Tonight, there was no annoying creaking sound, and the quiet environment made it easy for those who didn’t sleep well the night before to fall asleep.
“Ah—”
A piercing scream shattered the silence of the night, waking everyone instantly, and they rushed out of their rooms in a panic.
The fastest among them was Wu Yang. As an experienced player who had survived four games, he never allowed himself to sleep deeply in the game world.
Wu Yang held the flashlight provided by the game, its beam sweeping around, revealing the people emerging from their rooms—except for…
“It’s Wang Peiping!” the chubby guy shouted.
Wu Yang quickly headed to Wang Peiping’s room, kicking the door open.
Lin Dandan followed closely behind Wu Yang, also holding a flashlight. She instinctively glanced at the rooms of the two newcomers, seeing that both Gu Jiu and Lu Ji had come out of their rooms.
She felt a bit surprised—were these two really unscathed?
The doubt flashed through her mind as Lin Dandan swiftly followed Wu Yang to the entrance of Wang Peiping’s room. When she saw what was happening inside, her pupils contracted slightly.
“Help!” Wang Peiping clutched his neck, screaming in terror as he staggered towards the door.
A shadow, about half the height of a person, pounced on him.
Wu Yang, who had just kicked in the door, now held a blood talisman, which he slapped towards the shadow. As the shadow touched the talisman, it let out a shrill, inhuman scream and fled towards the window at an incredible speed.
As it clung to the window, its blood-red eyes, which not even the darkness of night could conceal, glared venomously at the people who had appeared, then vanished outside.
The chubby guy, who had arrived just in time to witness this, couldn’t help but gasp. “W-What was that?”
Lin Dandan swallowed hard, her voice trembling. “It looked like a doll.”
“A doll? Can a doll be that big?” The chubby guy asked incredulously, but considering this was a game world where anything was possible, a doll turning into a ghost wasn’t too far-fetched.
Wang Peiping collapsed at the doorway, panting heavily, unable to speak.
Wu Yang approached with a serious expression and said, “It was indeed a doll—a doll that had grown to half-human size.”
When he had entered earlier, the flashlight’s beam had illuminated the figure attacking Wang Peiping. It was clearly an enlarged version of a doll.
Speaking of the doll, they couldn’t help but think of the one Gu Jiu had brought back during the day. Everyone’s expressions turned grim as they instinctively looked towards Gu Jiu, who stood outside the doorway.
Before anyone could question her, Wang Peiping got up and lunged at her, his face twisted in anger. “It must be the ghost doll you brought back that attacked me! Why didn’t it attack you? Did you do something?”
According to the rules of the game, whoever triggered a death event was supposed to bear the consequences unless someone interfered.
Gu Jiu took a step back and calmly said, “It has nothing to do with me.”
“How can it not? None of us brought back a doll except for you.” Wang Peiping glared at Gu Jiu, convinced that everything he suffered tonight was because of the doll she brought back.
If Wu Yang hadn’t arrived in time, he might have been killed by that ghost doll.
The others also looked at Gu Jiu, their thoughts similar to Wang Peiping’s. It was too much of a coincidence—Gu Jiu brought back a doll, and then Wang Peiping was attacked by a ghost doll that night.
Gu Jiu responded, “My doll is right here; it wasn’t the one from earlier.”
As she spoke, she held out the doll she was carrying, pushing its face directly in front of them.
Everyone: “…”
Everyone present looked at her in disbelief. What was wrong with this woman, carrying that thing with her?
Gu Jiu explained, “When I heard your scream, Miss Lu and I were startled awake and ran out. The doll was still on the nightstand next to our bed and hadn’t disappeared, so I brought it with me. Miss Lu can testify to that.”
As she spoke, it seemed that Wu Yang and the others saw the doll’s small, delicate mouth curl into a smile, its eyes, eerily similar to a human’s, flickering with a chilling light as it stared directly at them.
A shiver ran up their spines from their ankles, and they couldn’t help but tremble.
Wang Peiping’s resentment vanished instantly, and he stammered, “P-Put it away, quickly.”
Gu Jiu still held the doll, her expression serious. “So, the attack you suffered tonight has nothing to do with my doll, right?”
Wang Peiping nodded hastily, unwilling to voice any objections in front of the doll, whether it was related or not.
Wu Yang glanced at Gu Jiu, who nonchalantly held the eerie doll in her hand. He felt that this newcomer had an unusually strong nerve. Perhaps she hadn’t yet witnessed the true horrors of the ghosts in the game, which was why she remained so calm and indifferent.
This time, the cursed village game seemed odd, with both newcomers behaving strangely.
There was no need to mention Gu Jiu, but even Lu Ji, who appeared frail and sickly, remained calm throughout the night’s events, completely unlike someone new to the game world.
“Dandan, help Mr. Wang treat his wounds,” Wu Yang instructed.
Lin Dandan, who was a nurse in real life, examined Wang Peiping’s wound and found the injury on his neck to be quite severe. There were three deep gashes, the skin torn open, as if clawed by a wild beast. If the attack had gone any deeper, his neck might have been snapped.
It was clear that the ghost doll had inflicted this wound.
Everyone felt a heavy sense of dread. Judging by the wound, the ghost doll that attacked Wang Peiping was incredibly dangerous.
Could the ghost doll be the main boss of the cursed village?
After treating Wang Peiping’s wound, Wu Yang dismissed the others.
Wang Peiping, looking dejected, said, “Brother Wu, can I stay in the same room as you guys? I’ll sleep on the floor.” After tonight’s events, he didn’t dare to stay alone.
Wu Yang looked at his neck wound and eventually agreed, helping him move his bedding from his room.
Lin Dandan had no objections. As long as she could stay with Wu Yang, that was enough. From what they had seen earlier, Wu Yang’s blood talisman was effective against ghosts, providing a strong sense of security.
Gu Jiu and Lu Ji also returned to their room to rest.
Gu Jiu placed the doll back on the nightstand and, using the flashlight, examined it. Suddenly, she noticed that for a brief moment, the doll’s previously smiling face had turned into a frown, with its eyes, nose, and mouth all drooping, looking unhappy.
When she looked again, the doll was back to its cheerful smile.
Lu Ji’s voice softly broke the silence, “Its expression just now…”
Gu Jiu looked at her in surprise. “You saw it?”
Lu Ji gave a faint nod, her pale and frail appearance as indifferent as ever, as if nothing interested her. Even in this dangerous game world, she showed no signs of anxiety.
She didn’t seem like a newcomer. Even Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping, who had been through several games, displayed more normal reactions than her. Lin Dandan and the others carried a constant sense of tension and urgency, their emotions fluctuating wildly, and even the smallest event could trigger a hysterical response—something completely absent in Lu Ji.
Gu Jiu suddenly remarked, “You really don’t seem like a newcomer.”
Lu Ji looked at her calmly. “Neither do you.”
Gu Jiu shook her head lightly and said, “You’re wrong. I’m actually quite scared, but it seems there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Seeing Lu Ji staring directly at her with those dark eyes, Gu Jiu smiled, a rare hint of relaxation in her expression. “I have congenital low vision, and it’s quite severe. Without glasses, I’m practically blind, so I’m used to the darkness. Darkness isn’t all that scary.”
Lu Ji merely responded with an indifferent “Oh” and didn’t offer any further comments.
The two weren’t close; they were only temporarily staying together because of the game. With nothing else to talk about, they soon lay down to rest again.
As for the strange behavior of the doll, neither of them seemed concerned.
Just as Gu Jiu was about to fall asleep, Lu Ji’s voice broke the silence. “Why were you so certain something would happen tonight? And how do you know the doll that attacked Wang Peiping wasn’t this one?”
Gu Jiu, half-asleep, curled up under the blanket and mumbled, “The child who gave me the doll told me… They want me to do something for them. The doll should be a guide or some kind of token, not a murderous spirit… The appearance of the doll is a key clue in the game, and something was bound to happen tonight…”
In truth, anyone could have been attacked tonight. Gu Jiu wasn’t certain who it would be and even considered that it might be herself.
During the day, she had deliberately asked the chubby guy about their experiences in the previous three games. Although he didn’t provide much detail, what he shared was still valuable.
The danger level of a D-level game field wasn’t high. At the start of the game, it was relatively safe; as long as players didn’t act recklessly, the spirits wouldn’t kill. The fact that Wang Peiping had managed to hold out until Wu Yang came to save him was proof of this.
Perhaps it was just luck that she had come into contact with those children and received the doll as a gift. Whether it was fortunate or not depended on how the game’s rules progressed.
In the quiet night, the sound of soft breathing could be heard. Lu Ji knew that the person on the other side of the bed had already fallen asleep.
She lay awake, staring into the vast darkness, listening to the sound of human breathing beside her, feeling a bit conflicted.
It was unfamiliar yet intriguing.
Suddenly, she turned her head towards the doll on the nightstand. The darkness didn’t hinder her vision, and nothing escaped her gaze. The red glow in the doll’s eyes flickered briefly, exuding a sense of eerie menace.
—
On the third day in the game world, Wu Yang and the others still didn’t look well.
Wang Peiping’s neck wound had only received basic treatment. The stinging pain left him in a foul mood, and his cold, hateful gaze often drifted toward Gu Jiu.
Although he had denied any connection between his attack and Gu Jiu last night, he was now convinced that it was the doll she brought back that caused it.
Wu Yang said, “It wasn’t the doll that Miss Gu brought back. In a low-level game field, ghost attacks usually involve a medium. Since the doll has never left Miss Gu’s sight, we can be certain it’s unrelated.”
The doll’s body served as the medium for the ghost. Since the doll had always remained with Gu Jiu, its involvement could be ruled out.
Wang Peiping hesitated, then stubbornly said, “What if the doll triggered the death rule and attracted the ghost?”
Lin Dandan agreed with him, and Wu Yang couldn’t refute it because it did seem too coincidental.
Due to the incident last night, Gu Jiu experienced rejection from others for the first time.
However, only Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping clearly showed their hostility. Wu Yang didn’t express any particular attitude, and the chubby and skinny brothers and Lu Ji’s behavior towards Gu Jiu remained unchanged.
At breakfast, Gu Jiu suddenly asked the village chief if there was a doctor in the village.
Everyone looked at her cautiously.
“Is someone sick?” The village chief asked, puzzled.
Gu Jiu pointed at Wang Peiping. “It’s Mr. Wang. He accidentally scratched himself last night and needs a doctor.”
The village chief replied, “There’s a barefoot doctor in the village, just at the east end, next to Granny Wang’s house. If anyone is injured, you can go see him.”
Gu Jiu thanked the village chief, while the others exchanged puzzled glances, not understanding her intention.
After leaving the village chief’s house, Wang Peiping asked irritably, “What are you trying to do?”
Gu Jiu blinked and said cheerfully, “You’re injured and need a doctor and medicine. Miss Lin only provided basic treatment last night and didn’t apply any medicine, right?” She paused and added, “Of course, if you don’t want to go, I won’t force you.”
Her words left Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping speechless.
However, Wu Yang seemed to think of something and said, “We could ask the barefoot doctor about the Lost Soul Syndrome.”