12.
That night, I slept really well.
Around midnight, someone seemed to knock on the door.
It was like an alarm clock. If no one opened the door, they’d knock three times every few minutes.
When I was next to Gu Mo Chi, I felt so safe that I forgot I was in a horror game.
I thought I was in the real world, and out of habit, I kicked the person beside me.
“This is so annoying. Who’s up knocking in the middle of the night? Go see who it is, honey.”
The person beside me shifted.
He shifted his position and wrapped his arms around me.
But I could still feel someone going to open the door.
After that, all was quiet outside. There were no more knocks.
I was quite pleased, so I forgave him for using way too many arms to hug me.
The next evening, I stepped outside feeling refreshed and found the courtyard in disarray.
The walls separating the east, west, north, and south courtyards had all collapsed.
There were fewer familiar faces in the courtyard and more strangers.
They seemed to be players from the other courtyards.
Bloodstains and severed limbs were left scattered on the ground.
One glance was enough to tell how fierce the battle had been last night.
Every player who’d survived was completely exhausted.
I looked so relaxed that I stood out.
Quite a few people looked over at me and whispered among themselves.
“Every courtyard was attacked last night. How come nothing happened to her?”
“Didn’t that locust tree attack her yesterday? How on earth did she sleep? My door nearly got smashed to pieces!”
“I think her name’s Khuong Tao. She’s been hanging around with Lu Yi the past few days—you know, Lu Yi, one of the top five on the rookie leaderboard.”
“Not getting attacked last night is basically cheating. Even the number-one rookie couldn’t pull that off.”
“Wait, Lu Yi is a real powerhouse?”
“This is her third delivery run. A lot of people are delivering the same item this time, so anyone on her team is lucky.”
I was looking for Lu Yi, too.
Even though I hadn’t known her long, it felt a little strange not to hear her nagging.
When I heard she was all right, I breathed a sigh of relief.
The locust tree in the middle of the courtyard seemed even more lush than before.
Its leaves had a faint red tint, as if some demon had just finished drinking human blood.
A gust of wind blew through, and I thought I heard it let out an eerie cheer.
The paper figure appeared again.
“Couriers, you’ve all done well lately. This is your final and most dangerous assignment, and the cargo is extremely valuable, so it requires a large escort. Please pack your things within the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Once time is up, you’ll set out immediately.”
The paper figure paused as it passed me.
I yawned. “Good evening?”
It was the first time I’d seen it look like it had seen a ghost.
Its face still had that cheerful meme on it, but I could tell its expression had changed.
It seemed scared.
It asked, “Why do you have the master’s aura on you?”
The master’s aura?
With a wicked grin, I pulled the black rabbit, fast asleep, out of my bag.
It wasn’t even fully dark yet.
Gu Mo Chi was exhausted during the day; he could only wake up late at night.
When I took the rabbit out, a gust of wind swept through the courtyard.
The paper figure trembled and was blown over.
Even the lush old locust tree trembled, sweeping all its sharp branches to the other side.
With the sleeping rabbit in my arms, I felt as if I wielded supreme power and had reached the pinnacle of glory.
So this was what it felt like to have the big boss of a horror game in your arms?
This was awesome!
13.
For this final assignment, the cargo was a coffin.
Including me, there were four couriers on this run.
One veteran player kept putting on airs and bragging the whole way.
“What’s the rookie leaderboard worth? It’s child’s play. Back when I was running instances with some old hand, you lot hadn’t even shown up yet.”
Some people were annoyed by his boasting, but they didn’t dare say anything. Last night’s danger had clearly scared them.
I followed behind the group without much interest, bringing up the rear.
There were all kinds of people in an instance. As long as they didn’t bother me, I couldn’t be bothered with them.
Even while fast asleep, the black rabbit nestled against my chest and refused to let go.
I poked its belly.
It was soft and squishy, nothing like the rock-hard six-pack he had when he was human.
“That’s not right.”
The person leading the group suddenly cried out.
Thinking we’d run into something, we hurriedly looked over.
He scratched his head. “The last few times we delivered cargo, the dried corpses crawled up as soon as the moon came out. Why hasn’t anything happened this time? I wonder if that counts as something unusual!”
“It might!”
Everyone immediately went on alert.
I was the only one who knew the monsters didn’t dare come near because they were afraid of the big boss sleeping in my arms.
Otherwise, how could I be so relaxed?
I was curious whether the big boss would go easy on them when he woke up.
We went a little farther and encountered only a few scattered monsters, which were easy to deal with.
The braggart laughed. “So much for an SS-rank instance!”
The others also breathed a sigh of relief.
The rabbit in my arms stirred.
It had woken up and was lazily stretching its legs in my arms.
The braggart noticed me holding the rabbit and seemed displeased.
“Female players are such a pain. You’re in a horror instance and still carrying a rabbit around. What if it’s a monster? The whole team has to deal with your mess?”
When I didn’t answer, he couldn’t hold back his anger and blocked my way.
“Are you deaf? Get rid of that rabbit. Don’t burden the whole team, or I’ll kick you out!”
As he was speaking, the coffin suddenly moved.
“What was that sound?”
“I think someone’s missing!”
“The coffin... It’s a man-eating coffin! I just saw it swallow the person next to me!”
“Monsters! There are too many monsters!”
Fog suddenly rose around us, and everyone panicked.
14.
That was a close one.
If I hadn’t held Gu Mo Chi back just now, given how fiercely protective he was, the players’ blood would probably have been splattered several feet into the air.
At least I managed to keep him under control.
What they had to face now was the level of difficulty an SS-rank instance was supposed to have.
Not certain death.
The illusionary fog was the most dangerous thing in this instance.
As long as we saw through the illusion, we’d successfully deliver the cargo.
Gu Mo Chi led me somewhere.
It was pitch-black all around us.
I hugged the big boss, who had changed back into human form. “Where are we?”
“Inside the coffin.”
Wait, what?
I’d never been inside a coffin before, so this was another novel experience.
Gu Mo Chi kissed me, and I pushed him away.
“I still have a mission. I have to deliver the package, or the recipient will file a complaint.”
He chuckled.
I bit him. “What are you laughing at?”
Gu Mo Chi said, “I’m the recipient.”
Huh?
“This coffin is my bed. Do you like it?”
I immediately felt at ease. “Why didn’t you say so sooner? What living person likes lying in a coffin? But if you’re the one inside it, then I like it.”
My answer earned me a delighted hug from the big boss.
He moved in close and tormented me.
“Stop fooling around.”
Panting, I tried to dodge his passionate kisses.
The big boss lowered his dark eyes, then buried his head in my neck with a wounded, put-upon look, sucking one hickey after another into my skin:
“If you won’t let me kiss you, I won’t let you through.”
“Then at least pull your tentacles back. I’m about to be wrapped up like a mummy.”
“You like it.”
All right, I really was getting more and more into being tightly wrapped in tentacles.
Gu Mo Chi had given me the most exquisite pleasure.
By the time I came to my senses, I was out of the instance.
But I wasn’t home.
Instead, I appeared in a bustling hall.
A familiar voice rang in my ears:
“Congratulations, player! You have successfully cleared the instance [The Yin Escort Agency]. The next instance, [Dollhouse], will begin in one week. Please be prepared…”