Forces of Temptation

Chapter 78

Fear of the Full Moon

Nan Zhou’s palm was covered by the thin, golden snow.
He murmured, “That’s good.”
It was 20 minutes before the end of the instance.
This was really a path that the Bronze Brigade had never envisaged.
They had never experienced a leisurely time before the end of the instance and for a while, they didn’t know what to do.
The peak of the slightly flat snowy mountain was filled with snow that would last for thousands of years.
They knew that once players like them left, the traces they left behind would be wiped out in a few moments.
Everything would return to desolation.
Nan Zhou gathered snow from elsewhere.
A big snowball started to take shape under his hands.
Jiang Fang helped bring more snow while asking, “What do you want to do?”
Nan Zhou earnestly formed the snowball. “Make a friend for him.”
Jiang Fang smiled slightly and painted the remaining snow on his palm onto Nan Zhou’s face.
If the time isn’t too late, I really want to kiss him.
Since the time isn’t right, I can only let my fingertips kiss him first.
Nan Zhou, “?”
He pointed to the tip of his nose and the white marks on his face and said, “There isn’t enough time. I can’t have a snowball fight with you now. We will do it later.
Jiang Fang’s smile became bright.
He acquiesced to this ‘ later.’
Li Yinhang also approached their side on her hands and knees and skillfully gathered the snow.
The trio worked together and soon made a body for the snowman.
It was just that there wasn’t much time left.
Once there were five minutes left, He Yinchuan approached the busy trio with a snowman’s head.
The snowman’s eyes were the two cufflinks from Lu Bifang’s sweater.
The nose was a small cone that Zhou Ao wrapped with his cut bandages.
The redness of the cheeks were dyed with Liang Shu’s simple item.
The woolen cap was from He Yinchuan.
He Yinchuan held the snowman’s head and said softly, “This is our hearts.”
Then He Yinchuan looked at the clear snow in the daylight and spoke solemnly, “Thank you for saving us.”
He turned to Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang. “Thank you.”
Nan Zhou blinked. “You helped us so we just helped back.”
Until now, Nan Zhou hadn’t understood the motivation of the Bronze Brigade.
They didn’t seem to enjoy the thrill and excitement like Xie Xiangyu.
No one forced them to come.
They didn’t even have the basic crisis awareness.
After meeting Nan Zhou’s group, they didn’t ask about the past history and helped out.
...Um.
It should be said that there was one person among them with a strong sense of crisis.
The only one with a defensive heart, Lin Zhisong stood behind He Yinchuan.
He showed a contradictory expression. His hands were behind his back while he bit his lip and remained silent.
He Yinchuan hadn’t expected Lin Zhisong to follow him. The moment he saw Nan Zhou’s gaze fall behind him, he looked back and couldn’t help being stunned. “...Xiao Lin?”
Lin Zhisong handed over a pale gray scarf from behind his back.
His exposed neck was faintly white from the cold.
He rubbed the tip of his nose and stated unnaturally, “It is still missing this.”
He Yinchuan felt relieved at the thought that this person had finally let go. He started walking in the direction of the Bronze Brigade while patting Lin Zhisong on the shoulder in a comforting manner.
However, Lin Zhisong didn’t move after giving the scarf.
Li Yinhang found that he was still staring at Nan Zhou. She sighed and tried to prevent him from saying something that he shouldn't say. “Just now... thank you for saving me.”
“...You’re welcome.”
After the indifferent response, Lin Zhisong looked down at Li Yinhang who was on one knee.
Li Yinhang’s butt immediately moved in the direction of Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang.
Lin Zhisong asked, “Have you ever been to Rust City?”
Li Yinhang’s gaze drifted to the two men.
Nan Zhou, who was doing the finishing work on the snowman and Jiang Fang, who was looking at Lin Zhisong, both nodded at her imperceptibly.
Li Yinhang replied, “Yes.”
“Have you made your wish?”
“I haven’t made it yet.” She was no longer the poor little player but she still couldn’t help expecting a discount for the wishing pool one day.
Lin Zhisong’s gaze moved to Nan Zhou.
Nan Zhou had just wrapped Lin Zhisong’s scarf around the snowman and he was checking if the knot he had tied was good or not.
He didn’t look back until he confirmed it.
Lin Zhisong emphasized his question word for word. “Mr Nan, what is your wish?”
Nan Zhou was a bit confused. “Why should I tell you?”
Lin Zhisong’s hand suddenly shot out to grab Nan Zhou’s wrist.
Nan Zhou didn’t intend to hide.
He didn’t think Lin Zhisong could do any harm to himself.
However, Lin Zhisong couldn’t even touch the corner of Nan Zhou’s clothes.
Jiang Fang reached out and grabbed his hand.
Jiang Fang’s tone was calm and there was even his warm and pleasing social smile on his face.
Even so, what flickered in his eyes was the clear monopoly that didn’t allow the other person to get close. “Mr Lin, why don’t you ask me?”
Lin Zhisong didn’t even look at Jiang Fang.
He stared at Nan Zhou’s composed gaze and revealed a slightly feverish disbelief. “Because you shouldn’t be here at all.”
He Yinchuan called out, “Xiao Lin.”
Lin Zhisong was stubborn.
He Yinchuan raised his voice. “Lin Zhisong!”
Lin Zhisong gritted his teeth. “I’m here.”
He Yinchuan gave an order. “Turn around and come back.”
Lin Zhisong’s eyebrows twitched and he answered unwillingly, “...Yes.”
Just as Lin Zhisong retreated, there was the melodious tone to signal the end of the instance.
[Ding ding ding—]
[Congratulations to the ‘Cube Boat’ team for completing the instance ‘Fear of the Full Moon’!]
[Congratulations to the ‘Cube Boat’ team and ‘Bronze Brigade’ team for finishing the climbing competition. You have won the reward ‘Climbing Master’ and each acquired 2,000 points!]
[Congratulations to both teams. In the 12 hours of game time, you have found the real top of the mountain and made it to the top. Each person has acquired 3,000 points!]
[Congratulations to the two teams. The survival rate has reached 100% and each person has acquired 800 points!]
[The exploration degree of the main plotline has reached 100%. If the degree of completion is more than 95% then it can be judged as the perfect S-grade rating!]
[Ding! The S-grade rewards are 1,000 points each and any random item. The items will be delivered to the players’ backpacks within three days~]
[Players, please leave the instance within three minutes—]
This notification seemed to stimulate Lin Zhisong.
After taking less than two steps, Lin Zhisong abruptly turned back and strode to Li Yinhang’s side.
His actions startled Li Yinhang.
Jiang Fang frowned slightly and reached out to protect her. “Mr Lin, don’t go too far.”
Li Yinhang stared directly into Li Yinhang’s puzzled eyes. “Do you trust us?”
Even Liang Shu couldn’t stand it anymore. “Lin Zhisong! Don’t harass the members of other teams!”
Lin Zhisong didn’t move and his voice was filled with an unspeakable urgency. “Answer me. Do you trust us?”
Li Yinhang, “......”
She nodded slightly.
Along the way, she had been taken care of by the Bronze Brigade.
She carried things clearly and wouldn’t avoid it.
Lin Zhisong suggested, “Would you like to follow us?”
“...But you already have five people.”
It was a tactful refusal but Lin Zhisong blocked her words.
He insisted, “If you are willing to follow us, I can give you my place.”
He Yinchuan suddenly ran up and scolded him, “Lin Zhisong!”
On the other side, Zhou Ao used his bandaged fingers to pull at Lin Zhisong’s clothes.
Zhou Ao knew that Lin Zhisong wasn’t only a student but also a researcher. He had many problems and was used to going his own way, but he was generally obedient.
He wouldn’t target one person all the time for no reason.
Lin Zhisong thought that Li Yinhang didn’t dare to leave because she was afraid of Nan Zhou’s strength.
He thought the offer was very generous.
As long as she moved over, the Bronze Brigade would provide her with as much protection as possible.
It didn’t matter if he was alone.
Everything was fine as long as Li Yinhang, an innocent person, didn’t stay with a ticking time bomb without knowing anything.
To Lin Zhisong’s surprise, Li Yinhang slowly shook her head.
Lin Zhisong’s eyes widened with incomprehension.
It wasn’t just Nan Zhou’s strange and cold temperament. The Nan Zhou who showed inhuman combat power wasn’t a normal person at all.
Wasn’t she afraid when there was such a person who could easily control her life or death with one hand?
Lin Zhisong was stunned. “You...”
Li Yinhang stared directly into Lin Zhisong’s eyes. “I know what you want to say. I’ve thought about it.”
Li Yinhang glanced at the beautiful snowman friend.
“However, he is a really good person. If you don’t know then I’ll tell you.”
Jiang Fang smiled softly.
Nan Zhou didn’t intend to care about Lin Zhisong at all.
It was because he read a bit of danger from Lin Zhisong.
This person knew his secret.
It was just that Lin Zhisong was afraid of his strength.
Thus, he only dared to take an indirect approach.
There was no need to ask questions and make trouble for himself.
Nan Zhou asked, “Yihang, where are we going next?”
Li Yinhang found a simple reason to get away. She patted the snow off her body, ran to Nan Zhou’s side and whispered to advise Nan Zhou where to go.
Jiang Fang was about to follow when Lin Zhisong pulled his sleeve.
Lin Zhisong lowered his voice. “You... you know?”
Jiang Fang slightly raised an eyebrow. His eyes moved around the other person’s face for a moment before he showed a good-looking smile. “Yes.”
Lin Zhisong gritted his teeth. “Are you crazy?”
“Who knows?” Jiang Fang smiled and approached Lin Zhisong’s ear, whispering to him. “Maybe I’m in love.”
Lin Zhisong, “......”
Before he could chase and ask again, the scene of the ice and snow around him suddenly darkened.
By the time he stood firm, he was standing in a gray forest of reinforced cement.
Zhou Ao had chosen Rust City as the transmission point.
The equipment was automatically stripped clean by the instance and they were wearing their original clothes.
Due to Lin Zhisong’s unusual actions, the other four people looked at him a bit strangely.
Lin Zhisong noticed the scene changing abruptly and found it was impossible to go back. This made his cheeks bulge with anger.
He anxiously said, “What are you doing? I haven’t finished asking yet!”
He Yinchuan sighed helplessly. “Little comrade, do you know how the relationship between the police and community is destroyed?”
Lin Zhisong brushed off He Yinchuan’s hand. He looked at the other people and exclaimed angrily, “Didn’t you look at the information before you came?”
Since the disappearances occurred on a large scale, there were some voices who thought that the disappearance was related to the abnormal incident in Forces of Temptation more than half a year ago.
After all, shortly after the big game incident in Forces of Temptation, the weird and huge notification box appeared in the sky.
Therefore, the relevant data and materials of Forces of Temptation were sent to the volunteer teams as reference materials.
It was just that these related design materials and data were too much and too complicated. For those like He Yinchuan who didn’t engage in technology, he just took a look before immediately closing it.
...He was dizzy.
None of them had the right major apart from Lin Zhisong.
Lin Zhisong gritted his teeth and explained, “Eternal Day, the domestic comic released 23 years ago. It was later adapted to a game instance of the same name and was one of the hundreds of instances in Forces of Temptation. Nan Zhou is the protagonist of that comic and the most important core NPC in the instance!”
Silence fell the moment these words came out.
He Yinchuan’s expression slightly changed. “It is just the same name and surname. The two characters ‘Nan Zhou’ aren’t uncommon...”
“I have memorized all the relevant information. Captain He, don’t you believe in my brain?”
He Yinchuan, “......” The brain was really good. It was just as stubborn.
Zhou Ao added, “The name isn’t enough.”
Lin Zhisong opened his mouth. “The characteristic is to fear the full moon and he is very aggressive at other times. The appearance of ‘Nan Zhou’ is a beautiful monster with medium-length black hair and a teardrop mole.”
From the beginning, Lin Zhisong had felt that Nan Zhou’s face was familiar.
If it wasn’t for Nan Zhou’s original weakness that made him look like an ordinary person, Lin Zhisong would’ve remembered it a long time ago.
The four people, “.......”
It was just difficult for them to accept the concept of ‘NPC running out of the instance.’
He Yinchuan tried his best to follow Lin Zhisong’s thoughts. “Why do you remember him? Is he special?”
Lin Zhisong hated that he hadn’t remembered earlier. “In the Eternal Day instance, the players’ overall mortality rate was the highest among all the instances in Forces of Temptation. It was high enough for the players to jointly complain and the officials twice cut the power of this core NPC.”
Lin Zhisong clenched his fists.
Nan Zhou was a real danger.
He should’ve remembered it earlier!
Lu Bifang, who had remained silent, suddenly seemed inspired and jumped up. “I... I remember!”
The four pairs of suspicious eyes fell on him.
Lu Bifang’s cheeks were white. “Jiang Fang... no, Lodoka. I remember the name!”
“Six months ago, the incident in Forces of Temptation occurred. Many of the people who were forcibly disconnected from the cabin fell into a deep coma and died one by one.”
“Jiang Fang is the only one... who survived!”
The amount of information rose sharply and the group of five fell silent.
Zhou Ao turned to Lin Zhisong,. “Eternal Day... what type of story is it?”