What About the Others

The corpse was immersed in an extreme bliss, no longer caring what Zhu Yan had said.

"I need a stronger body!"

It turned toward Xu Tongguang, walking stiffly in his direction.

"Kill... strangle!"

Zhu Yan silently wished him good luck.

"Dad, I'll help you destroy these bodies."

He said it quite naturally, gathering the row of corpses lined against the wall into his ring.

Luckily, he had grabbed two extra rings from Feng Qiang, and the fold-space gift from the art student had been put to good use.

Otherwise, at this rate of storage, the rings would have burst long ago.

The corpse waved its hand dismissively, signaling Zhu Yan to do as he pleased.

It crouched down toward Xu Tongguang, its stiff knees letting out a cracking sound.

Zhu Yan activated his ability [Telekinesis].

Cutting open Tu Shan's corpse and gutting it would be too disgusting—he didn't have the mental fortitude for that.

Besides, doing that in front of all these fog creatures and exposing himself prematurely wouldn't be wise.

Zhu Yan focused his mind and felt his hand enveloped by stomach fluid that was still lukewarm, a mildly spicy pain burning his skin.

He quickly found the cold, hard chip.

Zhu Yan pulled it out with impressive speed and gave it a quick glance.

The sour, rotten stench of vomit hit his nose instantly, making him feel nauseous.

Confirming it was [Key Fragment 3], he stored it back in his ring with a thought.

Not far away, the corpse had already reached out and grabbed Xu Tongguang by the throat!

"Dad, wait!"

Zhu Yan called out unhurriedly.

The corpse's movements paused: "What is it?"

What is it?

The prize in your hands is about to slip away!

Zhu Yan muttered inwardly as he quickly stepped forward.

He used the corpse's own clothes to roughly wipe his hands clean, then bent down and, with some effort, hoisted Xu Tongguang onto his left shoulder.

"Dad, I have something to tell you."

Zhu Yan flashed a smile at the corpse.

The thin mist trembled instantly, and a twisted fatherly love seemed to overflow from the corpse's expression.

"What is it, son?"

How strange.

Where did it get such a good son?

What a tremendous blessing!

Zhu Yan grabbed the military knife in his right hand and swung it down with precision.

With a clean "crack," a thin line appeared on the corpse's neck.

Some sluggish blood, like melted cream, seeped out from the fine cut.

"What I wanted to tell you is..."

Zhu Yan smirked, sweeping his leg.

The head instantly slid to the ground, exposing the neatly severed trachea and cervical vertebrae.

"...that this puppet of yours has really poor defense."

With a thought, the headless body vanished, stored in his ring.

"I'm out. Stay safe!"

A dizzying sensation hit him, and in the last second before disappearing, Zhu Yan transformed back into the appearance of "Zhu Zeyu"!

The next moment, he slammed onto the dormitory floor, the impact on his knees making him gasp sharply.

At the same time.

A cheerful female voice finally rang in his ears, bringing the good news he wanted to hear.

"Congratulations, player, for successfully obtaining [Key Fragment] number 3!"

"Viewer [Silent Dance], viewer [Pale Decree], viewer [Feast Lord], and viewer [Lone Banqueter] are very satisfied with your performance."

Zhu Yan endured the pain in his knees, climbing up from the ground to sit.

He pulled out a bottle of [Universal Potion] and poured it over his knees, then crawled over to pour it over Xu Tongguang, who was still unconscious.

"Additionally, we need to inform you of an important matter."

What important matter?

The pain in his battered knees had subsided, replaced by a slight warmth flowing through his body.

Xu Tongguang's eyelids twitched, a sign that he was about to wake up.

"Viewers [Blood Flesh Gospel] and your loyal audience members initiated a bet 30 minutes ago."

Not this again.

Were these strange horror creatures indulging in some petty gambling for fun?

"The bet was: whether you could defeat Tu Shan, whom viewers like [Blood Flesh Gospel] favored, and obtain [Key Fragment 3] within one hour."

Hearing this, Zhu Yan's expression grew somewhat serious.

The bet itself wasn't a problem.

It seemed that the group with [Feast Lord] had won, and he'd get a share of the proceeds, which was good.

But would [Blood Flesh Gospel], having lost the bet, secretly try to screw him over out of spite?

"You're just a die, player," the female voice said lightly. "Oh, no—maybe horse racing is a better analogy. Ah, I really don't understand all these convoluted human concepts."

Alright, so it meant that [Blood Flesh Gospel] wouldn't mess with him, right?

That put Zhu Yan at ease.

"Don't worry, player," the female voice said cheerfully. "You will receive the proceeds from this bet. Additionally, viewer [Blood Flesh Gospel] will focus on cultivating players as excellent as you."

Zhu Yan relaxed.

Let them cultivate all they want.

When [Blood Flesh Gospel] had nurtured someone good, he would simply harvest them.

What kind of decent player could the audience of [Court of Many Performances] cultivate?

Such players might be tough to beat, but if he could actually take them down, the payoff would certainly be substantial.

Also, viewer [Feast Lord] has tipped you an item worth 100 Bone Gold Coins as encouragement.

The woman's voice paused suspensefully: "This prop will be kept secret and given to you at a critical moment."

Not bad.

Zhu Yan remembered that in the [Old Wolf, Old Wolf] instance, a tip of [Replica Ointment] had arrived just in time.

If this tip came at a "critical moment," it probably wouldn't be bad either.

"Viewer [Lone Banqueter] has decided to gift you the skin of Frog Gentleman, the skin of the Supermarket Owner, the wings of Sister Gold, and the tree withered by sucking venom."

"[Joyous Paradise] will use a disposable storage bracelet to package these rewards."

"Once all the rewards are taken out, the storage bracelet will self-destruct."

Whoa!

Zhu Yan perked up his ears.

Those all sounded like good items—after all, that toad was level 14, the Supermarket Owner was level 10, and the tree spirit went without saying.

But how was he supposed to use them? Sell them?

The female voice seemed to read his thoughts and let out a couple of chuckles.

"Paradise's tip: you can go ask at [Lazy Man's Craft Shop]."

"Alright, that's all for this broadcast. I'm off work now."

"Enjoy your brilliant ending. Goodbye."

The female broadcast faded.

Xu Tongguang on the ground finally managed to force his eyes open with effort.

Zhu Yan had no time to ponder what was meant by "your brilliant ending."

While Xu Tongguang was still half-conscious, he steeled himself and slashed his own abdomen with the level 8 military knife, faking battle wounds.

Then he pulled out Tu Shan's corpse and quickly put on an anxious expression as he knelt to help Xu Tongguang up.

"Xu Tongguang! Are you okay?"

Xu Tongguang stared at him blankly.

Zhu Yan had genuinely injured himself a bit this time, and he really couldn't stand pain.

So, the face belonging to "Zhu Zeyu" was covered in cold sweat, and blood soon soaked his uniform.

"I barely managed to get into that room."

Zhu Yan forced a pale, painful smile.

You’re finally awake. Where are the others?