Infinite: Dawn Game

Yu Shijiu gently traced the chubby pink nose with her fingertips and smiled.

"Now Fatty can't find any kittens fighting in the game anymore."

Fatty meowed unhappily several times, its green eyes turning into tiny vertical pupils as it stared at the black cat in Yu Shijiu's chest pocket with a slightly threatening look.

The black cat seemed to sense something, and it quickly shrunk its head into Yu Shijiu's pocket.

Out of sight out of mind.

Fatty was satisfied.

It rubbed against Yu Shijiu's thigh with meows, then arrogantly quickened its pace to walk in front.

Chen Yi watched with amusement, "Fatty even knows how to compete for attention."

Yu Shijiu nodded with a smile, glanced at the corner where Mu Tangtang and her granddaughter had disappeared, and lowered his eyes slightly.

Is it just a coincidence?

Even during the day, all the lights at the Fuling Hotel are still on.

The incandescent light tubes above the corridor flickered and sizzled overhead, casting spiderweb-like shadows.

When the two people and the cat arrived at the restaurant, they saw Xu Han holding He Lingling's hand.

Chen Yi: "?"

Yu Shijiu: "Huh? What is Xu Han doing?"

"..." Chen Yi's brow twitched, his gaze falling on Xu Han's noticeably pale face—

pale?

Chen Yi's eyes froze as he realized what Xu Han was doing, and he quickly stepped forward.

Yu Shijiu was still a little confused, and followed Chen Yi slowly into the restaurant.

"Xiao Han?"

Chen Yi strode over to Xu Han and the other man, startling them.

Especially Xu Han.

He was busy treating He Lingling's eyes when he was so frightened that he let go of her hand and almost fell to the ground—but Chen Yi caught him in time.

"What happened to Lingling?"

Chen Yi, who was supporting Xu Han, frowned, turned his head to look at He Lingling—and then he met the gaze of a pair of colorless, pitch-black eyes.

"It's all right now."

He Lingling, who had regained sight in one eye, blinked. Her right eye, which could only see things, was noticeably more alert than her other eye.

She looked at Chen Yi with her healed right eye and briefly recounted what had happened in the elevator the previous night.

"How could it be so serious?"

Yu Shijiu, who followed, was shocked to hear this, "We weren't this serious in the elevator last night?"

The mind invasion did occur, but they also used special skills and items. Apart from that unfortunate male player, everyone else, even those with their heads pierced by those bizarre brain-like creatures, only experienced a fleeting sense of "immersion."

Only.

Why is He Lingling's condition so serious?

"It must be because my talent and skills are somewhat special."

He Lingling herself didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Prophecy-type talent skills are already quite overpowered. Although they can only roughly see a few minutes into the future or forcibly predict a person's future and past... the side effects are enough to give He Lingling a hard time.

"Ghost Eye told me that Xu Han and I might have died in the elevator last night."

He Lingling frowned, recalling the seductive words she had heard before she went blind and the intense stimulation from the brain-blowing eyeballs in the elevator.

"If I weren't blind, I might have seen even more."

"……forget it."

Xu Han, who was lying on the table, slumped down and muttered weakly:

"I used to think your talent was quite useful, but now it seems pretty useless. You went blind before anything even happened in the plot—no, you were hit by a backlash. How much physical and mental damage does that do to a person..."

He Lingling, unusually, did not immediately refute.

She remained silent for quite a while, so long that Xu Han felt a little guilty.

Yu Shijiu found a seat and started to daydream—no, he was listening intently to what He Lingling and the others were saying.

When Yu Shijiu heard Xu Han's sarcastic remark, she felt that something was not quite right.

The "Ghost Eye" talent skill is actually a very powerful one... How could it be that He Lingling, as the master, was already being backfired on before the story even started?

It'll probably take at least two days for the backlash to start...

Chen Yi, being experienced, considered a possibility, and his expression suddenly turned grim.

He Lingling had also thought of that.

The color drained from her face instantly, leaving it as white as a sheet of paper.

“…Brother Chen.”

He Lingling subconsciously whispered, "Do you think it's possible that the game's instance level has been upgraded, and the boss of the Fuling Hotel, after learning about the game's existence, has chosen to prioritize killing players like me who can foresee their own death?"

"..."

Xu Han opened his mouth in astonishment.

Chen Yi closed his eyes briefly. "Possibly."

He said in a low voice, "Moreover, Shi Jiu and I were chased in the corridor all night last night, which is enough for us to see the current mental state of the BOSS of Fuling Hotel."

Although the monsters no longer have any mental state, there is still a difference between a monster that can have a proper conversation and one that attacks indiscriminately.

At least the latter gives you a better chance to live.

Yu Shijiu also chimed in with great interest:

“That seems to be the most likely possibility right now, so,” he licked his dry lips:

Is it possible that the boss of the Fuling Hotel has a different appearance than ordinary monsters?

"Why do you say that?"

Chen Yi, He Lingling, and Xu Han all looked at Yu Shijiu at the same time.

"There's no reason why," Yu Shijiu shrugged and said, "I guessed."

Chen Yi and He Lingling: "..."

Xu Han opened his mouth blankly, "Guess?"

"OK."

Yu Shijiu rested his chin on his hand and yawned, "The only elevator we have for escaping is made into such a mess. You can tell the game's boss has weird taste, right?"

He chuckled as he spoke, casually remarking, "There are so many brains in the elevator, maybe the BOSS's form is also a brain?"

"..."

“…and this is…” Xu Han swallowed hard, imagining a giant brain that was as tall as a person, and shuddered.

"Is this... no, is it just brain damage?"

It's a bit disgusting.

"……never mind."

Chen Yi finally sighed, "Let's see what the situation is like at the hotel tonight. We'll try to stay on the first floor."

As he spoke, he seemed to recall something and asked, "Is there nothing else on the first floor besides that receptionist who chases after people?"

Just as He Lingling and Xu Han were about to nod, they suddenly remembered something else.

“No,” He Lingling said, “We met another person last night who said he was a reporter and came to the Fuling Hotel to investigate some things.”

"At first I thought he was there to investigate why so many people were jumping to their deaths at the Fuling Hotel, but then he started talking more and more..."

"They came to investigate human trafficking."

Yu Shijiu lazily picked up the conversation, "Brother Chen, you forgot to tell us about what happened in the illusion earlier."

"Illusion?"

He Lingling was taken aback. "What illusion?"

Chen Yi slapped his forehead, somewhat annoyed: "How could I suddenly forget? We were in the elevator..."