Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 868 Dependence?

On the screen, the faint light from the candle on the wall seemed slightly brighter than when Yu Shijiu had approached, illuminating that part of the earthen wall.

Beside Yu Shijiu, Thumbelina, who should have been fast asleep, had opened her eyes at some point and was staring straight at Yu Shijiu's profile. There was no confusion in her eyes as she had just woken up, only a clear and bewildered look that made people uneasy... and even a little bit of dependence that was hard to understand.

Upon seeing this, Lu Chusheng involuntarily leaned forward, his hands bracing against the edge of the seat, his knuckles turning slightly white from the exertion.

As a seasoned player who had cleared countless game instances, Lu Chusheng keenly sensed the danger.

The game's protagonist, Thumbelina, wakes up in a corner where no one is watching.

Yu Shijiu, however, was completely unaware of this.

Lu Chusheng felt his chest pounding, as if his heart was about to leap out of his throat at any moment.

Wake up.

Lu Chusheng frowned as he stared at the boy on the screen who still didn't seem to notice anything amiss, his eyelids twitching several times with worry.

His breathing suddenly stopped.

Lu Chusheng watched as Thumbelina on the screen slowly raised her incredibly small hand and reached out towards Yu Shijiu's wrist, which was hanging by her side.

Her movements were extremely slow, with an almost eerie gentleness, as if she were afraid of waking the boy who was pretending to be asleep.

"Don't touch him..."

Lu Chusheng whispered unconsciously, his voice as taut as a fully drawn bowstring.

However, his warning could not penetrate the screen and enter the ongoing guild war instance.

Thumbelina's slender fingertips gently touched Yu Shijiu's wrist, and then—stopped.

She didn't do anything dangerous; she simply pressed her skin against Yu Shijiu's, her excessively beautiful and watery eyes fixed on the boy's profile as if she were carefully observing his appearance.

For a moment, the look of dependence on Thumbelina's face became more and more obvious. She even began to tilt her head slightly and wriggle toward Yu Shijiu like a young animal seeking protection.

Despite witnessing this scene, Lu Chusheng felt no chill run down his spine.

He was all too familiar with this scenario—in countless game instances, the most deadly threats often lie hidden beneath the most harmless exteriors.

That's how he feels about Thumbelina right now.

Just then, the candle on the wall flickered.

The light did not flicker normally, but rather pulsated like a heartbeat for a moment, illuminating the entire room suddenly before quickly returning to its original state.

The change was extremely brief; if Lu Chusheng hadn't been watching the screen intently, he certainly wouldn't have noticed it.

As the candlelight flickered suddenly, Yu Shijiu's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly.

Lu Chusheng held his breath instantly.

He knew that Yu Shijiu must have noticed the change in light, but the other party still maintained a dozing posture, and did not even change the frequency of his breathing.

This alertness made Lu Chusheng breathe a slight sigh of relief, but his heart was still in suspense.

He believed in Yu Shijiu, but sometimes... people are always afraid of things that are likely to happen.

Thumbelina, who was wriggling closer to Yu Shijiu, seemed to be drawn to the flickering candlelight as well.

She slowly turned her head to look at the candle on the wall, a hint of confusion and a... barely perceptible fear flashing in her eyes.

Just then, Yu Shijiu quietly adjusted his posture, seemingly naturally flipping his wrist to escape Thumbelina's touch.

"Are you awake?"

Yu Shijiu's voice remained calm as always, as if he had only just noticed that Thumbelina had woken up.

He opened his eyes, his gaze clear, without a trace of the confusion one might feel when just waking up.

Thumbelina was startled by Yu Shijiu's sudden question, and her body trembled slightly.

When she turned back to look at Yu Shijiu, the fear and dependence in her eyes were instantly replaced by panic, and tears quickly filled her eyes.

"Shi, Shi Jiu... I, I, I just, I just had a really scary dream..."

Thumbelina sobbed softly, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, and murmured:

"In my dream... in my dream... you left me and went away... I chased after you desperately... I chased and chased... but I couldn't catch up with you..."

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face, more and more, like a faucet that had been turned on, flowing incessantly.

Yu Shijiu felt a chill run down his spine. After watching her continuous tears for a few seconds, he sighed softly.

"It's just a dream."

As he spoke, Yu Shijiu hesitated for a few seconds before reaching out to pat Thumbelina's trembling back.

"I never lie."

Yu Shijiu: "I said I would protect you and I will. That was just a dream. I've heard that dreams are the opposite of reality."

Thumbelina's tears lessened slightly, and she choked out in a soft voice:

"really?"

Yu Shijiu nodded sincerely, "It's true."

He didn't know if it was true, but everyone seemed to be saying so? Oh well, as long as Thumbelina stopped crying, he would say anything.

Thumbelina stopped crying and started laughing. She wiped the tears from her face, her eyes looking a little red and swollen in the dim light.

“Okay,” Thumbelina affectionately nuzzled Yu Shijiu’s hand with her head, “I believe you.”

Yu Shijiu: "..."

He thought for a moment and nodded: "It's good that you trust me."

In an instant, the relationship between the two seemed to have grown closer. Thumbelina looked even more confused. She leaned closer to Yu Shijiu, asking softly:

Is it already dawn?

“…” Yu Shijiu replied honestly, “I don’t know.”

Thumbelina: "..."

Yes... they're underground now, how could they possibly know if it's dawn yet...?

Off-screen, Lu Chusheng's clenched fist loosened slightly, his palm stinging.

He looked down in a daze and realized that his palms had been dug into by his fingernails, leaving several deep marks.

Lu Chusheng didn't care about the injury on his hand. He looked up at the screen and saw Yu Shijiu skillfully comforting Thumbelina, who was starting to get upset again. But his mind was racing.

The unusual respawning of candles in the instance, the emotional changes of Thumbelina after waking up... and that unusual humming.

Yes, from beginning to end, no matter which player's live stream showed the true face of the eerie creature outside the door that was humming... These clues swirled in Lu Chusheng's mind like various fragments, but he could not piece together a complete picture.

What made Lu Chusheng even more uneasy was that he noticed the Poker League players below the live stream screen whispering and pointing at several screens with serious expressions, exchanging messages—the screens they were pointing at included the instance where Yu Shijiu was playing.

The female players in the poker league seemed to have reached a consensus; the chips were carefully categorized and placed, and the person in charge of recording had taken out paper and pen, wearing a professional and calm smile. Their gazes occasionally swept over the screens of several popular guild tournament instances, including the one where Yu Shijiu was.

They seem to have already decided on the "bets" that will begin soon.

What will it be?

Based on what Lu Chusheng had seen before, it was very simple—most likely a straightforward gamble on who would be the next player to die in a certain guild competition dungeon.

Ruan Qinghe is indeed a "talent". She seems gentle and kind, and even when she goes into the game dungeon herself, she will soften her heart and help some inexperienced new players... But she can also have someone break the legs of a player who has gone crazy gambling and throw him into the game dungeon to fend for himself.

It's said to be left to fend for themselves, but everyone knows that players with broken arms and legs are thrown into game instances, and there's only one way out for them.

Dead end.

Human stones used by ruthless players to scout ahead.

The player blocking her way died, and Ruan Qinghe didn't even get a drop of blood on her hands.

She continues to play the kind savior, President Ruan, who can elevate someone to the top with just a word in the poker league.

Below the densely packed live stream feed, Lu Chusheng watched as the female poker players, dressed in similar uniforms, deftly took out their chips from pre-prepared bags.

Chips of all colors were piled up like a mountain, and many players in the audience couldn't help but start whispering among themselves.

Various comments, such as "Should we take a gamble?", "You can get double points if you win once", "I think *** will definitely survive to the end", "I'll gamble one more time, just the last time, and I'm sure I can earn back the points I lost last time", and so on, kept reaching Lu Chusheng's ears.

Lu Chusheng was a little irritated. He did not deny that he thought Ruan Qinghe should not have set up such a "gambling game", but he thought about the time he had talked to Ruan Qinghe about it - what did Ruan Qinghe say at that time?

Just like now, Ruan Qinghe listened quietly to what she had to say, and then smiled and said, "Captain Lu, even if I don't succeed, someone else will."

"If that's the case, why can't that person be me?"

Ruan Qinghe smiled faintly at the time, her eyebrows and eyes were also faint, and even her pale, bloodless skin due to albinism seemed to overflow with a transparent watery color in the sunlight.

“If it’s not me, it will be someone else,” Ruan Qinghe said gently. “At least I won’t let them really gamble with their lives. I have my bottom line, but if it’s someone else, it’s not certain.”

Later, Lu Chusheng stopped getting involved in this matter.

Because Ruan Qinghe is right.

If she doesn't do it, someone else in Dawn Games will.

Wherever there are people, there will inevitably be dark and damp corners; no one can avoid it. But a person's bottom line is not so easily upheld.

Ruan Qinghe has indeed upheld the bottom line over the years.

So even when Lu Chusheng often heard the members of the inspection team complaining behind his back that gambling was harmful, he only asked them to increase patrols around the live broadcast square.

Aside from those players who have completely lost control and are stuck in the mindset of "I can definitely win back," most players who are still salvageable can be helped.

Lu Chusheng didn't consider himself a truly great person; he just felt that since they had already reached this point, anyone who still had a shred of self-control should be "saved."

You could also say, "give them a hand."

Just like Yu Shijiu was "pulled back" by An Jie and the others.

Lu Chusheng's gaze returned to Yu Shijiu on the screen.

The boy on the screen was looking down at Thumbelina, who seemed about to start sobbing again. His face showed no sign of anything amiss, but Lu Chusheng noticed that his right hand was unconsciously rubbing the hand that Thumbelina had just touched.

Yu Shijiu also noticed Thumbelina's emotional instability.

He simply and gently comforted Thumbelina without making a sound.

—After leaving her foster mother's greenhouse, after escaping from the toad's pond, and then entering the fields covered in winter snow... Thumbelina's originally stable emotions seemed to become increasingly fragile.

"Shall we wait a little longer?"

Yu Shijiu broke the silence first, "Perhaps we should go out and take a look?"

"After all, a long time has passed."

Yu Shijiu's response was Thumbelina's continued grip on her clothes.

“…” Yu Shijiu closed his eyes. Just as he was about to get up because he couldn’t stand the irritation he had been forcibly suppressing, Thumbelina spoke.

"it is good."

Yu Shijiu was taken aback.

He looked down and saw Thumbelina slowly sitting up, supporting herself on the bed.

"We need to go out to work too."

Thumbelina wiped away the dried tear tracks on her face, but couldn't wipe them away. A little embarrassed, she turned and got out of bed, stammering:

"Grandma Field Mouse probably hasn't gotten up yet; we really should get up."

Yu Shijiu's brows furrowed slowly, and for no apparent reason, his heart suddenly pounded violently.

The thunderous pounding of his heart instantly dispelled the irritation that had just risen in his mind.

"……All right."

Yu Shijiu seemed oblivious to the goosebumps rising all over his body from inexplicable fear. He lowered his eyes, extinguished the flashlight, turned his head to look at the candle on the wall that was now completely burning, and smiled slightly:

"Since we've been taken in by Grandma Field Mouse, we definitely need to do some work."

At the same time, Thumbelina, with her back to Yu Shijiu, lowered her head to put on her shoes. She seemed to have returned to her gentle and kind self, and a soft, agreeing sound came from her throat.

"Shi Jiu, you're so smart. We really should know how to repay kindness."

Thumbelina chuckled softly, her voice sounding somewhat hoarse and eerily cold in the dim, warm yellow room.

"Only diligent, sensible, and grateful children can be kept by Grandma Field Mouse."

The look of dependence in Thumbelina's eyes, which was turned away from Yu Shijiu, receded like the tide, and though it was only for a moment, she returned to her gentle appearance.

But Yu Shijiu caught a glimpse of the patterns that flashed down in the room.

Thumbelina lowered her head and whispered, "We must be sensible and diligent good children."

At this moment, the candlelight on the wall changed again.

Yu Shijiu subconsciously looked at the candle.

This time, the candle didn't flicker like it had before; instead, it... eerily elongated its shadow.