Chapter 92 Unique game (10)
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Xiao Xu was seventeen this year and was 1.75 meters tall. He rarely exercised and didn’t care about different types of grains.
Asking him, a recluse who spent his whole day playing games in front of the computer, to face such a monster was too much to handle. He sat on the ground, crying, his legs feeling weak. It made Lin Zhaohe think that he was the one being attacked by the monster.
In reality, it was Lin Zhaohe himself who stood in the way of the monster. The monster’s attack power wasn’t as scary as he imagined, and it didn’t have enough strength. When it jumped on him, Lin Zhaohe pushed it away forcefully. The monster seemed a bit confused, not expecting Lin Zhaohe to be that strong.
After pushing the monster away, Lin Zhaohe rushed forward and pulled Xiao Xu up from the ground. The two of them left the bedroom and ran to the living room. In the dark, there were strange and monstrous creatures everywhere. Xiao Xu cried and shouted, and the atmosphere became extremely chaotic.
Lin Zhaohe was already an impatient person, and now he was even more anxious, sweating profusely. Like grabbing a little chick, he grabbed Xiao Xu and shouted, “Stop crying—quickly tell me where the circuit breaker is!”
Xiao Xu was taken aback by Lin Zhaohe’s shout, but he managed to stop crying. He choked out, “It’s, it’s in the cabinet next to the door.”
Lin Zhaohe quickly rushed to the cabinet’s side, about to open it, but Xiao Xu grabbed his hand. Xiao Xu cried, “Brother Lin, please don’t open the cabinet. It’s filled with monsters.”
Lin Zhaohe got angry and said, “Whether I open it or not, it’s still full of monsters!” They were surrounded by darkness now, and strange and scary creatures were all around, like they could die any moment.
The darkness became a breeding ground for those creatures. Lin Zhaohe saw countless faces flickering in it—sinister smiles, withered fingers, flowing hair, and miserable cries. They closed in on the two of them, as if a moment later, a surging sea would engulf them completely.
“But, but…” Xiao Xu choked, “The scariest monsters are inside the cabinet.”
Lin Zhaohe thought, what could be scarier than this? They were about to die soon, so why bother with being scared or not? He didn’t follow Xiao Xu’s suggestion, but reached out and opened the cabinet door. The flashlight’s beam illuminated the inside, and Lin Zhaohe froze.
Inside the cabinet, there was a woman wearing a red dress, her body twisted and curled up in the small space, completely blocking the electrical box behind her. But what scared Lin Zhaohe wasn’t her contorted body shape, but her pale face—the exact same face as Xiao Xu’s mother, Mrs. Li.
Lin Zhaohe turned stiffly, trembling, and said, “Xiao Xu.”
Xiao Xu: “Ah?”
Lin Zhaohe: “How is your mom inside?”
Xiao Xu, his face full of question marks, gradually turned into fear. He saw, through Lin Zhaohe, the contorted figure of the woman in the red dress inside the cabinet.
That face, identical to his own mother’s, completely shattered Xiao Xu’s mental defense. The sobs he had managed to suppress turned into howling once again, “Help—!” After yelling, he turned around and tried to run. If it weren’t for Lin Zhaohe holding him back, he might have already rushed out.
This reaction was even scarier than seeing a ghost.
Lin Zhaohe couldn’t help but find it both funny and frustrating. He finally understood why Xiao Xu didn’t want him to open the cabinet. Before he could say anything, Xiao Xu pointed at the woman inside the cabinet and cried, “Run—my mom is coming out!” With that, an unexpected surge of strength erupted from Xiao Xu’s thin body. He forcibly dragged Lin Zhaohe, who was attempting to stop him, and rushed towards the exit.
Lin Zhaohe felt as if he wasn’t holding onto Xiao Xu but a rampaging bull. They kept moving forward, forcefully making their way to the corridor.
The situation suddenly worsened. The dark corridor walls seemed to twist into grotesque reliefs. Countless monsters were trying to break through the walls. Xiao Xu was almost fainting from fear. He tried to use the flashlight in his hand to push the monsters back. Wherever the light shone, the surroundings appeared normal again. But as soon as he moved it away, the monsters would surge back.
Xiao Xu was on the verge of collapse from fear. He cried, trying to reach the position of the elevator to escape. However, what was originally just a few meters long corridor now resembled an endless maze. He and Lin Zhaohe walked on it but couldn’t find an exit.
Lin Zhaohe had calmed down by now. He had encountered far scarier scenes than this. Realizing that although these monsters looked terrifying, they had no real fighting power. He could easily push them aside with a little force. Even if they bit him, their teeth couldn’t break through his skin.
Lin Zhaohe touched the spot where he had been bitten earlier, but now he couldn’t feel anything. He looked down at his shoulder and saw no trace of teeth marks. It was clear that the monsters didn’t possess much fighting power.
However, it was evident that Xiao Xu wasn’t at Lin Zhaohe’s level yet. He was still easily frightened by the occasional appearance of monsters, screaming like a helpless chicken being squeezed.
Even when Lin Zhaohe casually patted his shoulder, Xiao Xu would tremble.
“Should we go back?” Lin Zhaohe suggested, as they had been walking on the corridor for so long without reaching the elevator. He felt they might not be able to make it through. He turned his head to look at Xiao Xu.
Xiao Xu, at this moment, resembled a startled bird. Someone unaware might think he looked no different from the monsters beside him.
“No, no, we can’t go back,” Xiao Xu vigorously shook his head. “My mom is at home—if we go back, we’re done for.”
Lin Zhaohe found it strange and asked, “Are you afraid of the monsters, or are you afraid of your mom?”
Xiao Xu: “Of course, I’m afraid of the monsters.”
Lin Zhaohe: “Well, if your mom is waiting for you up ahead, and the monsters are waiting for you at home, would you continue forward or go back?”
This question would make most people decide without hesitation, but when posed to Xiao Xu, he surprisingly hesitated as if caught in a miracle.
“Well, let’s go find Mom then,” Xiao Xu said with a tone of resignation and reluctance.
Lin Zhaohe was speechless and asked, “Are you so afraid of your mom?”
Xiao Xu lowered his head, feeling a bit sad. “I don’t want to be afraid of my mom either, but sometimes she can be really scary…”
“For example?”
“For example, when you wake up in the middle of the night and open your eyes to see your mom standing beside your bed, staring at you.”
Lin Zhaohe was taken aback. “That’s it?” He thought it wasn’t that bad.
“Well…”
However, the truth was that this kind of thing had happened more than once. Ever since he started fearing the dark, he would often wake up to find his mother silently standing by the bed, wearing her favorite red dress as if she had just returned from outside, covered in dust. Xiao Xu would wake up drenched in sweat, opening his eyes to meet her gaze.
“Awake now,” his mother’s voice was gentle, her pitch-black eyes fixed on him.
However, Xiao Xu recalled the monsters he had seen in his dream. The eyes of those monsters miraculously matched that of his mother’s. This familiar sensation in a state of confusion made Xiao Xu feel as if he had returned to a midnight nightmare, instinctively hiding under the covers.
“Xiao Xu,” his mother’s voice came through the thin bedding, her tone that should have brought warmth, but instead sent chills down Xiao Xu’s spine. “What did you dream about? Did you dream about Mom?”
Naturally, Xiao Xu didn’t dream about his mother. In his dreams, there were only bizarre and fantastical monsters. His mother’s words momentarily blurred the line between reality and dreams for him.
Xiao Xu was already a timid and submissive person. This kind of stimulation nearly etched his fear of his mother into his bones. As time went on, he didn’t even dare to look his mother in the eye, afraid that if he lifted his head, he wouldn’t see his mother’s face, but the appearance of a monster.
Lin Zhaohe, as an outsider, couldn’t comprehend Xiao Xu’s fear. Even if he woke up from a nightmare and saw his own mother by his side, shouldn’t that be a heartwarming scene? How could it be terrifying? However, as they spoke, the movements of the surrounding monsters seemed to calm down considerably. Lin Zhaohe looked puzzled and wondered if these monsters were also listening to Xiao Xu’s story.
This couldn’t go on. It was still at least three hours until dawn, and they couldn’t possibly spend the night in the hallway. After thinking it over, Lin Zhaohe gritted his teeth and reached out to grab Xiao Xu. “Let’s go back.”
Xiao Xu had a mournful expression on his face. “But…”
Lin Zhaohe interrupted, “No ‘buts’.”
Xiao Xu wanted to say something more, but Lin Zhaohe ignored him outright.
Dragging him back into the room forcefully, Lin Zhaohe took the flashlight and took a deep breath before opening the cabinet again. The woman who had just looked like Xiao Xu’s mother inside the cabinet was nowhere to be seen now, revealing an empty cabinet and the electrical box behind it.
Seeing this, Lin Zhaohe’s face brightened. He reached out to lift the door of the electrical box, intending to flip the switch.
Xiao Xu, this guy seemed to be enjoying the spectacle without thinking of the consequences. Standing beside him, he quietly muttered, “They won’t damage the electrical box, will they?”
Just as he finished speaking, Lin Zhaohe pressed the main power switch, resulting in a loud bang and a burst of dazzling sparks. The air was filled with a strong smell of burnt electronics. If Lin Zhaohe hadn’t reacted quickly, he might have been injured. Lin Zhaohe turned his head and looked at Xiao Xu in disbelief.
Perhaps his gaze was too intense, making Xiao Xu feel uneasy. He shrank his neck and whispered, “Brother Lin, don’t look at me. I was just speaking casually.”
Lin Zhaohe had a strange expression on his face.
Xiao Xu felt uncomfortable under Lin Zhaohe’s gaze and asked, “Brother Lin, why are you looking at me like that?”
Lin Zhaohe said, “You… never mind.” He slowly shifted his gaze to the flashlight in Xiao Xu’s hand. The whole room was pitch black, and the flashlight in Xiao Xu’s hand was the only lifeline. Lin Zhaohe’s gaze moved upward slowly, finally landing on Xiao Xu’s pale face.
“Xiao Xu,” Lin Zhaohe spoke softly.
“Brother Lin?” Xiao Xu looked at Lin Zhaohe’s sudden change in expression and inexplicably shrank back.
“Tell me, what does a person need to do to wake up from a nightmare?” Lin Zhaohe asked.
“What do they need to do?” Xiao Xu asked blankly. “Once they’re scared enough, they wake up, right?”
Lin Zhaohe pondered for a moment and said, “I think you have a point.” He reached out and grabbed Xiao Xu’s hand, swiftly snatching the flashlight from him before Xiao Xu could react.
Xiao Xu hadn’t realized what Lin Zhaohe was planning to do until he saw Lin Zhaohe’s finger pressing the switch on the flashlight. He screamed, “Brother Lin, what are you doing?”
Lin Zhaohe innocently said, “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything.” He paused for a moment and continued, “I just wanted to see if this would wake you up.” With that, he pressed the button, and the light on the flashlight went out.
The entire room plunged into darkness in an instant. Xiao Xu’s piercing screams echoed in Lin Zhaohe’s ears, gradually distorting into the roar of a wild beast.
With wide eyes, Lin Zhaohe expected to wake up, but to his surprise, the scene remained unchanged. He felt a bit confused, wondering if he had guessed wrong. He hurriedly turned on the flashlight again. As soon as he did, he was startled. Xiao Xu, who had been standing beside him, was gone. In his place was a mass of black, swirling mist, in which Xiao Xu’s anguished face was trapped.
Shocked and pale, Lin Zhaohe saw the situation and called out to Xiao Xu, reaching out to pull him out of the mist. However, to his dismay, his hand passed straight through the mist—there was no way for him to touch Xiao Xu.
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