WTNL Chapter 45

Antai Community
Chapter 45: Darling, I’ve figured it out; a family must get along well.

“…”

The moment Wen Jianyan’s voice fell, the faces of the three paper dolls across the corridor suddenly became sinister.

On their ghastly pale faces, those dull eyes that seemed painted on stared fixedly at the human not far away. The two spots of scarlet blush on their cheeks appeared even more glaring, the upward curve of their mouths grew larger, and the smiles on their faces looked terrifying and horrific no matter how one looked at them.

The next second, they raised their paper arms and lunged fiercely towards Wen Jianyan!

Facing the sudden attack of the paper dolls before him, Wen Jianyan seemed to have been prepared.

Grabbing the weightless old woman with one hand, he took a long stride, ducked his body, slipped out of the three paper dolls’ encirclement from a tricky angle, then dashed out of the door and ran forward as fast as his legs could carry him!

In the deep, long corridor, the three paper dolls chased relentlessly behind him.

“Xiuqing, what are you saying?”

The paper doll’s cold and stiff voice drifted faintly from behind, its sinister tone carrying a seemingly gentle smile: “Hurry up and bring Mom; let’s have a nice dinner together as a family.”

“Dad, Dad, where are you going?”

The paper children giggled: “Dinner is ready; hurry up and come eat with us.”

In the pitch-black corridor with no end in sight, the chaotic sound of footsteps overlapped, as rapid as death-urging drumbeats.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[??? Family, I can’t understand this anymore.]

[Me neither… watching this is making me anxious to death. The correct solution is right in front of his eyes. What is the streamer running blindly for!]

[And didn’t he already run once just now? This is purely a ghost wall; it’s impossible to get out without completing the hidden route quest. I’m so confused.]

[Could it be that the streamer doesn’t want to kill this NPC? Speechless. Anyway, I’ll put my words here: acting emotionally in Nightmare won’t let you live long. I think he’s going to pay the price for his stupidity this time.]

Wen Jianyan took a moment to glance back.

The three paper dolls followed closely behind, their three ghastly pale faces wearing bright and eerie smiles:

“Xiuqing, where are you going?”

“We are a family, after all.”

Who the hell is a family with you guys! Bah!

“Sorry, I’m not used to getting too close to my ex-wife!”

Wen Jianyan’s back turned cold, and he instantly ran even faster: “For the sake of our past relationship as husband and wife, and for the healthy future development of the children, why don’t we both take a step back and let each other off!”

The old woman, whose lower half had completely turned into paper, reached out and grabbed Wen Jianyan’s arm. She opened her eyes, looked at the young man carrying her, and asked tremblingly:

“Xiuqing ah? What happened? Are we not having dinner anymore?”

“Not eating, not eating anymore. Our marriage has broken down. What dinner is there left to eat?”

As Wen Jianyan ran, he pulled out his phone from his pocket, rapidly purchasing items on it, not forgetting to nervously spout nonsense from his mouth:

“We’re ordering takeout!”

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[I’m dying of laughter, isn’t this dog scammer getting way too into character hahahahahahahaha.]

[Hahahahahaha newcomer asking, is this streamer’s broadcasting style always this unhinged?]

[What the fuck, ordering takeout because the marriage broke down hahahahahahahaha!]

[Speaking of which, what exactly is the streamer doing, I’m so curious! He’s only D-rank, he can’t buy items that forcefully break away from hidden routes!]

[The streamer spreads his wings on the edge of danger every day. Now I can’t even tell if he has rolled over or not.]

Suddenly, the movements of the three paper dolls stagnated.

In the pitch-black, deep corridor, the figure of the young man sprinting wildly while holding the paper old lady suddenly disappeared, as if he had vanished out of thin air. Even his aura had disappeared completely without a trace.

“…”

The three paper dolls stopped their movements.

The corners of their lips were still turned upwards, but that smile looked sinister no matter how one looked at it.

“Xiuqing, where did you go?”

“Dad, Dad, stop playing hide-and-seek.”

Although the human aura had disappeared, the paper dolls seemed to know clearly that as long as the quest was not completed, the other party could not leave this pitch-black corridor containing only two apartments. They moved their stiff steps, mechanically searching for the human figure in the corridor, calling out as they searched.

Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.

[Item: Cloak of Concealment has expired]

After disappearing for a full minute, the human aura appeared once again.

The three paper dolls instantly turned their heads in unison, looking fiercely in the direction the aura fluctuation came from. A cruel and sinister color immediately surfaced in their eyes. On their ghastly pale faces, their scarlet lips slowly curved upwards—

Found him.

The aura came from inside Room 1304.

The three paper dolls smiled, walking step by step in the human’s direction.

“Dad, Dad, you’re home.”

“Xiuqing, I knew it; you wouldn’t abandon us.”

The fiery red sunset shone in from outside the window, painting the furniture with a layer of bright red. The slice-of-life scene abruptly became bizarre and twisted.

The small shrine and fruit plate offerings were enveloped under the blood-red sunset, the electronic candles glowing with a faint, steady red light.

In the living room, the young man sat properly and upright on the sofa. His figure was tall and straight, looking exceptionally out of place with his surroundings.

Hearing the calls, he turned his head and calmly raised his eyes to look towards the doorway.

On the living room table, that plate of vegetables turned purplish-black by poison was neatly placed, along with four pairs of chopsticks.

“Baby, I’ve thought it through.”

The young man’s fair side profile was plated with the colors of the sunset. His clear eyes stared fixedly at the paper dolls not far away, his expression focused, almost appearing somewhat affectionate: “We are a family, and a family should live their days well.”

He waved to the paper dolls: “Come, let’s have dinner together.”

“That’s wonderful, Xiuqing; I knew it. You would definitely think it through.”

The paper dolls walked over with smiles.

The two paper children firmly grabbed Wen Jianyan’s arms from the left and right, immobilizing him like iron tongs. Meanwhile, the slender paper doll wife leaned down and picked up the plate. Using chopsticks to pick up the vegetables with one hand, her ghastly pale, stiff face leaned in slightly. She offered it with a smile: “Taste it, is it delicious?”

“Baby, you’re too far from me.”

Wen Jianyan’s face was a bit pale. He restrained his instinctive urge to lean back, his tone still as gentle as water: “Can you come a bit closer?”

“Of course I can, darling.”

With a smile on its face, the paper doll took another step forward, stepping past the table and walking over to the side of the sofa.

Wen Jianyan stared fixedly at her movements, estimating the spatial distance in his mind.

The moment the other party stepped into this zone, he suddenly raised his voice:

“Now!!!”

Click.

A soft sound of a shutter pressing rang out from behind the curtains.

The old woman, whose lower half had already turned into a paper doll, was hiding behind the curtains. She held a phone in her hands, her aged eyes narrowed as she looked over fixedly.

She tremblingly said:

“Xiuqing ah, the photo is taken, take a look, is it pretty?”

In that instant, time seemed to freeze. The movements of the three paper dolls were firmly stuck, the hideous and terrifying smiles frozen on their ghastly pale faces.

The blood-red sunset silently spilled in from outside the window, illuminating the family portrait of four at the entrance hall.

Dad, Mom, and two children were sitting together on the sofa in the living room, showing smiles towards the camera.

Beside his ears, the system’s familiar mechanical voice rang out once again:

[Ding! Hidden side quest completed!]

The next second, a familiar feeling of dizziness and vertigo hit him.

When Wen Jianyan opened his eyes again, he found he had returned to the instance.

Room 1304 was pitch-black. The electronic candles that had just lit up were extinguished at some unknown point, and the chanting machine was silent. The three paper dolls sat at the dining table with smiles on their faces. Piles of plates stacked like mountains were placed in front of them, filled with food that had already rotted.

A strong rotting stench floated in the air.

It was as if… everything just now had never happened at all.

Wen Jianyan’s fingers trembled as he pressed them against the corner of the table and slowly stood up. His footing was a bit unsteady as he took two steps, then he suddenly bent down—

“Ugh!”

He dry-heaved violently, almost wanting to vomit out all his internal organs. His slightly pale fingertips pressed onto the tabletop, looking fragile and miserable.

After a long time, Wen Jianyan covered his still-twitching stomach and looked up, his face somewhat pale.

Motherfucker…

It’s finally over.

He pulled out his phone from his pocket. The phone’s video recording function was still operating, the blood-red REC in the top right corner flashing, the countdown slowly ticking towards the end.

Soon, the familiar mechanical voice rang out again:

[Main Quest: Go to Room 1304 to film; the filming duration must not be less than ten minutes.]
[Completion: 100%. Reward points: 5000]

Wen Jianyan turned off the recording and opened his phone’s photo album.

The newest photo popped up.

Although the shot was a bit skewed and blurry, one could still see the stiff-faced young man sitting on the sofa, with the two paper children tightly hugging his arms on his left and right. The paper doll wife held highly toxic food in her chopsticks, currently leaning down preparing to feed it into his mouth.

The young man’s gaze was looking straight at the camera, his mouth slightly open as if nervously shouting something.

This moment was clearly frozen within the lens, as if able to bring Wen Jianyan back once again to that soul-stirring moment a few minutes ago.

[Ding! Live broadcast special quest: Recreate the events that once occurred in Room 1304 completed!
Special route unlocked, Reward points: 5000]

[Live broadcast quest rewards are calculating for you:
Instance Exploration Progress: 15%. Reward points: 5000
Current Plot Modification Degree: 37%. Reward points: 10000]

[Remaining points in account: 25000]

[Achievement Unlocked: Shake Off Poverty and Build Wealth!
Wow, congratulations to the streamer for rapidly shaking off poverty within five minutes after spending all your points, once again possessing a point balance greater than 0!]

Wen Jianyan slowly let out a sigh of relief. His palms were sweaty, and his heart was still beating violently in his chest, making his legs a bit weak even now. Although everything was dead silent around him, he could still hear chaotic, noisy static in his ears.

After all, having the life-saving item [Lin Qing’s Medical License] to fall back on, he took a bold gamble this time.

…And it succeeded.

Due to professional habits, Wen Jianyan was always exceptionally attentive to small details.

In this special route, the family portrait placed at the entrance hall wasn’t covered in thick dust, so he could clearly see that the background behind the photo was exactly the living room of 1304.

You should know, the requirement to clear the special route was to recreate the events that once occurred in Room 1304, but it didn’t specify exactly what event!

A family of four dying of poisoning naturally satisfied this condition.

Then, a family of four taking a family portrait in the living room—why wouldn’t that work too?

A wave of “…” floated across the “Integrity First” live broadcast room.

[…]

[…Fuck.]

[…………Fuck!!!]

[That works! That! Actually! Works?!]

[Why can this dog scammer find bugs in the live broadcast quests from such tricky angles every time?]

[Hahahahahahahaha damn… if I were the system, I’d target you too!!!]

Just then, a light “creak” was heard coming from the door, abruptly breaking the deadly silence in the room.

…What the hell?

Wen Jianyan was so frightened his shoulders shuddered, almost jumping straight up.

The faint light of the corridor flowed in through the cracked door, illuminating a hunched, aged figure. She was holding two plates of lavish meat dishes in her hands. A rich aroma slowly wafted into the room, mixing with the strong rotting stench inside, becoming exceptionally pungent and complex.

Wen Jianyan had just finished throwing up a moment ago. Smelling this odor now, his stomach couldn’t help but cramp again, his face turning even paler.

Clack, clack, clack.

Slow and heavy footsteps approached.

The white-haired old woman, leaning on a cane, walked step by step into the dark room. Although her eyes were already half-blind, she knew the layout of the room very well. She completely didn’t need the help of light as she walked straight towards the dining area.

She stacked the two plates of meat dishes she was holding onto the rotted food plates, turning a blind eye to the three weird paper dolls in the dining room, muttering madly to herself:

“You guys need to eat well; Mom will bring you more tomorrow.”

Wen Jianyan blanked, then immediately reacted.

No wonder there were so many rotted dishes on the table.

After witnessing the death scene of the family of four, the maddened mother-in-law still thought her family members were alive, so she would come to deliver dinner every day.

Right at this moment, the old woman in front of him suddenly paused her movements. She slowly turned her head, and those eyes covered in white cataracts landed precisely on Wen Jianyan standing to the side:

“Is that you, Xiuqing?”

She tremblingly stretched out an old hand, shrunk like tree bark, groping in the air: “Have you eaten yet?”

Amidst the pitch-black background, the young man took a step forward and gently supported the old woman’s arm.

He slightly lowered his eyelids, his tone gentle and intimate:

“It’s me, Mom.”

“I’ve already eaten, what about you?”
__

Author’s Note:

Mother-in-law: What did you eat? Takeout? See if I don’t knock your head off (not)

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