209 - Cinderella’s Dream: Together Forever

**Chapter 209 (Additional Update)** She found a key in a small box at the bedside table. Chen Wan put the key in her jacket pocket, zipped it up, and glanced again at the corpse on the bed. The body had long since decomposed, emitting a foul stench, and it wasn't hard to see that it had been neatly dismembered into several parts—likely someone who had previously participated in the game. The culprits were the two men she had just encountered. Chen Wan didn't linger. She quickly grabbed a steel knife and exited the room, kicking open the second door. Having just witnessed a human body cut into pieces, her mood was particularly foul. When she kicked the second door, it flew open with a loud "bang," and wood splinters scattered everywhere. Inside, two level 2 zombies emerged, one garbed in a doctor's outfit and the other a decayed nurse with only half a face remaining. Seeing Chen Wan, they rushed at her like wolves starved for meat. With a swift swing of her steel knife, she decapitated both zombies with a single strike. Compared to the previous ward, this room also stank of decaying bodies, with human bones and organs scattered on the ground. Chen Wan found the second key. Next was the third ward. Without hesitation, Chen Wan kicked the door down, and the faint sound of a woman's sobbing came from inside. Chen Wan checked the area near the door and the ceiling to ensure there was nothing before stepping inside. A decomposing body lay on one of the beds outside the ward. When Chen Wan shone her flashlight over it, she could even see maggots crawling over the corpse. The other side was obscured, with a curtain drawn in the middle. The curtain swayed incessantly with the wind. Chen Wan shone her flashlight over it. Through the light, a silhouette appeared on the curtain, akin to a swaying woman or perhaps a hanging ghost. Walking a few steps forward, Chen Wan used one hand to hold the flashlight and the other to suddenly lift the curtain with her knife. Behind the curtain was a woman with bleeding eye sockets. Her tongue jutted out, her eyes rolled upwards, staring unblinkingly at Chen Wan. Chen Wan sneered, "Playing ghost games." As she spoke, she swung her knife towards the woman, who paused in shock. The image she expected of Chen Wan being so scared didn't materialize. Faced with the sharp blade, the woman desperately dodged backward and pulled out a gun. Chen Wan kicked the woman's hand holding the gun, sending it flying far away. The woman's wrist was broken, and she let out a piercing scream, "Ah, my hand! You're not scared? Help, someone!" Chen Wan pressed the blade of her steel knife against the woman's neck. With a gentle stroke, the blade left a shallow cut, drawing blood. "I'm not patient. I don’t enjoy repeating myself. Answer my questions clearly. Got it?" The woman clutched her injured wrist in pain, her heavily made-up face full of fear. "Got it, ask me anything. I'll tell you everything I know, just don’t kill me." "Who are you people pretending to be ghosts on this underground level? Where are the keys? Where's the exit?" Chen Wan asked coldly, her voice firm as she gently shook the knife, terrifying the tears out of the woman. Her decorated face turned more ghastly with the tears, making her seem more like a ghost. "I'll tell you! Don’t hurt me! We're all volunteers, aficionados of haunted houses before the apocalypse. Now, as NPCs here, we get to scare and kill people at will. Many enthusiasts like me wanted this job, and getting in to be an NPC wasn't easy," the woman confessed, quivering under Chen Wan's intimidation. "You're all insane. Have you considered that those you're killing are innocent?" Chen Wan's gaze turned icy as she questioned her. The woman mumbled softly, "In this world, everyone lives for the moment. Killing doesn't mean much; those entering the Canglong Bar were doomed anyway." "You find that reasonable, do you? Where is the key and the exit? Speak," Chen Wan's patience was wearing thin as she demanded sharply. "The key to this room is in the medicine box on the bedside table. I don't know about the exit; each NPC is only told where their room's key is. We were brought in blindfolded by the guards, and it's the same when leaving to prevent participants from holding us hostage. I'm scared to lie; I've told you all I know. Please, spare me," pleaded the woman. Chen Wan surveyed the room, then yanked an IV tube from the side shelf and tightly bound the woman's hands. "I won’t kill you, but I need a detector. You'll come with me." Pulling the IV tube's other end, Chen Wan bent down to pick up the pistol from the ground, checking it to find all 15 bullets intact. She tucked the pistol into her waistband and dragged the woman to get the third key. The woman, clearly unwilling but too frightened to oppose Chen Wan, meekly led the way. They reached the fourth ward, where the woman stepped on something with a sudden "snap," prompting a metallic scraping sound from inside the room. Chen Wan pointed her flashlight inside, spotting what appeared to be a switch by the entrance that opened a cage in the room. She now saw the cage contained four level-2 zombies. The woman screamed and tried to run, but Chen Wan kicked her into the room. "Didn't you think playing with the living was fun? Reap what you sow." Ignoring the screams inside, Chen Wan turned and went to the last room in the corridor. As usual, she kicked the door open. On top of the fifth door's frame seemed to be something, which along with the door, fell to the ground, spilling moist substances. Shining her flashlight, Chen Wan saw it was a basin of foul blood along with a severed arm. If she hadn't gotten used to her door-kicking routine, this would have dripped over her. While not particularly harmful, it would have been enough to unsettle the mind, allowing fear to take root and potentially fall into these people's trap, becoming their plaything. Chen Wan's expression grew even colder. She trusted her two friends would be fine, but she was less certain about Dage and Xiao Yu. More importantly, three minors had come in with them. Bringing so many innocents into this place, treating lives as mere toys—not only were the ones running this bar vile, but those watching and reveling in it were equally sickening. Chen Wan stepped into the last room. A man, his face smeared with blood, held a giant syringe and stared at her, as if finding a fun new toy. He sinisterly smiled and said, "Are you the new patient? It's time for your injection." Another man, wielding a scalpel, stood beside him, his sneering laughter echoing "creak-creak" as they slowly approached Chen Wan, seemingly enjoying the fear they incited. However, Chen Wan was set to disappoint them. Uninterested in these perverse theatrics, she picked up a wooden chair from the ward and hurled it harshly at the man with the scalpel. Using all her strength, the chair smashed into his face, sending him to the ground with wood splinters flying. Chen Wan didn't need a second strike; he collapsed immediately. The man holding the oversized syringe panicked, stumbling backward. "Keep away! I’m not a ghost, I’m human. Spare me!" Stuttering, the man faltered. Chen Wan held her steel knife in her left hand and quickly closed the distance, slicing off his right arm. She reversed her hold on the syringe. "If you like injections so much, use them on yourself," Chen Wan said coldly, jabbing the syringe into his neck. After a moment, the man stopped struggling. She searched around and found the fourth key in an IV bag in this room. The noise from the room with zombies next door had begun to quiet. Chen Wan kicked open the door, grabbing the attention of the four zombies, which sprang towards her. With a swift kick, Chen Wan sent two zombies crashing into the wall behind them. She dispatched the rest with her steel knife. Advancing slowly on the two against the wall, they seemed to sense her might and tried to retreat. Not giving them a chance, Chen Wan grabbed one, severing its spine with a slash. When the other tried to flee, she pinned it to the wall with her knife. She found the fifth key on the window sill and, pulling out the steel knife embedding the zombie corpse, nonchalantly headed out of the corridor. The corridors here stretched in all directions, turning into a crossroad that felt never-ending. Chen Wan pondered for a moment and realized that searching room by room was not a sustainable approach. She needed to find Qin Ke and Wei Si Yu and regroup, as being with her own people would give her more peace of mind. Thinking this, she aimed her pistol at the dark ceiling and fired a shot. The loud "bang" reverberated through the vast, empty space of the underground fifth level, its clarity cutting through the silence. Blood splatters adorned Chen Wan and her steel knife, making her appear like a reaper walking through shadows. Chen Wan paused for a moment at an area resembling a consultation desk, hoping to find any clues. Seeing nothing of interest, she continued down another corridor. Unbeknownst to her, someone was hiding beneath the consultation desk. Initially planning to masquerade as an NPC to kill, the person froze upon hearing the noise from the corridor and seeing an unfamiliar figure emerge. Terrified, she abandoned her plan and lay flat on the ground within the desk's interior, not daring to move for fear of being discovered by Chen Wan. Chen Wan’s actions left the audience in the viewing stands stunned. The horrifying scenarios they anticipated—live people driven mad with fear, tortured by doctors and nurses—failed to materialize. Instead, it seemed Chen Wan had turned the tables, becoming the dominant force in this macabre setting.