Yin Xiu drew the curtains and began to curl up on the sofa to watch TV.
The town's televisions don't broadcast any information related to the real world; they only show the same footage as the screens in the square—players experiencing dungeons.
At this moment, a player was sitting in the classroom, engrossed in writing. Next to him stood a thin, twisted, almost inhuman teacher who was staring down at him with a strange smile on his face. The player, being stared at, trembled and dared not look up. The entire classroom was also too afraid to breathe.
A comment drifted by: "This dungeon is too hard. No one in our town has ever cleared it yet, right?"
"Yeah... More and more players are dying in dungeons lately. It'll probably rain tonight and bring in new players. Our town is well-planned, but we haven't had any new players for a long time."
"Sigh, I wonder how long the newbies can survive. If they don't memorize the rules when they first enter the dungeon, they almost never get out."
"Why don't I just live in a small town like Yin Xiu? What's the point of running dungeons? Survival is the most important thing."
"What are you thinking? Staying in this place for too long will inevitably lead to an accident. Didn't you see the person who died in the house a couple of days ago? His neck was broken."
"...I saw it. I had nightmares for two days. I was too scared to move at night if I heard even the slightest sound."
"Me too, I really can't stand it. On the other hand, Yin Xiu just glanced at it and walked away expressionlessly. He seems to have no feelings when facing dead people. Isn't he the real weirdo in town?"
"Speaking of which, normal players are automatically pulled into dungeons every now and then, but he's always stayed in town and hasn't gone in. I don't know why..."
"He's always been strange. Every night, Lady Ye goes to see him. Living in the same alley as him, I really can't sleep at all."
"Hey, stop talking. Don't forget that the comments in this town are shared, and Yin Xiu can see them too. Be careful he doesn't get angry."
The screen went completely blank immediately, with no messages remaining.
Yin Xiu propped his chin up with his hand, squinted at the TV, looking sleepy, and curled up on the sofa, dozing off.
A moment later, another message appeared on the screen: "Those who haven't slept yet, hurry up and go to sleep. Be careful, the Night Goddess is coming."
As the barrage of comments drifted by, many of the lights in the town quickly went out.
The streets were deserted and silent, and a cold wind swept through the dark alley.
There were light footsteps in the alley, but no one appeared. Only a huge, unidentified black shadow was moving between the cracks in the wall.
The footsteps paused briefly in front of each house, and with each pause came a deep, clear chewing sound from outside, the crunching noise sending chills down one's spine in the night.
The sound continued all the way, finally stopping in front of Yin Xiu's door. This time, there was no chewing sound.
"Knock knock!"
Someone knocked on the glass window outside Yin Xiu's house. Although it was a light knock, the entire door and window shook.
Yin Xiu lifted his droopy eyelids wearily and glanced at the doorway out of the corner of his eye.
He got up and walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and in the moonlight, a pale, smiling woman's face was pressed tightly against his glass window, staring intently at Yin Xiu.
Her long hair was disheveled and hung to the ground, her face was bloodless, but the corners of her smiling mouth were stained with an unknown red liquid. Her huge body almost filled the entire narrow alley, crawling in the alley in a twisted and bizarre posture.
"What is this?" Lady Ye held up a small iron bowl with her index finger. Inside, a bowl of clear water swayed, with two swollen tea leaves floating on it.
"Tea," Yin Xiu replied calmly, pouring himself a cup by the window.
The Night Goddess's smiling face froze, her expression gradually turning ferocious. Her voice was low and even tinged with gritted teeth as she asked again, "What is this?"
"It's just tea," Yin Xiu said dismissively, raising his cup to the woman outside the window. "Want a sip?"
With a snap, the small iron bowl was crushed. The Night Goddess's pale face was pressed tightly against the glass window, her wide pupils bloodshot, reflecting Yin Xiu's expressionless face. "I am not satisfied with your offering. I want to change it."
Her finger slowly pointed at Yin Xiu inside the room, a low growl emanating from her throat, "You must become my sacrifice."
"don't want."
Yin Xiu answered decisively, his eyelids drooping, "Can you please stop bothering me every day? I can't sleep well all night. What's wrong with eating so much meat and having a cup of tea? Why are you being so dramatic?"
The two voices were very clear at night, and almost everyone in the alley could hear Yin Xiu's words, and they couldn't help but huddle under their blankets and gasp.
They had seen the enraged Night Goddess bite off a person's head in one bite, and they had seen houses trampled flat overnight and people lying in pieces all over the ground.
In the entire town, only Yin Xiu dared to speak to Lady Ye like that; it was truly like dancing a rave on the edge of death.
The Night Goddess's expression began to twist. She slammed her huge hand against the glass window of Yin Xiu's house, and the entire glass cracked with a snap, startling everyone else.
"I'm going to devour you alive! Yin Xiu! I'm going to devour you alive!" With a furious roar, the woman's body kept slamming against Yin Xiu's doors and windows. The sharp sound pierced the ears in the night, and what was even more frightening was the creaking sound of the doors and windows.
The fragile door panel banged loudly from the impact, the screws came loose, and the glass window trembled incessantly, cracking all over.
Even though the rules state that a house is safe at night as long as the doors and windows are closed, it's not necessarily true that if they are damaged, the doors and windows will be damaged. So far, no one has dared to try and see if the doors and windows will actually be damaged.
"It's so noisy." Yin Xiu pulled the curtains shut, moved the table to block the doorway, and went back to the sofa to watch TV.
There are 365 days in a year, and it's been six years in total. He's been bothered by Lady Night for as long as he's lived here.
Yin Xiu had already gotten used to his routine of watching TV at night and fishing and dozing off during the day.
Amidst the Night Goddess's roar, whispers began to echo in the darkness of the town: "He's angered the Night Goddess again, even though he knows she has a bad temper."
"Even the Night Goddess can't do anything about him. He hasn't broken any rules, so the Night Goddess can't get in."
"How long does this person intend to stay here? He neither enters the instance nor leaves. Who would live in a place like this for six years?"
"The other players are afraid of us, afraid of Lady Night, but he's not afraid at all, and that knife he carries…"
"Forget it, let's go check on the others. The town feels really damp and uncomfortable tonight."
"It's probably going to rain soon."
A few minutes later, raindrops began to fall from the sky, the pattering sound filling the entire town. A damp wind swept through the town's alleys, and almost simultaneously, the loud, rattling sound of doors and windows being banged on came to an abrupt end.
Yin Xiu was taken aback and turned to look at the window. Was he going back so early tonight?
Normally, I won't let him sleep until dawn.
Yin Xiu got up and drew back the curtains. The enormous body was no longer in the deep alley; only raindrops rolled down from the sky and fell to the ground, soaking the rule sheets scattered all over the floor.
Lights began to appear in the distance through the rain and mist, and voices gradually rose in the air.
Rainy nights are the only nights when the doors can be opened, offering a rare moment of freedom for players in town. They can also go out and find new players who have come to town, adding some companions to their ranks.
But none of that mattered to Yin Xiu. He drew the curtains and quickly went back to bed to sleep.
On a rare, undisturbed night, listening to the sounds of people and rain outside the window, I'm sure I can get a good night's sleep.
Yin Xiu shrank into the quilt, his consciousness hazy for a moment. Amid the sound of rain in the night, an unusual footstep suddenly appeared at the entrance of the alley.
He opened his eyes abruptly and focused his attention on his hearing.
The voice, stepping through puddles, slowly walked into the alleyway, calmly passing by the footsteps of all other players, gradually approaching as if with a purpose.
No one stopped him, and no one paused for him. It was as if he had been ignored by everyone in the town. Only the sound of footsteps came straight through the rain and stopped in front of his door.
Yin Xiu lay motionless on the bed, looking towards his bedroom door.
Beneath the fragile door panel, which had been violently struck by the Night Goddess, a long shadow stood outside.