Stealthy and Secretive

The sound of running water still echoed from the shower, and Zhu Yan’s blanket was filled with the smell of sunshine and lingering warmth.

But he still remembered the dark, cold corridor of the dungeon, where only emergency white lights flickered with a crackling buzz. There was no way the sun could exist in a place like that.

Where did the smell of sunshine come from, then?

“Mew,” the Tuxedo Cat called out softly, its voice clipped.

Zhu Yan seemed to understand a little.

As he spent more and more time with the Tuxedo Cat, he grew better at grasping what it meant.

The Tuxedo Cat was telling him to look at itself—

“What’s there to look at in a little cat like you?”

Zhu Yan teased quietly, poking the cat’s belly.

The Tuxedo Cat got angry.

It swatted at Zhu Yan with a sharp slap, then quickly jumped up and charged straight at the wall.

“What the hell?”

Zhu Yan reacted swiftly, sitting up, but the expected scene of the Tuxedo Cat hitting the wall never happened.

Instead, it simply dissolved into the air, crumbling into a small cloud of black-and-white mist.

Zhu Yan gasped.

Damn, he almost forgot.

After the Tuxedo Cat swallowed the Mist, it had gained a new ability!

Leaning against the headboard, Zhu Yan stared nervously at the mist.

Was this full-on mistification now?

So was the Tuxedo Cat still counted as a Cat, or was it now Mist?

The Tuxedo Cat seemed completely at ease.

It couldn’t meow anymore, but the little cloud of mist spread rapidly into an almost invisible state, then gathered again, pulling itself into all kinds of shapes—long, flat, round, square.

Finally, the mist flew up to Zhu Yan’s neck and suddenly transformed back into the Tuxedo Cat, pressing heavily on his shoulder while purring.

“Mew,” the Tuxedo Cat said.

This time, Zhu Yan finally understood.

The cat was basically saying that with a window, it could fly freely outside, running around to its heart’s content.

But Zhu Yan felt it wasn’t that simple.

“No,” he muttered, denying the cat’s idea. He grabbed it by the scruff and lifted it off his neck. “There might be something outside the window. What if you get eaten out there?”

The Tuxedo Cat’s ability was a good one.

In all kinds of environments, mist was hard to detect.

Later, once he leveled up the Tuxedo Cat some more, he could use this ability to scout enemy territory or keep watch on others from a distance.

Zhu Yan rubbed the cat’s head, satisfied.

But for now, he couldn’t act recklessly.

Dorm 303’s windows hadn’t been reinforced yet. He’d better find the Lazyman Craft Shop to get them modified.

After all, Carnival Paradise had plenty of dirty tricks, and those windows probably weren’t added for nothing.

If there were windows, there were likely corresponding game difficulties or monsters.

Still, thinking too much about it now wasn’t helpful.

Zhu Yan had only slept a few hours; he needed more precious rest.

Whatever needed to be done could wait until he got up.

Even if it meant waking up an hour or two early to use the red telephone to scout the Lazyman Craft Shop’s floor.

With that in mind, Zhu Yan pulled up the blanket and let his head sink into the soft pillow.

Outside the bed curtains, there was a faint noise—Qi Yinming seemed to be boiling water, people were taking turns showering, and Zhu Yan even heard the faint rustle of a plastic bag.

He closed his eyes, and before long, he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

...

5 hours later.

His phone vibrated softly against his pillow. Zhu Yan groggily forced his eyes open and stretched.

He hit the snooze button; when the alarm went off a second time ten minutes later, Zhu Yan silently climbed out of bed.

This sleep had left him feeling fairly refreshed.

He sat up for a moment to clear his head before slowly climbing down.

The dorm was still dark. As usual, Yuan Chen and Qin Yang were sleeping on the floor, their breaths rising and falling in unison.

At least no one in the dorm snored.

Zhu Yan grumbled to himself, grabbed the red telephone silently, and threw on his clothes haphazardly.

He needed to go to the main trunk to feed other corpses and visit the Lazyman Craft Shop to ask if there were new windows to buy.

Tu Shan’s corpse could wait until the others woke up to be fed together.

That way, it would seem more aboveboard...

Zhu Yan thought absently as he pulled on his jacket quickly and quietly.

He carefully stepped over Yuan Chen and Qin Yang sleeping on the floor, pulled the door open very softly, and slipped out.

In the corridor, the emergency white lights were still on.

The musty smell of Mist hadn’t faded, mixed with the stench of blood and lingering corpse odor, making Zhu Yan feel a bit nauseous.

He quickly made his way to the empty Dorm 508 and began calling out to the female voice in his head.

“Hello, dear Hunter.”

This time, the female voice appeared quickly, still carrying that stiff, mechanical cheerfulness.

“What do you need?”

“I want to feed the main trunk,” Zhu Yan said. “How do I enter the main trunk?”

Both sides of the corridor were packed with rooms, without a single gap.

Zhu Yan was curious how those creepy creatures moved in and out so easily, as if this place actually had a safe passage.

“Oh, you’re asking about that.” The voice chirped happily. “Of course, there’s a fixed command, dear Hunter.”

“Friendly tip: before you enter, you should put on the Demon Cloak.”

The female voice let out a little chuckle.

“Even though a low-level Demon Cloak already marks you as a Hunter in the eyes of creepy creatures, entering as a player is far more dangerous.”

Fine.

Zhu Yan pulled out the tattered long cloak, put it on, and adjusted the hood.

Then he asked, “How do I feed it? Is there a specific spot?”

“Very simple,” the female voice answered pleasantly. “You just need to place the intact corpse inside the main trunk.”

“There’s no fixed feeding spot; some creepy creature will always come to eat it.”

What a sloppy task.

Zhu Yan complained internally, and the female voice chuckled again.

“Congratulations, rookie Hunter.”

“You really did draw an easy task. But Carnival Paradise hopes you’ll treasure it.”

“You won’t get tasks like this for long!”

Alright, fine.

Zhu Yan answered dryly in his head in a perfunctory tone.

He didn’t know how difficult future tasks would be, but at least hoped things would go easy for him as a Hunter.

The female voice ignored his little prayer.

It just continued in that mechanical, cheerful tone, emphasizing the details Zhu Yan needed to pay attention to.

“Note that ‘intact corpse’ here means all parts and organs are complete. The corpse can be severed, decapitated, or have wounds.”

Alright, that was fine.

At least all the corpses in Zhu Yan’s ring met the conditions.

“The entrance command for the main trunk is: Where do the endless stairs lead?”

“Repeat: Where do the endless stairs lead?”

“Lastly, good luck, Hunter.”

“Good night!”