Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 324 Cooldown Time

"It really stinks... Ugh..."

The sound of running water in the bathroom was mixed with Xu Han's occasional dry heaving, but it didn't reach the ears of the other two people in the bedroom.

"So you guys last night," Yu Shijiu hesitated for the first time, licking her lips before asking softly:

"You were hiding in that water in the hallway that looked, well, not very clean?"

"..."

He Lingling paused, her hand holding the towel to dry her hair, and instantly showed an expression that looked like she was about to vomit. It was obvious that she was thinking of the smell she had in the amniotic fluid river again.

"Let's not talk about this," He Lingling waved her hand, her face pale.

"I can't think about that now; just recalling that taste makes me want to vomit."

It's not as simple as just wanting to vomit anymore; now, just hearing the words "water" or "corridor" makes her want to gag, to the point of having stomach spasms.

...I guess I'll have to put up with it for a few more days if I want to ignore it...

“Alright.” Yu Shijiu was very understanding. He walked to the windowsill, opened the window, looked outside, and said:

"So what did you see?"

"..."

He Lingling remained silent for a few seconds, her eyes gradually darkening.

"There's something wrong with the housekeeper."

"The 'Madam' also has problems."

The two questions in a row surprised Yu Shijiu. He turned to look at He Lingling, whose hair was still wet, and asked curiously:

“I can understand if the housekeeper has problems, but what’s with the ‘Madam’?

Yu Shijiu suddenly thought of something.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the roses gradually blooming by the window, and he said with a slight realization:

"The 'Madam' didn't just contact you last night?"

He Lingling nodded, her face grim. "Yes, 'Madam' didn't just contact us. I suspect she probably went to everyone last night."

This is undoubtedly a rather terrible thing.

There is only one "Madam," so how could she possibly go to all the players' rooms at the same time in one night... unless, unless there is more than one "Madam."

He Lingling's mind was in a state of confusion.

She's actually quite quick-witted in adversity; she realized something was wrong almost as soon as she casually chatted with another player.

How could "Madam" possibly scare all the players in one night? Even He Lingling would be tired for her if she wasn't... To put it more lightly, even a horror game NPC shouldn't be this hardworking, right?

“Unless,” Yu Shijiu’s voice slowly rang out. He leaned against the balcony, his half-length black hair falling slightly as he tilted his head, his face partially obscured by the backlight.

"Unless there is more than one 'Madam'."

He Lingling's face darkened, and she did not refute.

She wanted to refute it, but couldn't find any points to refute it.

What Yu Shijiu said was exactly what she was thinking; the "Madam" might very well be... more than one.

"Wow."

Yu Shijiu smiled slightly, her eyes crinkling: "It seems that 'Madam' is likely not a person, no, a monster, but a general term."

...If that's the case...

He Lingling closed her eyes, her teeth chattering slightly.

"If 'Madam' is really just a general term... then, starting from room eight, will Mr. Xiao choose a different 'bride' every day?"

The bedroom was very quiet.

Apart from the occasional dry heaving sounds coming from the washroom, the only other sounds were the faint whispers of the two breathing rapidly.

After a long pause, Yu Shijiu slowly nodded.

"Maybe."

"..." When the conversation reached this point, He Lingling felt extremely uneasy.

She frantically wiped her still-dripping hair, swallowed hard, and said earnestly:

"It's alright, it's alright, we still have a chance. My talent skill's cooldown is almost over. If something goes wrong at tonight's wedding, I'll find time to activate it again—"

"I suggest you don't rush things."

Unexpectedly, Yu Shijiu interrupted her.

"For a period of time after your talent skill is activated, you will not have the ability to escape like a normal person, and you will be like a cripple."

Yu Shijiu, seeing He Lingling's face turn even paler, continued without hesitation:

"I don't want to lie. If it really comes down to fighting to the death, I will definitely choose to fully activate my talent skills, and you know me."

“Sister Lingling,” Yu Shijiu sighed, “When I’m fully activated with my talent skills, I can control myself from killing players… but my killing instinct makes it impossible for me to take care of your safety.”

As a purely aggressive player, Yu Shijiu's mental state is also unstable... If He Lingling activates "Ghost Eye" in advance but doesn't make proper arrangements for what happens next... she will most likely be left in this game instance.

He Lingling paused for a moment upon hearing this, then looked away and smiled.

"It's alright, I still have some items. I can find a place to wait until the cooldown is over..."

"Sister Lingling."

Yu Shijiu called her again, "Are you sure you'll still have the strength to lift the props by then?"

He Lingling is different from him.

Because he has endured enough pain, he can treat physical pain and weakness as "pleasure" to stimulate his brain, and can even prolong the cooling-off period—thereby finding a temporary safe corner.

But He Lingling is different.

Even though they only went through one game instance together, He Lingling didn't explicitly and completely unlock her talent skills... but Yu Shijiu could probably get information about He Lingling from various sources in the town.

As a player whose innate skill is prophecy, He Lingling is actually only smart and occasionally able to escape—when she encounters a situation where she has to fight against monsters head-on, she can only activate her innate skill.

However, prophetic talents come at a very high cost. As a skill that can save a player's life, it seems to only mark an escape route for ten minutes. If the player successfully escapes within ten minutes, then everyone is happy... But on the contrary, what can a prophetic player do if they are too exhausted to escape and can only stand there watching the escape route?

Without teammates who can completely entrust their lives to her, if He Lingling were to truly activate her "Ghost Eyes"... she would only be doing the work for someone else.

According to what Yu Shijiu heard, although He Lingling would occasionally team up with other players to run game dungeons, she had never actually activated her talent skills.

However, even just some warning messages are enough to save many players' lives.

This is also why those people were willing to team up with He Lingling.

He Lingling fell silent.

She knew that Yu Shijiu was right.

I admit I was a bit hasty in what I said earlier... but there was nothing I could do; she had no choice but to be anxious.

If "Madam" is truly just a collective term for a group of monsters... then it means that the monsters they encounter later might be so numerous as to be utterly despairing...