Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 978 Xylitol

Night fell quickly, and the moonlight and streetlights shone through the transparent window, soon casting a silvery-white patch of light around Yu Shijiu's bed.

The boy curled up in the thick bed, his breathing gradually becoming steady.

On the inside of his left arm, the few light red marks seemed to gleam slightly under the moonlight and streetlights.

It lasted for an extremely brief moment, and then everything quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

On the morning of the third day, the game system's notification arrived right on time.

[Attention all players from the qualifier guilds: The third round of the guild competition dungeon is about to begin.]

[All guild players are requested to arrive at the live stream plaza teleportation platform on time.]

[The announcement repeats three times: All guild players, please arrive at the live stream plaza teleportation platform on time.]

[All guild players are requested to arrive at the live stream plaza teleportation platform on time.]

[All guild players, please be on time...]

【…】

The five members of "Alive" finished their breakfast to the repeated game prompts, and after tidying up their necessary items and props one last time, they walked to the live broadcast square.

As Xu Han walked along the street, he looked at the increasing number of player stalls on both sides and felt that he could hardly take it all in.

"Wait, why are there more stalls again?"

Xu Han couldn't believe it.

There are almost more players selling items than buying them, aren't there?

“That’s normal,” He Lingling said casually, a piece of candy in her mouth. “Everyone wants to earn a little bit of points.”

After all, a small number of players are still hesitant to participate in the gambling activities organized by the Poker League.

I don't dare to gamble, but setting up a stall to earn some points isn't a losing proposition, so I might as well give it a try.

"But will these products sell?"

Xu Han muttered, "There are more sellers than buyers."

"Someone is willing to buy it."

He Lingling hit the nail on the head: "Aren't you one of those people?"

Xu Han: "..."

Xu Han quickly retorted, "Those things I bought are all useful! They'll definitely come in handy!"

"what ever."

He Lingling just gave a perfunctory reply out of habit; in reality, she didn't care whether what Xu Han bought was useful or not.

Xu Han, who thought He Lingling would continue to criticize him, immediately shut up.

No, why isn't He Lingling arguing with him anymore?

Did the sun rise in the west today?

When Xu Han looked up at the sky, Yu Shijiu behind him suddenly looked up and looked towards the entrance of the live broadcast square.

Over there, a familiar little girl in a pink tutu led her grandmother into the live broadcast square. Her curly pigtails bounced up and down, making her look lively and agile.

It's xylitol and Grandma Mu.

Yu Shijiu narrowed his eyes.

He couldn't possibly be mistaken.

Just now, Mutangtang glanced in their direction several times from the entrance of the live broadcast square.

Because of the distance, Yu Shijiu didn't notice it at first.

"What are you looking at?"

Anjie chewed on a compressed biscuit and leaned closer to him to ask.

"Xylitol and her grandma."

Yu Shijiu said honestly, "I felt like they were looking at us just now."

Anjie was taken aback, "Xylitol?"

"Ah."

Yu Shijiu nodded, "I feel like her eyes look a little strange."

Anjie's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.

She had a bad feeling and subconsciously looked towards the entrance of the live broadcast square.

Mutangtang and her grandma... Could it be that Mutangtang is also participating in this year's guild competition?

Anjie's eyelids twitched, but her eyes didn't change. "It should be fine. Time's almost up, let's go in and pull it out."

"it is good."

While responding, Yu Shijiu turned his head to look at Chen Yi at the other stall and called out:

"Brother Chen, we're going in! Hurry up and buy your things!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yi, who had his back to the four people, quickly packed up what he was holding, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and happily ran towards them.

"OK OK."

As Chen Yi ran, the flesh on both sides of his cheeks jiggled. "I bought some cake, the kind that Captain Lu gave to Shi Jiu yesterday."

As he spoke, he waved the oil paper bag in his hand and said with a smile, "I just tasted it, and it tastes exactly the same."

Xu Han looked at the oil paper bag in Chen Yi's hand with surprise, "They sell this here?"

"It's ten points more expensive than what's sold in stores."

Chen Yi wiped his sweat and said, "The price is acceptable, but it's too far for us to buy it ourselves."

"I go!"

Xu Han was shocked, "Only ten more points? That's really not expensive."

They live quite far from the store.

"It tastes pretty good, and I just happened to see it."

As Chen Yi spoke, he handed the oil paper bag to Yu Shijiu, smiling broadly as he said:

"Here, put it away. Consider it a return gift for the cake you treated Brother Chen to yesterday."

Yu Shijiu blinked in surprise, "You want them all for me?"

"These are all for you."

As Chen Yi spoke, he took out another oil paper bag and walked towards An Jie, saying, "Sister An, this bag is for you."

Anjie took the oil paper bag, and was about to say that this wouldn't keep her full when she saw the compressed biscuits inside the transparent tear in the oil paper bag.

Anjie: "..."

Her lips twitched, but she still said, "Thanks."

"No need to thank me," Chen Yi quickly distributed the things he bought to He Lingling and Xu Han, clapped his hands and said, "Let's go, let's go, it's almost time."

After saying that, he hurriedly walked towards the entrance of the live broadcast square.

The four people behind him glanced down at the oil paper bag in their arms, quickly put the contents back into their system backpacks, and hurried after them.

The live stream plaza was still bustling with activity. Most of the casual players who hadn't participated in the guild competition gathered in small groups, chatting animatedly. Guild members stared intently at the various screens, their expressions serious.

Xu Han walked through the crowd, looking left and right, and couldn't help but sigh, "Sigh, it seems everyone is quite busy."

None of the four paid him any attention, especially Yu Shijiu and An Jie.

Anjie stared intently at the girl on the teleportation platform, who was wearing a pink tutu and had curly ponytails. Her gaze was somewhat serious.

"Sister An."

Yu Shijiu also looked at Mu Tangtang on the teleportation platform and whispered:

"Was xylitol added at the last minute?"

“…” Anjie narrowed her eyes slightly and nodded, “Probably.”

"Xylitol?"

He Lingling's gaze was also drawn to it. She stared at Mu Tangtang on the teleportation platform, remained silent for a few seconds, and then uttered a soul-searching question.

"Are we going to have to play a match against her this round?"

An Jie and Yu Shijiu: "..."

Yu Shijiu hesitated, then nodded and shook his head. "Maybe?"

He was somewhat unsure, "but I always felt there was something—"

"stop!"

Realizing what was happening, Xu Han quickly covered Yu Shijiu's mouth and whispered:

"Don't say anything! Don't say anything! As long as you don't say anything, you definitely won't run into Xylitol!"

Yu Shijiu: "...Hmm?"

The other three: "..."

Chen Yi's expression darkened slightly. "Her innate skill... is a bit difficult to deal with."

"It's not certain that we'll meet them."

He Lingling tried to ease the tension by saying, "Maybe other people were just unlucky and ran into us?"

"..."

A number of guild players had already gathered around the teleportation platform in the live stream plaza.

After Yu Shijiu and the other four stepped onto the teleportation platform, their eyes all fell on Mu Tangtang, who was wearing a pink tutu and had her hair tied in double curly ponytails.

At this moment, Mu Tangtang was standing on the other side of the teleportation platform, nestled beside Grandma Mu, who was dressed simply and had a kind face.

She kept her head down, still carrying a faded thermos around her waist, and held her grandmother's hand tightly. On the surface, she looked like an ordinary, somewhat shy little girl.

However, many players in the square glanced at her with obvious apprehension and wariness.

"It's really xylitol..."

Chen Yi frowned and lowered his voice, saying:

"I heard that Mutangtang's 'grandma' is actually her innate skill, Puppet. Some guilds didn't believe it and attacked her in a dungeon, and it seems like their entire team got torn apart by her 'grandma'..."

He Lingling's pupils contracted slightly as she stared intently at the seemingly harmless old woman next to Mu Tangtang for a long time.

Perhaps because "Ghost Eye" has seen more and more upgraded things in these subsequent dungeons, Grandma Mu has now completely changed in her eyes.

Grandma Mu has almost no life force of a living person, but she also lacks the intense resentment of a strange NPC. She only has a cold, mechanical, and lifeless feeling.

It looks... like a humanoid puppet that has been perfectly manipulated and derived.

So that's really how it is.

Back when she was at the Fuling Hotel, she felt that Grandma Mu looked a bit strange... So she really wasn't a real player?

"Her puppetry skills are very special."

Anjie also whispered, "I don't think it's simple manipulation. It's more like... splitting off a part of one's own emotions and personality and injecting it into a humanoid puppet... That 'grandmother' may have carried all her longing for family affection, as well as all her protectiveness and... aggression."

As Anjie spoke, her brows furrowed as if they were tied in a knot.

In her opinion, Xylitol's talent was rather strange; not everyone's talent could "create" a "living person".

Xylitol herself looks delicate and harmless, but Grandma Xylitol is quite different.

Grandma Mu possesses terrifying combat power. Even more frightening is that Mu Tangtang seems to be able to perceive everything around her through Grandma Mu, and even carry out tactical coordination that no one else can know.

This is very difficult for them.

Which guild did she join?

Xu Han felt a chill run down his spine and quickly looked around.

Soon, he saw several players wearing identical dark gray uniforms on the other side of the teleportation platform.

There were five people, three men and two women, who all looked quite young, but each of them had sharp eyes and a guarded yet calm demeanor.

The leader was a young man with short hair and a cold look in his eyes. He walked up to Mu Tangtang and whispered something to her. Grandma Mu stood quietly behind the little girl, like a guardian deity.

""Fukawa" Guild. "

Anjie recognized the short-haired youth. "Their captain is called Jiang Chuan. His talent is the ability to manipulate water. This kind of ability is very difficult for us to deal with in dungeons with water environments. I didn't expect Mu Tangtang to join them at the last minute..."

"Joining temporarily?"

Yu Shijiu blinked. "Can team members be changed at the last minute during a guild competition?"

"Yes, but it will come at a great cost."

He Lingling explained, "The replaced player will lose their qualification for this round and all rewards, while the replacement player needs to pay a high number of points and can only participate in one round. Mutangtang did this either because 'Shenchuan' gave her an offer she couldn't refuse, or... she had a reason to participate in this round."

reason?

Yu Shijiu looked at Mutangtang again.

Just then, Mutangtang, who was talking to Jiang Chuan, suddenly raised her head.

Her big, round eyes pierced through the crowd and looked straight at Yu Shijiu.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

Mutangtang has large eyes with dark pupils, but deep within them lies a hollow depth that seems out of place for her age.

She stared at Yu Shijiu, a very subtle smile of surprise slowly curving up at the corners of her lips.

Then, Mutangtang raised her little hand and waved gently in Yu Shijiu's direction.

The movement was light and quick, just like a normal little girl greeting someone.

But Yu Shijiu felt a chill run down his back for no reason.

"She's looking at you."

Anjie's voice also turned cold.

"Yes, we've already met."

Yu Shijiu nodded, but didn't look away. Instead, he gave Mu Tangtang the same joyful and surprised smile.

Mutangtang paused for a moment, then laughed even more happily, even standing on tiptoe and waving again.

Jiang Chuan, who was standing next to her, noticed her movement, frowned and looked at Yu Shijiu with a scrutinizing and wary look in his eyes.

"It seems that they are our opponents."

Chen Yi sighed, "This is a bit troublesome."

"When soldiers come, generals will meet them."

Anjie withdrew her gaze and said calmly, "No matter who the opponent is, we only have one goal—to win."

The next second, the Dawn Games system notification sounded in the ears of all players in the square.

[All participating guild players, please proceed to the teleportation platform.]

The third round of the guild competition dungeon is about to begin.

After the system notification sound disappeared, the light around the teleportation platform began to distort, and a familiar feeling of dizziness slowly crept in.

[Teleportation will begin in ten seconds. All participating guild players, please prepare.]

"10"

"9"

"8"

"..."

"gone."

Anjie was the first to step onto the teleportation platform.

Chen Yi, He Lingling, and Xu Han followed closely behind.

Yu Shijiu glanced one last time in the direction where Mu Tangtang was and found that she was looking up at Jiang Chuan and saying something, her finger pointing secretly in his direction.

"..."

Yu Shijiu raised an eyebrow and glanced at Grandma Mu behind Mu Tangtang.

Grandma Mu stood quietly behind Mu Tangtang, but her eyes, which always radiated the kindness of an old woman, slowly turned and focused on Yu Shijiu.

Those eyes held no emotion, only a cold, mechanical gaze.

Yu Shijiu narrowed his eyes, turned around and stepped onto the teleportation platform.

The halo swallowed up the field of vision.

--------

After the familiar darkness and weightlessness subsided, Yu Shijiu opened her eyes again.

What came into view was a... distorted, gray, almost twisted building.

They were standing in a wide square paved with faded, broken colored tiles.

The square is surrounded by various amusement facilities that are common in real life.

Carousels, roller coasters, Ferris wheels, bumper cars, haunted houses, shooting game stands... and so on, almost all the amusement facilities you can see in the real world can be found here.