Second Reality, Silver Lake Village area, daylight has faded.
The southern woodlands were filled with players and the moonlight from half a moon in the sky tries its best to illumine the land.
Some players held flaming torches while some searched the area for the BOSS monster that was said to be seen around here.
Hundreds flood the land; as a result, whispers and conversations can be heard. The night sky has already appeared while the tree leaves waved with the wind.
"Phew.. Luckily there are many people here. Things are less scary when there are lots of people around!" Xia Shishu appeared on the tree he climbed and sighed in relief. The lady wasn't there anymore, and he wasn't in total darkness.
"Where is the monster?" Asked a player in the crowd.
"Maybe we were lied to."
Many players began to doubt the post. They've arrived for quite a while, and nobody found the monster. Still, the thought of an existing boss monster is just too enticing. If they leave and it appears, they might regret it for life!
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*
"Hello? Who is this?" Somebody called him not long after he logged in. Nobody saw him in the tree because he was hidden quite well. The lady he met before he logged out must've sensed him with a special ability.
"Hi, Pro-Wugui. It's me, your party member Link. I've been trying to contact you for a long while already. I found something that might be related to our quest and tried to meet you at our rendezvous point, but there are so many people suddenly coming here!" He was confused as to why there were suddenly so many people. He was even more confused when he saw Mu Litong and Xia Shishu leave the party.
Xia Shishu was surprised that his party member didn't see the creepy lady. If the lady is not here anymore then they can probably continue their quest, thus he asked, "Okay where are you?"
Link told him that he was standing alone next to a bunch of bushes, and Xia Shishu vaguely understood where to go. He didn't want to be found suspicious by the groups of people, so he quietly climbed down the tree. Link was obviously south from his current place, so he tried to find Link there.
Xia Shishu met up with Link and they partied up once again with Xia Shishu as the party leader. Link doesn't speak much nonsense, so he said follow, lit up a torch, and ran into the woods.
The surrounding players saw them running into the woods, and a lot of players decided to follow. They thought that the boss monster has been found.
They ran for a while in the dark woodlands that are somewhat lit up by the torches in the players' hand. Soon, a small-sized creek came into view up ahead. Most of the players following Xia Shishu's party spoke in hushed tones. There is just something about the night that makes it hard to speak loudly.
Link crouched in a thicket next to the running stream, and Xia Shishu followed suit. The players found their actions weird, but they decided to hide too. Some hid behind bushes, some hid behind trees, while others laid prone to the ground.
Link pointed towards the steam. As Xia Shishu took a look at where Link pointed, his heart flip-flopped, and a look of vigilance filled his eyes.
There in the sides of the running stream, a white silhouette could be seen. A transparent little girl was mindlessly playing. It seems like she doesn't have a sense of herself; She mindlessly jumps around and crouches once in a while to check out river rocks.
Xia Shishu sighed in relief once again since the figure wasn't the creepy lady. It was evident that the little girl in the creek is part of their quest. Xia Shishu isn't dumb… The things their party found are surely crucial points in the quest.
Niu Qiqi's Favorite Teddy, the white silhouette of a little girl, and possibly even the creepy lady too. It all fits too well with the Village Elder's previous description back in the village center.
They couldn't just sit there and observe the little girl forever, thus Xia Shishu got out from the thickets and walk towards the transparent little girl. Xia Shishu's actions didn't go unnoticed since the players were sure Xia Shishu is up to something.
They couldn't see the little girl… Probably because they did not have the quest.
For the first time ever, Xia Shishu was happy that he had read a lot of novels. He remembers a particular plot in which a young girl's souls were lost. The Taoists in that novel said that the lost soul would not recognize anything other than their favorite food or possessions before they were cursed.
He was also happy about how things turned out. Many things could've gone wrong if they went and searched the woodlands as a group. If he spotted the little girl's lost soul before finding Niu Qiqi's Favorite Teddy, he might be stuck on the quest. Similarly, if they all went as a group towards the direction Mu Litong traveled, they might all have been sent to the revival area by the creepy lady!
Xia Shishu quickly constructed a plan to finish the quest. He marched and went in front of the transparent little girl. He then took out the pink teddy bear and held it in his right palm. The little girl didn't have a reaction to him getting close so he stretched his arm out and put the doll right in front of her face.
He moved back towards the groups of people, but the girl stood still. When he shook it back and forth, the little girl followed him. Finally, he felt like he found out the answer to this puzzle. The more he shook the doll, the faster the little girl would follow him.
"Hehe, this is great! I'm finally doing something like a powerful immortal should do!" Xia Shishu thought to himself and vigorously shook the teddy bear with all his might.
As he got closer to the players, he felt like he shouldn't just dispassionately wave the doll around. He separated his feet roughly two feet apart and tried his best to make them as complicated as possible. He wanted to look like a real master!
With his left hand, he raised it and made a fist. He slowly unravels his middle and index finger to make and hand sign in front of his chest. He would occasionally wave the teddy in an infinity figure, sometimes up and down.
"What is he doing?"
"He must be up to something.. Right?? Right??"
The onlooking players were confused. Although Xia Shishu's actions look majestic, they don't know why he was doing it because they could not see the little girl. Although they couldn't see it, Link could! His respect for Pro Xiao Wugui increased even more than before!
Xia Shishu was enjoying the attention he was getting. But.. Good things never last long. Shouting could be heard from behind him as numerous figures charged towards him through the night.
"The BOSS has appeared!"
"That's totally the BOSS!! The post didn't lie! Little Turtle didn't lie!"
They were the players that followed Xia Shishu's party. After tens of minutes lying in wait, they would have never imagined that the majestical dude waving a pink teddy bear will summon the BOSS monster!
When their words rang out, Xia Shishu shook unconsciously. He looked behind the transparent little girl and saw the creepy lady once again. His heart rate sped up. He cussed the creepy lady inwardly! If she keeps popping out time and time again, he might have a heart attack one day!
Her face was filled with anger, and her mouth opened so wide that it seems like her jaw will break at any moment. She quickly limped towards his direction.
The lady was unique, and unique existences in games usually indicate that the monster will be stronger than common monsters.
They didn't know how strong the lady was, but they charged at her anyways. Some smarter players called their buddies. They would then find out the monster's attack style before going in for the kill.
Xia Shishu didn't log out this time. He still has a quest to complete! He also didn't dare tell the charging players about how strong the lady is. The only things Xia Shishu did was shake the pink teddy even more.
When the players attacked the lady with their swords, it didn't harm her at all. The swords just phased through the lady. They were shocked!
When the swords went through the lady, she slowly lifts her head and look at the attacking players in the eyes. "AhHHHH!!!!" She yelled and went through them as she did with Mu Litong. Her scream was otherworldly and extremely high pitched.
Players fell one after another, and some even retreated out of horror. They could not damage her at all, and staying close to the lady didn't feel right. It was now that most of the players see the difference from traditional MMORPGs and Second Reality. It was just too real.
Xia Shishu did not want to stay there at all. He quickly lured the little girl to the village while other players were distracting the lady. He was tensed since the lady kept following him even though she was killing players.. It seems that he was her target.
Luckily, the transparent little girl wasn't slow. He managed to guide the little girl inside the village gates safely. He had read online that monsters wouldn't normally be able to enter safe zones.