Forces of Temptation

Nan Zhou's previous life was full of conflicts.

On the one hand, it's uninteresting, mechanical, and repetitive.

On the other hand, is scary, twisted, and abnormal.

So he fell in love with painting.

This kind of hobby can most intuitively record even the slightest difference in life, and can also divert one's attention very well.

Sketching is easy to say, but coloring is hard to learn.

Small place, no place to sell paint.

Therefore, Nanzhou often finds some colored ores or glass bottles, smashes them thoroughly, adds walnut oil, and grinds them to the desired mesh size.

Nan Zhou turned the attic of his home into a studio.

His paintings are not works of art.

He paints what he sees, and paints what he can find.

Dropped the cup.

Broken half door.

The inside of the cardboard box.

Or waste paper, walls, ceilings.

The most satisfying painting Nan Zhou has ever drawn is the woman planting apple trees.

He painted her figure on a white wall in the street.

It was a sunny day, the day was like a fire, and the sunny and hot light roasted his back. Behind him were the crowds of small towns who came and went and ignored him.

Nan Zhou draws his paintings on his own.

Women's lips are very beautiful, so they are very difficult to draw.

Nan Zhou simply sat down and slowly mixed the color with walnut oil, trying to find the most suitable color.

When he tuned to the eighth red...

"Hey." Someone spoke to him, with a smile in his voice: "The painting is not bad."

Nan Zhou raised his eyes, facing the bright white light, looked at the strange face, and responded to his praise lightly: "Thank you."

……

Nan Zhou suddenly turned over and sat up.

Li Yinhang had just finished her peaceful nap and was waking up with the little squirrel statue.

Nan Zhou suddenly made such a big move, which made her tremble, and the remaining drowsiness disappeared completely.

Jiang Fang didn't fall asleep.

He always kept a part of his mind to observe the surrounding situation, but he didn't find anyone approaching.

He asked Nan Zhou: "What's wrong?"

Nan Zhou looked at Jiang Fang: "...It's him."

He finally remembered who Xie Xiangyu was.

Xie Xiangyu's face was somewhat different from the one in Nan Zhou's memory.

Now Xie Xiangyu is more lively and younger.

...The most important thing is that Xie Xiangyu at that time was much taller than the current one.

That's why he failed to match the number in the first place.

Jiang Fang raised his voice with interest: "Who is 'he'?"

Nan Zhou blinked: "I can't tell you."

Jiang Fang: "Friend?"

Nan Zhou looked at him disapprovingly: "I have no friends."

Jiang Fang imitated his expression and tone: "Ah, so."

Nan Zhou: "...you learn from me."

Jiang Fang raised his eyebrows, his usual steady gentleman's expression became a little more playful.

He stood up, stretched out his slender arms and legs, and stretched out a pleasing body curve: "Hungry. Supper?"

The night view of Squirrel Town is as colorful as any real carnival.

But here and the reality is not the same after all.

If it is a reality, they may feel a little weird and scary in an empty town with no tourists.

However, the relationship between players is competitive after all.

A small town without players, on the contrary, can give people an extra sense of peace of mind.

They went to the same restaurant they went to in the morning.

The Squirrel Waiter is a low functioning NPC.

As soon as a customer comes in and out of her shop, her memory will be automatically refreshed, and she will completely forget about the other party.

She performed the patterned tasks, bouncing around to order food, and winking at Nan Zhou affectionately.

...and left Nan Zhou's phone number again.

Nan Zhou put the second napkin with the phone number written on it into his pocket, watching her fluffy tail wagging away.

She is so carefree because she only has the memory of a short meal at most.

What happens at this moment, forget it next moment.

Such a skill is really enviable.

He lowered his head and quietly ate the bosi candy on his plate.

Swallow one at a time.

At this moment, the other two who had calmed down also had their own concerns.

Since they updated the interface, it took Li Yinhang a long time to review the more than [-] IDs in the ranking list from the beginning.

She saw the "Shunfeng" and "Nanshan" they had met.

They are all fine, none missing.

However, Li Yinhang was unable to find the name of her missing roommate on the ranking list after watching it from beginning to end.

Maybe, she thought, she was gone.

Even when they came in, the "Yongsheng-Zhang Yi" who ranked first in total points had completely disappeared from the leaderboard.

The first place was replaced by a person named "Eternal Life-Sudi".

"Zhang Yi", I don't know if it is a man or a woman, I don't know which dungeon he died in, and I don't know the cause of death.

Li Yinhang was a little dazed.

In the two dungeons she experienced, none of her teammates were injured or killed.

This gave her an illusion, as if they could really pass the customs all the way to the top of the list in a friendly manner.

However, these two discoveries dispelled her unrealistic fantasy.

If you want to reach the first position, you must step on some flesh and blood.

Li Yinhang secretly clenched his fists.

"Cubic Ark" must win.

Therefore, she must also have determination and awareness, and at critical times, she should not hold back the team.

At this time, Jiang Fang was also looking at the leaderboard.

But he didn't watch the singles.

He clicked on the team at the top of the team list.

name is".".

A neat full stop.

For non-friend teams, the system will not give too detailed information.

The only information known is that this team is a duo with unknown points.

In short, the second-ranked team has changed for several rounds, but it has not been able to shake its first position.

There are also people on the World Channel who are discussing the origin of this number.

Most of the teams, referring to the history of Qu Jinsha, the owner of Douzhuan Casino, have traces to follow.

Only this ".", was at the top of the list at the beginning.

No one has teamed up with them, and no one has seen them.

What's even more strange is that some people patiently searched through the entire single-player list, but they couldn't find any players with "." as a prefix.

After discussing for a while, everyone came to the conclusion that this "." is most likely the GM number ① used for system testing.

Some people speculate that maybe when the score of team No.2 exceeds ".", the rules of the game will change.

It is possible which team surpasses "." first, and which team wins.

Who is number one will be based on the single player and team rankings at that time.

But others disagree.

Because simply relying on dungeons and comparing points, objectively speaking, those who come first have an advantage over those who arrive later.

The evidence is that those who are now at the top of the single player and team leaderboards all came earlier.

If it is based on the standard that whoever wins "." first wins, then the subsequent teams will suffer too much.

So some players think that this "." is a threshold set for them by the game system.

After crossing it, the system may restrict them in choosing a level.

For example, engage in some mandatory PVP knockout matches and the like.

The development of World Channel is indeed beneficial.

There will not only be disputes, insults, and transactions here, but also sparks flying when various ideas collide.

Just like now.

After the players discussed the origin and function of a ".", they began to discuss the purpose of the behind-the-scenes planners to imprison them here to force the game.

Looking at the heated discussion forum, Jiang Fang didn't express any opinions.

He slightly bent his fingertips, and lightly touched the "." team name on the operation panel.

One by one, the movements are intimate and gentle.

...as if he was deeply nostalgic for something.

……

It wasn't until two days later that the players in Squirrel Town gradually became bustling.

Because they didn't reveal their true colors, even if the three of them were walking on the street openly, no one would have thought that they were the "Cubic Ark" that tossed a group of players around just by telling the time two days ago.

Other players even talked about their deeds unabashedly.

Li Yinhang, who was resting by the fountain, thought this feeling was quite strange, and played the system silently with his head down like a quail, trying to keep a low profile.

Nanzhou played with Nanjixing, let Nanjixing climb up the tree, and played a game of tossing and catching with it using the pine cones on the tree.

Soon, he felt someone was staring at him.

That gaze did not belong to Jiang Fang beside him.

When he turned his gaze, Nan Zhou accidentally saw a somewhat familiar face in the window on the second floor of a hotel.

...It was the girl he met in front of the bulletin board two days ago.

When Nan Zhou glanced over, the girl's face turned red, and she dodged away from the window, slipping faster than a rabbit.

Nan Zhou: "...?"

why.

Am I ugly?

Lu Lulu of "Clanging Little Rose" was huddled by the side of a window at this time, all that could be seen was Nan Zhou's clear and cold gaze that seemed to have a thin hook.

She pressed her chest, and could see her heartbeat through the clothes.

She felt that she was warmed by that look.

… Two days ago, when I saw him at the electronic display, he said he was leaving.

Now, like himself, he has returned to Squirrel Town.

Is this fate?

When she started to think wildly, whether she should go downstairs to have a chat with him and continue this relationship, Chen Meibing's voice unexpectedly came from beside her: "Hey, 'Sanlu'—"

Lu Lulu: "...Huh?"

Chen Meibing pointed out the window: "That person looks familiar to you too, doesn't it?"

Lu Lulu froze for a moment before realizing that Chen Meibing was just like her just now, staring straight at Nan Zhou outside the window.

Lu Lulu hurriedly patted her arm, her face full of shyness: "Oh, don't look! He's going to find us!"

Chen Meibing: "..."

Chen Meibing gave her a sideways glance speechlessly, and continued to look downstairs.

Nan Zhou was raising his hand facing the tree, signaling Nan Jixing to jump on his hand.

Nanjixing didn't want to come down, and hugged the twig to grind, and the round body shook the twig.

Nanzhou silently shook his head at it, rejecting Sanlian.

——No, don’t play, come down quickly.

Staring at his profile, Chen Meibing frowned even more: "I think he looks very familiar."

Shao Qian was busy sorting out the dungeon information newly collected yesterday, and said with a smile: "You look familiar even if you are good-looking."

"No." Chen Meibing clicked her tongue, "I really met him."

She said to herself: "Where did I see it..."

However, no one could answer her doubts.

……

Along with the 75000 points, the three A-level gift bags that were credited together were all quite perfunctory.

They are 10 shared checkpoints, 500 hours of oxygen usage rights, and 20 free accommodation coupons that can be used at any rest point.

In contrast, they look forward to the reward of the "sand, sand, sand" copy.

In this dungeon, "Cubic Ark" received an S-level score.

Another day passed, and the gift pack of props was long overdue.

This time, Li Yinhang was lucky.

She actually issued an A-level item.

She drew an assault weapon.

[Prop name: Light Finger Chain (right hand)]

[Description of use: Excellent close-range combat props, excellent unlimited refill ability, excellent evolution ability, excellent decoration...]

[In short, it is an excellent weapon! 】

[However, it is an excellent weapon at level 0. 】

There are five moissanite flower-shaped silver stone rings in the chain, which perfectly fit the user's fingers and can be worn on the fingers of the right hand in turn.

As the introduction said, this thing is an evolutionary weapon.

When she curls her finger, the ring subtly reflects light at a certain angle.

And she can manipulate this light.

But this part of the light was just limp, being thrown back and forth by her, like a silk thread tied to a yo-yo.

After a while, the light disappeared.

……how to say.

This function is also strange.

But this prop is useless except to verify that her luck is still alive.

Li Yinhang knew he couldn't control it, so he simply traded it to Nanzhou.

And Nan Zhou exchanged the B-level props he had drawn to her.

[props name: lime powder (24 packs)]

[Instructions for use: Just throw it out! 】

[A must-have product for street gangsters, no CD②, you can use it as much as you want. 】

[—Except for your eyesight! 】

Li Yinhang felt that this simple and crude attack method was more suitable for him, so he was very satisfied.

...Only Jiang Fang was able to draw a C-level item.

[Prop name: Love of beauty, everyone has it]

[Instructions for use: The me in the mirror said, I love you too. 】

[Theoretically, it can be used unlimitedly. 】

【Because the love of beauty will never stop. 】

Holding his own props, Jiang Fang was rather dumbfounded.

Nan Zhou said seriously, "It's very suitable for you."

Jiang Fang touched his face and felt better: "Thank you."

After the three-day rest day was over, and after defrauding a large amount of points from the system with the boss material captured from the system, "Cube Ark" chose to enter the instance again.

This time, they used the selection level that the system gave them.

This time, the game mode they chose is still PVE.

Now Li Yinhang has given up his wish of "don't get ghosts".

Let's take a step by step.

click.

use.

The system randomly selects levels——

[Dear "Cubic Ark" team players, hello~]

【Welcome to the dungeon:...】

Nanzhou pricked up his ears, wanting to listen carefully to the relevant information of the game.

However, he seemed to sense something weird, and there was a buzzing sound in his ears, as if something had burst.

The sharp, needle-like tinnitus that poured in instantly made him unable to hear anything clearly.

Fine cold sweat slowly flowed down his back, accumulating a little heat in his waist.

Being blown by the wind, the skin quickly cooled down again.

He seemed to hear the familiar mechanical voice slowly explaining the dungeon rules, but Nan Zhou couldn't concentrate at all.

The familiar sense of discomfort swept over his body, with a force that almost drowned him, stripped his strength, and pulled him into endless darkness or endless light.

Nan Zhou has a strong tolerance for pain, and it is difficult to show ordinary discomfort on his face.

He just clenched his fists vigorously and calmly swallowed the moans that overflowed his throat.

When he opened his blurry eyes, five blurry figures first came into view.

The ground under his feet is hard, with the smell of old cement.

... They seem to be in a certain building.

This is all Nanzhou can perceive now.

Like the first dungeon of "Xiao Ming's Daily", they are directly face-to-face with the teammates they want to partner with.

However, the teammates they met this time were not quite the same as before.

The leading man is about 1.8 meters tall, with a straight waist and an outstanding temperament, exuding an upright vigor like a desert poplar.

He walked in front of the three of them and snapped a military salute.

"Hello." The man spoke cleanly, "The captain of the Bronze Brigade, He Yinchuan, is one of the voluntary action teams set up by the country for the disappearance. The task is to assist the masses to complete the game and protect the People's lives are safe."

After finishing the routine self-introduction with a sullen face, He Yinchuan smiled heartily, showing his beautiful and neat teeth: "Hello, He Yinchuan, the former captain of the S City Armed Police Fire Brigade."

Li Yinhang didn't come back to his senses: "..."

She was not surprised by the emergence of such an organization.

But her nervous heart because of entering a strange environment suddenly relaxed because of the intimacy that came over her face.

...I even want to say hello to the police uncle.

Jiang Fang raised his eyebrows with interest.

This situation is somewhat beyond his common sense.

...Why would anyone be willing to risk their lives to enter such a place?

He looked at Nan Zhou, wanting to see how he blinked curiously.

The next moment, Jiang Fang's expression completely changed.

Behind Nan Zhou, there happened to be a window.

——Outside the window, there was a huge full moon that could be called terrifying.

The moon has been magnified more than a hundred times, and even the potholes on it can be seen.

A huge sense of oppression descended from the sky, like the huge and indifferent silver face of some monster looking down on the world.

With the bright silver glow of the full moon as the background, Nan Zhou's slightly trembling eyebrows and eyes looked even more beautiful.

...it simply gives the illusion of being fragile.

The author has something to say:

①GM number: the official service number of the game

②No CD: The skill has no cooling time and can be used continuously

Gospel bushi for giant fearers