Translator: Moonlit
Editor: Aiya-ge
Autumn winds rustled, and the desolate streets were devoid of any signs of life. The flat, emotionless voice of a mechanical device recited the rules of the game in the empty streets, creating an eerie atmosphere.
“Wu wu wu,” Xi Nan clung to Li ZouXing’s arm, suppressing his tears for the sake of his dignity, only whimpering continuously. “This is really like a ghost story!”
So you were still harboring hope before this?
Looking at his pitiful state, Xi Nan’s teammates refrained from teasing him. Even Gu WenCheng didn’t mind him holding onto Li ZouXing’s arm.
In all likelihood, in the whole world, the only people who could get close to Li ZouXing without incurring his jealousy were his teammates.
They were standing on a desolate and cluttered street, with discarded debris strewn along the walls. Occasionally, gusts of wind would pick up the trash, causing it to dance in the air along with grains of sand.
The sky was dim, and no matter where you looked, it seemed as if a layer of yellow mist had shrouded everything.
The six members of the Dream Team were currently standing at the beginning of the road.
Except for Xi Nan, everyone else remained calm, having memorized the rules of the game and now simultaneously looking at Li ZouXing, waiting for his decision.
Just then, a scrap of paper was swept up by the wind and flew towards them. Li ZouXing quickly grabbed the piece of paper and read the words aloud, “New Light Elementary School will officially open for enrollment tomorrow afternoon. Parents are requested to bring their children for registration.”
“Isn’t registration done online at StarNet?” Xi Nan questioned, “Is there a bug in this?”
“Following the rules of the game,” Li ZouXing tapped his head, which always seemed easy to knock, “some less advanced planets still have schools that haven’t adopted civilized communication methods.”
That makes sense, Xi Nan asked, “So what do we need to do?”
The rules of the competition did not specify their tasks and objectives, so they estimated they had to successfully get through these two days and nights.
Gu WenCheng gazed at the thick yellow fog all around them. As the fog at the end of the road, about a hundred meters away from them, grew denser, his sharp eyes noticed that the abandoned metal on both sides of the road, buried within the fog, was slowly corroding, turning into an ominous black color. “The fog is toxic.”
The teammates’ faces changed, “Damn!”
The fog at the end was rushing toward them, and the entire road had only one residential gate in the middle. The group made a quick decision and ran toward the gate. When they reached it, they found that the gate was securely locked.
Li ZouXing, well-versed in horror movie clichés, immediately knocked on the door. A series of heavy sounds resonated, and he politely asked, “Is there anyone inside?”
The teammates anxiously waited as the fog approached closer, almost reaching the middle section of the road.
There was no response from inside. Li ZouXing didn’t give up and knocked on the door again.
With the fog closing in, Xi Nan stuck to the closest person, causing Si Wo Lin to stumble. Si Wo Lin, who was much taller, shielded Xi Nan behind him and reminded, “We have less than ten meters left.”
Finally, a frail female voice came from behind the door, “Who is it?”
Li ZouXing replied, “We’re travelers passing by. It’s getting dark, could you let us in to rest for the night?”
“Sure,” the elderly voice responded, “but you’ll have to do something for me. Tomorrow, New Light Elementary School is opening, and you need to take my two granddaughters to register and safely escort them to school.”
The more the old woman spoke, the heavier the ominous undertone in her words became. Ji Yu swallowed nervously and discreetly moved closer to Gu WenCheng.
“Alright,” Li ZouXing didn’t hesitate, “we agree.”
The door opened in response, and the fog was right at their doorstep. The Dream Team hurriedly entered the house and closed the door behind them.
The fog passed by the door without infiltrating the interior.
They breathed a sigh of relief but were startled when they turned around and saw an enlarged face.
The wrinkled, pale face moved slowly before them. The old woman’s eyeballs were white, and at a quick glance, it seemed like she had no pupils. She wrinkled her nose, sniffing the scent coming from them.
The sudden scare caused the hearts of the Dream Team to race, and they pressed themselves against the door, too scared to move.
“When you get old, your vision gets blurry,” the old woman sighed and sniffed again, “the scent of youngsters.”
As she spoke, a strange odor emanated from her, growing increasingly pungent. Several of them held their breath, immediately identifying it as the smell of decaying internal organs.
The old woman hunched her back and took small, slow steps, leading them toward a room door. “Are there six of you?”
“Yes,” Li ZouXing replied.
The old woman paused, half of her face obscured in the shadows, her cloudy eyes fixed on them. “Among you, is there a girl?”
The group of people stood frozen in place, sweat forming on their foreheads.
Li ZouXing couldn’t help but feel that this was a life-or-death question. To be honest, in horror movies, when someone claims to be blind, they are often pretending to be blind. They were probably better off telling the truth.
However, in this interstellar era, the organizers’ settings and the traditional tropes of horror films were likely to be different. What if she was genuinely blind? What if she actually wanted a girl for some reason…
He looked directly at Gu WenCheng, trusting in the protagonist’s aura. “WenCheng, you answer. Any answer will do.”
Gu WenCheng pondered for a moment. “There is no girl among us.”
The old woman continued to stare at them for a while before heaving a long sigh and turning her head away. “What a pity.”
The interior of the house was dark, blocking out the already dim light outside.
The six of them remained on high alert, and with a sudden “click,” the old woman turned on the lights in the room.
“You will stay here tonight,” the old woman pointed to two empty rooms, “Go ahead. Tomorrow morning at six, make sure to take my granddaughters for registration.”
“What about your granddaughters?” Si Wo Lin asked.
The old woman gave a cryptic smile. “Don’t worry, youngsters.”
“Children go to bed early. If you want, they might wake up in the middle of the night and come to play with you.”
“…,” Xi Nan stifled his voice, tears streaming down his face as he buried his face in Ji Yu’s shoulder, pretending that nobody could see him.
Ji Yu, who was also taken aback by the old woman’s tone, managed to maintain a calm demeanor and patted Xi Nan’s head.
Ling Nian kept a stern face. Li ZouXing and Gu WenCheng were up front, while Ji Yu and Xi Nan squeezed together on the side. He couldn’t shake the feeling of an eerie presence around him.
He addressed Si Wo Lin with a cold expression, “Come over here.”
Si Wo Lin obediently moved over, relieved to have someone standing beside him, at least feeling a bit safer.
Li ZouXing and Gu WenCheng, the brave ones, were at the forefront. They could see the old woman’s cryptic smile clearly and exchanged a glance before leading their teammates to the empty room.
Their goal was unanimous – all six of them squeezed into one room.
As they closed the door, the old woman remained motionless, her pale eyes fixed on them.
Ling Nian’s scalp tingled as he shut the door.
The room was extremely simple, with only two beds and a wardrobe. Li ZouXing checked the wardrobe and under the beds to ensure there was nothing hidden. “Good, nothing here.”
“Damn setting,” Gu WenCheng sighed, “it specifies that we can’t use mental abilities.”
“This room has no windows,” Si Wo Lin surveyed the room. “Wait, did you choose this bedroom, ZouXing?”
“It was a choice between two, and I let WenCheng choose,” Li ZouXing shrugged. “In this regard, I trust WenCheng’s luck more.”
Gu WenCheng smirked, secretly pleased with himself.
“I always feel…” Ji Yu began speaking but then stopped halfway and closed his mouth. “Nevermind. Forget it.”
“In horror movies, nights are hard to endure,” Li ZouXing sat on the bed, ignoring Ji Yu’s incomplete sentence. “Let’s tough it out tonight.”
The six of them pushed the beds together and sat on them, chatting while paying attention to the sounds outside.
The room had no windows, so they couldn’t gauge the time based on the changing daylight; they had to estimate roughly.
To relieve tension and satisfy their curiosity, Ji Yu asked Li ZouXing and Gu WenCheng, “When did you two get together?”
“…”
“Ahem,” Gu WenCheng answered the question, “If you’re talking about the specific, it was on Ye An’s spaceship.”
Their teammates’ eyes gleamed with curiosity. “Who liked who first? Who pursued who first?”
Gu WenCheng pursed his lips. “Me.”
“Both of us,” Li ZouXing smiled, keeping silent about the fact that it was practically a forced romance.
For a moment, a shadow passed through Gu WenCheng’s eyes, but it disappeared immediately.
No worries, Li ZouXing has already said he really likes him, and he wouldn’t lie.
“How did you pursue him?” They were really curious about the dynamics of a romantic pursuit between two guys!
Gu WenCheng raised an eyebrow, turned to lift Li ZouXing’s chin, and slowly pushed him down onto the bed, tempting him, “Shall we show them, okay?”
Li ZouXing, in good spirits, displayed a bashful expression. “There are too many people around.”
“Not too many, just a few of them,” Gu WenCheng was playfully driven wild by Li ZouXing’s demeanor, really enjoying the way Li ZouXing was acting. “Xing Xing, let me give you a kiss. A kiss without any emotional involvement is just a display of brotherly help. Don’t you want to know what a kiss tastes like?”
He slowly lowered his head, his hands pressing down on Li ZouXing’s hands, and his lips gradually drew closer.
Li ZouXing softly retorted, like a virtuous young man who couldn’t resist temptation. “Okay, just one kiss.”
The two handsome guys had their profiles almost touching, and their teammates stared intently.
Here it comes again, that heart-pounding feeling.
Si Wo Lin instinctively covered his eyes and blushed, peeking at their kiss through the gaps between his fingers.
It’s strange how watching others kiss can still make oneself blush.
Several big guys glanced over, then quickly averted their gazes, only to be unable to resist looking again the next moment.
They had seen images of other couples kissing before, so why did this time feel so embarrassing?
Could it be because they are watching it live?
They are too embarrassed to continue watching as they feel the entire horror space has turned into pink bubbles. However, Gu WenCheng and Li ZouXing stopped after their noses almost touched.
Their lips were just a few millimeters apart, making everyone watching wish they could push their heads together.
Stuck in that limbo was truly torturous. Someone couldn’t help but say, “Hurry up and kiss!”
Yes, hurry up and kiss!
“We won’t kiss anymore,” Li ZouXing and Gu WenCheng locked eyes, their gazes filled with ignited hormones. “If we actually go through with it, you’ll have to clear the room for us.”
After they officially confirmed their relationship, every kiss could lead to a passionate encounter.
Si Wo Lin immediately said, “I can clear the room for you!”
“Forget it,” Xi Nan said, “I want to follow ZouXing anytime, anywhere. He’s the most experienced. Don’t rush into kissing. Yeah, don’t kiss. Everyone, stay calm, especially you, Si Wo Lin, stay calm.”
Laughter erupted. “We can help clear the room; we want to see you guys kiss.”
“You can’t watch even if you want to!” Xi Nan said with a flushed face. “They’re scared—”
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Because he realized that the voice belonged to a little girl.
And it was coming from inside the room.
Author’s note:
This scenario isn’t scary, haha! These goofballs are super cute, but they’re really straight guys. Could it be that the straighter you are, the gayer you become?
