You The Master

Although Ji Xiting had previously managed to hijack the broadcast, Zhu Yan couldn’t rashly conclude that it was responsible this time.

Ji Xiting knew that “puppets” existed.

But when Zhu Yan had just said the word “puppet,” the person in front of him had clearly frozen for a moment, as if hearing the term for the first time.

From beneath the shadow of his hood, Zhu Yan cautiously studied the “man” before him—assuming this thing could still be considered human.

Its skin was still elastic, but the flesh beneath seemed to have been drained away, leaving it hanging thinly over the face like scalded leather.

Those lifeless eyes sized up Zhu Yan, and then Li Daochang said, “Care for a chat?”

He staggered over to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

“I have no interest in who you are, and I don’t want to know what tricks you have up your sleeve.”

“Either way, you can’t kill me. Understand?”

Li Daochang’s lips stretched outward, forcing two deep furrows into his face.

At this distance, Zhu Yan could clearly see the bloody strands of flesh caught between his teeth. A wave of nausea rose in his stomach.

“I only want to tell you that you’re very clever. You knew to choose my house. That’s the right direction.”

Oh? Now this was interesting.

Zhu Yan didn’t immediately respond.

Li Daochang gave him a feeling somewhat similar to the supermarket owner in the [Metabolism Module], though he was nowhere near as terrifying as Mr. Toad.

Mr. Toad was level fourteen. If Li Daochang was exceptionally gifted and had already reached level thirteen, then the military knife in Zhu Yan’s hand would be more than enough.

But Li Daochang had said, “You can’t kill me.”

Zhu Yan thought of the [Walking Dead] outside.

The Li Daochang before him was probably a similar kind of existence.

Did the “me” he referred to actually mean whatever was behind him?

Keeping his expression under control, Zhu Yan asked Li Daochang another question.

“So you only wanted me to come into your house?”

Li Daochang’s mouth split even wider.

“Yes. I’m starving to death.”

Zhu Yan twisted his brows in disgust, but he didn’t miss the contradiction between Li Daochang’s two statements.

Hadn’t he just said, “You knew to choose my house. That’s the right direction”?

The sentence sounded as if he had been impatient to tell Zhu Yan what the “right direction” was.

But with the next sentence, “I’m starving to death,” the emphasis shifted to wanting to eat.

There was no way Li Daochang could eat ordinary food. Naturally, the thing he wanted to eat was Zhu Yan.

A strong sense of unease rose from the depths of Zhu Yan’s heart.

This wasn’t Ji Xiting’s style, either. It felt more like some other, rather clumsy scheme.

Was this so-called “right direction” really the right one?

Could it be another trap?

And why did this strange horror creature only want one player to enter?

If the “right direction” was another trap, what difference would it make if several more players came in?

Was it connected to the things the fake broadcast had emphasized earlier, such as “strength” and “level”?

What exactly did this thing want?

Without revealing anything, Zhu Yan pulled out the chair opposite Li Daochang and sat down.

“I don’t want to listen to your nonsense.”

He chose to get straight to the point.

When he had entered earlier, he had already laid his “desire” to clear the scenario—and the fact that he possessed a puppet—out in the open.

If he suddenly started beating around the bush now, it would instead arouse Li Daochang’s suspicions.

He had no idea how intelligent this dungeon boss was.

Whether his opponent was clever or not, caution was still the best policy.

“What exactly are you trying to do?”

“How did you know that the person outside hadn’t chosen yet?”

Zhu Yan did his best to imitate Jin Rongxu’s voice and tone.

“You’re not trying to deceive me, are you? If choosing your place is the right answer, then why haven’t I heard a broadcast announcement?”

Damn broadcast. The real one had none of the fake broadcast’s dedication to exploiting every opening.

Come on, hurry up and offer some clues!

Even if the clues were false, he could at least work backward from them and uncover the truth.

…

At the same time.

From Zhu Zeyu’s perspective, Jin Rongxu glanced hesitantly at Li Daochang’s house.

But the hesitation lasted less than two seconds before he made the wise choice.

“Let’s find that low-level horror creature.”

Jin Rongxu strode toward the yellow-brick building in the distance, a faint smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

The final outcome seen by a prophet could never be wrong, because fate itself was inevitable.

Under that premise, he could survive no matter what he did, couldn’t he?

If so, why would he choose to challenge something more dangerous?

Besides…

Jin Rongxu’s gaze swept over the knife in his hand, and his expression grew increasingly confident.

The broadcast had just given them a second chance to choose, hinting at the correct answer.

But it had also seemed to single out him—the strongest member of the team.

In that situation, if he made the wrong choice again, the broadcast would very likely speak up once more, or use some other method to guide him.

Pot Lid visibly relaxed.

With the captain going too, his chances of staying alive had increased by another ten percent!

“Zhu Zeyu, hurry up and choose!” Pot Lid poked the puppet beside him. “The captain’s already chosen. What are you waiting for?”

Zhu Zeyu immediately said, “I’ll go to the yellow building too. Let’s go together, bro.”

Behind him, the military doctor and Ma Dong also indicated that they would follow Jin Rongxu.

The moment the two of them finished speaking, the female broadcast voice appeared in the puppets’ ears, almost immediately and without the slightest hesitation.

“Congratulations, players, on making the correct choice!”

“Please proceed to your destinations as soon as possible to activate the next scene prompt.”

Zhu Zeyu instinctively wanted to turn around and look at Li Daochang’s house.

Because the main body inside Li Daochang’s house had not received the same notification.

…

“Congratulations, player.”

Zhu Yan’s complaint had produced results.

The fake broadcast seemed to realize that it had overlooked something, and promptly supplied the hint Zhu Yan needed.

“Entering the building will bring you one step closer to the truth.”

“Your courage is commendable, but the road ahead is shrouded in mist.”

“Please converse with Li Daochang to further activate the scene prompt.”

Oh.

Zhu Yan understood now.

Whatever lay behind Li Daochang clearly had an objective, and it was very likely that Zhu Yan would only learn what that objective was after speaking with him.

But wasn’t this way too passive?

“What happens if the people outside make their choice? Can they just stand there without moving?”

Li Daochang slyly patched over the flaw he had exposed.

“You came here because you want to know how to get out—to go home.”

“Kid,” Li Daochang said with an eerie laugh, “that won’t be so easy.”

“If you don’t give up something, why would I let you leave?”

Zhu Yan countered, “You?”

“That’s right.” Li Daochang threw his head back and laughed.

“You’ve seen the situation here. You know we have no way to contact the outside world, don’t you?”

“Now, I’m the master of this place.”