Matryoshka Off-Limits Chapter 141

Chapter 141 The Horror Club

【Patient 109: No way. He was very confident just moments ago.】

【Scissor Granny: Welcome to watch counterfeits accusing counterfeits of being counterfeits.】

“Patient with sex addiction from Frank Hospital enters the live stream.”

【Patient 233: Why does this episode of ‘Horror Chronicles’ have such big energy fluctuations? It woke me up.】

“Horror Chronicles” opened ports in many worlds. This time, the main port was unexpectedly aimed at Frank Hospital.

NPCs couldn’t see the electronic watch. Wen Shi merely skimmed over the comments on it, with a sense of guilt causing him to involuntarily lower his head. Pei Hongxin, who also had double eyelids, did the same.

Master Lin closed the photo album and gestured to Pei Hongxin. “Come, let Grandpa have a good look at you.”

“……” You should have a good look at your son.

On the other side, Wen Shi’s excitement went from fifty to sixty.

The monsters who were watching exclaimed at his weirdness.

This was a bit unfair to Wen Shi. His excitement stemmed from regaining his confidence. While Master Lin was talking to Pei Hongxin, he flipped through the photo album again. There were many pictures of Master Lin with other close female friends, including his brothers and sister’s birth mother.

Master Lin had a consistent taste: an oval face, phoenix eyes, and fair skin.

But just now in the living room, if Wen Shi remembered correctly, everyone had double eyelids!

Wen Shi looked at Master Lin with a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

Just as he continued to flip through as if nothing happened, his hand suddenly paused in mid-air. Master Lin was, after all, a successful businessman. He wouldn’t remain clueless forever.

Wait, what if Master Lin already found out?

What if he had already discovered everything?

Wen Shi was slightly startled. As he looked at the scene of Master Lin lovingly touching Pei Hongxin’s face, he felt an indescribable sense of horror.

Master Lin was only fifty-five, yet he suddenly made a will. He feared that the will might be a diversion, intending to bring this group of scattered dandelion seeds back to the old villa.

Speculating from the most malicious perspective, Master Lin might have wanted to personally harm them one by one, or he could have deliberately used his wealth to lure the seeds into mutual conflict.

Quite dark.

Wen Shi quietly closed the photo album.

He had been pondering how the butler and others would inherit. Although in reality, some elderly people left their property to caretakers or close non-children, achieving this wasn’t easy.

Given the premise that all current children were not biologically related, anything was possible.

The system’s notification sound rang out:

“The player has successfully achieved a grandfather-grandson reunion.”

“Master Lin’s favorability towards you +5.”

The game didn’t withhold any of the promised favorability points, but the rate at which this value increased was unsettling.

“I’ll take a rest.” As Master Lin coughed multiple times, the strange odor in the room intensified.

Wen Shi sensibly led Pei Hongxin away, but before leaving, he glanced back. Near the desk devoid of daylight, Master Lin opened a painting hanging on the wall. It was all pitch-black, as if thick ink had been poured directly onto the paper.

Master Lin’s dry lips continued to utter something, and between his lowered brows, there was a hint of grimness and subservience.

Suddenly, sharp gazes, in stark contrast to the hazy ones, shot forth. Wen Shi promptly closed the door and retreated.

While heading downstairs, he saw the live chat scrolling, with some still discussing the rising excitement levels at the orphanage. Wen Shi took the initiative to introduce his relationship with Pei Hongxin.

“He used to be my foster father.”

To the monsters, the players in their eyes were like actors, and they were watching a horror stage show. The elderly and the weak were merely role-playing actors with a different skin layer. Naturally, they didn’t actually see Pei Hongxin as a child. But when they heard that there was such a relationship among the role-playing actors, their interest was piqued.

Plot twists, dramatic reversals, who wouldn’t love that?

To ensure there was enough excitement, there couldn’t be just one spoiler.

Wen Shi cut to the chase, “He once tried to burn me alive.”

The story ended here, leaving the rest entirely to the monsters’ imaginations.

Meanwhile, Pei Hongxin didn’t deny it. In the real world, he needed a reputation, but in the game, it was unnecessary. Viewer engagement was more important.

Many of the monsters had private contacts, and before long, both sides saw a significant increase in viewers. Wen Shi’s perspective had more monsters tuning in, but Pei Hongxin also reached fifty viewers.

“Go and have fun on your own.” Wen Shi oddly granted Pei Hongxin some free time.

Just as Pei Hongxin felt somewhat surprised, there were hurried footsteps coming up the stairs again. This time, it was Master Lin’s eldest daughter.

The eldest daughter, Lin Helan, still held a newspaper in her hand. The moment she saw Wen Shi, she instinctively rolled it up tightly. It was this small gesture that made Wen Shi have a premonition that there might be some news in the newspaper that wasn’t favorable to him.

A wealthy second-generation not valued by his father and lacking the ability to have children could easily develop psychological issues. Wen Shi didn’t expect his character to have a proper background.

However, he politely nodded at the woman as if he didn’t care about the content of the newspaper.

According to his earlier findings, this Master Lin had a dark and deep heart. Who knew what he was secretly plotting? Even if they, his children, did everything perfectly, they might not meet his standards.

Having gained a basic understanding of the Lin family, Wen Shi saw no need to waste time boosting Master Lin’s favorability. He opted to summon his family member, assess their skills, and plan accordingly to determine the most efficient way to progress through this chapter.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside. The butler seemed to be trying to stop someone.

“Please wait for me to communicate with Master first. Without his instructions, I can’t allow anyone in.”

“Get out of the way! He asked me to come!” The front door was kicked open by someone wearing high heels. The woman who entered raised her voice and yelled, “Lin Yingfu, you old and stubborn thing, you finally decided to contact me!”

Wen Shi stared in surprise.

Wasn’t this Xiao Hua?

Xiao Hua, who was downstairs, in the midst of a furious outburst, saw Wen Shi. In her eyes, which seemed ready to shoot fire, an expression of disbelief also appeared. Neither of them had expected to encounter each other in this place.

Wen Shi promptly went downstairs and waved to the butler. “You can go attend to your duties. I’ll talk to her.”

As a trusted subordinate of Yu Xingzhou, Xiao Hua’s reputation in the virtual world was no less than Ji Yuanzhi’s. The butler naturally recognized her identity at a glance.

Everyone now wanted to remove Pei Wenwei from the inheritance dispute. Seeing that he was getting involved with Xiao Hua, the butler furrowed his brow.

“Adjust your identity,” the stern Wen Shi advised the butler before walking with Xiao Hua to the spacious floor-to-ceiling window.

In just a short while, outside had turned into a raging thunderstorm, with the densely packed trees dancing wildly in a magical manner.

Appreciating the beastly weather without any ripples, Wen Shi calmly caught up with Xiao Hua. Smart people value efficiency when they communicate. With no nearby NPCs eavesdropping, Wen Shi got straight to the point, “I’m playing the role of the second son.”

“I’m playing the role of the old stubborn man’s lover.”

“……” Now Wen Shi felt that it was essential for Master Lin to make a will.

“There’s a bit of an issue with this script,” Wen Shi returned to the main topic, indicating that everyone’s identities in this house were questionable.

Xiao Hua, having seen all sorts of dramatic scenarios, didn’t consider this a significant matter in her eyes. “There are much weightier issues than this. They say it’s a C+ instance, but it’ll definitely start as an S in the end.”

Her expression was unusually serious. “I suspect that the map might eventually lead to a rather dangerous place.”

Seeing Wen Shi’s skepticism, Xiao Hua lowered her voice. “My character also has a lover, played by Li Nan.”

Wen Shi had an expression of speechlessness.

“And I received a message that the president of【Wangcai Bank】is also in this instance,” Xiao Hua sneered. “So many high-level players entering a C+ instance, do you think that’s possible?”

Seeing Wen Shi lost in thought, Xiao Hua asked, “What are you thinking?”

“It’s a pity President Yu didn’t join.”

After reevaluating the difficulty, Wen Shi abandoned his casual attitude. Yu Xingzhou’s time freeze, regardless of any danger, was like a king bomb.

Xiao Hua was almost grinding her teeth. “Who says he’s not? If I’m the stepmother and he’s the illegitimate child, it’s a perfectly scripted storyline. You know I…”

Wen Shi hurriedly interrupted, asking what she was lamenting.

Xiao Hua: “I’ll go up first to see which old stubborn one wants to make a will.”

Wen Shi quickly stepped aside to clear her path and casually consoled, “No need to be too regretful. There’s still Guild Leader Li.”

Xiao Hua looked bored. “Li Nan is as plain as boiled water. When I teamed up with him for an instance, we followed the rules and did quests from start to finish.”

Just mentioning this person made Xiao Hua feel drowsy. With her high heels clicking like she was entering her own home, she went upstairs to meet Master Lin.

Wen Shi shook his head and began the summoning.

【Skill Activated: I Am Who I Am】

Before the game could inquire, Wen Shi directly said, “Recommend summoning.”

【Target Summoning in Progress…】

【Summoning Successful】

Family members falling from the sky also had to conform to the scenario. With a house where domestic helpers could move around at any time, it was unlikely that the game would set up a teleportation point here.

Wen Shi was pondering where the other person might appear when the doorbell rang.

There was an umbrella stand in the entrance. Wen Shi grabbed a large black umbrella and walked out in the pouring rain.

The wind was too strong, and the umbrella was about to be blown away. Vaguely, he could see a figure standing outside the iron gate. Wen Shi took a few quick steps and pushed open the iron gate with force.

Through the slanting rain, he wiped the water from his face and finally saw the person standing outside the gate.

The person was much shorter than him, with a delicate and petite figure, draped in a loose cloak. Unlike Wen Shi’s soft and cozy【Small Cloak】, this woman’s cloak was adorned with various strange symbols, and the brim of its hood was covered in pentagrams.

On her ten slender fingers, nine of them were adorned with different colored gemstone rings. Her neck and waist were adorned with colorful little bottles.

Mysterious, noble, indescribable.

Wen Shi found it hard to determine the woman’s age.

At first glance, she appeared like a dainty flower, but on her, there was hardly any youthful vibe of someone in their early twenties.

Although the rain avoided her cloak, Wen Shi still offered his umbrella and began, “Little Sis…”

“My son! You finally decided to summon your old mother.”

The woman’s voice was very sweet. She greeted him with an enthusiastic hug, looking at Wen Shi with a face full of contentment.

Today had seen many bizarre occurrences. Every time Wen Shi thought something was absurd enough, the next event would be even more outrageous.

While the game might restrict discussions about instances, monsters should be able to witness the summoning process. Wen Shi didn’t know how the live chat was reacting right now. Upon realizing this, he immediately checked his electronic watch, but it displayed gibberish.

The live chat was still srolling as usual, with everyone complaining about the instability of “The Horror Club” this time.

He could be certain that this time, the blocking force didn’t come from the game. The game would blur or pixelate, not produce gibberish.

Wen Shi quickly said, “We can’t interrupt the live stream for too long, or we’ll lose viewers.”

Then he roughly explained the importance of viewer count.

“No worries, my side gig is being a spiritualist,” the woman said with a sly smile. “I’ll forcefully summon viewers later, as many as you need, my son. Do you think ten thousand is enough?”

“……” My chat doesn’t need a legion of ghosts.

The rain was too heavy, making conversation inconvenient. Wen Shi invited her inside.

Stepping onto the copper coin stone tiles, the woman gently swayed her cloak, and the pentagram on it gleamed. Wen Shi only heard a faint, pitiful scream, and before he could react, there was a puddle of black liquid on the ground.

The woman looked up at the villa and said, “There are quite a few dirty things here, one of them is particularly dirty.”

She asked Wen Shi, “Do you like keeping pets?”

Wen Shi’s immediate thought was the mini octopus, so he just said, “I’ve had pets before.”

The woman blinked and said, “I’ll catch you a big one to play with later.”

Afterward, she added, “First, I’m going to summon viewers for my son. By the way, how many did I just say? A hundred thousand?”

Wen Shi quickly waved his hand and said, “Ten thousand, no, I mean…”

The woman interrupted with a smile, “Alright, ten thousand.”

“……”

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