The Widow in the Mansion 1

"Why am I here? Did you kidnap me? I'll call the police."

"Shut up, no one wants to kidnap you. This is a deadly infinite world. I'm an experienced player, if you don't want to die, listen to me."

This is a spacious and clean living room, a group of people gathered near the sofa, pushing and shoving each other, with expressions of anger or fear.

In the cabinet next to the sofa, there is a statue of Buddha, seemingly observing everything.

The noise of these people on the first floor did not affect the rooms upstairs.

A bedroom on the second floor.

The soft central bed in the room is piled with light gray quilts and plush blankets.

Yu Deng, wrapped in a blanket, sits on the bed, somewhat unresponsive to the current situation.

The furniture in this spacious room is elaborate but not too much, with only a large bed, bedside tables, a wooden wardrobe and desk and chairs against the wall, and a mahogany round table by the window.

There is no doubt that this is a completely unfamiliar environment for Yu Deng.

His back is tense, fingers clutching the blanket, and he tentatively says in a low voice, "Hello."

There is a subtle tremble in his voice.

The dark curtains rustle as the wind blows. Yu Deng is alone in the room, so there is no one to respond to him.

However, he can faintly hear the conversation downstairs, seeming like there is someone else in a similar situation as him.

Yu Deng sits still for a few seconds, takes a deep breath, and decides to get up first.

He uncovers the blanket and is caught off guard by the clothes he is wearing now.

The loose black robe hangs over him, and because of his leg position earlier, the hem has rolled up to his thighs, barely covering the hidden beauty. The exposed legs are straight and slender, white and smooth, like high-quality suet jade.

Why have his clothes changed?

Wait, he should start by sorting things out from the beginning.

Yu Deng tries to recall his memories before this moment.

Before coming here, he had just finished a gathering with his classmates.

He had drunk almost half a cup at the gathering, but unfortunately, his tolerance was low, so he ended up calling his younger brother, asking him to come pick him up.

Yu Deng's younger brother brought the tipsy Yu Deng home and gave him a few words of advice.

"I called you to come over, didn't I?"

Yu Deng felt a little aggrieved by the scolding, muttered a few words, and quickly jumped to another topic, complaining lazily, "Big brother hasn't replied to my messages in three days, it wasn't like this when he was away on business before."

The person who carried him upstairs sourly clicked his tongue and said, "Big brother hasn't replied to your messages for a few days and you're already anxious. I can be gone for a week without anyone looking for me, born of the same mother, indeed different." Realizing that his words were a bit harsh, the younger brother awkwardly changed the subject, "Enough talk, several missing persons cases have occurred recently, so don't casually go out next time."

Yu Deng gave a perfunctory hum.

The tipsy little ghost sneaked into his big brother's room, lying on the bed muttering to himself. When he turned over, he accidentally bumped into something at the head of the bed and suddenly fainted.

And then, when he opened his eyes again, he was in this place.

【Player Yu Deng with code a3270, hello, welcome to the infinite world.】

An electronic voice suddenly sounded in Yu Deng's mind.

Yu Deng was startled by the electronic voice and muttered, "Infinite world."

【Yes. Ghosts roam freely in the infinite world, and you need to continuously enter instances to complete tasks, earn points, and prolong your life. Please note that once you die in the instance, you will also die in the real world.】

Ghosts and death, are they real?

Yu Deng's face turned a bit pale, fear and a series of questions surged in his mind. But after the electronic voice finished speaking, it seemed to disconnect, so he had to give up on asking further questions.

With his eyelashes drooping, a hint of mist appeared uncontrollably in Yu Deng's eyes. With a gentle blink, tears were on the verge of falling but held onto his thick, curly lashes.

At this moment, the bedroom door was knocked a few times, and a man in a long shirt claiming to be the butler stood at the doorway, greeting him.

Yu Deng, like a vigilant little animal, stared at the unfamiliar person who suddenly appeared and asked, "What's the matter?"

Seeing the redness in Yu Deng's eyes, the butler couldn't bear it and softly comforted him.

"Madam, it has been a year since the young master left, please don't be too sad, it's easy to harm your health."

Yu Deng, "Ah."

Yu Deng's mind couldn't keep up for a moment, not understanding why the butler called him madam. He just nodded dazedly and said, "Oh."

After comforting Yu Deng for a moment, the butler reminded him, "Madam, there are guests downstairs, remember to come down later. By the way, Master Cheng Xiao has returned from studying abroad. Although you haven't met him before, the young master and you should still get along well."

Yu Deng once again nodded blankly.

After the butler left the room, Yu Deng thought, Will there be a risk of death if I don't listen to the butler? Yu Deng didn't want to die. He got up from the bed, first glanced at the small mirror on the desk to confirm that he hadn't turned into a monster, then hurriedly left the room.

The room was slightly dim, giving off a somewhat cold feeling. Yu Deng stood at the room door, holding onto the door frame, mustering up the courage to survey the building.

The decoration is luxurious, with black, white, and brown as the main color scheme. There are no modern smart furniture, but the place is adorned with a festive atmosphere. Outside the window, you can vaguely see the swaying green branches and red lanterns in the wind, as if something good is about to happen.

Downstairs.

New players try to push open the mansion's gates but can't seem to leave, so they stand around in confusion.

During this time, a spirited old man passed by this living room, lightly greeted the players, and then left, leaving the butler to take care of them.

The butler, seemingly oblivious to the players' fear, instructed the servants to prepare tea and smiled at the people in the living room. "Master Cheng Xiao has finally returned, and Master Wen Hao's classmates are also here. Welcome. The wedding will take place in three days, and your rooms are ready."

Among the crowd, two people were silent just now, the experienced players. They immediately began extracting information from the butler's words.

It seems that their role in this instance is to attend the wedding as classmates.

This is probably the first time someone has drawn the character "Master Cheng Xiao" since this instance opened.

The experienced players discreetly glanced at the young man called Master Cheng Xiao.

The young man sat on the sofa with his arms crossed, in a relaxed and casual posture.

Although the young man completely ignored them and didn't show the same panic as the new players, it was indeed confirmed that he appeared in the instance at the same time as them, the experienced players analyzed.

Tap, tap.

As the restless players fidgeted, the marble spiral staircase suddenly echoed with light footsteps.

Everyone looked towards the sound, and when they saw the newcomer clearly, they couldn't take their eyes off him.

He was an extremely handsome young man, looking like he was barely twenty.

His features were exquisite and delicate, with extremely fair skin, as if it were freshly fallen snow. The skin exposed under his clothes was delicate and soft, clearly pampered and raised, more like pure white soft clouds than new snow.

His slightly rounded eyes were clean and clear, with a hint of redness at the corners, a mix of purity and desire, captivatingly beautiful.

For a moment, the living room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, with only a few faint sounds of swallowing saliva.

The young man who drew the role of the master also looked towards Yu Deng, showing some interest in his eyes at last.

The butler saw Yu Deng, his expression softening slightly, and called out, "Madam, you're here."

Yu Deng already knew that "Madam" was the title they were using for him, so he raised his eyes and lightly scanned the players in the living room, softly acknowledging.

The experienced players barely recovered from the strong visual impact, and upon hearing the butler's words, they froze once again.

The role of that "Master" was mentioned in the background information, but they had never heard of a character named "Madam" in this instance.

Infinite Worlds are full of variables, which is a very frightening thing.

Several experienced players felt a sudden pang of unease, a foreboding sense passing through them.

At this moment, from the building behind the house, a heart-wrenching scream resounded.

"Oh no, Master, he, he, is dead---!"

The temperature in the living room suddenly dropped.

Including Yu Deng, all the players who entered this place simultaneously heard an electronic voice.

【Ding, the instance is officially open.】

The electronic voice from the system paused for a few seconds, then began to speak in a methodical manner.

【The name of this instance is "Cheng Mansion".】

【The main task for players is to survive for seven days, find out the culprit and reason behind the death of Master Cheng

Additional task: Uncover the secrets of the Cheng family and avenge them.

Note: The additional task is not mandatory.

Attention, this instance is in hard mode.】

The butler's face looked grim, he briefly instructed everyone to stay in the living room temporarily, glanced at Yu Deng, and then hastily left.

Yu Deng hesitated for a moment and did not immediately follow. He discreetly drifted away from the restless crowd, standing near the staircase, pondering the information he had just received.

Meanwhile, the people in the living room were horrified.

"Did you hear that? What instance, and it's... hard mode, what is this?" a short-haired girl shivered as she spoke.

“I—I also heard it’s on hard mode.”

The veteran players in the crowd looked grim.

This instance dungeon was originally the simplest among the novice dungeons.

The main quest had changed a few times, but it was said to always revolve around weddings.

Even though the players who had already cleared it couldn’t directly reveal their strategies, there were enough clues to make it the lowest mortality rate among novice dungeons. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen this dungeon to farm points.

Now, the wedding had turned into a funeral, and the main quest had become survival, which meant the danger level was high with the potential for death at any moment.

After listening to the agitated explanation from the experienced players, the bewildered new players were even more restless and anxious.

“Familiarize yourselves with the environment first.” Two veteran players exchanged a covert glance and directed the newcomers, “While the butler isn’t back, look for clues and try to gather information from any NPCs you encounter.”

The novice players, seeing the veterans as their guiding stars, gathered around them despite their inner turmoil.

The indifferent young man in the corner was an exception.

Nearby, Yu Deng looked at the panicked players and felt anxious himself.

Because, in addition to hearing the same tasks as everyone else, he also received a special task.

【Player Yu Deng, hello. I am your assistant system, System number 01.】

Yu Deng greeted politely, "Hello."

The system's tone remained flat as it began to speak.

【In the infinite world, there are some players with outstanding abilities who can cause great destruction in instances, even leading to the closure of instances.】

【There are also some NPCs who, due to bugs, engage in unpredictable behavior, which can also disrupt the balance of instances in the infinite world and lead to their destruction.】

Yu Deng, puzzled, asked, "So?"

【Therefore, Player Yu Deng, you have two special tasks.】

Yu Deng nervously held his breath, "What are they?"

【First, restrain the highest-level player in each instance to maintain game balance】.

【Second, suppress the hidden vengeful ghost boss in the instance to prevent them from causing havoc.】

【As a special task player, you will randomly draw different special identities for each instance. You will temporarily possess the corresponding powers bestowed by the instance.】

【In addition, you will receive more points as compensation and reward.】

【For example, in this instance, your role is the widow of the intended heir of the Cheng family. Due to your special identity, as long as you don't reveal it, other players will assume you are an NPC】

Yu Deng tried to grasp the meaning of the tasks and widened his eyes in disbelief, "Ah."

Putting aside the compensation for now, he questioned whether he could really fulfill these tasks.

Feeling absurd, like a character in a well-known novel being asked by the leader to eliminate the master and apprentices, he earnestly said, "You must be mistaken."

He glanced at the sinister mansion and felt even more convinced of the mistake.

He was afraid of ghosts, he was extremely fragile.

After a pause, the electronic voice continued, 【This is the result of repeated simulations by the main system. You are indeed the best candidate for the task.】

The system seemed reluctant to dwell further on the topic and continued.

【Since you are a special task player, the system is still in the debugging process. It is estimated to be completed in ten minutes. Please bear with us. I will send you the basic information later.】

【Also, each player will have their own live streaming room, which will be activated once the instance officially starts.】

【Wishing you a successful mission.】

Yu Deng cried out, "W-what is this... How is this forced on me?"

This kind of task, reminiscent of a hidden agenda, obviously required high acting skills and intelligence. Yu Deng had a clear understanding of his own abilities and knew he couldn't pull it off.

In this unpredictable infinite world, all he wanted was to find a big shot to latch onto for safety. As the big shot seemed to be the one he needed to restrain, everything seemed fine.

Yu Deng's face fell.

Engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't notice a shadow slowly falling in front of him.

Someone stood in front of him.

"Madam."

Yu Deng quickly snapped back to reality and took a few seconds to look up at the person before him.

A young man around seventeen or eighteen, tall and handsome, dressed in a neat and elegant white shirt and suit vest. He exuded a sense of pride from his overseas experiences, with an untamed look in his eyes, a bit like a wolf cub.

This was Cheng Xiao, the "Young Master," who was also a player.

Clearing his throat, Yu Deng asked, "What's wrong?"

The young man didn't immediately speak. He remembered the small hint he received when obtaining his identity, and his gaze fell boldly on the beautiful figure before him.

In the dim light of the room, with dappled shadows falling on Yu Deng's brows and eyes, he looked like a beautiful and mysterious creature that could enchant hearts.

According to the roles in the instance, this was his stepmother.

The young man felt an unprecedented surge of excitement and mischievousness. He looked at Yu Deng and said, "Sorry for being too informal earlier."

Yu Deng, puzzled, responded with, "Uh..."

The young man showed no signs of fear or reverence that one would expect for an NPC. He took a few steps forward and ended up standing in front of Yu Deng.

The distance and height difference between them were extremely delicate, as if one could lean down and kiss.

At this proximity, the young man could clearly smell a tempting sweetness emanating from the beautiful figure before him.

After a silent moment of eye contact, the young man corrected his address and called out, "Little Mom."

Yu Deng was stunned, "W-what did you call me?"

What did this guy just call him?!

Yu Deng was so shocked that he stammered and struggled to articulate a complete sentence.

The young man looked down at Yu Deng, lazily responding, "Hey, what did my Little Mom call me for?"

With their proximity, the young man's warm breath fell on Yu Deng's ear, causing a slight blush on the exposed skin.

"Stop."

Yu Deng took a step back, hitting his lower back on the cold banister, causing a sharp pain to shoot through him. The impact made his eyes quickly redden from the pain.

As he hit his back on the banister, the young man instinctively reached out and embraced Yu Deng.

In an instant, Yu Deng was in the young man’s embrace.

The soft waist, covered by a thin robe, pressed against the metal buckle on the young man's belt, and Yu Deng's bare legs were flush against the young man's suit pants, unintentionally brushing against them.

Feeling the warmth of the young man's breath on his back, Yu Deng took a sharp breath.

The young man held Yu Deng, his eyes pausing on Yu Deng's reddened eyes and earlobes for a few seconds.

"What a delicate stepmother," he thought.

The young man, showing a caring and tender expression, said, "Be careful, Little mom."

"It's all your fault." Yu Deng murmured in a soft and aggrieved tone and pushed the young man's firm chest with his hand. "Let go."

Instead of releasing his grip, the young man lowered his head until his prominent nose nearly touched Yu Deng's soft cheek.

"Little mom, I have a question for you."

The young man's lazy tone elongated the words, sounding like a child pleading to his mother, but what he said was truly audacious.

"What perfume are you wearing? It smells so good."

T/N: In the formal translation, it was originally “stepmom,” but because the 'stepson' is teasing or being playful in an affectionate tone when calling the MC “stepmom,” I changed it to “little mom,” as I think it is more appropriate.

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