holding a strange, large plush rabbit, following at the end of the line, not saying a word, as if the excitement belonged to others and he had nothing.

Zhao Yijiu also saw it. "Oh, a kid?"

"He does look quite young," Yu Xing said, "But not a child either, looks about sixteen or seventeen."

As they were talking, the boy suddenly turned his head and looked in Yu Xing's direction.

A pair of calm eyes, lifeless.