What malicious intent could NPCs possibly have? C16.2

Hey, first of all, thanks for reading my lousy Machine Translation. To be honest, I’d really like it if you guys corrected the mistakes I made. But please speak nicely and politely. My heart is not strong enough to read your too-harsh comments. Have a nice day. 🙂

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

Chp16. part2

The adults rushed over.

They checked the numbers on the children’s hands one by one, excitedly hugging their children.

Jing Yao sneered, “Motherly love driven by hormones is truly touching.”

Ning Ge: “Hormones?”

Pei Han explained: “There have been similar cases.” “Life is only a few days long. To quickly put people into a reproductive state, the system manipulates them with hormones.”

The young woman from before also ran over. She recognised the number on Ning Ge’s hand and hugged her tightly.

“You’re awake? My baby,” she choked with joy, “I’m your mother.”

“While you were sleeping, I would check on you every time I had time to rest. You were always lying there, and you were this long at the beginning.”

She released Ning Ge and gestured with her hand.

“You were so tiny, and now you’ve grown so much.”

The woman held Ning Ge’s shoulders, looking her up and down carefully. “They gave you this haircut? It looks quite nice.” Ning Ge silently watched her.

The woman had long, slightly curled hair and was very pretty. She wore the same plain clothes as everyone else, and a QR code with the number JJ0631 was on the back of her hand.

Although she was a stranger, Ning Ge felt an instinctive sense of closeness.

This feeling of attachment came inexplicably and unusually.

Hormones, Ning Ge thought.

The system had not only tampered with the parents but also with the children to quickly establish an emotional connection between them.

The woman held Ning Ge’s hand, “Mom will work hard and earn money to buy you the best learning chip.” “Even though Mom is all alone, I’ll make sure you have the best of everything, just like other children…”

As she spoke, the ground suddenly shook.

It was like an earthquake.

The entire hall began to tremble, the glass rattling loudly.

“Mom!” The Mom grabbed Ning Ge and shielded her with her body.

Ning Ge nestled quietly in her arms.

Her embrace was warm and smelled wonderful, making her feel instantly at ease.

The earthquake lasted a few seconds and then stopped, and everything around her changed—

To be precise, everyone around her changed drastically.

Ning Ge and the others, who were originally seven or eight years old, had suddenly grown taller, as if they had been fast-forwarded through a time machine, becoming eighteen or nineteen years old.

Ten years in an instant.

The adults didn’t change as much, gradually, some began to notice… “Come over here.”

A murmur and screams erupted throughout the hall. People were in a panic, and the wheels in the glass partitions all came to a stop.

Before things calmed down, Ning Ge saw Pei Han and Jing Yao simultaneously tapping their bracelets.

Pei Han’s bracelet vibrated first, and Jing Yao looked resentful.

The dungeon’s timeline really had a bug. He submitted a report, acted faster than Jing Yao, and got the bounty, which Ning Ge would also receive.

Ning Ge suddenly grew into a young woman, and “Mom” aged.

Ten years older, her once flawless skin had dulled, as fine porcelain covered in dust, and fine lines had appeared at the corners of her eyes.

She was terrified, looking around at the people in panic, then at the suddenly grown-up Ning Ge.

A mechanical voice came from somewhere, “Everyone back to your workstations. Everyone back to your workstations.” ‘Mom’ composed herself, trying to comfort Ning Ge amidst her panic.

“… Don’t be afraid. The elders say this has happened before, probably all at the behest of the ‘Mother Sphere’.”

Mom stroked Ning Ge’s hair. “You’ve grown up so much.” Then she touched her own face. “Am I getting old too?”

Ning Ge replied without hesitation, “No, you haven’t changed at all.”

The announcement continued mechanically, “Everyone back to your workstations. Everyone back to your workstations.”

“I have to go,” Mom said. “Take good care of yourself.”

“Okay.” Ning Ge nodded in agreement.

The parents returned to their cubicles, urged on by the loudspeaker.

Ning Ge saw her mother get back on the wheels.

Her face, though ten years older, was still beautiful, full of smiles. She waved to Ning Ge and began pedalling like a little hamster, even faster than before.

The wheels spun rapidly, round and round, and Ning Ge felt a pang of sadness.

The parents all left. Suddenly grown up, some children were confused, their faces full of curiosity, while others were crying with timidity.

Ning Ge looked at her bracelet.

The countdown timer for the task was still ticking away.

She knew it wouldn’t be this easy. The mothers had come, but the “Little Tadpoles Find Their Mother” task wasn’t completed.

“There must be a problem somewhere.” Pei Han said.

He looked slightly younger than he normally did. His plain robe was too short. the fabric at the shoulders and arms had burst open from his increased size, revealing his skin.

Logically, the attire was somewhat comical, but because of his excellent physique and outstanding looks, he resembled a beautiful ancient Greek youth draped in cloth, as if he had just stepped out of an oil painting.

He noticed Ning Ge looking at him, his eyes flickered, and this usually carefree and arrogant person showed a rare hint of shyness.

This wasn’t right.

He wasn’t right, Ning Ge herself wasn’t right, everyone was a little off, and the other girls in the crowd were glancing at Pei Han and Jing Yao.

“Hormones,” Pei Han said softly.

Hormones were aphrodisiacs.

The system was using hormones to control the young people here, so that they would quickly find mates and reproduce within a day, before they aged.

“I give up.” Owen read the mission instructions again. “Even if Dad says it’s not true, Mom can’t be fake.”

The short hair guy guessed, “What if they switched babies? Some babies’ mothers aren’t their real mothers. Isn’t that common, like life swaps?”

“Unlikely,” Pei Han said. “I was just worried about that. I specifically asked my ‘parents,’ and they said that here, from birth until the QR code is printed, the baby is always with…”

“The parents’ children aren’t being taken away, there shouldn’t be any mistake.”

That’s strange.

Ning Ge looked at the mission description on her bracelet again.

[Objective: Find the mother for all players within sixty minutes.]

All players.

All people.

So that’s where the trap lies.

Ning Ge touched Pei Han’s arm.

When her fingertips touched him, Pei Han flinched as if burned, a blush spreading rapidly from his neck to his ears.

Ning Ge looked at him speechlessly, “I know you’re in heat, can’t you control yourself a little? We’re doing a mission.”