Chapter 1 The Nightmare Begins

Because the game's story timeline was much longer than usual, certain periods without player activity would "swoosh" by, like blinking and opening your eyes—dawn had arrived.

Lu Xiaoyao woke up from a dreamless sleep, utterly incredulous!

Wasn't she just crying and wailing, convinced she wouldn't be able to sleep all night?

How did she fall asleep so easily?

Bai Xiao, on the other hand, woke up and immediately threw back the covers, neurotically examining every inch of herself, as if confirming something.

"What's wrong with you? Staring at yourself the moment you wake up?"

Lu Xiaoyao was about to complain about the game's blink-and-you-miss-it time jumps when she turned and saw Bai Xiao anxiously touching and looking herself over, as if something terrible would happen overnight.

Thinking about it, Lu Xiaoyao's face stiffened, and she asked Bai Xiao, "Will something really happen if we fall asleep?"

Bai Xiao thought, Lu Xiaoyao's reaction isn't slow this time.

Bai Xiao nodded and told her, "When I bought the lunchboxes yesterday, there was a strange one with a very specific effect—it allows you to avoid death once during the night. If there's such a function, it means someone here is going to die tonight."

As she spoke, Bai Xiao lowered her voice, her face darkened slightly, and her bangs cast a shadow over her eyes, making her look quite eerie. As if on cue, a scream suddenly echoed from outside the house.

"Ah!"

The sound startled Lu Xiaoyao so much that she jumped straight out of bed.

Bai Xiao, having fully embraced her role, also quickly got up when she heard the noise, making sure to tuck the dagger into her belt and cover it with her vest.

In comparison, Lu Xiaoyao was slower to get dressed, and she didn't have any tools on her, appearing very casual, which naturally sparked controversy in the live stream:

[Speaking of which... our daughter is in military school, right?]

[Yeah, and the best military school in the entire empire...]

[How could we get a little one like her? Especially compared to the小姐姐 next to her... sigh~ they don't seem to be from the same school at all!]

[Don't say it, it stings a bit. I really suspect our little one got in through the back door!]

[Where's the back door? I want to try it too...]

[The person in front, don't always talk about the back door. Not all military schools are combat-related. Maybe our little one is in logistics or the medical corps?]

A group of viewers shifted their attention from the screams outside to Lu Xiaoyao's level, and even some of Lu Xiaoyao's "scandals" gradually started trending...

But the people in the game were unaware of this. When Ming媚 heard the maid's scream, the gossipy cooks around her also heard the commotion and, pushing and pulling each other, all left the kitchen and headed upstairs in the castle, not afraid of getting caught at all.

Ming媚 naturally joined them to watch.

They saw a player's corpse with its stomach cut open, hands tied to the rafters, a gruesome sight. The twisted face also indicated that the person had suffered inhuman treatment before death.

However, Gui Gui quickly censored the scene for Ming媚.

[You've made a work of art out of censoring a stick figure.]

Ming媚 looked at the stick figure, which should have been a straight line, but now, besides the head being drawn as a sphere, even the torso had become an oval.

Four words were written on the round little head: "Distorted face."

Eight words were written inside the oval torso: "Cut open, no intestines."

The censorship was indeed excellent.

[Of course~] Gui Gui was a little smug, feeling that her censorship was really good.

Ming媚 didn't have time to look at it much longer because the other players who had rushed over pushed her to the outer circle to join the fun.

Ming媚 learned that the deceased was the classmate who had chatted with Zhen Po yesterday and had been staying alone at night. Now that this had happened, no one knew exactly what had happened.

…

Until breakfast, the remaining six players all looked pale, except for Lu Xiaoyao.

Breakfast was as lavish as last night, and facing the enthusiastic cooks and the eager servants around them, everyone felt like something was wrong.

"Didn't someone just die?"

Lu Xiaoyao blinked. When they went, the scene had already been cleaned up by the butler, who had ordered the bolder servants to lower the body and cover it with a white cloth.

Even when the other players asked to stay and examine the body, they were not allowed. Bai Xiao was a little braver and glanced at it before the body was taken away, and her face changed drastically. Seeing her reaction, Lu Xiaoyao was glad she hadn't looked.

"Didn't someone die? Why aren't these people reacting at all? The butler just told people to send the body to the church and didn't say anything else. He still wants us to eat. What are we supposed to do now?"

"Since the butler wants us to have breakfast, let's have breakfast for now," Julian said gently, glancing at the others. Everyone had to nod. Not eating breakfast at this time was not a wise choice.

After all, people had already started dying in the game.

This might just be the beginning, and they would need energy next because more people might die.

Just as everyone was mentally calculating, Lu Xiaoyao suddenly got up and rushed to the food station, shouting excitedly at Ming媚, "I want to buy a lunchbox! I'm so hungry, I want to eat!"

This time, she was indeed very fast, not giving Ming媚 a chance to even open her mouth. However, unfortunately, her loud voice didn't bring her anything.

The system prompted Lu Xiaoyao that there were still three hours until her next purchase time.

And Ming媚 could see the exact same countdown on the player panel.

"Didn't a night pass?" Lu Xiaoyao was internally cursing, blurting out what she was thinking, "Why does the game's story time fast forward, but the purchase countdown doesn't?!"

Why?!

Watching Lu Xiaoyao's smooth transformation from excitement to confusion to a pain mask, Ming媚 couldn't help but laugh.

This time, Ming媚's smile wasn't twisted, but a genuine laugh, and the expression on her face actually became normal and lively.

When Gui Gui recorded this data in the background, she was so excited that her hands were shaking, and she immediately took a screenshot and sent Ming媚's smiling picture out!

However, the brighter Ming媚 smiled, the sadder Lu Xiaoyao became.

If it weren't for the wrong occasion, she probably would have knelt on the ground and cried.

[Pfft~ Seriously, I want to laugh too, and I swear I'm laughing louder than the merchant小姐姐.]

[Let me do it, I'll laugh first: Hahahahahahahahaha!]

[Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!]

[Gah! Gah! Gah! Gah! Gah! Gah! Gah! Gah!]

[Your laughter is too flamboyant, like me, hehehehehehehe...]

For a time, Lu Xiaoyao's live stream was filled with all kinds of cheerful onomatopoeia.