[Blink Potion (Consumable)]
[Quality: White]
[Can be taken out of the instance: No]
[Effect: After use, the player will be randomly teleported to any location within the castle]
[Note: Use with caution. You don't want to end up right in front of the Blood Clan Queen, do you?]
...
Inside a room somewhere in the castle.
Lin Yu held the teddy bear in one hand while searching the room with the other.
Looking at the newly found item, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
With two items now in hand, his chances of clearing this instance had increased—at least a little.
After thoroughly searching the room and confirming there were no other items, Lin Yu once again pressed his ear against the door.
Only after confirming there were no sounds outside did he cautiously open the door a crack.
He planned to check the situation in the corridor.
But—
The instant the door opened—
Through that narrow gap, Lin Yu saw a pair of blood-red eyes.
[Holy—! That scared the hell out of me!]
[This horror game is no joke! Even watching through a screen almost made me throw my phone!]
[Wait—what's going on?! How did Lin Yu get found first?!]
[Shouldn't the Blood Clan Queen be going after Li Hai and Wang Shan first?!]
[Uh… is it possible Lin Yu's luck is just that bad?]
...
The moment Lin Yu cracked the door open, the livestream audience saw it clearly.
A dark figure stood silently outside the door.
Even through the screen, those blood-red pupils filled viewers with dread—some even dropped their phones in shock.
What confused everyone was this:
Li Hai and Wang Shan both had bloodstains on their shoe soles, yet the Blood Clan Queen hadn't gone after them first.
Instead, she had appeared right outside Lin Yu's door.
No one could understand why.
...
At the same time—
Elsewhere in the castle.
The moment Lin Yu locked eyes with those blood-red pupils, his heart skipped a beat.
But he reacted instantly.
Without the slightest hesitation, he used the item he had just obtained.
[Blink Potion]
The next second—
His vision blurred.
When his body reappeared, he found himself inside a completely unfamiliar room.
After steadying himself, Lin Yu could still clearly feel his heart pounding violently, as if it were about to burst from his chest.
"What the hell just happened?"
"How did the Blood Clan Queen find me so fast?!"
Lin Yu's back pressed tightly against the wall.
No matter how he thought about it, this was completely beyond his expectations.
Shouldn't she have gone after Li Hai, Wang Shan, or Wang Gang first?
Why was he found first?
This filled Lin Yu with confusion and unease.
He clearly remembered the instance description:
[Please avoid being injured. Vampires are extremely sensitive to the scent of blood!]
So why had the Blood Clan Queen appeared outside his door?
The player count still displayed 4.
Which meant Li Hai, Wang Shan, and Wang Gang were all still alive.
Yet she had come for him first.
That made no sense.
"Could it be… the trap I set didn't work at all?"
Lin Yu thought carefully.
In the end, he could only reach one conclusion—
The bloodstains he'd left in the corridor had been discovered by Wang Gang and the others.
And he—
Due to bad luck, or some other reason—
Had become the first person found by the Blood Clan Queen.
"So… should I consider myself lucky, or unlucky?"
He had just gotten the Blink Potion—
And it was immediately wasted because of her appearance.
Even Lin Yu himself couldn't tell whether that counted as good luck or bad.
At the same time, something else bothered him.
At the moment he used the Blink Potion—
He thought he saw a flash of surprise in the Blood Clan Queen's eyes.
But everything had happened too fast.
He couldn't be sure whether he'd imagined it.
After all, if he'd been even a fraction of a second slower—
He'd already be a corpse.
A few minutes later, Lin Yu's heartbeat gradually returned to normal.
The experience had been terrifying.
But he had no intention of resting.
Since the start of the game, more than ten minutes had already passed.
And the instance rules were clear—
Every 25 minutes, there would be 5 minutes of safe time.
Only a few minutes remained until the next safe period.
He refused to believe his luck would be bad enough to run into the Blood Clan Queen again so soon.
And even if he did—
He still had the Invisibility Potion.
It would be enough to hold out until safety arrived.
After making up his mind, Lin Yu didn't hesitate.
He continued searching the new room.
...
Elsewhere in the castle.
A man was searching a room.
"I didn't expect to run into you here."
At that moment, the door suddenly opened.
"Wang Gang? Why is it you?"
Seeing Wang Gang appear behind him, Li Hai finally relaxed.
But immediately after—
A puzzled expression appeared on his face.
"Why aren't you wearing shoes?"
After noticing Wang Gang's bare feet, Li Hai sounded surprised.
"We've been played by that newbie."
Wang Gang said calmly.
"What do you mean?"
Li Hai's expression changed.
"Check the soles of your shoes."
Instead of explaining directly, Wang Gang spoke flatly.
Though confused, Li Hai still took off his shoes and flipped them over.
"What's on the soles—"
"Huh? This stain…"
He murmured to himself in confusion.
Then—
His expression changed dramatically.
"That's right. It's blood."
Wang Gang said quietly.
Then he turned and walked out of the room.
"That bastard better not let me run into him—otherwise, I won't let him live!"
Li Hai angrily threw his shoes aside and followed after him.
Thinking that his shoes had been stained with blood this entire time made his scalp tingle.
If Wang Gang hadn't found him—
He might not even have known how he died.
At the same time, Li Hai made a silent decision.
If he ran into Lin Yu—
He would kill him without hesitation.
"By the way, have you seen Wang Shan?"
Li Hai asked as he followed behind.
"No."
Hearing Wang Gang's reply, Li Hai actually felt relieved.
"Then forget the 100 Horror Coins you owe me—consider it payment for this information."
He added.
"Your life is only worth 100 Horror Coins?"
Wang Gang snorted coldly, clearly displeased.
"That's not what I meant…"
"I spent all my coins on items last time…"
Li Hai frowned helplessly.
In the end, Wang Gang didn't pursue the matter further.
After all, his level was higher than Li Hai's.
Unless absolutely necessary, Li Hai didn't want to clash with him.
"Let's stick together for now. Once we clear the instance, I'll split my Horror Coins with you."
Li Hai added.
"Mm."
Wang Gang responded.
Only then did Li Hai finally relax.
...
At the same time—
Outside the room Lin Yu had just left.
The Blood Clan Queen, her body shrouded in black, still stood at the doorway.
Shock filled her eyes, as if she had just witnessed something utterly unexpected.
"Strange… did I really not see wrong just now…?"
She muttered softly, her voice filled with doubt.
...