Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 675 Awakening

Second-floor cabin.

In the dead of night, He Lingling suddenly opened her eyes in great terror, clutching her neck in disbelief and gasping for breath, her mouth agape, craving more fresh oxygen.

"Hoo-ha-hoo!"

He Lingling's mouth and nose were suddenly covered from beside her. The terror of having her neck torn off "before she died" was still fresh in her mind, and He Lingling struggled violently—

"do not move!"

A girl's urgent voice came from beside him, trying to stop him.

"You're breathing too fast! You could easily suffocate! Wait a minute! It'll be fine in a little while!"

Shi Yuan's voice reached He Lingling's ears, which were emitting all sorts of strange noises. Her already unusually large pupils widened even more, slowly spreading across her entire eye socket.

"...Oh my god..."

Sun Qin, who dared not breathe loudly, covered her mouth and stared in horror at He Lingling's gradually fading pupils.

"She...she seems to be having trouble breathing..."

"……rest assured."

Shi Yuan's heart was pounding, but she still shook her head, her face pale.

"It'll be alright, it'll be over soon, very soon."

Completely bewildered, Sun Qin could only nod.

For the past three days, He Lingling seemed to have been dragged into a nightmare by some unseen monster. No matter how much she shouted or slapped, she couldn't wake up. She would even convulse and spasm in her sleep, her expression distorted and unlike that of a human.

Thinking of the scene of He Lingling closing her eyes and about to jump out of the window when she and Shi Yuan returned late one night—Sun Qin felt like she couldn't breathe either.

so horrible.

Is this the consequence of being possessed by a nightmare?

Even a seasoned player like He Lingling could be bewitched without realizing it, so what about myself...?

The thought that she might also be possessed by a nightmare and forced to jump off the ship to commit suicide... made Sun Qin feel a chill spread from her calves throughout her body.

If it were me... I probably wouldn't survive.

"call--"

He Lingling's trembling, dilating, and then receding pupils finally began to return to normal. Shi Yuan, who had been paying close attention to her condition, finally slowly released his hand and gently patted her back.

"Okay...slow down, yes, breathe slowly, don't rush..."

Shi Yuan patiently patted He Lingling's back until her pale cheeks gradually regained some of the color of a living person before he stopped.

“…I…” He Lingling opened her mouth, but heard her voice was hoarse, like that of an old woman.

“I…” He Lingling reached out and touched her neck again. This time, she felt a very prominent “flesh strip” with varying depths of skin.

“My neck…” He Lingling’s heart trembled. “I’m not, I’m not dead, am I?”

The excruciating pain of having one's neck ripped off alive, the image of blood splattering on one's cheek and the wall, is so real that He Lingling still feels phantom pain in her neck when she recalls it—not to mention that her neck is still very painful now.

"What died?"

Shi Yuan frowned. "Three nights ago, after I brought you back, you suddenly fell into a deep sleep. It took me a long time to get you around the dance floor and back to the room."

"Yes, yes."

Sun Qin also raised her hand: "I can testify that Lingling, you have been unconscious for several days, and no matter what Shi Yuan and I do, we can't wake you up."

"The props were useless."

Shi Yuan added, "I used props, but I didn't use them."

"..."

He Lingling's pupils contracted sharply upon hearing this. She recalled the intense pain she felt when her neck was snapped, and murmured:

"How...how could this happen...I clearly, I clearly saw my head being torn off—"

He Lingling's voice stopped abruptly.

Shi Yuan pursed her lips at her words: "You seem to have dreamed before about having your neck bitten off by a goat."

"Yes."

He Lingling nodded, enduring the sharp pain in her throat, and coughed softly:

"This time was the same, but it was more real and more terrifying than the dream of having my neck bitten off by a goat."

He Lingling was clearly not fully conscious yet; she was still immersed in the excruciating pain of her neck being torn apart, and as she spoke, her face involuntarily revealed even greater pain and fear.

Shi Yuan felt something was wrong—but sometimes, the higher the "danger level" in a dungeon, the closer they were to clearing it.

"...Don't think about it."

Shi Yuan interrupted He Lingling's recollection and gestured for Sun Qin to pour a glass of water.

Already feeling lost and helpless, Sun Qin quickly stood up to pour water.

"Drink some water first."

Shi Yuan took the water from Sun Qin and placed it in He Lingling's hand, whispering:

Today is... the seventh day.

Shi Yuan: "This timing is very strange. It's hard for me not to connect your waking up on the seventh day with clearing the game."

Has anyone died?

He Lingling lowered her head, took a sip of water, and calmed down a bit. She raised her hand to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead and then asked.

“…Unfortunately,” Shi Yuan said, lowering his eyes, “no one died.”

"..."

He Lingling fell silent.

Sun Qin rubbed her palms together and asked softly, "Isn't it a good thing that no players have died? This is the first time in seven days that no players have died..."

Her voice trailed off towards the end, and her face turned deathly pale.

"It seems you have thought of it too."

Shi Yuan said, "In seven days, neither of us died. The monsters only randomly selected people to scare at night, and they seemed to be very harmless—as long as the scared players didn't yell, it was fine."

"The next night... someone called."

He Lingling spoke in a hoarse voice: "We heard everything."

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Sun Qin's mind was filled with all sorts of strange and terrifying speculations, and upon hearing this, she nodded hastily:

"On the second day of the first cabin, was it the second or the third day... there were people, I remember someone screaming in fright."

It's a man.

The first deck of the ship is only occupied by men, whether they are NPCs or players.

"But he didn't die."

He Lingling said, "He shouted and yelled, but he didn't anger the monster."

"...I guess it's because it wasn't late enough at the time."

Shi Yuan had clearly thought of this long ago, and his expression showed some hesitation:

"This is just speculation. You can take it with a grain of salt and feel free to disagree."

"Whether I oppose it or not is another matter, cough cough."

He Lingling gradually brought her chaotic emotions under control. She pinched her palm hard and said:

"Now we need to think about why I fell into a coma in the first place..."

He Lingling was a little confused about the situation. She didn't think she had angered any NPC, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Why were they pulled into a "nightmare" and fell into a coma twice?

Could it be Wu Huimin?

Shi Yuan guessed: "You chatted with Wu Huimin alone. What did she say to you?"

Shi Yuan looked at He Lingling: "When I pulled you over, Wu Huimin looked a little angry... but also a little relieved."

"I can understand being angry, but why feel relieved?"