Yin Xiu's eyes darkened. The other party was pushing their luck—more accurately, they were testing whether they could take an inch after gaining a mile.
The atmosphere between them froze once more. Yin Xiu had no intention of responding, and the other refused to back down.
Amid the silence, a piercing scream suddenly erupted from one of the nearby houses. This time, the voice was familiar-so much so that even Yin Xiu could clearly recognize it as the Little Girl's cry.
Before anyone could process it, another terrified shriek followed. A panicked figure dashed frantically from inside a house out into the open, their screams echoing the entire way.
Yin Xiu immediately tore his gaze away from Li Mo and swiftly stood up, throwing open the door to the Little Girl's room.
She was still inside, clutching her stuffed rabbit with a puzzled expression. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Stay here." Yin Xiu shut the door and strode to the window, yanking the curtains open.
Blinding light flooded the room, forcing everyone to squint. The moment the curtains parted, an unfamiliar face smacked against the glass thud, startling the Players watching from the screen.
It was a pale-faced Woman, her eyes bloodshot. She pressed herself against the window, desperately peering inside as if searching for something, muttering under her breath, "Is it here? Is it hiding here...?"
For Yin Xiu, who had faced the Night Goddess's sudden appearances countless times, this was nothing. His gaze coolly swept past the Woman as he turned to look outside.
The scene beyond the house resembled a remote mountain village, inconsistent with the town setting mentioned in the background. The house he was in was a modest single-story dwelling, each one small and barely enough for a family to live in.
The neighboring houses belonged to other Players from different dimensional towns participating in the same Instance. Each occupied their own space, progressing through the early stages of the Instance separately before eventually converging as the plot advanced.
Right now, one Player, driven to the brink of madness by terror, stumbled and collapsed onto the grass outside his house. Clutching his head in horror, he stared blankly at his own home, his pupils dilated. "Dead... she's dead... she was killed... I'm next... I'm going to die soon..."
As he mumbled incoherently, his hands slowly rose of their own accord.
Before Yin Xiu could figure out who "she" referred to, the Player suddenly clutched his own throat, cutting off all sound.
His hands seemed controlled by some invisible force. Despite his body's instinctive resistance, his grip remained locked around his neck, unrelenting. His face turned purple, his eyes bulging, until, after a prolonged struggle of choked whimpers, he collapsed to the ground with a final twitch, his eyes rolling back.
"Holy shit... what just happened?" Voices from other rooms rang out, filled with shock and disbelief.
This was a beginner's Instance, and most of the Players were newcomers. Having stayed in their rooms since waking up, this was their first time witnessing such a scene, and fear gripped them.
"He's dead! He must've broken a rule!" someone shouted in panic.
"Which rule did he actually break?! I'm so scared!"
"Out of nowhere, it's terrifying..."
Amidst the murmurs around him, Yin Xiu didn't have time to dwell on the player's death. He slowly turned his gaze to the woman now pressed against his glass window.
He remembered the man had been muttering about "her" death. This "her" must have been in his room, otherwise he wouldn't have fled in panic. The only female whose death in his room would affect his survival was the Little Girl.
It wasn't that he had broken a rule-it was that he failed to watch over the Little Girl, allowing her to violate a rule.
"Is she inside... is she hiding in there?" The woman at the window remained glued to the glass, her wide eyes scanning the room, her mouth bubbling with indistinct sounds, showing no intention of leaving.
When she noticed items belonging to the Little Girl inside, her face slowly stretched into a broad grin, her pupils gleaming. "I see her things in there! She's inside-she must be hidden in this room!"
Instance Survival Rule #5: Do not open the door for anyone outside, and conceal the Little Girl's presence.
And Mother's Note #3: Do not open the door for anyone. Do not let them discover you.
A rule appearing on both notes must be of utmost importance: never let outsiders find the Little Girl hidden here.
If the door were accidentally opened, allowing outsiders to discover and enter, the outcome might mirror that of the player moments ago.
The woman at the window grew increasingly excited, as if eager to confirm her suspicion. She tried pushing the door open, but it was locked.
Upon realizing this, she immediately turned to leave, still muttering incessantly, "I'll go call others to help find her! We must dig her out!"
"Wait!" Yin Xiu's brow twitched as he swiftly called out to her. The mention of "others" filled him with dread. "Who are you looking for?"
The woman chuckled eerily, turning back with a pallid, bloodless face radiating menace. "A girl—a monster girl. Is she hiding in your house?"
"She's not in my house," Yin Xiu calmly denied. "I only have one daughter, away at school. She hasn't returned yet."
"Daughter?" His effortless lie gave the woman pause. After a brief delay, she slowly responded, "So those were your daughter's things..."
Seizing her hesitation, Yin Xiu pressed on, "What will you do if you find that monster girl?"
Her ghastly smile returned. "She's a monster, a blight on this town. Of course, we'll kill her!"
Clearly, the player's mistake had been accidentally letting this woman inside, leading to the Little Girl's death. But judging by her words, if she grew suspicious, even if she couldn't enter now, she'd rally others to force their way in.
This woman had to be dealt with carefully—otherwise, the consequences would be dire.
As his thoughts paused briefly, the Woman pressed herself against the glass window again, her eyes rolling eerily in their sockets. "You look quite young—hardly old enough to be married with a daughter, let alone one already attending school. The ages... don't add up, do they?"
Live comments instantly flooded in panic: Holy shit, since when are Monstrosities this sharp?! Is this even the same beginner Instance I cleared?!
Yin Xiu hadn't expected her to suddenly launch into such pointed interrogation. After a few seconds of silence, he replied coolly with an impassive expression, "Adopted."
"Oh? Adopting a school-aged daughter at such a young age?" The Woman's smile suddenly turned knowing. "What's the reason? Or... do you even have a daughter? Is she the one inside the house?"
Yin Xiu exhaled calmly. "What other reason could there be? Can't have kids, so we adopted. Is there another reason for adoption?"
"Can't have kids? Who can't? Your wife? Or you?" The Woman pressed on with malicious glee, her smirk widening as if she'd seized the upper hand.
"Or maybe... you don't even have a wife, and adopted first?"
Under her relentless questioning, Yin Xiu calmly turned sideways, revealing Li Mo sitting in the corner of the room. "He can't have kids."
The Woman's gaze flicked inside-and her sharp, domineering aura froze the instant she saw Li Mo.
A man? His wife is a man? ... Well, that would explain the infertility.
But this... this...
The sheer audacity of his response left her momentarily speechless, her control over the conversation slipping. After a long pause, she finally managed, "So... you two couldn't have kids and just adopted a daughter instead?"
"Got a problem with that?" Yin Xiu retorted unflinchingly, narrowing his eyes. "You can casually murder a Little Girl, but I can't adopt one to cherish?"
The Woman's expression twisted into something inscrutable, but she couldn't find any further flaws. After hitting a wall with Yin Xiu, she reluctantly took two steps back. "Fine. I'll believe the thing in your house is your daughter. But don't let me find her."
As she turned to head toward the other Players' doors, a sudden thud echoed from inside Yin Xiu's house—something had collided with the door. The sound immediately snapped the Woman's attention back.
Her face slammed against the glass again, eyes darting wildly as her voice rose with excitement.
"You said your daughter was at school! Then who made that noise just now?! Was it her?!"