Chapter 97

【She’s here, she’s here! This streamer is really a workaholic. So happy to be following her—does she ever rest?!】

【Gorgeous and highly skilled—if she doesn’t become popular, who will?!】

【Damn, I already laughed right at the start. “Cold little hands can’t warm the children’s hearts”—makes total sense. (dog head emoji)】

【Let me warm my wife’s hands—I’m willing to offer up my□□.】

【Wake up, it’s broad daylight—stop dreaming.】

...

Shi Jian’s excuse about her hands being too cold was logical and well-delivered. Her performance was flawless—but it didn’t convince the NPC on the bus.

The NPC choked for a second, then completely ignored Shi Jian. She also noticed that the bus had already started moving.

As soon as the bus began driving, it wasn’t slow at all—Shi Jian had to grab the seat beside her to keep from falling over.

Shi Jian: Can’t roll with the scene, so you’re just going to pretend it didn’t happen?

To this, Shi Jian felt deeply contemptuous.

It wasn’t just her bus that moved—Tang Tian’s bus did the same. She had also failed to negotiate with the NPC.

Shi Jian received a message from Tang Tian: “The NPC here won’t let me off or switch projects. We’re headed to the nursing home now…”

Shi Jian replied, “Got it. Let’s play it by ear—stay safe.”

Though neither of them wanted to be separated, there was nothing they could do but reluctantly accept the instance’s arrangement.

After her failed negotiation, Shi Jian returned to her seat. The NPC had already started explaining the background setting.

She told everyone on the bus, “We’ll be heading to Angel Orphanage shortly. You’ll spend two days and two nights there. Try to earn two badges. The badges are proof that the children are satisfied with you. After two days, the bus will return to take you back to the community service center.”

There were around twenty people on the bus. Shi Jian guessed they were all streamers who’d successfully registered.

Once the NPC finished, the streamers had mixed reactions. Soon, someone raised a question.

“If we don’t earn the badges, we can’t return?”

The NPC responded with just three words: “That won’t happen.”

Many let out a sigh of relief. Shi Jian even heard a petite female streamer nearby murmur, “Seems pretty gentle—figures it’s a leisure instance.”

Low mortality rate, lots of rewards.

“You can return to the transit station, but if you don’t collect all the badges, there’s a penalty. Better gather them all if you can…”

A young male streamer in a hoodie, who seemed to know more than most, let out a snort.

Shi Jian turned her attention to him.

She remembered that Host Xiao Jin had said they needed to complete tasks, and the two badges were probably their mission in this instance. But Xiao Jin had been cryptic and hadn’t finished explaining the consequences of failing the task before the grumpy gray rabbit bit off his head.

Now that someone clearly had insider info, the other streamers started probing for details.

“Come on, boss—give us the full story?”“Bro, do you know what the punishment is?”

The guy in the hoodie didn’t hold back. “I once had drinks with a high-level streamer who’s been in a leisure instance before. He revealed that if you don’t collect the badges, you’ll get a kind of negative status effect—basically, you’ll be super unlucky for a whole month, even in instances…”

The Super Unlucky Buff.

It might not sound that dangerous on the surface, but since everyone has to complete a certain number of instances each month to survive, being unlucky all the time—even in the instances—could easily put your life at risk.

Shi Jian: In that case, I better collect the badges.

As for the specifics of this leisure instance—how to obtain treasure chest fragments, for example—the hoodie guy didn’t know either.

...

The bus soon arrived at Angel Orphanage.

From the outside, the orphanage looked unusually spacious and tidy. There was a sign with an angel painted on it, and warm sunlight bathed the garden, where the sounds of cheerful laughter drifted out from time to time.

It looked like a perfectly normal, regular orphanage—completely free of any eerie vibes.

Although Shi Jian had a feeling this was probably a façade. Just like Renxin Hospital wasn’t “benevolent” at all, this so-called Angel Orphanage sounded like it was waving red flags all over the place.

The NPC called everyone to get off the bus, but didn’t immediately let them into the orphanage. Instead, she asked:

“There’s a gift shop nearby. Would you like to prepare some gifts for the kids?”

“Maybe it’ll help you make a good first impression and complete your volunteer work more smoothly.”

“The orphanage follows a one-to-two model—each volunteer will be paired with two children.”

The streamers: Is this a hint?

Shi Jian’s expression turned odd after hearing that. A nearby streamer overheard her muttering and joked, “Is the orphanage getting a commission from the gift shop?”

Shi Jian: This scene feels suspiciously familiar—like some kind of scam setup.

Though she’d never been scammed herself, she’d seen plenty of similar news stories—typically involving tour groups being led into shops that had partnerships, followed by a round of heavy shopping.

She didn’t expect that even in a horror game instance, something like this would pop up.

The streamers: ????

Well… yeah, it did kind of feel like that.

Shi Jian narrowed her eyes and looked sharply at the NPC on the bus. She felt like she could file a report. Would that earn her some points?

But once she entered the gift shop, Shi Jian dropped the thought.

Her attention was completely drawn to the skincare and makeup section—everything was labeled 20% off, 30% off, 50% off...

A lot of the products were ones Shi Jian had personally used before. They were fresh, deeply discounted, and guaranteed to be authentic.

Most importantly, Shi Jian specifically asked the sales assistant—items bought in the gift shop could be taken out of the instance.

Shi Jian: Is this basically a duty-free shop?

Buy! Buy! Buy!

Shi Jian was instantly fired up. She went on a spree for herself and didn’t forget to grab some gifts for Tang Tian too.The other streamers were all buying cookies and candies to give to the children—only Shi Jian was sweeping through the skincare section.

After her frantic shopping spree, Shi Jian was now certain: this was definitely a leisure instance.

It was heaven.

Viewers: Buying gifts for the kids ✘, buying gifts for herself ✔.

...

There was a time limit for gift shopping, but fortunately, Shi Jian had quick reflexes. She managed to grab all the skincare and makeup products she wanted, and also picked up a few gifts for the children.

With that done, Shi Jian exited the "duty-free shop" right on the dot.

Shi Jian was assigned a pair of twin sisters.

The two girls looked about four or five years old, dressed in matching orphanage uniforms with pigtails, big eyes, and fair skin—they looked like delicate porcelain dolls, utterly adorable.

A caretaker told Shi Jian, “The older sister is Tong Zihuan, the younger one is Tong Zile.”

Shi Jian acknowledged this, then handed them her welcome gifts: candy and two pretty brooches.

She pinned the brooches on the twins herself, and they looked delighted, chirping their thanks to Shi Jian.

The headmistress of Angel Orphanage welcomed the volunteers. She told the streamers, “The children are all very sweet—just a little mischievous.”

The volunteers’ task was simply to play with the children.

So far, everything still seemed normal.

But soon, both the streamers and their viewers realized: even in a horror game, a leisure instance couldn’t be taken lightly.

First, a male streamer was hit in the head by a flowerpot thrown from the second floor by a little boy.

Blood streamed down his face as he clutched his head in pain, howling.

The boy who did it just clapped and laughed, made a face, and ran off.

And he wasn’t the only victim.

Everyone here was at least somewhat experienced—no newbies.

So when one streamer’s assigned child brought her a drink, she didn’t actually drink it. She only accepted the cup to avoid offending the kid.

This instance was different—if you failed the mission, you could still leave, but you’d get a month-long bad luck debuff.

The task was to earn two recognition badges from the children, so naturally, everyone focused on bonding with their assigned pair.

After all, there’d be more time with them.

But the streamer was already being cautious. She worried the water might be tampered with—yet she hadn’t considered…

“Why is there glue on this?!”

“My hand is stuck to the cup!”

The streamer screamed as her hand stuck firmly to the cup. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t separate the two.

In the end, she had no choice but to painfully tear off a layer of skin to free her hand from the cup.Shi Jian, who had witnessed everything with her own eyes: “……”

She hadn’t expected traps like this to exist here either. She instinctively curled her hand inward.

Her hand was already starting to feel uncomfortable.

This is what they call “a little mischievous”?

During all this chaos, the headmistress and the other NPCs showed no intention of stepping in. Even in a leisure instance, danger still existed.

...

“Big Sister, don’t be scared. We’re good girls,”

Amid the chaos, the twin sisters assigned to Shi Jian stood on either side of her. One of them looked up and said this.

Shi Jian shifted her attention to them.

Good?

She didn’t believe it.

“Big Sister, you’re so pretty. I love pretty big sisters the most.”

The little girl’s compliment was heartfelt, and she looked genuinely excited.

That, Shi Jian believed.

The twins blinked their wide eyes and spoke to Shi Jian in a “we’ve got a secret to share with you” tone. “There was a volunteer big sister before who was also very pretty. I liked her so much, I didn’t want her to leave.”

“But she ended up staying, because I turned her into a doll and put her next to my bed. Now I get to see her every day.”

“Pretty big sisters are the best as dolls, hehe…”

The girls looked delicate and fair, their tone innocent and childlike, but the words they spoke were chilling—pure, naive cruelty.

Two identical faces stared at Shi Jian, full of excitement, already hinting—

We want to turn you into a doll too.

The twins hadn’t done anything physically harmful yet, but their words packed more than enough damage.

Shi Jian didn’t speak.

The twins exchanged a sly glance: Did we scare her stupid?

But Shi Jian furrowed her brows and repeated one word softly, “Also?”

“You mean… we’re equally pretty?”

Shi Jian’s gaze instantly sharpened as she stared down the twins. She had immediately picked up on that one word—also.

Shi Jian: She doesn’t believe there’s a prettier doll than her!

Shi Jian shifted her stance to face the twins head-on. She placed her hands on their shoulders and asked the now-stunned twins, “Answer me—who’s prettier between the two of us? You better think carefully.”

This was a deadly question. You have three seconds to respond.

Question author: Shi Jian.Respondents: The twin sisters from Angel Orphanage.