When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 362: Selected Emotion: Despair

Chapter 362: Selected Emotion: Despair

...What?

"Stop!" Shen Nianzu hollered without thinking. At that moment, he only acted based on his instinct. "Stop fighting! Don’t attack those creatures anymore!"

His voice thundered across the space, causing the battlefield to come to a momentary halt.

"Alienation?" Ying read the words written on the sky out loud, her complexion paling. "Alienation of... the players? Does it mean we’re going to turn into them— the more we attack and cause them despair?"

"Or..." Shen Nianzu pressed the tip of his tongue on his cheek as he thought of another possibility. "Our own despair. The more we feel this emotion, the more we will change."

Gu Luoxin, who was limping towards them with the aid of his kingkong, overheard the conversation and stammered out, "B–But I don’t feel despair at all? I don’t know what’s happening. All of a sudden, my legs..." he pulled up his trousers, revealing his once smooth and fair calves that had transformed into a dark color with a dry texture similar to the skin of the dinosaurs he was fighting against. His face crumpled in devastation, "Oh no, I’m going to turn into a dinosaur..."

"Chirp..." Toki clung to his shoulder tightly, his bright blue eyes glistening with tears.

"I–Is there anything we can do to salvage this?" Qiuqiu asked tremblingly as she kept tugging her sleeves down, attempting to conceal those creepy and ominous eyes from sight.

"Maybe there’s some kind of catalyst here," Noir speculated. "Those creatures are definitely weaker than they actually are in their own attraction, I could sense it when I was fighting against them. Besides, the endless number just makes me think that this attraction’s purpose is to wear us out."

"Wear us out for—" Shen Nianzu’s words abruptly trailed off as he raised his head and took in Noir’s appearance.

Gu Luoxin cried out in extreme shock, "G–Great God, your face!"

Noir’s sharp and attractive features had become blurry, it was like someone had lowered the opacity around his face, or covered him in a layer of haze. If this went on, sooner or later, he would become another faceless creature. Noir still carried a nonchalant attitude with him as though he couldn’t care less about it. On the contrary, it was Gu Luoxin who looked as if the world was coming to an end.

His face... Great God’s beautiful face would be gone soon...

"Forty percent," Ying announced grimly. "The number has gone up. We can’t stay here any longer."

The situation had taken an unexpectedly dire turn. Left with no other choice, the five of them decided to choose a random path and exit the space first before they continued to plan their future course of action. It was fortunate that the nightmare creatures seemed to be apprehensive to launch another attack after they had a taste of the players’ might, providing them with the precious opportunity to discuss their next move.

After careful consideration, the group opted for the path from which the faceless creatures had emerged. First, it was because the transformation seemed the most harmless compared to others, and second, they were the weakest creatures around.

"No matter what happens," Shen Nianzu cautioned. "Try not to let despair get to you. Lift your spirits, we will definitely be able to get out of here."

The others nodded in agreement.

Unwilling to waste any more time, the five of them joined hands as they cut through the sea of faceless creatures, leaving a trail of corpses in their wake. It was not a difficult feat, given the presence of Noir, Ying and Shen Nianzu in the group. Soon, they reached the passage and sprinted forward with all of their might.

"Run!" Ying shouted as she agilely dodged the faceless creatures lunging at her. "Don’t attack them anymore. Just avoid them and run!"

Gu Luoxin and Qiuqiu screamed as they forcefully shoved the faceless creatures aside, while Shen Nianzu simply used a little bit of his illusion to make them lose sight of their target. In this manner, they quickly made their way out of the tunnel...

...only to find themselves back in the same circular space.

"What..." Gu Luoxin’s jaws hung agape as he absorbed the familiar yet disheartening sight – corpses littering the ground and more nightmare creatures poised to attack them. Despite keeping Shen Nianzu’s earlier warning in mind, the scene still dealt a great blow to his psyche, and he staggered backward in disbelief. "Don’t tell me... are we trapped here...?"

A heavy silence reigned in the air, as everyone’s expression sank with dread.

Above, the twinkling stars kept shifting and changing, seemingly as if they were mocking the players’ futile effort.

Alienation: 44%

Alienation: 48%

Shen Nianzu gritted his teeth. He could feel his arm turning numb and heavy, and he did not even need to look to know that the metallic surface must have spread to a wider area. However, there was no way he would concede defeat just like that!

"There are still a lot of paths we can check!" He declared in a loud and resolute voice. "Come on, the exit must be somewhere ahead!"

Gu Luoxin perked up, roughly wiped the tears on his face and exclaimed, "T–That’s right, let’s not give up so easily, or else we will fall prey to this attraction!"

The other three nodded firmly. This time, they chose the path where the little monkeys came from. And yet... and yet they still found themselves back in the same place.

This time, no other words were exchanged as they selected another path... then another... and another...

But it was all in vain.

They always ended up in the same spot as if they had been running around in circles.

Alienation: 52%

"I–I can’t do this anymore!" Qiuqiu finally broke down into tears as she scratched her arms until they bore bloody marks. Tears streamed down her stricken face. "I can hear them talking... they’re talking to me! Get rid of this... please! Help me get rid of their voices!"

"Snap out of it, Qiuqiu!" Gu Luoxin shook her shoulders hard, though his own voice was also shaking with fear. How could he not, when he could feel his legs turning into something alien? "It’s all a hallucination your mind has conjured up. They’re not real!" He hollered, unsure whether to sober Qiuqiu up or to convince himself.

Alienation: 58%

Noir leaned tiredly against the wall, his breathing uneven. His face had mostly disappeared. If one did not squint harder, he could pass off as a faceless creature. Tilting his head to the sky, it was unknown what was running through his mind.

Shen Nianzu swallowed past his dry throat. Think, Shen Nianzu... think! What should they do in a situation like this? They were all exhausted, both physically and mentally, and every time they ended up here was another blow to their spirit. Where was the exit? How could they stop the alienation? There were so many questions churning in his mind, yet he could think of no answer. He massaged his aching temple, but the movement only drew his attention to his arm, which had half turned into metal.

It felt hard and cold to the touch, almost like his scale. Yet it gave him no feeling of intimacy and familiarity. Instead, it felt more like cancer encroaching on his system, devouring him bit by bit.

If this persisted, would he turn into a Chrono beast?

Shen Nianzu stared at his metal arm in a daze, and out of nowhere, Jin Jiuchi’s face flashed in his mind. If it were Jin Jiuchi who was trapped in here, he would... no, he wouldn’t allow himself to be trapped. He was the kind of guy who would choose to break down the walls if he couldn’t find the door.

That’s right, the walls!

Shen Nianzu perked up as the idea popped up in his mind. What if... what if they just broke down the walls? Would they find something on the other side? He swiveled around, ready to share his hypothesis with the others, but then his attention was caught by the motionless figure of Ying, who stood with her back to him. Upon closer inspection, he could see that her entire body was trembling ever so slightly.

Alarm bells went off in Shen Nianzu’s mind. "Ying?" He called out in a loud voice. "Ying, are you okay?!"

The other three were startled, and their attention shifted to Ying as well, who remained unresponsive to the call. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong with her. Frowning, Shen Nianzu started to make his way toward her, but halfway through...

Crack!

The crisp sound of bones breaking echoed in the air as blood burst out of Ying’s back like a fountain. Her skin and flesh split open, and from within her body a... thick and thorny black stem emerged. It was exactly the same as the man-eating plant she was fighting against!

"AHHH!!!" Qiuqiu’s screams pierced the air as she collapsed on her knees, horror reflected in her eyes.

"Ha... haha..." Gu Luoxin burst out laughing, his eyes blank with despair. "I suddenly remember Da Shen saying... there’s this one timeline where Ying turned into a monster and wiped all of us out..." he laughed again, hollow and bleak. "Seems like we’re all going to die here, huh...?"