Isolated Island (12)

The Days I Clear Escape Games Pretending to be an NPCCh79 - Isolated Island (12)

There were still water puddles on the ground, but no skeletons could be found in the puddles.

Welcoming the morning fog, Ren Yifei carried his bag, held the wooden bucket containing the glass tank and cat, and walked towards the door step by step. VxeD s

How should he go down the mountain?

"Squeak..." the iron gate swung open, and shadows slid across the weeds.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

It was unknown for how long since the last time other people had visited this place as the weeds around the gate had grown more than ten centimetres tall, and half of the house number plaque was dangling above, making a muffled sound every time it knocked against the iron gate.

The crazy old man from yesterday was at the gate, and like a homeless person, he sat on the ground while muttering to himself, "Can't go, can't go to the manor, will die..." 5vejAH

Ren Yifei wanted to ask him how he was that morning, but seeing this, it looked like the other person would be unable to answer. He hesitated for a moment but walked away in the end.

Walking through the gate, he stepped on a piece of metal on the ground and pushed the dirt away to see that it was the other half of the house number plaque.

"395?" A strange house number.

But Ren Yifei did not think much of it and threw the iron plaque into the grass.

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There was a map on the side of the iron gate. Specifically, it was a topographic map of 'Starlight Manor', which had been damaged by the wind and sun. He had not noticed it yesterday, so he came closer for a look.

The entire manor was built like an upside-down U along the mountain, with three different coloured tour routes intersecting and interspersing each other.

The mushroom house was not far from the entrance. Farther ahead were the wooden cabins, children's playground, dining hall and so on. A grass skiing field would be at the top, following the central axis up the hill. There would also be a playground below the skiing field and a campsite where you can rent tents to enjoy the starry night sky.

"This estate is massive." tCcwa

Ren Yifei walked down the steps after looking at the map.

Iron wires blocked the steps on either side outside the gate, and the path on the side leading up the mountain was blocked by stones, with a sign hung up that read 'No visitors allowed' painted in red.

The sounds of rustling entered his ears, and from the corner of his eyes, he could also see a shadow flashing by. Could it be a wild animal?

The three players did not participate in the food-snatching operation. They had gone out earlier and were slowly walking in front. 6abZ8A

Saman observed his surroundings. The manor on the mountainside was in a dilapidated state. Moss and weeds grew in the corners while cobwebs accumulated in every nook. It looks as though it had been unoccupied for years. In any case, it was unbelievable that this place had only been built a year ago.

He has already asked around. He knows that this island is not very big, that there were only a few hundred permanent residents, and that there was only this mountain. It seemed as though they were all forced to run to the manor in the mountain due to all the heavy rain, land ruptures, tsunamis and other natural disasters yesterday.

Now that the survivors have gathered on the mountain, it would be easy for the boss of this supernatural instance to do whatever it wanted.

The glasses girl pushed her glasses, "Something is following us." wtJsu

Something has been sneaking around the woods and trailing them the entire time.

Saman raised his hand, letting the scene behind him get reflected on the dial of his mechanical watch; he spotted a shadow flash past.

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His eyesight was better than ordinary people's, and he could also capture images of moving objects, so he was able to see with just this glimpse.

It was a black tree with a face on its trunk. This thing was hiding behind another tree, pretending only to be a shadow while still gazing in their direction greedily. EcACaj

Saman immediately turned around, but the woods were quiet, and nothing could be found.

Instead, he noticed the path behind the stone, which had not been walked on for a long time and was almost buried in fallen leaves.

It followed the winding mountain terrain and stretched into the dense forest. Going down the steps, passing by the NPCs and the players, Ren Yifei ran all the way to the bottom.

Yesterday's dense mass of boats and floating objects had disappeared. r1T4Wn

"Where's the island? Where are the houses?" Ren Yifei was a quarter-way up the mountain, and there was a lot of water in front of him. He could not find the boats from yesterday that were supposed to be docked there, nor could he see anything other than water.

It was like the island had sunk overnight when the sea water poured in, shrinking this large island to only this mountain.

In addition, the people who rushed out of the manor last night were nowhere to be found. He had not counted carefully, but there should be a few dozen people who ran away yesterday. Where did they go? They couldn't be hiding somewhere else on the mountain, right?

A large ocean surrounded the small island, and people disappeared without a trace. ni23Mm

'Isolated Island'. Ren Yifei thought of these keywords for a moment.

Isn't this an isolated island now? There were no supplies or rescue, just a group of people and a rucksack.

This was troublesome. He does not know the exact number of survivors on the island. Judging only by the survivors who came in and out of the dinning hall that day, there were already hundreds of people. Could this small mountain rucksack carry enough supplies for a hundred people to eat and drink?

He looked down at the clueless cat. He had some with some water, food and a bag of coarse grain steamed buns in his bag. However, this was far from enough to feed him and the cat for seven days. 7AUBX9

He could understand a little bit why the refugees were stealing food.

"My God," a player approached him, staring blankly at the sea. He slapped his thigh, appearing as though every cell in his body was crying out that he could not accept the reality that the island was submerged.

Ren Yifei's face continued to be blank, but he stumbled a little and almost fell into the water.

He tried to move towards the water, only to back away the next second. The cat in the bucket meowed twice. 9qtjv8

"What will happen to the people at the foot of the mountain?" The player on one side lowered his voice, trying to seek a little comfort from the others. However, the NPC he was trying to get help from was even more crushed than he was, crying and sobbing uncontrollably for their house.

"It's over. It's over, my house was full of newly bought electrical appliances!" The NPC almost fainted when they thought of their losses.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Ren Yifei was still dumbfounded as he motionlessly held the wooden bucket.

The players in a regular mid-end game were very distinctive, allowing him to see so many sceneries early in the morning. There was yesterday's ruthless glasses girl who did not talk much, the gang leader from that morning, and now, this drama queen. sB3kyH

In comparison, the players in Spring Banquet were really ordinary and somewhat boring.

A group of howling NPCs gathered on these steps. Some who were good at swimming even jumped directly into the water, saying they must find a boat and go back to see the situation. They were all fishermen who lived by the sea, so their skills were very high.

En, let's put quotation marks around "fishermen" first.

The few on the shore could not stop them, so they could only watch as the others jumped into the water one after the other, occasionally showing their heads or parts of their bodies. I5EdrK

"You guys, be careful."

"Okay, I'll go see if the boat is there."

"Did you see the people who ran out last night?" Ren Yifei suddenly lifted his head. A hint of hope was hidden in his confusion, "I'm worried about my uncle."

The other people said they did not know, turned their heads and continued to stare at the ocean. ht9mJN

The player on the side was still putting on a performance, saying that he was worried about his home. However, he avoided mentioning his family member. He did not even ask if the other NPCs had seen any of his family.

Was he a fatherless, motherless orphan with no other relatives?

The signs of acting were extremely obvious, and the character's persona was not detailed enough; Ren Yifei was embarrassed for him.

More and more people were waiting anxiously on the shore while more and more people were jumping into the water, their heads bobbing up and down on the water's surface. m8gLcP

"I'm afraid the water will take a few days to recede, and I also don't know what the situation is up the mountain. I didn't bring anything with me here," the NPCs were all extremely worried.

Ren Yifei stayed for a long time, but nothing more was gained.

The cat in the bucket cried out, reminding him he still had responsibilities. Wiping his face, he held the bucket and prepared to go back.

After hiking up a part of the path, there were one or two players standing a few meters away from each other, resembling circling eagles as they surveyed the area. Ren Yifei lowered his head. gXjZBi

Even if they were bolder, tougher and more optimistic than others, how would an eighteen-year-old youth react after encountering a situation such as this?

They would panic, be frightened and feel helpless, but they would still pretend to be calm and try to be brave.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Young people's emotional expression is usually intense and direct, not as repressed as middle-aged people's. Tears were an excellent weapon to perfect the performance, Ren Yifei calmly thought as water droplets slowly condensed in his eyes.

The three players in the mushroom house stood in one place, but they were two meters apart, guarding against each other. JYZBSd

"There's nothing else, not even floating debris. It's like everything was swallowed up, not submerged," the glasses girl took out a binocular, "It has completely merged with the ocean, and there's no rescue team to be seen. It's like..."

"We are isolated from the world," the little girl finished the second half of her sentence.

There was another sentence that they did not say, but all knew: This place has finally become an 'Isolated Island'.

"It seems we can't get away from here," the glasses girl sighed. NF3ZHD

There were bamboos on the mountain which could be used to build a raft. But it was obvious that the central location of this instance was here, so why would she bother?

"I came here after hearing news of Black Rabbit, are you guys the same?" The little girl suddenly spoke.

The best time to kill or subdue a potential genius is when the other party is still weak. Because once they grow, the tables might turn.

That was why many people had followed Black Rabbit into the instance this time, but no one had stated their purpose like this little girl. F4TwyM

To a certain extent, the little girl's action also drew a safe zone for herself since she was basically stating: I came for someone, not for the Ghost Card.

"A false safe zone," Saman thought to himself. He knew it was just a misleading lie even without looking at the other person's expression. She said that she came for Black Rabbit, but she did not say that she would not aim for the Ghost Card.

"Disguise specialists have little significance in these types of instances. I don't know if this newcomer has the power to protect themselves," the glasses girl did not reveal her purpose and only commented on this instance.

An isolated island was created overnight, followed by survival issues, safety issues, and even creatures stalking in the forest. In this general setting where everyone was at risk, NPCs could only provide little help, and disguise specialists seemed to be rendered useless. qSNf1V

It would be difficult for the newcomer, who does not have a team or background, to replicate the miracle in Neighbourhood after suddenly entering this difficult supernatural world with insufficient props, skills, experience and information.

It could be seen that the glasses girl was not optimistic about this genius who had not yet developed.

A few more people came down the steps; some were players while others were NPCs. Most of the NPCs had broken down, while most of the players were calm. There was a particular pair among them, a girl with a short bob haircut and a young man in formal clothes, who glanced at each other from afar and staggered away in opposite directions.

It is usually easy for players to identify each other, presumably because their auras are similar. 73nVoL

This kind of aura could be collectively referred to as the 'scum aura mass-produced by the infinite world'.

Like now, while the NPCs were worried and lost, these players have begun collecting weapons and food. They also found locations, props, NPCs, and so on to exploit.

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The NPCs in a supernatural instance are very useful. During critical times, you could kill one or two as a sacrifice to the heavens.

NPCs are just wax figures. After playing games for so long, it was difficult for the players to regard them as real living things; thus, there was no psychological burden when killing them. VCNzx6

The only thing that restricted them was the unspoken rule that 'players who directly kill an NPC may increase the hate-value of the group of NPCs'.

Players, refugees, and the manor's people— there were originally two or three hundred people in total, and although at least a hundred disappeared or died last night, there were still more than a hundred people left.

Six wooden cabins and a mushroom house were shared among the refugees, while the manor's people lived in their own housing. And among these people were the players.

The difficulty that the players faced in this instance were not the NPCs or the 'ghost'. Instead, it was the malice of this big world. Lq0NX2

For example, the 'great escape' type instance, or the 'horror game' type instance. Both NPCs and players are at the mercy of the world's malice.

Isolated Island, more than a hundred refugees, and a shortage of clothing and food...

All the elements were there, and there was a high probability that there would be a divide within the group of NPCs, and the environment would worsen. It looked like it was time to prepare for an escape.

Everything was still gloomy on the NPC's side. Holding the wooden bucket, Ren Yifei silently walked towards the manor. Qi57ET

He kept his head down so his expression could not be seen clearly, but his whole person was shrouded in shadows; it was as if you would see his sad face in the next second.

"Ah—" a scream came from the ocean in the distance, causing all the players and NPCs on the steps to look over in unison.

The good swimmers who had swum out not long ago struggled desperately in the water, creating numerous white bubbles as they waved their limps. They were already some distance away from the shore, so the others could not see clearly, but they could judge by their movements. They seemed to be entangled in something and were being dragged into the ocean.

In a dozen seconds or less, the heads on the water surface were completely submerged and did not appear again. cOwqKS

The sea was calm, leaving no trace of anything.

The people on the shore felt a chill.

"Go back, go back! There's something in the water!" They anxiously shouted to the few who just swam out. Some people even broke a bamboo pole and signalled for them to come back.

The few people who just swam out seemed bewildered by something and could not hear the shouting only a few meters away; they continued to swim outward desperately. dlXRK

The wind created waves that pushed those swimmers out farther, and the people on the shore were practically watching these lives end. They collapsed and cried loudly, "This is simply asking us to die!"

The wind carried the sound of whimpering and crying. Ren Yifei paused for a while and continued walking again, but his footsteps got faster and faster.

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He held the wooden bucket with his head down. He accidentally bumped into someone and fell backwards unsteadily.

"Careful," an arm stretched out and grabbed the collar of his shirt while the other hand supported his back to prevent his body from continuing to fall back. Ren Yifei immediately lifted his head. lnC716

Saman frowned at him, but he saw that the young man was biting his lips, and his face was deathly pale, contrasting with the scales on his forehead, making them look like peach blossoms. His expression was calm, but the expression in his eyes was frenetic. A tear ran down his cheek, burning the back of Saman's hand.

Thump, thump, the world stopped for a second.