Another Missed Opportunity

A red wheel symbol popped up in Zhu Yan's field of vision.

The Monster Tram. He knew what this thing was.

He had seen it in the first instance.

...that massive, furry monster head with four disgusting eyes and a giant gaping mouth.

Zhu Yan glanced at the gun in his hand and quickly made a decision.

Snatching a police officer's gun and pointing it at them was a felony, and since the gun now had his fingerprints on it, it might as well be his.

Whatever. He just didn't want to return to the real world anyway.

He would inevitably be escorted back, locked up for research, or even sentenced to prison!

Zhu Yan decisively chose to stare at the wheel symbol, pushed open the garden gate, and swiftly slipped out through the gap.

The flowerbed still stood quietly under the streetlamp. Inside the gate, the Plague Demon roared again, the sound much closer than before.

Zhu Yan reached into the flowerbed, dug around, and pulled out the book Coexisting with Taboo Objects.

"Please head to the intersection as soon as possible," a pleasant female voice prompted. "In ten minutes, I will announce your settlement rewards for this round."

Zhu Yan wished he could fly to the station.

He immediately broke into a run, and with a thought, activated his ability, Roleplay, once again!

The Monster Tram had arrived.

It was parked at the pitch-black intersection, emitting a burnt, scorched smell.

The four eyes embedded in its giant head swiveled around to look at Zhu Yan before the massive monster mouth opened, revealing small round tables and red velvet chairs inside.

Zhu Yan climbed in by gripping the monster's teeth and found an empty seat at random.

The giant mouth then clamped shut over him, and Zhu Yan felt the seat vibrate slightly.

"Hello, passenger." A broadcast voice, even softer than the female one, echoed inside the tram.

"I am the Voodoo Doll. Please carefully read the station list on the table and use the ballpoint pen to check the station you wish to go to."

Meanwhile, on the other side.

The Plague Demon's brain was just like its bank account: completely empty.

The foul liquid on its body and the grass was disappearing, but that small half of a human leg was no longer edible.

The courtyard was also empty.

The Plague Demon stared at the slightly open courtyard gate, snapping back to reality as it suddenly realized something was wrong.

The Man-Eating House was destroyed, though it didn't care how it happened.

However, it did care about the two bone gold coins it hadn't gotten its hands on!

Where were its bone gold coins?

Where was that Doppelganger?!

The Plague Demon looked around, hissed, and leaped over, recklessly grabbing Guan En's wrist.

"What did you do?! Player!"

"Where is he?! Where is that Doppelganger?!"

Guan En was no longer afraid of the Plague Demon, as the pleasant female voice was broadcasting clearly in his mind.

"Please prepare yourself, Player. You are about to return to the real world."

He smiled at the Plague Demon and quickly stuffed one of the Sublease Contracts into his pocket—

Because the Plague Demon had already snatched the other one.

"Why is this thing in your hands?!" it asked, panting heavily.

"I warned you a long time ago."

Guan En replied, a bit dazed. He still couldn't figure out how Zhu Yan had managed it.

But that didn't stop him from saying his final words to the Plague Demon.

"You've been tricked, landlord."

The Plague Demon furrowed its brows.

"What do you mean?"

The next second, its hand grasped empty air; the detestable player had vanished.

The contract paper in its hand still retained human body heat. The Plague Demon hastily looked down at the paper, trying to find information about the new tenant.

However, what it saw made it disbelieve its own eyes.

There was only a scribble so messy it was impossible to tell what it was, and a... a...

The Plague Demon realized something.

That wasn't a monster's mark at all.

That was a fucking player!

"I'm going to eat you!! I'll kill you!!"

The Plague Demon's roar pierced the night sky.

...

"Oh my, sir!"

A familiar voice called out.

Zhu Yan pulled his attention back from the outside. He thought he had just vaguely heard the roar of the Plague Demon.

The Monster Tram seemed to be slowly and bumpily squirming along. With no windows inside, it was quite an uncomfortable ride.

He looked up to see a very unfamiliar-looking Doppelganger pulling out the chair opposite him.

Meeting Zhu Yan's confused gaze, it hurriedly changed its skin and stuck out its tongue to lick the residual blood from the corner of its mouth.

"It's me. You treated me to a meal last time."

The Doppelganger said, its hungry and gloomy eyes staring straight at Zhu Yan.

It had turned into the appearance of his uncle—even its voice had changed.

"We meet again. Where are you heading?"

An awkward feeling rose from the bottom of Zhu Yan's heart.

A few days ago, he never would have thought he'd meet his uncle in such a way.

He suddenly recalled his uncle when he was alive.

His uncle hadn't kicked him out. Despite often mistreating him, he was at least willing to spend a little money to raise him.

Regardless, he barely counted as family.

This Doppelganger didn't seem to treat him coldly either—it was even more polite and enthusiastic than his real uncle.

Zhu Yan was startled by this sudden thought.

No, he was just too lacking in emotional support.

But developing a fondness for a horror creature was absolutely forbidden; it was too dangerous.

He wouldn't allow it.

Zhu Yan grabbed the station list from the table and didn't directly answer the Doppelganger's question.

"Good evening. What about you? Where are you going?"

The list was densely packed. Zhu Yan followed the numbers and read down carefully, finding that there were over fifty stations.

He saw the familiar Hall of Mourning and the Nightmare Bookstore, which had posted ads on the player forum.

Besides those, there was a bunch of place names that clearly belonged to the Carnival Paradise.

Such as Scream Square and Living Flesh Block.

He understood why the female voice had given that prompt.

With this kind of thing, if he wasn't careful, it could mean a permanent residency in the Carnival Paradise, never to return.

Alright then.

Actually, permanently residing in the Carnival Paradise was only a matter of time anyway.

Zhu Yan quickly locked onto a normal-looking one among the pile of strange place names: Number 46.

"Old Mansion at 178 Meiyuan Street, Ribo District, Anwu City. Estimated arrival in 50 minutes."

No matter what, at least it was in Anwu City.

Zhu Yan found a ballpoint pen on the table and carefully checked the small box in front of the station.

"Oh, yes," the Doppelganger watched Zhu Yan's actions intently. "At first, I didn't read the instructions carefully and thought they wanted me to fill it in like a bubble sheet."

"I filled it in—and so I missed a delicious meal."

The gentle voice of the Voodoo Doll chimed in.

"Alright, we will be stopping at Station 46 in fifty minutes. Passengers, please prepare yourselves."

Zhu Yan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Opposite him, the Doppelganger wearing his uncle's skin lowered its head and earnestly shaded in a place called Doppelganger Street.

Zhu Yan wanted to ask the Doppelganger about the stations, such as whether all the stations in the real world were instances.

But he couldn't, because doing so would expose his flaws.

The Voodoo Doll's voice sounded again, but this time it announced an arrival at a certain station in five minutes.

"What are you holding, sir?" This Doppelganger seemed exceptionally talkative.

"The clothes of a Plague Demon," Zhu Yan said calmly. "Nothing special."

However, the Doppelganger's expression changed, simulating a look of awe.

"Plague Demons are stingy beings," it said stiffly. "How did you do it? Did you snatch it? What level was it?"

"Level 5," Zhu Yan said casually, not wanting to delve too deeply into the topic.

He wanted to pivot and fish for some information from the Doppelganger, but instead saw it sitting mechanically in its seat, its pitch-black eyes seemingly filled with shock.

"Oh! That means you are at least level six?"

Zhu Yan casually fabricated, "More than that. However, I don't like others making assumptions about my level."

"Understood, my lord. I shall praise you." The Doppelganger mechanically tilted its head.

"Please forgive me—I am very close, almost at my stop. I hope we can cooperate again next time."

"I will definitely promote your generosity and capability to my friends!"

Meanwhile.

Guan En forced himself through his exhaustion to walk to the intersection, which was already tightly cordoned off.

However, he didn't see the figure that should have come out before him.

Apart from the SWAT team and those reflective shields, there was nothing!