I Want Him Dead

Filming a video?

“Wait,” Zhu Yan replied quickly. “I see the [Hunter].”

Upstairs.

Yang Zhanbai’s footsteps halted. He frowned, his expression tense and expectant.

He’d seen the [Hunter]?

Based on the cross-referencing of intel from both sides, those horrifying creatures wanted the [Hunter] dead.

Seeing the [Hunter] meant the horrifying creatures were only a hair’s breadth away.

Yang Zhanbai asked urgently, “How’s it going over there?”

“It’s complicated.”

Zhu Yan didn’t want to immediately reveal the fact that all the horrifying creatures were already dead, even though Zhu Zeyu’s persona wasn’t allowed to lie.

Yang Zhanbai and the others were still at the Lazy Craftsman’s Shop, and Ji Xiting could call them at any moment.

If one of those four had a sudden lapse in judgment and accidentally blurted out the truth to Ji Xiting, trying to set one tiger against another…

Then all his careful plotting would have been for nothing.

“Hold on. I’m not in a good position right now.”

Yang Zhanbai looked at the line of red text and decided not to push.

“Alright.”

In the kitchen.

Zhu Yan reached out and patted the Tuxedo Cat’s fluffy rear.

“Get up. Time to work.”

He waved his hand and produced the puppet of “Zhu Zeyu.”

“Climb inside and pretend to be me… Can you use it to speak like a human?”

The Tuxedo Cat stood up, tail held high like a flagpole.

Its glittering eyes stared at the puppet for a moment, then it dissolved into gray mist and poured itself in through the puppet’s nose and mouth.

Zhu Yan looked at his private message box but didn’t rush to reply to Yang Zhanbai.

A player filming a video in a dangerous environment should be cautious and careful.

“Can you walk?” He nodded toward the puppet now controlled by the Tuxedo Cat.

“…Meow-oo.” The puppet’s mouth let out a sound distinctly not human.

For a moment, its body pitched forward, as if it wanted to walk on all fours like a cat.

But then the puppet stiffly stretched out one leg, tentatively taking its first step.

“Yes, just like that,” Zhu Yan encouraged.

The Tuxedo Cat walked with a rigid, wooden gait, very much in the style of a horrifying creature.

It was exactly the same posture that Fog had used to move a corpse when Zhu Yan first saw it in the mirror.

“Find your balance. Try to make the stride a little more natural.”

Honestly, this would already work. He draped the Demon Cloak over the Tuxedo Cat, more than enough for the video.

But to sell the realism, it would be better if the Tuxedo Cat could walk with a smoother, steadier, more fluid step.

Zhu Yan wasn’t in a hurry at all.

Zhu Zeyu’s persona was bold yet cautious.

Stalling for a little more time in a situation like this would only reinforce that personality.

He stood up and patiently demonstrated the walk for the Tuxedo Cat.

Only once the Tuxedo Cat could walk with a bit more fluidity did Zhu Yan take out the Demon Cloak and put it on the cat.

Then he walked over to the gap between the conveyor belt and the wall, carefully lying down on the floor.

“Follow my orders. You’ll need to coordinate with me for the video.”

Zhu Yan stopped the Tuxedo Cat, which had been about to follow him immediately.

“You do this first, then that… Finally, pretend to spot me, then walk over slowly like that, and suddenly shove your face right up to mine…”

…

In the office.

Ji Xiting idly rubbed the telephone receiver in his hand, wearing a guileless smile on his face.

“Huh. With what I said, that old dragonfly should have been long gone by now.”

His tone was laden with meaning.

“But the phone got picked up… So who do you think answered?”

The Doppelganger said, “A player in the shop?”

“Bingo!” Ji Xiting snapped his fingers.

“The [Hunter] is most likely in the Kitchen. And the player who just picked up the phone also just learned about the Kitchen.”

“Guess I might end up with a few extra smart helpings on my buffet, right?”

Ji Xiting sighed, as if recalling some memory.

“Ah, my old man used to say, ‘eat brains to build brains. Too bad I turned him into a corpse. Can’t hear him say that anymore.”

A faint, mocking smile lingered on his face.

“Oh, I just can’t wait to see the [Hunter]’s head chopped off.”

The Doppelganger bowed respectfully. “It will happen, Young Master.”

“Mm-hm. Thinking about it now, school just wasn’t satisfying at all. This place is way better. I’m having an absolute blast here.”

The Doppelganger tilted its head, considering.

After a moment, it said, “Yes, Boss.”

…

Meanwhile.

Zhu Yan sent the finished video to Yang Zhanbai, then turned to see the Dragonfly crawling back over the conveyor belt.

“Done?” he asked. “I was hoping you could teach me how to use the Shifting Menu.”

The Dragonfly dragged its two silver legs and, in a few quick moves, pinned the last surveillance monitor onto the wall behind Zhu Yan.

“All done, Head Chef,” it said respectfully. “The Shifting Menu… it can generate dish names based on your wishes, then sync them in real time to the paper menus in the banquet hall.”

With that, the Dragonfly instructed Zhu Yan to take out the wrapped menu again.

“Oh, my paradise, this is very simple. But you’ll need to be quick, because I still have to go to the Boss’s office to set up his monitor display…”

“How long until the monitor display is ready?”

“…Once the perfect footage finishes playing, it should take about an hour.”

The Dragonfly couldn’t help but grin, thinking about what it had whipped up with the Toad Venom.

When it came to settling scores, it was utterly without equal in history!

As for the whole surveillance installation business — that couldn’t be counted as picking sides.

It stayed neutral, perfectly satisfying both clients’ needs at the same time. Clever, wasn’t it?

The Dragonfly was thoroughly pleased.

After teaching Zhu Yan how to use the Shifting Menu, it eagerly waved its insect leg in farewell and loudly spoke the floor-change command.

“I want to blow up the school!”

The next second.

The Dragonfly appeared in the middle of the spacious office, its insect face still carrying the remnants of its smile.

“Boss, hello.”

It gave a slight nod to Ji Xiting, who was smiling happily behind the desk, then deftly set up a mirror on the desk.

“This is the surveillance mirror,” the Dragonfly said, quickly checking the Toad Venom attached to the back of the mirror.

Plenty, richly detailed, no mistakes, firmly adhered.

It extended an insect leg and lightly tapped the mirror’s surface; a ripple spread instantly from the center.

Ji Xiting watched with interest; moments later, several smooth frames appeared in the middle of the mirror.

It was the kitchen, orderly and fully under control!

Porcelain dolls, Doppelgangers, and uniformed figures each went about their duties, with cut meat moving along the conveyor belt in an orderly fashion toward the head chef’s workstation.

Only outside the room was something off —

A corpse-stick creature armed with a weapon was scurrying forward at top speed, chasing a player who was running around like a headless chicken. Its bone spikes repeatedly missed its target!

“The Hunter?” Ji Xiting’s interest was piqued.

He leaned forward, squinting at the human frantically fleeing across the mirror.

“I want him dead!”