Chapter 43: Meeting Me Is Your Bad Luck!

Boom……

With the countdown ending, Livestream Room No. 1 shut down.

At the very moment of being kicked out, all the online viewers heard that massive explosion.

It was over. Everyone in the hell-difficulty instance was dead!

……

A sudden flash of light before their eyes, and the corridor transformed into a spooky forest shrouded in red mist.

Duoduo let out an "eh" sound, looked around with curiosity, and then turned her gaze to Ling Yun.

"Daddy, how did we come out? Where is Big Brother? Is Big Brother still inside?"

Not seeing Zhang Yangfan, Duoduo subconsciously assumed that her foolish big brother had gotten separated from them.

Before Ling Yun could reply, the stutterer, who had just escaped with her life, widened her eyes in astonishment.

"I didn't die... and I actually cleared the instance?"

The stutterer muttered to herself and looked around.

She realized that including herself, there were only eight people left in the spooky forest.

"We cleared it! We actually cleared the instance!" the man with glasses said excitedly.

He looked down at the bomb originally strapped to his chest and found it was gone.

Before he could recover from his shock, the curly-haired woman frowned doubtfully.

"That's not right, though. Didn't the rules of the game say only three people could survive?"

"No... not just three. If the specter is eli... eliminated, you can also clear the instance!" the stutterer explained. "Someone must have ki... killed the specter!"

"Who cares how we cleared it? As long as we're alive!" The stylish young man curved his eyes, feeling immensely happy.

Not only was he still alive, but he had also acquired a considerable amount of points.

This hell-difficulty instance had yielded a bountiful harvest.

The tall man hadn't killed few people either, netting over two hundred points.

Acting as though he had grasped the secret code to wealth, a sharp glint quickly flashed across his eyes.

He turned and walked right up to the man with glasses, raising his fist to smash it into the latter's face.

The man with glasses shrank his neck in fright and instinctively closed his eyes.

"After leaving the instance, players are strictly prohibited from killing within the spooky forest. Violators will die!"

A voice suddenly echoed through the spooky forest.

The tall man received a mild electric shock and pulled back his hand in pain.

"What kind of damned rule is this?"

He unhappily glanced around, then retracted his gaze and stared coldly at the man with glasses.

"Glasses, I'll remember you. You'd better not show up in front of me again in the future, or I'll kill you, hmph!"

Hlinging down this threat, the tall man turned and walked aside.

"The clearance portal is o... open!"

The stutterer pointed at the black vortex and shouted excitedly.

She and the man with glasses hurried forward, but just as they were about to reach the vortex, they were shoved away ruthlessly.

The tall man stepped in front of the vortex and cast a cold glance at them.

"I'll wait for you outside!"

With that, the tall man turned and walked into the vortex.

Watching his figure disappear, the stutterer and the man with glasses looked at each other, neither daring to take a single step forward.

The tall man was waiting for them outside; the moment they stepped out, they would be killed.

Yet if they didn't go out, once the portal closed, they would die just the same.

"Glasses, wh... what should we do?"

The stutterer looked at the man with glasses, her eyes brimming with despair.

She had managed to survive the instance with such difficulty, only to face death once more.

She didn't want to die—her boyfriend was still waiting for her in the real world!

The man with glasses pressed his lips together, his face drained of color.

After a moment of thought, he suddenly said, "Let's wait a little longer. We'll go out just before the portal closes. By then, he might have left!"

"Right, they ha... have been killing people in the instance all along, so they must have con... consumed a lot of stamina. He won't have the en... energy to keep waiting forever!"

The stutterer nodded, as if agreeing with the man with glasses, but equally trying hard to convince herself.

Their conversation drifted slowly into Duoduo's ears.

Duoduo stood stunned for a long time before she finally processed the words, her eyes suddenly turning red.

She lifted her small face and looked up at Ling Yun.

"Daddy, did Big Brother di... die?"

"No, he's just tired and went back to rest first." Ling Yun stroked Duoduo's little head.

Duoduo sniffled, her soft, milky voice tinged with a sob.

"Really? But they said you have to eliminate the specter to clear the instance!"

Duoduo looked at Ling Yun, feeling a pang of sorrow in her heart.

She knew her big brother was a specter, and that for them to live, her brother had to die.

Yet she didn't want her brother to die; she wanted to stay with him forever!

"Duoduo, no matter when it is, Daddy will never lie to you. Zhang Yangfan is fine. Specters can never truly die."

"Mm, then Duoduo believes Daddy!" Duoduo nodded and wiped away her tears.

Before she could banish the wave of sadness, Ling Yun suddenly picked her up and carried her toward the black vortex.

Looking at the familiar vortex, Duoduo tightly wrapped her arms around Ling Yun's neck.

"Daddy, Duoduo doesn't want to leave. Please don't chase Duoduo away, okay?"

"Duoduo, temporary separation is for the sake of the next reunion. Be a good girl and go back, and Daddy promises to come see you next time."

Ling Yun squatted down and set Duoduo on the ground.

Duoduo threw her arms around his neck, refusing to let go.

"No, I don't want to be separated from Daddy!"

"Duoduo!" Ling Yun's voice suddenly turned a bit stern. "If you don't behave, you won't be able to see me next time!"

Duoduo stopped making a fuss, her round, glossy eyes staring unblinkingly at Ling Yun.

Seeing his solemn expression and realizing he wasn't joking with her,

Duoduo's small mouth turned down, and tears swirled in her eyes.

"Duoduo will be a good girl. Will Daddy come to see Duoduo again?"

"I will!" Ling Yun answered decisively.

It wasn't just Duoduo who couldn't bear to part with him; he couldn't bear to part with Duoduo either.

As long as Duoduo entered the instance, he would find a way to see her!

"Then let's pinky promise!"

Duoduo extended her hand, her little pinky pointing upward.

Ling Yun imitated her gesture, hooking his little pinky as well.

Duoduo tried to link her pinky with his, only to realize her fingers were too short to catch her father's finger.

Instead, she simply opened her palm and gently grasped Ling Yun's little finger.

"Daddy, we pinky promised, so you can't go back on your word. If you break a promise, you'll turn into Zhu Bajie!"

"Alright, no going back on my word."

This was Ling Yun's first time coaxing a child, and he felt a hint of helplessness in his heart.

To think that he, a dignified great general, had been fierce and valiant in battle during his life, decapitating enemies with a single stroke of his blade.

After death, upon arriving at the spooky forest, he had also become a figure of terror for both humans and specters alike.

Yet now, he was speaking in gentle whispers, coaxing a child.

He really was regressing the older he got!

"You should go now."

Ling Yun released her hand and urged Duoduo to leave.

Judging by the time, the portal was about to close.

Duoduo obediently nodded and turned to walk toward the vortex.

Reluctant to leave, she turned her head every three steps.

The distance of just a few steps took her a full two minutes to finally cross into the vortex.

"She's out!" The tall man waiting outside stretched his limbs.

That damn man with glasses had really made him wait long enough!

He raised his fist, preparing himself to beat the man with glasses to death.

However, the next moment, a toddler appeared right before his eyes.

"It's not the man with glasses!" The tall man felt a sense of disappointment.

Yet shortly after, the corners of his mouth curled up again as he stared coldly at Duoduo.

So what if it wasn't the man with glasses? He wanted points either way.

He had seen this little ghost in the hell-difficulty instance.

Killing her would net him at least 50 points.

"Little ghost, running into me is your bad luck!"