Chapter 221: More Than Just Humans Live in the Copy

Words : 1459 Updated : Oct 4th, 2025

Chapter 221: Chapter 221: More Than Just Humans Live in the CopyLike Jing City, Ting City also saw a significant decrease in the number of people going out, but some shops were still open, following the nation’s call—for after all, it was broad daylight, and patrol cars were still present on the streets. When he arrived outside the residential area, Xu Huo took the flowerpot from the hands of the Girl in the Painting and handed her a card, "Buy whatever you want, but don’t go over five thousand. Consider it overtime pay." The Girl in the Painting wiped away her tears and turned her head to enter the shopping mall. Carrying the flowers back to the rented apartment, just as he took out the keys, the door opposite opened, and Yuan Yao burst out, throwing himself at Xu Huo with open arms, "Brother Xu, you’re finally back!" Xu Huo lifted his foot to keep him at bay, scanning his dark circles and sunken face, "Are you alright?" "I’m so miserable!" Yuan Yao cried on the spot, "I haven’t eaten for days, and no one’s delivering takeout. If you hadn’t come back, I would have starved to death!" Xu Huo unlocked the door and let him in. As soon as they were inside, Yuan Yao pounced on the fridge, taking out snacks and dry fruits. These items were all bought for the Girl in the Painting. Xu Huo poured him a glass of water and sat down to watch him eat. Yuan Yao stuffed food into his mouth while speaking in an unintelligible mumble, "I took my parents to the countryside to escape misfortune. During those days when players from other areas invaded, I didn’t even dare to sleep. After they finally left, it was time for me to enter the instance." "I went in without any preparation, and the boss of that instance is a pervert who likes to eat the flesh of young men. I sold twenty-five pounds of my own flesh to barely survive until the end of the game..." "The reason I’m this thin is because of that. After I came out, I wanted to find something to eat, but before I could take two steps, I ran into a thief—my phone and wallet were stolen. Then I was targeted by others. In my condition, I didn’t dare linger outside, so I had to come back." "Luckily I had a spare key, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to enter at all!" So, the people who had been lurking near the residential area were after Yuan Yao. Xu Huo poured him another glass of water, "Didn’t you contact any acquaintances to bring you food?" After finishing the water, Yuan Yao took a deep breath before continuing, "Now, where are there any acquaintances? Everyone on the streets seems like they want to eat others. Let alone asking someone to come alone to a strange residential area, people are afraid to even arrange a meeting in a public place." He paused before adding, "Besides, I was being targeted. I didn’t want to involve others." "Didn’t you make a report call?" Xu Huo said, "You have a computer in your room. It shouldn’t be difficult to contact people from the Ting City Research Institute." Yuan Yao scratched his head, "Well, I didn’t dare. You know, after that incident, some said that players with ill intentions had infiltrated the Research Institute and the players’ list from there had been leaked. Already a few players have died—I don’t know if it was done by someone from inside the Research Institute." "Brother Xu, do you think there are still players from other areas staying in Zone 014?" Yuan Yao asked tentatively, "Could those players who were watching me be from other areas?" "No," Xu Huo said, "If they were players from other areas, they wouldn’t need to keep an eye on you for these few days." seaʀᴄh thё nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Besides, players from other areas had disappeared without a trace in a very short time—they either left Zone 014 or went into hiding. They wouldn’t expose themselves for a low-level player. "At most, players from other areas would only stay in Zone 014 for less than two months," he added. "Unless they wanted to keep doing low-level instances." Relieved by Xu Huo’s words, Yuan Yao let out a sigh. Xu Huo then picked up the phone and dialed the number he had seen on the patrol car, "...Yes, I’ve found three Cannibal Evolvers, their location is at..." After hanging up the phone, he looked at Yuan Yao again, "Tell me about the instance in detail." "Okay." Yuan Yao wiped his mouth with his sleeve, sat down, and started recounting his experience to Xu Huo. This time, he entered a copy filled with ghosts and gods, where a small village worshiped a god he had never heard of or seen. This god held a scale in hand and required meat every day. If it was the meat of livestock, a hundred pounds were needed, but only five pounds of human flesh were needed. The players were deceived by the villagers to go there, and at night, the god would come alive and demand meat. However, it claimed it was "buying meat." If the villagers traded with livestock, it would give them a bit of gold, but if it was human, selling the meat could exchange for a night of peace and safety. Xu Huo looked at him, "The game lasts ten days, why did you sell twenty-five pounds of meat?" Yuan Yao showed his embarrassment, "You can’t blame me, I was deceived the first day, and then I was forced by other players and had no choice but to trade with the god." "Were there other players who came out of the temple safe and sound, without any changes?" Xu Huo asked. Yuan Yao thought for a moment, "There was a female player, I saw her when she came out with her chest and buttocks intact, she hadn’t lost any weight." "Were there any players who died inside?" "No." "When you were in the temple, did anyone die outside?" "Yes," Yuan Yao honestly replied, "They died horribly, their flesh completely eaten, skulls thrown into the pigsty." "It seems both inside and outside the temple are dangerous. The game gives two tasks—one is to survive ten days, the other is to explore the village." "I wouldn’t dare, just staying alive is good enough." "Others didn’t believe in curses, but they all died, even that fully-fleshed female player who came out of the temple." "The game time is ten days, completing one task is enough to pass." Xu Huo said, "The one you traded with probably isn’t the copy’s boss, the real cannibal is either a player or a villager, the main body of the copy is the village." "Even so, I wouldn’t dare not to trade with that thing in the temple." Yuan Yao said, "Who knows if it’ll go mad and kill people if it doesn’t get its meat." "You’re sure that wasn’t a human?" Xu Huo asked. "Definitely not human." Yuan Yao said solemnly, "It’s just a statue that came alive." "Its scale is like a straw, just a poke on a person’s body and it could suck the flesh away, efficient with no scars..." Xu Huo looked at him steadfastly, and Yuan Yao shut his mouth. Just hearing about the copy’s process, Xu Huo couldn’t confirm his guess was correct. If the meat buyer was just a statue, then it’s very likely to be a special item like the Girl in the painting, at the very least. However, a player can become the boss of a copy, and items can have special uses too. It also reminded him that not only humans are alive in the copy, and the killers are not only players and aliens. The Girl in the painting came back soon, bringing food with her. "Younger Sister Li Chun, you’re so kind, knowing I haven’t eaten and specially buying food for me!" Yuan Yao lunged to hug her, but was kicked squarely in the chest. The homebody fell onto the couch, rubbing his chest and laughing, "It doesn’t hurt, not at all!" The Girl in the painting pouted and gave him some of the food, then served rice and set chopsticks for Xu Huo, before sitting down to wait for him to join her, looking every bit the dutiful wife and mother. Under Yuan Yao’s envious gaze, Xu Huo sat down at the dining table, picked up his chopsticks in an unhurried manner, "Deduct whatever you overspent from your pocket money."

Chapter 221: More Than Just Humans Live in the Copy

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