Chapter 526 Xiaoya

Chapter 526 Xiaoya

In the U-shaped corridor, the eight players were scattered in various corners.

The administrator had just reminded all players to complete their admission paperwork within thirty minutes, but for experienced players, this also meant they had thirty minutes of free time. During these thirty minutes, they were not bound by the rules; not even the eerie entities in this nightmare scenario would make a move. They could freely explore any accessible areas during this period, making it a critical window of opportunity.

In the corner farthest from the nurses' station, a girl with braided hair was looking at the person in front of her with some concern.

Standing before the girl was a young man wearing a high-neck knit top and jeans, tall and slender. His loosely tied long hair, secured with a white cord, accentuated his fair and refined features, giving off a vibe of casual languor as he stood there with his head lowered.

However, the girl, who appeared to be about eleven or twelve years old, seemed to sense something amiss and asked with concern—

"...Big sister, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

The "big sister" leaning against the wall in front of the girl lifted her head. When the girl met her gaze, she saw that the "big sister's" eyes had no pupils—they were a gray, unfocused haze, looking quite eerie. However, because the "big sister" was good-looking, even the gray eyes appeared attractive. The girl was only slightly surprised and quickly calmed down. She waved a hand before the "big sister's" eyes, confirming there was no reaction.

"Big sister, your eyes... can't you see?"

Su Bai, who was leaning against the wall while adapting to the darkness, ran a hand over his clothes. Before entering the nightmare world, he had been lying on a daybed resting... or meditating, so he hadn't changed his clothes. This doesn't look like women's wear, does it?

Su Bai occasionally felt that he had assimilated too deeply into the world under the red moon, sometimes sensing that he had acquired an eerier quality compared to normal humans.

This was also a result of long-term saturation in the power of the red moon. After all, Su Bai wasn't only exposed to the red moon's power during nightmare games. Among the Evil Ghost Puzzles he possessed, too many fragments resided that were formed by the red moon's power. Thus, Su Bai's connection to the red moon might be even closer than that of some eerie entities.

As for the Ghost Witch—that is, Wu Hang—the Mist Shop he gave to Su Bai seemed to run on a power different from that of the red moon.

Even back in Fog City, when the Mist Shop took power from the Fog City Lord, part of it was channeled back into Su Bai's body after being "filtered" by the shop. That power became... purified and quickly merged with the power within Su Bai's body.

Otherwise, the backlash Su Bai suffered at the time could have been catastrophic.

The Mist Shop must have originally belonged to Wu Hang, or rather, it was more like a specially crafted channel than just an object. Was it possible Wu Hang, who created the Mist Shop, possessed power not solely derived from the red moon? Su Bai's wandering thoughts recalled Wu Hang's demeanor when mentioning the Red Moon Association. The madness of the Red Moon Association stemmed from fear of the red moon's collapse, but Wu Hang didn't seem particularly bothered by it.

Perhaps due to the loss of his vision, Su Bai's thoughts became unusually active.

What Su Bai didn't know was that such deep immersion in the red moon's power—that power or that eerie aura—could also affect one's outward appearance. For instance, even though Su Bai's appearance had little room for further enhancement, the aura... or "magnetic field" around him might influence those nearby. The more perceptive the observer, the more susceptible they were to this influence.

For example, when the little girl looked up at the "big sister" before her, she seemed to see the moon indoors—a beautiful waning moon.

Coupled with the fact that the person was good-looking, the girl blurted out "big sister."

"Big sister?" Hearing no response, the girl called out again.

"It's brother." Su Bai refocused and corrected the address. Although Su Bai could only see very, very blurry light and shadows at the moment, which at first glance seemed no different from pitch darkness, he could tell from the voice that the child standing before him was about the same age as the little girl Wen Wen he had encountered before.

For children of this age to appear repeatedly in nightmare games was not a good sign.

"Ah, big brother!" The girl's tone became somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry, it's just that big brother... big brother is really good-looking."

"My eyes can't see right now." Since there was still plenty of time, Su Bai was happy to chat with the girl a bit more. "What about you, little sister? Do you feel unwell anywhere?"

The rules of Hospital No. 666 were fair to everyone. Since Su Bai had already been affected, if the girl before him was a player, she would inevitably become a patient of Hospital No. 666 as well. However, despite being affected, Su Bai wasn't particularly anxious about losing his vision. He wasn't even as panicked and helpless facing Hospital No. 666, where he had once narrowly escaped death, as he had been in his previous life.

After all, this life's Su Bai was different from the last.

In his previous life, when Su Bai entered Hospital No. 666, he didn't possess as many puzzle fragments as he later would, but there were still several powerful eerie entities residing within the fragments. These beings might have been capable of contending with Hospital No. 666. The problem back then, however, lay in Su Bai's inadequate physical condition. After all, when using the power of the puzzle fragments, Su Bai had to expend sufficient energy and needed a body capable of withstanding that power.

At that time, Su Bai didn't meet these conditions. In the end, when he forcibly used his power to escape Hospital No. 666, he was severely injured and fell into a coma. Even Su Bai himself thought he was doomed, but he eventually woke up in a daze.

Thinking back now... Su Bai wondered if some kind "person" had helped him back then?

"Me? Uncomfortable?" The girl seemed to ponder seriously for a moment. "Just now, I felt a bit dizzy for a while, but it passed quickly."

"Seems it's not overt." Su Bai murmured softly.

Hospital No. 666 would inflict illnesses on healthy people, but they might not take effect immediately like Su Bai's condition. It was as if illnesses in this world weren't limited to just "disabilities."

"Big brother!" The girl, who clearly hadn't heard Su Bai's whisper, continued in a cheerful tone. "It's okay. Xiaoya has good eyesight. Xiaoya can lead the way for big brother."

"Your name is Xiaoya?" Su Bai remembered the name. "This is a nightmare game. Not many people are lining up to partner with a blind guy."

"Isn't that perfect?" Xiaoya's tone didn't change. "No one is keen on teaming up with a child either. Maybe meeting big brother is fate's arrangement?"

Children didn't often appear in nightmare games, but those who did were not to be underestimated.