I picked up a boyfriend in the infinite game

No sound was heard tonight, and the lifeless darkness swallowed up all the colors of everything, leaving only distinct black and white light and shadow.

Song Guicheng looked at his watch in the dim moonlight. It was almost midnight and the hotel had fallen into a deep sleep. There was silence all around.

He climbed up from the bed quietly and walked towards the door on tiptoe.

The metal door lock felt cold to the touch, spreading from the fingertips to the bottom of one's heart. Song Guicheng unlocked the door, but his shoulders suddenly sank and a hand came up to him.

Song Guicheng's whole body shook violently. He tried hard to suppress the scream that was about to burst out of his mouth, and his back was as tense as a guitar string.

Was it a ghost? It had been hiding in the room all along? When? And he hadn't noticed it?

Countless question marks flew around in his head. He opened his backpack while thinking of a solution. A voice came from behind him: "Where are you going?"

A cold, very low voice, a little hoarse.

It is Chu Wei.

Song Guicheng's wildly beating heart fell back to its original place. He felt the warm temperature on his shoulder belatedly, and his tense arms relaxed: "I plan to go to the hostess's kitchen to take a look."

He did not tell the other people in the team about this plan. Firstly, the more people there were, the more noise they would make and wake up the hostess; secondly, the kitchen was not big and one person was enough to explore it.

"Take me with you." Chu Wei used an affirmative sentence instead of a question.

Song Guicheng thought for a moment and said simply, "Okay."

The hand on the shoulder loosened.

Song Guicheng looked back at Chu Wei. The boundary between light and shadow was like a huge scar, dividing Chu Wei into two completely different halves, one half was trapped in bottomless darkness, and the other half had light and shadow gently brushing on his shoulders.

A strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart, heavy, just like the apple necklace he put in his pocket.

Song Guicheng suddenly realized that there were many strange and incongruous things about Chu Wei, his apple necklace, his overly skilled movements in picking apples, and he was safe and sound on the night Zhang Yuncheng died...

One thing after another flashed through Song Guicheng's mind, making him break out in a cold sweat.

Why did he notice it now?

Why didn't the other players notice it at all?

Song Guicheng didn't move, and Chu Wei didn't move either, until the door lock beside him slipped off, making a crisp "click" sound in the silent night, and Song Guicheng woke up as if from a dream.

"Let's go." His voice was steady, without any hint of abnormality, but his fingers were icy cold.

The door was opened, bringing with it a barely perceptible breeze.

The hotel was dark and quiet, as if it was compressed into a closed and narrow box, closed and dull. The night was even more eerie than the day.

The two of them moved downstairs, one in front of the other.

Song Guicheng walked behind Chu Wei, close to the wall. Looking at his tall and thin back, his heart felt like it was falling into an icy cave, beating heavily one by one as if it was going to jump out of his chest.

What exactly is Chu Wei? The boss of this instance?

He touched the apple necklace in his pocket, as if he had picked up a hot potato.

Thinking about it now, it was strange that he would easily accept the apple necklace.

Song Guicheng thought again of the general background of this copy which he had roughly guessed.

Demons, strange hotel couples, apple orchards, children who never appeared, players who died in strange ways...

These originally complicated and confusing information were connected together because of the "ritual" that Allen told him today.

The couple at the inn is going to hold a ritual to summon the devil, and the player is likely to be the sacrifice. If the player really replaces the child's role, does it mean that the couple at the inn is using their child as a sacrifice...

Song Guicheng paused slightly and frowned.

No, if that were the case, why would there be paintings of apple orchards in churches? And why would there be silver exorcism ornaments in apple orchards?

It's too awkward. This copy is full of awkward places.

If Chu Wei is really the boss of this dungeon, what is his purpose in lurking among the players to make it easier to hunt him?

Although the dungeon boss also needs to abide by the dungeon rules to kill people, it is much more convenient than the player identity and there is no need to disguise as a player.

……

While they were daydreaming, the two of them had already walked to the kitchen door.

The door looked ordinary. Like every wooden door in the hotel, it was infested with termites, cracked, and crumbling in the darkness.

Song Guicheng didn't dare to act rashly. He leaned against the wooden door and listened carefully to the sounds inside. It was quiet and there was no one inside.

There was an old-fashioned iron lock hanging outside the door, which was useless to him now.

Chu Wei stepped aside and considerately took the flashlight that Song Guicheng took out of the backpack, turned the brightness to the lowest level to illuminate him, and waited for him to unlock the door.

Song Guicheng hesitated for a moment before taking out the wire from his pocket.

Although he didn't dare to be alone with Chu Wei now, it would be a bit too strange to reject Chu Wei under such circumstances. Besides...

Song Guicheng touched the door lock and carefully observed the shape of the keyhole. The scene that emerged in his mind was when he was bewitched by the apple and the apple necklace in his pocket fell down and woke him up.

He didn't believe that there were such coincidences in the world.

In a sense, Chu Wei saved his life. And so far, Chu Wei has not actively harmed any player, so Song Guicheng really can't put him on the opposite side of himself.

He inserted the wire into the keyhole, and "click", the iron lock made a very slight sound in the dead silent night, and the door opened.

The smell of wet wood, earth, and damp mixed with the unclear sweet and sour aroma of cider instantly invaded his breath, like a fierce air current, hitting him so hard that he almost couldn't stand.

Chu Wei reached out and helped him up. After Song Guicheng recovered, the two of them bent over and tiptoed in.

The kitchen ceiling was very low, only slightly higher than the door, so they could only observe while bending over.

The flashlight was turned to the highest setting, easily illuminating the small kitchen. Grease stains and grime were everywhere on the walls and floor, kitchen knives were hung on the closet, buckets and kettles were placed on the board, and there were also a few wine bottles.

An iron chain hung from the ceiling near the closet, with a short cloth rope tied to the chain. An iron pot was suspended from the rope, and under the iron pot were piles of chopped firewood of different sizes. The black smoke left by the burning firewood went up along the iron chain and split the dim wall in two.

The aroma of cider here was very strong, but Song Guicheng didn't see the bottle of cider.

He sniffed and followed the smell to find where it was strongest.

There was a gap between the closet and the wall, which was blocked by the closet and required walking past to get the light.

The two of them carefully walked around the kitchen utensils placed everywhere and took a clear look at the cramped corner.

Song Guicheng's breath was held and he clenched the flashlight in his hand.

A transparent wine bottle was placed in the gap between the closet and the wall. The bottle was neither too big nor too small, just enough to fill the gap. It was filled with reddish-brown liquid, exactly the same as the wine the man drank that day.

The liquid was clear and transparent, and you could clearly see a head soaked in it. Even though it was swollen, you could still see that his eyes were wide open, the corners of his mouth were slightly open, and his ferocious face was full of fear.

——It’s Zhang Yuncheng’s missing head.

Yesterday, Song Guicheng was still wondering where Zhang Yuncheng's head had gone, but today he was caught off guard and was shocked.

Zhang Yuncheng’s head actually became the raw material for making cider?

Song Guicheng thought about the warm and soft touch he felt in the apple orchard today. Was that really an apple?

A sour feeling rose in his stomach, but he suppressed it forcefully.

"There is only Zhang Yuncheng's head, not Zhao Siming's." Chu Wei's voice came from behind, without any shock.

Song Guicheng calmed down in a few breaths, turned his wrist, and looked at the entire bottle from top to bottom: "Maybe it's because the place and method of death are different."

Those that die in the apple orchard will be used as fertilizer, and those that die in the hotel will be used as raw materials.

"It seems that this hotel is more like an apple factory. Then what are those apples in the apple orchard?" Song Guicheng's words were actually somewhat tentative.

The air was very quiet, so quiet that one could hear Chu Wei's breathing. After a moment, the person behind him spoke up: "I don't know, maybe it really is the Devil's Fruit."

His tone sounded like he was joking, but there was no smile in those fox eyes.

Song Guicheng smiled and walked towards the iron pot.

He was very curious about the iron pot. It was rare to see this product of the old times in modern kitchens. What interested him most was the rope tied between the iron chain and the iron pot.

The rope was covered in dark yellow oil stains, which turned gray-brown after solidifying, and abruptly separated the iron chain and the iron pot.

He walked around the iron pot half a circle and confirmed one thing: this rope was often pinched by people's hands.

This is even more strange. If you want to take the iron pot down, you just need to pinch the two handles of the iron pot. You don’t need to take off the cloth rope at all.

Just as he was about to take action, he suddenly heard the sound of the door opening. The sound was very light, but very close.

someone!

Song Guicheng couldn't think of anyone else living on the first floor except the hostess.

He immediately turned off the flashlight. Suddenly without light, a blurry shadow appeared before his eyes, distorting in the air.

Song Guicheng ran over and closed the door quickly but quietly, but they were inside and couldn't close the iron lock on the outside again.

The two rooms were very close to each other, and the hostess could see the open iron lock hanging on the door handle as soon as she walked out of the room.

Song Guicheng's overly sensitive hearing allowed him to capture every detail of the hostess opening the door. She moved quickly and with agile steps, which was very inconsistent with her fat and bloated figure.

The door was locked and heavy breathing could be heard from outside. The person outside was grinding his teeth in anger and muttering curses. He was very angry at the little mouse that broke into her kitchen.

Song Guicheng took out a dagger from his backpack. The dagger was very sharp and flashed with a cold light.

This is the item Jiang Chi gave him, it’s C-level and its name is [Dagger that can cut through iron like mud]. But the introduction is a bit... um... hard to describe.

[A dagger that can cut through iron like mud (upgradeable): It cannot cut through anything harder than iron~], with a long tilde at the end, which makes people feel a chill.

……

The locked door was kicked twice heavily, making a rustling sound that shook the ground and seemed to be crumbling in the dark.

"Little mouse! Come out! Despicable little mouse! You want to steal my apple!" The hostess hissed angrily.

Her voice was dark and fierce, with a bloodthirsty viciousness, floating in the darkness, making people shudder.

The more times like this happened, the calmer Song Guicheng became. He squatted by the door, casually playing with the dagger in his hand, thinking that he was really not worthy of enjoying this apple.

The door failed to be kicked open, and the hostess became even more angry and banged on the door with her hands and feet. Her eyes were bloodshot, her expression was crazy, and the fat on her face shook violently with her movements.

"Come out! Despicable little rat! Come out right here!!"

Chu Wei and Song Guicheng squatted by the door together, feeling the vibration coming from their backs. They did not panic, but just lowered their eyes and looked at Song Guicheng's hand playing with the dagger.

Song Guicheng's fingers were slender and graceful, with blue veins extending across his cold white skin. They looked fragile at the touch, but the cold dagger flew across his fingertips deftly and skillfully. The collision of fragility and killing created a strange beauty.

"Click", the door cracked, the hostess stopped moving for a moment, then there was a more crazy collision, and a "hehe" laugh came out of her mouth, which was crazy and terrifying.

This door won't last much longer.

However, despite the noise they made, the second floor of the hotel was still dead silent.

Song Guicheng leaned over and whispered to Chu Wei: "When the door opens later, I will go up and hold her down. You don't have to worry about anything. Just run back to the room, lock the door, lie down and go to sleep. Got it?"

He didn't know if he could kill the NPC in return, but he should be able to delay time. Besides, he had the two items [Time and Space Stillness Pocket Watch] and [Xiao Wen's Resentment] to back him up, so he didn't think it would be a big problem.

I just don't know if there will be any changes in the copy if the hostess, an important NPC, dies, and whether it will affect the completion of the main quest.

"Crack", the door panel cracked again.

Song Guicheng stuffed the apple necklace that Chu Wei gave him and the remaining candy into his hands and lowered his voice: "Get ready, when I count to three, two, one, you rush out."

……

Chu Wei's eyes changed for a few moments, his eyelashes trembled up and down, and finally he closed his eyes, as if he had made up his mind: "You kill her..."

His voice suddenly got stuck, as if a tape had suddenly broken. After struggling for a while, he finally uttered a few words: "...getting...bad...getting...fast..."

Chu Wei spoke as if someone was strangling him, his words were intermittent, his voice became distorted by the clanging sound of the door panels, cold sweat oozed down his forehead, and after he finished speaking, he leaned back against the wall, gasping for breath.

Get worse, get faster, just four words, but Song Guicheng had already guessed what he meant.

The banging on the door continued. The sound of wooden boards cracking, "crack", was like a death spell. More and thicker darkness flowed in from outside the door, making the air inside the door extremely tense.

Song Guicheng stared at Chu Wei's blurry face in the darkness and suddenly chuckled. The laughter contained a bit of puzzling joy and self-mockery.

He took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Chu Wei's forehead.

In this moment of life and death crisis, he still had the energy to test others, using care and tenderness as bait to lure others into the trap.

However, he got the results he wanted. First, the hostess could not be killed, and second, Chu Wei knew the dungeon very well, but he was not the dungeon boss.

Enough is enough.

Song Guicheng stuffed a piece of sweet dream candy into Chu Wei's mouth, then knocked him out with a chop, and the furry head fell on his shoulder.

……

"I can't kill him..." Song Guicheng whispered softly, like a lover's whisper, "That would be a bit troublesome..."

If I can't deal with the hostess quickly and efficiently tonight, it will be difficult to enter this room later. I can only explore all the secrets in this room in one go tonight.

Song Guicheng turned the dagger in his hand, put a candy in his mouth, touched the door lock with his fingertips, and opened the lock with a "click".