With a thud, Yang Zhanbai collapsed again.
“I only have my mom,” he said. “I’ve never even seen my dad since I was born. Anyway, I’m more worried about myself than I am about my mom.”
He sighed from the bottom of his heart. “Ms. Yang is way stronger than I am.”
Zhu Yan decided to avoid talking about his own parents.
His memories of them only extended to before he turned ten.
Some things had grown distant and blurry. Whenever he thought of them now, all that remained was a damp sadness, like the feeling of being caught in drizzling rain.
He hurriedly asked, “So, have you been in contact with your mom? Is she coming to find you?”
“…Not necessarily.” Yang Zhanbai pondered for a moment. “She asked me for some information about the horrific creatures before, and she also had me photograph every page of that book, Living Alongside Forbidden Things.”
“I get the feeling she wants to enter a dungeon herself and beat the crap out of the horrific creatures.”
“B-beat the crap out of the horrific creatures?”
Zhu Yan tried to picture his aunt doing that, but he couldn’t.
“Yep.” Yang Zhanbai crossed his legs. “I’m not worried in the slightest. Oh, right—she also asked if I had the contact information for any of my roommates’ parents.”
Zhu Yan’s heart tightened. “Why?”
Don’t tell me she’s checking their family backgrounds.
He had already forgotten the contact information for his own “parents.” The fake details had been arranged for him by 【Narrative Stage】.
Fortunately, Yang Zhanbai merely said, “It’s always good to have a companion on the road through the dungeons.”
“My parents probably won’t work.” Zhu Yan put on a regretful tone. “They’re overseas… They can’t come along.”
“Ah, my mom could do it,” Qi Yinming said. “But my dad probably couldn’t. Forget my dad.”
“Why forget him? Bring him along too.”
“They’re divorced.” Qi Yinming answered irritably. “He’s a gambler. He used to hit me when I was little, bro. If you insist on having me bring him, then…”
“Forget it, forget it, forget it, forget it!”
Yang Zhanbai hurriedly cut him off, then gave an embarrassed laugh.
“Your mom will be fine. Uh, anyway, my mom can knock out three people with one punch, so there’s no need to worry about her safety.”
“We might not be headed to the same place,” Qi Yinming said. “Where is your mother?”
“She went traveling a while ago. I have no idea where she’s off having fun now. Oh—she’s in a place called Yuexing City.”
Yuexing City.
Zhu Yan knew the place. The last few times he had gone there, it was to handle business at the 【Hall of Mourning】.
“Has a dungeon descended there yet?” he asked, guiding the conversation subtly. “Yang Zhanbai, tell your mother to keep an eye out…”
“It has. My mom’s trying to find a way to piggyback on someone else’s beginner dungeon,” Yang Zhanbai said. “Xu Tongguang and Chen Zhaoxing are coming over for a visit later. We can ask about their parents too.”
…
Zhu Yan lay there for a while, but for some reason, he soon found it difficult to stay put.
He entered the 【Hunter Center】 to check on the surveillance feeds from 【Walking Corpse】, only to unexpectedly see Jin Rongxu’s handsome yet twisted face.
He stood behind his desk, facing Guan En, who was there to give him a work report.
“Still no reply?!”
“They said they weren’t feeling well,” Guan En replied. “They did suffer a knife wound, so it’s understandable.”
The viewpoint of 【Walking Corpse】 shifted to the side.
The person beside it was probably a military doctor. Pot Lid and Ma Dong were standing next to him.
Other than those five “people,” there was no one else in the office.
“They have to come back within the next few days,” Jin Rongxu said coldly. “Arrange for them to go to the shelter. Especially Zhu Zeyu—have him come with me to the western suburbs.”
“Yes.”
From Zhu Yan’s perspective, Jin Rongxu narrowed his eyes and said nothing more.
Nearly ten seconds passed before he drawled, “Guan En, tell me. Do you think I’ll be able to successfully obtain the 【Hunter】’s ability this time?”
Zhu Yan raised one eyebrow.
Fortunately, Jin Rongxu was merely anxious to the point of rambling, complaining in a scattered manner.
“The Seer’s ability is practically malfunctioning. He can only see one result and a tiny bit of the process.”
“How the hell am I supposed to act during the process?”
“Every time that Zhu Zeyu is around, I end up having bad luck, while nothing ever happens to him.”
“But his ability is pretty good too. There’s no way I can let him go.”
“I can’t feel at ease when the 【Hunter】 is nowhere to be found.”
Guan En lowered his head and did not answer immediately.
Finally, he asked, “Captain Jin, are you satisfied with the abilities of the other players we selected?”
“I can arrange for some of them to be sent to the western suburbs shelter. That way, if—just in case—the 【Hunter】’s side fails, we’ll still have backups.”
But Jin Rongxu waved his hand irritably.
“I’m satisfied with the 【Hunter】. If I can obtain all three of the 【Hunter】’s abilities this time, I’ll be completely satisfied.”
He suddenly turned his head and looked over, as if he were staring straight at Zhu Yan through 【Walking Corpse】’s eyes.
“You three, make sure you coordinate properly when the time comes.”
“The Seer said very clearly that the key to the open-beta dungeon is wordplay and resistance to attacks.”
Good. Wordplay.
Zhu Yan committed that to memory.
“I didn’t give you all those bottles of enhancement potions for nothing.”
Jin Rongxu let out a cold laugh. “Make sure you protect yourselves. Don’t let your health bars hit zero.”
Zhu Yan was speechless.
This guy was a complete incompetent. How had he managed to command everyone’s respect?
He listened for a while longer, but apart from more warnings, Jin Rongxu revealed nothing else useful.
Zhu Yan sighed and climbed out of bed.
“I’m going out for a walk. The dorm is a little stuffy.”
He found a terrible excuse, then fished the canister of aerosol from his ring.
Since he had nothing better to do, he would rather make a trip to 【Narrative Stage】 and experience this thing called 【Baptism】.
“Call me when Xu Tongguang and Chen Zhaoxing arrive.” Zhu Yan climbed down from the bed. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“You only need to come back for dinner,” Yang Zhanbai’s voice came from nearby. “Xu Tongguang and Chen Zhaoxing replied to me.”
Zhu Yan was spraying the aerosol over himself.
At those words, he raised his head.
“What did they say?”
“Oh.” Yang Zhanbai sounded a little downcast. “Xu Tongguang said it would be best if his family were dead. As for Chen Zhaoxing…”
He swallowed. “…He said his parents probably wouldn’t survive anyway, so there’s no need to worry about them.”
Zhu Yan could more or less understand.
Their personalities and abilities offered some clues.
Xu Tongguang’s ability to reflect injuries was quite similar to the embodiment of pent-up resentment.
Chen Zhaoxing seemed poorly socialized and extremely bad at expressing himself—or perhaps simply unwilling to do so. His family had probably influenced him to some extent as well.
Zhu Yan carefully sprayed the aerosol over his entire body. Then he walked over to Yang Zhanbai’s bed and patted the edge to comfort him.
“It’s all right. There are all kinds of people in the world.”
“…Come back for dinner,” Yang Zhanbai mumbled. “Uh, I invited the two of them too, so don’t you dare bail on us.”
All he could do was pray that the 【Baptism】 would not take too long.
Zhu Yan called out an acknowledgment, grabbed his dormitory door, and hurried toward the fast-travel passage.
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
