Please Drink Soon

Inside the 【Lazy Handcraft Shop】.

The claw reaching for Xu Tongguang seemed to hit an invisible barrier—no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t move an inch further.

The silver-haired old woman’s face twisted in fury, straining against that unseen force with bitter reluctance.

Qi Yinming lay sprawled beneath the shelf, his face deathly pale, while Chen Zhaoxing frantically stuffed cockroaches into his mouth.

The lips beneath his hat pressed into a thin line, cold sweat dripping down his chin.

“If only I had some kind of offensive ability…” Xu Tongguang muttered, frowning.

The old woman’s long nail guards were actually trembling, as if shoved hard against some invisible obstacle, on the verge of snapping at any moment.

His body jerked him backward in a sharp retreat—about three seconds, maybe five—before the pleasant female voice over the broadcast finally pulled his dazed mind back.

“Congratulations!”

That cheerful voice rang out in every player’s ear simultaneously.

“The instance is over. Congratulations to all surviving players.”

“We made it?!” In the 【Kitchen】, the male player stared in disbelief.

Then came the rush of relief at surviving by the skin of their teeth, and the joy of having the dust finally settle.

Emotion crashed over him like a storm, and he couldn’t help but join the players around him—laughing and crying, shouting at the top of their lungs.

“Holy shit! We survived!”

“Wahhh! Mom, we made it out!”

“I owe my life to Zhu Zeyu and Yang Zhanbai, I’d kneel for them!”

On another floor, Shen Zichen gripped his knife tightly, lifted his dirt-streaked face, and looked around the corridor.

A small cluster of survivors had gathered around him.

Some people leaped to their feet in excitement, while others glanced around warily, afraid this was all just another trick from 【Joyous Paradise】.

“It ended that fast?” one player murmured. “I didn’t… I didn’t even hear anything?”

“Check your phone,” another said. “People from other floors are saying in the group chat that the horror creatures on their side stopped attacking.”

“This broadcast—it’s probably not fake.”

On every floor, surviving players were cheering, some crying, others hiding behind makeshift barricades, staring blankly at the horror creatures that had suddenly ceased their attacks.

The female voice continued in that stiff, cheerful tone.

“The 【Hunter】, player 【Zhu Zeyu】, and player 【BreakUpWithGays】 joined forces in an unexpected manner, jointly clearing the instance.”

“Among them, the 【Hunter】 has fled the scene.”

Zhu Yan was hiding inside the puppet, his eyes going blurry from the pain, cold sweat pouring down. He heard the voice too, but other than a moment of relief, he had no energy to think about it—he just mentally cursed out eighteen generations of 【Joyous Paradise】’s ancestors.

Absolutely incredible. He was out of options, and he was about to die from the pain.

Originally, he’d planned to fake it—pretend that swallowing Chen Zhaoxing’s cockroaches had helped, or pretend he’d obtained some high-tier healing item, since the puppet could just be repaired by Dragonfly later.

But now? Great.

Zhu Yan raised his bloody hand.

Who the hell knew why this puppet was bleeding too—he’d already been prepared to inflict some wounds on himself.

His vision was swimming; the dark corridor around him was nothing but a blur, except for the long knife stuck in his abdomen, crystal clear—a pale, cold blade glowing with icy blue light.

Yang Zhanbai was frantically saying something beside him, and there was the crisp sound of glass bottles rolling on the floor, but the overwhelming pain made it impossible for Zhu Yan to even tell what was being said.

He gripped the hilt of that high-tier blade before him, and the texture was strangely slippery.

Damn, what the hell.

Zhu Yan cursed weakly in his head again.

This puppet bleeding was already weird enough—now it was sweating cold sweat too?

“Please find an empty room to take cover in as soon as possible. In five minutes, the 【Metabolism Module】 will break apart, and players, along with the rooms they are in, will be sent back to the four universities.”

The female voice spoke in a tone like artificially generated white noise, like a babbling mountain stream, yet always carrying a faint, unsettling strangeness.

“Please note: this dismantling process carries no risk of falling from a great height. Consider it a perk for students.”

“We will announce the overall rankings in five minutes and switch to private channels to distribute rewards to players who passed this semester’s opening exam.”

“Please make haste. Goodbye.”

Zhu Yan’s world finally went quiet, but without the female voice to distract him, the pain surged back in waves, flooding over him again and again.

“Zhu Zeyu.” Yang Zhanbai’s hands were shaking. “Is the painkiller working? 【Lazy Handcraft Shop】 had sixteen vials—I’ve already contacted Chen Zhaoxing. Just—just hold on a little longer…”

That was an unexpected find from 【Lazy Handcraft Shop】, tucked away in a nondescript little drawer, complete with a hand-drawn instruction manual from Dragonfly.

Sixteen vials were just enough to split evenly among four people, so Yang Zhanbai had only brought four down with him.

Zhu Yan gritted his teeth and yanked the long knife out in one sharp pull.

The blade clattered to the ground.

Instantly, an even more violent surge of pain exploded through his head. He sucked in a sharp breath and curled into a tight ball.

Yang Zhanbai panicked and added another line to his private message with Chen Zhaoxing.

“Chen Zhangming, he’s actually about to die this time!”

After what felt like an eternity, Zhu Yan heard footsteps.

Someone was running—a faint tremor accompanied by the scuff of soft-soled shoes against the floor, growing stronger bit by bit.

Then came a flurry of chaotic footsteps. Qi Yinming shouted, “What’s going on?”

“Who’s dying again?” That was Chen Zhaoxing’s voice.

“What do you mean ‘again’?” Yang Zhanbai shot back. “I’m not lying to you, this time he’s genuinely about to kick it—”

“Shut up.” A hand pressed against the puppet’s forehead. The too-cold temperature and clammy, sticky feel made Chen Zhaoxing yelp in alarm.

“Ohhh shit! Why is he so cold?”

Yang Zhanbai pointed at the bloody knife on the floor.

“Apparently that thing’s level 13. One stab like that, right through.”

He watched as Chen Zhaoxing frantically stuffed cockroaches into Zhu Zeyu’s mouth, then moved to check the wound under his clothes.

Zhu Yan clamped both hands tightly over his stomach.

Mom, he had his dignity.

That line from Yang Zhanbai—"right through"—made him look like an absolute idiot. The last thing he wanted was anyone examining this humiliating wound on the puppet.

Zhu Yan hurriedly started chewing the cockroaches, but even though the puppet could swallow, the cockroach candies were utterly useless.

After eating them, he didn’t feel even the slightest bit better.

“Congratulations, dear Hunter.”

Just then, the female voice appeared at his ear with a hint of amusement.

“Due to your excellent use of the item 【Lifelike Puppet That Can’t Be Detected as a Puppet】, its 【Realism】 attribute has been activated. You may log into your 【Player Personal Center】 to view the relevant details.”

“In light of your outstanding performance—willing to harm yourself just to create a powerful dramatic effect…”

The female voice suddenly paused for a moment, and Zhu Yan strongly suspected that thing had hidden itself away to laugh.

“Please drink it as soon as possible, to repair the puppet’s injuries.”