Infinite: Dawn Game

Yu Shijiu looked down in surprise and found that a red carpet had appeared in the corridor, stretching all the way to the corners that were out of sight.

But before midnight, there was no carpet on the corridor floor at all.

Yu Shijiu: "..."

He turned and met the gaze of the chubby man on the bed, who was lazily raising his upper body and curling up his buttocks. He tentatively stretched out his foot and stepped on the carpet in front of him.

A strange, sticky, and damp sensation spread through Yu Shijiu's feet, causing her to quickly withdraw her foot, her smiling face turning somewhat unpleasant.

This is not a carpet—it is thick, sticky human blood glue that has solidified into a gel-like substance.

It was just a really disgusting feeling.

Feifei jumped off the bed, yawning in confusion as she slowly approached Yu Shijiu. Before I could even peek out, Yu Shijiu raised her leg to block me.

"Don't go out yet."

Yu Shijiu took a deep breath and used his free hand to close the door behind him.

"We'll go out after Brother Chen and the others come to find us."

Fatty, who knew nothing: "???"

What's going on outside, meow?

Yu Shijiu slowly walked to the bedside and sat down, holding her little cake. She looked down at the strawberry cake in her hand, carefully sniffed it, and after confirming that she didn't smell anything strange, she took a bite.

"Well!"

The sound Yu Shijiu made startled Feifei, who ran towards him in terror.

"This is so delicious!!"

Yu Shijiu exclaimed in surprise, "How can a cake be so delicious? It's so delicious that it's comparable to the cake in my dream—"

Yu Shijiu's voice abruptly stopped.

He thought of that dream.

That person had a dream that seemed to be about Lu Chusheng.

"Meow?"

Feifei moved closer to Yu Shijiu, and its fluffy cat head lifted up and rubbed against his knee.

Yu Shijiu snapped out of her daze, reached out and stroked the chubby cat's head, while slowly eating the strawberry cake in her hand.

----------

Off-screen, Lu Chusheng watched Yu Shijiu eating cake with her head down, and his heart sank unconsciously for a few seconds.

It seemed that he had seen a similar scene before.

It wasn't seen in the game, nor in town, but... a long time ago—

“This cake,” the doctor’s voice came slowly from beside me, “if it were me, I would choose not to eat it.”

Lu Chusheng closed his eyes briefly and looked up. "The cake ingredients should be normal."

“I know,” the doctor leaned back on the sofa, took a sip of tea, and said, “Maybe it’s because I’m a doctor that I tend to think about things more, like…”

The doctor blew on the tea leaves floating on the water. "If the mastermind behind this game instance is particularly evil, it might add some kind of 'ingredient' to these cakes."

“…Shi Jiu could think of it,” Lu Chusheng said, lowering his eyes, “but he didn’t care.”

As long as the ingredients for making the cake aren't disgusting meat or anything like that, Yu Shijiu won't let go of any edible thing.

"Well, there's nothing we can do then," the doctor sighed. "I don't know how he lived before, he could eat anything..."

The doctor's words gradually faded from Lu Chusheng's ears. He thought of the boy in his dream who was locked in a sanatorium, and felt an inexplicable unease.

Because Yu Shijiu had never eaten these things before...

Lu Chusheng wanted to say these words, but in the end he swallowed them all back.

It's ok.

Lu Chusheng quietly watched Yu Shijiu, who had finished the entire cake, his gaze slowly tracing over the cake stains on her face, nose, eyes, and mouth before finally closing his eyes.

...Once he recalls all his memories, all his questions will be answered.

--------

third floor.

After confirming that the hotel staff who delivered the cake outside had left, Chen Yi turned around and glanced at the little white cat sleeping soundly on the bed.

The little white cat lay on the pillow, its fur soft and yellowish under the warm light of the bedside lamp. With its little body rising and falling from time to time, it was clear that it had fallen into a deep sleep.

Once he was sure the white cat wouldn't wake up, Chen Yi quietly pushed open the door and went outside.

As the door closed slightly, the little white cat, who should have been fast asleep on the pillow, shuddered, its fur standing on end, and its heterochromatic eyes slowly opened.

A few seconds later, after confirming that no one was in the room, the little white cat arched its back and let out a sharp, mournful cry, similar to that of a baby crying, that echoed throughout the room.

As the kitten's cries grew louder, crimson, writhing, twisting red lines, resembling living creatures, began to slowly spread from the shadows around the room.

The red lines slowly moved toward the crying white kitten, gradually enveloping its entire body...

Chen Yi, who was already searching for He Lingling and Xu Han by stepping on the congealed blood glue in the corridor, didn't hear a thing about what was happening here.

Anjie, who was simultaneously watching four screens outside the main screen, was speechless.

She watched the live stream about two minutes after Chen Yi left, her gaze lingering for a while on the little white cat wrapped in red lines.

Pets seem unable to comprehend the idea of ​​being separated from their owners.

This is the answer Anjie received when she watched other players' live streams.

So, what happens if a "pet" is separated from its "owner" for a very long time?

Thinking of this, Anjie closed her eyes and calmed her breathing.

...Hopefully Chen Yi and his team will discover this soon.

--------

Third floor corridor.

Chen Yi frowned as he looked at the congealed blood glue on the ground and quickly walked towards He Lingling's room, which was the closest to him.

dong dong——

He had only knocked twice when the tightly closed door in front of him was suddenly flung open.

"Shh..."

He Lingling's somewhat flustered face appeared before him. "It's asleep, don't wake her."

He Lingling quickly glanced back at her "pet," quietly slipped out of the room, and subtly closed the door.

"Brother Chen, is your pet asleep too?"

He Lingling breathed a sigh of relief and, enduring the sticky feeling under her feet, approached Chen Yi.

“It’s asleep,” Chen Yi nodded. “It’s quite well-behaved. When I close my eyes to rest, it falls asleep on the edge of the pillow.”

"Great."

He Lingling said, "It seems they are all very obedient, and things should be going smoothly for Xu Han as well."

Chen Yi nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, in Xu Han's room, which was about three or four rooms away from them.

Xu Han was on the verge of a breakdown as he looked at the Samoyed that still refused to sleep and was jumping around everywhere.

He scratched his already messy, frizzy hair and stood by the bed, looking utterly hopeless, banging the bed with his pillow.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! Sleep, sleep, sleep!!! Why aren't you sleeping?! Aren't you sleepy?!?!"