Infinite: Dawn Game

After a long while, Yu Shijiu's voice came, "Hmm."

The boy's voice seemed to be imbued with a faint, moist quality in the darkness.

"I am listening."

Xu Han scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly:

"Oh, really. Was I being too long-winded? Oh well, I really am. I do talk too much nonsense sometimes. I'll change that, I'll be more careful in the future. Yeah, catching vomit with bare hands does sound a bit strange—"

"My mom does it too."

Yu Shijiu suddenly spoke up.

He looked at Xu Han and said, word by word, "I remember very clearly that when I was very young, when my mother was sober, she would feed me. If I accidentally vomited, she would reach out to catch it."

"I believe you."

Yu Shijiu said very seriously, "I don't think catching vomit with bare hands is disgusting."

"..."

Xu Han stared at him blankly for a long time, and finally let out a soft "Damn it".

Xu Han lowered his head and wiped his face, muttering, "This sudden sentimental remark makes me miss my mom even more."

"I want, too."

Yu Shijiu nodded in deep agreement, and sighed at the same time: "You can still see your mother after you go out... but I, I won't be able to see her."

He was unusually downcast, and Xu Han was momentarily at a loss.

"Ah, well..." Xu Han's eyes were still red, and he quickly wiped his face and said:

"Shi Jiu, you can come to my house. If possible, my mom would probably be happy to have another son. Not to mention, Shi Jiu, you're so good-looking, she'd be ecstatic to see you. Oh right, I think I mentioned my mom is a sucker for good looks, haha..."

"My mom probably wouldn't want me to call other people 'Mom'..." Yu Shijiu licked her lower lip and whispered:

"I only have one mother."

"Why not just be the godmother?"

Xu Han said she didn't care at all: "Godmother and mother are different, the meanings are completely different."

"May I?"

Yu Shijiu asked.

"Of course, like I said, my mom would be overjoyed to know that her godson looks like this."

"Is it that exaggerated?"

"Of course..."

"..."

The two chatted in hushed tones all the way back to the dormitory. Their casual, unproductive conversation made the players hiding in the shadows twitch at the corners of their mouths.

What the hell are they thinking? Are Yu Shijiu and Xu Han really mentally unstable? Otherwise, how can they be facing life-or-death situations one second and then suddenly start having a heart-to-heart talk the next?!

And what was the thought process behind separating one's own mother from her?!

Everyone found it outrageous, and some people couldn't help but look at Yu Shijiu and Xu Han—only to be stared back at by a pair of vertical pupils that glowed in the darkness.

"Feifei"—that is, Lu Chusheng—turned his head to look at the players hiding in various corners of the darkness, his pupils shining brightly, causing the players to lower their heads and dare not look up again.

Only after Yu Shijiu, the two people, and the cat had completely disappeared did they stand up unsteadily, taking a deep breath.

Many people's legs went numb after squatting for too long.

"...That orange cat's eyes were terrifying."

"How can it not be scary?" A player who knew the inside story rolled his eyes and said, "That used to be Lu Chusheng's cat. It was very powerful. It could bite monsters like it was crunchy bone. Ordinary NPC monsters could be swallowed whole in its mouth without any problem!"

"..."

After a brief silence, someone couldn't help but speak:

"Lu Chusheng actually gave away such a powerful battle pet?"

"Yeah, I can't believe it! Wasn't it said that Lu Chusheng gave the pet to recruit Yu Shijiu? It's been so long, and I still haven't seen Yu Shijiu join the surveillance team?"

"who knows?"

Someone sneered, "Who knows what these big shots are thinking? If you ask me, Lu Chusheng is probably out of his mind. He just casually gave away a pet that could save his life in a critical moment. He's incredibly stupid—"

"Shh!"

His companion covered his mouth in terror and growled in a low voice:

"Are you fucking out of your mind?! This isn't something you can just talk about randomly! This is a live stream! Don't you even know what a live stream means?!"

The male player who had been talking nonsense turned pale and realized that he was streaming. Although he wasn't very popular, if any of the viewers were members of the monitoring team... he would probably be remembered.

Although people in town say that the players in the surveillance team won't kill innocent people indiscriminately, who knows?

The male player's face turned deathly pale. He pursed his lips, unable to maintain his composure any longer, and muttered:

"I was just saying it casually, why is that being taken so seriously? Are all the players in the monitoring team this petty?"

His companion gave him a speechless look, then spat at him in exasperation:

"I'm fed up with you. You'll be ruined by your mouth one day!"

"Hey! There's no need to curse me like that!"

The male player was a little annoyed and whispered, "It's just some gossip, why are you being so sensitive about it?"

"..."

This time, his companion was truly speechless, and in anger, he stood up straight and left.

Upon seeing this, the male player slapped his mouth and quickly chased after them.

"Okay, okay, it's my fault, I was being mean. I won't be mean next time, okay?"

"..."

The two quickly disappeared into the darkness, and the sounds of their footsteps and conversation vanished without a trace.

The remaining players looked at each other, then gave polite smiles and went their separate ways back to where they came from.

When the area with slightly brighter light fell into dead silence, several hands covered with eerie white fur and bluish-black lividity suddenly emerged from behind the sheep carcass that was hanging upside down with its eyes gouged out.

Those hands, of varying thickness and textures, gripped the upside-down sheep carcass tightly, ripping the ropes and dragging the carcass into the endless darkness.

The only slightly bright light shone on the sheep carcass, which was being held by countless people. It was deathly pale, like a twisted corpse silently watching.

At the same time, Yu Shijiu, who had been pulled down to lie down by Xu Han, suddenly opened his eyes. He looked thoughtfully at the dim "corridor" he had just walked through and frowned.

"what happened?"

Xu Han, who had fallen asleep in an instant, groggily opened her eyes, her vision blurry with tears, and looked at Yu Shijiu, who had sat up, and whispered:

"Is there something else going on?"

"……No."

Yu Shijiu shook his head, lay down again, and whispered, "It's nothing, maybe I misheard."

"Go to sleep."

"……Oh."

Xu Han yawned groggily, turned over, and drifted off to sleep.

In the darkness, Yu Shijiu stared at the low ceiling of the cabin, which was faintly visible in the darkness, her mind a jumble of thoughts—

"Meow."

The soft meows of a fat cat pulled Yu Shijiu out of her endless thoughts.

The boy, lost in thought, lowered his head in the darkness and met the fat boy's eyes.