The others didn’t dare to think too deeply about it. Gu Lin’s tone was simply too full of longing, a longing for food. And fish? Children like to repeat words, that was normal.

This instance was called Mermaid Town, and it was a horror instance, so it was obvious that mermaids wouldn’t be the beautiful creatures of legend. But even the beautiful, human-bodied, fish-tailed mermaids in movies and TV shows weren’t… edible, were they?

No, Gu Lin must have meant that he wanted the mermaids to come out quickly so he could get the little pearls, complete the mission, and then go home to eat.

Gu Lin’s next sentence shattered their forced justification: “I’m so hungry I could eat a whole fish!”

Everyone: “…”

Wasn’t that just a variation of “I’m so hungry I could eat a whole cow”? And why did his tone sound a little bit proud? Also, you don’t count fish by “heads.”

It wasn’t surprising that the players were shocked. Even the livestream audience, who were well-versed in the strange happenings of horror games, were momentarily surprised by Gu Lin’s statement.

He talked big, but looked like a tiny mouse.

But their ability to adapt was strong, and they quickly accepted this setup.

[The cub is so young, yet he can eat a whole mermaid. Impressive (〃’▽’〃)]

[Cub, fly bravely, and take responsibility for your own actions, haha!]

[Fish are yucky, cub shouldn’t eat fish, oh. Buying snacks for the cub [Reward Points x20]]

[I fell in love with this cub at first sight. Here, auntie’s welcome gift [Reward Points x20]]

[A welcome gift of only 20? That’s so stingy. Buying milk for the cub [Reward Points x50]]

[This cub is indeed cute, but what if he only lives in the opening credits? I’ll observe for a bit, I can’t waste my feelings. But a welcome gift is still necessary. Buying candy for the cub [Reward Points x20]]

[I don’t believe it. The cub I’ve chosen can’t possibly only live in the opening credits! Cub, fly bravely, your auntie will always be with you! [Reward Points x20]]

[Wow, this is the fastest I’ve ever seen a streamer gain followers, and he’s just a two-year-old cub. I’m settling in; I want to see how he flies with those two little legs! Don’t let the points you’ve rewarded him go to waste and all be swallowed by the system!]

–

If a player died, their points would be reclaimed by the system.

Gu Lin didn’t care that he was being underestimated. He knew that adults liked to judge people by their appearance. They thought he was cute and wanted to raise him, they thought he was weak and therefore useless. He wouldn’t stoop to their level.

Gu Lin politely thanked them, his voice clear and tender: “Thank you, aunties.”

Could these points be used to buy food?

9527: [Yes, little streamer, points can be used to purchase any item from the system store, including food.]

9527 hadn’t spoken in his mind before. Gu Lin felt the voice resonating in his head, tilted his head, and even raised his little hand to pat his head, as if to knock it out.

9527: …

Gu Lin was very clever. Seeing that he couldn’t knock anything out of his head, he quickly understood: [Who are you? How are you in my head? Are you the system?]

9527: [Yes, little streamer, I am your personal sub-system, designation 9527.]

Gu Lin said excitedly: [9527, can I buy food now?]

9527: [The system store unlocks when you have 300 points. Little streamer, you currently have 130 points. You need to wait a little longer, oh.]

Gu Lin said “Oh,” a little disappointed: [Okay then.]

9527: …

It didn’t have the heart to tell Gu Lin that the other players still had 0 points, and he had already received 130… oh, now it was 150 in rewards. He was already doing very well.

This instance had just started, after all, and there weren’t many viewers yet. Even though most of the viewers were drawn to Gu Lin, the viewer base itself wasn’t large to begin with, so there weren’t many for now.

The other players heard Gu Lin thanking the air and also looked at their own livestream panels.

Except for Gu Lin, not a single player had received any viewer rewards. There were even very few bullet comments, and only a handful of viewers.

The game had only just begun, and Gu Lin, solely by virtue of his soft and cute human cub appearance, had attracted the vast majority of the viewers and received rewards. The other players weren’t so lucky.

All the players’ attention was focused on Gu Lin.

Indeed, he was so cute, and so tiny. Just standing there, doing nothing, made people want to kiss him, hug him, and lift him up high.

Was this the halo that came with being a cute creature?

Not only were people unable to resist soft and cute things, but even the livestream audience of unknown origin couldn’t resist.

But everyone still remembered that this was a horror world. The viewers could fawn over the cub like they would a cat, but they, the players who would die if they didn’t clear the game, couldn’t. At the end of the day, the viewers were just treating them like toys, like entertainment, just for fun and excitement.

Then, a “swish, swish” sound came from the depths of the fog.

Everyone instantly froze, and even the air seemed to fall silent.

“Wh-what’s that sound?”

Someone asked, their voice trembling.

But no one answered, because no one knew what was making that sound.

The sound was like a snake’s tail dragging on the ground, approaching from afar, growing stronger. Everyone could hear it clearly.

Then, everyone thought of the name of this instance—

Mermaid Town.

Perhaps it wasn’t a snake’s tail dragging, but…

A fish tail.

The “swish, swish” sound drew closer, moving extremely quickly. In less than a minute, it seemed to be right next to their ears.

But the fog was thick, and they could only hear the sound, not see what was coming.

The “swish, swish” sound went from one, to two, to three, becoming more and more numerous, more and more dense, coming from all directions in the thick fog.

The players’ mission was to obtain pearls formed from mermaid tears, so naturally, the first step was to encounter mermaids. But now that the mermaids had actively appeared, the players only felt a chilling sense of dread.

A dangerous aura of death was approaching.

Others were obscured by the fog, but Gu Lin, as an auspicious beast, could see in the dark and was unaffected by the fog. He could see those things clearly.

They were indeed a group of mermaids, but they looked so strange…

They didn’t look anything like the mermaids in cartoons and picture books.

These mermaids…how did they have two fishtails?

Gu Lin’s little head was filled with great confusion.

He looked left and right, up and down, studying them carefully. Then he rounded his mouth, his mouth forming an O-shape.

Oh, so they weren’t two tails. It was one fishtail that had been split in half!

Gu Lin also wanted to count how many there were. The daycare auntie had taught him how to count, but he only knew a few numbers. When he got to ten, he gave up and stopped counting.

These mermaids, with their tails split in half, there were so many of them, more than Gu Lin could count. They were surrounding the players from all directions on the street.

Gu Lin saw the mermaids’ bodies and faces clearly, and then he nodded his little head.

The aunties were right, fish are ugly and yucky.

Cub won’t eat fish, eating fish will give you a tummy ache.