Once again, Zhang Dong and the female shop assistant disappeared.
In front of the checkout counter, Xiao Lan, Zhao Xiaohe, Lin Yan, and the tattooed gangster stood facing each other, and no one said a word. The atmosphere was tense and subtle among the players, and was completely different from the friendly and harmonious air when they first met.
In the end, Lin Yan smiled, his gaze sweeping over the other three. “Hehe, we’ll be relying on our own skills for this round ba. Till we meet again.”
With that, he departed leisurely, and those watching wanted to send a mad greeting to the back of his head with the sole of their shoe.
After that, the tattooed gangster left as well, after maliciously sizing up the remaining two people.
Only then did Zhao Xiaohe let out a sigh of relief, as if she had escaped the mouth of a ferocious beast. She said worriedly to Xiao Lan, “Xiao ge, what should we do ah? I feel like the two of us combined won’t be a match for even one of them.”
Xiao Lan: “Let’s find a way to avoid them for now ba, and do our best to keep our search as short as possible. What if they find something before you do?”
As he spoke, he looked at Zhao Xiaohe’s height. “You’re short, and not that thin. If there really is a fight, you should find a chance to ruthlessly kick them down there, then run away.”
Zhao Xiaohe had a conflicted expression. “Xiao ge, you’ve definitely never had a girlfriend ba…”
How could one speak so callously if they had a girlfriend?
Xiao Lan was taken aback. “Yeah.”
He had started focusing on his career as a part-timer ever since high school, and often skipped class in college, but he had never failed a course. He even earned a scholarship every year, and was known as ‘Study God’ in school.
It got to the point that someone on the school forum said that Xiao Lan was long disdainful of interacting with normal students, and so rarely appeared on campus. The truth was that he was just working, and was so busy he had to snatch seconds to sleep; the pressure of poverty almost sent him down to the sea — where did he have the time to have a relationship?
Not only was love a waste of time, it was also a waste of money ah!
As if recalling something, Zhao Xiaohe comforted him. “It’s okay, Xiao ge, you don’t have to be in such a rush for a girlfriend. You… do you want to go to the toilet first?”
She even considerately stuffed a tissue into his hand.
Seeing her sympathetic gaze, Xiao Lan: “…”
You girls even know this?! Are you misunderstanding something?!!
.
After parting ways with Zhao Xiaohe.
Xiao Lan pondered the cigarette butts he had seen in the warehouse. Were Shandi cigarettes something Zhang Dong thought were a necessity? In the warehouse, did he smoke them because he liked them, or because he just happened to have a packet?
Xiao Lan needed more clues before he could make a judgement.
Xiao Lan recalled the two women Zhang Dong had mentioned: one was a manager, the other was a cashier. Between the two, the manager and Zhang Dong clearly interacted with each other a little more, and they even clashed with each other. Of course, this conflict might be one-sided on Zhang Dong’s part.
And there was the disciplinary notice. It seemed that the supermarket’s current appearance and Zhang Dong’s dismissal occurred on the same day. What on earth happened that day, to lead to Zhang Dong’s death and even turn him into a malicious spirit that wouldn’t leave?
It seemed that a trip to the manager’s office was in order.
.
The manager’s office was on the second floor. The walls of the corridor were already peeling, and large patches of mold grew over them. A damp and unpleasant rotten smell pervaded the air.
The door to the manager’s office was locked tight, but this wasn’t a problem for Xiao Lan.
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.
Three seconds later, he was standing inside the manager’s office.
Ktf wjcjufg’r boolmf kjr nfgs alvs, jcv cbatlcu ilxf atf mbcrfdefcmfr bo j kliv ybjg qjrrlcu atgbeut atja Wljb Ojc tjv lwjulcfv. Ktlr vlvc’a wjxf rfcrf. Snfc atf kjgftberf wjcjufg’r boolmf tjv yfmbwf ilxf atja. Yc atf batfg tjcv, atf bcf Itjcu Gbcu gfrfcafv atf wbra kjr atf wjcjufg, sfa atf ijaafg’r afgglabgs kjr mbwqifafis olcf.
Xiao Lan and Luo searched the office, and they could tell that the manager was someone who did things very systematically. The daily schedule was written clearly, and the tabletop was meticulously tidy.
Even the schedule for XXmonth XXday, which was the day Zhang Dong received the disciplinary notice, was laid out, all the way into the night.
But there was no information related to Zhang Dong. Could it be that all this time, Zhang Dong had always one-sidedly assumed that the manager was looking for trouble with him, when the reality was that she thought nothing of him at all?
This was just too miserable ba — ‘my archenemy doesn’t even know I exist.’
【Sir, there’s a handprint on the windowsill. From the size, it wasn’t made by a woman】
Xiao Lan looked over when Luo pointed it out. The window was half-open. At first glance, Xiao Lan didn’t notice the handprint at all. It was only when he got closer that he saw a light print on the glass, as if someone had touched it lightly and left the handprint behind.
Xiao Lan took a close look, and realised that the handprint was on the outside. This was the second floor; no one would run over to touch the window without reason.
Lifting his gaze to look out the window, Xiao Lan saw a phony and empty city.
There were tall buildings, street lamps, and neon lights, but they were all motionless. There wasn’t any traffic or pedestrians on the roads either. The entire scene was like a drab poster.
Xiao Lan dared to guarantee that if he jumped out the window and ran right now, he would forever never be able to leave this world.
Looking down from the window, he saw a few cigarette butts littering the ground.
He had just searched the manager’s drawer, and she didn’t seem to be a smoker. Then, who was the source of these cigarette butts? Xiao Lan’s first thought was Zhang Dong.
Turning his head to assess the architecture outside the window, Xiao Lan realised that there was a drainpipe not far away from the window. It was thick enough to absolutely support a person’s weight. If someone climbed up the drainpipe to the manager’s office, that position would match perfectly with the handprint on the window.
Xiao Lan: “Luo, let’s go down and have a look.”
【Please be careful】
Because the supermarket entrance was sealed off, Xiao Lan decided to climb straight down from the window. A height of two storeys wasn’t a problem for him.
One could see how skilled and strong he was, when he stepped onto the window frame, then nimbly leapt toward the drainpipe and climbed down to land on the ground in two to three seconds. The entire process didn’t even take one minute.
He was as proficient as a thief.
Luo seemed to be in a complicated mood.
【Sir, did poverty really not force you to take on an unmentionable night job?】
Xiao Lan said ruefully, “A person’s potential when avoiding creditors is endless. Don’t mention two storeys, even five storeys can’t stop me.”
Him running up and down from being chased by creditors under the setting sun was probably his lost youth ba.
【…In the end, what sort of life do you live?】
Xiao Lan: “I’ll slowly tell you about it when we have time in the future.”
【I’m all ears】
Xiao Lan inspected the traces on the ground. The cigarette butts had all been smoked to their very ends, which was Zhang Dong’s familiar style. They were also of the Shandi brand that had appeared before. Even though they were all ashes, it could still be seen that these were fresher than the ones in the warehouse. One could probably say that Zhang Dong had only smoked this type of cigarette for a period of time.
It could even be concluded that this was something Zhang Dong was used to, and even liked.
There was something sticking out of the green lawn on the side, which attracted Xiao Lan’s attention. It was half a brick, which had dropped from somewhere and broke. The broken bit revealed a sharp edge, and in the dim light, there seemed to be dark traces on it.
Xiao Lan: “Luo, can you analyse what this is?”
The black shadow slowly covered the edge of the brick. After a moment:
【It’s dried blood and a bit of brain matter: male, middle-aged, excessive body fat, poor liver function, and prone to balding】
Didn’t this describe big brother Zhang Dong?
Xiao Lan: “Check if there’s blood in the soil on the lawn too.”
The shadow headed for the lawn.
【There is, sir, and it’s a lethal amount for a human】
The entire matter was now more or less clear.
Because Zhang Dong was fired for slacking off on the job, he took advantage of the dark to smash up the warehouse manager’s office in a fit of anger. Then, feeling indignant and suspecting that the manager was targeting him, he arrived under the manager’s office; who knew whether it was to attack the manager or to destroy the office.
But he didn’t expect the manager to be working overtime, so he could only wait.
From the number of cigarette butts, Zhang Dong had probably waited for several hours before he found an opportunity. He tried to enter the manager’s office by climbing up the drainpipe, but when he opened the window, he fell straight down, and lost his life when his head slammed against the brick.
This… was just looking for his own death! How did he have the gall to turn into a malicious spirit?!!
Xiao Lan’s expression turned complicated at this conclusion. There was nothing dramatic about Zhang Dong’s death; even locally produced horror movies might not even have such a low boss ah.
Xiao Lan: “The Advent World’s taste in selecting personnel really is outlandish.”
【I keep feeling like I was once disliked like this】
Xiao Lan: “And then you were turned into this present form?”
Sir, can we even still have a conversation today?
.
Xiao Lan secretly hid the cigarette butts and brick in the lawn, then returned via his original route before leaving the manager’s office.
Xiao Lan walked towards the supermarket. He wasn’t in a hurry to take the cigarettes, and he didn’t know if Lin Yan and the tattooed gangster had found a product to clear the instance with either. Xiao Lan, who only had five minutes’ worth of fighting strength, truly didn’t want to face those two.
En route.
Luo’s handwriting appeared.
【Sir, there are some words here that might be of help to you】
Xiao Lan followed the arrow that Luo had drawn and took a look. There was a string of brown words at the bottom of a mottled wall on the side. It looked like it had been written by hand, and most of it was covered by some wallpaper that had fallen from above. Xiao Lan reached out to lift the obstruction, and the words underneath were completely revealed.
【We have a traitor among us】
【His mission is different from ours】
【He wants to kill all of us. I don’t know who he is】
【Xiao Jie, hurry up and leave them】
There were also dark brown traces on the floor nearby of something being dragged away. It looked like a heavily injured person had left this final message before being dragged away by some unknown force.
Could it be a player from the last turn?
“Traitor…” Xiao Lan frowned. The first person he thought of was Lin Yan. This person called himself a veteran player, and from the very beginning, had very proactively declared that he could lead the players into clearing the instance, before he started to continuously push players out to die after obtaining everyone’s trust.
Xiao Lan’s original guess was that Lin Yan was using the others to test the preconditions for death, which would explain his behaviour.
However, this message gave him new information. Could it be that there were different missions in the game? Perhaps Lin Yan had received a hidden mission like Xiao Lan, but his mission requirement was — to make it impossible for other players to clear the instance!
If that was Lin Yan’s mission, then they were in great danger.
Lin Yan wouldn’t stop at just finding a suitable item; he might take the initiative to block other people from finding items, or destroy other suitable items.
Xiao Lan had to hurry up! Failing to clear the instance would mean death!
The author has something to say:
Xiao Lan: I really don’t have weak kidneys!
Luo: How about I examine them for you?
Xiao Lan: Go away…
Baobao Notes
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Zhao Xiaohe offering the tissue 😳
“I’ll slowly tell you about it when we have time in the future.” 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏
Thanks for the chapter!!
The girl is really One of my main suspects as a trainer after that goes Lin yan then the gangster.
How did Zhang Dong Xie like that? Aiya… Also, more suspense!
This explains that guy’s actions..
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
Thanks for the chapter Baobao! I hope this Lin Yan guy gets a good beating Σ(-᷅_-᷄๑)
Ahhh is the goal to have them all die? I hope the girl and Xiao Lan pass the instance smoothly!
Thanks for the chapter ❤
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^)/♡
My instincts are telling me the traitor is Zhao Xiaohe. Though they’re wrong most of the time.
+1 xD
+2
Oh, that explains a lot!
But srsly tho, everytime I tell myself to participate in these contests, but I just end up thinking and not actually doing it every, single, time 🙃
Thanks for the chapter! 🙂
i’m quite interested in luo’s backstory now… it reminds me of the webtoon “false memories”. i think the reformed degenerate trope is really interesting, i love a man having his ass kicked to humble him down a few notches.
thanks for the chapter!
Working against that is that if she were the traitor you would think she’d have just pretended not to have tissue at the beginning and Xiao Lan would have been out then and there, but maybe she wasn’t sure it would count before the game officially began? In its favor is that, opposite way around, if Lin Yan were the traitor you’d think he wouldn’t have calmed down the others and helped Xiao Lan get out of that stall, and you’d expect that he would have come up with an excuse not to take a free ticket. You also wouldn’t think Zhang Dong would have been pissy with him, since he would have been acting as part of his game.
She wasn’t the one who found the tickets,it was that couple and him not helping xiao lan would have made him not to look too good in front of the others making it hard to earn their trust.
Thx for the ch (≧▽≦)/
This chapter is so good! There’s a new mystery/threat with the traitor. I’m also very curious about Xiao Lan’s backstory. Thank you for the chapter!
Thank you very much!^^♡♡♡♡
Thanks for the chapter! 💕
Luo is so OP. Thanks for the chapter 🥰
maybe there’s another plot twist 🤔
For some reason, I feel like it’s Zhao Xiaohe and not the veteran player.
Lol they’re playing live among us
Looks like there’s an imposter among us 😱😱😱 I wonder who will end up being the sussy baka 😱😤🤔😜🤪😝
…..
I am so sorry for typing this out
I know Luo is the gong, but I keep imagining him with my usual cute-and-naughty system voice….in my head XL sounds more manlier, Luo sounds like a fricking prepubert QAQ
That highschool ofc
What items did she chose each round?
Why is she the only “school girl “ alive?
Timid scared but yandare?
Author u tried to hide her details but u seem to exposed her yourself
i’m getting really too attached to Luo.. i hope the girl stays safe and survives this…