Quickly Go to the Exit

Meanwhile.

The Puppet suddenly opened its eyes, gave its mouth a gentle click shut, and pressed the cold [Key Fragment] beneath its tongue.

That wisp of mist manipulated it, whispering in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible: “Stay safe!”

The next second.

Zhu Yan slammed hard onto the floor of Dorm 303, and the Puppet stumbled and collapsed right beside him.

“Who?!” Someone shouted in panic.

With a flick of his mind, Zhu Yan also retrieved the [Key Fragment] from the Puppet’s mouth, then hurriedly helped the Puppet up, both of them clutching the bed frame to rise to their feet.

The dorm room was completely empty—

Yang Zhanbai, Qi Yinming, Chen Zhaoxing, and Xu Tongguang were still at the Lazy Craftsman Shop and hadn’t returned yet.

The ones shouting were Qin Yang and Yuan Chen. They were staring in utter terror at the two identical figures before them.

“You—you two…”

The Puppet held up its empty right palm, and Zhu Yan deactivated his [Disguise] ability, quickly shifting back to his own original face.

“Shut it,” he scoffed coldly. “You should be thanking your lucky stars you got that fool Zhu Zeyu back at all.”

“What?—”

Qin Yang’s gaze darted back and forth between the Puppet and Zhu Yan, and realization dawned on him.

He still wanted to ask more questions, but Zhu Yan, swift as lightning, activated his ability [Bullying] and delivered a kick to each of them.

They crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Zhu Yan then dismissed the Puppet and transformed back into the form of “Zhu Zeyu.”

He pulled out the red telephone and quickly dialed the office line.

…

“Huh?”

Upstairs.

The creature covered in eyes grumbled in confusion, and more than a dozen eyeballs swiveled in unison toward the empty spot where Zhu Yan had vanished.

“Wasn’t he just here…? Where did the Head Chef go?”

Disappearing out of thin air—and without a single word, no less—that was far too strange.

The Eye Creature let out a displeased sneer and slowly twisted its eyes away.

“He’s just a Head Chef. What’s with the attitude?”

“And who the hell sent him to announce the procedures, anyway—huh?”

It let out a peculiar trailing note.

The eyes swiveled back again, all neatly aligned toward the glass box that held the [Chaos Order] fragment.

But it was empty.

In less than ten seconds, the shuttle-shaped object that had been floating inside had simply vanished!

The eyes froze. They stopped moving.

A few seconds later, the horrifying creature snapped back to its senses and let out a vicious, ear-splitting shriek.

“Head Chef!”

It roared in fury, twisting its massive body, as one enormous eye slammed hard against a protruding button on the wall.

Instantly, the piercing alarm blared through the entire floor.

“How did the fragment disappear?! How could it ignore the preset procedures and just take the fragment directly from me?!”

“Defiant—insolent—fiend! You will be punished!”

In the banquet hall.

Several of the horrifying creatures jumped at the sudden siren. An old woman with a head full of silver hair raised her head, her kindly face turning murderous and sinister in an instant.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice dripping with menace. “What requires such a spectacle?”

The Goatee Creature’s expression also soured.

When the alarm had first been installed, they all figured it was just for show.

This thing was not supposed to go off easily—and yet here it was, ringing loud and clear.

The Goatee Creature stood up.

It made a gesture in one direction and asked, “What happened?”

A low voice rumbled into the Eye Creature’s chamber.

A dozen oversized eyeballs quickly turned toward the source of the voice, bending slightly in deference.

“Milord! It was the Head Chef!”

The Eye Creature was furious.

“The Head Chef said he came to announce the procedures, said just a few words, and then vanished into thin air.”

“When I turned around, the [Chaos Order] fragment was gone too!”

“What?” The Goatee Creature thought it must have misheard.

But through the air of the banquet hall, the Eye Creature’s sneer rang unmistakably.

“Milord! The Head Chef’s actions have grossly violated the rules of this floor!”

“The procedures clearly state that no creature is to take the [Order Fragment] without authorization—it’s a required item for the process.”

“And yet the Head Chef disregarded the rules, disregarded my rank—the cabinet holding the fragment is now empty!”

The Eye Creature’s words were measured and clear, each accusation hammering into every horrifying creature in the room.

Ji Xiting’s face went white as a sheet in an instant.

The Madam and the Goatee Creature exchanged a glance, then both chilled expression settled onto their faces.

The Murderer yanked the axe from where it was deeply embedded in the table and casually hurled it toward the direction of the voice.

“That’s your excuse for ruining our fun?!”

The axe slammed into the wall, the wooden handle trembling.

The Eye Creature went silent, as if cowed into submission.

The Murderer stood up, stomping heavily toward Ji Xiting, grabbing him by the neck and hoisting him into the air like an eagle snatching a rabbit.

“Ji Xiting!” it bellowed, hurling him hard against the ground.

Ji Xiting hit the carpet and rolled twice, the stitched-together neck snapping halfway open again.

He scrambled up, but the Murderer’s fist swung past mere inches from his ear, a gust of dread rippling in its wake.

“Get out!” the Murderer shouted. “Get to the kitchen and drag that disgusting, reckless Head Chef of yours back here!”

…

The phone connected.

The Doppelganger’s tone remained composed: “Sir, what is it you wish to ask?”

“Oh.” Zhu Yan thought for a moment, then unhesitatingly threw Ji Xiting and Madam under the bus.

“You know the [Chaos Game], right? Madam and Ji Xiting want me to report to the instance’s entrance before the game begins.”

The Doppelganger froze.

“What?” The voice carried a touch of eerily human disbelief. “Why? That can’t be—why would they do such a thing?”

Zhu Yan’s mind raced, calculating how the horrifying creatures upstairs were likely to react.

They must have already noticed the [Chaos Order] fragment was missing.

But it wouldn’t be that fast for them to piece the whole thing together, because Zhu Yan had taken the fragment under the identity of “Head Chef.”

Factoring in the time they’d spend discovering the Puppet missing, going to the kitchen, searching for clues, finally catching on, and then sending someone to hunt him down—Zhu Yan conservatively estimated he had about five minutes.

…Damn, he wished he could leave a wisp of mist upstairs to keep watch.

But if he did, he’d worry about not being able to reclaim that piece of his body.

About two minutes had passed now. The information gap still existed, so the Doppelganger remained in the dark.

But soon it would learn the truth—

Even, worse-case scenario, right after Zhu Yan hung up this call, the Doppelganger might contact the banquet hall directly, reversing the flow of information and revealing what happened.

But that didn’t matter.

All Zhu Yan needed was the floor-changing instruction and whatever little time he could squeeze out.

“I trust you’ll keep quiet about this, Doppelganger,” Zhu Yan lowered his voice, imitating a cold, stern tone.

“The [Hunter] has likely already obtained 4 [Key Fragments], and any moment now he could pick up the fifth.”

“I need to get there and keep the [Hunter] at bay.”