In the middle of the night, a heavy weight pressed down on Yin Xiu, jolting him awake. He opened his eyes abruptly, only to find himself paralyzed.
His room was freezing cold. In the pitch-black darkness, something unseen had firmly pinned his limbs to the bed-like sleep paralysis, yet not entirely, because the thing on top of him was still moving.
A chilling sensation coiled around his waist, slipping beneath his clothes to glide against his skin. From what Yin Xiu could perceive, it felt like a long, cold, and slimy object winding around him, slowly creeping up from his thighs, writhing over his waist and abdomen before curling around his neck, making his breath quicken.
Though the touch was icy and slick, it clung tightly to his skin, leaving behind a faint heat wherever it touched—rendering him completely immobile.
Instance Survival Rule Seven: If you sense something has entered your room, loudly call for your roommate to come to you. Afterward, the two of you must stay together until dawn.
Yin Xiu wasn't sure what had triggered Rule Seven, but the moment he regained full awareness of the situation, he opened his mouth to call for Li Mo in the next room. Even if he was also a dangerous presence, at least he was nominally his roommate.
Yet the instant he tried to speak, the thing shot up and sealed his lips.
"Mmph..." Yin Xiu attempted to shout, but the sound was stifled in his throat, weak and futile.
A cold, viscous fluid invaded his mouth, probing curiously—sliding along his palate, tracing and exploring as if studying the structure of a human's oral cavity.
Yin Xiu furrowed his brows, struggling with all his might to regain control of his body. But his efforts only resulted in slight tremors. Under the overwhelming pressure, he lay helpless on the bed, unable to fight back.
The anomaly with Yin Xiu quickly caught the attention of the live comments.
"Look, Yin Xiu seems off."
"Not just him-the players who survived the living room and made it back to their rooms are all acting strange now."
"I suspect it's that thing from the living room. It didn't kill the players hiding there, but it followed them back to their rooms. That's why Rule Seven exists."
"I think so too. Otherwise, Rule Seven's trigger would be too random—like it just picks a room on a whim."
"Ah... that player's body looks like it's being twisted by something..."
"Holy shit... his spine just snapped alive, and his limbs too..."
"Damn, I was about to go to sleep. Now I can't."
"Another player's getting tortured too. So brutal..."
"It seems none of them reacted fast enough to call their roommates. At this point, if it's in a player's room, the living room should be safe to pass through."
"Calling a roommate doesn't mean they'll come. That guy called, but his roommate didn't show..."
"Good teammates are crucial. But why hasn't Yin Xiu called for help?"
"Looks like he can't..."
The players' gazes locked onto the feed from Yin Xiu's room. They could clearly see something invisible coiling around him—his clothes bulged and shifted as something slithered beneath them.
He lay motionless on the bed, his head seemingly fixed in place by an unseen force.
Even if Yin Xiu wanted to resist, every struggle only resulted in the faintest twitch.
He was like prey ensnared and bitten by a serpent, unable to struggle or resist, only able to await death within its coils.
"Say what you will, but the way he struggles on the bed is kinda... you know."
"Shut up! I don't want to hear it!"
"Haha, you got the idea anyway. If you won't listen, you can watch. Yin Xiu is struggling quite fiercely—his clothes are all rucked up."
"Red marks from the coils are starting to appear on his skin. It looks pretty eerie."
"But it also looks even more... you know."
"Stop talking! I won't look, I won't look!"
"If you don't look, you might miss the scene of the big shot's death."
"Enough already, you up front. Among the Players who've been targeted so far, aside from the one who called their roommate, the rest are all dead.
Only Yin Xiu has lasted this long."
"Yeah, all the Players who triggered the rules at the same time have died as they should. How is he still alive?"
"Haven't you noticed that 'it' doesn't seem intent on killing him? It's just tormenting him. If it really wanted to kill him, it'd be over in an instant."
"Pervert! The Monstrosity in this Instance is such a pervert! Since when did they learn to torture people?!"
"Calling it torment... feels more like it's playing with him..."
"The other Players couldn't move at all—they were strangled instantly. But Yin Xiu can still struggle occasionally, the coils loosening and tightening to let him resist as a form of amusement."
"Playing with him will still end in death. Only a freak would toy with their prey like this!"
Yin Xiu had also realized this. The thing wrapped around him would loosen slightly whenever it sensed he'd stopped moving, giving him a semblance of control. But the moment he resisted, it would immediately tighten, trapping him firmly again.
After thoroughly exploring his mouth, it covered his lips and began crawling over the rest of his body, examining other areas as though studying a specimen.
Yin Xiu exhaled softly, his pale eyes fixed unwaveringly on the unseen presence in the darkness, quietly conserving his strength as he waited for the next opportunity to act.
Noticing Yin Xiu's stillness again, it tentatively loosened its grip further, tightening instantly upon release—but this time, Yin Xiu didn't resist at all.
His silence was unnerving, making its actions even more unpredictable. A prey that stopped struggling entirely was no fun, so it relaxed its hold more and more, waiting for Yin Xiu to fight back. After all, it could always coil around him again whenever it pleased.
The moment he sensed its slackening, Yin Xiu narrowed his eyes sharply. His right hand, now free to move, instantly grasped the knife at his waist, unsheathing it in one swift motion to slash through the unseen presence before him.
A cold glint flashed—something in the darkness seemed to tear apart.
Not giving it a chance to coil around him again, Yin Xiu abruptly called out toward the door, "Li Mo!"
His voice pierced through the bedroom, crossed the living room, and reached the other room.
The man sitting silently in the darkness opened his eyes abruptly, the ever-present smile on his face now more enigmatic than usual.
Li Mo lowered his gaze and raised his hand. A clean slash ran across his palm, from which a viscous black liquid oozed—only to retract moments later, the wound vanishing without a trace.
The lingering warmth and sensation on his palm remained vivid, almost reluctant to fade.
"So this is what a human mouth is like," he murmured thoughtfully, rising from his chair. Slowly, he opened the door and walked toward Yin Xiu's room.
If there was another chance, he would study other parts next time.