Infinite: Dawn Game

"Cold?"

Yu Shijiu asked in confusion, "I'm fine."

He told the truth.

Xu Han, however, had already started trembling. He rubbed his hands together, feeling inexplicably irritated.

"Really? Aren't you cold?"

Yu Shijiu finally realized something. He stepped closer to Xu Han and, using the dim light overhead, finally saw Xu Han's current state.

Xu Han's current situation... to be honest, doesn't look good.

Behind him were dirty, dark, makeshift walls. Xu Han shivered and curled up, his face pale, and some white crystals resembling frost slowly appeared on his eyelashes.

"what happened to you?"

Yu Shijiu frowned and grabbed Xu Han's arm.

"hiss!"

A bone-chilling coldness came from her hands, so cold that Yu Shijiu almost dropped them.

Why are you so cold?

"No, I don't know..."

Xu Han was truly cold; his eyelids were trembling from the cold. He looked up at Yu Shijiu opposite him and was surprised to find that the other person showed no signs of trembling at all.

How can it be?

Xu Han was dumbfounded.

Because he is really cold now. If at first he only felt cold in his arms, neck and legs... now he feels that his internal organs are starting to feel cold.

Yu Shijiu's smile slowly faded. He stared at Xu Han, whose face had turned noticeably blue from the cold, for a few moments before turning back to look at the still bustling cafeteria entrance not far away.

Most players have already received their share of mutton soup. A few people whispered that the soup was too fishy, ​​but most of them chose to take a sip or two, since they still faced the restriction of not being able to eat the food they brought with them in this game instance.

Some players who couldn't stand the gamey smell of mutton soup were stomping their feet while holding their bowls...

Yu Shijiu's heart skipped a beat. He turned around, grabbed Xu Han who was already unconscious from the cold, and forced the mutton soup he hadn't had time to drink into Xu Han's mouth—

"!"

Yu Shijiu looked at Xu Han's frozen mouth with some annoyance, and patiently tore open his two stiff lips little by little.

It really is... the kind that's just torn apart.

When the smell of blood suddenly filled the corridor, Xu Han, whose lips had been ripped open, was already in so much pain that he wanted to cry.

But he couldn't move, and could only wail silently. The sobs, which sounded like pain and fear, slowly reached Yu Shijiu's ears as his lips were torn open.

Yu Shijiu was not bothered at all. Seeing that it was effective, he lost his patience and ignored the blood flowing onto his hands. He forced the mutton soup in the bowl down his lips through the gap he had just torn.

Xu Han let out a low howl, and now he couldn't smell the mutton soup anymore. He was so scalded that his eyes rolled back, and with his frozen limbs and pale face, he looked like a dead fish from a distance.

This is what He Lingling and her two companions saw when they came over with the mutton soup.

Yu Shijiu forcefully tore open Xu Han's mouth and poured soup into it, causing the latter to bleed profusely. Bright red blood dripped down Yu Shijiu's hands and arms, resembling a murder scene.

He Lingling and Shi Yuan: "..."

"!!!"

This is Sun Qin, who was so frightened that she shrank behind the two of them.

"OMG……"

Sun Qin turned pale with fright. "How come players are already killing each other right at the beginning? Isn't this too hasty...?"

At least wait until they've progressed more than halfway through the plot before they start their infighting...

Are there really any players this crazy?

"what happened?"

Sun Qin watched helplessly as He Lingling recklessly stepped forward and patted the murderous man on the back. Terrified, her scalp tingled, and she instinctively wanted to call out to He Lingling—

Shi Yuan stopped him.

"They know each other."

Shi Yuan still had that indifferent expression. She looked at the boy not far away who looked impatient but eventually lowered his head to talk to He Lingling. The image of the boy talking to her briefly in front of the elevator at the Fuling Hotel flashed before her eyes.

If only she had been a little smarter back then, if only she had paid a little more attention... perhaps Wang Xiaoling wouldn't have died...

This regret and guilt tormented Shi Yuan day and night from the moment Wang Xiaoling died. After passing through the Fuling Hotel, she woke up from nightmares countless times, drenched in sweat, only to find herself alone, staring blankly at the small room that should have belonged to the two of them.

But there are no ifs in the world.

Shi Yuan's eyes twitched nervously, and she suddenly reached out and slapped herself hard across the face.

There was a "pop" sound.

The crisp sound of the slap drew the attention of all the players in the corridor.

They first looked at Shi Yuan, whose face was marked with red marks, with a strange expression, and then looked warily at Yu Shijiu, whose arm was being held by He Lingling.

Some of the smarter players' expressions changed drastically when they noticed Xu Han's miserable state and the soup bowl in Yu Shijiu's hand.

Many players disliked the mutton soup because it was too gamey, but when they saw Xu Han, those players who were already feeling cold instantly stopped complaining.

...If you want to live, stop thinking about other things. Only when you're alive do you have the right to complain!

Sun Qin stood awkwardly beside Shi Yuan. She cautiously pointed to Shi Yuan's cheek and whispered:

"what happened to you?"

Shi Yuan didn't turn around, but gave a soft "hmm," and said, "There are mosquitoes."

Sun Qin: "..."

She opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

"Xu Han didn't drink the soup."

Yu Shijiu was explaining, "I drank the soup, so I didn't feel cold, but Xu Han didn't drink it. I suspect it's because of the soup."

"..." He Lingling looked at Xu Han, who was gradually regaining consciousness, closed her eyes, and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

"fine."

He Lingling forced a smile, watching Yu Shijiu reach out to support Xu Han, whose legs and body were weak, and said with a forced smile:

"It's just that he got a sore mouth once; consider it a lesson learned."

While it's common sense not to eat random things in game instances... the fact that Xu Han didn't immediately realize something was wrong shows that his awareness of danger is still too low.

Xu Han felt truly wronged. He endured the pain, spat out a mouthful of blood, and straightened up by leaning against the wall.

"...No, this time, this time it really wasn't my fault..."

The time from feeling cold to being unable to move his whole body was probably no more than twenty seconds. The time was far too short, and Xu Han truly felt wronged.

It's common knowledge that it gets cold in game instances, so how could he possibly link "cold" and "death" together?

Who would have thought?!

"Ah."

Yu Shijiu nodded in agreement, then frowned and said, "This time it's really not his fault for reacting too late; it's because the onset time was too short, and most people simply couldn't react in time."

Of course, this "most people" does not include Yu Shijiu himself.

He Lingling took a deep breath; her expression still wasn't good.

Xu Han was able to move on his own by now. He shakily took the remaining half bowl of mutton soup from Yu Shijiu's hand and poured it into his mouth despite the pain of his torn lips.

"I really, really didn't expect it to be this serious..."

Xu Han endured the pain and drank the rest of the mutton soup in one go, howling softly from the pain.

"Think about it more next time."

He Lingling rubbed her aching temples and said something that sent chills down Xu Han's spine.

"Otherwise, we might not even know if you die somewhere by yourself one day."

Xu Han: "..."

Xu Han was so frightened that even the pain in her lips subsided considerably.

"Will you drink the mutton soup by yourself next time?"

Yu Shijiu looked at him with a smile, blinked, and said, "Or do you still want to give it to me?"

"..." Xu Han pouted and gave a wry smile: "Please, please stop making fun of me...please, please..."

Yu Shijiu was surprised:

"How could that be? What is sarcasm?"

Xu Han: "..."

Xu Han felt a bit of pain—no, he was already in pain…

Let's find somewhere to talk.

He Lingling picked up the empty soup bowl in her hand and sighed, "This place isn't quite right."

"..."

Yu Shijiu thought of the corner where they slept, hesitated for a few seconds, and then said:

Where shall we go to talk?

"..." He Lingling was unaware of the places they had seen and asked with some confusion, "The place we stayed wasn't allowed?"

“…I don’t think so.”

Xu Han finally regained his senses and, enduring the pain, moved closer to He Lingling:

"Oh, in our area... how should I put it?"

Xu Han recalled the accommodation, which was even larger than a dormitory-style dormitory, and remained silent for a long time, which was unusual for him.

"Anyway, if we're going to talk in the cabin, we might as well talk on the deck."

"...Then let's go to the deck."

He Lingling, unaware of the situation, keenly sensed something. "Let's go. While there's not much plot going on, I'll tell you about the second-floor cabins..."

She paused halfway through her sentence, then turned to look at Shi Yuan's Sun Qin, "Do you want to come along?"

Sun Qin was overjoyed: "Is it possible?"

He Lingling nodded.

She glanced at Shi Yuan: "Are you coming?"

Shi Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly, "It would be impolite to refuse."

"..."

Yu Shijiu asked curiously, "What does 'refusing is impolite' mean?"

"..."

Xu Han: "How about we stop asking for now?"