Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 788 Actually, what I like...

"..."

All five of them were stunned.

A few seconds later, Fang Youhua rubbed her face, somewhat embarrassed, and said:

"What's wrong? Was my answer unexpected?"

"...No, no."

Yang Hua subconsciously shook her head: "I just didn't expect you to say I hate everything, Sister Fang."

Qi Wei echoed, "Yes, I thought you, Sister Fang, would also hate toads even more."

"I'm fine," Fang Youhua said calmly as she walked to the edge of the table and began to predict the distance she would jump. "Maybe I just have a more balanced view of everything."

"..."

This answer was completely unexpected.

Even Yang Hua was stunned for several seconds.

She was full of doubts, but when she saw Fang Youhua starting to climb down the edge of the table, her eyelids twitched.

"Wait for my sister Fang, I'll go with you."

"..."

Seeing that Yang Hua and Fang Youhua had started crawling under the table, the remaining four had no choice but to follow suit.

On the other side, He Lingling glanced at An Jie and Xu Han, who were halfway up the flowerpot, and then turned to look at Fang Youhua and the others who had already climbed down from the table.

What's the point of climbing down?

He Lingling asked in confusion, "Shouldn't the plot point of our first act only be on this table?"

"Maybe it will give me some peace of mind?"

Chen Yi speculated.

He Lingling: "...Then it's better to sit and rest to conserve your energy."

Even so, He Lingling's heart was beating faster and faster for some reason, and she even felt a sharp pain in her eyes, as if they were about to bulge out.

This isn't right.

"Ghost Eye" doesn't experience pain for no reason, nor does its heart beat rapidly for no reason, unless... unless something extremely terrifying is about to happen.

Just as He Lingling was wondering if it was just a "ghost eye" warning, her wildly beating heart and throbbing eyes suddenly quieted down.

"..."

He Lingling subconsciously touched her eyes and frowned.

what happened?

Chen Yi noticed her movement and turned his head: "Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

He was aware of the side effects and costs of He Lingling's innate skills.

"...My eyes hurt a little."

After hesitating for a few seconds, He Lingling still said, "Could there be some clues that we've overlooked?"

Chen Yi was taken aback. "No, the only people truly chosen last night were Sister An and Shi Jiu—"

Chen Yi's voice stopped abruptly, and his expression gradually became solemn.

He Lingling was the same; her face was a little pale, but she still calmly guessed:

"Brother Chen... do you think that among the Eye of All Things, maybe two of them were also chosen last night?"

"..."

Chen Yi remained silent for a few seconds, then closed his eyes and said, "Very likely."

----

"Has Mom always loved you?"

Facing the edge of the table by the French windows in the courtyard, Yu Shijiu sat against the Thumbelina table, swinging her legs as she said:

"I envy you so much. Your mother always gives you the best bread and water, and even the kiss that represents intimacy is only given to you once."

As she spoke, Yu Shijiu, looking somewhat dejected, clutched the hem of her clothes and sighed.

"Unlike me, I always feel like my mom is just going through the motions."

"No."

Thumbelina, standing nearby, was initially happy but also a little uneasy. She tugged at Yu Shijiu's sleeve and whispered:

"You're really overthinking it. Mom treats every good child very well."

“I know that,” Yu Shijiu said, looking down, “but Mom is the best to you.”

"..." Thumbelina's lips curled up, but she forcibly pulled them down, replacing them with an excitement and agitation that Yu Shijiu couldn't understand.

Yu Shijiu: "..."

He glanced discreetly at the faint flesh-colored mark on Thumbelina's neck, pretending not to notice her trembling hands and legs.

“Thumbelina,” Yu Shijiu continued to feign pitifulness, letting out a long sigh, “can you teach me how to win my mother’s favor?”

"……what?"

Thumbelina's smile froze, but she quickly realized what was happening and looked extremely embarrassed and confused.

How can I teach you this?

Thumbelina was puzzled: "Mom only likes the most obedient and sensible children. I can't teach you that."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shijiu raised his head and stared at Thumbelina for almost a minute, until Thumbelina felt a little uncomfortable and shrank back, before he finally smiled.

"Is that so?"

Yu Shijiu forced a bitter smile, sniffed, and stammered to Thumbelina:

"I'm a little sad, Thumbelina."

Thumbelina in fairy tales is beautiful, gentle, and loves to help everyone and everything in need—so, if you show obvious vulnerability and helplessness, or even cry, you're doomed.

Thumbelina will then come to help me, right?

As Yu Shijiu thought about it, his eyes slowly turned from slightly red to a deeper, more intense red. The boy blinked slowly, and round teardrops rolled down his cheeks.

"I am so sad."

Yu Shijiu choked back tears and whispered, "Can you hug me, Thumbelina?"

"..."

Thumbelina was clearly startled by his sudden outburst of tears; her clear eyes were filled with panic, and she seemed completely at a loss for what to do.

"Huh? Hey? You, why are you crying? Good heavens, are you crying because you don't get your mother's love?"

Thumbelina wiped her eyes with heartache, and her crystal-clear, gem-like eyes rolled around before tears also fell.

She reached out and hugged the sobbing Yu Shijiu, gently patting the boy's thin back, and said softly:

"Don't cry, Mommy loves you too, it's just that she loves obedient children a little more... If you want Mommy's focused love, you have to become more and more well-behaved..."

Thumbelina's almost constant words kept drilling into Yu Shijiu's ears, creeping deeper and deeper along his earlobe, like a sticky worm in his eye, slowly wriggling deeper and deeper.

"..."

Yu Shijiu clearly felt his brain getting increasingly foggy with Thumbelina's voice, feeling dizzy and disoriented like a drunken homeless person with a hangover.

A very vague, eerie feeling of semi-consciousness.

In a daze, Yu Shijiu seemed to lose all his strength. He leaned softly against Thumbelina, murmuring:

"Yes... if you want to get your mother's love... you have to be... you have to be the most obedient... good child among all the children..."

"You must listen to your mother... You must do whatever your mother tells you to do..."

As Thumbelina listened to the boy's murmurs beside her, her smile softened even more.

Looking out at the sunlit courtyard through the French windows, she seemed to see her adoptive mother working hard in the fields, and her voice became much lower and hoarse.

"Yes...be obedient...being obedient is the best kind of good child..."

Yu Shijiu silently pursed her lips, biting her tongue fiercely with her sharp teeth.

The strong smell of blood, accompanied by excruciating pain, instantly dispelled the drowsiness deep within the brain, making it an excellent medicine for relieving pain with pain.

In just a moment, Yu Shijiu became completely awake.

He endured the sharp pain in his tongue and slowly opened his eyes to look at the neck of his thumb.

Because of the very close proximity, the slightly raised flesh-colored mark on Thumbelina's neck was clearly visible.

Unlike the completely broken necks of the "Thumbelinas" from last night, the real Thumbelina's neck looked very beautiful, as white as a delicate pear blossom petal, with a faint floral fragrance and the sweet aroma of bread.

But there was this obvious fleshy mark that "bound" Thumbelina's beautiful neck.

Even someone like Yu Shijiu, who doesn't really understand obvious beauty and ugliness, thought it was terribly ugly.

what is this?

Yu Shijiu stared somewhat unhappily at the fleshy mark on Thumbelina's neck, vaguely feeling that it might represent something.

"……what?"

Thumbelina seemed to suddenly realize something. She suddenly lowered her head and her eyes met those of Yu Shijiu, who had raised his eyes.

"..."

Thumbelina's face instantly turned bright red. She licked her lips awkwardly, then hurriedly lowered her head and leaned on Yu Shijiu's shoulder, whispering:

"Do I... do I have something dirty on my face?"

Yu Shijiu: "?"

Yu Shijiu shook his head blankly: "No, your face is very clean, there's not a speck of dirt on it."

"..." Thumbelina was silent for a few seconds, then hesitated and said, "Then why were you staring at me like that...?"

"Because you're pretty."

Without hesitation, Yu Shijiu replied, "I just wanted to take a closer look at your face."

Thumbelina: "..."

Thumbelina's face turned even redder.

Yu Shijiu was somewhat surprised when he noticed that Thumbelina's body was starting to get warm, until Thumbelina shyly tugged at his sleeve several times.

"?"

Yu Shijiu looked up blankly and saw Thumbelina take a small flower out of the small handbag next to her skirt and hand it to him.

The flowers are colorful, small and delicate, and if you get close, you can almost smell a very faint floral fragrance.

Yu Shijiu subconsciously took the little flower, feeling that it looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

"This is the little flower that grew from my flower," Thumbelina said shyly. "Doesn't it look pretty?"

"..." Even the slow-witted Yu Shijiu sensed something was amiss. He suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Thumbelina with some surprise.

The girl sitting next to him had a face as red as the most beautiful sunset glow, and her big, bright eyes were frighteningly bright.

"Do you like me too?"

Thumbelina suddenly asked, tugging at Yu Shijiu's clothes with a cheerful expression.

"..."

Yu Shijiu nodded blankly, then quickly shook his head.

"I--"

"You like me too."

Thumbelina interrupted him excitedly, stood up abruptly, shook off Yu Shijiu's unconsciously outstretched hand, and then performed a light and graceful dance with high kicks in place.

Yu Shijiu: "..."

Yu Shijiu was stunned, his temple veins throbbing. He wanted to explain, but Thumb, who had been dancing in circles, pulled him up by the hand.

"I like you very much too."

Thumbelina said cheerfully, "You are so beautiful, the most beautiful of all, I think I can accept you."

Yu Shijiu: "..."

Yu Shijiu silently pulled her hand back, "I think I might not be able to accept you."

Thumbelina's smile froze. She looked at Yu Shijiu blankly and said:

"Why? You were the one who approached me first—"

"Hold on for a moment."

Yu Shijiu felt a cold sweat break out on his back. This was the first time he had been "forced" to this point by a strange NPC in a dungeon. He swallowed the blood in his mouth and said:

"I'm sorry, I don't know what caused you to misunderstand... but actually, I like men."

Thumbelina: "..."

As soon as Yu Shijiu said this, not only those in the game instance who heard it, but even the audience watching the guild competition live stream were in an uproar.

"Oh my god?!?"

"Is there something wrong with my ears?!?"

"You slapped me! Slap me now! Do I think I just imagined it? I imagined that lunatic Yu Shijiu saying she likes men?! Is this for real?!?"

"I just don't believe it! This kid never tells the truth, could he be deliberately trying to fool Thumbelina?"

"I just don't believe it. Judging from his past livestreams, Yu Shijiu's attitude towards female NPCs is significantly better than his attitude towards male NPCs! How could he possibly like men! This is definitely just to fool Thumbelina!!!"

"Holy crap, isn't Yu Shijiu only eighteen? Eighteen is right, isn't it?"

"..."

The sounds from the audience behind him reached Lu Chusheng's ears one after another, but he seemed not to hear anything, his gaze fixed blankly on the screen as the boy tilted his head and talked to Thumbelina.

The boy had changed from his thin and pale appearance when he first entered the Dawn Game. Even the crazy and childish look in his eyes had faded a lot. At this moment, Yu Shijiu looked no different from any other teenagers in their prime.

He loves to laugh, and he likes to tilt his head while chatting with people. His tone of voice always has a hook at the end, whether it's sarcastic or cheerful, it always has a slightly tantalizing curve that makes people's hearts itch (to clarify, only Captain Lu with ulterior motives would think that way), which makes it impossible to ignore.

And now, this person says that he... likes men.

Like men...

Lu Chusheng could hear the pounding of his own heart.

Bang—bang—bang!!

His heart had never pounded so fast before, one beat after another, as if the blood in his body was flowing backward, his face was burning, and his ears were burning.

...I like men.

Yu Shijiu said that she likes men.

Lu Chusheng had a hard time understanding what he was thinking. He just felt a strange numbness and swelling in his hands and feet, similar to the numbness he felt when crouching to avoid monsters in a game instance.

Not only that, but the sound of his heartbeat was also very similar to the situation at the time—no, actually not at all.

Back then, I was simply suppressing my fear and calmly calculating when the monster would pass by my hiding place so I could make my move in advance. But now... it's not like that. It's not fear, calculation, or a calm mind.

Instead, it was chaotic, unknown, twisted, exciting, and exhilarating... until the dust settled.