In the night, a small house stands on the wasteland with bright lights.
Inside the house, a tall young man stood in front of the window, holding a watering can and watering the pots of flowers on the windowsill. He hummed lazily with a comfortable posture.
The golden retriever with smooth hair had nothing to do, so it slowly walked to his feet, sat down upright, rubbed its head against his calves to act coquettishly, and its tail behind it slapped the ground.
The young man drooped his eyelashes and glanced down at it, his thin lips curled up, and a smile flashed in his narrow phoenix eyes.
That picturesque face also added a bit of warmth, making it look very approachable.
"What? Are you bored?" the young man asked with a warm and pleasant voice.
He put down the watering can, and then put his slender and handsome hands on the big golden retriever's head and started rubbing it.
The young man faced the inky night outside the window.
The light from inside the house was projected out the window, creating a small bright space on the grass outside the window.
And in the distant night, something seemed to be shaking and approaching rapidly.
The young man didn't even raise his head, as if he hadn't noticed anything. He just rubbed the dog's head and muttered to himself softly, "I seem to be a little bored lately."
As soon as the words fell, the thing that jumped out of the night finally entered the light outside the window.
With a loud bang——
A human face was pressed heavily against the glass window, and the entire window shook!
The young man paused, raised his head and looked.
The face pressed against the glass window was so close.
The man's eyes were wide open, bloodshot all over the whites of his eyes.
Sweat made his hair stick to his forehead, and his face was almost pale from fear and frantic escape.
He opened his mouth wide, gasping for breath, his pupils trembling as he stared at the young man in the room.
It was a very strange thing to meet such a calm, clean and handsome young man in such a place and at such a time. The look in his eyes even seemed as if he thought he was hallucinating.
But then, his eyes rolled around again, and he glanced dully at the door of the house next to him. As if he had finally found a life-saving rope, his face suddenly lit up.
However, just as he stretched out his arm towards the door.
A huge beast claw, big enough to cover the entire body of an adult, attacked silently from behind!
Thick blood splattered on the glass window.
The person who was alive in the last second has now been squeezed to the point of being completely deformed, sticking to the window like a piece of skin, with the last moment of unwillingness and despair still on his face, slowly sliding down.
The young man, Xia Jing, stopped smiling and looked at the dirty human-shaped bloodstain on the window with an expressionless face.
In the darkness of the night, the giant beast stood quietly outside the house.
The golden retriever seemed to have noticed something. He stood up uneasily, tilted his head, thought for a moment, and then took a cautious step back.
——A pair of huge animal eyes quietly appeared outside the small glass window, peeking inside.
One of the behemoth's eyes is half the size of an adult.
It crawled outside the window, staring straight at the summer scenery inside the house.
The sharp, one-meter-long animal teeth were almost pressed against the glass window. It seemed that with just a slight force, the fragile glass could be shattered in an instant, and the young man in the house could be easily bitten in half.
Its appetite seemed to have given it countless fantasies, and saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth.
Its claws dug up the ground beneath its feet impatiently, but just as it opened its mouth and exhaled a puff of hot air, wanting to put its imagination into practice.
The young man in the room raised his eyes slightly, moved his gaze away from the bloodstains, and looked directly at it.
The giant beast froze in place.
There was no trace of emotion in the young man's beautiful phoenix eyes.
All that was left was coldness, as cold as a glacier that had existed for thousands of years, so cold that it seemed to have frozen the entire wasteland.
…
…
The giant beast's eyes disappeared outside the window.
With the sound of heavy footsteps, the beast turned around and slowly walked back into the darkness...
The golden retriever swallowed and glanced at Xia Jing.
The scenery outside the window began to change.
The wasteland disappeared, replaced by a summer rainforest, and screams could be heard faintly in the distance.
Then the rain forest disappeared, and what appeared outside the window was a close-fitting stone wall. I didn't know if I had arrived at some mysterious cave.
Then the stone wall also disappeared, and what appeared was a desert, a snowfield, the surface of the moon, and a green wall maze...
This house began its daily drift in this strange world.
When it stopped again, Xia Jing picked up a rag, opened the door expressionlessly, walked outside, and began to wipe the glass unhappily.
The mood was obviously very bad.
The golden retriever lay there, looking at Xia Jing cleaning unhappily, and its tail started to "click" again, as if it was laughing.
This time, they stopped in an interior corridor, with the door of the house directly embedded in the corridor wall.
Xia Jing had been wiping for a while when he heard a burst of messy footsteps not far away, and a man and a woman appeared at the corner of the corridor.
They kept looking back and ran forward desperately.
When they turned around and suddenly saw Xia Jing, they were so scared that they screamed and stopped abruptly.
The man was about 1.9 meters tall and very big, like a small mountain, while the woman hid behind him. Both of them were panting and confused.
The woman looked at Xia Jing blankly and said, "Ah, you... you are... with us?"
The man immediately took a step back cautiously: "No, I don't remember this guy being among the group of people who first entered this place with us!"
The woman hesitated for a moment, her face pale. "Is that another monster?"
The man cursed, and just when the two were in a dilemma, not knowing where to escape, they noticed that line after line of words began to appear on the snow-white wall beside them.
"Four double rooms are still available today!"
"Each person pays 200g of a monster body with an energy density of 100 or higher, and can stay in the safe house for 24 hours!"
"Scan completed. You two possess monster parts that meet the criteria. If you decide to stay, please mentally consider what you intend to pay for!"
The man and woman were stunned, not knowing what was going on.
Xia Jing finally wiped away all the bloodstains.
He turned sideways and raised his eyebrows slightly.
The arrival of the new guest improved his mood, which had been ruined by the dirty blood stains.
"Welcome to the safe house. This is the chaotic area between dungeons. Monsters cannot enter here without permission. It is an absolutely safe place."
"If you want to enter the safe house," Xia Jing smiled elegantly, "please make the corresponding payment."
*
Li Jianqiang and Zhang Xue are a couple.
When the two followed Xia Jing into the safe house, they were still half-believing and half-doubting.
They had two dragon horns in their pockets. They were the things they picked up with the "old players" after they broke into this horrible place and escaped death several times. They were also the only monster parts they carried with them. They didn't expect that they would come in handy at this time.
Xia Jing brought the two to the front desk.
There is a small electronic scale on the front desk.
The dragon horn that had just disappeared from the two people's pockets through meditation was now lying quietly on the front desk table.
Xia Jing was in a good mood at the moment. He picked up a dragon horn and placed it on the scale. He said in a gentle voice, "A dragon horn has exactly 100 energy density, 202g. One dragon horn per person. You two can rest in the safe house for 24 hours."
Li Jianqiang and Zhang Xue stared at the electronic scale that was obviously not a product of human beings, and didn't know what to ask first.
Li Jianqiang was the first to speak. He looked out the window warily and asked, "Can monsters really not get in here?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the corridor outside the window disappeared, and they seemed to have arrived at the bottom of the sea in an instant. A school of fish swam past the window...?
Li Jianqiang was stunned.
"Once the door of the safe house is closed, it will start drifting irregularly. But don't worry, when you go out, it will automatically send you back to the copy you belong to." Xia Jing put away the two dragon horns with great satisfaction.
Changing the subject, he smiled and said, "If you still have extra monster parts that meet the requirements, you can upgrade your room or extend your rest time. Here's the menu, you can consider it."
Slender fingers opened a menu and clicked on it.
Zhang Xue glanced at him subconsciously.
Li Jianqiang frowned.
The menu listed the room type, package options, and total number of hours of accommodation for each gram of monster body, all with a specific energy density.
However, the fact is that this is the first time for him and Zhang Xue to enter this horrific world. They don't even understand many of the rules, let alone the extra monster bodies.
If Zhang Xue hadn't had a flash of inspiration just now and followed the "veteran player"'s example to pick up the dragon horns that fell off after the two monsters died, they wouldn't even be able to enter this so-called safe house...
In fact, Li Jianqiang didn't care about upgrading the package at all.
He watched with his own eyes as strange-looking monsters outside the window stuck to the glass window. Before he could even start to worry, the scenery outside the window changed again. It was obvious that the house was drifting towards another copy.
He swallowed, finally coming back to his senses after the previous sixteen hours of escape.
Then, violence erupted in his eyes.
He asked Xia Jing coldly: "What kind of place is this? Are you a human or a monster?"
After Xia Jing finished recording the accounts, he heard this question, smiled lightly, raised his eyes and asked:
"What do you think I am?"
The young man was really handsome. His smile made people's hearts flutter, and also made Li Jianqiang and Zhang Xue's hearts skip a beat.
Li Jianqiang came to his senses, swung his arm, and swept the menu down. He grabbed Xia Jing by the collar across the front desk table and said through gritted teeth, "Don't be so mysterious. You're human, right?! Think about it carefully. A monster can't look like you. Are you an employee of this place?"
Zhang Xue was startled and hurried to stop Li Jianqiang.
However, her eyes were also filled with fear when she looked at Xia Jing.
This is all really too weird.
They were just out shopping on an ordinary holiday and had a car accident. Unexpectedly, they entered this place called "copy game" and were surrounded by a group of monsters.
Is this some unknown human experiment?
Or is this space created by aliens?
They were completely confused and didn't want to "rest" at all. They just wanted to leave this place immediately!
This young man was the only one they had met so far who seemed harmless and was willing to communicate with them...
Zhang Xue's voice trembled: "Please, if you are an employee of this place, please ask your boss to let us go. We will never call the police, just let us go..."
Xia Jing was wearing a white shirt and looked like a frail and elegant young man.
Even though Li Jianqiang grabbed his collar and shook him savagely, his face didn't show the slightest bit of emotion.
He raised his hand and grabbed Li Jianqiang's wrist.
Those five thin and beautiful fingers looked fragile and weak, and Li Jianqiang simply disdained them.
But the next second he cried out in pain, quickly broke free, protected his wrist, took two steps back, his heart pounding, and his face filled with shock.
...This young man was too strong. At that moment, he even felt that his wrist was about to be broken!
Xia Jing stood firm and straightened his collar without changing his expression. He was not angry at Li Jianqiang's action, nor was he afraid, nor even impatient.
He simply raised his eyelids and said with a half-smile, "Boss? There's no such thing in this place."
Li Jianqiang and Zhang Xue were stunned.
Zhang Xue said anxiously: "But, but your safe house..."
Xia Jing said gently: "The moment I woke up, I was here, and the safe house was already here."
Xia Jing has a good temper most of the time and doesn't get angry easily.
He said almost gently, "So I'm very sorry. Your problems are also my problems. I can't give you any answers."
Li Jianqiang and Zhang Xue were about to ask something, but Xia Jing had already continued.
He said in a brisk tone, "By the way, please remember the rules of the safe house."
He pointed to a clock hanging on the wall behind him.
"First, please be mindful of your time. If you don't plan to renew your subscription, please remember not to wait until the 24-hour period is up, as the safe house will forcibly expel you by then, and you may face many unexpected situations."
"If you want to leave the safe house early, you can approach the door. The safe house will automatically return to your copy. You can observe the situation outside and decide when to leave."
"Secondly, the small supermarket inside the safe house supplies several small props. If you need them, you can purchase them yourself. The exchangeable items are still monster parts."
"Third," Xia Jing said with a smile, "Violence and filth are prohibited in the safe house because I don't like them."
Li Jianqiang and Zhang Xue were stunned.
Xia Jing had already walked out of the front desk, rolled up his sleeves, and asked in a casual manner, "Are you hungry? What would you like to eat? Each person can enjoy three meals within 24 hours. Your room is the first one on the left. Just open the door and go in. If you don't want to eat, you can go back to your room and rest."
Li Jianqiang opened his mouth, but Xia Jing's attitude made him not know how to continue asking.
Finally, he said gloomily, "I have no appetite."
Zhang Xue was silent for a moment, then compromised, and said tiredly, "...I, I want a bowl of noodles. Any kind of noodles will do."
Xia Jing glanced at her and smiled, "Okay, please wait a moment."
…
When Xia Jing disappeared from the kitchen entrance, Li Jianqiang taunted, "You still have an appetite?"
Zhang Xue sat dejectedly on the sofa and said sullenly, "...Who knows if this will be the last meal."
Li Jianqiang's face changed and he cursed, "Stop saying those unlucky words!"
He glanced around the safe house warily.
This safe house is roughly estimated to be around two hundred square meters.
The area at the entrance is a small living room. On the left side of the front aisle is the kitchen, and on the right side seems to be the so-called small supermarket. Going further forward, there are four rooms.
The entire safe house was tidy and clean, with flowers and plants placed by the window, two goldfish in the small goldfish tank, and a golden retriever sitting in the corner, wagging its tail from time to time and looking at them innocently... everything was full of the breath of life.
The breath of life that makes people feel safe.
Li Jianqiang turned around again and looked out the window.
I don't know which copy is outside the window.
A group of players saw the safe house. A few of them were obviously old players who knew the existence of the "safe house", so they took the lead and rushed over ecstatically.
But in the next second, cracks appeared on the ground beneath their feet, and inside the cracks were rows of fine teeth.
It turned out to be a monster's mouth...
All the players fell into the mouth of the crack in the ground. The scenery outside the window changed again, and Li Jianqiang was already sweating coldly.
The warmth inside the safe house forms a sharp contrast with the hell on earth outside, which is extremely ironic.
Li Jianqiang couldn't sit still for a moment when he thought about having to return to that copy in 24 hours.
He went to the small supermarket to take a look.
The small supermarket is filled with rows of display shelves, full of a dazzling array of goods.
All sorts of bizarre monster parts and props are hung and displayed on the shelves.
There are teeth, sickles, eyeballs, and even a bloody monster heart...
Li Jianqiang suppressed his discomfort and walked closer to take a look. Under each prop was a small price tag, which stated how many grams of monster body with such high energy density was needed to exchange it.
His eyes kept changing color, and he tried to reach out and take the props from the shelf, but he couldn't take them down at all.
There was no exchange, and the props seemed to be glued to the shelf by 502.
Li Jianqiang's heart was beating fast. He tried to use violence to take the object, but he heard a sudden chuckle behind him and almost jumped up.
Turning suddenly, he saw Xia Jing's slender silhouette flash past outside the small supermarket.
Li Jianqiang swallowed, clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and walked out of the supermarket.
…
Zhang Xue seemed to have given up asking Xia Jing anything.
Her mind was already empty with fear and exhaustion, so she finished her noodles and went back to her room to rest.
Li Jianqiang tiptoed outside for a walk and came back, saying, "That guy is definitely an employee of the boss behind this place! I just checked the kitchen, and there's no food there. The food you're eating must have been sent in from somewhere else!"
Zhang Xue stood up and listened to him.
After sixteen hours of high-pressure escape, Li Jianqiang's mental state was like a broken string.
He paced back and forth in the room, speaking rapidly: "This is definitely a man-made factory. All of this is man-made! If it's man-made, there must be a solution!"
Zhang Xue asked hesitantly, "What are you going to do?"
Li Jianqiang's eyes were bloodshot. "...I'm going to tie that guy up! Even if we can't leave this dungeon, at least we can hide in this safe house!"
Zhang Xue opened her mouth and whispered, "But you also heard what he said. When the time comes, this house will automatically kick us out."
Li Jianqiang: "As long as we control him, his life will be in danger. Do you think he dares to chase us out of this house?! Ha, and those props, the damn thing can't take them away. As long as we control that pretty boy, there is nothing here that we can't use?!"
Zhang Xue felt that Li Jianqiang had gone completely crazy.
She was almost going crazy, but Xia Jing's calmness gave her some time to breathe and think.
Zhang Xue tried to persuade him: "I always feel that the rules of this house are not that simple... and you can't deal with him, right?"
Li Jianqiang angrily said, "Of course I can't do this alone. What do you think I'm discussing with you?!"
Zhang Xue stepped back and said, "I think we'd better not force ourselves to confront that store manager..."
Li Jianqiang glared at him: "He's not a monster, why are you afraid of him? He's just a little stronger!"
Zhang Xue shook her head and said hoarsely, "This place is not a normal world at all. I can't use common sense to deduce it. I just thought carefully. That store manager may not be a monster, but he may not be human either..."
Li Jianqiang had lost the ability to think. He felt that every word he said was being refuted by Zhang Xue, and every idea he had was being denied by Zhang Xue. The mixture of irritability, anger and fear made him lose his mind.
He grabbed Zhang Xue's arm and said viciously, "No matter what happens, you hide behind me and ask me to protect you. Now I want you to help me, and this is how you treat me?!"
Zhang Xue was shocked by Li Jianqiang's brute force. She said in disbelief, "How can you say that? I'm certainly not as strong as you, but I've done a lot along the way. If it weren't for me, you would have died with those people in the beginning... Without me, we wouldn't be able to get in here now!"
Li Jianqiang laughed in anger: "So my survival is thanks to you?!"
"I, that's not what I meant. I just wanted to say that we couldn't have come this far just by you, right?" Zhang Xue began to feel scared. "Let me go. Are you crazy?"
"I'm crazy! You're still in the mood to eat noodles, but I can't eat anything!" Li Jianqiang suddenly picked her up and asked coldly, "Did you think that pretty boy must be a good person just because he looks good?"
"I didn't think so!" Zhang Xue struggled and screamed, "You forgot, violence is not allowed in this place!"
This sentence completely stimulated Li Jianqiang. He slapped Zhang Xue and knocked her down on the bed. He said fiercely: "You are using the rules of that pretty boy to threaten me——"
Before the last word fell, an invisible force sucked Li Jianqiang out of the door of the double room.
Zhang Xue was dizzy after being slapped, and could only hear Li Jianqiang's terrified howls amid the ringing in her ears.
She was startled, shook her head, got out of bed and stumbled out.
At some point, the safe house had returned to the copy they belonged to, the corridor they were familiar with.
The door was open, and Li Jianqiang was thrown out with his back facing outside like a piece of garbage.
——Flying straight towards the two-meter-tall humanoid monster with a huge dragon head, which was standing outside the safe house searching for prey. They had escaped death from its kind several times.
Zhang Xue stood there, her pupils suddenly constricted.
The humanoid monster outside the house heard the noise, turned around and stared at Li Jianqiang who was flying towards it.
It seemed to think for a second, somewhat surprised that its prey would fall from the sky.
immediately--
It narrowed its eyes and opened its mouth wide, with the corners of its mouth stretched to its temples.
With a "crack", the crisp sound of bones being bitten off was heard, and Li Jianqiang's terrified expression froze on his face.
His feet were off the ground, a row of teeth were gnashing in his neck, and his head was tilted limply to one side.
Drops of blood fell to the ground.
Zhang Xue's legs went limp and she fell to her knees.
She covered her mouth and opened her eyes wide.
The monster outside the safe house spat Li Jianqiang out of its mouth. Its cold and icy gaze passed through the living room and corridor of the safe house and greedily fell on her.
Zhang Xue couldn't make a sound, her whole body was shaking, tears kept flowing out, as if she was under a spell and couldn't move at all.
The lights in the safe house's living room had long been turned off.
Light footsteps came from the right corner.
The tall and handsome young man came into the living room and stopped in the shadows.
Zhang Xue couldn't see his face clearly.
I could only feel that he seemed to look outside.
Then, the young man's gentle voice rang out in the darkness.
"Are you going to leave with him?"
A very ordinary question.
Zhang Xue trembled all over, as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
She shook her head vigorously.
She covered her mouth, sat on the ground, moved back in despair, and shook her head continuously.
"Well, Tuanzi," the young man said gently, seemingly without any extra thoughts, "Close the door."
The golden retriever stood up and walked to the door. He looked up at the blood-spattered monster outside the door and raised his claws.
With a "bang".
The gate blocked Zhang Xue's view from the monster.
The safe house returns to darkness and tranquility.