Chapter 179: Failed the Courage Contest! We in Shengjing (Xiyi) All Peed Our Pants!

"Let's just watch first!" Even though it was merely a game, and Ji Yu didn't care all that much, looking at the name still stirred a strange, inexplicable sense of creepiness within her heart.

The disciples of Lingyun Academy actually didn't quite dare to play it anymore?

She cast a curious, questioning glance at Song Qingfeng, Nalan Mingxue, and the others.

The Second Prince had been a bit hesitant at first, but hearing the Eldest Princess Ji Yu's words, he offered a sheepish grin and said, "Watching first sounds fine."

Soon after, Ying Zongxuan, Luo Yun, and the others from Xiyi Academy activated and opened the game with eager impatience.

Likewise, the elite disciples of Shengjing Academy, such as Xiao Lengyu and the Fifth Prince Ji Yang, activated and opened the game as well.

This was a silent competition, representing a rare opportunity for them to wipe clean their past humiliation!

"What kind of martial artist has no courage?" Ji Yang quickly entered the game. Right at the start, the information provided was very simple:

The male protagonist, James, received a letter from his wife Mary, who had died three years ago. The letter claimed she was waiting for him in their "special place" in Silent Hill. Desperate to see his wife, he embarked on the journey to Silent Hill, caught between doubt and hope.

Controlling the body of this ordinary protagonist, with the contents of the letter echoing in his mind, and combined with the mist-shrouded, deathly silent little town before his eyes...

Ji Yang: "..."

It hadn't seemed like much when he was just watching Su Tianji play earlier, but now that he connected the entire backstory of the game, and thought about the kind of place he was about to enter, he suddenly felt a strange sensation that things were terribly wrong!

"It seemed perfectly fine when we were just watching someone else play..." Xiao Lengyu also frowned deeply. What was going on? Why did the surrounding atmosphere suddenly change?

She remembered that before they activated the game, that little girl named Jiang Xiaoyue had casually mentioned a few differences between this game and others. For instance, once you entered the main storyline, all communication with the outside world would be cut off. But this deathly silence really made one feel uncomfortable.

Standing behind to watch, both the Eldest Princess and the Second Prince changed countenance slightly: "Sending an ordinary person to a place like this to find someone...?"

Even if they encountered such a place in reality, they would send an army to explore it first, wouldn't they? How could an ordinary person just walk right in...

Would he even make it back alive?

However, since they had already spoken big words before, the disciples of the two academies could only brace themselves and march forward into the thick mist. After all, the disciples of Lingyun Academy had managed to play it for a while. If they quit right after starting...

That would be far too humiliating!

Could a mere game actually do anything to them?!

With such thoughts, Ji Yang and the others could only grit their teeth and push onward.

First, they passed through a graveyard, where they finally encountered the first living person, who revealed that strange things often happened in Silent Hill. Next, upon entering the town, they saw that the houses and buildings showed no signs of damage whatsoever, yet there wasn't a single soul in sight, nor was there even the slightest sound.

Luo Yun thought to herself: I suddenly really don't want to play this anymore...

She had never felt fear when slaying so many demon beasts in the past, but now she suddenly realized that demon beasts were actually so adorable!

The Eldest Princess's face grew so dark it looked ready to drip ink. She muttered to herself, "I would rather be surrounded by a horde of assassins than step into a place like this."

The unknown, the bizarre—such circumstances could easily dredge up the deepest terrors buried within a person's heart, because they would constantly obsess over what kind of enemy they might encounter next!

Under these conditions, it was better not to think. The moment one thought about it, their own mind would naturally conjure up all sorts of hair-raising horrors.

Especially since there had been many hints earlier suggesting that what they might face was far more complex than mere demons and ghosts.

For a relatively long period at the beginning of Silent Hill, no monsters would appear. Yet it was precisely this dead silence, this continuous exploration, and this period where internal terror expanded and fermented that made these first-time players feel their skin crawl.

The Second Prince wore a look of pure relief: "Good thing I listened to Imperial Sister and watched first..."

And just as the fear in their hearts reached its breaking point, they suddenly discovered that the twisted things appearing before their eyes corresponded exactly to certain dark corners of their own minds!

With their past experiences, the absolute limit of what they had done was killing demon beasts, and mostly under conditions of overwhelming power. When had they ever witnessed such a terrifying spectacle?!

"Ah—!"

It was fine for those who managed to run away, but the Eldest Princess, the Second Prince, and the others standing behind to watch suddenly saw someone on the screen get pinned down by a monster!

That feeling of frantic, desperate struggling with no way to log out...

Ji Yu felt every single hair on her body stand on end!

"Ah—!" Ji Yu screamed out completely instinctively!

This sudden, terrified shriek snapped the taut string in the minds of everyone else around who was already stretched to their absolute psychological limit!

In an instant, every single one of them was scared out of their wits!

And this loud cry quickly drew the gazes of everyone in the entire internet cafe.

On the spot, the Eldest Princess Ji Yu shrunk back behind the Second Prince in total cowardice!

This was...

Too embarrassing!

They had just been boasting about courage, and now they proved to be even worse than the others!

Now, thanks to Her Royal Highness's sudden screech, they were the center of attention for the entire crowd. They wished they could just die on the spot!

Of course, to salvage some dignity, the Second Prince quickly stiffened his neck and shouted, "Owner! Is this game of yours even playable?"

"Why wouldn't it be playable?" Fang Qi looked over.

"Such a dangerous place, yet the protagonist is actually just an ordinary person!" Ji Yu also chimed in loudly, "This game is completely unreasonable!"

"What's wrong with being an ordinary person?" Fang Qi said calmly, "Fearing this and that the moment you lack cultivation only proves that while your mental states may appear strong, they are actually just armed by your cultivation. Once you lose that cultivation, your fragile hearts collapse instantly."

Fang Qi's words clearly struck a chord deep within many of them, causing quite a few people to tremble slightly.

Fang Qi looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze and said, "I think people like you ought to play this game a hundred times over."

Everyone's face twitched violently.

Play it a hundred times?!

Are you sure we wouldn't be scared to death first?

"Then why don't you play it?!" Xiao Lengyu, having finally managed to escape, took off her virtual reality headset and glared over.

"Who said I don't play it." Fang Qi rolled his eyes at her.

"The owner is livestreaming tonight," Nalan Mingxue emphasized once more, clearly to prevent Fang Qi from backing out of his word.

"Livestream?" Everyone's eyes locked onto Fang Qi, "Livestreaming this?"

"Yes." Nalan Mingxue began answering entirely on Fang Qi's behalf.

At this time, on the other side of the internet cafe, the old Prime Minister and a group of civil and military officials were leisurely starting to watch their television dramas.

On this side of the internet cafe, the disciples of the various academies began to lock horns with Owner Fang: "Fine, when the time comes, we'll watch exactly how you make a fool of yourself!"

Fang Qi expressed total fearlessness.

Seeing Fang Qi's utterly unbothered expression, all the players who had just been frightened to the core ground their teeth in collective hatred.

"Hmph! You better not be crying for mercy later!"

Fang Qi spread his hands, then turned his gaze toward Nalan Mingxue, who was always stirring up trouble on the side: "Shouldn't you give it a try as well?"

Nalan Mingxue: "..."

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