(All characters in this work are 18+)
“Brother, please, don't kill me…”
Who is speaking?
Is my illness acting up again?
Li Andy was stunned.
He was currently straddling a delicate girl.
In his hand, he held a kitchen knife, pressed against her neck.
With just a little force, the sharp blade would cut through her tender, pale neck, and sweet, coppery red liquid would seep out.
“Brother, please…”
The girl pleaded continuously, tears overflowing.
What the hell?? Li Andy was bewildered.
This dim scene, this suppressed sobbing, this slightly warm sensation, and the strange feeling of the girl trembling from fear.
Everything felt incredibly real.
“Hiss!”
Li Andy suddenly felt a splitting pain in his head, his expression becoming twisted and ferocious, which made the girl beneath him tremble even more.
“Brother, don’t kill me…”
“Shut up!”
Li Andy gritted his teeth and growled.
The girl immediately quieted down, but her body still couldn't stop trembling.
After several seconds, Li Andy’s headache began to subside.
The fragmented memories in his mind also became clearer.
He had transmigrated… and into the Cthulhu-style horror game called 'lost grim realm' that he had played all night.
The story was set in a parallel world during the First Industrial Revolution.
But for some unknown reason, technology was rapidly developing in a steampunk direction.
Human society appeared prosperous and bright on the surface, but internal conflicts were gradually intensifying, and strange occurrences were endless.
The main keywords were: thriller, horror, adventure, Cthulhu, steam, machinery, punk, alchemy, occult, strange tales, beautiful girls, dress-up…
But, none of these were the main point!
The main point was that all the endings of this game were Bad Ends!
Anyone who had played Cthulhu games knew that 'despair' was the authentic flavor of such stories!
And the destructive ending of 'lost grim realm' dragged the entire human world into the lost grim realm.
Ultimately, civilization was destroyed, and no one survived!
This was also the origin of the game's name.
However…
It was rumored online that the development team, to cater to more players, had also provided a hidden Happy Ending.
It was just that before he transmigrated, no one on the entire internet had been able to achieve it.
And he had stayed up all night, restarting again and again, until he died from exhaustion, precisely because he wanted to achieve this ending and become the first person on the entire internet to do so.
Sigh…
He should have known better and pulled an all-nighter on a different game!
Even a tentacle hentai game would be better than this, right?
Li Andy opened his eyes again and looked at the girl beneath him.
He hadn't had time to look closely before, but now he felt the girl's appearance gradually merging with the game's character model.
These types of horror games usually made the models very exquisite to boost sales.
This delicate girl in front of him was the game's female lead, Yuquan Youxi.
Black hair and black eyes, with a distinctive East Asian appearance, she looked delicate and easily bullied. Her face was covered in tear stains, like a small wild flower battered by wind and rain, making her seem very pitiful.
But in reality, she was the type of tough person who could remain calm in the face of various bizarre events and dared to explore them alone.
She was also the main character controlled by the player!
Her background was that of a descendant of a Cherry Blossom Witch and an East Asian Daoist, a mixed-blood child of East Asian occultists.
In the future, she would serve as a mysterious investigator, traveling to one terrifying place after another to uncover the truth.
'Then who am I?'
Li Andy frowned, recalling his identity:
He was an older brother, also an orphan of East Asian descent, recognized by the female protagonist in the orphanage, though not by blood.
He was an elite monster in the early stages of the game!
He was one of the henchmen of the final boss of the first chapter, 'Regrets of the Orphanage,' the cultist director John!
For some unknown reason, the 'brother' elite monster, who had no name in the game, was actually named Li Andy in reality!
Li Andy felt a chill down his spine, his brain working rapidly.
Judging by the current situation, he should be chasing Yuquan Youxi.
Based on this, the game's plot should have reached the fourth day of the 'Orphanage Evil God Blood Sacrifice'.
The plot summary was:
The female protagonist, Yuquan Youxi, noticed that fewer and fewer people were in the orphanage, but none of the children who had been adopted sent letters back.
So, she and the second female lead began to investigate and finally discovered with horror that the missing children had actually been dismembered by the director in the basement.
Subsequently, the director realized that the matter was exposed and, along with three lackeys, including Li Andy, began to hunt down the two female protagonists.
The ending for clearing the game was that the two female protagonists, working together seamlessly, successfully escaped the orphanage and reported the situation to the church.
'Wait, the second female lead?'
Thinking of this, Li Andy's heart tightened instantly.
He immediately lunged and pressed himself onto Yuquan Youxi.
Just as the girl groaned, a candlestick, with a whooshing sound, grazed Andy's back of the head and slammed heavily against the brick wall, leaving a spiderweb crack.
Holy crap! An ambush!
Li Andy quickly looked back.
In the moonlight cast by the skylight, a long, light-gold-haired girl in a nightgown was panting heavily, her body trembling slightly, maintaining the follow-through of her throw.
Her facial features were soft and distinct, possessing both the gentle lines of East Asians and the deep, Stereo sense of Westerners.
The surrounding environment was dim, her violet eyes like stars, and her pale complexion subtly merged with the moonlight.
At first glance, it was as if he had encountered a legendary elf.
It was her!
The second female lead, Sophia Sheglov.
Her background was quite tragic: her father was a gambler, and her mother ran away. Later, her father was beaten to death due to debts, and she hid in this orphanage to escape the debt collectors. She was the female lead's best friend, and in this crisis, their friendship evolved into something extraordinary.
Sophia had a fiery personality, only gentle with the female lead, and was the female lead's most trusted person.
Because of her various actions in the plot, she was also jokingly called 'Mugger Queen,' 'Jade Leg Beauty,' and 'Legs for Years' by players, and was a popular character alongside the female lead.
“Hmm!”
During those two seconds of recollection, Li Andy felt a pushing force from beneath him; Yuquan Youxi was trying to break free from his restraint.
However, this amount of strength was clearly not enough to push him away.
But Li Andy thought for half a second, then suddenly let out an “Ah” and rolled onto the ground.
“Sophia, run!”
Yuquan Youxi pushed herself up and immediately dashed away, no longer appearing as delicate and pleading as before.
Even the second female lead, Sophia, paused for two seconds in surprise before fleeing in the opposite direction.
Li Andy angrily picked up the kitchen knife, swaying left and right, appearing unsure of whom to chase, giving the two girls ample time to escape.
Using this 'release' time, he quickly recalled the game's strategy in his mind.
This orphanage had already been sealed by the director with a barrier; attempting to break out directly would result in a 'ghost wall' effect, making escape impossible.
He had to break the four corner array nodes to truly leave.
But if he wanted to achieve the hidden 【Perfect Ending】, he had to kill the director and seize the special 【Relic】 from his hands!
Relics, simply put, were 'magical items' that had been corrupted by strange powers.
They possessed many peculiar functions, but also came with various strange side effects.
And the combat power system of 'lost grim realm' was built around various 'magical relics'.
Some relics, when used together, could combine to create various novel effects, and side effects could also cancel each other out or intensify each other.
This gameplay was also another major selling point in the game's promotion, second only to the various dress-up benefits of the female protagonists.
But!
A game is a game after all.
The way to become stronger in reality is definitely not just by collecting relics!
Sometimes, a knife and gun are much more effective than those broken relics.
Fear often stems from insufficient firepower!
After planning, Li Andy walked in the direction of Yuquan Youxi.
But just two steps in, he encountered a white boy with a face full of freckles.
The other party looked at the dust on Li Andy's clothes and said with a sneer:
“Hey, yellow-skinned monkey, if I catch your equally disgusting sister, I'll definitely dig out one of her eyes first!”
Li Andy frowned, recalling the information about this person.
The other party was also one of the three lackeys under the fanatical director, a trash character who didn't even deserve a name in the game.
For convenience, Li Andy decided to temporarily call him… Lackey Number One.
Hmm…
Speaking of which, if he killed him early, would it trigger some special plot?
Would it directly change the game's difficulty?
Thinking of this, Li Andy couldn't help but narrow his eyes, the reflection of the kitchen knife in his hand seeming eager to move.
Lackey Number One suddenly felt a chill down his spine, shivered, and cautiously took a step back.
But after a few seconds, the East Asian monkey did not take any action, only the corner of his mouth, slightly curled.
In this dim environment, it looked particularly sinister.
(April 23rd, adding a note here, Persimmon often swallows comments with pictures. For the cover, go to the end of chapter 64.)