Salted Fish Zombie

Chapter 42

At 3 AM, the castle was silent.

Ning Su stepped out of his room, rubbed his nose, and climbed up to the window of room 507, following the lily vines on the arched window.

Just like at night, he scraped away the hazy insects and poked his head out, squinting his eyes. "Hey."

This time, the oil-painted puppet didn't turn its head stiffly because it was already facing the window.

Ning Su pointed at the window. This time, the window not only had insects crawling all over it, but was also locked from the inside.

After pointing, he eagerly waited for the oil-painted puppet to open the window for him.

For a ghost friend, this was a magical thing.

When a ghost friend was born, they would knock on the player's door. When they were determined to knock on a specific player's door, it meant they had chosen that player. When the player opened the door, inviting them in, they considered themselves bound to that player.

Being bound meant being born together, a lifelong companionship.

It was the most romantic and cruel promise a bound ghost could make.

To be born together, to accompany each other throughout life, and if one couldn't accompany the other, they would both be destroyed.

They knocked on the door first, but it was up to the player to open the door and decide if they truly wanted to be bound.

And now the puppet had to decide whether to open the window or not.

The first time, it knocked on a door, and a player opened the door for the puppet. But after the door was opened, they lived in two separate rooms, each in a pitch-black room. Was that companionship?

The second time, a boy proactively knocked on the window and came to the puppet.

He was exquisitely beautiful, and when he smiled with his peach blossom eyes, they sparkled with a radiant luster.

He would embrace the puppet, and then a continuous flow of a black substance that made it warm would enter its body.

That substance, upon careful examination, could be felt as the primal energy. (T/N: Primal energy refers to a fundamental and elemental form of energy that is considered to be the essence or core energy in various belief systems or spiritual practices. It is often associated with the basic life force or vital energy that permeates all things and is believed to be the foundation of existence. Primal energy is sometimes described as the purest and most potent form of energy, representing the fundamental building blocks of the universe. It is thought to have transformative and nourishing qualities capable of bringing about profound effects on physical, mental, and spiritual levels.)

For human babies, the primal energy came from the mother's womb.

For ghosts born in an infinite game, the primal energy should come from the game's main system. Yet, this boy's body contained such surging energy.

He said to the puppet, "I'll come back to find you in the middle of the night. You need to open the window for me."

Just like before, it sat in the darkness, waiting for the system announcement that would grant lucky points to players.

After the system announcement ended, the puppet turned around and sat by the window.

The children's room was small and cramped, with a tree stump clock on the wall next to the window.

One o'clock.

Two o'clock.

Three o'clock.

"Hi."