Let's give space a touch of Chinese horror!

Chapter 86 The Grand Event

"They've all left?"

Upon hearing the system's report, Jiang Yi turned her attention away from the game livestream.

"Yes, host!"

The system voice, sounding cheerful as if Xiao Qi had a great time in the dungeon, said, "We deliberately left the team leader until the very end! We made sure he died last!"

Those people are too fragile!

Xiao Qi finally got Jiang Yi's approval to play freely without following the original rules of the game. However, the people he played with this time were really bad. Before Xiao Qi could even start playing with them properly, they were all dead.

So when Xiao Qi was finally able to play hide-and-seek, he deliberately wanted to extend the time, preferably until the last day of the instance's time limit; but unexpectedly, Xu Zhang, whom he left at the end, was so frightened by him that he foolishly ran into the wardrobe.

And inside the wardrobe was Xiaoqi's mother.

Xiaoqi couldn't very well fight with his mother for the "toy," so he could only leave regretfully to find the last remaining player.

Xiao Qi, who didn't get to enjoy the game much, is now running around in different instances of the game with a long face, venting his anger and making the players who came for the competition and prize money to "reunion" cry their eyes out.

However, this is actually a good thing for Jiang Yi and the system.

During this period, the energy levels they received increased by an astonishing digit every day.

According to the system, it won't be long before the second gray module inside it is unsealed.

Of course, this was also thanks to Li Xingzhuo's suggestion.

Although Li Xingzhuo's proposal to hold the competition was more about causing trouble for the "playing world," the game's popularity increased as a result, which Jiangyi was happy to see.

In particular, because gamers today don't have any life-threatening worries, they are more relaxed when playing games, at most they get a little scared, so they play more daringly.

—This is completely different from the player experience of previous horror games.

Even Xiaoqi prefers the current players.

After all, players of horror games used to be wary of NPCs. Even first-time players would be filled with fear and defensiveness when suddenly entering an unfamiliar world. It would be good enough if they didn't tremble when they saw an NPC, let alone play with one.

Even when forced to play with him by the game rules, these players played with trepidation—although this way of playing had its own unique flavor, Xiaoqi still preferred the StarCraft players who would proactively offer to play with him now.

Even Jiang Yi has recently taken to lying on the sofa watching these game streamers play games.

This is a completely different viewing experience from when I was the boss watching players play games.

For example, the game streamer that Jiangyi was watching before the system arrived: after entering the game, the streamer clearly wandered to the entrance of 604, trying to find Xiaoqi and increase Xiaoqi's favorability—something that would never happen in a horror game.

There are even some game streamers who deliberately court disaster to grab attention just to ride the wave of the "reunion" trend—

For example, deliberately going against NPCs, like going out at night to see what happens when they forbid you from going out, or being encouraged by viewers in a live stream to steal keys from the security office at night to see what's inside the locked doors of the tenement building, only to be chased by dogs for several floors and end up getting bitten terribly...

In short, all sorts of outrageous maneuvers left Jiang Yi in awe.

Of course, there are also many streamers who play games seriously. Whether they are after the prize money or are simply interested in the game and want to know the whole plot and background story, these streamers are the main force in promoting the game and maintaining the popularity of the competition.

Recently, Jiangyi has a favorite game streamer named "Chronicler".

This blogger is an analytical streamer who takes the plot seriously.

Many details that game streamers with only the single thought of "beating the game" overlooked were discovered by this streamer named "Chronicler"—

For example, the little boy Xiaoqi gets along very well with the big dogs in the security guard's room at the entrance.

For example, Chronicler, although not among the first group of "reunion" players, was the first to discover that the torn-out calendar hanging on the wall of their house would automatically tear off a page to update the days after the player woke up.

Similarly, the pots and pans in the house will change their position on the table while the player is sleeping, or they may simply appear in the sink or cabinet.

For example, she also discovered that if you resisted eating the food that Aunt Wang brought on the first day, and left it until the next morning when it had completely cooled down, the meat inside would become extremely fishy.

—It's that kind of strong, fishy smell that you can smell from afar, even before you touch it with your chopsticks.

For example, she noticed early on that fewer and fewer locks were hanging on the doors along the corridors of the tenement building.

For example, she noticed that Aunt Wang would go out to buy groceries every day, but she never saw Aunt Wang come back with meat or vegetables, only large amounts of vegetables and rice noodles.

……

It is also because Chronicler's observations are meticulous and she does not push the plot forward in order to complete the game that viewers can often see different plots and clues in her live streams that they had previously overlooked, which has made Chronicler one of the most popular streamers.

Chronicler is just too daring. Every time she plays "Reunion" on her live stream, she has to rest for several days afterward, supposedly to "take it easy." As a result, Chronicler is the slowest-moving of the most popular game streamers right now.

Jiangyi just checked in. Chronicler has roughly completed the exploration of the apartment building's interior and discovered that after one night, three of the original locks on the doors were gone, but one new lock had been added. So she's planning to leave the apartment building during the day to explore the surrounding area and see if there are any NPCs outside who can provide clues.

However, she had only just reached the top of the stairs when she was stopped by Aunt Wang, who suddenly appeared.

When Aunt Wang heard that she wanted to go out for a walk, she immediately stopped her, saying that it was very dangerous outside. Chronicler was not in a hurry and stopped walking in a very agreeable way, and began to ask Aunt Wang what kind of danger was outside.

Aunt Wang said it was because there was a madman around who would attack people with a kitchen knife. So now Chronicler is subtly trying to extract plot details or clues from Aunt Wang.

Aside from the slightly slow pacing of the plot, there are no other problems.

While Jiang Yi felt slightly regretful about this, she wasn't entirely surprised.

After all, there weren't many like Li Xingzhuo even in the horror games of that era. Especially since, although Li Xingzhuo didn't seem to have regained his memories, his acceptance of the game was still very high.

At least, he didn't react much after learning the truth about this "reunion".

This made the crimson-clad woman...less fun.

She had expected to see Li Xingzhuo's panicked expression...

So now, Jiangyi can only place her hopes for entertainment on these players.

Just as Jiang Yi was sighing, she suddenly saw a banner announcing the platform's announcement appear above the live stream.

The content of the announcement is quite ordinary. This platform-wide announcement usually appears when a viewer makes a large donation in a live stream, attracting viewers from other live streams to the live stream that received the donation.

What attracted Jiang Yi wasn't the announcement, but the name of the livestream room where she had received a donation. Jiang Yi lay on the sofa and thought back for a moment. This livestream room... was also run by a tech-savvy streamer who was livestreaming a "reunion."

Perhaps due to the platform-wide announcement, other viewers watching Chronicler's livestream also started discussing it:

"Wow, that's quite a generous move for a teammate to save (the streamer's) fans!"

"Teammate, have you been streaming your 'reunion' lately?"

"It seems so... I watched a bit of his live stream before. His style is focused on progress, which is completely different from our Little C's style."

"I'm checking both sides, haha! I'll go check the overall progress at the rescue site, and then come back to Little C to check for any missed details. I remember last time I checked, the rescue site had already been in the game for 3 or 4 days (game time)."

"!!! Does that mean they cleared the level over there?!"

"No way?! Is it really that fast?!"

"I'm not going to say anything more, I'll go take a look!"

"I'm going too!"

……

Jiang Yi raised her eyebrows with interest as she looked at the comments. She followed the others and left Chronicler's live stream, then clicked into the streamer's channel where her teammate was saving her.

However, after entering the game, contrary to her expectations of a jubilant atmosphere after clearing the level, the barrage of comments was filled with rows of "!!!" and exclamations of "The woman in red is so inhumane."

Jiang Yi tilted her head and looked at the barrage of comments "denouncing" her. She tried hard to find some comments that were meant to educate new viewers among the large number of meaningless comments, and finally figured out what had happened.

To put it simply, it means you haven't passed the level.

However, having a teammate save you is indeed the fastest progress among the streamers right now.

He survived until the fifth day of the game.

Over the course of five days, he successfully infiltrated the apartment building and even "bumped into" Xiao Qi, gaining Xiao Qi's favor. On the fifth day of the game, Xiao Qi invited him to his home to celebrate his sister Xiao Yi's birthday and asked his teammates to come and attend Xiao Yi's birthday party.

Although I definitely wouldn't eat there, I could visit, so my teammates helped me get there on time.

After arriving at Xiaoqi's house, everything went smoothly. Although the teammate didn't see the male host from the promotional video, nor did she see the birthday girl, Xiaoyi, the only people on the table were Xiaoqi, the teammate, and the little ball that Xiaoqi had placed on the chair. But Xiaoqi still sang "Happy Birthday" happily and enthusiastically cut the cake for the teammate to taste.

Based on the clues he obtained (a torn page from Xiao Qi's calendar, which marked Xiao Yi's birthday on the fifth day of the game), Teammate Jiu Yi roughly guessed that the game's time limit was 5 days, and that the game would likely be completed after the birthday party. So, when the smiling Xiao Qi asked him to eat the cake, Teammate Jiu Yi ate the birthday cake.

The teammate who rescued him knew that the food in the game was definitely problematic, even if it was given by Xiaoqi, but there was no way to stop it... the cake really did look tempting and delicious.

The cake was a simple white buttercream cake, a small one served on a white porcelain plate, with no decorations, just the cake base and buttercream. The buttercream frosting was also quite rough, probably homemade.

However, this does not prevent the rich milky aroma of the cake from penetrating the nose like silk threads, enveloping the nasal cavity like velvet.

His teammate took a deep breath as he came to his rescue.

In his experience, eating food once or twice won't have too much of an impact on the food in the game.

Plus, there's a high probability of clearing the game after the banquet, and with a teammate saving you... you just couldn't resist the temptation.

Just one bite!

But the moment the cake was put into his mouth, his teammate's eyes widened instantly!

He had eaten cake before; there were dessert shops in the interstellar era, and they sold cakes. However, due to factors such as ingredients, the cakes from the interstellar era were far inferior to the one he was eating!

The cream is as light and fluffy as a cloud, and as smooth as solidified fat. When you put it in your mouth, the cream melts slowly with the warmth of your mouth. The richness of the cream spreads on your tongue and fills your mouth, but it doesn't feel cloying at all. Instead, it feels as light as a cloud.

The cake base wrapped in cream is soft, moist, and has a slight elasticity.

The sweetness of both the cream and the cake base is perfectly controlled; it's sweet but not cloying at all.

And after eating it, your mouth won't feel uncomfortable like a thin layer of something sticking in your mouth, unlike a cake from the interstellar era.

So, the teammate who originally only intended to have a bite ended up spooning the cake off his plate, finishing it completely.

He didn't even notice—

As he put the first bite of smooth, creamy cream into his mouth, Xiao Qi, who had been so warm and hospitable, suddenly turned pale and stared at him with a gloomy expression.