ICSST Ch4: Mom

The meal didn’t last long. Xun the Wealthy said wearily, “Xun Er, arrange a place for them to stay. It’s getting late, and I need to go upstairs to take my medicine and rest.”

Xun the Wealthy trudged upstairs, pausing halfway to look at Han Li with eyes full of love and confusion.

Given their spousal relationship, it was reasonable for them to share a room.

Han Li remained calm, “I’ll go up in a bit. I haven’t been back for a long time, I want to look around first.”

Only then did Xun the Wealthy continue upstairs.

Boss Wang looked puzzled, “Sharing a room, doesn’t that mean…”

Han Tiansheng sneered, “My sister has her ways of dealing with it, and generally important NPCs don’t have sexual desire, only…”

Appetite.

He didn’t say the last word out loud, but it was clear he believed Xun the Wealthy wasn’t a normal human.

Xun Er respectfully helped Xun the Wealthy upstairs, and upon coming back down, he said, “Although cold food is delicious, you shouldn’t overindulge. If anyone gets hungry, don’t sneak into the kitchen for a midnight snack.”

His pale cheeks showed deep concern, “I’m thinking of everyone’s digestion.”

He actually had a cold and indifferent look, making his expressions of concern seem particularly twisted.

The players looked disdainfully at the plates on the table, thinking they wouldn’t eat it even if it was given for free.

The villa had three floors. Despite Xun the Wealthy’s mobility issues, he lived on the top floor.

The others were not to disturb his rest and were all arranged to stay on the second floor. Xun Er gave each of them a key to their respective rooms.

Zhou Qi’an happened to be next to Xun Er.

“Good night…” Xun Er still had a timid look, “Brother.”

“You’re impressive.” Zhou Qi’an gave a thumbs up.

Xun Er looked clearly older than Zhou Qi’an, yet he naturally called him brother. Was this the professionalism of an NPC?

Everyone went back to their rooms.

Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

Zhou Qi’an opened it.

Han Li was surprised, probably not expecting anyone to open the door at night.

“What’s up?”

Han Li regained her composure and said, “Your skill is related to poison.”

It seemed like a question but was actually a statement.

Zhou Qi’an’s downcast eyes suddenly became sharp.

“In the car, you didn’t mention the direction of species evolution, so you’re also an advanced species,” Han Li said, “Don’t worry, I just happened to have seen similar abilities.”

It was common for different players to awaken similar skills, given the countless marine creatures.

Han Li asked directly, “Are both the liquor and the shrimp poisonous?”

She didn’t come empty-handed, “In return, I can tell you something.”

Zhou Qi’an stared at her face for a few seconds, as if assessing her credibility, and finally said, “The liquor is not poisonous; the shrimp has very low toxicity, much lower than the red wine we drank earlier.”

Drinking a sip of red wine would trigger a poison resistance alert. Eating three shrimps would trigger it once.

The liquor was purely high-proof.

“I like straightforwardness.” Han Li tiptoed slightly, blowing in his ear as if seducing him. When Zhou Qi’an tried to step back, she grabbed his collar and whispered, “Little brother, there’s someone in your room.”

She emphasized the last word, making it sound significant.

By the time Zhou Qi’an came to his senses, Han Li was already walking back to her room.

He pretended nothing had happened, closed the door, and leaned against it.

Was Han Li trying to deceive him, or was there really something in the room?

A person, a corpse, or a ghost?

Zhou Qi’an quickly concluded that Han Li was likely not bluffing.

He began to carefully inspect the room.

A standard single bed, wallpaper with a blue sky and white clouds, and a round clock hanging above. Below the clock was a study desk with a built-in bookshelf, containing two literacy books and an old tape recorder.

Zhou Qi’an opened it to check, finding a cassette tape inside. To be safe, he didn’t play it immediately.

His initial assessment was that this had been a child’s room.

He knocked on the walls to ensure there were no hollow spots, looked under the bed, and even checked the clock, but found nothing.

Despite being a heavy drinker, he couldn’t completely shake off the effects of alcohol. After some effort, he started seeing spots. As time passed, the electricity began to flicker, making him even more dizzy.

Zhou Qi’an forced himself to concentrate, re-examining the room, and finally noticed a previously overlooked spot:

The table was against the wall, with a small, protruding blank area on the side that, at first glance, appeared to be a cloud on the wallpaper. In reality, it was the edge of a piece of paper.

He pushed the table aside, revealing a schedule for healthy routines that had been hidden behind the bookshelf. Before he could look closely, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his ear:

[Side Quest 1 activated.]

[Side Quest: Where will the sun rise tomorrow? Live to see it.]

[Quest Reward: Fragment of Xun the Wealthy’s personal information – his favorite color. Warm Tip: Wearing clothes of the correct color will make him like you more.]

Zhou Qi’an raised an eyebrow. This game was quite user-friendly, triggering storylines and providing the next task clearly.

He looked again at the newly discovered routine schedule.

[Healthy Routine Schedule]

[7:10-7:20: Get up and dress]

[****]

[****]

[9:00-9:30: Listen to music]

[9:30-10:30: Worship and incense]

[****]

Zhou Qi’an glanced over it quickly. Many of the time slots were blurred, and he skimmed through it until his gaze froze on the last line.

[21:00-7:10: Sleep]

Sleep!

Zhou Qi’an quickly looked at the clock. The second hand had just completed another rotation.

21:01.

“Damn.”

If not for the side quest prompt, he could have gone to bed on time. He had praised it too soon. This game was worse than a heartless company.

Zhou Qi’an slightly tilted the clock, then quickly got into bed.

Whether the minute-plus discrepancy from the schedule would cause any bad consequences was no longer within his control.

After getting into bed, Zhou Qi’an’s heartbeat gradually steadied. After waiting a while and noticing nothing bad had happened, he began to think about matters related to the game.

He wondered if the time flow in the game was consistent with reality and whether he could maintain his full attendance at the company this month. If the time flow was inconsistent, wouldn’t it be a waste of a weekend?

“Am I a freak?”

Why did he care more about two things than death?

One was about full attendance, and the second, which he was reluctant to think about, was his mom’s reaction to his mysterious disappearance. That troublesome parent would probably be furious.

Thinking about it made Zhou Qi’an shiver. In comparison, Xun the Wealthy seemed kind and gentle.

At least he peeled shrimp for him.

…

The night was still long.

Zhou Qi’an didn’t sleep well. The bed was poorly made and creaked with every movement.

“You have someone in your room.”

Half awake, Han Li’s words echoed in his ears.

Zhou Qi’an turned over. His hearing was quite sharp. This time, amid the creaking, he heard another sound.

Something felt off.

Zhou Qi’an lowered his head to look under the bed again.

His limited night vision confirmed that there was nothing in the darkness.

“Phew.”

Zhou Qi’an breathed a sigh of relief.

The subtle sound suddenly grew louder. Just as Zhou Qi’an was leaning over the edge of the bed, peering underneath, he felt a cold sensation on his neck.

Wet and sticky.

The underside of the bed was empty, but a thin, dark blue hand had somehow emerged from the mattress, gripping his fragile throat tightly.

Startled, Zhou Qi’an shook free, too shocked to even curse, and jumped off the bed as quickly as possible.

The mattress’s zipper had been completely undone, and a deformed, flat head emerged first. It was surprisingly agile, grabbing Zhou Qi’an’s arm before he could react.

Using the leverage, the child began to crawl out, baring its teeth and stretching its long neck.

“The bed,” it mumbled, its mouth full of dense, intermingled new and baby teeth, its voice muffled and unclear, “you slept in my bed…”

Zhou Qi’an couldn’t break free and tried to communicate, “Who are you?”

But the child, half its body already out, ignored him, its expression growing increasingly ferocious.

Zhou Qi’an changed his approach, speaking sternly, “It’s just sleeping in your bed, isn’t it?”

“You’re such a small kid, and you’re holding a grudge against an adult like me. Aren’t you ashamed?”

The deformed head tilted in confusion, seemingly stunned by his shamelessness.

“If you have the guts, go tell your parents!”

This time, the child finally reacted, making a swallowing motion. Tattling to parents and teachers was a passive skill ingrained in many children.

The child paused.

Zhou Qi’an swallowed. It worked.

Whoever the parents were, taking advantage of the child’s distraction, Zhou Qi’an finally broke free and prepared to run.

Behind him, the child didn’t chase him. Instead, it slowly raised its head and looked somewhere.

Zhou Qi’an, running, felt a sense of foreboding. Just as he was about to reach the door, he felt something brush against his neck. He paused, a chill spreading, causing the hair on his back to stand up. Acting on instinct, Zhou Qi’an rolled on the ground.

As he rolled away, two long, pale arms descended from the ceiling, alternating in a neck-twisting motion.

A second later, his neck and ligaments might have played a symphony of horror in the night.

Zhou Qi’an gritted his teeth and ran towards the door.

A sharp cry echoed behind him, “Mom, I want to eat skin! Mom… hungry…”

The silence of the corridor was shattered.

Click, click, click!

As soon as he reached the door, the sounds of locking doors came from all directions, accompanied by the scraping of chairs being dragged to block the doors.

“…”

Passing by Xun Er’s room, Zhou Qi’an knocked hard, but there was no response.

It was just a test, and he didn’t linger long. Using his speed talent, he was on the first floor in an instant.

The sound of running broke the silence of the first floor.

All that was left was the pounding of his heart and his rapid breathing.

“Just running won’t work.”

The game must have a way out, or it would lose its meaning.

After running downstairs, Zhou Qi’an’s eyes lingered on the villa’s main door for two seconds before he gave up on going out and ran towards the kitchen instead.

The child kept shouting about being hungry, so maybe those raw fish slices could be useful.

But there was a risk; Xun Er had specifically warned against going to the kitchen for a midnight snack. Going there alone, even without eating, could implicate him.

Right now, Zhou Qi’an was focused on staying alive, ignoring future consequences. At worst, he could jump out of the kitchen window.

“Mom…” Behind him, the child’s voice grew closer, with a mix of tears and a hint of secret joy, “Let’s race; see who catches him first…”

“I almost caught him, Mom; I’m ahead of you!”

The woman deliberately let the child run ahead, gently asking, “Shall we cook him if we catch him?”

“No, eat him raw, raw!”

The unreasonable voices grew louder. Zhou Qi’an glanced back, not seeing anything at first.

A second look made even him, who was usually fearless, feel a bit creeped out.

The crying, deformed child was just a meter away, crawling towards him on all fours. 

The overly distinct black and white eyes looked like they could fall out at any moment.

“Hehehe.” The child grinned widely, one small hand grabbing the edge of his pants, “I’m so hungry.”

Zhou Qi’an held his breath, exploding with unprecedented speed in the face of life-and-death danger.

His pant leg tore, and it felt like the skin on his lower leg was scratched.

[Poison resistance +1+1+1+1+…+ stopped.]

[The poison is too strong. Da Lang; you’re about to be poisoned to death.]

Screw you.

The child’s nails were too poisonous. Zhou Qi’an could only try to put as much distance between them as possible. One more scratch, and he would be dead for sure.

Unfortunately, the poison caused a numbness in his legs, and his speed gradually slowed.

The smell of rotten fish and shrimp wafted over.

Closer!

The stench from the kitchen trash can reminded him to hold on a bit longer.

The child was in hot pursuit, calling out for praise to the dark space behind, “Mom, I’m almost there.”

The open-plan kitchen revealed faint outlines of utensils, giving Zhou Qi’an a glimmer of hope.

Just as he was about to reach the kitchen, his escape slowed a beat. The wide-open window made Zhou Qi’an feel uneasy. Before he could react, a familiar figure slowly emerged from the kitchen.

Curly hair, droopy eyelids, and naturally smiling lips.

It was unmistakably his own mother!

There was no warmth in her eyes. Holding a kitchen knife, she kept eyeing Zhou Qi’an’s limbs, as if calculating how to chop off her son’s hands and feet to ensure he would obediently stay for the wedding night.

“Darling son, you think running away from home will help you avoid the blind date?” 

The woman grinned and said, “Impossible.”

Her already terrifying and twisted obsession was further magnified in this eerie game world.

Zhou Qi’an abruptly stopped and made a sharp turn, gritting his teeth as he ran back the way he came.

In that turn, he instantly collided with the pursuing child.

The horrifying-looking child momentarily forgot the hunt, puzzled why the prey had turned back.

Zhou Qi’an’s face was paler than a ghost’s, “You think you’re the only one with a mom?!”

_________

Author’s Note:

Zhou Qi’an: I really envy you for having such a gentle mom.

Little Ghost: ???