Chapter 9: Only When Hope is Lost Can You Live On
==============================
In a pitch-black prison,
the only flickering light came from a few scattered torches hanging on the stone walls.
The freshly arrived Little Musashi and Cold Little Rain were rudely shoved into a cramped cell.
The other prisoners in the surrounding cells merely glanced at them, their heads quickly dropping again, as if such treatment was par for the course.
Cold Little Rain was shivering all over;
this was the first time she had seen such a spine-chilling place since entering the game.
The women in the adjacent cell had evidently been incarcerated for a long time, their clothing scant and expressions blank, as if hope for the future had completely drained away.
As the Dog-headed Man Chief, accompanied by a giant dog, moved away, the prison fell eerily silent.
“What… where exactly is this? What do they want from us?” Cold Little Rain couldn’t help but ask.
Little Musashi shook her head.
She had decided to surrender at the sight of the Dog-headed Man, just as Strong Brother had previously guessed, to quickly infiltrate the enemy’s lair.
Time waits for no one.
There were less than four hours left on their character cards before they would forcibly log out, and to log back in required a whole eight-hour wait.
Her other character card, due to system restrictions, seemed unable to replace Little Musashi here. Therefore, she had only four hours to unveil Ji Shen’s plot.
She had a hunch that a final showdown with Ji Shen was inevitable, so the more she learned about the enemy, the better her chances would be.
Little Musashi feigned a similar look of fear, constantly asking the women in the cells,
“Where is this? What are they going to do to us… Boo-hoo, so frightening!”
As the words flowed, her eyes turned red, looking all teary and about to burst into tears.
Ah, women’s tear ducts truly are impressive. She had only wanted to put on a show but ended up crying for real.
Go figure, Cold Little Rain caught her wave of emotion and started tearing up too.
The worse they cried, the more massive the rockets pouring in from the streaming room. Why would Cold Little Rain not play along?
At last, one of the nearby prisoners was moved by their performance.
A woman, close to their cell, sighed and said, “Oh, dear girls, don’t cry anymore; the days ahead are long.”
“To survive, we can only drag ourselves along. Those who couldn’t hang on are already dead.
Take my advice: when you get here, just throw away all your hope. That way, you might live a little longer.”
At her words,
Little Musashi and Cold Little Rain began wailing even more fiercely.
The surrounding women shook their heads.
It seemed they, too, had arrived brimming with fear and helplessness,
only to have forgotten what tears were over time, because their hearts had died from crying too much.
Little Musashi turned her back to sneakily wipe away her tears, feeling as if her crying had been in vain—she hadn’t drawn any valuable intel from them.
These women seemed more dead inside than anything,
living like walking corpses until the day they truly breathed their last.
Let’s wait a bit, then,
if these Dog-headed folks were just keeping them cooped up without any other plans, then before her character card was reclaimed, she had to escape this place.
At that moment, Cold Little Rain whispered to her,
“Musashi sister, I can still keep in touch with your apprentice. That guy is doing just fine; those Dog-headed Men really treat him like a buddy.”
“Good, let him scout the entire cave’s layout as fast as possible, and if he can find our weapons, that’d be even better.”
“Got it, I’ll tell him right away.”
Little Musashi certainly understood they were communicating through the live stream, and knowing without saying was a basic quality of a solid NPC.
Let’s see what Strong Brother discovers over there.
…
Strong Brother followed a group of Dog-headed Men to their dormitory.
“Dormitory,” they called it, but in reality, it was just a big cave full of shabby mats and junk. As soon as he entered, a pungent sour smell hit him like a brick wall, almost making him gag.
Yet, these Dog-headed Men showed no signs of distress; instead, they seemed more at home in this environment. Once inside the cave, they stripped practically down to nothing, revealing their furry bodies.
Strong Brother, of course, couldn’t strip—one wrong move, and he’d be caught.
After receiving the message from the live stream players, learning that Little Musashi ordered him to scout the cave ASAP, he didn’t want to stay in the dormitory for another minute.
However, just as he attempted to stand, two burly Dog-headed Men appeared out of nowhere, firmly gripping his shoulders, their eyes locked onto him.
Strong Brother swallowed hard.
Could it be…
he was exposed?
Seeing that these two were silent, he nervously asked, “Um, what do you mean, brothers?”
One of the Dog-headed Men responded with a couple of “Woofs.”
Come on, can we stick to speaking human language here? I don’t speak dog!
But Strong Brother didn’t dare to say, “Could you please repeat that?” so he just nodded awkwardly.
And just like that,
they momentarily released him, but the second he tried to stand, they pressed him down again.
Strong Brother was on the verge of frustration but couldn’t let it show.
At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to leave the Dog-headed Man dormitory, let alone accomplish the task his master gave him.
Desperate, he had a lightbulb moment and came up with a brilliant plan—urgency escape!
He clutched his stomach and began moaning loudly, frowning and putting on a painfully pained expression.
The two Dog-headed Men exchanged looks and reluctantly released him again, barking a few more times,
probably urging him to hurry back.
Sorry, guys, but it’s a one-way trip for you!
Finally free from their grip, Strong Brother dashed out faster than anyone,
following the same path back, hoping to find the intersection where he had parted ways with the two ladies. But he soon realized the route was twisted and convoluted, like being trapped in a maze.
At this point, he could only charge ahead blindly, choosing one path to walk all the way through.
Thankfully, there were no other monsters in the hallway. If he encountered other monster races, he had no idea how to explain himself!
As he walked, he noticed the cave walls on both sides seemed to widen. The light grew brighter—could he be nearing the exit?
Thankfully, he had left markers along the way, so he easily retraced his steps back to the Dog-headed Man dormitory without any trouble.
Suddenly, ahead the space opened up dramatically,
the bright sunlight shining down on the ground where he stood.
But Strong Brother froze,
staring vacantly.
The flicker of hope that had just ignited in his chest evaporated in an instant.
It turned out to be a space surrounded by mountains on all sides,
and the surrounding walls were smoother than a mirror—there wasn’t even a place to plant his feet.
And down in the valley, hidden among the trees, he unexpectedly spotted a ten-meter-long table.
The table was piled high with an array of fresh pastries and foods,
the rich aroma making Strong Brother’s mouth water uncontrollably.
Beside the table were several Dog-headed Men dressed in black servant attire, meticulously wiping it down.
Were they about to hold a banquet?
What the heck…
Didn’t he remember this was a fairy tale game?
Why was there such a strong air of a Western-style feast in front of him?
