Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 253 Dead end?

"Wh-what, what do you mean?"

Inside the room, Xu Han's voice trembled as he looked at He Lingling, whose face was pale, on the bed in front of him, and swallowed hard.

"What do you mean by 'no matter what, we'll keep an eye on them'?"

On the bed, He Lingling's disordered breathing gradually calmed down. She recalled the hazy scenes she had seen in her "nightmare" and closed her eyes slightly.

"My stepmother is pregnant."

He Lingling said, "Didn't I just say that?"

Xu Han nodded: "Yes, you said my stepmother is pregnant, but what does her pregnancy have to do with us being targeted—"

Xu Han's voice stopped abruptly there.

He suddenly realized something and his eyes turned to terror.

"You mean, yes, the woman who knocked on the door just now was my stepmother, wait, if she was my stepmother, then, the child in her belly... that child will also come out?!"

"……Yes."

He Lingling opened her eyes, looked at the luxurious chandelier on the ceiling, and coughed.

"The child in the stepmother's womb will become the second monster in this game instance."

"How can it be!"

Xu Han could hardly believe this possibility and hurriedly said:

"But the baby in the stepmother's belly is clearly not fully formed yet! Her belly looks so small, how can an undeveloped fetus be transformed?"

Generally speaking, shouldn't a monster that can transform into a monster have a specific physical shape?

He Lingling was silent for a few seconds, then turned her head to look at Xu Han standing by the bed and whispered:

"Who said it hasn't taken shape?"

Xu Han was taken aback. "It's not fully formed yet...it's still so small—"

"It's already taken shape."

He Lingling interrupted Xu Han, her voice sounding somewhat cold at that moment.

“The stepmother clearly paid a lot of attention to the child. From the mother’s perspective, the child in her womb was a definite, physical human being.”

"In a mother's eyes, her body changes during the ten months of pregnancy, her belly gradually stretches and expands over time, and if she's not in good health, she might even develop stretch marks... After experiencing so much, she will unconsciously begin to change both physically and mentally... And as these changes become more and more significant... the stepmother will pay more and more attention to the child..."

"...Don't you understand yet?"

He Lingling sighed, “Regardless of whether the stepmother truly loves the child in her womb, whether she is penniless or still loves, the suffering she endured during her pregnancy is real, the impact of the fetus slowly growing in her womb is real… For her, the child is real.”

Xu Han felt a chill run down his spine, a cold sense of dread spreading inch by inch upwards.

His heart pounded, and finally, with difficulty, he asked:

"So, so even if we avoid our stepmother's mark, her children will still, will still target us?"

"...That's the correct way to put it."

He Lingling reminded him wearily, "But we are not being marked by our stepmother's children, but by our stepmother herself."

After all, they didn't open the door when their stepmother knocked for help.

A stepmother who has nowhere to turn for help will resent every player/guest who pretends not to hear her cries.

Xu Han realized this too. He clenched his fists tightly in fear and murmured:

"Doesn't that mean that no matter how hard we try to avoid being marked by the monsters, it's impossible..."

If I go out, I'll be marked by the ghost baby that crawled out of my stepmother's womb; if I stay home, I'll be marked by my stepmother... Holy crap! How the hell am I supposed to avoid being marked?!

He Lingling remained silent.

After a long while, she finally let out a long sigh, unable to suppress the dizziness and exhaustion that was washing over her, and fell into a deep sleep.

Before going to sleep, she reminded Xu Han again, "Let's rest first, at least we can get a good night's sleep tonight."

Xu Han nodded somewhat slowly, but by the time he was about to say something more, He Lingling on the bed was already fast asleep.

The kind that can't be woken up.

Xu Han, still immersed in the terrifying chase scene he had imagined: "..."

He hugged himself in fear, bent down and pulled the blanket that had fallen to He Lingling's waist back up, before tremblingly climbing onto the other bed that belonged to him.

Waaaaah, what should I do...? He realizes he's still a little afraid of ghosts (or monsters)...

Xu Han, who fell asleep with wild thoughts and fear, unsurprisingly dreamed of ghosts (monsters) all night.

----------

The players watching the "Equivalent Invitation" game instance right now are going crazy.

Many players watched from He Lingling's perspective, and naturally saw He Lingling's interpretation of the early stages of the game's dungeons.

"How is that possible? Game dungeons don't have such a fatal situation!"

Some players stared fearfully at the sleeping girl's face on the screen, nervously biting their nails.

"...Yes, Dawn Game has never presented a situation like this where you have to choose one of two paths, but both are dead ends...What's wrong with this?"

"I do not know!"

"...Is it possible that this is related to the recent changes in the guild tournament format?"

"How could that be! Guild tournaments are guild tournaments! Regular game dungeons are regular game dungeons! There's a big difference between the two, how could it possibly be related to guild tournaments!"

"...Then how do you explain what we're seeing now?" A veteran player, who had clearly completed many game dungeons, looked agitated and kept arguing furiously.

"I think it's because of the guild tournament reform!"

"But people don't actually die in guild battles, while people really do die in regular game dungeons!"

"..."

Compared to the anxious players in the square, the veteran players from various guilds seemed less impatient.

Inside the Black Robe Church, Zhou Yuanyang merely raised his eyelids slightly when he received the message from his player subordinate, then let out a mocking laugh.

"A bunch of idiots."

Zhou Yuan looked down at the centipede slowly crawling in his palm, then lazily raised his eyes.

"A choice between two options, where you die no matter which you choose—how many times have we encountered this situation in previous game dungeons? It's just that now..."

Zhou Yuanyang's voice abruptly stopped.

The player in front of him, who had his head down, felt a jolt of fear. Out of the corner of his eye, he could only see the centipede that Zhou Yuanyang had always cherished as a pet seemingly crawling towards him.

The player was startled and it took him a while to suppress his fear and stand still.

...Damn it, I really regret joining that Black Robe Church, that cesspool... Not only are there dangers in game instances, but there are dangers even in ordinary towns...

"okay."

Just as the giant centipede was teetering on Zhou Yuanyang's fingertips, the latter suddenly reached out and lifted it back.

"I understand, you can leave now."

Zhou Yuanyang said.