"Should I rewrite them for you?" Yin Xiu asked meaningfully, his tone lazy yet laced with a faint threat.
The Little Girl hesitated, fiddling with the rabbit in her arms. She glanced at Li Mo before reluctantly nodding, mumbling, "Fine..."
Her uncharacteristically docile demeanor in front of Yin Xiu stunned the Players watching outside the screen. She actually agreed? Was she really this compliant? Was this the same ferocious Monster they had seen earlier?
Some skeptically switched to the live feeds of other rooms. There, the Little Girl had transformed into a savage Monstrosity, tearing into Players who had broken the rules. The scenes in other rooms were far more gruesome—bloodshed and carnage everywhere, enough to make one's hair stand on end.
But when they switched back to Yin Xiu's room, the Little Girl sat obediently on the sofa, clutching her plush toy, while Yin Xiu sat beside her, calmly rewriting the rules on paper. The scene was peaceful, almost serene.
Even the Little Girl, who wasn't raging or biting anyone, seemed timid and well-behaved, her demeanor now oddly endearing.
"Why is Yin Xiu's Instance so different from everyone else's?!"
"How should I know?! It's like the Monstrosities in the Instance just behave around him!"
"I refuse to believe it! There's no way every Monstrosity acts this tame in front of him! There's gotta be one that can put him in his place!"
"I don't get it either! The first time I ran this Instance, this little girl scared me so bad I hid in my room for a whole day! Why is she so well-behaved now?!"
"I'm kinda salty about this, damn it! Why wasn't she this nice when I was here?!"
The Live comments were filled with complaints, but all attention remained fixed on Yin Xiu's room.
"Let me think... how should I summarize what your mom left for you?" Yin Xiu was cautious. He wouldn't fully replicate the original note's content to avoid accidentally creating new Instance rules. Instead, he simplified it.
1. Never go outside.
Staying in the room would eliminate any chance of stepping out.
2. Don't look in the mirrors
He glanced around-at least there were no mirrors in the living room, and the Little Girl's room probably didn't have any either, or she would've broken the rule already. But the bathroom definitely had one.
He wrote: Minimize bathroom trips.
3. Don't open the door for anyone. Don't let them find you.
Staying inside and rarely coming out would suffice.
4. Eat every day.
Though it said "eat every day," one meal a day still counted. Plus, eating less would mean fewer bathroom visits.
5. Always sleep in your own room at night.
6. On the third day, retrieve the package Mom left outside the door.
After carefully reviewing the Little Girl's rules, Yin Xiu wrote down the following for her:
- One meal a day.
- Return to your room after eating.
- Stay inside during the day.
- No leaving at night.
The Little Girl stared at the short list of instructions, deep in thought.
This was basically torture.
The only difference between this and prison was that she could come out to use the bathroom during the day... Wait, even prisoners got three meals a day.
"Big Brother... is this really what Mom asked me to do?" The Little Girl frowned, clutching the note and looking at Yin Xiu for confirmation.
"Right." Yin Xiu nodded calmly, capping his pen. "Do these things, and your mom will return in three days."
The Little Girl's expression was inscrutable. She wasn't human, and Yin Xiu definitely wasn't either.
"But only one meal a day is abuse..." she whined in protest.
With a grave expression, Yin Xiu patted her head helplessly. "No choice. Your mom just wants to abuse you."
The Little Girl instantly tightened her grip around the stuffed rabbit's neck, her face alternating between green and pale.
Her mother's note definitely didn't say that!
She had complaints, but didn't dare voice them.
"Alright, hurry back to your room now." Yin Xiu indifferently ignored her agitated mood, picking her up and tossing her back into the room. He added, "Call me if you're hungry or need the bathroom. I'll open the door for you."
With that, he swiftly shut the door, locking the Little Girl inside.
Facing the closed door, the Little Girl stood stunned. Locking an innocent, pitiful little girl in a room with only one meal a day and no going out? She might as well be in prison! She'd never suffered such treatment from other Players!
Taking a deep breath, she squeezed the stuffed rabbit tightly, her childish face twisting into a vicious glare.
If she got the chance, she'd definitely take a big bite out of Yin Xiu's head—that awful brother!
But for now...
The Little Girl absentmindedly rubbed the rabbit in her arms, sensing the chilling, intangible presence seeping under the door. She obediently shrank her head down.
Revenge was a dish best served cold. No matter. Every Little Girl in the Players' rooms was part of her. If she suffered here with Yin Xiu, surely she wouldn't with the others? Time to vent her frustration!
Not long after Yin Xiu tossed the Little Girl back into her room, screams from other Players began echoing down the hallway, rising and falling in waves.
He calmly put away his pen and paper. Having dealt with the Little Girl, it was time to handle the next matter.
Though Li Mo, sitting silently in the corner, hadn't interrupted during Yin Xiu's conversation with the Little Girl, his presence was anything but subtle.
His gaze clung to Yin Xiu like a coiling serpent, impossible to shake.
Now that the Little Girl was back in her room, only
the two of them remained in the living room. When Yin Xiu looked up, he saw Li Mo sitting properly in the corner chair, watching him with his usual smile.
That smile was too perfect—the curve of his lips unchanging, so much so that prolonged exposure triggered a faint uncanny valley effect.
Yin Xiu had always been wary of this mysterious man and preferred to keep him at a distance. But keeping him out was difficult, especially now that they were in the Instance and nominally roommates.
The two stared at each other, neither speaking.
After a moment of silence, Yin Xiu averted his gaze first and broke the quiet. "I know you can't see the rules, so you can't navigate the Instance."
The man tilted his chin slightly, waiting for him to continue.
"I won't ask about you, nor do I care what you are."
"The situation is this: you opened the door and put me in danger, so I dragged you into this Instance. If you want to leave smoothly, you'll listen to me."
His voice was soft and languid, not so much a negotiation as a statement.
No matter how bizarre or dangerous the man opposite him was, as long as he didn't know the rules, he would be unable to move freely in this Instance—ultimately just trapped within it.
In this situation, Yin Xiu was still the one in control, holding the upper hand.
"Alright." The man smiled in agreement without hesitation, as if he hadn't even been listening properly.
This effortless ease made him seem even more like the one in charge than Yin Xiu.
"Also..." Yin Xiu turned his gaze to meet the man's eyes. In that single glance, something deep within the other's pupils seemed to react instantly—restless and agitated.
Such intense scrutiny was impossible to relax under, even for Yin Xiu. "Could you stop staring at me all the time?"
The annoyance in Yin Xiu's voice only widened the man's grin. "I'm afraid that's not possible."
The eerie aura radiating from him was impossible to ignore. Whether it was his perpetually poised posture, his ever-present smile, or his unwavering gaze—he was like a predator lying in wait, motionless yet never once shifting his attention away from Yin Xiu.
Occasionally, after staring too long, a faint gulp would rise in his throat, accompanied by the unsettling sound of excitedly swallowing saliva, sending chills down Yin Xiu's spine.
From the very first moment Yin Xiu had laid eyes on him, he had been on high alert. Precisely because he never let his guard down, the other remained in a state of hunting, constantly lingering nearby, watching him up close in preparation.
It was like walking through a forest and brushing past a bear—only for the bear to lock eyes with you, its mouth watering as it trailed behind you, following, staring.
You knew you were being watched, yet you could never predict when it would strike.
The thought that this tension might persist until the Instance ended—or even longer—made Yin Xiu wish the other would at least tone it down a little.
"Then at least don't stare at me while I'm sleeping," he murmured, lowering his demands and conceding a step.
The man pondered for a few seconds, the curve of his lips deepening. "No staring, but I'll stay by your side."