NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81
[Warm reminder: When encountering a level 9 BOSS, the chance of survival is 0. Hosts, please take the time to look at this beautiful dungeon and say goodbye to the viewers who love you.]
“…”
Yu Qing was at a loss for words. Should he have lamented his misfortune, or should he have praised the system for its thoughtfulness?
Taking a look at the live broadcast room, he saw that many comments about death memorial had already appeared, one after another. Of course, there were also some viewers who insisted on seeing him engage in a love-hate relationship with the BOSS.
Cold air filled the room, the sound of hidden tentacles spread all around, the candlelight flickered, and Yu Qing felt a sense of dread.
The statue before him appeared majestic and strange, and he noticed his fingertips trembling. The next second, nine pairs of eyes lit up, and an intense pressure bore down on his soul.
Then, crash, crash…
The gold chain around his body shifted, making the red marks from its pressure even more visible.
His breathing grew shallow, and a layer of cold sweat quietly appeared on his neck. He raised his gaze but couldn’t find a hint of true emotion in those nine scarlet eyes.
But it hadn’t always been like this…
His Adam’s apple moved, and his right hand gradually tightened. Hearing the footsteps of the temple ladies approaching again, Yu Qing stood up decisively and smashed a circle of Snake Deity pottery statues surrounding him: “Get a divorce, no matter what!”
He had already noticed signs of domestic violence, so why should he keep enduring it and letting the other side take advantage?
All around, the footsteps grew closer and closer.
The temple ladies approached with fierce eyes, yet they didn’t seem… angry that he had knocked over the pottery statue.
Their smiles grew kinder, and they even “invited” Yu Qing to the inner hall with a measure of respect.
Wait, inner hall?
Hadn’t he heard that the inner hall was off-limits?
This was a good opportunity.
.
Surrounded by them, Yu Qing walked forward and soon arrived at an airtight, empty room.
The house was sealed tightly, built without windows, and locked. The footsteps outside faded away. He was instructed to bathe and change his clothes by himself, and they would return in half an hour.
With the apparent danger temporarily removed, Yu Qing turned around and glanced briefly at the tub—
Warm water, rose petals—nothing unusual for the time being.
Except… the clothing they’d provided was a red skirt, made of translucent gauze, resembling the style of an ancient Western dancer. It was adorned with bright gold lines, with other shore flowers connected in intricate, crisscrossing patterns like a strange net, trapping the wearer.
Turning his gaze away and adjusting the leather leg rings on his thighs, Yu Qing thought his own clothes looked better.
He didn’t bathe as instructed by the temple ladies.
Finally, inside, the young man gathered his energy and began exploring the room. Sure enough, he found a few strands of blood-stained hair.
The hair was soft, almost like… a child’s hair?
[Ding Dong——]
[Congratulations to the host Yu Qing for discovering the key clue “blood-stained hair”; the plot exploration rate is now 30%.]
[The owners of the broken hair are not far away. If you have the courage, go and look for them.]
The sudden system prompt made Yu Qing’s eyes light up. He put away the broken hair and glanced at the task bar in the upper left corner of the system.
[Mission name: Save the children of “Lin Xiaojing.”]
[Task time: 03 hours: 59 minutes: 08 seconds]
There were less than four hours left, and he still didn’t know where the children were.
Could the child be the owner of the broken hair?
Taking a deep breath, Yu Qing continued to check the door lock, which was made of iron.
[Wait, iron lock?!]
Someone in the live broadcast room noticed: [Isn’t this just perfect for the host? He still has a stash of molten iron left, hahaha.]
[Honestly, I really admire the host’s determination. He’ll be sacrificed to the top BOSS in 30 minutes, his soul will be gone, and he’s still finding time to explore the plot?]
[Hiss… And let’s not forget, he promised incense money to all the villagers, yet none of the NPCs have left. They’re all waiting outside the temple for him to die!]
[Oh, guys, don’t forget, there’s a mission to save Lin Xiaojing’s child in the upper left corner. Only a bit over three hours left; I’m starting to worry about the host’s future.]
[Ahhh! Holy crap, brothers! Tong Lei seems to have escaped from the side plot, bringing along a few followers who obey him, and he’s heading toward the temple. The host is surrounded by enemies on all sides now, hahaha… I’m kind of looking forward to what happens next!]
[I don’t know why, but I suddenly hope the host wins. Let’s start the bets—I’m putting down 200,000 on the host to win!]
[Tsk, he doesn’t look reliable. Didn’t you see the cold sweat on Qingqing’s forehead? He’s nervous, racing against time, and the more nervous he is, the more likely he’ll make mistakes. I’m betting 2 million that he won’t survive tonight.]
[100,000, the host dies.]
[300,000, the host dies.]
Soon, as the system broadcast the latest bets, a small gambling window opened in the lower left corner of the live broadcast room, dividing the bets into two opposing groups.
Just as the window panel appeared—squeak—
Yu Qing opened the door.
Before him stretched a long, dark corridor.
The corridor was no longer what it had been when he entered. All the candles around him had gone out, and a faint cold air seeped through, filled with unknown dangers.
There had been some light in the room behind him, but in the next second—bang!
The door shut tightly without warning, making a loud “bang” that sent a chill down Yu Qing’s spine and caused him to shiver.
The sound of hidden tentacles lingered in the air, cold and damp, pressing on his heart, urging him to search carefully for a glimmer of hope.
Fortunately, Yu Qing had a good sense of direction. He remembered the path he’d taken, so his red pupils brightened slightly as he walked decisively in the opposite direction.
[Oh ho! Oh ho! Oh ho!]
[The host picked the wrong direction! Stay steady and keep betting, brothers!]
Lowering his eyes, Yu Qing ignored the chaotic comments in the live broadcast room.
He recalled seeing a closed red door at the end of the corridor when he came in, with what sounded like faint crying coming from inside, so he continued toward the door in his memory.
But… in the darkness, the door was nowhere to be seen. The narrow corridor seemed to stretch endlessly, and even the crying that had pointed the way had vanished without a trace.
Da, da, da.
His black leather boots struck the floor, the clear “ta-da” echoing around him. After a few steps, Yu Qing felt something sticky, almost like… tentacles, wrapping around his calf.
But when he looked down, nothing was there.
A cold pressure filled the narrow corridor. The young man narrowed his eyes, glancing at the live broadcast room, where wild betting continued.
At that moment, the bets on his death for the night had reached 37 million. Bets for his victory had initially been at 500,000 but had already dropped to 330,000.
After all, his luck had fallen below zero, surrounded by the BOSS, NPCs, and obstacles in every direction. It was the first time the audience had seen such a scenario.
They were eagerly anticipating what would happen next.
Da, da, da…
Yu Qing continued forward, and after a while, the betting pool exceeded 40 million.
A gambling pool of 40 million points triggered a large-scale game, displayed publicly in the live broadcast hall for all viewers to join.
The opening quickly drew even more attention.
The audience surged in the live broadcast room, and in moments, a level 5+ dungeon stream had climbed to the top ten most-watched list!
Other viewers reacted with disbelief: “What? A level 5 dungeon pulling in this much betting?”
“Down to 50 million? You rarely see that in level 10 dungeons, right?”
“Interesting, let’s go check it out.”
As the audience continued to grow, the bets kept pouring in, and Yu Qing kept pressing forward.
Suddenly, “Ah!!”
A scream echoed as the boy was yanked into the darkness by an unseen force. At that moment, the live broadcast room erupted, and betting hit its peak.
The thrill of influencing life and death in the game fuelled the greedy, indifferent audience’s excitement.
Soon, bets on Yu Qing’s death hit 78 million!
Then, they pressed the OK button.
The gambling game had officially begun.