Edited by Jules
Xiao Lan opened his eyes and saw his Republic of China-style room.
The vintage ceiling was covered in decorations popular during that time; not a single one didn’t depict the style of the Republic of China era.
It seemed he had woken up for real this time.
When he looked around, the empty book was displayed on the table like before, and everything in the room was as usual.
Except for Luo; there was no trace of Luo by his pillow.
Xiao Lan went out and knocked on Luo’s door, but there was no response.
He then opened the door with the skill passed down from his ancestors. The room was empty; there was no sign of anyone at all.
Xiao Lan stood in the corridor. It was silent all around him, with only a row of quiet, identical room doors.
As if he was the only one here.
Xiao Lan returned to his room.
At this time, he noticed that the book which he had placed on the table had changed.
It was still the same book, but the cover which initially only had a pattern on it now had two words —
Mingyue Pavilion.
These two words were written in an elegant manner that matched very well with the refined cover.
As if it was the name of a novel, the words ‘Mingyue Pavilion’ appeared correspondingly on the spine.
As if declaring that this was a novel which was narrating the story of Mingyue Pavilion.
And the characters in the novel were the readers who received the invitation; that is, the players.
Naturally, Xiao Lan was one of them.
“Interesting.” Xiao Lan flipped the book open.
Words had already appeared in the book.
The introduction described the arrival of the players. It recorded that a group of people headed to Mingyue Pavilion after receiving an invitation, and their accommodation was arranged by the butler.
Xiao Lan turned the page, but realised the latter pages were still blank.
As if this was a novel being written, and only the beginning had been completed for now.
It was still ongoing, how exciting.
The words in the book weren’t printed, but seemed more handwritten.
Xiao Lan compared the book with Crow’s signature which the character he was playing had in his collection, and realised that the handwriting matched.
That meant that this was Crow’s handwriting.
Crow’s handwriting wasn’t illegible and hard to decipher, like that of many modern people. Instead, it was natural and flowing, smooth and powerful; just looking at it gave one a good impression.
But thinking about how this was inside a game, this good impression… Forget it.
Xiao Lan put the book away and went down the corridor.
He wanted to know how this Mingyue Pavilion had changed now.
This book was a bit of a hindrance and also a hardcover; bringing it around was a little troublesome.
Fortunately, Xiao Lan was wearing 【Emperor’s new clothes ver 2.0】. He changed the design to a sweatshirt with pockets and simply shoved the book inside before zipping the pocket up.
Like this, regardless of whether he was fighting or ascending to Heaven, it wouldn’t fall out.
Suddenly, he sensed a faint connection coming from inside his storage space.
He opened it for a look; it was the envelope from the very beginning which Luo had been contained in.
A row of words appeared on the envelope:
【Looks like we’ve been split up again, sir】
Xiao Lan looked at the envelope. It contained a part of Luo’s main body, so writing words on it was like writing on Luo, which made him feel a little embarrassed. Right now, however, they didn’t have any other way to communicate.
Hence, he still wrote on the envelope with his fingertip:
【How is it on your end?】
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Oeb:
【P’w lc sbeg gbbw. Ktfgf’r cb bcf jgbecv】
Wljb Ojc:
【Vjwf】
Coafg atja, tf vfrmglyfv ktja tf tjv fzqfglfcmfv lc tlr vgfjw ab Oeb.
Coafg gfjvlcu Wljb Ojc’r fzqijcjalbc, Oeb’r gfrqbcrf jqqfjgfv:
【Ktlr obiibkr atf qiba lc bcf bo Jgbk’r ybbxr, mjiifv ‘Rlutawjgf Bliilcu’】
【Ktf mtjgjmafg gfaegcr ab j qijmf atfs’gf ojwliljg klat lc atflg clutawjgf. Llvvfc lcrlvf lr j wbcrafg atja klii jaajmx ja jcs alwf. Cr alwf qjrrfr, wbgf jcv wbgf wbcrafgr jqqfjg lc atf fcnlgbcwfca, jcv atfs jirb yfmbwf ragbcufg, eq ecali atf nlmalw lr rkjiibkfv eq】
【One can only leave by finding the sole incongruous flaw in the environment】
Xiao Lan thought about it. He truly had seen a book with this title on the bookshelf, but he only gave it a cursory browse and didn’t remember such minute details like Luo.
A normal person generally wouldn’t remember everything around them, and they also had to find that incongruous flaw where the monsters were hiding. The difficulty was obvious.
It would simply be a nightmare for a hoarder.
Perhaps they could only clear the game by destroying everything, but at what cost?
Because of poverty and having only four bare walls for a home, however, it was exceptionally easy for Xiao Lan to clear this incident.
To some degree, suffering was truly the riches which topped off a life.
Luo’s handwriting appeared again:
【But, sir, the place you are familiar with unexpectedly isn’t our home】
Although it was just handwriting, Xiao Lan inexplicably saw slight aggrievement in it.
Xiao Lan: “…”
He calculated carefully. Because there was a restriction on returning to the real world, he genuinely hadn’t stayed in that place which the two of them called home for that long.
The most familiar place to him was probably the training grounds.
What was up with this sudden slight guilt?
Xiao Lan felt like a scumbag who spent all day loitering outside and didn’t go home often.
He forcibly changed the subject:
【Did you also meet the nightmare killing?】
Luo replied very quickly:
【Yes, I returned to that darkness which I had stayed in for a long time. There was nothing around me at all, but floating in the air was a white ball. It truly was too conspicuous.】
Xiao Lan: “…”
This was the real easy mode.
Maybe even Crow didn’t think that there would be two such weirdos among the guests he invited.
One once lived with bare walls, one originally had nothing at all.
After communicating, Xiao Lan put away the envelope and continued forward.
Mingyue Pavilion was still quiet. He didn’t see even half a trace of a player.
Suddenly, Xiao Lan felt the book in his pocket heat up slightly. It was only for an instant, but he still caught it.
Xiao Lan took out ‘Mingyue Pavilion’.
The originally dull design on the cover was flickering.
He flipped the book open. Sure enough, new content had appeared:
【Farewell, my most loyal servant】
【He is immersed in an everlasting dream】
【Enjoying neverending tranquility】
Xiao Lan frowned. “What’s this?”
This new content was different from before. It wasn’t written like a story; instead, it was like a modern poem.
After these words, no more new content appeared.
And a box in the pattern on the cover had lit up.
Like it was some sort of clue.
Xiao Lan pondered over the new content which had appeared in the book.
If the one writing the book was Crow, then was the sentence ‘my most loyal servant’ about the butler?
But regardless of whether it was ‘farewell’, ‘everlasting dream’, or ‘neverending tranquility’, all of them didn’t sound like a living state ah…
Xiao Lan decided that he should first look for the butler.
Where would the butler most frequently appear?
It was now early morning. He should be in charge of preparing breakfast, so he might be in the kitchen, dining hall, or some place similar.
Relying on his memories, Xiao Lan headed for the dining hall first.
His footsteps, however, stopped at the lounge.
Because he didn’t need to head to the dining hall anymore. The butler was currently lying in the center of the lounge.
The butler was lying on a Persian carpet which Crow had brought in, both hands on his chest and cradling the book which all the players had.
His expression looked very serene, like he was just sleeping.
But there was no rise and fall to his chest, and the colour in his face had already faded.
Xiao Lan went over to examine him, and realised that the butler was already dead, but there weren’t any wounds.
Just as the book said, he was ‘immersed in an everlasting dream’.
Taking out ‘Mingyue Pavilion’ again, he checked the pattern with one lit up box.
Xiao Lan instantly had a bad feeling.
The butler’s death seemed to be hinting to the players that, as long as enough people died, the pattern on the book could be lit up. After the pattern was fully lit up, that probably meant that the book was finished.
The readers’ goal for coming was Crow’s new book. Once it was done, their goal was also accomplished.
For players, there was a high chance that this meant clearing the game.
And in the whole of Mingyue Pavilion, the only NPC they had seen was the butler. Everyone else was the players acting as readers.
Who would die next went without saying.
Like this, wouldn’t the players hope that other players would die before they did?
So much so that they wouldn’t hesitate to give a push under the right circumstances.
Could it be that to clear the game, there had to be enough dead people?
But Xiao Lan didn’t know how many people had entered the game.
If, by any chance, there weren’t thirteen people, wouldn’t they be unable to clear the game?
Or maybe there were only thirteen people. Did that mean that they all had to die to fulfil the clearance requirement for the game?
Moreover, it didn’t seem like there was a precedent where players had to murder each other in order to clear the game.
It felt like there should be some other way to do so.
“You… are you human?” A voice interrupted Xiao Lan’s contemplation.
The question was rather tricky, which made one unsure what sort of answer the other party wanted to hear, so much so that there was a sort of urge to say ‘no’.
Xiao Lan turned his head and saw a man who wasn’t tall but whose hair was combed rather high.
This person’s gaze darted between the corpse on the ground and Xiao Lan. He was afraid to approach for the moment, as if unsure if Xiao Lan was a ghost or the murderer.
Xiao Lan asked, “Is something the matter?”
The man then looked Xiao Lan up and down. After verifying that it was someone who looked quite normal, he then sighed quietly in relief.
He pointed at the butler’s corpse on the ground. “Is… Is he dead?”
Xiao Lan nodded.
That person hesitated for a beat before walking over. “Are you an advanced player? You look very strong at first glance ah, and you’re so young. That’s really amazing.”
For a moment, Xiao Lan didn’t quite understand. Wasn’t this an advanced game? Wouldn’t any randomly chosen person be an advanced player? What was this person saying?
He looked at this person again, and finally read something small in the other man’s cautious yet slightly calculative and expectant gaze.
This person probably wasn’t an advanced player. Who knew how he had ended up here; he even wanted to hug Xiao Lan’s thigh right now.
Seeing Xiao Lan remain silent, that person said, “Aiya, let me tell you, my situation is especially tragic, really.
“I obtained a rare item, then an advanced player found me and told me that as long as I gave him the item, he could carry me through an advanced game one time, which would boost my fighting strength by a lot.
“In the end, after I gave him the item, he directly disappeared today. Tell me if that isn’t tragic.”
Xiao Lan understood now that this was a beginner player who was skilled in seizing every opportunity.
But this person had quite some guts, wanting to eat a fatty piece of meat in one bite. In the end, Mingyue Pavilion unexpectedly separated the players.
But Xiao Lan reckoned that the player who claimed he could carry this person through the game didn’t have any good intentions either. It was very easy for a beginner player to die in an intermediate game, much less an advanced one. It was no different than serving them up.
Seeing that Xiao Lan didn’t respond towards him acting tragic, that person continued, “Actually, I also have another rare item. If you take me to clear the game, I’ll give it to you. How about it?”
Xiao Lan raised his eyebrows, unmoved.
Disregarding how the difficulty of an advanced game simply didn’t permit him to take someone to clear it, who would be stupid enough to believe such an empty check?
Seeing Xiao Lan’s expression, that person gritted his teeth and continued putting out new bait. “Don’t judge me by my appearance. Actually, I’m a stock broker; you’ll know just by asking around about the name Long Shiren. If you help me clear the game, I’ll help you with investments, and I guarantee that you’ll have steady earnings and won’t lose out. How about it?”
This person was just too great at conning others. No one who had ever played with stocks would dare say something like ‘steady earnings and won’t lose out’.
Long Shiren was used to being opportunistic, and this didn’t change even after he entered the Advent World.
But he didn’t understand that the only thing that could be relied on in the Advent World was one’s own strength.
Xiao Lan said truthfully, “I don’t need money.”
Money would tarnish his noble poverty-stricken temperament and lead to his poverty value being deducted.
Seeing that this person was extremely obstinate, Long Shiren exploded. “Aren’t you an advanced player?! You’re this strong already, so what’s wrong with saving me?!! I think you’re just being selfish!! You’re cold-blooded!!
“Can’t you have some sympathy? Can’t you amass some merits for yourself?!”
Long Shiren spoke forcefully and righteously, standing on the high moral ground and disparaging Xiao Lan’s own character as worthless. If one didn’t know, they would even think that Xiao Lan had done something unforgivable.
Honestly, it was just so he could gain some advantages.
He completely didn’t think it was his fault for wrongly judging the risk of the opportunity, which had led him to being trapped in this dangerous situation.
Faced with this spectacle, Xiao Lan merely said a calm “oh.”
Long Shiren: “…”
Why wasn’t this guy following the script?
Shouldn’t he feel ashamed, or extend a helping hand due to moral pressure?
Why was it just an ‘oh’? ‘Oh’ your ass ah!
Xiao Lan didn’t mind helping players, but he had no interest in helping someone who went looking for death.
Since Long Shiren dared to gamble, he had to bravely bear the risk of losing the gamble. Xiao Lan had no obligation to help wipe his ass.
To say nothing of such a self-righteous attitude.
His originally calm expression instantly changed. He glanced at Long Shiren, slight iciness in his eyes.
To deal with this type of person, cursing back was useless.
Might as well use the physical admonishment method.
Still wearing a calm expression, Xiao Lan took out 【Dalit’s Bone】, and it switched to its blade form, before he flipped the knife elegantly.
The deathly white bone blade cut an icy streak of light.
Long Shiren paused just as he was about to start another torrent of mouthing off.
His experience in stock speculation and cons told him: Run for it, you’ve screwed up.
Long Shiren simply turned around and ran. Those short legs pumped rather quickly, and he was already far away within seconds.
Xiao Lan: “…”
Truly flexible ah.
But right after the other party turned to run, he noticed that a black handprint had appeared on Long Shiren’s back, and this person seemed completely unaware of it.
Baobao Notes
The three chapters are in a way, to make up for all the delayed updates recently, and also an apology to all the kofis I still can’t get to working on rn.
Don’t worry about it, I hope you’re doing okay!
Thank you for the updates!
This looks like a fun arc.
Murder Mystery~
That long guy will probably die next
This update is very big, but I than you for it because it was rewarding to the extreme.
I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT UPDATE!
Thank you for the triple update!! ❤️❤️
Thank you for the chapters!
Heh cannon fodder
Thank you for the hard work but don’t forget to rest
Thank you and don’t worry! You do you
»One once lived with bare walls, one originally had nothing at all.« The game doesn’t has it easy with them xDD And Luo enjoying the easy mode lolol
Thx for the ch ٩( >ヮ<)۶ And don’t worry to much, take your time :3
heh, hello, cannon fodder
thank you for large update~
Thank you for the chapter! Finally caught up hehehe 😁
Black hand print: “tag, you’re it.”
I wonder if that’s why the advanced player brought him here, he probably knew having an extra player to get killed would be useful in clearing an advanced game.
OOOoooo but why is that actually a nice theory (O_O)
thanks for the chapter <3
Ever since I read the prologue to The Three-Body Problem, I cringe inside whenever I see the words “Republic of China Era.” The setting itself is horrifying.
Thanks for the chapters!
Is it weird that it upsets me how Xiao lan became a bit cold like this? I mean yeah I get it his past and the advent world changes how he views others and stuff, maybe it’s just me but Idk it kind of weirds me out to see a cold MC
A place where people mutually slaughter each other? Besides, this guy isn’t reliable at all . There is a high chance he would stab xiao lan back in this game settings. He did r8
I know how you feel but like its his character development and like its the authors choice, like imagine if Xiao Lan stayed carefree and naive about the Advent world, he wouldn’t be able to grow stronger at all and would have to rely on Lou for the rest of the time and slowly become a useless, lazy, bloodsucker like some random player that is always on the brink of death out there.
I’m kinda sensing the Newbie kill all the other newbies in beginner instance in this instance…that’s why this advance instance kinda bugging with allowing beginner enter this game..idk who that player is… hopefully he died in this game so I will stop worrying Wang Taidi encounter him in other instance
Sorry for the bad grammar 😅..hahhaha
Thanks for the chapter ❤️