Distinguished Guest

“Hey, wait a second.”

Inside the Narratio Stage, the Vine Cage Girl suddenly called out to Zhu Yan.

“Where are you off to? Your coffee, plus an extra reward for your promotion as a Slayer...”

Zhu Yan gave the warm cat fur in his arms a couple of strokes, using that small gesture to ease some of his inner embarrassment.

Sure enough, the mental impact Ji Xiting had left on him was still too much. His head had never been this foggy.

“Well.” Zhu Yan sheepishly returned to the counter. “Speaking of which, I don’t have to go on any missions lately, right? Seems like there’s nothing going on at the academy, and my own personal stuff is also—”

The Vine Cage Girl suddenly curved her lips, tucked her chin inward, and gave him back a “you figure it out” smile.

Zhu Yan had a bad feeling about this.

He watched as she flicked a floating spark of ember in front of his eyes. Just as he was about to ask, she answered him in that singsong tone of hers.

“Young man, can’t you have a little ambition?”

“…Sis, if we keep grinding like this, I’ll actually drop dead from exhaustion.”

“Then you can come keep me company when you’re dead.”

“If I’m dead, I can’t pick up those commissions you asked me to order.”

The Vine Cage Girl fell silent.

She deftly stuck a label onto the side of the coffee cup and slid it over to Zhu Yan.

“Anyway, because of your excellent performance, you’ve been given a more important mission.”

“You won’t be run ragged either, because the mission starts about five days from now. Take a look.”

Five days.

Which meant he couldn’t take time off after all.

Zhu Yan grabbed the coffee cup and lowered his head to study the small print on the cup’s wall.

“Mission: Participate in the minor dungeon ‘Where Is Mommy’ and expand Mommy’s contamination range.”

“Your identity: Player, Slayer.”

“Expected number of players: 7.”

“Special notice...”

Zhu Yan felt uneasy.

The name of this dungeon was way too weird.

If it was “Where’s Mommy,” fine, but “Where Is Mommy” made it sound like — what? Mommy’s here in pieces, Mommy’s there in pieces. Like that dismemberment case.

What did Zhu Yan know about criminal investigation?

He looked up at the Vine Cage Girl, then shifted his gaze back and slowly read on.

“Special notice: After Mommy leaves, the previously contaminated areas will remain in their contaminated state.”

“Additionally, this dungeon may contain a rare Nightmare Book. Slayers are advised to keep an eye out.”

The font after the “” was another size smaller, and Zhu Yan had to strain a bit to make it out.

Nightmare Book?

Zhu Yan couldn’t help but think of the Nightmare Bookstore.

When he’d gone there before, he’d never heard that phrase mentioned.

He couldn’t resist asking the Vine Cage Girl: “Do you know what a Nightmare Book is?”

“Oh, that.” The Vine Cage Girl brushed it off. “Some very special horror creatures have a Nightmare Book that records their origins. Kind of like a book of existence.”

Zhu Yan thought the logic didn’t quite hold up.

“But every horror creature has an origin, right?”

He was getting curious now. “So every horror creature should have a Nightmare Book.”

The Vine Cage Girl couldn’t answer that one either.

She frowned, and the blood-red line between her brows seemed even more vivid.

“Honestly, I don’t know either. I’ve never seen my own Nightmare Book. In theory, that’s how it works, but in practice, they’re not exactly common.”

Fine.

The Vine Cage Girl not knowing the answer — that was normal enough.

Zhu Yan fell into thought.

He didn’t think the Nightmare Book merely recorded origins. There might be something even more important to it.

“What would happen if someone took the Nightmare Book?”

This time, the Vine Cage Girl put on a somewhat startled expression.

“What would happen?” She mimicked his innocent, guileless tone. “All I know is that a Nightmare Book is crucial — it’s basically the lifeline of a horror creature. If you took it outright, they’d probably go mad with rage and eat you. You want to try?”

Oh, oh… A lifeline, huh. That was interesting.

Zhu Yan wanted to ask more, but outside the Narratio Stage, he suddenly heard a somewhat messy burst of footsteps.

The footsteps were still distant, with what sounded like human voices mixed in.

“That should be the new Slayers — hey, where are you going?”

Zhu Yan had already thrown on his cloak and neatly stuffed the coffee into his ring.

He absolutely didn’t dare leave it with the Vine Cage Girl.

What if someone fished his mission note out of the trash?

“I’m stepping out for a bit.” Zhu Yan rushed off hugging the cat. “I still need to hit the Demon Department Store. I’ll be back!”

He stepped onto the pitch-black ground outside, slipped around the corner of that charred little building, and nimbly tucked himself against the wall — looking for all the world like some idle high-tier Demon.

On the other side of the Narratio Stage, figures did emerge from far to near —

These people were far more orderly than Zhu Yan had imagined.

At the front was an elderly man in a Tang suit, his hair combed impeccably, looking to be a good fifty or sixty years old. Beside him walked a quiet, refined young man in a well-tailored Zhongshan suit, his hair also neatly combed back.

Both of them carried no weak presence; at first glance, they had the air of low-key wealthy types from the real world.

Behind them were two rows of people.

Zhu Yan pulled his hood down a little tighter and watched with curiosity.

The people in those two rows were far more casual — they dressed for convenience, and some had scars on their faces, clearly mementos of past brawls.

“We’re here.” The younger one said. “Father, I’ll go first —”

The father reached out a hand to stop him, his expression very genial.

“Stay safe.” He said, then entered the Narratio Stage first.

Zhu Yan tried to eavesdrop on something.

But this group was clearly a well-trained crew.

They stayed quiet the whole time. Only the old man at the lead, in standard, slow Mandarin, asked the Vine Cage Girl some routine procedural questions and then bought coffee in an appropriately routine manner.

Zhu Yan couldn’t help drifting a bit closer to the doorway. Finally, amid a puff of steam from the coffee machine, he caught a single question from the old man.

“I see our missions are all about killing people.” His voice still carried that middle-aged timbre. “Is it always this kind of mission?”

“Early-stage missions are like this.” The Vine Cage Girl’s voice sounded a little muffled.

“I see.” The old man’s tone was perfectly amiable. “There’s a very famous Slayer whose name I know — Account Deleted.”

“Is there any mission where we could cooperate with him? Or, if we complete this one, could the next one be arranged?”

They were talking about him?

Zhu Yan perked up his ears and edged closer.

“Ah, him.” The Vine Cage Girl’s voice turned a little wistful. “His current missions are very high-difficulty. You’d need to complete at least two missions before that could happen.”

The old man seemed about to say something else.

But the Vine Cage Girl suddenly changed tack, asking with great interest: “So, what do you think of this place?”

“Very much in keeping with your temperament,” the old man said, smiling in praise.

The Vine Cage Girl laughed and began to tell her story.

When she finished, she asked again, “What do you think?”

“Well done.” The old man’s tone carried a sincere weight, one that rivaled even Zhu Yan’s.

“In an age without law, we need courage like yours.”

But the Vine Cage Girl only chuckled softly.

Zhu Yan couldn’t resist creeping up to the door and peeking in—only to see her pick up the menu and flip briskly to the second page.

“Congratulations, honored guest. You have passed my test.”

“So, what would you like to order?”