Intense Hunger

There was a subtle pause before the nightmare creature replied, "...I haven't had the chance to read until the end. But what I know is, it's a diary belonging to the previous tenant here, Surnamed Dong." He continued to walk away after that, not giving Nian any time to respond.

Jin Jiuchi's narrowed eyes fell on the man whose right leg was slightly limp with specks of blood seeping into the trousers and he sniffed the air, keeping the scent in mind.

"Dong…" Nian murmured under his breath. Frowning, he took out the newspaper clipping from his pocket and read through it once again. "The three victims of the serial killer are Zhao, Liu and Dong. So it is really the third nightmare creature…" his eyes traced over the faded words as though the answer might come out to him if he stared hard enough. "Why would he divulge something like that to us? It's almost like… he is giving us a warning…"

But wasn't he the one who killed Zhi?

Nian was baffled. Out of the Cycles he had entered, this ought to be the most troublesome and treacherous one. Previously, he only needed to focus on completing the task from the NPC and watched out for the nightmare creatures and other players alike. He trusted no one but himself, and he regarded everything else as a dangerous factor.

The nightmare creatures – as the name implied – were an utter nightmare which existed solely to strike fear and despair into the players' heart. They were coldblooded, merciless and detached, almost as if they were machines created for the sole purpose of killing. As players continued to navigate through mid-level and high-level Cycles, they would find the creatures that resembled humans so much that sometimes they would be mistaken as a player. They were extremely cunning, vicious and malevolent.

Yet it was not until he entered this Cycle that he discovered the timid Miss Zhao – who dared not appear in their room since the first night, the miserable Madam Liu who was most likely killed by Jin Jiuchi and now, Mr. Dong who warned them about the danger in the kitchen.

This was clearly a low-level Cycle, but why… did Nian see a resemblance of humane feelings in them?

Impossible. Nian quickly crossed the thought out of his mind. How was it possible for a nightmare creature to have feelings? It was utterly ridiculous!

"It looks like we have to drop by the room where he came out from. It's 404, Sister Hong's, right? What do you—" he raised his head to find that Jin Jiuchi was lost in thought. Nian frowned and examined Jin Jiuchi carefully, "What's wrong with you?"

"Hmm?" Jin Jiuchi blinked slowly as though waking up from a dream, and he finally turned to the jade doll, "What did you just say, Nian'er?"

"What's wrong with you?" Nian asked again, his frown deepening. "Since this morning, you have been…" listless, in a low spirit, often lost in thought, without your usual energy. Many words flashed through his mind but in the end, he settled with, "...quiet."

"Ah," Jin Jiuchi ran his fingers through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh, sulking. "Nian'er, I think I'm dying. Will you be sad if I die?" As soon as his question settled in the air, a loud growl resounded through the air and the source was none other than Jin Jiuchi's stomach.

'So this damned husky is merely starving,' Nian rolled his eyes upon seeing that Jin Jiuchi was being dramatic again. "Let's go. Yesterday, we searched the entire second floor, so let's start with the third now. After that, we will make a trip to room 404."

He turned away and started to walk toward the stairs, and thus he failed to notice the way black started to permeate Jin Jiuchi's silver eyes as if a droplet of ink had been dropped into a glass of clear water, and his pupils shrunk rapidly into slits with gold in the middle.

But when he blinked again, his eyes had returned to normal. It was so fast that he did not even realize it himself. He hurried to chase after Nian who had disappeared from sight.

They stepped on to the third floor and Nian asked, "So, which room is it?" He had learned from experience that it'd be better to hand over the task of food foraging to Jin Jiuchi to save his energy and talismans. Either way, he did not have to worry that Jin Jiuchi would miss thanks to his gluttony.

However, instead of moving, Jin Jiuchi's feet stayed rooted in place.

Did he get lost in thoughts again? Sensing that something was off, Nian raised his head and was taken aback when he saw the sunken look on Jin Jiuchi's face.

"No food…" the man looked as if he had lost his soul, his silver eyes vacant. "I can't smell anything…"

Nian's heart skipped a beat. "W-What do you mean? Your nose is not working?"

"No, Nian'er," Jin Jiuchi gently informed him of the terrible news. "There is no food on this floor."

Nian narrowed his eyes as he weighed the possibility of Jin Jiuchi lying, but then the man truly looked as if he had nothing left to live for. It was not like Nian did not trust his words, but… how was it possible that there was no food on this floor? How were they supposed to live then?!

With his little face somber, Nian told him, "Let's check the fourth and fifth floor."

But again, Jin Jiuchi shook his head to indicate that he could find no food.

Refusing to believe it, Nian chose five random rooms among the three floors, slapped his talismans on them and upon receiving the clear signal, he broke in and turned the rooms upside down. Jin Jiuchi merely stood on the doorway and watched him with an inscrutable look on his face, swallowing and rubbing his stomach once in a while, feeling so hungry he could go insane.

Nian quickly rummaged through the drawers, wardrobes, even the bottom of the beds where Jin Jiuchi had found a small package of potato chips yesterday, but this time, he had really run out of luck.

"How…" he stood in the middle of the messy room, his face pale. "How is it possible?"

Jin Jiuchi leaned against the doorway sluggishly, not even wishing to move his body unless necessary. "I've told you, Nian'er…"

At lunchtime, when they finally broke the news to the others, their reaction was pretty much the same as Nian, if not more.

Tang Ye's expression sank and a flicker of suspicion flashed through his eyes which did not go unnoticed by Nian, whereas Xinxin looked like he was going to faint straight on his feet.

Amidst the somber mood in the air, they managed to finish the decoration of the wedding venue. The dusty and empty space was no more; round tables and chairs were spread over the floor to accommodate guests. Red silk hung over the ceiling and the floor was covered in a thin red carpet.

They had finished the task two days earlier than the allocated time but… what about the return ticket?

The four of them stared at the lavishly decorated sixth floor, dazed, before Tang Ye chimed in a suggestion, "How about… waiting until tomorrow? That's right, let's wait a little bit. Who knows that the ticket will appear by itself in our room, right?"

No one raised an objection to his words, for what could they do except to wait? Left with no other choice, they could only wash up briefly and return to their respective rooms.

"Be careful of Tang Ye," Nian said as soon as the door closed behind them. "He is starting to doubt us."

"Hmm?" Jin Jiuchi blinked, surprised at the sudden warning.

"He suspects that we are hoarding the food for ourselves," Nian gave a wry smile. "Honestly I didn't blame him. If I were him, I would also suspect the other players. I don't know whether it's the Nightmare at work, but the hunger this time feels unusual. It's more… intense and severe, almost like it is messing with our sanity. You have no idea what that kind of person will do when they're not in their right mind, so be careful."

Nian advised the silly husky seriously for fear that he would die without even knowing who killed him or how he died, but he failed to realize that before Tang Ye… perhaps the person he should be most wary of was Jin Jiuchi, first and foremost.

.

.

A/N: [4/4] This is the end of the first mass release event! Please wait for the next mass release on 20th ^^

On another note, please read the important announcement on author's note below!