Chen Yun had saved his life. That was a debt of gratitude, a massive one, second only to hers.
Yet Chen Yun had died here, the only clues a pool of foul, black blood and insects.
Lu Liangting didn’t put on the red dancing shoes on the female corpse’s feet. He sat beside Chen Yun’s body for a long, long time before finally taking out his mobile phone and calling the police and the doctor.
He had reported cases several times within a single month. The police were long accustomed to him. The officer who answered the phone, upon learning it was Lu Liangting, didn’t even ask for many details before passing the call to a superior.
“This has never been a game. Death is one of the costs of failure.”
“I can’t do anything for you now, but I promise, I will find the one who killed you, and then avenge you.”
Lu Liangting didn’t know if Chen Yun’s residual grudge could hear him, but these words were the truest feelings of his heart at this very moment.
“You’re absolutely right, Liangting. Why don’t I help you figure out a way?”
From the darkness, someone stepped out. It was another young woman, one Lu Liangting recognized.
“I can give you some clues. The prerequisite is, you have to agree to something for me.”
The girl’s eyes narrowed. In the darkness, she sized up Lu Liangting’s body, her tongue licking her vibrant red lips.
This male lead was pretty useless, but he was quite handsome, exactly her type.
She had tried both men and women before, but since becoming a woman herself, she hadn’t tried doing it with another man. She now found Lu Liangting quite suitable. Even if he wasn’t the male lead, she would have made a move on him.
“What life pursues is a kind of feeling. Watching a friend be killed is a feeling. Revenge is also a feeling. I’ve spent my whole life chasing different feelings. So, do you agree?”
“Is that so? Then what does it feel like to become a dead person? Do you want to experience that too?”
Another figure walked up from downstairs, with a slender and graceful silhouette, stepping in high heels.
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“You sent them?”
“Yes, this is a small token of my sincerity.”
Faced with Bai Yu’s question, Shen Shuyun admitted it openly.
At this moment, she and Bai Yu were standing on the rooftop of the teaching building, looking down. They saw someone climb over the school’s main gate.
“Don’t you want to know if the other participants also have memories that need recovering?”
“…”
“Let them have more contact with Lu Liangting. Only by following this protagonist can they find the locations of their memories. So, I advise against killing them. Only by following Lu Liangting into the next quest will you know if their situation is the same as mine.”
Shen Shuyun spoke with a beaming smile. She more or less knew what Bai Yu wanted. The purpose of doing this was also to ensure her own survival.
Not being afraid of death and finding ways to avoid dying were not contradictory.
Just because she wasn’t afraid to die didn’t mean she wanted to die.
Now that she had found her memories, her heart was clear, and she felt completely at ease. So she wanted to pursue something else, for instance, conquering Lu Liangting.
“Anyway, you know my identity. You’re aware of any move I make. Again, cooperation for mutual benefit. Let me work on Lu Liangting, while you search for your answers. I can secretly help you.”
She was genuinely sincere about cooperating. Who wouldn’t want to cooperate with the Number One Killer?
If nothing else, just not being targeted by this person was tempting enough.
“Fine.” Bai Yu uttered two words, then vanished from the rooftop.
Today’s quest was immensely significant for her.
She truly hoped the truth was as she speculated: that every game participant got one chance, not a random draw.
Regarding that memory, she had far too many regrets.
She had always been trying to make up for it. Even after joining the Scumbag Game, she desperately searched for opportunities, fighting her way to the top of the leaderboard. Every step she took was extremely cautious, yet often she would disregard life and death entirely. That was how she managed to survive.
Now, she finally had hope, even if that hope was very slim.
“This time, I won’t lose you again…”
The sky was just beginning to brighten. Zhao Mingyue saw more police arriving. She knew Lu Liangting had called them.
She had been hiding in the teaching building the whole time. After completing the “Front and Back Door” quest, she waited for the main quest to finish.
Before the police reached the teaching building, she crossed through the overgrown weeds and climbed over the courtyard wall. After checking around and confirming there were no police, she found her little bicycle and made a clean getaway.
She really didn’t want to face those officers. Going back and forth with them would waste too much time.
She still had to work her part-time job in the morning.
“Ah~ so sleepy.”
Riding on the road, Zhao Mingyue yawned.
A night without sleep, combined with exhaustion and intense mental focus, left her feeling tired and drowsy now that she had relaxed. And this was with the +1 Spirit stat boost from the quest’s success; otherwise, she didn’t even dare imagine how terrible her state would be.
“I really want to go home and sleep.”
The bicycle swayed left and right on the road; it was clear Zhao Mingyue’s spirits were very low.
“Sleep at the shop. If someone comes, I’ll wake you.” Seeing her like this, Bai Yu spoke up helplessly.
Hearing Bai Yu’s words, Zhao Mingyue immediately perked up. “Mm-hmm! Sister Yu really is the best!”
The bicycle stopped swaying. On the road, Zhao Mingyue even managed to grab breakfast: a basket of steamed buns and a cup of hot soy milk. Even so, she felt a bit pained, because if she ate at home, it only cost a few cents for bread and a glass of practically free boiled water.
Ding-a-ling~
The copper bell hanging at the door emitted a crisp ring. As Zhao Mingyue entered, the wind chime nearby swayed as usual, but this time, unlike the usual five rings, it rang one more time—six rings before it finally stopped. Zhao Mingyue noticed this detail.
The old store manager still stood behind the counter. Seeing Zhao Mingyue, he greeted her, completely ignoring the wind chime that had rung without any wind.
“Mingyue, you don’t look so good today.”
“Ah, Store Manager, I’m really not in great shape today. Had insomnia last night.”
“Insomnia? Drink more tea. I can recommend a few books; they’re all quite boring. Read one for half an hour before bed, and you’ll definitely get sleepy.” The old store manager cracked a joke. With practiced ease, he removed his convenience store apron and set it aside, revealing a crisp, impeccably tailored suit underneath.
Just as usual, his hair was meticulously styled with gel, not a strand out of place, and his black leather shoes were polished to a shine.
His entire outfit made him look less like an insurance salesman and more like the CEO of some publicly traded company.
“I have some matters to attend to, so I’ll be heading out first. I’ll leave this place to you. Oh, right, tomorrow I’ll settle last month’s wages and throw in a little red envelope. Go out and get a good meal to replenish your health.”
The moment she heard she was getting paid, and even a red envelope on top of that, every negative debuff on Zhao Mingyue seemed to be cleansed away in that instant. Even her eyes brightened considerably.
However, that morning, she still slept like a log.
When a customer came, Bai Yu couldn’t even wake her up.
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