Dai Xiangyun · Chat

Time: Saturday, August 3, 2060 Location: Zero Realm Escape Room near Luocheng University Town In 2060, the maturation of holographic neural interface technology made “Zero Realm” the offline entertainment that Luocheng's young people flocked to the most. As the holographic pod's door slowly closed, the senses of the real world were completely cut off. After two seconds of weightlessness, a thick smell of rust mixed with a bloody tang flooded the nose. The ears were filled with the dull echo of water droplets hitting the concrete floor, all around were dim, flickering red emergency lights, and the air was so damp it felt like it could be wrung out. This was Zero Realm's hardest new theme this month: 《Bloody Slaughterhouse》. The transparent goggles on the bridge of the nose glowed faintly, and a real-time livestream interface, 【Zero Realm Share】, appeared in the upper right corner. Danmaku of all sizes scrolled rapidly along the edges of the lenses. Since the livestream mode was forcibly enabled, there was no telling how many eyes outside were watching this escape game right now. From the darkness at the end of the corridor came a sudden metal-scraping sound that set the teeth on edge. “Clatter... clatter...” Heavy, dragging, yet carrying a clear sense of direction, it closed in on them. The teammates instantly held their breath and instinctively backed away. At the edge of the dim red pool of light, a tall figure walked out leisurely, holding an enormous, blood-soaked chainsaw. This time Dai Xiangyun hadn't had Luo Qi give him a bizarre look. His striking red hair was casually tousled, and the rose tattoo winding up the left side of his neck was faintly visible in the dim light. He wore a plain black sleeveless tank top, the fabric slightly soaked with sweat and clinging tightly to broad shoulders and a narrow waist; his solid, sleek arm muscles moved with each step. Over it he wore a rubber apron stained with dark red splatters. The most eye-catching thing was a heavy black iron chain attached to a leather collar buckled around his long neck—a long length of it hung down along his body, dragging sparks and a grating noise across the rough concrete floor. He stopped about ten paces away, tilted his head, and his amber pupils held a lazy wildness in the darkness. The danmaku on the goggles instantly exploded, densely covering half the field of view. [Fuck!!! It's Dai Xiangyun! Dai Dog is actually coming down in person to be an NPC today!] [Are those muscle lines even real? That body fat percentage is insane, aaaah!] [Hubby's coming to catch me on a dog chain! What a god-tier butcher outfit, I'm getting nosebleeds.] [He's so cocky, I love it. Players, get up there and feed him kills, let him chop you all!] Dai Xiangyun didn't rush forward. He raised one hand and idly tugged the iron chain around his neck with his calloused fingertips. Through the goggles he saw the danmaku, and his eyes curved slightly. He stared at the livestream camera in the corner and let out a low, hoarse short laugh. “Want to be dragged off by me?” he said with a casual, offhand tone. “Sure, send a Deep-Sea Torpedo and I'll go a little easy on you later. Those of you who keep shouting 'hubby', be mindful of appearances—I'm a proper NPC.” The instant the words left his mouth, he hit the chainsaw switch, took half a step back, and charged straight at the still-dazed crowd. “Aaaah, run!” the teammates screamed, and the formation instantly collapsed. Panicked footsteps and the buzz of the chainsaw echoed through the slaughterhouse. In the chaos, someone shoved hard from behind. 你 tripped, lost balance in an instant, and crashed heavily onto the cold, damp concrete floor. The backs of the teammates had already disappeared into the darkness around the corner. The sound of a dragging chain stopped abruptly beside 你. A pair of mud-stained high-top Martens came into view. Dai Xiangyun stood there looking down, his breathing still uneven. He shut off the chainsaw and tossed it aside, looking down with interest. Then he bent down, and a rough force that nonetheless deftly avoided the sore spots hit suddenly. 你 was yanked up by him, then shoved against the cold tile wall. He didn't back off; instead he pressed in close. One hand braced against the wall beside 你's ear, completely sealing off every escape route. At this close distance, a young man's scorching body heat, mixed with the crisp scent of mint and a faint trace of sweat, aggressively took over the surrounding air. The cold iron chain swayed with his movements, brushing lightly across 你's shoulder. Red strands of hair hung over his brow. He lowered his head slightly, and a dim glow reflected in his amber eyes. The danmaku went completely insane: [What is he doing! Call the police!] [Dai Xiangyun! Let that player go, take me instead!] [Is this a workplace injury or an employee benefit, damn it!] Dai Xiangyun curled the corner of his mouth, shifted his gaze from the goggles to 你's face, and lowered his voice, dripping with blatant malice and a syrupy, clinging interest: “Run, then. Weren't you running pretty fast behind them just now?” He leaned in a little closer, warm breath brushing the side of the neck, and his voice carried a touch of hoarse laughter: “What, couldn't bear to leave, so you stayed behind on purpose to help me hit my quota?”