Your Good Roommate

Not far away, the Toad's triumphant laughter came to an abrupt halt, its expression frozen between joy and disbelief.

Zhu Yan had a mind to watch it make a fool of itself, but a massive pulling force violently yanked him away.

He could only tightly grip the key fragment in his hand; but this sensation lasted for merely a split second. The next moment, he felt himself falling face-first onto something soft.

His bed!

Zhu Yan abruptly sat up from the bed.

Beside him was a pile of unmade blankets, a fluffy and soft pillow, and a tuxedo cat that had just been startled awake, its eyes half-squinted.

The familiar environment gradually put him at ease, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than a dream.

But the cold chip in his palm and the dried glue on his fingertips told him that none of it was an illusion.

"Zhu Zeyu?" Qi Yinming's cautious voice came from outside the bed curtains.

"Is that you, Brother Zhu? Why are you only coming back now?"

Zhu Yan collected his wits, quickly pulled off the Demon Cloak, and stuffed it along with Key Fragment 1 into his ring.

"It's me," he said. He quickly checked his body for any lingering scents, only then realizing that the dorm room was a bit too quiet.

"Are you the only one here? Where is Yang Zhanbai?"

Qi Yinming breathed a sigh of relief. "Where did you pop out from? Yang Zhanbai is outside moving things."

Zhu Yan climbed down the bed frame, carefully hiding his right hand.

The lights in the dorm were off. Qi Yinming was pacing back and forth in front of the surveillance mirror, his brows furrowed in deep worry.

Seeing him come down, Qi Yinming quickly made a "shh" gesture.

"Try not to speak. We've already switched three floors. Use this."

He took out his phone and waved it, signaling Zhu Yan to communicate via text.

Zhu Yan could not help but feel a bit surprised.

He immediately thought of the floor changes the Toad had mentioned earlier.

Holy crap.

But it had only been about twenty minutes. How had they already switched three floors?

...

Far away on an upper floor.

The Toad stared in disbelief at the suddenly empty room. Extremely unwilling to accept this, it searched every corner, including its own apron.

"Nothing!"

The Toad's movements grew increasingly violent. The miscellaneous items and goods in its pockets clattered to the floor, quickly scattering everywhere.

But the key fragment was nowhere to be found—

There was no key in any corner!

The Toad stopped its movements, panting heavily as its throat bulged in and out.

Extreme anger twisted its face, and the bumps on its head looked as if they were about to burst.

The words of that despicable thief lashed at its face word by word, like a whip.

"I've seen players with top-notch deception skills..."

"What if he tricks you into opening the door yourself..."

"I want to go back to my dorm!"

Thinking about it now, how could its shelves have suddenly fallen over?!

Why was there no chili oil on the ground, yet it just so happened to be in its eyes and nostrils?

If the chili oil had truly spilled, why was there no sound of an empty jar hitting the floor?

Coming to its senses, the whole thing looked entirely like a conspiracy.

A targeted conspiracy specifically designed to make it lose the key!

The Toad could bear it no longer; hatred burned its heart like a fire.

It let out a hoarse, grating howl and jumped up in place, its webbed feet stomping the ground incessantly, causing the entire floor to tremble slightly.

"I don't care! I don't care! I want to issue a bounty!"

"That person is a Hunter! I want to issue a bounty order, I want to give those damn—hateful—"

Those scarlet eyes suddenly widened, and the two specks of red actually flowed and extended outward, dyeing the Toad's entire head red.

"—food players, provide clues! I know the Hunter's dorm information!"

"Catch him, bring him to me, and I will reward you generously!"

Ding!

A crisp sound of clashing porcelain rang out.

A melodious female voice asked, "Do you wish to issue the Toad's Bounty Order?"

The Toad jumped up. "I am a frog! The frog from the prince story!"

"The toad that lusts after swan meat," the female voice corrected cheerfully. "One last chance, please confirm."

...

That crisp sound of clashing porcelain simultaneously echoed throughout the entire building.

Zhu Yan's hand paused as he reached for his phone, while Qi Yinming reacted swiftly, turning his head to stare intently at the surveillance mirror behind the door.

There was nothing unusual in the mirror.

The female voice soon sounded. This time, the broadcast was clearly coming from some loudspeaker equipment outside the door.

"Attention, all players."

"A certain Mr. Toad has decided to issue a bounty order, containing information that you players need."

A question mark immediately popped up in Zhu Yan's mind.

Wait a minute.

Toad, is that the boss of the Frog Convenience Store?

No way, right?

He glanced at Qi Yinming next to him and withdrew the hand reaching for his phone.

It's hard to say.

This Toad had a massive temper. Taking a broken fragment from it would definitely make it angry enough to pierce through the heavens.

What was even more fatal was that this thing knew he was a Hunter!

What if... what if it was going to expose this matter...

What should he do?

Zhu Yan swallowed nervously.

"Please listen carefully, players."

Zhu Yan subconsciously wanted to bite his lip, but a "thump" from the center of the dorm startled him, freezing him in place.

It was Yang Zhanbai.

He was holding a huge cardboard box. He hadn't kept a firm grip on it when he landed, and the self-heating hot pots and self-heating rice meals inside spilled all over the floor.

Yang Zhanbai turned his head and saw Zhu Yan, his eyes immediately lighting up.

"Brother Zhu, you're back!"

He mouthed the words silently at Zhu Yan, but Zhu Yan just wanted to die.

You've got to be kidding me?

"A level 7 player with at least level 6 abilities, a Hunter who can disguise himself as the horror creature Demon, has stolen Mr. Toad's important treasure."

Zero-frame startup, exposing his deepest secrets right off the bat.

Zhu Yan almost fainted.

The female voice spoke too fast. Before he could even recover, more precise information hit Zhu Yan like a bomb, catching him completely off guard.

"This Hunter is currently located in Dormitory 303, Building 15 of the West Courtyard. Please pay special attention, players."

For a moment, all three people in the dorm froze.

Qi Yinming immediately raised his empty right hand, looking sharply at Yang Zhanbai.

"If you catch the Hunter, please call the broadcast in a timely manner."

"We will inform you of the correct floor commands so that you can escort the Hunter to Mr. Toad and receive a generous gift from Mr. Toad."

Fuck!

Zhu Yan's brain was about to crash.

He watched as Yang Zhanbai raised his empty right hand toward Qi Yinming, and then the two exchanged a glance before slowly turning toward his direction.

At the critical moment, Zhu Yan's body moved faster than his brain.

He immediately switched back to Zhu Yan's appearance, took Guan En's pistol out of his ring, and raised his right hand just like the two of them.

No good, this is no good.

If Zhu Zeyu's identity was ruined too, how was he going to explain himself to The Art Student?

The pistol dangled and swayed on his thumb, the bow and arrow logo in plain sight.

"Wow, I really didn't expect this."

Zhu Yan grinned at Yang Zhanbai and sneered.

Grandma Heaven, please bless this gun not to misfire.

Please bless that no one fires a shot.

Otherwise, it would have been another fucking massacre!

"I was hoping to pretend to be your good roommate and get along with you all for a while."

Zhu Yan put on a mockingly sarcastic tone.

"What a shame. I was exposed right from the very beginning."