The Surveillance Mirror

Sure enough.

The stark red lettering stabbed at Yang Zhanbai's eyes, and a sudden stabbing pain shot through his eyeballs.

He had to look down; the waxed hardwood floor revealed its natural wood grain, which made him feel a bit better.

Yang Zhanbai massaged his brow.

"God damn it." He repeated Zhu Zeyu's exact words to Qi Yinming. "This is a real high-stakes game. We might genuinely need to prepare our own urns."

However you looked at it, this was a gamble.

Well, to be more precise, it was a gamble in Zhu Zeyu's eyes.

"...Zhu Zeyu is just too deep in the forest to see the trees," Chen Zhaoxing said coolly. "This move of his is practically walking straight into a trap."

Yang Zhanbai gave him a surprised look. "Since when did you get so cultured?"

Chen Zhaoxing looked back in equal surprise. "I got into Xishan University through the gaokao, you know. Is it that weird that I know a line of poetry?"

"Huh, well, your usual behavior doesn't really—"

"I know English too, dickhead. Shut up."

Qi Yinming raised a hand to stop Yang Zhanbai, who was about to keep bickering.

"Let's get to the point."

Yang Zhanbai shrugged. "Brother Qi, there's no point talking business right now. Look at the situation—we're completely on the back foot here."

He let out a bitter laugh and scanned those words across his retina once more.

"Just like you said, the monsters down there are way too high-leveled. And look at the weapons we've got."

Yang Zhanbai shook the pistol in his hand: "This gun of mine—even the manual only lists it as a Level 6 weapon. What are we supposed to fight with?"

"Bottom line, we still have to wait for Zhu Zeyu to send word. Until he says the situation down there is clear and there's nothing left, we can't go in."

Qi Yinming fell silent.

A few seconds later, Chen Zhaoxing shoved a cockroach into his hand.

"So, yeah," he said with a cheeky grin, "Boss Zhu probably figured out we can't get down there ourselves."

"Nothing we can do but kick back, eat some candy, and wait!"

Yang Zhanbai let out an "mm" and pulled out a chair.

He hesitated for a moment, then opened Guan En's account on the [Player Forum] and began sending the other party a message.

...

Inside the office.

Ji Xiting watched with great interest as the fake [Hunter]—a pseudo-human in disguise—entered the room where the Porcelain Doll was, and began slaughtering everything in sight.

"Interesting." He clapped his hands. "How long until the feast begins, anyway?"

"Well, well—so what are we having for dinner tonight?"

Dragonfly kept its head lowered, subservient.

"When I was installing the surveillance, the Head Chef had already prepared a good number of dishes. Some of the prime cuts—like the thigh meat, for instance—were already sliced up."

Ji Xiting let out a whistle.

"Right," he said. "Anyway, that kind of coarse meat and offal is just feed for the people."

Inside the [Kitchen].

Zhu Yan, having rested enough, got up from his chair and started heating water in a pot, pulling out Sauce No. 13.

Since he had nothing better to do anyway, and since cooking looked suspiciously like a chemistry experiment, he figured he might as well follow the recipe and give it a try.

What if those horror creatures suddenly threw a "dish introduction" quiz at him? Wouldn't he look like an idiot?

Following the instructions for the first dish, he poured the sauce from his hand into the pot.

Back in the office.

Ji Xiting burst out laughing as he watched the fake [Hunter] abandon its own kind without a second thought, crawling onto the conveyor belt and moving into the next room instead.

"This thing's got a bit of my old flair!"

"Ah, well—no wonder it's from a senior who scored high enough to get into [Xishan University]. It doesn't even spare a glance for what stands in its way... tsk, tsk. Brutal."

Dragonfly knew how to play the game: "Far inferior to you, sir."

On the surveillance screen, the fake [Hunter] reached another room and resumed its massacre.

Ji Xiting was absolutely delighted: "Too bad the corpse-stick I sent was useless."

"But then again, this works out fine."

He smiled and cast a sidelong glance at Dragonfly. "Let's let the [Hunter] taste victory first. Let it think it's unstoppable, slaughtering everything in its path—and then, when it finally runs into the Head Chef and meets its end, won't that be satisfying?"

The corner of Dragonfly's mouth twitched upward, but it said nothing.

Beside it, another pseudo-human quickly chimed in: "Oh, absolutely satisfying!"

Downstairs.

The water boiled quickly, and the cursed fish cooked just as fast.

The taste of horror creatures apparently isn't the same as human taste.

The fish fillets Zhu Yan scooped out were snow-white and translucent, but gave off a thick stench of swamp mud and rancid sourness. The sauce he poured over them according to the recipe only amplified the foul odor.

Still, the plating looked decent, so Zhu Yan stored them in his ring to keep fresh.

Pretty amusing, actually.

Zhu Yan searched on the [Player Forum] for a player named [East District Hannibal], pulled out the cooked meat the Human-Spider Supervisor had sent over, and started arranging the plating based on reference pictures.

Might as well, since he had nothing else to do.

Why not get everything done before Dragonfly comes back?

Oh, right...

Zhu Yan, with a faint smile, glanced up at the surveillance camera on the wall.

I wonder, in "boss's" eyes, how far along the [Hunter] is by now.

Has the head fallen off yet?

On the surveillance screen.

In one square where the [Hunter] wasn't, the Head Chef—who had been busy cooking and plating—suddenly looked up and smiled directly at the camera.

Ji Xiting caught it with sharp eyes.

In an instant, a strong wave of revulsion pressed against his heart.

That smile was unsettling—though it was only a fleeting moment, he clearly captured the contemptuous curve of the other's lips and the mocking look in his eyes.

Ji Xiting straightened up and leaned closer: "What the hell is that Head Chef playing at? Did you see that expression?"

The [Hunter] had already torn through the second workshop, and unprocessed chunks of meat were starting to pile up and overflow into the next one.

Dragonfly saw it too.

What the hell is the Head Chef playing at?

It's honored for the Head Chef to show Ji Xiting some goodwill, isn't it?

This crazy kid—give him an inch and he takes a mile!

Dragonfly's large compound eyes shifted upward slightly, mimicking a human eye-roll.

"I saw it. That expression reflects the Head Chef's contempt for the [Hunter]."

Ji Xiting narrowed his eyes.

He watched the [Hunter] outsmart the monsters in the second workshop, pressing that dull but glinting military knife against one of the horror creatures' necks in a threatening interrogation pose, and suddenly laughed.

"See? What good is being a top student? Scored so high on the gaokao, and in the end, they're just toys in my hands."

"Though—this [Hunter] does seem pretty sharp. Hm. Knows how to squeeze information."

Dragonfly studied the surveillance feed with interest.

The fake [Hunter] had already slipped into the third workshop.

After a round of fake but thrilling combat, the horror creatures in the third workshop fell in droves, left twitching and half-dead on the floor.

"Nice." Ji Xiting yawned. "That Level 8 knife has been plenty so far. But the second the Head Chef catches wind of it, the Head Chef will one-shot him."

Dragonfly nodded, saying nothing.

"I'll call over and have the Head Chef serve the [Hunter]'s corpse as a dish, put it on the table exactly as it is."

Ji Xiting said crisply, drawing out the final syllables with a vicious delight.

"Eating a live human brain—or using it for something else—either works."

Oh?

Dragonfly immediately thought of its honored member.

Something this important meant it still had to go back and report.

Otherwise, if its cover was blown, it would die too.

"No need to trouble you with a call," Dragonfly said, immediately fawning. "I'll go notify them right now. Of course, for your amusement, I'll also tell the Head Chef where the Hunter is."

"Fine." Ji Xiting glanced at it. "You know what's good for you."

He chugged a big gulp of cola, and the dark brown liquid seeped out through the stitched gap on his neck.

"Before you leave, add audio to my surveillance mirror. I need it."