Chapter 2: The Crying Infant

With only a little time left in the experience, Chi You lay on the bed, gritting her teeth.

She pressed the accept button directly—she was determined to become beautiful!

At that moment, a whirlpool appeared on the phone screen, sucking Chi You in.

In the end, only the phone fell onto the blanket.

The screen displayed the cosmetic surgery app, surrounded by a large black-and-red frame.

[Instance: Crying Infant
Instance Description: In an old apartment building, more than a dozen tenants reside. They often walk around with large bellies, radiating maternal glow, until late at night when the sound of a baby crying echoes...
Instance Tasks: 1. Find the infant crying at night before delivery
2. Prevent the baby from being born.
Instance Level: A
Number of Participants: 6]

[Cosmetic Surgery App wishes you a pleasant life; return alive.]

Chi You felt her vision darken, and when light returned, she found herself lying on a soft, large bed.

Had she really entered the instance?

She got up and picked up the phone beside her.

Opening it, she saw the tasks and introduction for the instance displayed.

It seemed she truly had entered the instance.

“Knock, knock—”

Someone knocked at the door. Chi You opened it to find a man and a woman standing outside.

The man was handsome but had a large beer belly; he was quite overweight.

“Are you new here?” the woman asked, her gaze scanning Chi You up and down.

Chi You didn’t answer but instead asked, “Are you here to participate in the instance as well?”

“Yes,” the woman replied.

After confirming their identities, Chi You invited them inside.

They sat on the sofa, and Chi You rummaged through the fridge to find two bottles of water, placing them in front of the newcomers.

After sitting down, her gaze fell curiously on the man opposite her.

After introductions, An He asked, “Do you want to cooperate with us?”

“You’re new, and your pregnancy isn’t showing yet. I’ve been here three months, and he’s been here four,” An He said, pointing to Ji Chao beside her.

Chi You’s eyes widened in surprise.

So the bulging belly was indeed due to pregnancy?

Ji Chao’s face darkened under her intense gaze. Who would have thought that entering this instance meant carrying life like a woman?

But he was certain there was no child in his belly.

Otherwise, why would the mission require preventing the baby’s birth?

“We’ve searched the entire floor since we arrived but haven’t found the infant crying at night,” An He said.

“The only place we haven’t been is the top floor. I suspect the crying infant is up there.”

But they couldn’t go to the top floor. Every time they tried, the original residents would appear holding babies, smiling gently, persuading them to rest and protect their pregnancy.

They even tried going at midnight, but the infant’s cries rang in everyone’s ears, causing unbearable pain in their bellies.

Movement was out of the question.

“This instance has six participants, right? What about the other three?” Chi You asked.

The two exchanged uneasy glances.

“They’ve been here too long and are almost assimilated,” Ji Chao replied.

Chi You nodded; she couldn’t stay in this instance too long or risk becoming one of its inhabitants.

At night, the baby’s cries caused terrible pain.

The top floor was forbidden territory.

Chi You agreed to cooperate with them. After some more conversation, the two left.

Before they left, they invited Chi You to join them on the top floor that night.

Chi You looked at them carefully and then smiled, nodding in agreement.

Once outside Chi You’s residence, their smiles vanished immediately.

The other three quickly approached, excitement written all over their faces.

“Do you think the newbie will fall for it?”

“Will she go to the top floor with us tonight?”

“The Matron will want her, surely.”

An He and Ji Chao nodded at them, their faces breaking into wide smiles.

“She agreed.”

The three others were ecstatic.

Inside, Chi You took out her phone and reread the instance description.

Afterwards, she began searching the room and surprisingly found a box of nearly expired abortion pills.

She examined the box carefully and read a line:

[Potency is fierce. Taking them may pose a life-threatening risk.]

They would expire in a week.

Chi You hid the box away and stepped outside to take a walk.

The residents of the building greeted her with warm, loving smiles.

But Chi You found it all very strange.

Everyone wore the exact same curved smile—even the women holding babies had eerie expressions.

Chi You walked from the third to the sixth floor. The next was the seventh.

If they didn’t allow entry at night, would they also refuse during the day?

Thinking so, Chi You stepped up without hesitation. No one stopped her.

The two had indeed omitted some useful information.

In the hallway on the seventh floor sat a woman dressed in white, cradling a baby while nursing it.

She hummed a lullaby, sunlight casting a motherly glow upon her.

The air was thick with the scent of milk, mixed with a faint metallic tang of blood.

After exploring and finding no useful clues, Chi You turned to leave.

At that moment, the nursing woman spoke.

“Would you like to see my child?”

The woman looked up, smiling sweetly at Chi You.

Chi You paused and turned her gaze toward her.

The woman said nothing further but lifted the child higher.

Chi You approached, instinctively reaching out to play with the baby, only to find it was no child at all.

It was a monster.

A one-eyed, round-headed creature with a wide grin and no limbs.

Her hand froze mid-air. Seeing the smile fade from the woman’s face, the surroundings began to warp.

Noticing this, Chi You hurriedly reached out to touch the monster’s head.

The woman's face softened into a smile: “Your child is so well-behaved.”

Hearing praise for her child, the woman resumed humming the lullaby, holding the creature close.

The “child” chuckled—a hoarse, rough sound like twigs scraping stone, painfully grating to the ear.

Back in her room, Chi You immediately pulled out the hidden abortion pills.

She touched her flat belly. Everyone entering this instance became pregnant.

Regardless of gender.

But what they carried inside was no child—it was a monster.

Chi You unwrapped the pills, expressionless, broke two in half, and swallowed them.