Chapter 89
The three arrived at the ninth floor of the news agency building.
The door of the conference room was unlocked and from a distance, Lin Yi could already see the editor-in-chief, sitting on a chair with a grumpy expression on his face.
Hearing the three latecomers’ footsteps, the editor-in-chief almost stabbed his wristwatch through their eyes. “What time is it, huh? What time is it?”
Qin Zhou pulled Lin Yi behind him. He then looked at the editor-in-chief’s watch, “10 o’clock.”
Editor-in-Chief: “And what time is work?”
Qin Zhou: “Nine o’clock.”
Editor-in-Chief: “Is that all you have to say for yourself? Are you proud of being late?”
“No, I’m not proud.” Qin Zhou patted Lin Yi on the back, motioned for Lin Yi to take a seat and said, “You get your salary docked if you’re late.”
The chief editor choked.
Then Qin Zhou took the empty seat beside him and sat down. Ren Li followed suit.
Looking at these three old wily foxes, the editor-in-chief wished he could slaughter them all.
“Well, did you find our man?” the editor-in-chief asked them.
Qin Zhou said, “We’ve found some clues.”
Editor-in-Chief: “It’s been a day and all you’ve got are clues?”
Ren Li was seated closest to the editor-in-chief and was getting annoyed. He glanced at the editor-in-chief and said coldly, “What else do you want?”
The editor-in-chief choked and then said angrily, “Fine, I can’t control you but Finance can.”
Saying so, the editor-in-chief walked out in a huff.
Only then did the three of them turn their attention to the other participants. Another person had died last night, the owner of the wire hairpin.
Feng Wan was still their spokesperson. She was recounting what had happened but there weren’t many useful clues. They’d all listened to Qin Zhou’s words and didn’t leave the news agency.
By nightfall, they were finally feeling hungry. But without money, they didn’t dare to leave the news agency. So the owner of the hairpin proposed they look around the office to see if there was any food.
Qin Zhou had told them not to touch anything in here but the food should be an exception, right?
The participants were so hungry that felt like they’d pass out if they didn’t eat something soon. So after a moment of hesitation, they follow the owner of the hairpin to look for food in the company.
They were able to find some, snacks from the drawers of several workstations. The four of them shared the snacks and once their stomachs were full, everyone went to the conference room just like the night before and slept over the tables.
When they woke up, they found someone had died.
Everyone immediately panicked at once. Zhou Qi’s death and Jiang Wang’s death made them feel scared but that was just being scared. Tonight was different.
They’d all done the same thing as the one who died. So could they be the next to die?
Even as Feng Wan was recounting what had happened to Qin Zhou today, her mental state was not very good.
If everyone had encountered the same thing that triggered the time rewind then everyone should have gone to the ‘past’ that night. However, only one person died last night and the others were still completely clueless as to what had happened.
In other words, it wasn’t the biscuits they’d found that triggered the time rewind. The deceased must have touched something that the others hadn’t.
However, they’d already spent an hour analyzing the clues by the flower bed. With this hour delay, it was hard to say whether the body of the deceased had already been disposed of. Ren Li suddenly got up to go to the dumpster to find the body.
Qin Zhou said, “Wait a minute.”
He wanted to attract the attention of the 4-4 Monster. So at this time, it was necessary to ensure that all surviving participants were present.
Ren Li stopped and stood by the door.
Only then did Qin Zhou speak while Lin Yi beside him nervously paid attention to everyone’s expressions.
Qin Zhou said, “We’ve determined the Rule of Death. The probability of it being right is about 80% to 90%.”
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.
Ktf qjgalmlqjcar’ fzqgfrrlbcr gfmbnfgfv lwwfvljafis. Ktfs ibbxfv ja Hlc Itbe klat ugfja jcalmlqjalbc. Vbwf bo atfw kfgf rb fzmlafv atja atfs xfqa ueiqlcu.
“Ofa’r yglfois ajix jybea atf meggfca rlaejalbc olgra.” Hlc Itbe rjlv, “Ktf gfjrbc kts sbe jgfc’a jiibkfv ab abemt atlcur tfgf lr atja atlcur tfgf wluta agluufg j alwf gfklcv. Ktlr rtbeiv yf fjrs fcbeut ab ecvfgrajcv, gluta? Pa vbfrc’a wjaafg lo sbe vbc’a, pera gfwfwyfg atja ktfc sbe rff j ktlaf iluta, la wfjcr atja sbe tjnf qjrrfv ogbw atf ‘qgfrfca’ ab atf ‘qjra’. Qtfc atja tjqqfcr, lo sbe kjca ab regnlnf, gfwfwyfg bcf atlcu. Gbc’a gec jgbecv, vbc’a ibbx jgbecv, mbnfg sbeg ojmf. Gbc’a ifa jcsbcf rff sbe.”
“Back in time?” someone repeated, and then a great sense of dread overwhelmed them.
Sure enough, this was the absurd and terrifying Rule World. Here, even time rewinds exist.
Qin Zhou pursed his lips after speaking. He gave these people time to react.
Lin Yi also observed everyone’s expressions and reactions one by one.
But before Lin Yi could come up with any results, the editor-in-chief came back in, the company’s finance officer in tow.
The editor-in-chief said viciously, “I can’t take any of your shit anymore. Here, take your salary! Let’s see if you still dare to come in late and clock out early next month! Now, stop slacking during work!”
Unexpectedly, they’d triggered the salary payout reward.
Qin Zhou: “…”
Lin Yi: “…”
Ren Li: “…”
The others now knew the Rule of Death and on top of that, they were even given their salary. They were all very happy. The little bit of food they ate last night simply wasn’t enough to satiate their hunger. Now with their salary, they could have a proper meal and they didn’t even have to worry too much about triggering a time rewind since Qin Zhou had told them the Rule of Death.
Finding somewhere to hide shouldn’t be too difficult. If they unfortunately trigger a time rewind, they should immediately find a place where no one was around to hide. So long as their faces aren’t seen, they ought to be fine.
Finance distributed the salary slips to everyone.
Lin Yi held his salary slip curiously. Although there were a lot of deductions, he still got a sizable amount. It was much more than what Lin Yi had earned from doing odd jobs before.
The editor-in-chief originally wanted to humiliate them with their salary but unexpectedly most of them showed pleased expressions.
Editor-in-Chief: “…”
The editor-in-chief said angrily, “If you still can’t come up with any news, you better not expect even a single penny next month!” He was like a puffer fish puffed up in anger. “What are you still doing here? Go follow the news! What are you all waiting for me to say?”
Everyone was kicked out of the news agency building. After getting Qin Zhou’s consent, the other participants went off to eat at a nearby restaurant.
Ren Li went to look for the body of the deceased. Qin Zhou and Lin Yi decided to check around Cen Qian’s house. After all, the IP address was traced somewhere in the vicinity of Cen Qian’s house.
Today was a sunny day. The two of them circled the area a few times but found no clues. Qin Zhou saw that Lin Yi was dripping with sweat so he stopped and said, “Let’s take a break?”
Lin Yi nodded in agreement. Actually, he never held out any hope of finding the anonymous tipper. For a moment, he even suspected that the anonymous tipper was Cen Qian.
“Are you thirsty?” Qin Zhou asked him.
“I’m fine.” Lin Yi was thinking about something. Although the editor-in-chief kept mentioning the name ‘Shunxi’, they’d never actually seen Shunxi in the ‘present’.
He still can’t let go of the possibility that Shunxi was the 4-4 Monster. And if this proves to be the case, the main plot they’d deduced would basically crumble.
In order for the current main plot to hold, they must find ‘Shunxi’ and find out once and for all what he looked like.
According to their inferred main plot, ‘Shunxi’ was the cat and Cen Qian was the mouse. If their main plot was correct, now that Shunxi has escaped from prison, it would be impossible for him not to come after Cen Qian.
So long as they stayed by Cen Qian’s side, once Shunxi appears in the present, their inferred main plot would be proven correct.
“Senior.”
Lin Yi wanted to discuss his stakeout plan with Qin Zhou. When he looked up, he realized that he had followed Qin Zhou into a cake shop.
Qin Zhou was ordering milk tea at the counter.
Qin Zhou heard him call out and turned his head to look at him. “What is it?”
Lin Yi shook his head. “Nothing, let’s talk about it later.”
Qin Zhou: “OK.”
He pointed to a spot in the store. “Go there and take a seat.”
Lin Yi: “Oh, okay.”
Lin Yi went to sit down at a table near the store’s floor-to-ceiling windows.
He watched Qin Zhou’s back for a while. He suddenly felt something was wrong with him.
Monsters have the ability to identify the strength of the participants so it was very likely that one of the three of them was the 4-4 Monster. Lin Yi could guarantee that he himself wasn’t the 4-4 Monster. He didn’t have any memory of being spied on.
But it has been several days since they entered the 4-4 Rule World and yet…Lin Yi touched his chest, he didn’t seem to suspect that Qin Zhou was the 4-4 Monster.
He was even planning to discuss this most important stakeout plan with Qin Zhou.
Lin Yi: “…”
There seemed to be something wrong with him.
When he lowered his head and thought about why something could be wrong with him, he missed a cloaked figure passing by the floor-to-ceiling windows. And when the figure passed, there was a very slight pause.
The figure turned his head slightly to look at Lin Yi, then turned his gaze away. He then looked at Qin Zhou who was leaning against the cash register and waiting for the clerk to make drinks.
When Qin Zhou was about to turn back around to get to his seat with the drinks, the figure turned his head and continued walking.
“Little genius.”
Qin Zhou called out several times before Lin Yi came back to his senses. “Ah, Senior? You called me?”
“What are you thinking about?” Qin Zhou pulled out a chair and sat opposite him, putting a tray with a cup of milk tea and a plate of mango cake in front of Lin Yi.
Although up to now, Qin Zhou hasn’t done anything that put him in doubt of being the 4-4 Monster and he even volunteered to be the one to attract the attention of the 4-4 Monster, this was Qin Zhou after all. Lin Yi has battled wits with a Monster-possessed Qin Zhou before. This didn’t prove that Qin Zhou wasn’t the 4-4 Monster.
Lin Yi temporarily held back the stakeout plan. He stared at the mango cake in front of him and said, “I was just thinking it’s such a coincidence.”
Qin Zhou asked curiously, “What’s a coincidence?”
Lin Yi: “I’m allergic to mangoes and Senior unknowingly chose a mango cake.”
Qin Zhou’s smile froze: “…”
Qin Zhou quickly put away his embarrassment and said, “I’ll go buy you a different one.”
Lin Yi hurriedly said, “Ah, no need, Senior.”
Qin Zhou: “Are you only allergic to mangoes? Are you allergic to anything else? Chocolate?”
Lin Yi: “No other allergies.”
Qin Zhou went to buy him a chocolate cake. After a while Qin Zhou came back with the cake. Lin Yi actually liked eating sweets quite a bit. Although there is no rewards for no merit, hadn’t Qin Zhou held his hand before? So, this should be considered as debt repayment.
Lin Yi ate with peace of mind.
After eating, Lin Yi said politely, “Thank you, Senior, for the treat.”
Qin Zhou handed him a tissue. “On your nose.”
Lin Yi: “Oh.”
While wiping off the icing stuck on the tip of his nose, he asked Qin Zhou, “Senior, aren’t you going to eat any?”
There was still the mango cake on the table. The cakes were freshly made and could not be returned.
Qin Zhou didn’t eat sweets. Although the cake wasn’t big, only a couple of bites and he’d be completely tired of it.
Qin Zhou knew that it was hard on the Unnatural Engineering University’s cafeteria. That was why credits were deducted for wasting food. As the president of the Student Union, he was even more reluctant to waste any food.
“I’m not hungry right now.” He saw Lin Yi’s love for sweets so he didn’t want to say that he didn’t like sweets. He threw out a casual lie and then said, “Let’s pack it up for Ren Lin, that ice cube, to eat.”
Lin Yi nodded. “OK.”
They didn’t know if Ren Li managed to get a hold of the corpse but Ren Li will definitely go to Cen Qian’s house to find them.
After the break, the two of them headed to Cen Qian’s house.
Ren Li still hadn’t arrived so Lin Yi put the packed cake on the table. When he set it aside, he turned around and found Cen Qian looking at him, specifically at the cake on the table.
Lin Yi suddenly felt guilty.
Cen Qian was just an NPC in the 4-4 Rule World but Cen Qian has always taken care of them, providing them with shelter and three meals a day but Lin Yi forgot to bring Cen Qian a cake.
Just when Lin Yi’s guilt became so intense that he didn’t know what to do with himself, Cen Qian smiled in front of them for the first time. “Lin Yi, is that a cake?”
Lin Yi felt even guiltier. Qin Zhou beside him answered for him: “Yes.”
Cen Qian didn’t care that it’d been Qin Zhou to answer. He turned the wheels of his wheelchair and went towards the cake. He then seemed to remember something. He stopped pushing, looked up and asked Lin Yi, “Lin Yi, is this for me?”
Lin Yi could hear the unconcealed joy and expectation in Cen Qian’s voice. But the mango cake wasn’t for Cen Qian. He hadn’t even been the one to buy it.
Lin Yi could only look up at Qin Zhou, who nodded slightly.
Lin Yi threw Qin Zhou a grateful look and then turned his attention to Cen Qian, who was back to staring at the mango cake on the table.
Lin Yi said, “Yes…”
Cen Qian couldn’t hide his happiness anymore. He pushing his wheelchair and came to the table, looking at the mango cake as if he were looking at a priceless treasure.
“Did you know that it’s my birthday today?” Cen Qian was very happy. He reached out and stuck his hand on the packaging of the cake, “Is that’s why you specially brought me a cake? Thank you, Lin Yi.”
The more Cen Qian spoke, the more excited he became, so excited that he didn’t even realize that Lin Yi didn’t answer his questions.
Looking at Cen Qian’s appearance, Lin Yi also guessed something.
Cen Qian, who was being targeted by Shunxi, couldn’t even live a stable day. How could he sit around and eat cake like other people on his birthday?
Cen Qian talked a lot to himself. He then turned his head to look at Lin Yi and Qin Zhou and asked earnestly and impatiently, “Can I eat it now?”
Lin Yi was about to nod when Qin Zhou beside him said, “Wait.”
Lin Yi turned to look at Qin Zhou, wondering why Qin Zhou told them to wait.
“Have him wait a while.” Qin Zhou must have seen through Lin Yi’s thoughts. He leaned over slightly and whispered in Lin Yi’s ear quietly so that only two of them could hear. “I’ll go buy him candles.”
This mango cake was just a small cake, not a birthday cake so the clerk hadn’t provided any birthday candles.
Lin Yi felt the tickle at the tips of his ear, a reaction to Qin Zhou whispering to him. And it wasn’t only the tip of his ear that felt a tickle. For some reason, Lin Yi also felt a tickle in his throat and even his heart felt a little ticklish.
“Senior, I… I’ll go.” Lin Yi said, “I also got my salary.”
Qin Zhou didn’t argue with Lin Yi. Moreover, Lin Yi was practically Cen Qian’s lifesaver; it was normal for Lin Yi to want to spend his own money, “En, you’ve got your salary.”
Lin Yi raised his head and said to Cen Qian: “Cen Qian, wait for me for a while. I’ll be back quick.”
After saying that, Lin Yi walked to the door and repeated: “Wait for me for a while, I’ll be quick.”
Cen Qian could only say, “Okay.”
After Lin Yi went out, he couldn’t help adding, “Hurry back.”
Lin Yi didn’t hear it but Cen Qian didn’t care anymore. He continued looking at the mango cake in front of him like a child.
Qin Zhou stared at Cen Qian. Since he had nothing to do, he went to get some cat food for the cat.
After exiting the door, Lin Yi ran the entire way back to the cake shop. The cake shop wasn’t far from Cen Qian’s house, only five or six minutes away, running would take him there even faster.
In his hurry to buy birthday candles for Cen Qian, Lin Yi didn’t notice that after he rushed into the cake shop, the cloaked shadow that had been wandering in his vicinity reappeared.
The black shadow stared at Lin Yi nervously. After Lin Yi entered the cake shop, he walked over quickly and then stood outside the cake shop. As soon as Lin Yi comes out after buying birthday candles, he would bump into him head-on.
Translator’s note: Sorry the chapter was posted a little late today. orz Also, there will only be one other chapter release this week, which will be on Thursday. I’m so sorry but work has been tough. We’ve been having a recurring problem that we simply can’t find a solution for…and it’s so stressful which leave me in no mental state to translate. So please bear with me. I think releases will be erratic for a while. =(
Thank you for the chapter! Take care of yourself, and we’ll enjoy the translations at whatever rate is sustainable.
Is it Cen Qian?? I’m this (insert subatomic distance) close to pulling the raw for MTL omg the suspense
I’ll be patient tho, translating is hard and you’re doing great, translator-san. Hope the tough things pass soon and you got some time to rest well. Thanks for the hard work.
Is it cen he wanted to find where lin yi went but shouldn’t he hiding behind some bushes looking very creepily not starring out in the open ….😫 Aaaarrgggghhhh
just take care of yourself, translator!!
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Don’t worry about translating, your priority is your work so just focus on it and you can concentrate on the updates after it’s solved.
Thank you for the chapter. Don’t worry about this, we can wait. Real life is more important. Tak care of yourself more.
Thank you for the chapter! ❤
I feel like the cloaked figure might be another Lin Yi?
Thanks for the chapter, take your time with translating!
Thanks for the chp, hope the work problem is resolved.
My mind is filled with it’s Ren Li it’s Ren Li hahahahha
I’ve a bold guess. Shunxi, is he ML or MC’s other personality? If not then why would he stalk MC?
I don’t suspect MC’s mum cuz she is in the outside world, no? Honestly I don’t know who the 4-4 monster is. So confusing yet thrilling.