Chapter 62
The players looked at the toy duck’s sinister expression, then turned and saw the other cute and fluffy dolls’ expressions also turning eerie.
After seven whole days in Toy Town, a system notification finally echoed in their minds:
[Toy Town Battle Royale, officially begins! Players must escape Toy Town and board the train to the central city before dawn!]
The players were dumbfounded.
So the real instance only started after the Toy Doll Exhibition on the seventh day?!
Then what was the point of their back-breaking labor and depleted points for the past seven days?!
“This damned instance, what a scam!”
“No wonder Wen Xingxue didn’t take the competition seriously!”
“My hard-earned points! I spent half of them on this stupid competition!”
“Only half? I’ve almost spent all of mine!”
The players, filled with resentment, glared at the creepy-looking dolls.
“Enough complaining, let’s run! They’re just D-level and C-level small fries. We can escape if we’re careful.”
They had already endured the most difficult part of this B-level instance, the point-draining scam of the exhibition.
The dolls were generally weak; the battle royale itself was only C-level at most.
No wonder most players said this instance had a high clearance rate, despite being classified as B-level.
The players turned and ran towards the town gates, each using their own abilities and skills.
Behind them, a horde of teddy bears, ducks, geese, and other toys, their eyes glowing red, their expressions ferocious, gave chase.
In the chaos, no one noticed Wen Xingxue’s disappearance.
He reappeared at the entrance of the toy factory.
Since the Toy Doll Exhibition was being held today, the brown bear security guards had been assigned to maintain order.
They were probably chasing the other players now.
Wen Xingxue stood at the factory entrance, touching the little clown doll, who had fallen asleep again, in his pocket.
He didn’t wake him, instead entering the factory alone.
The factory was empty, not a single doll in sight. The whirring of machinery had ceased; an eerie silence hung in the air.
Wen Xingxue walked down the stairs, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the stairwell, waking Xing Nuo.
Xing Nuo, who had fallen asleep before the exhibition even ended, yawned, rubbing his ugly little face, trying to wake up.
He poked his messy head out of the pocket, looked around, and tilted his head up.
“Big Brother…competition…over…? Where…going…?”
He had become quite attached to this seemingly dependable older brother.
But once they left this strange toy town, he would still leave and continue his search for his dad.
He wasn’t going to be a doll forever, he thought.
Wen Xingxue, without looking down, extended a finger and accurately poked the little doll’s head back into the pocket.
“Stay inside. Don’t fall out.”
He had said this countless times since picking up the little clown doll.
Every time, Xing Nuo would obediently comply, retreating back into the pocket with a small “Oh.”
This time was no different. He pulled his head back in, gripped the edge of the pocket, and asked again:
“Big Brother…not going back…mushroom house…?”
He had come to regard the mushroom house as his temporary home after staying there for a few days.
Wen Xingxue continued his descent, reaching the factory basement.
He paused, then shook his head.
“No, and we’re not…coming back…”
Xing Nuo, scratching his cheek, yawned softly, and asked curiously:
“Then…where…going…?”
Wen Xingxue stopped in front of a door, not answering the question, instead looking down at the little clown doll.
“Little clown doll…where…do you…want to go…?”
Xing Nuo, resting his chin on his hand, replied naturally:
“Go home…find Dad…and Brother…eat cloud bread…”
Wen Xingxue’s pale face remained expressionless, his eyes cold and menacing.
But a smile touched his lips as he asked a question he had been wanting to ask:
“Another option…how about…you stay…with me…? Explore…different worlds…?”
Wen Xingxue had walked a long and lonely path, fighting and surviving, his only goal to defeat Shen Wen. He didn’t have much else to live for.
But this little clown doll was different, bringing him an unfamiliar warmth.
Ugly, and aside from his optimistic personality, not particularly special.
But Wen Xingxue felt that the little clown doll was…good.
Like his own child. He himself found it strange that he could tolerate all of the little one’s flaws.
He thought that with this little one by his side, his journey wouldn’t be so lonely.
He looked down at the little clown doll, who seemed to be deep in thought, his chin cupped in his hand, and patiently waited for his answer.
Xing Nuo thought for a long time, then shook his head slightly.
“No…Big Brother…Zaizai…misses Dad…and Brother…they’ll be worried…”
Wen Xingxue paused, then smiled.
“Alright then.”
He pushed open the only door in the factory basement and tucked the little clown doll back into his pocket.
“Stay hidden…I’m going to…find something…”
Xing Nuo, overcome by sleepiness, struggled to stay awake, but he seemed to have dozed off anyway.
When he woke up again, before he could ask Wen Xingxue if he could come out, he instinctively poked his head out of the pocket.
He saw a beautiful glass case, and inside, a glowing gem hovered in mid-air.
All the light in the basement seemed to be concentrated on this gem, oval-shaped, pulsing faintly as if alive.
Xing Nuo’s mouth opened slightly, his face illuminated by the gem’s brilliance, making him seem almost…pretty.
He turned his head and poked Wen Xingxue, who was staring intently at the gem.
“Big Brother, what…is that…?”
Wen Xingxue looked slightly dishevelled, his blade in his hand, a tear in his sleeve.
But he seemed unconcerned, his gaze fixed on the gem.
“This…is the Heart of the Toys.”
The source of life for all the toys in Toy Town. The life force of humans turned into dolls also flowed into it.
Players who failed the instance, turned into dolls, couldn’t actually become human again.
Their consciousness and thoughts would gradually fade, their sleepiness increasing, their memories slowly disappearing as they drifted in and out of sleep.
Finally, they would become true, lifeless dolls.
When that happened, their life force would be completely absorbed by the Heart of the Toys.
And a new sentient doll would appear in Toy Town.
The Heart of the Toys sustained and expanded the town’s population in this manner.
“Your life force…is slowly being…absorbed by it…”
Wen Xingxue looked down at the sleepy little clown doll, his face still creased with sleep, and raised his blade.
“Little clown doll, I still…don’t know…your name…”
He swiftly sliced through the glass case.
The glass shattered, scattering shards of shimmering light, illuminating the basement.
As the glass rained down, the reflected light flickered in Wen Xingxue’s dark eyes.
He stepped inside, ignoring the small cuts on his arms from the broken glass, and just as he reached for the Heart of the Toys, he asked again:
“What’s…your name…?”
Perhaps they would meet again someday.
Xing Nuo, mesmerized by the shimmering rain of glass, blinked and replied after a moment:
“I’m Xing Nuo. Big Brother…what’s…your name…?!”
Wen Xingxue’s eyes widened slightly, a flicker of surprise in his gaze, then he smiled.
“Xing Nuo…I see…”
Without hesitation, under the watchful gazes of the monster teddy bears who had just arrived, he struck the Heart of the Toys with his blade.
The SSS+ level blade, although meeting some resistance, successfully cleaved the Heart of the Toys, which was on the verge of evolving to a higher level, in two.
The Heart of the Toys pulsed with an intense, blinding light.
Xing Nuo’s enhanced doll vision was overwhelmed, and he quickly covered his button eyes with his hands.
The teddy bears, their teeth bared, their eyes glowing red, also froze under the intense light.
They collapsed, their bodies limp, the light of life within them fading, dissipating into the air.
The Heart of the Toys, after the collapse of all the toys in Toy Town, turned into an ordinary, dull gray, oval-shaped stone.
No longer glowing, it looked rough and ugly, pitted and scarred.
Wen Xingxue walked over, picked up the stone, and placed it in his spatial storage.
His pocket was now empty.
In the central city.
An announcement echoed through the square:
[Toy Town Instance, core “Heart of the Toys” destroyed, instance permanently closed!]
[Congratulations to players Shen Ke, Bai Luo…Wen Xingxue, for clearing the instance!]
As the system announcement faded, countless players looked up at the leaderboard on the giant electronic screen.
“As expected of a boss! Not only clearing the instance, but also destroying the core!”
“I should have chosen that instance! It would have been a free win!”
As the players chattered excitedly, in a small alley several blocks away, the unsold green-haired doll suddenly woke up.
He was standing outside the display case, looking at his human hands and feet, tears streaming down his face.
He was human again!
So destroying the Heart of the Toys was the way out!
Hearing the announcement, he wiped his tears and turned to the clown doll, Xingyuan.
“You’re back too?! Didn’t you run away? That’s strange. So, is your name Xingyuan or Xing Nuo?”
Xingyuan, looking at his hands, a sinister expression twisting his face, was about to speak when he felt a sharp pain in his neck.
He collapsed to the ground, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
