Buzz — buzz — buzz —
Periodic vibrations came from under the pillow, and at the same time, there was music that grew louder and louder.
Zhang Zian woke up in a daze. He felt that he had just closed his eyes. He had not fallen asleep at all, and his phone alarm rang.
Why did the phone alarm ring?
He had just come out of the dream, and his brain was still at the boundary between reality and dreams. He was not fully awake.
It was still completely dark outside the curtains, and occasionally, there were sparse raindrops hitting the window glass.
It was time to get up and pour water.
He finally remembered the reason for setting the alarm. The typhoon had just passed, and the sewage outside had not subsided.
If the sewage that seeped in from the crack of the door was not cleaned every two or three hours, the first floor might be soaked. When the sewage overflowed the height of the baseboard, it would leave an ugly watermark on the wall that would be difficult to remove unless the wall was repainted.
In addition, the temperature of the aquarium may have risen to a dangerous edge, and it was time to add ice and sea salt to cool it down.
The staff had all gone home, and he had to do these things alone. It was estimated that it would take at least half an hour. By the time he was done, it would not be far from dawn, but there was no other way. Fortunately, during the day, the sewage may be almost gone, and the municipal department should seize the time to repair the circuit.
Every time Zhuang Xiaodie pushed him out of the dream, she used such a simple and crude method. If she could pull him into the dream silently, it would be great … but it was just a thought, and he did not dare to say anything.
In addition, he was not sure whether she was deliberately torturing him, or if she had to use this method to leave the dream. After all, the dream was easy to forget, and if he wanted to leave, he might have to create a miracle.
There was no electricity, and the sky was not bright. The room was dark, and he could hardly see his fingers. However, he knew the layout of the room like the back of his hand, and he would not trip even with his eyes closed.
He groped his way downstairs, and of course, the first floor was also dark. The cats and dogs heard the sound, and there was a little commotion.
He took the emergency light and went next door to add ice and sea salt to a few aquariums. Then he returned to the pet shop, threw the soaked rag near the door into the plastic bucket, wrung out the sewage, and replaced it with a wrung dry rag.
After tossing and turning, he was a little sweaty, and he was basically awake. He was not sleepy, and even if he lay back in bed, he might not be able to sleep.
For some reason, he felt that something was wrong. After thinking about it carefully, he noticed that he didn't seem to hear any complaints from the elves.
Usually, when they woke up in the middle of the night, the sensitive elves would be woken up. Although most of them didn't mind, there were always a few who liked to sleep and would complain.
However, he hadn't heard a single complaint since the beginning.
Was it because they were sleeping too soundly?
During the day, the elves were not as busy as him and the shop assistants. They were not tired, so they should not be sleeping so soundly.
His heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition surged in his heart.
Taking the emergency light upstairs might dazzle the elfins' eyes. Besides, he was very familiar with the house, so he didn't need the emergency light. So, he just put the emergency light back on the cashier counter.
At this time, he picked up the emergency light again and walked up the stairs.
Standing in front of the bedroom door, he became more and more flustered and breathless, not daring to push open the half-closed door.
No, it shouldn't be …
He tried to comfort himself that he was just thinking too much. When he pushed open the door, the emergency light illuminated the room, and the elfins would definitely be furious at him …
So, after mentally preparing himself a few times, he lowered his head and pushed open the door.
Strong light shone into the room.
The room was still quiet, and the expected scolding didn't come.
He slowly, absentmindedly raised his head.
The empty room was illuminated by the emergency light, and there was no living thing.
The crib, empty.
The drapes of the princess' bed, empty.
Under the princess' bed, empty.
The electric blanket that was covered with a sleeping mat, empty.
The basket hammock chair, empty.
The small night light, empty.
The pillow, empty …
His chest felt like it was pressed by a huge rock, almost suffocating, and breathing was extremely difficult.
What was going on?
"Galaxy? Now is not the time to play hide and seek. "
There was no response.
"Fina?"
"Grandpa Tea?"
"Richard?"
"Famous?"
"Farley?"
“π？”
"Snowy Lionet?"
His voice was like a clay ox entering the sea, and there was no response.
He didn't give up, and quickly walked to the bed, squatted down, and lifted the hanging bedsheets. "Vladimir?"
Vladimir, who usually slept under the bed, wasn't there either.
He rushed to the bathroom, and without even knocking, he pushed open the bathroom door.
"Sihwa?"
There was clear water in the bathtub, and Sihwa was also nowhere to be seen.
His heart was beating so violently that it was about to jump out of his throat, and his temples were throbbing with pain. He felt like his throat was spewing hot air like a fire-breathing dragon.
"Hey! Where are you guys hiding? Stop hiding! Is this some kind of surprise? It's not my birthday yet! "
He raised his voice, almost shouting. Even if someone complained that he was disturbing people late at night, he couldn't care less.
There was still no response.
What was going on?
If this was a joke, it was already a bit too much, and maybe only Richard would make such a joke.
When he had just finished work, he was still sweating a little, but now he was sweating like rain, and his chest and back were wet. It was as if he had run five kilometers in the dog days.
Calm down, calm down.
There was no point in panicking now.
He had to figure out what was going on first.
Could it be …
Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration, and like a thirsty person seeing a clear spring, he had a great hope.
Could this still be a dream?
Zhuang Xiaodie used the same trick again and made a dream where all the elfins disappeared, making him think that he was out of the dream. In fact, it was a dream within a dream like a Russian doll?
"Zhuang Xiaodie, come out. I have seen through it. This is another dream you created, right? The same trick can only work on me once. Try something new, "he said, bluffing.
He desperately wanted this to be a dream. As long as he woke up, everything would be as usual. He would sit up from the bed screaming, and then be scolded a few times. That was all.
He waited for a while, but there was still no response.
Based on his understanding of Zhuang Xiaodie, if he saw through the dream, it seemed that there was no need for her to continue playing. She disdained acting shamelessly, and with her character, she would show up, torture him, and then let him really wake up.
After waiting for a while, Zhuang Xiaodie neither showed up nor showed any signs of response.
He stood in the room, and his heart was as empty as the room.
He hoped that this was a dream, but he could not numb himself and pin all his hopes on this dream, nor could he pin all his hopes on Zhuang Xiaodie.
People always have to rely on themselves.
He tried to adjust his breathing and forcibly divert his attention, no longer thinking about whether this was a problem in the dream world, but began to consider other possibilities.
Could it be …
He thought of another absurd possibility. Could it be that there were no elfins from the beginning to the end, and everything was just a delusion in his mind? He even came up with a logical explanation. He was too stimulated by the sudden death of his parents, and he imagined the elfins to accompany him.
In other words, was he crazy a long time ago?
However, all the details showed that there was indeed a living creature in the bedroom other than him.
On the crib cushion, there were a few short black and white hairs.
He reached under the mattress of the princess bed and found the diamond ring hidden there. There were also subtle scratches left by sharp claws on the diamond ring.
He turned on the laptop, and a Word document was saved on the desktop. After opening it, the cursor flashed at the end of an unfinished chapter.
On the bedsheet next to the pillow, there was a faint yellow-green mark that emitted a foul smell.
On the bathroom cabinet next to the bathtub, there was a very feminine looking cell phone that had run out of battery.
These details couldn't be deliberately forged by a madman to deceive him, right? That would be too professional!
It was not a joke, not a dream, not crazy. What reason could explain the collective disappearance of the elfins?
Could it be that some terrible enemy had sneaked in and killed all the elfins without anyone knowing?
"…"
How could it be?
Not to mention that he had been sleeping in the room with the elfins. Even if he was a negligible specter, what powerful existence could do this without waking him up?
Thinking of this, his eyes fell on the pillow.
He walked to the bed and took out the cell phone from under the pillow. After he stopped the phone alarm, he put the phone back under the pillow.
He unlocked the phone, swiped the screen, and looked for the familiar icon.
Nothing.
The more he swiped, the more panicked he became. He swiped the interface countless times, but he couldn't find the icon of the "Pet Hunter" game.
Without an icon, how could he start the game?
At this time, he noticed an unread notification in the notification bar at the top of the screen.
He pulled down the notification bar.
[Game Tips]: Dear player, due to the accumulation of more and more irreparable errors in the game, and recently a large number of elfins were defeated by unknown units that do not exist in the database at the same time. Therefore, we judge that the stability of the game has reached a critical level. Now, we regret to inform you that the game has been discontinued. According to the user agreement, all players' accounts have been canceled, and all captured elfins have been recovered. When you see this notice, the game application has been automatically removed from your phone and cannot be restored. Thank you for your participation and company over the past year. Goodbye.
Reading the whole thing, such a paragraph full of official wording could be summarized in a few simple words: Dear player, I am your father.
He read the notice over and over again until every word was imprinted in his mind.
Although he was so angry that he wanted to smash the phone to the ground several times, he still resisted the impulse and didn't even cross out this notice, because this was the only proof that the "Pet Hunter" game once existed on the phone. Once it was crossed out, it was as if the bond between him and the elfins was completely broken.
His whole body muscles were trembling. It turned out that the sudden disappearance of the elfins was caused by the game!
In retrospect, when he first downloaded the game and registered, something like the user agreement flashed on the screen. But who would read such a long list of things carefully? Wasn't it just a brainless confirmation? If you didn't confirm it, you wouldn't be able to play.
Thinking about it carefully, the user agreement seemed to say that the player's account and elfins belonged to the game. But even so, it was too unreasonable to cancel and recover them. He didn't do anything that violated the rules of the game … Well, Vladimir might have gone overboard with the air wall, but it had nothing to do with him. Like a large number of elfins being defeated by unknown units, it had nothing to do with him. Why should he take responsibility for it?
No, this couldn't be tolerated!
He suddenly stood up, took his phone, and was about to walk out, but stopped after a few steps.
Who should he go to?
Find the TV station to expose it or find the Consumer Association to complain?
Would it be useful?
He sat down on the floor, holding his head in his hands. His head was about to split open.
It was useless. It was useless to find anyone.
In terms of the black technology embodied in the game, it was far beyond the scope of modern technology. If someone wanted to, they could conquer the world in minutes.
Time passed, and his heart became colder and colder.
He didn't want to admit it, but the fact was that he might never see the elfins again. He didn't even have time to say goodbye.
This feeling of pain and powerlessness, like falling into the abyss, was no less than when he received the bad news from his parents.
No, in fact, the elfins said goodbye to him. Just when he was half asleep, he heard the elfins speaking in a different tone than usual.
He thought it was a dream at the time, because even the voice of Snowy Lionet, who always hated him, seemed to be a little sad.
If … if he could open his eyes at that time, maybe he could see the elfins for the last time, maybe he could say goodbye in time.
Patter.
Tears fell silently from his cheeks and hit the floor one by one.
The empty house was as silent as a grave.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
He just sat there with his head down. He didn't even want to drink water, pour water, or add ice cubes. He just wanted to do whatever he wanted.
Just as the first faint ray of dawn came through the window.
In his blurry vision, something suddenly moved.
"Meow … Zian, don't cry …"
His heart was hit so hard that it almost stopped beating.
He slowly raised his head and saw a black and white kitten sitting in front of him.
"Star … Galaxy?"
He stared at it in disbelief.
Was this a dream? Did he unknowingly fall asleep again?
Galaxy came back again?
"Meow … Zian, cheer up! Don't be sad … "
Galaxy stared at him with its silver-gray eyes.
"But … everyone is gone …" He fiercely wiped his tears and carefully stared at Galaxy in front of him, for fear that it was a mirage.
"Meow … Galaxy knows …" It nodded. "Don't worry, let's wait for reinforcements together …"
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