I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 686, Sections 2.5-26: The House of Silk and the Dollhouse (Dream)

Bright sunlight streamed through the blue curtains, casting dappled shadows. A boy of about twelve years old sat by the window, fiddling with a white plaster head shaped like a doll. After a while, he sighed and placed it on the table.

He rested his chin on his hand, looked up at the window, and stared blankly at the unchanging scenery in the garden.

Her fluffy, soft golden curls hung down her head, and her deep blue eyes were as beautiful as jewels, but at this moment they carried a hint of confusion.

"What is the meaning of the existence of dolls? Why can Father be so obsessed with them?" He pouted, unable to understand, and glanced at the plaster head on the table with a hint of disdain.

With a loud 'bang,' the door was suddenly kicked open.

Joan instinctively turned around and saw several men with strange weapons staring at him with malicious expressions.

"We're so lucky to have run into the puppeteer from our childhood. He's so tiny, if he dies, the dungeon will be over."

"Compared to the puppeteers who are a real headache and impossible to get close to, this kid seems much easier to deal with."

Joan listened to their conversation, her expression unchanged, but her mind was racing through the few keywords she had gleaned.

A puppeteer? Childhood? Dungeon?

what is this?
"What are you trying to do?" Joan stood up and asked angrily.

"Can't you tell? Of course, I'm going to kill you, young master." The leader suddenly raised the weapon hanging on his chest and pointed it at him.

Joan turned her head to look at the window, then looked around; it seemed there was nowhere to hide.

“I don’t know you,” Joan said softly.

"It's alright, knowing you is enough for us." After saying that, the man decisively fired at Joan.

Two different chaotic sounds, "crash" and "bang," rang out, followed by a sudden force that pulled him away. He turned his head and saw a circular hole in the spot where he had been standing.

Xin Bai snorted coldly and said to Qiong in a very bad mood, "It's better for the little one not to watch such bloody scenes. Close your eyes."

Qiong didn't obediently close his eyes. Instead, he scanned everyone with a questioning look, and finally stopped on Xin Bai's tail that was constantly swaying behind him. In the end, curiosity overcame fear, and he reached out his sinful hand and grabbed the furry tail.

"Meow!!!"

Accompanied by a pitiful scream, Joan exclaimed in surprise, "It's really true!"

Xin Bai's claws slammed into the table, while he clutched his poor tail, glaring fiercely at Qiong. "Ling Tong! Fei! I'm going to kill him!!!"

Standing under the ground floor window, Ling Tong remained silent and did not respond to Xin Bai. Although Xin Bai had a bad temper, he still knew what he was going to do. He believed that Xin Bai was just talking and would not actually lay a hand on Qiong.

I guess so……

They originally intended to go through the nearest door, but changed their minds after seeing other players carrying rifles and submachine guns enter through the more distant door. While they didn't know the consequences of killing the main boss, it certainly wouldn't be as simple as ending the dungeon.

Joan must live.

So they followed the group of people into the door, and their intentions were exactly as they had suspected: to harm the young puppeteer.

Since Qiong was on the third floor and the situation was urgent, they couldn't provide support so quickly, so they had to let Xin Bai climb up the wall to rescue her.

"How many people do you have there?" Ling Tong asked.

Amidst screams, Xin Bai's voice gradually came through, "Three! With guns."

They saw eight people enter through the door, meaning there were five more people scattered around, and they didn't know what the others' intentions were.

“Let’s go find the other five.” Ling Tong had just turned around and taken a step when she suddenly stopped.

Fei was slightly taken aback. Before he could ask, he heard Ling Tong say with a serious expression, "I smell something burning."

in the room.

Qiong looked calmly at the three people lying on the ground, then at Xin Bai who was unharmed, her expression a little complicated.

"Who exactly are you people?" Joan asked. "What is your purpose?"

"Probably..." Before he could finish speaking, he felt a violent tremor, followed by a loud 'boom'.

Glass shattered and scattered all over the ground.

Joan gripped the table tightly to keep herself from falling.

Screams and shouts came from afar, seemingly saying 'Fire!'

Xin Bai squatted on the table, pointed to the tower burning with smoke not far away, and asked, "What is that place? It seems to be the area most severely affected by the fire."

Qiong followed Xin Bai's finger and looked in that direction. His expression suddenly changed, and he murmured, "Father..." As he spoke, he hurriedly ran towards the tower.

"Father?" Xin Bai looked puzzled, but to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, he chose to follow.

The closer they got to the tower, the denser the crowd became, with moving dolls everywhere, and many even stopped the stranger Xin Bai.

"Get out of my way! This is so annoying!" No matter how Xin Bai fought, the puppets kept moving closer to him, preventing him from moving an inch, while Qiong was getting further and further away from him.

"Father! Father, are you there?!" Joan shouted as he ran, the intense heat of the flames burning his face red.

He covered his mouth and nose with one hand, frowned, and ran up the stairs without a care in the world.

Upon seeing the man on the second floor, Qiong's expression brightened with surprise, and she ran towards him, calling out, "Father!"

He tugged at his father's clothes, anxiously saying, "Father, let's go quickly!"

The father stared blankly at the door without giving Joan any response.

"Father?" Joan frowned, somewhat puzzled as to why he was still stubbornly staying put.

“My doll…” the father murmured.

Joan looked up abruptly, staring at him in disbelief. "What?"

"My doll is still inside!" he said, shoving Joan aside and rushing into the house to try and save his doll.

Joan remained motionless, her outstretched hand fixed on her, her deep blue eyes fixed on her father's silhouette in the flames, as if trying to memorize the scene.

Flames engulfed everything, and heavy objects kept falling and crashing down around Joan.

His father only cared about dolls, and was willing to give his entire life for them.

He watched his father weep desperately as he held the doll that had been charred by the flames, and for some reason, he wanted to laugh.

What a ridiculous scene! Those inanimate objects are more important than one's own life. His child desperately tries to take his father out, but is ultimately ignored.

Joan's heart turned cold.

That man, as expected, only had eyes for the doll.

Joan watched this scene, coldly observing the man burning in the flames and listening to his screams, her hands involuntarily clenching into fists. She forced herself to watch, to remember, to remember this man's final moment of glory, and to remember how she herself had become an orphan.

He was abandoned.

The flames burned like a snake flicking its tongue, slowly approaching him, trying to coil around him and bring him to the same end as that man.

He thought about it and ultimately decided not to leave.

If he could be burned to death like this, it would be a good ending. After all, the family could be reunited, and he wouldn't have been abandoned, even though he stubbornly insisted on following along.

Thinking this, Joan gradually loosened her grip, seemingly giving up any hope of survival.

Suddenly, a cold hand reached out and pulled him into an embrace.

"I regret to inform you that I cannot let you end your life so easily. Joan Gengas, you have a more important mission waiting for you to complete." A slightly cold, soft voice entered his ears. He had finally seen this person again as he wished, but for some reason, he did not feel very happy.

Even though he really wanted to laugh, he wanted to laugh out loud.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, the gloom in his deep blue eyes growing ever darker, as if it would devour him at any moment.

This chapter shouldn't be considered a angst, since I really didn't intend to be sentimental.

After experiencing her mother's death, Joan's mindset changed, especially after seeing her father's choice. She no longer freely expressed her pain and sadness.

He would only feel miserable, and he would feel that he was indeed that man's child, just as indifferent and cold-hearted.

Here, Joan is actually searching for an answer. She went to her father wanting to know if he would choose her or his puppet, even though she already knew the answer; she wanted to verify it, to see it for herself. When she learned her father had chosen the puppet, she wasn't surprised, because she already knew; she just wanted to let her weak heart give up.

So, it wasn't that his father abandoned him, but rather that he chose to abandon his father and choose to be an orphan.

Don't rush, these chapters are about Joan's personal storyline, as well as the plot that reveals the truth about the doll and the source of the disaster.

Everything was predetermined. Just as six-year-old Joan was reminded by Xinbai why she didn't choose the spider silk, no matter what choices the players made behind the door, or what Joan encountered, the final result was the puppeteer we see today.

Everything is preordained, and Qiong's obsession with Mu Yegui will be explained in his personal storyline.

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(End of this chapter)